Chapter 234

Chapter 226: The Puppet Master

East Tivyán, after Moisans and his group got off the carriage, they followed the passage that Nephnis had entered. Soon, they saw Nephnis walking deeper into the alleyway.

“Let’s go, follow her.”

Moisans whispered, then led his men to continue following.

Thus, this group of people trailed Nephnis, wandering through the city alleys. During this time, one of Moisans’ men curiously asked:

“Boss, why did that girl suddenly turn into this alley? Did she notice us and want to escape?”

“Maybe, we need to keep a closer watch on her,” Moisans replied, while pondering Nephnis’ deeper motives for entering the alley.

In Moisans’ view, Nephnis wanted to lead them through the alleys to confuse them and then try to escape. If that were true, she was greatly mistaken; they were very familiar with this area, and in the end, it would be her who got lost.

With such thoughts, Moisans continued leading his men in the pursuit. After trailing for an unknown duration, they finally saw Nephnis enter a deserted dead-end alley, with a completely blocked path ahead.

“Here’s our chance, she’s trapped. Let’s go.”

Seeing this, Moisans smiled and whispered to his men, then several of them hurriedly moved forward to cut off Nephnis’ retreat.

“Hey, Miss in front, we meet again.”

Leading his men, Moisans smiled at the back of Nephnis, who stood facing the wall. She slowly turned around, revealing a playful smile through her veil as she said:

“Oh… what a coincidence, Mr. Moisans. Is the world really so small, or have you been following me?”

‘There’s something different about her tone…’

Moisans frowned slightly as he saw Nephnis turn around, but he didn’t pay too much attention and continued speaking:

“Haha… Following is an exaggeration. We’re protecting you, Miss. As a newcomer to the hidden world, carrying secret resources alone for a transaction can be very dangerous. So, we’ve been protecting you for some time.

“But now, thinking about it, leaving such valuable secret resources with a newcomer like you is too risky… How about… you just hand over the items to us? We promise to keep them safe for you.”

Moisans said with a smile, his words laced with clear threats. At the same time, his men started getting ready to attack, cheering him on.

Looking at their aggressive stance, Nephnis continued smiling and said:

“It seems I’m being robbed. If I hand over the items, will you let me go safely?”

“Of course, we won’t harm your life or take your dignity. We just want some valuables, and we won’t take anything else except for a little secret resource. Whether it’s ritual materials, extraordinary items, storage items, or secret transmissions, we will only take those.”

Moisans spread his hands and said to Nephnis, who remained unperturbed. She silently took off her elegant lady’s bag and handed it forward.

“Take it, everything is here.”

Seeing Nephnis say this, Moisans signaled one of his men, who stepped forward to grab the bag.

As the man laughed and approached, Nephnis coldly added:

“If you have the ability to take it…”

She finished her sentence by swinging her other hand forcefully, hitting the man’s face. The man’s mouth twisted, teeth flew out, and he was thrown aside, unconscious.

“Dare to attack? Come on!”

“You’re done, little girl!”

Seeing this sudden scene, Moisans and his men roared and charged forward.

Facing this situation, “Nephnis” smiled slightly, grabbed the rope strap of her bag, and swung it like a flail, smashing the nearest man, who screamed and flew away. Then she swung again, hitting another man’s leg, breaking it instantly. This man also fell to the ground in pain.

To have a weapon without alerting the pursuers, “Nephnis” picked up two bricks along the way and put them in her bag, increasing its hardness and weight to create a flail.

The real Nephnis, seeing this in her mind, shouted internally:

‘My makeup! My bag!’

Indeed, controlling Nephnis’ body right now was Dorothy from the distant secret room. The new ability she obtained after simulating the Puppet Master branch was the Living Puppet.

As a “Puppet Master,” Dorothy could do more than just control corpses. She could use the Puppet Mark as a medium to invade a living creature’s body with her Spiritual Threads, then control their actions like a zombie puppet.

The limitation was that the target must already have a Puppet Mark on them and must remain within the controller’s line of sight.

If the controlled living being resisted during the invasion, even ordinary people would be difficult to manipulate successfully. After investing many “Enlightenments,” though forced control could be achieved, it wouldn’t last long.

At Dorothy’s current level, she could barely force-control small animals, and forcing control over ordinary people was very difficult, let alone Extraordinary Beings. However, if the living being didn’t resist during the invasion, once the invasion was complete, resistance would be impossible.

On the carriage, Dorothy had Nephnis draw a Puppet Mark on her. Using the information channel’s vision, she remotely controlled Nephnis from afar. Unlike controlling a zombie puppet, controlling a Living Puppet had no distance limit as long as she could see or sense the mark.

At the same time, compared to a zombie puppet, a Living Puppet consumed more energy. Each activation cost 1 “Cup” and 1 “Enlightenment,” and every twenty minutes afterward, it would consume another 1 “Cup” and 1 “Enlightenment.” If the spiritual cost couldn’t be paid, the Living Puppet would be deactivated.

Under Dorothy’s control, Nephnis weaved through the thugs, using her expensive bag combined with bricks as a flail, and with her fists and feet, she knocked down each thug swiftly and powerfully. Her movements were precise, and at this moment, Nephnis seemed to be fighting among the thugs effortlessly.

Logically, Nephnis’ physical abilities were far inferior to these thugs. Even if Dorothy was a skilled operator, if the controlled body itself wasn’t capable, it would be useless. Many techniques couldn’t be performed. The reason Nephnis was so effective and could knock down each thug was due to another ability of the Puppet Master.

The ability of Spiritual Threads.

After advancing to “Puppet Master,” Dorothy could not only control zombie puppets but also control the medium of control—the Spiritual Threads.

Now, Dorothy could transmit her state through the Spiritual Threads to zombie puppets or Living Puppets. This state could be a passive effect of an extraordinary item or a bestowed effect.

For example, right now, Dorothy applied a bl**d-Eating Sigil to herself, paying the spiritual cost to activate it. Through the guidance of the Spiritual Threads, she could transfer this effect to any zombie puppet or Living Puppet, which was the extraordinary transmission of the Spiritual Threads.

So, Nephnis currently had the bl**d-Eating effect, her physical abilities far surpassing those of ordinary people, allowing her to beat the thugs mercilessly.

Just as Dorothy was enjoying controlling Nephnis to fight, a ferocious punch came from Nephnis’ side, fiercer than any of the previous thugs. Looking closely, it was none other than Moisans.