Chapter 238

Chapter 229: Intelligence

Outside the eastern gate of King Campus, in Green Shade Town.

In the afternoon, inside house number 37 of Green Shade Town, the mechanical girl Beverly, with short gray hair and dressed in pajamas, sat on the sofa with her legs crossed. One hand was placed in front of her eyes, the bionic skin removed to reveal intricate machinery.

With the other hand holding a file, Beverly meticulously polished her exposed mechanical palm, trying to smooth out any rough spots. Occasionally, her efforts would cause sparks to fly from the friction.

Not far away, Dorothy, dressed in a brown dress, sat in a chair behind a coffee table, yawning as she drank coffee to stay awake. She had barely slept after spending the night in the secret room. After finally getting some sleep in the morning, she came over to Beverly’s place feeling very tired.

“If you’re sleepy, go home and get some proper rest before coming to see me. Look at you, you haven’t even slept well and you’ve dragged me out of bed while I was sleeping.”

Watching Dorothy nearby, Beverly, who was polishing herself with a file, bluntly commented. Dorothy took a sip of her coffee and gave Beverly an annoyed look before responding.

“Do you, a wind-up doll, need to sleep and rest?”

“Hey, why wouldn’t I need rest? Even metal gets fatigued when used too much. Besides, metals can get tired too.”

Beverly replied irritably, continuing her polishing work. Dorothy then shifted to the main topic without further comment.

“First, I need you to appraise these two sigils for me.”

As she spoke, Dorothy handed Beverly two sigils labeled “Shadow” and “Cup,” along with forty pounds as the appraisal fee. These were collected by Nephnis from Moisans, whom Dorothy had visited at the Church District after waking up. She obtained the results of her early morning activities in East Tivyán, including these two unknown sigils and the “Cup” secret transmission.

Dorothy had already read the “Cup” secret transmission, titled “Heart’s Resonance.” It documented various mystic exercises, including rituals involving running while chanting spells and performing push-ups at specific rhythms, and controlling one’s heartbeat through meditation. Ultimately, this transmission taught how to feel the inherent “Cup” within oneself during exercise, preparing one for formal body tempering techniques.

If the Holy Communion’s “Sacred Body Deconstruction Technique” is considered an introductory secret transmission for bl**d food methods, then “Heart’s Resonance” could be seen as an introduction to body tempering. After reading it, Dorothy extracted three points of “Cup” and one point of “Enlightenment.”

Back in the present, after receiving the sigils from Dorothy, Beverly first put away the money, then carefully examined the two sigils. After scrutinizing them, she retrieved a book from under the coffee table to verify her findings. She then said,

“These two sigils, the ‘Shadow’ one is a lightening sigil that allows one to use the ‘Shadow’ spirituality to make their body lighter and more agile. The ‘Cup’ sigil is a disease-repelling sigil that can provide some resistance against illnesses.”

After appraising them, Beverly returned the sigils to Dorothy, who nodded in acknowledgment.

“One can become faster using ‘Shadow’… another can heal diseases somewhat using ‘Cup.’ They both seem quite practical. I wonder if these are Moisans’ own things or if he stole them.”

Thinking to herself, Dorothy put away the sigils and continued speaking to Beverly.

“This time, I came to seek some intelligence, not specifically related to any particular faction,” Dorothy told Beverly, knowing the rules of the White Stone Craftsmen Guild.

“Intelligence not related to any particular faction? Interesting… tell me, what do you want to know?” Beverly laughed and asked, and Dorothy immediately asked:

“I want to know which rank has the ability to transform into a bat for quick movement.”

“Transform into a bat for quick movement? Huh… I remember the old man saying you’re just an apprentice. How did you survive after encountering such a thing?”

Listening to Dorothy’s description, Beverly was quite surprised. Dorothy then got straight to the point.

“Just tell me what it is. I’ll pay whatever the intelligence consulting fee is.”

“Talk about money right away? Seems like you’ve grasped the key to dealing with us. Fine, asking about this information doesn’t target anyone in particular. I can sell it to you for 350 pounds. What do you think?”

Hearing Beverly’s words, Dorothy’s lips twitched slightly. After buying the Radiance Lamp last time, she only had around 600 pounds left.

Because Dorothy had previously let Vania and Nephnis help cover 150 pounds when buying the “Silence” secret transmission, the 50 pounds she had collected from Moisans in the city had been given directly to Nephnis to settle debts. Later, she repaid Vania 100 pounds, and now she had spent 40 pounds on the appraisal fee. So, Dorothy currently had 460 pounds.

Suddenly, Beverly wanted to sell her intelligence for 350 pounds, which made Dorothy feel a bit pained.

“A piece of intelligence for 350 pounds… almost as much as a secret transmission! Is it really that expensive!”

Dorothy blurted out, and Beverly shrugged in response.

“How do you know this isn’t a secret transmission? I can tell you, this is information on a White Tier Extraordinary Being. This information is enough to form poison recognition. You can treat it as a secret transmission.”

Beverly straightforwardly said, and Dorothy’s eyes lit up when she heard the word “poison recognition.” She immediately responded.

“Alright, deal.”

“…”

Seeing Dorothy’s sudden change in attitude, Beverly was momentarily stunned. As a merchant, she couldn’t help but suspect something when faced with such a swift change in the buyer.

‘Why did her attitude change so quickly? Did I lose something?’

Ultimately, after much thought, Beverly didn’t find any issues with her price. In a state of worry, they completed the transaction.

…

At dusk, in Green Shade Town, house number 17.

Just back from Beverly’s place, Dorothy returned home and sat on the sofa, taking out her biggest gain from the visit—a letter she had bought for 350 pounds.

‘Sigh… Although I know I will gain some spiritual benefits, it still hurts to spend so much money. Now I only have 110 pounds left!’

Dorothy exclaimed inwardly, feeling the sting of poverty again after a long time.

“Hmm… No matter what, that bald vampire was the strongest enemy I’ve encountered so far. I must gather intelligence on enemies beforehand, no matter the cost.”

Sighing deeply, Dorothy muttered, then opened the envelope and pulled out two yellowed pages torn from a book, reading them.

“Vampire… primary ‘Shadow,’ secondary ‘Cup,’ dark red path, White Chalk Tier…”

As Dorothy read the vampire-related intelligence, she took notes, summarizing the vampire’s abilities.

After finishing the reading, Dorothy compiled her notes and reviewed them carefully.

“The main abilities of vampires…

“High-speed movement (Tier 3 Shadow), robust physique (Tier 2 Cup), bat transformation, corrosive claws (Shadow enchantment), bl**d-sucking recovery, shape-shifting, spiritual perception (Shadow.Cup), toxin resistance, darkness concealment, dark vision, human hypnosis, sunlight weakness, weak lamp resistance…”