Chapter 241

Chapter 231: Construction

Looking at the situation before her, the Gecko had no choice but to remain in place, watching as Claudius passed through the corridor and entered deeper into the ruins.

……

“Goodness, spider silk, Radiance Lamps, numerous guards… They really went all out to bolster security to such an extent. These guys are truly serious right now…”

In the library of King Campus, Dorothy sat at her spot, her gaze fixed on the images transmitted back by the Zombie Puppet. She had anticipated that those from the Eight Pinnacle Nest would upgrade the security for the ruins, but seeing it now, the upgrades were indeed quite severe.

First of all, the current spider silk corridor was completely different from the previous one, indicating this was a newly arranged spider silk corridor, not the original. This meant Nephnis might not be able to pass safely. Moreover, they had also added Radiance Lamps, which would trigger alarms the moment any unregistered Extraordinary Beings were illuminated. If her Zombie Puppet were to pass under their light, it would continuously deplete the “Shadow” from the Veil Ring. Additionally, there were permanent guards present, eliminating any chance of sneaking actions.

“It seems that in order for the ritual in two days to proceed smoothly, these guys are also putting in a lot of effort.”

Dorothy thought to herself. Given the current level of security, her Small Zombie Puppet, though sheltered by the Veil Ring, still wouldn’t be able to infiltrate. Not to mention how much “Shadow” she had to counter the Radiance Lamps’ light, just touching the spider silk would trigger a warning, rendering the Veil Ring useless.

“It can already be foreseen… On the day of the ritual, how strict the security here will be… It feels completely impossible to sneak in, could it be that I’ll have to break through directly? The risks are just too high…”

As she looked at the tight security measures leading to the ritual site, Dorothy couldn’t help but think that there was only one way to the second layer of the ruins, making it easy for the Eight Pinnacle Nest to defend. No matter how one looked at it, Dorothy and her companions were utterly outmatched in terms of direct force compared to the Eight Pinnacle Nest. Thus, a frontal breakthrough was completely out of the question; they had to be cunning and play with the shadows, the area where Dorothy was most familiar.

“Then, what clever method should I use this time?”

Sitting in her spot, Dorothy pondered, and before long, a thought began to form in her mind.

“Perhaps… I can try it this way…”

Murmuring to herself, Dorothy stood up from her seat and left the library.

……

Outside King Campus, in a certain area of the Clear Stream Riverbank’s forest.

In the afternoon, Dorothy walked through the woods outside the campus. In front of her, two Zombie Puppets were helping to clear a path through the dense underbrush, while Dorothy followed them closely.

After traversing through the thick bushes, Dorothy arrived before a moss-covered, seven or eight-meter high giant rock hill. She instructed the two Zombie Puppets to step back and approached a flat stone wall on the giant rock. After concentrating, she noticed a series of chaotic scratches on the wall. As she gazed at the scratches, they twisted and transformed into the letters of Prit.

“To the Ascension Hall”

Dorothy reached out and touched the letters. Suddenly, a rumbling sound of rocks echoed around her. With a slight tremor, a stone door in the giant rock wall opened, revealing darkness within.

Looking into the darkness, Dorothy lifted her prepared gas lamp and stepped inside. After a quick glance around, she saw two familiar statues of hermits, one holding a book and the other an armillary sphere.

Indeed, this was the exit Dorothy had found when leaving the secret room of the ruins. This exit was hidden outside the campus, in the dense forest by the riverbank. For thousands of years, Dorothy was the first person to open this stone door.

“As expected, I can directly open it from the outside… This way I can access the lowest level of the ruins directly, and then ascend to the second layer’s ritual site!”

Gazing at the descending staircase before her, Dorothy murmured. Having grasped this secret passage that only an Extraordinary Being with “Enlightenment” could understand, she could avoid the direct entrance at the assembly point and instead flank from the rear, launching an attack on the ritual site from below.

“However, first I need to deal with the ruins and poison gas on the sixth level…”

Murmuring to herself, Dorothy took out the Magic Box, summoned her Zombie Puppets, and handed her gas lamp to one of them to lead the way down.

Then, Dorothy remotely controlled four Zombie Puppets over a long distance to descend to where she had advanced through the Black Tier, deep into the ruins’ secret chamber, and then through a corridor to the dark door she had opened for the first time. Using the connection of Spiritual Threads with the Zombie Puppets, she opened the door from the reverse side, formally re-entering the sixth level.

As the dark door swung open, a large cloud of purple-red poison mist surged towards Dorothy’s Zombie Puppets. Fortunately, the undead were not deterred by such substances; they only needed the “Cup” to continue functioning, so they plunged into the poison mist and pressed forward.

Soon, Dorothy’s Zombie Puppets examined the part of the corridor that had collapsed due to the lingering force of Dragon Roar. She found that there were hardly any large boulders among the debris, mostly smaller rocks, which were manageable to clear!

“Heh, it seems… this wave can truly catch them off guard…”

Standing at the exit, sensing the situation underground, Dorothy smiled and murmured.

……

In the following time, Dorothy completely transformed into the foreman of her Zombie Puppet construction team, remotely controlling the underground puppets to carry out their clearing work.

To ensure everything went smoothly and to showcase her professionalism, Dorothy borrowed several books on mining operations, tunnel excavation, and emergency rescue from the library at King Campus for study. After spending an hour reading many books, Dorothy became a theoretical expert in underground tunnel construction. Subsequently, she went to the city to buy a complete set of equipment for her Zombie Miner Puppets, fitting them with hard hats, wheelbarrows, shovels, and support materials for underground work.

Under Dorothy’s command, the construction team’s operations proceeded in an orderly manner. They continuously removed and shoveled away smaller rocks, clearing a path through the ruins while also building supports overhead to stabilize the structure and prevent further collapses.

As for the larger boulders, Dorothy chose not to disturb them, fearing that it might compromise the structure and trigger another collapse, and she worried that the noise from excavating the large boulders would alert the people at the ritual site above. Fortunately, there weren’t many large boulders, so they could get by without dealing with them.

The work of Dorothy’s Zombie Puppet construction team consisted of moving small rocks, shoveling fine sand, and erecting supports, resulting in minimal noise. The second and sixth levels of the ruins were about thirty to forty meters apart, with layers in between, so Dorothy wasn’t worried about the noise traveling up to the top.

In addition, Dorothy had her Zombie Puppets collect a bottle of poison gas samples to send to Beverly for analysis, wanting to know if there were any effective anti-poison measures. However, to her surprise, Beverly couldn’t analyze the poison gas either, as she was an engineering student and not focused on biochemistry, thus lacking the relevant expertise. So in the end, Dorothy took the bottle of poison gas samples to seek advice from her contacts, as she claimed to know an expert in the field.

However, Dorothy ended up spending 100 pounds on the consulting fee, and suddenly left with just 10 pounds, shocked at her level of poverty.

“d*mn it, this operation must succeed! If I don’t make some money back, I won’t even be able to pay my rent!”

After leaving Beverly’s place, Dorothy looked down at her remaining 10 pounds of cash and silently cried out in her heart.