Chapter 413

Chapter 333 – Cargo

“Snap.”

With a crisp sound, the ropes binding Kapak’s wrists were snapped apart by sheer force. Surprised, Kapak found his hands regaining their freedom without his control, and then Dorothy manipulated him to tear off the ropes binding his feet as well.

‘This power… What is this? Is this the detective’s ability? To suddenly grant me such immense strength and control over my body? Is this the power of an extraordinary being from the Rosy Cross? It’s completely different from shamanic abilities…’

Feeling his body breaking free from the restraints with someone else’s strength, Kapak thought in amazement. At that moment, Dorothy also manipulated him to remove the cloth bindings around his eyes and mouth, allowing him to see again.

Before Kapak’s eyes was a small, dark space. He seemed to be locked inside a one-meter-square iron cage. Outside the cage, there was a wooden board forming a box around it. Kapak couldn’t see beyond the wooden boards, only faint light seeping through the cracks providing some illumination.

‘Iron cage? This makes things a bit tricky…’

Dorothy examined the surroundings through Kapak’s eyes, thinking to herself. The strength boost from the bl**d-Eating Sigil was only equivalent to that of an apprentice Thirster. A Thirster could easily break thin ropes but bending the iron bars of the cage was impossible.

Now, Kapak was trapped inside a small iron cage covered by a wooden box. Dorothy knew that relying on brute strength to bend the bars wouldn’t work.

“Huff… Huff… Thank you, Mr. Detective, for freeing my hands and feet. But besides the ropes, there’s also this cage… Mr. Detective, what should we do now?”

Kapak silently pondered and communicated with Dorothy, who responded calmly.

“Don’t worry, this iron cage is troublesome, but not unsolvable. Those people didn’t k*ll you immediately, so they must have a reason. They won’t let you d*e here; someone will come to check on you or bring food. Our chance will come then. For now, we just need to wait.”

Dorothy explained to Kapak, and he felt her reasoning made sense, so he didn’t argue further.

Then, Dorothy began controlling Kapak’s body to observe the surroundings. She brought his eyes close to the gaps between the wooden planks to look outside, examining the environment.

From a limited view, Dorothy observed a silent, deserted scene. In Kapak’s vision, she saw numerous wooden boxes arranged in the distance, some labeled with words like fur, fabric, fruit, written in the Prit language. There was no sign of any person, nor did she hear voices, but faint sea waves could be heard in the distance.

‘Here… It’s a warehouse? A coastal warehouse packed with cargo? The society put Kapak in a box and placed it in this warehouse? What are they up to?’

Dorothy thought to herself, considering several possibilities. After observing the surroundings, she temporarily halted Kapak’s puppet manipulation to conserve spirituality, retaining only sensory sharing through the consultation channel. She instructed the freed Kapak to stay quiet and wait inside the box while giving him some instructions.

Finally, after more than half an hour, Dorothy heard movements outside. It was the sound of footsteps, approaching from afar. Upon hearing this, Dorothy immediately had Kapak rise to observe. Through the gaps in the box, sure enough, she saw a man carrying a gas lamp, wearing some kind of uniform, slowly walking towards them from a distance.

“Someone’s coming. Prepare yourself as I instructed.”

“Alright, Mr. Detective!”

Following Dorothy’s directions, Kapak tied the cloth back over his mouth and eyes, loosely so they could be shaken off easily. Then, he placed his hands behind his back and lay down in a posture that hid his hands, waiting quietly. Since the effect of the bl**d-Eating had worn off, Dorothy transmitted another bl**d-Eating Sigil to him during the wait.

Thus, Dorothy had Kapak pretend to still be unconscious, waiting quietly. Soon, she heard louder movements outside, followed by a sharp sound, as if someone was unlocking the outer lock with a key.

A short while later, the wooden box covering the iron cage was opened, and light poured in. A man in an unknown uniform knelt down, placing the gas lamp aside, peering through the iron bars at Kapak.

“Heh… Still out cold.”

Observing the situation inside the box, the man muttered. Just then, Dorothy controlled Kapak to suddenly spring up inside the cage.

Opening his eyes, Kapak quickly shook off the cloth covering them and thrust his hands through the iron bars, instantly covering the man’s nose and mouth, strangling his neck, and pinning him against the iron bars. The man had no time to react to Kapak’s sudden awakening and escape from the ropes.

“Gah… Gah!”

Panicked and unable to react, the man struggled fiercely, but it was futile against the bl**d-Eating Kapak. He couldn’t even cry out. Soon, the man fainted due to lack of oxygen, collapsing weakly against the iron bars.

Kapak was a warrior in his tribe and had learned much medical knowledge. He knew how to quickly incapacitate enemies.

“Alright, Mr. Detective, as you requested, this guy has passed out.”

“Good job, kid. Do you have anything that can be used as ink to draw on something?”

Seeing the man faint, Dorothy asked Kapak, who responded after a moment of surprise.

“No, Mr. Detective. Almost everything I had was taken by those people… If you want to draw something, you can use my bl**d.”

“Alright, then use your bl**d to draw the mark the scholar gave you on this guy’s skin. Remember to draw it on his skin.”

Dorothy instructed, and Kapak, without hesitation, bit his thumb, then tore open the sleeve of the unconscious man and began drawing the Puppet Mark with his bl**d.

Once the Puppet Mark was complete, Dorothy immediately extended a new Spiritual Thread, connecting it to the unconscious man, manipulating him to stand up in front of Kapak’s shocked gaze.

Using the Spiritual Thread, Dorothy linked her senses, and the man, who was originally checking on Kapak, reopened his eyes. Through his gaze, Dorothy finally got a clear view of the surroundings.

This was indeed a warehouse, filled with stacks of wooden boxes and various goods. It was dim inside, with only a few hanging gas lamps providing light. Outside the window, Dorothy could faintly hear clearer sounds of the sea waves.

Looking around, Dorothy realized Kapak was in a corner of the warehouse, and the box imprisoning him was placed near a stack of categorized boxes. Besides the box holding Kapak, there were many large wooden crates piled together, covered with a large black cloth. Tags on them were labeled in the Prit language:

“Cargo—Animal Specimens 42 boxes (live), Origin—New York Port, Destination—Dankdo, Loading Time—December 5th, 6 AM, Ship—Princess Jenna, Number…”

The information appeared before Dorothy as she read the label. She then carefully inspected the surrounding cargo. Under her spiritual vision, she could see the faint spiritual glow emanating from the boxes, the essence of “Silence.”