Chapter 420

Chapter 337: Candidate

In the northern suburbs of Tivyán, outside the east gate of King Campus, lies Green Shade Town.

In the night of Green Shade Town, a gentle drizzle falls from the sky. The dim glow of streetlights illuminates the dark streets, which are completely empty, and the houses on either side have turned off their lights. However, there is still a light shining from window number seventeen.

In the living room of number seventeen, Dorothy, dressed in pajamas, sits on the sofa. Nearby, the fireplace crackles with burning wood, and the blazing fire dispels the surrounding chill, keeping the entire room at a comfortable temperature.

Before Dorothy is a wooden tea table, on which numerous scattered slips of paper lie. These slips are printed in neat fonts by a machine, and Dorothy, sitting by the tea table, is examining each piece under the flickering firelight.

All these slips of paper contain the recent correspondence with the Underworld Coffin Cult regarding Wood Hoof and a batch of Wilderness Spirits. Over the last few days, Dorothy has been negotiating back and forth with the Cult, eventually reaching mutually acceptable terms for a transaction. The sheer volume of correspondence is a result of this frequent exchange over the past few days.

Even though she has reached an agreement with the other party, Dorothy does not immediately destroy these slips. Instead, she carefully analyzes their content, trying to extract more information about the Underworld Coffin Cult and clarify their intentions.

‘The guy sending these telegrams seems quite angry about my substitution act, repeatedly calling me a thief. The individuals connecting with me from the Cult… perhaps they are indeed the ones hunting Wood Hoof. I wonder if my actions have hindered their mission.’

Dorothy thinks to herself. Hunting Wilderness Spirits in the New World, according to Kapak’s description of their strength and status… it’s likely that this task is being undertaken by extraordinary beings of Black Earth or White Chalk Tier, essentially middle-tier leaders within larger societies. Only when executing major missions might the higher-ups of Red Tier take action.

‘If they’re at most White Tier… that should still be manageable…’

Dorothy continues her thoughts, shifting her focus to the transaction conditions proposed by the other party.

‘These guys specifically require face-to-face trading, refusing any postal communication. While they claim it’s to verify the goods on-site, there must also be some ulterior motives behind this… In any case, meeting in person clearly gives them the opportunity to probe me closely, which is quite risky. It could spiral into a case of “black eats black”…’

Dorothy reflects, considering the issues surrounding the transaction. Previously, she had intense arguments with the Underworld Coffin Cult; Dorothy wanted to conduct the exchange via post, but they insisted on face-to-face trading at Dankdu. Ultimately, Dorothy accepted the face-to-face meeting, proposing Tivyán as the location.

Clearly, Dankdu is a significant stronghold for the Underworld Coffin Cult, where their influence must be substantial, making it impossible for Dorothy to go there. On the other hand, Tivyán is a place she is very familiar with.

‘Although I successfully set the trading location at Tivyán… this face-to-face transaction is still somewhat disadvantageous for me. After all, I can’t compete with their raw strength. Without being able to use puppets, the risks of such contact are substantial.

‘It’s a pity… It’s incredibly difficult to make a puppet impersonate a human before these guys…’

Dorothy continues to think. The requirement for a live person to conduct the trade complicates things since she typically uses puppets for everything.

Facing extraordinary beings of “Silence,” Dorothy’s puppets are hard to conceal. The reason is simple—extraordinary beings of “Silence” can sense human souls, which Dorothy learned from her interactions with Kapak and Nephnis.

In the eyes of extraordinary beings of “Silence,” even if Dorothy’s zombie puppets mimic humans perfectly, they cannot fool them, as zombies are dead and lack souls. An extraordinary being of “Silence” cannot sense a soul in a reanimated corpse.

Of course, Dorothy does have the option of using living puppets, which she could control to perform the trade. However, when the time comes for the transaction, the other party will surely bring detection devices like the Radiance Lamp. Should the living puppet be caught under its light, the extraordinary traces active within it would be exposed, and they would immediately recognize it as a puppet.

Dorothy could also use the Veil Ring to apply an effect on a living puppet to counteract extraordinary detection, allowing the puppet to evade the Radiance Lamp’s probing.

However, this brings about another issue. Extraordinary beings of “Silence” have the ability to sense souls. If Dorothy applies the effect of the Veil Ring to a living puppet, then any extraordinary detection and perception directed at the puppet would fail, including the soul sensing of extraordinary beings of “Silence.”

If the soul perception is blocked by “Shadow,” then the extraordinary being of “Silence” would effectively be unable to sense the puppet’s soul. This opens up a weird contradiction, as humans inherently possess souls; it’s odd for something to lack a soul.

In simple terms, if Dorothy utilizes living puppets for the trade without the Veil Ring, they would very likely be detected by the Radiance Lamp. Conversely, if she applies the Veil Ring, it risks being spotted by soul detection. Naturally, if it’s this difficult for living puppets, then for the ordinary soulless zombie puppets, it’s even less feasible.

To summarize, in order to conduct a face-to-face transaction with the Underworld Coffin Cult, Dorothy must send a living person in her stead.

“Ah… this is quite troublesome…”

Dorothy sighs, leaning back against the sofa, then picks up a slip of paper from the tea table to examine it.

It’s a receipt issued by the port, accompanied by a contract signed with Marcs. Earlier this morning, Dorothy used a zombie puppet to take this contract to the Tivyán port, where she received a shipment of “tobacco” that has just arrived. After paying a generous “processing fee” to customs, her zombie puppet successfully transported this batch of “tobacco” out of the port.

Currently, the Wilderness Spirit Wood Hoof and its associated essences are now in Dorothy’s possession, stored in a warehouse on the outskirts of Tivyán. For Dorothy, the goods are in hand, and now she only awaits the time of the transaction.

The agreed-upon time with the Underworld Coffin Cult is three days from now. For Dorothy, her primary task now is to find a suitable candidate to help her represent her, as her current capabilities are definitely more suited for the shadows, and moving out from behind the scenes would considerably weaken her overall strength.

“So… who should I ask?”

Reclining on the sofa, Dorothy begins to ponder the candidates.

‘Among those I can rely on, undoubtedly, Adele of White Chalk Tier is the strongest, but her celebrity status is too conspicuous. Even with disguise, there’s a risk of her being recognized. Moreover, she represents the Scarlet Heart, primarily at odds with the Wolf bl**d Association. Bringing her into this would effectively put her in conflict with the Underworld Coffin Cult, which she might not agree to, especially since our relationship is merely a cooperative one.

‘As for Vania… she’s currently the person I can trust the most. If I ask her to step in, she would definitely agree. But the question is, is Vania really suited to face the Underworld Coffin Cult? Those who use ghosts have rather peculiar methods. If something shady arises, would Vania’s abilities tailored toward healing and biological sabotage be sufficient to handle it?’