Chapter 427

Three Hundred and Fortieth: Countermove

At this moment, Nephnis suddenly felt a familiar sensation from the mark on her body; this was the reminder signal that Dorothy had sent to contact her.

Facing this signal, Nephnis was slightly taken aback, thinking that she hadn’t brought any communication materials with her. At this time, the zombie driver of the carriage she was riding in suddenly broke free from her control and spoke.

“Senior Neph, how’s the situation over there? Do you feel anything unusual with your body?”

Hearing the tone of the driver, Nephnis immediately understood who was controlling him. She let out a sigh of relief and replied.

“Sigh… It’s fine, I don’t feel anything strange. Miss Dorothy, I think I completed my task smoothly.”

“Yes, thanks to you, Senior Neph. Without you, I wouldn’t have known what to do with these guys. As per our previous agreement, I will give you part of the reward.”

Using the mouth of the zombie driver, Dorothy communicated with Nephnis like this. Since Nephnis helped her this time, she couldn’t avoid giving the reward. According to their previous agreement, Nephnis could take one thousand pounds out of the six thousand pounds in cash and also read and extract spirituality from three secret transmissions. After finishing reading them, she would get the remaining two. These three secret transmissions were all related to Silence, which would greatly help her advancement.

“Thank you, Miss Dorothy… You’ve helped me so many times, it’s only right for me to repay you today. Actually, no payment is necessary.” Nephnis thanked Dorothy. In Nephnis’ eyes, Dorothy not only saved her and her classmates from the control of the Eight Pinnacle Nest but also helped her become an Extraordinary Being and assisted her family in fighting against the curse of ancient undead. Helping a little bit was only fair. When Dorothy asked for her help back then, she readily agreed without much thought.

“No, you still need to accept the payment. Essentially, you took the risk for me. Although I made many emergency preparations, the inherent risk cannot be ignored. Facing those dangerous individuals… there could be unexpected accidents.

“In fact, I was worried that you might not withstand the pressure and have problems. But fortunately, your performance exceeded my expectations, and our plan went very smoothly.”

Dorothy continued to speak to Nephnis. Listening to Dorothy’s words, Nephnis smiled and replied.

“It’s rare to be praised by Miss Dorothy… I’ve been through similar situations before, so I’m still somewhat surprised.”

Nephnis responded to Dorothy, recalling that when the Secret Knowledge Society was controlled by Thistle, she, as the only one not under the influence of Poison Recognition, had to hide her uniqueness every day in the abnormal society. She had to disguise herself in front of Thistle and infected classmates, pretending to be just like other members, even finding opportunities to counterattack Thistle and save her classmates.

So, Nephnis’ stress resistance was actually quite strong. Even when facing the Underworld Coffin Cult, although she was nervous, she didn’t show it at all. She successfully portrayed the image of a cunning thief in front of the Underworld Coffin Cult, which was indeed her achievement.

“Alright… Let’s discuss the rest after we meet in the city. You still need to leave quickly now. Time is running out. If you get caught up in it, things won’t be good.”

The zombie driver continued to speak to Nephnis. After listening, Nephnis paused slightly and then nodded.

“I understand. Then see you in the city, Miss Dorothy.”

After saying this, the zombie driver stopped speaking. Nephnis felt the return of control and then, looking out the carriage window at the distant hills, accelerated towards the city.

…

At this moment, on top of the hill, Larina and others were just starting to load their cargo. It took about ten minutes for the horse-drawn freight wagon they originally parked below the hill to be brought up. The skeletons and their subordinates were ready, preparing to leave once the cargo was loaded.

Larina, who had just suffered a backlash, was resting on a stone, with Kale taking care of her. Countless ghosts were wandering around the hill and its surroundings, guarding against any possible attack. Larina’s expression was tense, worrying that the thieves would take advantage of her weakened state after the backlash to launch a surprise attack. She was concerned that her backlash was part of a planned trap.

Fortunately, Larina had been suffering from the backlash for some time now. The wide-ranging patrols of ghosts had not detected any signs of an ambush nearby. That thief did not return after leaving, indicating that she was unaware of their problem.

“It seems… My curse being reversed wasn’t a specially set trap…”

Sighing in relief, Larina said. Seeing that no one took advantage of the situation, her originally tense heart relaxed significantly. Then she turned her head to look at the freight wagon just driven up the hill and the large pile of wooden boxes in the distance.

Although they failed to find those thieves, at least all the items had been recovered. The forty-odd boxes of Essence returned to her hands, which meant she had something to report to Danko.

“Hurry up and load the wagon! Once we’re done, we’ll leave immediately…”

Larina commanded. Then her subordinates and skeletons began to carry the piled-up wooden boxes onto their own wagons. The repetitive labor began, but no one noticed that among the piles of wooden boxes, something was slowly pulsating and approaching a critical point.

In the innermost part of the pile of wooden boxes, inside the largest box containing the iron coffin, beneath the coffin, there was a narrow layer meticulously crafted.

And within this unseen layer, countless tiny cylinders were densely arranged. These cylinders gradually filled the entire layer, with countless wires connecting them to the center of the layer. There, a mechanical device wrapped in thick fabric to dampen sound was housed. Inside this mechanical device, an internal clock was slowly ticking.

Amidst the indiscernible ticking sounds of the outside world, the clock’s hands gradually approached destruction. When the hands aligned with the red line drawn on the dial, the preset mechanical structure began to operate, triggering the explosive mechanism. The explosives covering the entire layer detonated simultaneously at that moment.

“Boom!!!!”

Without anyone expecting it, a powerful impact and scorching flames erupted from the wooden box’s layer. The dazzling fire rapidly expanded, engulfing the entire pile of wooden boxes and the surrounding skeletons and people. A huge explosion erupted from this unassuming small hill, spreading rapidly in all directions.

Seconds later, soldiers patrolling the distant Flame Wind Fortress were startled by the sudden loud noise and entered a state of alert.

On a corridor in the fortress, Captain Edmund, accompanied by a slightly plump colleague with a mustache, was walking and talking. Upon hearing the commotion, they frowned and looked out the window toward the distant hill where dust was scattering.