Chapter 508

Chapter 383: Inquiry

On the outskirts of Tivyán, on the road leading to the city center.

Inside the swaying carriage, Dorothy sat, still inspecting the changes she had undergone after her promotion. She then checked her spiritual energy limit.

After being promoted to the White Chalk tier, Dorothy’s total spiritual energy accumulation limit had increased to fifty points, twenty points more than the Black Earth tier. This was quite a significant improvement.

“Fifty points of spiritual energy limit means… If I want to advance to the Red Tier, my Enlightenment spirit energy must accumulate at least fifty points. If Enlightenment has fifty points, the other types of spirit energy would need to start from around twenty points. The difficulty of accumulating spirit energy has greatly increased… It’s uncertain when I will be able to accumulate so much spirit energy…”

Dorothy pondered this in her heart. Although advancing to the Red Tier required a lot more spirit energy, she wasn’t particularly anxious about it. After all, she had only been in this world for less than half a year and had already jumped three levels from an ordinary person to the White Chalk tier. For other extraordinary beings in the Secret World, this was like riding a rocket. In terms of the An Yin Bureau, James, the bureau chief of the Igewent branch, was already in his fifties but was still just a Black Earth tier. The core elite captains within the Anonymity Headquarters, with their richer resources, were around forty years old when they advanced to the White Chalk tier.

Apart from herself, the youngest White Chalk tier extraordinary being Dorothy had encountered was Adele. According to the newspaper’s celebrity section, Adele was only twenty years old, seemingly just a few months older than Gregor.

Ultimately, the obstacles for ordinary extraordinary beings in accumulating spirit energy were substantial. Without dedicated resource allocation from an organization or a suitable method of accumulating spirit energy, it might take over a year just to advance to an Apprentice. Adele was able to reach the White Chalk tier by age twenty largely because of her spirit energy accumulation method, the “Desire Dance Method.” This method, which accumulates spirit energy by collecting desires, could accumulate quickly when applied to the right person. Adele was precisely such a suitable candidate.

From the Wolf bl**d Association’s attempt to destroy Adele’s reputation to hinder her spirit energy accumulation, it seemed that Adele’s rapid spirit energy accumulation via the “Desire Dance Method” had reached a certain level of concern. Given more time, she could accumulate enough spirit energy to advance to the Red Tier.

With the help of the System’s “Viewing Method,” Dorothy accumulated spirit energy even faster than Adele. As long as she had sufficient secret transmissions, she could fill her spirit energy pool in no time.

“In summary, although I have just been promoted and am not rushing to consider the next promotion, I still need to accelerate the accumulation of spirit energy. Not for advancement, but for emergencies, as my current spirit energy situation makes it too dangerous to fight.”

Dorothy continued thinking. Due to her promotion, her current spirit energy was scarce, especially the crucial “Cup” spirit energy, which was only one point. Given her current state, if she faced any crisis again, she would be very passive. Thus, her immediate goal was to quickly accumulate spirit energy, ensuring she had enough for safety.

“Now my Enlightenment spirit energy has 20 points. It’s unlikely I’ll run out of it anymore, but I need to increase the variety of auxiliary spirit energies I use, making the pressure greater… In the coming period, I should focus on accumulating spirit energy, at least until I can handle emergency situations calmly.”

As she thought this, Dorothy drove the carriage towards the distant city. The dark sky gradually brightened, and the outline of the city appeared ahead. The distant countryside occasionally echoed with the high-pitched crow of roosters.

Night was fading, and dawn arrived. Exhausted, Dorothy brought the carriage to the edge of Tivyán. Vehicles began appearing on the road, and buildings became increasingly dense.

Finally back in the city center, she let out a long sigh of relief upon confirming that the Eight-pointed people were not chasing her anymore.

Originally planning to drive directly back to her home in Green Shade Town in the north suburb, Dorothy realized she was too fatigued to drive safely. She almost collided with another carriage. To ensure safety, Dorothy decided not to drive while tired and instead found a lodging with carriage parking services.

Using a puppet as a cover, Dorothy rented a room at the inn, took a quick hot shower, and fell asleep immediately. After a long dreamless sleep, she finally woke up. The sky outside was still bright. She stretched, rubbed her messy hair, and checked her watch, which showed it was 2:30 PM.

Still feeling somewhat drowsy, Dorothy dressed and tidied herself before checking out and getting back on her carriage. In a more spirited state, she continued driving through the streets.

In town, Dorothy first sent a telegram to Gregor at the telegraph office to confirm her safe arrival. Then, she found a decent place to eat something. Before eating, she specifically asked the front desk for today’s newspaper. Sitting at her table, she read the newspaper while eating cream bread. Sure enough, the headline confirmed her suspicions: news about the explosion at the New Year’s Eve party held by Princess Isabel in the Bishop Square.

“Sudden Accident! Explosion Hits Princess Isabel’s New Year Party”

“At midnight on January 1st, an unidentified explosion occurred during the New Year party hosted by Princess Isabel in the Bishop Square of the South City District. Princess Isabel and Duke Barret, along with many others, were injured in the accident. The cause of the incident is currently unknown. Both the princess and the duke are receiving treatment, and the official authorities have yet to provide any information about their injuries. Since last night, the Bishop Square and surrounding areas have been sealed off…”

“Explosion accident? Heh… It seems the royal government isn’t planning to declare this an assassination attempt yet… If it were declared as an assassination, from the perspective of the royal government, the assassination of a duke would require identifying the culprit and apprehending the assassin. Otherwise, the royal government would lose face.

“But since this incident involves extraordinary secrets, even if the culprit is identified, it might not be easy to announce. So for now, they’re using the excuse of an explosion to handle it temporarily. They’ll deal with it slowly later. Anyway, to the general public, it looks like an explosion anyway. Even if Barret Duke’s d*ath is eventually defined as an accident, it wouldn’t be unreasonable.”

Chewing on her sandwich, Dorothy looked at the newspaper, noting that while many people were discussing it, the topic wasn’t particularly heated. If the newspaper had directly reported Barret Duke’s assassination, the discussion would likely be much more intense.

“I bet it won’t be long before the newspaper reports that Duke Barret died due to severe injuries. At that point, there will be another minor wave of public opinion. Combining this with the previous one, it’s like splitting a big wave of public opinion into two smaller ones. The royal government is also trying to mitigate the negative impact of this event.”