The four hundred and fifty-ninth urgent message
North of Conquer Sea, Adria.
In one of the hotels in Adria, in a luxurious suite, Dorothy was sitting on a soft sofa, with a thick “Navigation of the Literary Sea” resting on her knees. She had just finished writing a proposal to Beverly and was waiting attentively for a reply. The reply appeared on the communication page of the book shortly after she finished writing.
“The chance to trap a Red Tier… interesting. I didn’t expect your luck would be so good to encounter such an opportunity. However, I’m too unfamiliar with your situation to make a decision lightly. At least give me a general idea of what’s happening over there so I have a basic understanding.”
Seeing Beverly’s response, it was clear that she found Dorothy’s claim about being able to trap a Red Tier with chalk unbelievable. After pondering for a moment, Dorothy picked up a pen and wrote on the page.
“Sure, I am currently in Adria. According to your intelligence, I came here to find Azamu’s donation. I also discovered Garib here, who is looking for the same donation. Since the donation is located on the church grounds, I now have the chance to expose Garib and his group right in front of the church. The Archbishop Antonio is in Adria now; he can deal with Garib.”
“Now I have already obtained Azamu’s donation and don’t need to risk confronting Garib. After all, he and I have no grudges. But if you could provide some compensation, I wouldn’t mind taking action.”
Dorothy wrote this in “Navigation of the Literary Sea,” then waited silently for a response. Soon, Beverly’s printed response appeared before her.
“Using the tiger to eat the wolf? Hmph… quite fitting for your style. I didn’t expect you could drive a Red Tier onto this path. This is indeed your ability.”
“Alright, I can promise you compensation. I will discuss this with the chief workshop later. The people at the chief workshop won’t miss the chance to trap a Red Tier defaulter. Just go ahead with confidence. As long as you succeed, the compensation will definitely be there.”
‘I’ve already done it…’ Dorothy thought to herself, seeing the words on the page. Then she continued writing.
“Alright, I’ll start acting now. Everything will be revealed today. You can pay more attention to the information from Adria.”
“Rest assured, we have a dedicated intelligence network that will verify Garib’s movements. Once something happens to him, we will definitely know. After verifying Garib’s situation, I will contact you again.”
Beverly’s response reappeared on the pages of “Navigation of the Literary Sea.” After reading these replies, Dorothy nodded in understanding and continued writing.
“In that case, I’ll set off. I look forward to your verification.”
After finishing, Dorothy closed “Navigation of the Literary Sea,” put it back in the magic box, and let out a long breath, settling comfortably on the soft sofa for a rest.
Using Emmanuel’s Crown to trap Garib wasn’t part of Dorothy’s original plan. Initially, she planned to take advantage of the conflict between Garib and Antonio to steal Azamu’s donation. However, when she saw that Garib and Antonio were entangled in the Inner Realm and seemed to be stuck there for a long time, she decided to use Emmanuel’s Crown to trap Garib.
Since the trap has been set, she must make good use of it to gain some benefit, otherwise, it would be a waste of Garib being tricked like this.
‘Now, it’s just a matter of waiting… waiting for Azamu’s donations to finish their cycle, waiting for the Artisan Guild to verify Garib’s situation. Honestly… I’m also curious about how Garib’s story ends…’
Sitting on the sofa, Dorothy pondered while gazing out the window at the setting sun.
…
In the afternoon, off the southeastern coast of Adria, Conquer Sea.
Three fast-moving medium-sized naval ships of the church sailed across the shimmering sea under the sunlight, leaving long trails of waves and smoke as they sped towards Adria.
Inside the cabin of the leading ship, Archbishop Antonio sat solemnly, holding a card in his hand. With a focused expression, he stared intently at the words on the card.
“Thief K… Were we played by you from the very beginning?”
Antonio murmured, staring at the card in his hand. It was now clear that behind every event in Adria, there was a hidden hand manipulating things. The Red Tier he had been chasing was not Thief K but merely a scapegoat created by Thief K.
During the battle in the church square last night, Antonio’s side successfully captured a couple of captives. To quickly obtain information about the pursued Red Tier, these unconscious captives were sent to the ship. They finally woke up not long ago. Initially, they remained tight-lipped and loyal, but upon seeing the captured leader, their resolve crumbled instantly, revealing large amounts of information. It was this information that made Antonio realize he had been thoroughly deceived.
According to the captives, they were members of the Treasure Theft Society Boneyard Society, led by Garib. They came here to steal several artifacts donated by a former leader to the Pure Flow Church. Their target was not Emmanuel’s Crown; they originally planned to act immediately after Antonio left, but Antonio unexpectedly stayed in Adria, disrupting their plans. He was not Thief K.
After reviewing the captives’ statements, Antonio finally understood the situation. Why did a notorious thief forget to erase the trail when stealing Emmanuel’s Crown? Clearly, he had been deceived by Thief K. Thief K’s real target was never Emmanuel’s Crown; the conflict between him and Antonio was clearly instigated by the real Thief K.
In the slightly swaying cabin due to the wind and waves, Antonio looked at the confession of the Boneyard Society members and Thief K’s card, his face stern and silent. A fire of anger burned within him, even though he was a respected archbishop overseeing a large diocese with a century-long life span, he rarely encountered such infuriating matters.
“Hmph… such audacious thieves… But don’t get too cocky…”
Antonio muttered coldly, facing such audacious thieves who dared to use the church as a tool. He naturally wouldn’t ignore them.
Upon returning, Antonio immediately planned to perform divination against Thief K. However, he didn’t hold much hope for success, given that Thief K had actively provoked the church. Regular divination methods might not be enough to track Thief K’s movements, and extensive divination would require reporting to Sacred Summit, which clearly this incident didn’t warrant.
After all, Thief K hadn’t caused significant damage to the church, and the crucial Emmanuel’s Crown was eventually recovered. They even captured a Red Tier and eliminated a treasure theft society. In some ways, it was quite fruitful. For Sacred Summit, he not only avoided fault but even contributed positively, despite feeling extremely frustrated inside.
‘Looking back, my sudden stay in Adria seems to be the result of many coincidences, but too many coincidences aren’t coincidences. Because of XiaTree’s letter, I canceled my original itinerary and stayed in Adria for half a day. Then, because of Thief K’s warning letter, I stayed in XiaTree for another half a day. Originally, I thought Thief K’s warning letter was sent while I was away, but now it seems Thief K knew I was still in XiaTree and specifically sent the warning letter to keep me there, knowing Garib would come at night. Therefore, she made sure I stayed to deal with Garib.’
Antonio thought to himself, knowing XiaTree well due to his knowledge of its language. XiaTree was an isolated island community that had barely interacted with the mainland for centuries. It was hard to imagine any connection between them and a notorious thief like Thief K who operated on luxury cruise ships. If XiaTree’s letter was truly meant to keep him there to confront Garib, they could have simply asked him to stay until the afternoon or evening instead of noon.
Antonio pondered further, ruling out XiaTree as the source of the leak. The key issue now shifted to internal matters within the church. Thief K sent the warning letter in the morning because she knew he hadn’t left Adria as reported in the newspapers, but was still waiting for telegrams. Thus, she seized the opportunity to send the warning letter and specifically chose the morning because she knew he would only be there in the morning.
Since he was waiting for telegrams to obtain secret information from the Abyss Cult, he didn’t inform the outside world about his delayed schedule. Thief K, however, knew about this, indicating she had eyes and ears close to him.
This informant could be among his traveling companions, within the local church in Adria, or even among the deep-sea guards or the Order of the Holy Ceremony Knights stationed locally. These institutions knew about his delayed schedule, and Thief K likely obtained this information through one of these channels, then decided to send the warning letter to keep him there for another half day.
Sitting in his position, Antonio thought about the possible sources of the leak, excluding the pilgrims since they lacked access to his confidential information. Even the nun who delivered the letter to him wasn’t suspected.
The reason was simple: the letter from Elder Anman was written in XiaTree language, which most people wouldn’t understand. Antonio learned XiaTree language because he needed to address XiaTree issues as the Archbishop of Iwig. A nun from Prit wouldn’t recognize XiaTree language; she relied on translations for communication in XiaTree.
Excluding the nun and pilgrims, Antonio narrowed down the source of the leak. He had already decided to notify the high command of the deep-sea guards and work with them to investigate the official extraordinary institutions in Adria and conduct internal purges. He would also investigate his own surroundings and the Order of the Holy Ceremony Knights to root out Thief K’s informant. Once Thief K’s informant was found, they could trace more clues related to Thief K.
“Arrogant… they will ultimately pay for their arrogance…”
Antonio murmured gravely, gazing out at the rolling sea.
…
Time passed swiftly. The sun set, the moon rose and hid, and the sun rose again. A new day dawned in Adria.
The next day, residents near the church square noticed something unusual as soon as they stepped out. The flashing light atop the Pure Flow Church, which had disappeared for a full day, reappeared in the early morning. The citizens of Adria once again witnessed the radiant glow symbolizing the city. Although the church square was still under lockdown, the Pure Flow Church remained closed, and no official announcement had been issued, everyone knew that the lost Emmanuel’s Crown had returned.
In the midst of all the rumors about Thief K spreading throughout Adria, the return of Emmanuel’s Crown was another bombshell in the public discourse. The citizens and tourists of Adria became enthusiastic in discussing the recovery of Emmanuel’s Crown.
Various rumors circulated among the discussions. Some said Emmanuel’s Crown was returned because Thief K was caught. Others claimed Thief K wasn’t caught, but abandoned the crown to distract the pursuers. Some believed Thief K wasn’t caught, and Emmanuel’s Crown wasn’t found, suggesting the one atop the church was fake, installed by the authorities for face-saving reasons. Others speculated that Thief K returned Emmanuel’s Crown because she didn’t like it.
All these rumors spread in Adria, and almost unanimously, they agreed that Thief K had successfully stolen Emmanuel’s Crown after sending the warning letter… She was undoubtedly a legendary thief!
…
In the neighborhood of Adria, rumors about Thief K were rampant. Meanwhile, Dorothy, one of the two deeply involved individuals, had no interest in listening to these rumors. She was sitting on the sofa in her room, focusing intently on her palm, where lay a beautiful amethyst pendant with golden trim inspired by the style of Northern Ufeiga.
This crystal pendant was one of Azamu’s donations. Yesterday, it was a colorless crystal pendant with no spiritual traces. Today, it had turned into an amethyst, and Dorothy could see the faint glow of “Enlightenment” emanating from it through her spiritual vision.
This was an extraordinary item imbued with “Enlightenment,” a divination tool hidden among Azamu’s donations. It was the capital that Azamu used to rise to power and the cornerstone of Boneyard Society. Garib coveted it the most.
Seeing this pendant, Dorothy roughly understood its use. It could perform pendulum divination, and she could use it to locate the positions of everything related to the Star Number Repair Association.
…
In Adria, discussions about Thief K were spreading everywhere. Dorothy, having found the divination tool, had no interest in these discussions. Similarly, Nephnis also had no interest in them because she received an urgent telegram early in the morning.
In another upscale hotel in Adria, Nephnis, who had been staying with a study tour group for over a week, was awakened early by a knock on her door. Rubbing her eyes groggily, she asked her roommate Emma to open the door. After calling for a while and finding no response, she turned around to see Emma sleeping soundly. Reluctantly, she sat up on the bed, dressed in her pajamas, slipped on her shoes, and walked to the door, opening it. Before her stood a young hotel attendant, who, after looking at Nephnis, asked in imperfect Prit:
“Are you Miss Boyle?”
“Oh, yes, I am… Is there anything wrong?”
“It’s like this, you have an urgent telegram. It was delivered by the telegraph office early this morning from Prit Tivyán.”
As the attendant handed Nephnis the translated telegram, Nephnis, confused, shook her head. She thought about it; only her family in Tivyán knew her current address, so it must be a telegram from home.
“What could have happened at home to send an urgent telegram?”
Opening the envelope, Nephnis looked at the letter. After reading it, her eyes widened in shock.
“Grandpa Nunut… he’s… missing?!”
