Chapter 468 – Exchange
Prit, Tivyán.
In the dark of night, in the suburbs of South Tivyán, within an abandoned warehouse, Gregor stood at the center, dressed in someone else’s clothes and using someone else’s appearance. He gazed at the motionless corpse lying on the ground before him, feeling a sense of contemplation.
“Dead… a White Chalk has just died like this. I really managed to take down a White Chalk…” Facing the lifeless body of Atif before him, Gregor felt a hint of disbelief within.
As someone within the official extraordinary system, Gregor knew very well that there were no more than ten White Chalk-level extraordinary beings even within the Tivyán headquarters. The total number of White Chalks in the entire Prit An Yin police system was only around thirty.
While Gregor was unsure about the situation within the military and the noble families, it couldn’t be much different. In his estimation, the total number of official White Chalks in the entire Prit kingdom might be around eighty or ninety at most, and it certainly wouldn’t exceed a hundred. Therefore, White Chalk-level extraordinary beings could be considered absolute elites and very important resources.
In Gregor’s mind, White Chalk had always been an incomprehensibly powerful existence — a captain of the garrison within the headquarters and his superior, and at the same time among various societies as a leader.
After entering the headquarters, Gregor had set a goal for himself to strive for a promotion to White Chalk before he turned forty. Thus, White Chalk had always been his aspiration and anticipated career endpoint, and he had longed for this rank. Now… without even successfully being promoted to White Chalk, he had taken down one with his bare hands. This feeling was quite peculiar for the current Gregor; he even felt that everything before him lacked a sense of reality.
Feeling somewhat disoriented, Gregor took a few deep breaths and then looked at the small kn*fe in his hand. What he saw were several iron arrowheads that had been stealthily attached to his kn*fe. As Gregor observed, these arrows suddenly lost their adhesive ability and dropped to the ground one after another.
‘The key to taking down this White Chalk was still the assistance of the detective and that lady. Their powers are strong and peculiar; they can create invisible impacts without showing themselves. I’ve never seen effects like this before… it’s truly terrifying…
‘The detective’s organization is fortunately not an evil society; they won’t be at odds with the An Yin Bureau. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to face them…’
Looking at the kn*fe in his hand, Gregor reflected in his heart. Once again, he lamented the detective’s influence while a wave of unease rose within him. He was afraid that if this powerful and enigmatic organization ever became adversarial to the An Yin Bureau, turning into an enemy of Prit, what choice would he have? How would he respond?
‘There are just too many mysteries surrounding them. It would be great if I could see a bit more clearly…’
As Gregor pondered in place after the battle, a voice suddenly echoed behind him.
“Are you contemplating life, Mr. Shadow Faced Man?”
Upon hearing this voice, Gregor was taken aback, then turned around to see a mysterious lady, related to the detective, walking towards him from the entrance of the warehouse, her face still masked.
“No, just feeling a bit contemplative. I’ve never defeated such a strong enemy before, milady…” Gregor replied respectfully upon seeing Adele approach him. Adele smiled gently in response.
“To perform like this in your first confrontation with a White Chalk… your skills are quite decent.”
“Not at all… it’s only because of your and the detective’s assistance that I was able to engage… Given this fellow’s performance, if I had to handle it alone, I doubt even ten of me would stand a chance…”
“Ha… how humble, Mr. Shadow Faced Man. Alright, let’s cut the formalities. Since the target has been eliminated, let’s get down to business. Where is the hostage that the detective mentioned needs rescuing?” Adele continued to address Gregor, who then turned his gaze toward a small brick room not far off.
“Right in there. I checked before; he’s still alive, just unconscious.”
“Good… as long as he’s still alive. I’ve notified my people to come in from the perimeter. The subsequent rescue and cleanup will be handled by them. If you’re busy, you can head back first, Mr. Shadow Faced Man.”
“If you’re worried about the spoils, you can wait a bit. According to my agreement with the detective, he has another reward to pay me, so most of the spoils on these guys are yours. Once we finish organizing and confirm safety, we will send them to you. Of course, if you don’t trust us and want them now, you can take them, but the identification and safety confirmation work will have to be done by you.”
Adjusting the brim of her hat, Adele spoke to Gregor. Listening to her words, Gregor turned his head to glance at the several corpses lying on the ground, surprised that the detective and the lady before him would actually let him keep most of the spoils. It seemed he wasn’t working for free after all.
“I don’t have any means of identification with me, so milady, please take those things back first. I need to head back and get some proper rest.”
Saying this, Gregor yawned widely and waved goodbye to Adele, quickly leaving the scene. As Adele watched Gregor leave, she couldn’t help but murmur to herself.
“Choosing to go back and rest even when faced with the spoils of a White Chalk-level extraordinary being? Is he particularly trusting of others, or is he simply tired? Quite interesting…”
After that, Adele turned her attention back to the battlefield, ready to command the follow-up cleanup work.
…
After the battle in the South District ended, Adele had her subordinates, who had been on standby in the perimeter, come over to clean up the battlefield. Once all extraordinary traces were eliminated, she had them take all the corpses and Nunut back to her base in East Tivyán.
Later, the unconscious Nunut was temporarily settled in Adele’s headquarters, where a doctor among her subordinates immediately began treatment and diagnosis on him.
The doctor first treated and bandaged the wounds all over Nunut’s body caused by the interrogation. Then he diagnosed the reason for his unconsciousness and confirmed that it was due to a certain drug that had forced him into a deep sleep. As long as he didn’t continue taking the medication, he would wake up in no time.
Sure enough, the next morning, Nunut finally awakened groggily in the hospital bed. Upon realizing he was suddenly in a closed hospital room, he immediately went on high alert, wary of everything. No matter how the doctor explained his lack of hostility and reassured him of his safety, Nunut refused to listen, stubbornly believing that everything around him was a ruse by the robbers to extract information from him.
Faced with such an uncooperative Nunut, Adele was well-prepared. She took out a blank page previously requested from Gregor and had one of her subordinates give it to the hostile Nunut in the hospital room. Upon receiving the seemingly torn-out blank page, Nunut unexpectedly found handwriting that belonged to Nephnis, the young lady of the Boyle Family whom he served! Moreover, the writings appeared in segments gradually coming into existence!
Nunut then cautiously began to study the page. The handwriting from Nephnis informed him that it was an extraordinary item for communication, allowing correspondence between distant texts, and Nephnis was using this method to communicate with him.
Initially, Nunut was skeptical of this claim. He thought that perhaps the paper was possessed by something trying to impersonate his young lady and deceive him into revealing secrets about the secret room. It wasn’t until the writings began to reveal many matters only known to the Boyle Family that Nunut started to waver. When the page directly displayed the method to open the secret room, Nunut completely believed that he was indeed communicating with Nephnis.
After all, the secrets he had always guarded were directly stated by the other party; what was the point of continuing his resistance? Those thieves couldn’t possibly force him to divulge secrets after knowing them, right?
Once he truly confirmed that he was out of danger, Nunut let out a sigh of relief. He relaxed significantly and, after apologizing to the doctor who treated him, began to actively cooperate with the treatment and continued to use the page to contact Nephnis, who was miles away.
“I never expected… that after fainting, I would truly be rescued. I thought I was going to completely fall into those bastards’ hands, but unexpectedly, things could turn around.”
In the enclosed hospital room, dressed in a hospital gown, Nunut sat on his bed, using a book to prop up the communication page as he wrote. After a while, Nephnis’s response appeared on the page.
“We owe this to the society I’m currently part of. When they heard that you were captured, they immediately utilized their resources in Tivyán to find and rescue you…”
“A society, huh…”
Looking at the handwriting that appeared on the page, Nunut glanced around the hospital room, and thinking of the professional care he had just received, he couldn’t help but marvel at how this was indeed a large organization. Even in a branch base, they possessed such a level of medical capabilities. Only such a powerful society could rescue him in a short time.
Nunut had always known that Nephnis must be part of some extraordinary organization. Although he hadn’t directly opposed it, he had repeatedly reminded her to be cautious of the other side to avoid being used and harmed.
However, Nunut never imagined that this extraordinary organization would be so capable. For a mere marginal member’s butler to be kidnapped, they would come specifically to carry out a rescue. This treatment was simply too good.
At that moment, Nunut realized that Nephnis had recently joined the mysterious society; he naturally regarded her as a bottom-tier marginal figure. Such a lower-level individual unexpectedly receiving such treatment made him think that the society must not have expended much effort in finding and rescuing him. Taking down a group of robbers with White Chalk levels must have been a trivial matter for them; if such matters were considered simple… how strong could this society truly be?
For a moment, Nunut’s thoughts began to drift, imagining what kind of organization could eliminate a White Chalk and a group of low-tier thieves for the sake of a Black Earth-level member.
At that moment, Nephnis’s inquiry once again appeared on the communication page.
“By the way, I have another crucial question for you, Grandpa Nunut. Do you know what identities the group of robbers who kidnapped you have? What were they after in kidnapping you?”
Seeing the newly emerged handwriting, Nunut snapped back to reality from his reverie. After seriously considering it, he continued writing on the page.
“I don’t know their specific identities. I can only tell that they are treasure thieves from the Treasure Theft Society in Northern Ufeiga, just like I used to be with the master. The reason they attacked the house and kidnapped me is simple: They were trying to assist that ancient undead in finding the scepter to ward off the curse from the basement. They are cursed and must obey the tasks of that ancient undead.”
“What? Cursed?”
“Yes. From their conversations, I could gather that they encountered that ancient undead during a tomb raid and were cursed by it. The undead threatened them with the curse, forcing them to steal that scepter in Tivyán. If they didn’t comply or failed to steal it within the specified time, the undead would directly k*ll them with the curse. They had no choice but to obey.”
Responding based on his recent memories, Nunut wrote this on the page, and after a while, Nephnis’s reply once more emerged.
“That ancient undead… has it actually figured out the location of the scepter?”
“Indeed… Wasn’t the scepter temporarily rendered ineffective last year due to a lack of ‘Enlightenment’? I believe that was when the ancient undead’s influence extended through its curse. I think it pinpointed the scepter’s location during that period. Then it only recently found the opportunity to curse a group of treasure thieves, compelling them to steal the scepter.”
Nunut wrote down the possible origins of the situation on the page. After pondering it for a moment, he continued writing.
“To be honest, the power and determination of that ancient undead are becoming increasingly beyond my expectations. This time, cursing people to steal the scepter won’t be the first or the last time.
“It seems that the ancient undead has been growing stronger lately. Young lady, as a member of the Boyle Family, you cannot escape entanglement with it. Danger may strike at any moment. It might not be the time for slow and steady progress anymore. You need greater power to face the crises.”
Nunut wrote with an extremely serious expression, and after finishing his words, Nephnis’s puzzled response appeared.
“Grandpa Nunut, do you mean…”
“I’ve decided to give you the remaining notes of the master, young lady. Please make good use of them.”
