The waning moon hung in the sky, and black clouds gradually rose.
Under the cover of night in Tivian, a carriage was driving forward alone on a certain street. Inside the carriage, Dorothy was sitting steadily, reviewing the information she had analyzed earlier and judging the intentions of the Eight-Pointed Nest.
'Judging from the actions of the Eight-Pointed Nest at the Sofox family's house before, they are currently inclined to guide the target of the 'Vigilant Faction' represented by Misha towards Charles IV. Regardless of what Charles IV is plotting now, since the Eight-Pointed Nest is intentionally targeting him, we cannot simply go along with their plan as they wish.'
'However, if the Eight-Pointed Nest wants to guide other forces to target Charles IV, besides the 'Vigilant Faction', there are many more useful forces, for example... Atchelly's Bureau of Secrets. The Bureau of Secrets is currently active in Tivian. If I were the Eight-Pointed Nest and wanted to target Charles IV, I would definitely not miss this opportunity and would definitely find a way to guide the hostility of the entire Church towards Charles IV through the Bureau of Secrets...'
Sitting in the slightly swaying carriage, Dorothy thought this in her heart, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt it was the case. Then she suddenly continued to think.
'If the Eight-Pointed Nest is really directing hostility towards Charles IV's side, then Misha's side is definitely secondary; the Bureau of Secrets is the main one. No, I'd better communicate with Atchelly now and remind her about what just happened here, so she doesn't get misled and played by the Eight-Pointed Nest...'
Thinking this in her heart, after making a decision, Dorothy took out her magic box, opened it, and took out her "wen hai hang zhi" from inside. After flipping to Atchelly's contact page, she picked up a pen and wrote on it.
After simply greeting Atchelly, Dorothy began to slowly wait for her reply. However, after waiting for a long time, there was no result, which made Dorothy furrow her brows slightly.
'No response for so long... If I remember correctly, Atchelly, like Beverly, should have added a sensing extraordinary setting to her contact text. It shouldn't be the case that the message was sent but she didn't know... If there's no reply, does it mean Atchelly is very busy now? Could she be carrying out a mission right now?'
Thinking this in her heart, a hint of unease couldn't help but surface in Dorothy's mind. If Atchelly was currently carrying out a mission, and this mission happened to be something the Eight-Pointed Nest could use to guide hostility, wouldn't that be dangerous?
Thinking of this, Dorothy's expression couldn't help but turn serious. She then found a place to get off the carriage. After settling the carriage, Dorothy changed into a black outfit and then soared into the air. Under the cover of night, she began flying at high speed over the suburbs of Tivian, heading straight towards a certain direction in the distance.
The place Dorothy was going to now was the headquarters of the An Yin Bureau's Directorate General of Tivian, Gale Fortress. When Dorothy and Atchelly parted ways before, she had told Atchelly that if she were to investigate cases in Tivian, she could start with the Royal Family or the An Yin Bureau. Therefore, if Atchelly was really busy with a case now, it was highly likely she was at the An Yin Bureau.
After continuously flying for a distance, Dorothy approached Gale Fortress, located in the far suburbs of Tivian. She slowly descended onto the summit of a mountain quite a distance from the fortress. Then, she looked towards the fortress in the distant night and saw the tower at the edge of the fortress that had been cut into two by some powerful force.
'A battle happened here... Did she really come here?'
Seeing the current situation at Gale Fortress, Dorothy couldn't help but think this in her heart. Then, she immediately had her bird corpse puppet carry miniature corpse puppets and infiltrate Gale Fortress by air drop, discovering that the interior of the fortress was in complete chaos at the moment.
A large number of black figures wearing black masked clothing with Church decorations were currently spread throughout Gale Fortress, attempting to control the various key outposts within the fortress. The secret agents belonging to the Bureau of Secrets were currently trying to take over control of the fortress from the An Yin Bureau's Hunters and were monitoring and guarding many of the Hunters. A large number of Hunters and fortress guards, without receiving clear instructions from their superiors, refused to cooperate with the Bureau of Secrets' secret agents, and disputes were breaking out between the two sides in quite a few places.
Although the Church's Bureau of Secrets holds a much higher position than Prit's An Yin Bureau, the two are not under the same system after all. It is only natural that the actions of these secret agents would provoke various resistances from the An Yin Bureau. There were many chaotic areas throughout the fortress, and small-scale conflicts broke out between the two sides in local regions. Many Hunters were alarmed by the conflict that had erupted in Harold's office and the collapse of the tower before. Thinking something had happened, they strongly demanded to see Harold but were stopped by the secret agents.
'What happened?'
Looking at the scene below, Dorothy couldn't help but think this in her heart. Then, she controlled her miniature corpse puppet to gradually descend and infiltrate Gale Fortress.
Gale Fortress's extraordinary defense functions were not weak. In the past, an infiltration and reconnaissance like Dorothy's would have likely consumed a lot of Spirituality. However, now the entire Gale Fortress had become chaotic due to the confrontation between the secret agents and the Hunters, and many extraordinary detection systems were unmanned, which made it much easier for Dorothy to infiltrate the fortress.
After infiltrating her miniature corpse puppet into Gale Fortress, Dorothy began searching and quickly found a valuable target: Harold's office. Here, she saw a few leading figures among the secret agents.
The most prominent one was a tall, masked secret agent figure whose uniform was slightly more elaborate. He was currently pacing the office floor with a hint of anxiety, while other secret agents under his command were coming from outside the door to report to him.
"Priest Nifeng... Those Hunters outside are getting more and more restless. Some of them have organized and say they want to see their Prince Director. Their attitude is very firm. Although they are being stopped by our people, there is a possibility of them forcing their way in at any time." The secret agent reported to the priest he called Nifeng, and the latter quickly responded.
"Stall them first... Keep stalling, at least until Lady Atchelly returns."
"Yes!" After hearing Nifeng's words, the messenger secret agent immediately withdrew to convey the order. At this moment, another secret agent in the office took the opportunity to quietly approach Nifeng and said.
"Priest Nifeng... When will Lady Atchelly finally return? It's been a long time since she went to pursue that prince who was pulled into the inner realm by strange illusory tentacles... With Lady Atchelly's strength, dealing with ordinary matters wouldn't take this long. Now I feel something is wrong. Should we report the situation here to Holy Mountain?"
"Don't panic yet... It's not time for that yet. Let's wait a while longer. If Lady Atchelly still doesn't return, then we'll consider reporting it."
In Harold's office, several secret agents exchanged these brief words. After Dorothy used her Corpse Puppet to carefully listen to their conversation, she finally understood more clearly what had happened.
'Atchelly came directly to confront Harold, and in the end, Harold chose to flee, and Atchelly chose to pursue... It seems she pursued him into the inner realm and hasn't returned yet?'
Dorothy reviewed this in her heart, and then immediately continued to analyze in her heart.
'Damn... Now Atchelly isn't here, and her subordinates are all starting to want to report this matter to Holy Mountain! If she doesn't show up soon, this matter is guaranteed to be sent directly before the Cardinal Council!' Dorothy said with some seriousness in her heart. It is a very normal and correct action for subordinates to report the long-term disappearance of their superior to the head office, but it cannot be done under the current circumstances.
The head of a country's secret police, a Royal Family Prince, is confirmed to be completely corrupted, and during his escape, even a saint disappeared with him. When such a matter is reported to Holy Mountain, won't that group of saints just come over and turn Tivian upside down? Under these circumstances, it's completely impossible for Charles IV to protect himself!
'As expected, Misha's side is just a minor skirmish, the leftover scraps. Atchelly's side is the real deal... This setup is clearly intended to attract Holy Mountain's hostility to Tivian to the greatest extent possible... If it succeeds, Charles IV's side won't be able to withstand it at all...
'Although I don't know exactly what Charles IV is doing right now, or what the Eight-Pointed Nest is trying to stop him from doing, since the Eight-Pointed Nest is putting so much effort into dealing with Charles IV, it is definitely necessary to disrupt the Eight-Pointed Nest's plan.'
Thinking this in her heart, Dorothy had now decided to stop these Bureau of Secrets secret agents from reporting the situation to Holy Mountain.
But... how to stop them? First of all, using force to incapacitate all of them is not an option. The entire Bureau of Secrets in Tivian doesn't consist of just this small group of people. Besides the Bureau of Secrets, there is also the local Church located at St. Yong Cathedral. If they lose contact with these secret agents and Atchelly for a long time, they will also proactively report the situation to Holy Mountain, so using force is not feasible.
While using force is impossible, profiling is also extremely difficult. For Dorothy to profile someone, she either needs a large amount of textual information about that person or needs to interact with him for a long time. This is fine for ordinary people, but this group of secret agents are Church spies! The textual data of spies is highly confidential and well-hidden, something Dorothy cannot find quickly. Due to the nature of their work, spies also won't casually chat with others for half a day. Dorothy is not completely unable to profile this team of secret agents, but it would take a very long time. These people will report the situation if they don't hear from Atchelly after waiting a little longer, and Dorothy simply doesn't have the time to slowly work on profiling.
Therefore, the best option currently before Dorothy is to find a way to locate Atchelly, either find a way to bring her back or tell her about the current situation and let her find a way to personally stop her subordinates.
'From the information provided by those secret agents earlier, during Atchelly's pursuit of Harold, Harold was drawn into the inner realm by some kind of illusory tentacles. Only then did Atchelly illusory-body herself and pursue him directly... Illusory tentacles... inner realm. Listening to this description, Harold was probably drawn into the Dream World.'
'Being able to break through the realm barrier in this situation and directly rescue someone from the Dream World, this kind of operation only matches Black Dream and the hint given by Mirror Moon before. It seems that Black Dream has indeed deeply cooperated with the Eight-Pointed Nest and launched a large-scale attack, and even very core figures have arrived...'
'Atchelly has been in the Dream World for so long and hasn't returned. Perhaps she encountered a prolonged battle, or perhaps she is trapped inside. The possibility of her being killed given her strength is not high... Therefore, some special means are still needed to contact her...'
Standing on the distant mountaintop, Dorothy thought this in her heart. Then, she silently took out her magic box, and from it, she once again took out the "wen hai hang zhi". After briefly flipping through it, she turned to the contact page for Atchelly.
'If the information is correct, Atchelly entered the Dream World by transforming her physical body into a dream body, rather than entering through sleep and mimicry. In this case, the personal items she carried should also have been transformed into dream bodies and taken in with her. This means the contact text is still on her, but communication is impossible due to the realm barrier.'
'The Dream World is an inner realm primarily constructed with the element of'Shadow', interspersed with some elements of 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment). Therefore, extraordinary items of'Shadow' and 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) should not be overly suppressed inside and should be able to function accordingly after being transformed into dream bodies. As long as I can break through the realm barrier, I should be able to transmit the information.'
Dorothy thought so because she couldn't persuade a Church saint like Atchelly to pray to a pagan god like Aka, and therefore couldn't establish an information channel with Atchelly. She could only communicate using the "wen hai hang zhi". However, thankfully, Dorothy had a way to make the "wen hai hang zhi" break through the realm barrier.
"Divine Enlightenment..."
Stroking the cover of the "wen hai hang zhi", Dorothy murmured softly. As a faint, almost imperceptible purple light flashed in Dorothy's eyes, the stroked "wen hai hang zhi" began to float automatically, hovering before Dorothy. The edges of its pages gradually returned to normal after a hint of faint purple light appeared.
Now, Dorothy used the divine nature of "enlightenment" originating from the Judge of Heaven to perform divine enchantment on the "wen hai hang zhi". That's right, divine enchantment is not limited to extraordinary abilities; it can also be applied to extraordinary items. As long as it is an extraordinary item of "enlightenment", Dorothy can infuse a certain amount of divine nature into it to strengthen its ability.
After the "wen hai hang zhi" was divinely enchanted, its communication ability would be greatly enhanced, allowing it to cross realm barriers. In addition, it would gain extra new abilities, but for now, Dorothy didn't need this ability; what she needed at the moment was just communication enhancement.
After the divine enchantment was completed, Dorothy immediately began to write new words on the communication page with Atchelly.
"Where are you now?"
However, not long after writing these words, Dorothy couldn't help but furrow her brows slightly. After the "wen hai hang zhi" was strengthened, she could now feel the status of its information transmission. She could feel that the "wen hai hang zhi" had successfully broken through the realm limitations and transmitted the information into the Dream World, but after entering the Dream World, the information encountered an obstruction from something on the second layer beyond the realm barrier!
This is a form of interference! A powerful interference. Dorothy could sense that there was an extremely strong interference force at the location in the Dream World where Atcherley currently was, disrupting the entire transmitted information. This disruption was directly destroying the content of the information transmission, ruining its order!
'Is this... interference? Interference that can affect information blessed by divine power? Where exactly is this Atcherley?'
Seeing this scene, Dorothy couldn't help but frown and think to herself. The information she transmitted was blessed by divine power, and it could still be interfered with. What power was interfering with the information?!
This question appeared in Dorothy's mind, but she quickly found the answer within herself. Only divinity can interfere with divinity. In the Dream World, there is almost only one source of divine power that can affect the divine power of the Judge of Heaven, and that is the "Butterfly/Moth," or rather, the "Holy Cocoon" that is simultaneously nurturing the Butterfly!
Although the Butterfly and Moth were still in a semi-conscious, semi-sleeping state at this moment, they were still unconsciously emitting a certain kind of mist outwards. Even the Black Dream could not pass through this mist smoothly, and rushing into it would only lead to permanent loss.
That mist was created based on the divinity of the "Butterfly/Moth" as a young god, a divinity that was at least at the demigod level, close to true god. Although Dorothy's Judge of Heaven divinity belonged to the main god divinity, due to Dorothy's own Scarlet level as the carrier, the level of divinity was weakened to a certain extent, unable to directly isolate the interference of that mist.
"So, how did that Atcherley suddenly get to that kind of place..."
Analyzing the current situation, Dorothy couldn't help but mutter with a solemn expression.
...
On the other hand, the Dream World, Woodland.
Amidst the vast, boundless white mist, between the faintly visible Lakhman giant trees, Atcherley, dressed in a fitted suit and cloak, was walking on the colorful grassland, observing the surrounding situation as she walked, seemingly preparing to find the right path in this Maze.
Ever since entering the Dream World, Atcherley had been trapped in this white mist forest for some time. During this period, she had used various methods to try to escape the current predicament, but all had completely failed. This labyrinthine area still felt deep and confusing to her; she completely lost all sense of direction within it. No matter which direction she went, whether east, south, west, north, up, down, left, or right, or even realm-crossing, she could not find a way out. No matter how she "moved," what appeared before her eyes, besides the white mist, was only the deep forest within the mist.
"Is this... a divine maze..."
"Hiss... I feel a bit dizzy... Is it because I've been wandering here for too long?"
Looking at the scene before her, Atcherley couldn't help but hold her forehead, sighing softly. Then she sat down beside a tall tree towering in the mist, beginning a short rest. It was at this moment that she suddenly felt something unusual.
Sensing the anomaly, Atcherley's expression tightened. After fumbling through her cloak, she took out a small book. After carefully examining it, a hint of surprise appeared on her face.
'This is... the extraordinary item for communication that guy gave me? It actually reacted? Is she contacting me? They actually have a way to contact me in this mist in the Dream World?'
Looking at the text in her hand, Atcherley couldn't help but wonder to herself. Before this, she had also tried various ways to contact the outside world, but they had all failed due to the mist's obstruction. This mist could not only lose concrete things but also information.
After being slightly curious about the methods of the so-called Rose Cross, Atcherley immediately opened the book before her and saw a newly emerged script. Just as Atcherley was about to decipher it, she couldn't help but frown.
The script that appeared on the text before her was not neat sentences, but a pile of chaotic, inexplicable, completely incomprehensible symbols. As the Director of the Bureau of Secrets of the Church, Atcherley understood multiple languages and was also very proficient in semiotics, but she completely couldn't understand the meaning on it. She felt that these symbols were like random scribbles drawn by a baby, without any meaning in them.
'What... is she trying to express? Is this a language I haven't seen before? No... this doesn't look like a language... These graphics and lines are constructed without any pattern whatsoever, as if they were randomly pieced together...'
'This doesn't seem like the information that so-called Scholar sent me... It feels like the result of some original information being tampered with... Is this also the effect of this mist?'
Looking at the scribbled marks on the text before her, Atcherley couldn't help but ponder deeply in her heart. And her judgment was indeed correct; this was precisely the result of Dorothy's original information being interfered with by the mist of the "Butterfly/Moth."
The divinity of the "Butterfly/Moth" lies in illusion and confusion. This mist is precisely the manifestation of the power of confusion within the divinity. Any direction within it will be chaotic, any journey within it will be lost, any goal within it will be blurred, reality and illusion become indistinguishable, and everything will fall into chaos...
This includes not only people or things caught within it, but even various forms of power and information itself. Any information transmitted within the mist will have its original order disrupted, becoming disorganized. The meaning of text is built upon symbols constructed with order; once affected by this mist of confusion and the order collapses, it will become chaotic, turning from ordered characters into disordered "garbled code."
If normal information were transmitted within the mist, it would directly lose direction and simply be unable to reach the recipient. However, because the information Dorothy transmitted had the protection of the "enlightenment" divinity, it barely managed not to lose order in terms of the transmission target, but its content was interfered with to the point of disorder. Meaningful content became garbled code, making it impossible to interpret.
'I can't understand this at all, what exactly does she want to express?'
Seeing the chaotic garbled code on the text before her, Atcherley couldn't help but wonder in her heart. After pondering for a moment and being truly unable to find an answer, Atcherley also used her Dream World materialized pen to write a reply on the page, asking Dorothy for the specific meaning of her previous words.
After Dorothy's information was successfully transmitted to Atcherley's text, the divine power of "enlightenment" had already established a link between Dorothy's "wen hai hang zhi" and Atcherley's text. Therefore, Atcherley's reply quickly appeared on Dorothy's "wen hai hang zhi" in the real world, but it was also in a version that was interfered with by the mist and chaotic to the point of being uninterpretable.
'What is this? Garbled code? What's going on with Atcherley replying to me with a string of garbled code?'
On the hills in the night of the real world, Dorothy couldn't help but stroke her chin as she looked at the garbled content on the "wen hai hang zhi" before her, her expression puzzled as she began to ponder the cause of this so-called garbled phenomenon. After a while, she also thought that it was probably caused by the influence of the powerful interference source within the Dream World.
'Is this... the influence of that divine mist? This is impressive, it can actually directly affect the transmitted information. It looks like it's causing the information to become disordered. Is this one manifestation of the power of the god in the cocoon?'
Looking at the scene on the page before her, Dorothy analyzed it in her heart. Then she picked up her pen again, wrote on the contact page, and continued to contact Atcherley. After a while, she received a reply again, but it was still displayed in the form of garbled code, making it impossible to decipher any information from it.
Seeing this scene, Dorothy paused slightly, then made a few more attempts, but the effect remained the same; she couldn't understand the interfered information at all. Seeing that communication was impossible in this situation, Dorothy thought for a moment and then changed her method of communication with Atcherley, continuing to write on the "wen hai hang zhi," but this time she didn't write any specific information, but instead simply made dots on the page with her pen.
Friendly reminder: The website is about to be revised, which may cause reading progress to be lost. Please save your "Bookshelf" and "Reading Records" in time (screenshot saving is recommended). We apologize for any inconvenience caused!
One dot, pause, two dots, pause... Dorothy divided her information into multiple parts, sending them to Atcherley with a rhythm. In the mist of the Dream World, on the text before Atcherley, the information transmitted by Dorothy still appeared in the form of garbled code, but each piece of information transmitted was not long, extremely short. These short, chaotic symbols appeared continuously with a certain rhythm. Atcherley's eyes widened in realization upon seeing them.
"This person..."
After softly muttering with a smile, Atcherley also picked up her pen and began to make dots on her text with a rhythm. Her rhythm also appeared on the page before Dorothy. Upon seeing it, Dorothy nodded silently, deciphering Atcherley's meaning.
"I am currently in the Dream World. An accident occurred during the process of pursuing the leader of the Black Dream Hunter Group, Gǔ Mián, and I am trapped in a mist created by divine power, temporarily unable to escape."
This was Dorothy's deciphered meaning of Atcherley's message. Although the information Dorothy transmitted into the mist with the help of the "enlightenment" divinity could not guarantee the orderliness of the content, it at least maintained real-time transmission. Although the information sent by both sides would be garbled each time, they could at least receive it from each other in real-time. In this case, they could completely abandon normal letter communication and communicate solely through rhythm, like tapping out a telegram.
Atcherley was the Director of the Bureau of Secrets of the Church, so she definitely mastered the universal telegraph code of the world's countries. And Dorothy, needless to say, had long memorized practical knowledge like universal telegraph code by heart. Therefore, this form of communication between them was completely unimpeded.
'Fortunately, my divinity ensured the accurate target and real-time nature of the information transmission... Otherwise, I wouldn't know what to do...'
Seeing the content of the telegraph code Atcherley replied with, Dorothy couldn't help but think thankfully to herself. Then she officially began communicating with Atcherley via tapped telegram.
"I contacted you this time because I wanted to warn you that the Eight-Pointed Nest and Black Dream might have prepared some kind of trap for you and your subordinates. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it in time. Now you are already caught in their trap, but there is still another round of traps targeting your subordinates. If they are not stopped, they will also fall into it. The most pressing matter now is to deal with the problem of your subordinates."
Dorothy communicated with Atcherley by sending this message. After a while, she received a reply.
"Tell me more, what is this trap?"
"This trap... is about King Prit, Charles IV. I'll tell you what I experienced before, and you'll probably understand..."
After replying like this, Dorothy continued to tap the page repeatedly with a rhythm, sending information to Atcherley. Atcherley quickly learned what had happened at Sofox Mansion not long ago and understood Dorothy's meaning.
"I roughly understand what you mean. You want to say... Charles IV is not with the Eight-Pointed Nest and them right now? The Eight-Pointed Nest and Black Dream are deliberately directing our hatred towards Charles IV?" Atcherley's words appeared on Dorothy's page like this, and Dorothy quickly responded.
"Yes, from the current situation, we cannot be led by the nose by the Eight-Pointed Nest and them. Now your subordinates have been waiting for your news and are preparing to report to Holy Mountain. If your other Cardinal colleagues run to Tivian and arrest Charles IV, won't they completely fall into those guys' trap? So, do you have any way to stop your subordinates from reporting? If you do, tell me."
Dorothy wrote to Atcherley like this, and the other party responded after a long pause.
"Charles IV is the target with the highest suspicion for me. Now you want me to stop Holy Mountain's reinforcement of Tivian and stop the other Cardinals from rescuing me, based solely on a judgment without concrete evidence?"
"That's right. After all, it is said that there are quite fanatical individuals among your colleagues. Once they come here, who knows what will happen... I don't think they are more reasonable than you."
"I know you are counting on your Cardinal colleagues to rescue you, but I believe that other Cardinals coming here will only make things worse, so please bear with it for now. At least wait until after the exhibition ends before notifying the other Cardinals. Of course, I will also try to help you escape from here. Maybe you can get out earlier."
"Also, although I currently don't have definitive evidence that Charles IV is not on the same side as the Eight-Pointed Nest, the current situation is not the time to rush to find evidence and hold a trial... I can only trust my intuition. I hope you can trust me this time... Your Excellency Director of the Bureau of Secrets..." Dorothy said to Atcherley like this, and after a short while, Atcherley responded again.
"Everything you just said, I cannot confirm at all right now. Why should I trust you on such a major matter? Miss Meisihuos, we've only met once, right?" Atcherley questioned like this, and Dorothy thought for a moment before picking up her pen and continuing to write.
"Because, I am the only person who can contact you right now. Because of your Saint and my Empress, for the sake of the night sky and the moon wheel, please trust my judgment, Your Excellency Atcherley..."
Dorothy replied like this, then continued to wait silently for the other party's response. Not long after, Atcherley's rhythm finally appeared on Dorothy's page.
"My Holy Steel Ship, the 'Twilight Faithful Shadow', is currently docked at Aksiu Military Port not far from Tivian. It has mechanical servants who only accept orders given by me. I will tell you the ritual for sending an emergency message to it without key equipment and contracts, and give you the password to open the highest authorization, so that you can issue commands to the 'Twilight Faithful Shadow' ship in my identity."
"This Holy Steel Ship is the mobile command center of the Bureau of Secrets. It has communication devices to contact various intelligence agencies. I will guide you in using the Bureau of Secrets' various secret codes and ciphers, bypassing all restrictions that require personal verification, and impersonating me to issue orders to my subordinates, telling them that I have undergone a difficult long-term mission in the Dream World, am not in danger and can handle the current difficulties myself, and asking them not to report to Holy Mountain for help for now..."
"You will temporarily take my place in controlling the Bureau of Secrets in Tivian. This is the only way I can regain control of my subordinates at the moment. Doing this is very risky for me, so you'd best not have any other ideas mixed in... I have ways to watch you..."
"This is the greatest trust I can give you, for the sake of your face, how about it?"
Atchelli responded to Dorothy like this. After Dorothy finished reading, she let out a slight sigh of relief, and then wrote and said.
"Thank you."
...
In Tivian at night, in the East District, within the shadows of a certain alley, a nimble figure was speeding along, running wildly at high speed within the winding and complex alleys, continuously leaping over the roofs of rugged low walls, rapidly moving in the dark night, seemingly fleeing from something.
Finally, after continuously leaping over several low buildings in an incredible posture, the black figure arrived at an inconspicuous corner on the edge of the city. After stopping in the shadow of a wall corner, she began leaning against the wall, panting heavily.
When the faint moonlight from the sky shone into the alley, what was revealed was a nimble female figure covered in sweat. She was Misha Devonshire, the former Royal Knight of Prit and captain of the An Yin Bureau.
Just as Dorothy was going to the An Yin Bureau to check on the situation, Misha, who had parted ways with Ed, also began her own actions, going to the place where the King, Charles IV, was located, attempting to meet Charles IV in person to figure out what he was plotting. If possible, Misha wanted to question Charles IV personally.
Not long ago, Misha approached Charles IV's location, the World Expo venue in East Tivian, the Crystal Palace. During the final period of the Crystal Palace's construction, Charles IV had been living here continuously, almost completely detached from the palace and other political activities of the Kingdom, bringing his few attendants to personally supervise the construction of the Crystal Palace, concentrating all his focus there.
Just now, Misha secretly approached the Crystal Palace, but was discovered by Charles IV's guards. Then these guards launched an attack on Misha. Misha wanted to communicate and explain, but the other party did not listen at all.
Charles IV's guards were very strong, stronger than Misha had expected. Misha was completely unable to resist the guards' attacks after just two rounds of parrying. Just as she was about to be killed, Misha's clothes were cut open, and an item she carried with her fell out. After seeing that scene, the guards suddenly stopped as if they had received some order.
Although she didn't know why the other party suddenly stopped, Misha seized the opportunity of their halted attack and immediately chose to withdraw from the spot, canceling her plan to meet Charles IV, and fled all the way here at the fastest speed.
"Hoo... hoo... Those guards... were really strong, and also very strange, and their abilities were completely different from Despenser's Storm Power... Where did the King... get this kind of guard protection from? Does the Despenser Royal Family... inherit this kind of power?"
Leaning on the wall with her hand, Misha panted heavily and murmured. After finally managing to regulate her breathing, she stood up straight again, then reached into her clothes, fumbled around for a bit, and took out an item.
It was a silver shield crest amulet. On the back of the shield crest, a string of ancient Prit text was engraved. This was an relic obtained last year during a joint operation between Misha and Dorothy, found in the Glory Hall, the family cemetery of the Devonshire family. The original owner of this relic belonged to Misha's ancestor, the famous general Ampere Devonshire, who was very active in both camps during the Wind King Rebellion.
Ample served King Jeffrey the Black during the Wind King Rebellion, and later defected to the legitimate successor Baldrick. He is the ancestor of the Devonshire family's achievements and glory. This shield crest amulet is a relic Misha found in Ample's tomb. Dorothy once used the inscription on it to find the Mirror Moon Temple located in Glamorgan. After obtaining the key inscription information, Dorothy returned the amulet to Misha, who is a descendant of the Devonshire family. And those strange guards stopped attacking Misha precisely after seeing this amulet, giving Misha a chance to catch her breath and escape back here.
"Hoo... hoo... Ample, is there any connection... with today's secrets of Prit?"
Looking at the amulet in her hand, Misha spoke while slightly panting. After finally catching her breath, she took another serious look at the amulet in her hand, and then put it back on her body.
'Perhaps... I can find out more things through this clue...'
After putting away the amulet, Misha's expression became firm again. Then she stepped forward and walked out, her entire figure gradually disappearing into the shadows of the night.
...
Under the waning moon, in the suburbs of East Tivian, on a vast plain somewhere.
Under the night moon, a giant and strange building stood on the wide square. Amidst the surrounding flower beds, fountains, and columns, vertical steel beams were densely intertwined and connected, continuously growing and extending towards the sky, forming a complex and massive framework. On that framework, countless translucent panels were being installed, covering the areas left open by the framework one by one, forming a transparent and crystalline outer wall. These crystalline outer walls bent and connected to each other, forming giant domes, sharp spires, and magnificent halls. The entire building, when viewed from afar, resembled a crystal craft amplified countless times, both exquisitely intricate and astonishingly majestic and magnificent.
The Crystal Palace, this is the main venue for the World Expo that Prit is about to hold. It was presided over and built by the contemporary King of Prit, Charles IV, and took three years to finally complete. At this moment, it is quietly waiting in the dark night for the arrival of its own grand event.
Inside the Crystal Palace, under the giant circular dome, on a tall tower interspersed with flowers and plants, a tall and thin figure was standing at this moment. He was an older man, looking to be around forty or fifty years old. His hair was neatly combed, with many gray strands mixed in. He had a light layer of beard on his face, and his solemn face was covered with various wrinkles. His serious eyes revealed fatigue. He was wearing a set of seemingly simple but extremely high-quality Prit military officer attire, with his white-gloved hands clasped behind his back. He was not wearing any military rank insignia.
He is the current nominal supreme ruler of Prit, the King of Prit, Charles IV.
"Your Majesty, according to your command, that observer has been released..."
Beside Charles IV, a woman in black, wearing a black robe and a hooded veil, was standing and reporting, while Charles IV, after listening, spoke softly.
"Devonshire... Although I don't know which side she is serving now, for the sake of her ancestor, let her go this once..."
"After all, Ample's contribution to the Kingdom... is indelible..."
Charles IV spoke with such soft words, and at this moment, the woman who seemed to be an attendant beside him continued to report.
"In addition, we have received news that the Saint of Holy Mountain, the Cardinal of the Bureau of Secrets, has directly launched action against the An Yin Bureau. Judging by the current state of the An Yin Bureau, Prince Harold's final fate will likely not be too good..."
Listening to the attendant's words, Charles IV paused slightly, then sighed softly, and slowly said.
"This... is also something that cannot be helped. May the Lord's blessing allow him to escape this calamity..." Charles IV said this, and after the guard paused slightly, she continued to ask.
"Your Majesty, the Bureau of Secrets will inevitably expand its investigation scope to other members of the Royal Family later. There will likely be many people affected afterwards. Are we really not going to intervene?"
The attendant asked Charles IV like this, while Charles IV shook his head slightly and spoke.
"Intervene... Even if I could intervene, I cannot... Once I intervene, once I meddle in the Kingdom's affairs, once I get entangled with those complicated people... and complicated matters again, it will be impossible to easily break free..."
"The Pain Lady's thorns have already pierced this country and are secreting venom. Under the shadow of the Goddess of Conspiracy, no one can distinguish who is an enemy and who is a friend. Only a lonely ruler can protect himself."
"Otherwise, I will be the next Mad King..."
Saying this, Charles IV slowly raised his head and looked up at the giant dome of the Crystal Palace above. Through the extremely intricate steel framework and transparent glass, Charles IV gazed at the waning moon in the sky.
...
Time passed quickly, the dark night gradually receded, and the daytime gradually began. As the waning moon in the sky set, a faint Light of dawn couldn't help but appear on the eastern horizon. Tivian, having shed the night, welcomed the day.
On a hill in the distant suburbs of Tivian, at the top of a Church bell tower, a figure was standing at this moment, standing before the bell of dawn.
It was a woman. She was tall and slender, wearing a dark red robe adorned with countless intricate patterns, and many blood-stained spike pendants hung on her body. Although the woman's appearance was dignified, she was so thin that her cheekbones protruded, her skin was pale but her lips were black, and she had a short buzz cut. On her face, head, and neck, horrifyingly thick and long black iron nails were densely embedded.
These iron nails were deeply embedded in every part of the woman's face, including vital points like her throat and temples, so densely packed that seeing them caused severe discomfort. These nails, each capable of taking a life, were embedded in her body, yet she lived with extraordinary ease, as if completely unaffected. On her forehead, an eight-legged spider tattoo was drawn, and below that tattoo, her indifferent gaze stared at the rising sun of the distant city.
"Up until now... Holy Mountain still shows no abnormality... Even the local Church hasn't had any drastic reaction. Is this somewhat different from what was expected... Seeker of the Moth..."
With a hoarse and sharp voice, the nail-pierced woman said expressionlessly, while at this moment, inside the bell tower behind her, beneath the roof, a blurred, seemingly real and seemingly illusory figure was hanging upside down, emitting sounds that seemed both illusory and real.
"The Cardinal of the Bureau of Secrets has been trapped and killed by us in the maze. She cannot escape on her own, nor can she communicate with the outside world..."
"But, do you think this is the reaction the Church should have after a saint disappears? If Holy Mountain really lost a saint, would they still be this quiet?" The woman continued to ask, her words already carrying a hint of doubt, while the hanging Gu Mian continued to say dismissively.
"I told you, the Cardinal of the Bureau of Secrets is now in the maze. She cannot come out, nor can she communicate with the outside world, unless you encounter the Cardinal of the Bureau of Secrets in the real world again, otherwise don't even think about questioning me... Soreface... Gesijina..."
There was a hint of coldness in Gu Mian's tone. The woman named Gesijina responded with a cold snort after hearing this statement.
"Hmph... Then consider your mission completed until the Cardinal of the Bureau of Secrets reappears. Just assume the Cardinal of the Bureau of Secrets had some backup plan that came in handy, and Charles IV got lucky..."
"But he's only hiding for a while. Tomorrow is the final moment. By tomorrow, he won't be able to keep hiding..."
Gesijina said this, and after a moment of silence, Gu Mian also spoke quietly.
"Tomorrow... everything will be revealed... the moment this world knows what is real and what is illusory..."
"It is also the moment we can finally completely resolve the grudges with Prit that have lasted for over a thousand years... Madam has had enough of continuing to be entangled with Arthur's descendants like this. Tomorrow will end all of this." Gesijina said this, and at the same time, her expression turned fierce as she added.
"At the same time... it is also the beginning of completely ending the era of that moon bitch..."
...
Rooted in Prit's past, shadows from the past have quietly entwined the city of Tivian. Although danger lurks, the name of the World Expo still attracts tourists from both inside and outside Prit.
On the outer sea of Prit, a cruise ship full of passengers was sailing towards its destination port, Tivian. At the bow of the ship, blown by the sea breeze, the brown-haired girl Shaliya, along with her Black Cat, looked towards the distant coast with anticipation.
On the mainland of Prit's main island, on the railway tracks in the countryside fields, a long train was roaring forward at high speed. Inside a first-class compartment, Anna, dressed in simple travel attire and wearing a small hat, was focused on reading, occasionally looking out at the scenery outside the window in her leisure time.