Chapter 800: Chapter 588: The Snake-Shadow and Rat-Eyed Achieve Merit Again
Ice Sculpture Royal Capital.
Purple Vine Shop.
The shop assistant posing as a spy member is inspecting the goods.
A massive wooden box is pried open with an iron bar, revealing a box full of stones inside.
The Empire’s spy organization member inspecting the goods immediately reached out, covering his nose and shouting, “Volcano smelly stones again.”
These stones come in various sizes, ranging in color from grayish-white to black.
The stones have numerous tiny gaps inside, densely packed.
When soaked in water, the stones will immediately bring it to a boil, and within seconds, it will start bubbling.
If the stones are left in the air for a long time, they will emit a strong odor that is difficult to eliminate.
Without protection, direct skin contact with the stone surface will cause intense itching, scratching until the skin breaks will hardly relieve it.
“Count the numbers carefully, this is a strict order from above. Don’t blame me for not warning you, if you make a mistake and get caught, your life won’t be spared!” warned the spy member delivering the goods.
“Of course, of course!” The shop assistant inspecting the goods nodded repeatedly, his face full of seriousness and caution.
While carefully counting, he chatted idly, “Did you hear?”
“Just a few days ago, this place was attacked. Three Silver Level leaders sacrificed themselves!”
“Although the enemy has been dealt with, who knows if any accomplices are left behind?”
“If the enemy’s associates come for revenge, won’t we be in trouble?”
The deliveryman’s face turned grave: “Keep your voice down, is this something for us to discuss?!”
“Can’t you just inspect the goods properly?”
“Shut up, I don’t want to be punished for listening to your rubbish talk.”
The inspector got reprimanded, pouting but eventually kept silent.
This made the distant Zi Di furrow her eyebrows slightly, feeling disappointed.
The Silver Level ice ghost she controlled stood quietly beside the deliveryman. Despite being so close, neither of the two living men could see the ice ghost.
The combined power of the Deception and Disguise Skill and Anti-Intelligence Prophecy Skill allowed the ice ghost to enter and exit the Purple Vine Shop as easily as drinking water.
“Since the ambush against me failed, the enemy has almost entirely replaced the shop assistants here.”
“All the previous staff vanished directly through teleportation.”
“The newcomers have high qualities, this inspector is the easiest one I’ve found to gather intelligence from.”
After Zi Di infiltrated near the Purple Vine Shop, her primary task was to control the ice ghost to scout the shop.
But the progress was slow.
Because the quality and level of the spy members lurking here were high, they usually remained silent, making it hard for Zi Di to detect any inside information.
The manager, etc., only took care of the shop’s visible business.
And because the Purple Vine Shop’s business was bleak, the work responsible for by the manager and other high-level staff was also lacking.
Those truly involved in secrets were directly conveyed through communication devices.
There was little communication between assistants. Even work-related exchanges strictly adhered to confidentiality.
“The only clear thing, the enemy behind the Purple Vine Shop has been secretly transporting volcano smelly stones. This is already the 16th box I’ve seen.”
Zi Di is a mage, and although her exploration in the alchemical domain is limited, she has basic knowledge.
As far as she knows—volcano smelly stones are common materials for bomb-making.
This made Zi Di vaguely feel that these enemies ambushing her were secretly brewing something big!
After the inspection was completed and a signature was obtained, the deliveryman left.
The inspector hefted the wooden box laboriously and walked into the depths of the warehouse.
Zi Di immediately controlled the ice ghost to follow closely.
A metal door opened, and the inspector stepped through when his other foot moved inside, the metal door closed immediately.
However, the ice ghost had already squeezed in.
Despite being jostled and nearly stumbling, the inspector did not notice.
Zi Di also controlled the ice ghost to help him stabilize the wooden box in his hand, preventing the scenario where the entire box of smelly stones would fall to the ground.
Certainly, even if that happened, Zi Di’s ice ghost would not be discovered.
The inspector would only believe he himself had made a mistake.
The inspector moved the wooden box laboriously, entering the underground first layer, here he also encountered another metal door. Unlike before, there was also an inspection device.
Underground first layer, underground second layer, underground third layer…
The Imperial Spy Organization had set up checkpoints along the way, with increasingly strict inspection procedures.
The metal door was only standard; there were five or six codes for verbal responses, with inhibitors for all kinds of elements emerging endlessly. The most troublesome for Zi Di was the mental wave interference device.
This alchemy device seriously interfered with Zi Di’s control over the ice ghost.
Mages use their spirit to control alchemy puppets. Zi Di controlling the ice ghost was no exception.
Spiritual power manifests as mental waves.
This is also true in the distant communication between duelists.
The spirit wave countermeasure device emits mental waves of various frequencies, countering external mental waves and preventing enemy remote control of alchemy puppets from infiltrating here.
Each spirit wave countermeasure device will constantly change its countering band over time.
Therefore, even though Zi Di’s mental wave frequency is unknown to the enemy, it is still suppressed by such defensive measures.
Every time the ice figure ghost delves a certain distance, Zi Di’s control over it is further weakened.
By the time the ice figure ghost reaches the underground fourth layer, Zi Di’s sense of it has weakened to a vague and indistinct degree.
Meanwhile, the inspector accompanying Zi Di carried a wooden box to the warehouse.
The warehouse door was wide open.
Two spy members said to the inspector, “You came just in time, help carry these stones downstairs.”
“As you command!” The inspector immediately nodded.
This situation pleasantly surprised Zi Di.
Previously, when following, the inspector would drop the wooden box and return immediately upon reaching here.
Without him leading the way, the ice figure ghost couldn’t pass through the metal door. Zi Di also didn’t want to risk breaking a path through it.
The inspector, along with two others, continued carrying the wooden box.
Zi Di immediately controlled the ice figure ghost, whose chest suddenly opened, releasing several snake shadow ghosts and rat-eyed ghosts.
The spirit wave countermeasure device can interfere with regular control of alchemy puppets, but cannot completely counteract an undead mage’s ghost summoning.
Though these ghosts are under the mage’s spiritual control, they have a closer connection with the undead mage, having formed a tight bond in the soul.
Just like in the White Hair Sea Trench, the ship ghost, through soul connection, secretly communicated with Cang Xu, the Little Prince, and others. Zhou Zhang was close by and didn’t notice.
Snake shadow ghosts and rat-eyed ghosts continued tracking.
Moments later, they followed the three spy personnel to the underground fifth layer, seeing the teleportation array at the end.
One by one, the wooden boxes were placed at the center of the teleportation array map.
Guarding the array was a Golden Level fighter.
“This is one of the two Golden Level fighters who attacked!” Zi Di immediately recognized.
The rat-eyed ghost climbed onto the Golden Level’s shoulder, staring intently at his face.
The snake shadow ghost wrapped around the Golden Level’s thigh, tightly binding, remembering his aura, probing deeper hidden information on him.
Augmented with Deception and Disguise Skill and Anti-Intelligence Prophecy Skill, making him perceive nothing unusual.
He sternly urged his subordinates to move faster.
Once the boxes were all moved, he followed the large amount of volcanic itching stone and teleported away.
“Entered an alchemy laboratory.”
“It should be at some location within the Ten-thousand-year-old Ice Lake.”
Shortly, a fierce glint flashed in Zi Di’s eyes: “So, this is the place where the ambush was set for me.”
Moments later, Zi Di’s snake shadow ghost and rat-eyed ghost saw two Golden Level fighters conversing.
“The Thirteenth Prince will return soon.”
“Besides him, there’s also Lord Shichijiro.”
“You mean the beloved child of the Seven Gods?”
“Precisely!”
“That’s great; he’s indeed the most suitable candidate for this Ice Sculpture National Ceremony Dueling Tournament.”
“Long Meng from the Ice Sculpture Kingdom is the foremost duelist. But Lord Shichijiro, blessed with immortality, who among the Golden Level on Ice Sculpture Island can defeat him?”
“Completing this task, I can retire. Honestly… I’ve had enough of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom’s frigid climate. Several nights recently, I dreamt of the hometown’s red bean banana trees.”
…
The status of the two Golden Level fighters was incomparable to those clerks previously.
Although their casual chat did not touch upon secrets of the Imperial Spy Organization, Zi Di overheard for a while and still caught many sensitive keywords.
For example, they referred to “Thirteenth Prince”, and “red bean banana tree” as a fruit unique to the empire’s south.
“It seems they really are imperial spies?”
Half an hour later, Zi Di further confirmed this result.
She told herself to remain calm, but her heart inevitably sank deeper.
All along, the survivors aimed for atonement to the Holy Bright Empire. However, the antagonistic relationship with the Imperial Spy Organization was undoubtedly in severe conflict with this goal.
To some extent, being adversaries with the Holy Bright Empire’s spy organization felt heavier and more oppressive than with the Ice Sculpture Kingdom.
“Why is the Imperial Spy Organization targeting us?”
“The possibility of the incident on Mysterious Monster Island is small, the biggest possibility is… the Purple Vine Secret Cache!”
“Qing Xin sister told me about the Purple Vine Secret Cache. The Purple Vine Shop in the Ice Sculpture Royal Capital has already been taken over by spies, and the letter from Twin Eyes Island didn’t get sent, so it’s very likely that Twin Eyes Island has also been infiltrated by spies, with the most suspect being the shopkeeper Yan Yi.”
“I exposed my identity on Twin Eyes Island, drawing the spies’ attention. At that time, I also participated in the auction using the identity of Purple Vine elder. As a result, Cang Xu exposed the undead mage’s methods in the naval battle.”
“I was ambushed at the Purple Vine Shop, likely as a follow-up from Twin Eyes Island. They’ve been waiting for me all along.”
Zi Di mused, comprehensively thinking about her situation.
According to her analysis, the incident on Mysterious Monster Island hasn’t been exposed, the identity of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps hasn’t been uncovered yet, otherwise, the Imperial Spy Organization could fully attack them at sea.