Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2416: Chapter 2417: Mini Castle

Angel browsed through several more letters.

He obtained quite a bit of intelligence about the Outer Domain, such as the Greenwald Magic Research Institute in the Origin World, which recently developed a high-level spell technique encompassing the water domain, tested multiple times in the Eternal Realm, flooding several cities.

Also, the Temple of the Oracle had a witch, titled as fate, who voluntarily walked into the City of Reincarnation.

Moreover, the Lady of the Moon and Mr. Sun from Crow Castle reached legendary status one after the other, causing the sky over the Western Lands to have the sun and moon shining together for a full hour. There are even rumors that this phenomenon attracted attention from a great existence in the Origin World.

There was a lot of similar intelligence, like a deity of boundary breaking rampaging in the void, with miracle sounds seemingly coming from afar in the void...

The intelligence was scattered, and many seemed astounding just from the surface, but to Angel, these pieces were still too far and void, temporarily of no great use.

However, in these few secret letters, Angel did find that Number 03 was particularly concerned about two matters.

One was the dynamics of the Joyous Witch in the Northern Territory Wizard World. Almost every letter from the Flash Spirit Caravan Group included intelligence about the Joyous Witch, focusing on dynamics and whereabouts. From the concealed descriptions, Angel speculated Number 03 might have some love-hate entanglement with the Joyous Witch?

The second was about the Efa Lineage of the West Continent Wizard World. The intelligence on the Cursed Wizards was mentioned in every letter from the Flash Spirit Caravan Group, but there were so many matters regarding the Efa Lineage since the number of Cursed Wizards was not small. The information was scattered and fragmented, completely unable to reveal Number 03’s purpose from this intelligence.

The subsequent few letters included some intelligence from the Snook Base in other Wizard Worlds, but Angel glanced at them and put them aside.

Finally, only two letters remained on the desk.

Each letter from the Flash Spirit Caravan Group was dated and thoughtfully adhered to the New Calendar of the Southern Domain, allowing one to discern the delivery time from the dates.

One letter dated New Calendar 7375, which was two years ago.

The other was from New Calendar 7378, which was this year.

Angel first opened the letter from two years ago, routinely ignoring the news related to the Cursed Wizards and the Joyous Witch, continuing to read on.

When he saw a piece of information, Angel’s eyes became fixed.

”Recently, there’s news from the Orderly Guild that a mysterious object potentially related to illusion techniques appeared in the Hollow Nation. A mystic hunter has already gone there, and at the same time, the great illusionist Thabo has left his illusion tower...”

The keyword of a mysterious object related to illusion techniques caught Angel’s attention.

He distinctly remembered that previously Number 03, considering ”Sanders,” proposed several reconciliation conditions, including offering a message related to the secret treasure of the Illusion Series. Clearly, at that time, Number 03 aimed the offer at Sanders.

Angel was not concerned at the time, as there was no solid evidence, and Number 03 might only have been trying to buy time.

But now it seemed Number 03’s offer of such a condition was genuinely confident, with the confidence stemming from the intelligence provided by the Flash Spirit Caravan Group.

It was the first time Angel had heard of a mysterious object related to illusion techniques, so with curiosity, he continued reading...

This mysterious object was discovered by two trainees from the Orderly Guild during their conquest mission in an outer world. They arrived at a relatively primitive world with no traces of civilization and no leader-level intelligent creatures, resembling a great beast rivalry in the Ancient Epoch.

Initially, the two trainees felt helpless and wanted to return to the Origin World. However, due to the task, they stayed to conduct basic conquest work and accidentally discovered a secret of this world.

This world was not entirely devoid of civilization... Beneath an unknown primeval forest lay an insect civilization.

This insect civilization even formed a country called the Hollow Nation.

The insects lived in underground hollows no more than a kilometer in diameter, leading a life almost detached from worldly affairs.

As the insect civilization remained underdeveloped, even when discovered, the two trainees did not actively engage with them. Until they sensed mysterious fluctuations in this Hollow Nation...

Involving mysterious objects, even a feeble insect civilization warrants extreme caution from the two trainees. Overlooking mysterious objects has led to countless mishaps, and even legendary wizards like Feng, to determine the effect and rules of certain mysterious objects, have cloaked themselves for over a decade amid countries populated solely by ordinary people.

Unfortunately, the two trainees were still too young and somewhat reckless.

They did not notify the Orderly Guild immediately but used shapeshifting techniques to enter the Hollow Nation and located the site of the mysterious object.

Eventually, one died, and the other fled the Hollow Nation in panic, finally conveying the message to the Orderly Guild.

Based on the trainees’ narration and the Orderly Guild’s preliminary investigation, it could be essentially confirmed that the mysterious object was a semi-out-of-control mysterious object.

Temporary name: ”Yislin’s Mini Castle.”

The castle is inhabited by an insect named Yislin, who declares herself a ’princess,’ although ’declare’ is apt because the Hollow Nation lacks a Princess Yislin. According to investigation, Yislin is merely a wandering, pitiable insect without royal insect bloodline.

There is a threshold for entering the Mini Castle, though the conditions are yet unknown; the only known entry requirement is that the visitor must be — elegant.

Interestingly, this condition was gleaned because of the surviving trainee. He escaped alive because his behavior was crude, causing the Mini Castle to refuse him entry.

The other noble trainee, possessing elegant demeanor, was invited into the Mini Castle. However, he died in less than ten seconds upon entry. Thus, the Orderly Guild determined that besides requiring visitors to be elegant, the Mini Castle has additional thresholds.

Notably, this deceased trainee also provided extra intelligence for the Orderly Guild. Within ten seconds of entering the Mini Castle, the surrounding area naturally emitted a substantial number of illusion nodes, further confirming the Mini Castle might be related to the Illusion Series.

The above constitutes all intelligence on ”Yislin’s Mini Castle.”

After reading through, Angel pondered for a moment.

To say he’s uninterested in this Mini Castle would be untrue, but even if he entertained the thought, execution seemed improbable.

Mystic hunters from the Orderly Guild have already ventured there, and even the unpredictable great illusionist Thabo; Angel figures a visit from him would likely end in failure.

Even if Sanders were to go, estimated there’s no solution.

Further, given entry requirements for the Mini Castle are yet undetermined, going there equates to courting death.

Thus, Angel simply remembered this intelligence without further concern.

After setting aside the letter from two years ago, Angel fixed his gaze on the final letter, recently arrived, dated less than half a month ago.

Angel was looking forward to this letter, as based on timing, if it recorded any intelligence, it had to be the latest.

With great curiosity, Angel opened the last letter.

After a while, Angel set down the letter, contemplating for a moment, then said to Toby: ”I’ll rest a bit and return promptly.”

Toby understood Angel’s meaning, nodding and chirping, suggesting it would take care there.

Dangross, however, narrowed his eyes suspiciously, quietly staring at Angel, seemingly pondering something.

Angel entered the location of the Wilderness of Dreams, precisely beside the Ironclad Granny, which was the result of his precise targeting.

”Angel, you’ve come? Want to join me for a cup of tea?” The Ironclad Granny, rather than being angry at Angel’s unannounced arrival, smiled warmly and raised a steaming cup of floral tea towards him.

Angel, feeling a bit apologetic, quickly apologized and then said, ”Granny, I have some matters in reality. I came this time to deliver a letter to you.”

Angel simulated a letter through an illusion and placed it on the table in front of Ironclad Granny.

”Granny, you can take a look when you have time. It contains information about the Seventy-Seven Red Sox and... the Seed.”

After saying this, Angel was about to leave. But before leaving, as if he remembered something, he said to the Ironclad Granny, ”By the way, Granny, do you recognize this creature?”

Angel gently tapped the table, and the image of the mist shadow he encountered on the fifth floor appeared before the Ironclad Granny.

The mist dissipated, the shadow condensed, and tiny stars could be seen inside.

Ironclad Granny scrutinized it for a few moments and asked doubtfully, ”Are you sure this is a creature?”

Angel nodded, ”I’m sure. I know that it can possess a magical creature and replace it.”

Ironclad Granny pondered for a moment before shaking her head, ”I’ve never heard of it.”

Angel said nothing more, thanked Ironclad Granny, and left the Wilderness of Dreams.

Upon returning to reality, he encountered a new wave of law fluctuations, so Angel took a short rest in the study.

While resting, his gaze once again drifted to the letter on the table. The content of the last letter was just as Angel told Ironclad Granny; it contained matters regarding the Seventy-Seven Red Sox and the Seed.

The Seventy-Seven Red Sox is a witcher organization that once acquired a mysterious object called ”Hotep’s Fury,” also known as... the Arrow of the Defeated.

Later, the Arrow of the Defeated ended up in the hands of the Seed organization.

The letter contains related intelligence, and Angel guessed that No. 03 likely has her network of information about the Southern Domain Wizards’ Realm. Upon learning that the Arrow of the Defeated was aimed at City Lord Rosen of Sky Mechanical City, she made related inquiries to the Flashy Spirit Caravan.

The contents are extensive, including much hidden information about the Seed, which is why Angel promptly handed it over to Ironclad Granny.

With Ironclad Granny’s foresight, she would naturally know how to handle this letter.

Angel is also quite concerned about this letter, as it involves the Seed. But more than the letter, he is currently more intrigued by the identity of the mist shadow.

Although Ironclad Granny may not be omniscient and omnipotent, her research into creatures is profound, even the Tree Spirit has to bow down in this regard.

Yet now, the Ironclad Granny openly admitted she had never seen the mist shadow.

This arouses Angel’s curiosity. What kind of rare existence is the mist shadow?

...

After the wave of laws ended, Angel left the study and headed toward the last unexplored room.

Soon after, he stood in front of a water fountain.

Previously, he saw from the main control node that room No. 03 had a water-filled space and wondered if it would be a swimming pool or a pond. He didn’t expect it to be such an expansive water fountain.

Pipes spraying water surrounded the area, and the air was filled with mist. In the center of the fountain, there were two statues of twin goddesses.

The statues of the twin goddesses were complete replicas of No. 03’s own appearance. This revealed No. 03’s likely narcissistic tendencies.

In the middle of the two goddess statues was a deep well.

Angel’s target was inside the well, where there was a path to the fifth floor’s sub-control node.

After passing through a corridor requiring one to test their foundations in the Magical Energy Array, Angel successfully arrived at the fifth floor’s sub-control node.

As with the other sub-control nodes, there was a hunting sequence awaiting activation, numbered No. 1.

After witnessing the No. 0 hunting sequence, Angel’s desire to explore the other hunting sequences diminished considerably. Without attempting to activate it, he directly approached the Magical Energy Array.

He wanted to use the Magical Energy Array to observe where the mist shadow had gone.

Leveraging the vision of the Authority Eye, Angel conducted a thorough search of the fifth floor. He examined rooms No. 01, No. 02, and No. 03, and even the entire corridor. Unfortunately, the Authority Eye did not capture any trace of the mist shadow.

There are only three possibilities.

First, the mist shadow is in a semi-transparent state, making it unobservable to the Authority Eye.

Second, the mist shadow leaves the fifth floor through the outer corridor.

Third, the mist shadow is in a dead angle unobservable by the Authority Eye.

There’s only one dead angle on the entire fifth floor, which is the hidden space within room No. 01.

Angel hopes it’s the third option. He wants to attempt contact with the mist shadow, even if it doesn’t respond; through certain details, he might obtain some information feedback.

While Angel was in thought, he suddenly heard Toby’s call.

Angel turned to look at Toby, realizing, ”Did Wizard Nis summon me?”

Earlier, Nis was engrossed in the data room on the fourth floor, and Angel was researching the main control node, so he had blocked the Mind Ribbon, only letting Toby and Dangross monitor it.

It wasn’t until now that Angel lifted the block on the Mind Ribbon.

Upon reopening the Mind Ribbon, he heard Nis’s voice from the opposite side, ”This must be the Night Butterfly Witch’s arm, huh? Tsk tsk, even with only one arm left, it’s still perfect, the skin almost as if it’s made of jelly. No wonder Ferro is so infatuated with her.”

”By the way, if Ferro were here, he’d probably cry, wouldn’t he?”

Hearing Nis’s teasing voice, Angel understood that Nis must have left the data room and gone to the exhibition room, where he found the Night Butterfly Witch’s arm.

Angel did not immediately speak but instead connected to the Authority Eye previously given to Wizard Kanter.

Once connected, he looked through the Authority Eye.

As expected, Nis, Kanter, and Reynaud were all gathered around a container filled with liquid, inside which was a lady’s arm marked with black and red patterns.