OBS Chapter 3464 The Changed Target
Chapter 3464 The Changed Target
Chapter 3464 The Changed Target
"My intelligence concerns the internal workings of the 'House of Pseudo-Humans.' I believe you were warned not to enter the 'House of Pseudo-Humans,' and even if you do, not to venture too deep."
Old John spoke, and everyone looked at him. The old man stood in the fire and said:
"Yes, we know something about the interior of the [House of the Pseudo-Humans]. More than one person has broken in, trying to unlock the true secrets of this relic. Unfortunately, to this day, mortals have never found a perfect way to contain it, but those explorers were indeed very brave people."
In short, the interior of the "Fake House" exhibits obvious spatial anomalies. The area near the exit is relatively similar to a normal room. However, the deeper one goes, the more crimson the space becomes, until the walls, floors, and ceilings are covered in flesh and blood. Further in, the room is entirely composed of flesh and blood, and continuing deeper reveals the Fake People's deepest secret.
Theoretically, the deeper we go, the more our flesh and blood will dissolve, eventually becoming part of the structure. Therefore, the predecessors who left behind records believed that non-flesh-and-blood life forms, such as elemental beings, were the best candidates to explore that building.
Seeing the curious look in Xia De's eyes, the old man immediately shook his head:
"Don't look at me like that. This is all I know. I don't know the deepest secrets either. But I do have a rumor here. The previous ones were all recorded with solid evidence, but this one is just a rumor."
Dr. Schneider then said:
"Old John, just say it directly. It can't be that there's some kind of Mother of False People inside the [House of False People], and that thing gave birth to all the false people, can it?"
"Of course not, but your statement is one of the conjectures about the interior of the [House of False Humans]. What I want to say is that, according to legend, deep within the [House of False Humans], where blood vessels converge and flesh accumulates, there is a red door. That door is tightly closed, but the false people have a way of stealing some power from the crack in the door. That is the origin of the [House of False Humans]."
The old man lowered his voice instinctively, staring blankly at the raging fire before him, while Xia De almost immediately realized what he was about to say.
"And that door leads to a delivery room, a delivery room left behind by an ancient god."
Among the thirteen ancient gods, the Twilight Creator possesses the "Creation Room." When outsiders first arrived in this world, they heard that the Blood Spirit School had found its way into the New World.
"We have no plans to enter the [House of the Fake People] today."
Luvia looked at Shad with her purple eyes, and she could tell that Shad was very interested in this.
"I know all we have to do is demolish the houses."
Shad nodded immediately. Although the door was important, he wouldn't stoop to barging into the interior of a strange sage-level relic without knowing anything about it.
Because of thorough prior planning, no one escaped from the House of Resurrection. Even the vampire that Shad had his eye on was discovered and killed by the maids while trying to break out. In its last moments, it tried to transform into a swarm of bats to escape, but the scattered bats were no match for its magic.
The vampire was at the sixth ring level. Because the maids were ordered not to hold back, they didn't bring back any further information about him. However, the maids who participated in the battle said that in addition to the vampire's secret techniques, he also used a very special blood spell.
"It's like a technique from the Blood Spirit School as described in the records."
After dealing with the ruins of the House of Resurrection, the group followed the route planned by Old John, who was familiar with the area, and circled around the edge of the city to reach the location of the main body of the House of the Pseudo-Humans, which was located in the western suburbs of the city.
Before setting off with the group, Iluna sent the church the location information for the "House of the False Man." Shad didn't care whether the church or they arrived at the battlefield first; as long as they could deal with this thing, tonight's operation would be a success.
The speed of riding horses was not as fast as the high-level sorcerers' full speed, so the group traveled on foot, with the lowest-ranking priests, Augustus and Sirius, being led by the doctor and Shad respectively.
Old John didn't ask about the identities of the beautiful high-ringed girls, but he could roughly guess. The girls under Galina's command were particularly skilled in support abilities, allowing the group to traverse the city's fields at an extremely fast pace.
As the core of the team, Luvia utilized her expertise as a diviner. During the journey, she divined that the Church of Creation, located in the western part of the city, would arrive even earlier than the rest of the group.
While Xia De and his group might have reservations about fighting in the city, the church, being the home team, wouldn't.
Luvia also discussed something with Shad on the way:
"We're not going to the [House of the Fake People]."
The group rested in the snow-covered fields, preparing for their upcoming entry into the city. Tifa was contacting Galina to facilitate their evacuation; Old Man John was whispering with Dr. Schneider, seemingly discussing the strange, special material called "Universal Blood" that would remain after the demolition of the "Pseudo-Human House."
This material is quite effective in treating external injuries and can be used as a transfusion of any type of human blood. Both Old Man John and Dr. Schneider are very interested in it.
Dorothy communicated with Lacey internally, and the princess also wanted to help, but the writer was unwilling to leave halfway. The head of the high-ranking pseudo-human had already been destroyed, and Sirius was taking out the bullet containing the pseudo-human's memories, intending to deal with it first—it was valuable but extremely dangerous, and no one knew if the pseudo-human could be revived based solely on its memories.
Shad stroked the cat on his shoulder, while Mia tilted her head back, breathing in the night breeze, looking quite content.
Why change the destination?
Luvia retrieved the divination cards that had just scattered on the snow:
"Remember what I said after my divination yesterday: the root of this local incident might be related to an ordinary person? The clues I got from the [House of Resurrection] led me to further investigate the results of yesterday's divination."
The target has been changed to a factory northeast of the main body of the [House of the Pseudo-Humans]. I believe in the results of my divination. Remember the Guardian-level card box [Mercury Echo] that I obtained after our mission before the holiday? It can enhance the effects of the cards placed inside. Tonight's divination benefited from it; that steam factory might reveal the true reason for the [House of the Pseudo-Humans]'s appearance this time.
She said this:
"But I'm just offering suggestions so you can make a decision."
Purple eyes gazed at Shad under the starry sky, while Shad tilted his head, looking towards the city. After a moment's thought, he nodded:
"No problem, we're going to miss the first wave of attacks anyway, so let's change our target."
The others did not object to Shad's decision, but if they failed to enter the battlefield immediately, they would not have to participate in the subsequent attack on the "House of the False Man".
Shad did ask Iluna whether she wanted to stay and travel with the others or join up with the church's group. The eighteen-year-old girl, of course, didn't want to leave.
"I also want to see what Luvia's divination points to."
The change of destination meant a change of route. Old John helped to draw up a route map again, and after the group made final preparations, they set off for their destination.
As a rapidly developing metropolis, Tobesk lacks traditional city walls, making the boundary between the city and its outskirts unclear. As the group entered what would be considered the "city proper," flames were already lit in the direction of the [House of the Pseudo-Humans].
However, they ignored that and focused on heading towards the destination Luvia had indicated. It was a medium-sized steam-powered factory called "Murray Textile Factory," which had undergone a thorough steam transformation, allowing the machines to operate 24 hours a day without stopping.
So even though it's late Monday night, the textile factory is still brightly lit. This isn't unusual, though, as most of the surrounding factories are also lit up.
If the core urban area where Shad lived had the romantic nightlife of a steam-age metropolis, then for the workers in the western urban area, there was only the buzzing of machines, the choking, foul-smelling air, and the never-ending work.
Excluding Mia, the team consisted of twenty-three people, of whom only Sirius and Priest Augustus were not high-ranking members. After arriving outside the eastern wall of the factory, Shad used [Heart of Stone] to listen to the heartbeat, while the others each used different magical arts to investigate. The conclusion they reached was that this was just a normal factory operating at night.
"Normal" is relative. The factory workshops were dusty and crowded, with more than a third of the workers being child laborers, and everyone's face showed exhaustion. This was normal in this era.
"Then let's confirm who the fake characters are."
Luvia whispered something to Shad, who nodded and then looked at the group of people who had been traveling together. At this point, the group of twenty-three was still together, and none of them knew the situation.
"Luvia, John, Doctor, Iluna, you come in with me. Dorothy, Tifa, you stay outside and provide backup. Moonlight means launch an attack, and snow means help us escape."
After quickly agreeing on their plan, the five of them climbed over the wall and entered the factory grounds. There were no sentries inside the factory, so they didn't need to worry about being easily detected.
They first approached the spinning mill closest to the wall. Xia De glanced into the stuffy interior and was immediately stunned:
"how is this possible?"
"A lot of fakes?"
"No, they're all imposters."
(End of this chapter)