Chapter 375: The Research Institute
A blatant threat, but Xu Zhi had the strength to back it up. If it were an ordinary situation, the others might have banded together to suppress her. However, faced with such an opportunity, no [Grail] could maintain their rationality. No one wanted to let anyone else get there first, and everyone knew perfectly well that cooperating in the face of such a chance was impossible.
Under these circumstances, Xu Zhi’s threat achieved maximum effect.
As for canceling the ritual so that no one gets the opportunity?
That was impossible.
They could fight over this opportunity and slaughter each other, but they could never give it up.
Because that would be an act of impiety towards the “Lord,” and no believer would ever do such a thing.
“…Then let it be so. Whoever kills Ling before the sacrificial ritual begins will claim this qualification; otherwise, it belongs to her.”
This was the final result of their deliberation.
It sounded disadvantageous to Xu Zhi, but in reality, the moment these words were spoken, it practically guaranteed that she would obtain the qualification.
After all, just killing Xu Zhi was destined to be an extremely difficult task. Not to mention, if someone actually killed her and obtained the qualification, the others certainly wouldn’t miss the chance to gang up on that person next.
Preparing the ritual still required some time. Right now, they were only deciding on the quota, which also served as the allotted timeframe for anyone attempting to kill Xu Zhi.
About two more days passed. The preparations for the ritual had only just begun and were estimated to take at least three more days to complete. Meanwhile, within the Lost Lands, Xu Zhi sensed the auras of her other thralls approaching.
The closest to her was the dog’s aura.
Before its figure even appeared in her sight, its overly enthusiastic and slightly deafening emotions began transmitting into her mind in an endless stream.
Xu Zhi raised her brow slightly, an ominous premonition rising in her heart.
Sure enough, about ten minutes later, the massive figure of a giant silver wolf dashed out from the forest. It stood at least three meters tall. Right now, its eyes—which should have been brimming with wildness and ferocity—revealed a dog-like loyalty and excitement. It was as if it had seen its favorite master, enthusiastically pouncing forward—
“…Don’t!”
Just as her objection left her lips, she was already tackled by the gigantic, silly dog. She stumbled back several steps before barely managing to catch it. Following that, this creature—which was clearly a wolf now—wagged its silver tail frantically at her. Seeing that it was about to open its mouth to lick her face, Xu Zhi decisively stood on her tiptoes, raised both hands, and clamped the dog’s muzzle shut.
“No!”
Drool was simply too gross!
The silly dog didn’t understand. A wronged look surfaced in its eyes as it whined and whimpered, trying to act cute to change Xu Zhi’s mind, all while continuing to bombard her with expressions of its overflowing enthusiasm.
Xu Zhi just felt her head buzzing.
Its appearance seemed to have triggered a chain reaction. Aside from its overly noisy mood, the missing-a-screw brain of the Little Mutant also started chattering away as if vying for favor. The voices of the two thralls were practically brawling inside her head.
Truly, unfathomably loud!
Even if she told them to stop for a second, it seemed to have no effect. The dog, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time, only whined and tried to rub against her. Left with no choice, Xu Zhi vigorously rubbed the dog’s head for a while. Only then did she manage to appease the overly passionate beast, bringing a modicum of peace back to her ears.
The cat arrived last, and its arrival was the quietest. Besides liking its feline appearance, this was the first time Xu Zhi felt such genuine appreciation for its tsundere personality.
At least it kept her ears in peace!
Meeting again, the cat’s tsundere traits seemed to have mellowed a bit. It even walked up to Xu Zhi’s leg, displaying a rare bout of initiative by rubbing against her calf. When Xu Zhi picked it up, it didn’t struggle, but rather contentedly swished its tail and hooked it around her wrist.
It was worth noting that the wrist it wrapped around was not the one with Xiaoyi.
Once all her thralls had finally returned to her side, it was as if some prerequisite had been triggered. She suddenly sensed that something was brewing inside her body.
Was it a new thrall?
“So this is how thralls are born after leaving the game console?”
It felt a bit like, uh… incubating an egg?
It seemed she needed to expend extraordinary energy to slowly nourish this new thrall within her circuit until it “hatched from its shell.”
It was a rather strange feeling. Moreover, Xu Zhi was currently completely unable to sense what the new thrall would be, which actually added a layer of novelty to the experience.
“As long as it’s not a noisy one, I can accept it.”
She prayed sincerely.
But for now, with all her thralls back, it was time to see exactly what lay ahead.
Xu Zhi stowed away the spoils her two thralls had brought back, then patted the black cat’s head and instructed, “You go scout the way first. Don’t let yourself be discovered. If there are people, construct a dreamscape and trap them in it.”
What she needed was the [Nightmare]’s ability to construct dreamscapes. Xu Zhi didn’t want to alert the enemy, making dreams the perfect tool to utilize. Furthermore, perhaps due to its unique origins, the cat’s ability to express itself was much stronger than the other thralls, allowing it to communicate better with Xu Zhi.
Even the [Moth] inevitably had its blind spots. After all, the [Moth] required the target to see it, whereas the [Nightmare] had no such restriction.
As the black cat ventured deeper, Xu Zhi gradually received the information it relayed back. It had discovered two Extraordinaries ahead, both around the third tier of the Long-lived rank. They seemed to be on patrol, and it had already trapped them in a dreamscape.
Hearing this news, Xu Zhi mounted the dog and let it carry her to where the two men were found. The moment she laid eyes on them, she immediately knew who had built this place.
Trapped in the dream, blissfully unaware of anything happening around them, the two men wore black uniforms. Emblazoned brazenly on the chest of their uniforms was a red heavy hammer, explicitly announcing their affiliation with [Pantheon Heavy Industries].
Two gray [Moths] fluttered out from Xu Zhi’s fingertips. With a gentle flap of their wings, they were already in front of the two men in the next instant.
Moments later, the two—who had not even reached the Named rank—were completely entranced by Xu Zhi’s extraordinary ability. Xu Zhi didn’t have the cat dispel the dreamscape; instead, she directly interrogated them within the dream to extract the information she sought.
However, to Xu Zhi’s surprise, these two knew far too little.
According to what they said, they were basically just “security guards.” They only knew that a research institute had been excavated underground and that something was being researched there, but they had absolutely no idea what it actually was. They usually worked in half-year rotations, shuttling between reality and the Lost Lands, and were only allowed to live in the surface-level lodgings; they possessed no clearance to go underground.
“Quite rigorous of them.”
However, from their testimony, Xu Zhi also learned that the underground research institute had designated personnel to deliver resources. Furthermore, a few days ago, an Extraordinary unfamiliar to the guards had entered the underground facility and subsequently left several days prior.
Estimating the time of departure, it matched up almost perfectly with the [Lantern] aspect Extraordinary that Jiang Qing had killed.
