"Place restrictions on the prison guards?"
Having finished throwing up, Ronald wiped the foul residue from the corner of his mouth, his face filled with disbelief. "B-but they aren't prisoners!"
"Why would you assume only a prisoner's chip can have restrictions placed on it?"
Harvey sneered. "Or rather, why would you assume an ordinary person's chip cannot have restrictions placed on it?"
"The Sinner Directory—"
"While you were detained at the Sin Hunting Hall, multiple restrictions had already been placed on you. Back then, you hadn't signed the Sinner Directory yet, and you were fundamentally no different from an ordinary person. The Sinner Directory's effect is merely to make our restrictions permanent."
Ronald muttered, "I thought the hunters used miracles on me..."
A chill welled up in Yaxiu's chest.
In other words, everyone in the Blood Moon Country, whether an ordinary person or a sorcerer, wore shackles that could strangle them at any moment. If the processor received an order, it could control everyone within the area to do anything—even force them to slit their own throats with their own hands!
It was amusing in a way. To this day, Yaxiu had never actually laid eyes on the Blood Moon Country, nor had he ever seen an ordinary person living in it, yet he had learned countless secrets that ordinary people could never hope to touch.
He felt like someone observing the world through cracks, obtaining only fragmentary keywords: multi-racial, Human Rights Association, rearing institutes, Sin Hunting Hall, Church, memory masters, Blood Moon Trial, Woodpecker Gang... These keywords formed a bizarre, grotesque world that was both democratic and authoritarian, affluent yet impoverished, respecting human rights while violating privacy, entertaining itself to death while remaining harmonious and stable.
It was like a blood lotus blooming atop filth—gorgeous and glistening, yet reeking of foul corruption and rancid stench.
Perhaps this had a great deal to do with Yaxiu's sources of information. After all, what true beauty or goodness could one witness in a prison for death row convicts? Still, there had never been a perfect realm on earth. Who was to say Yaxiu wouldn't change his mind once he got outside, lounging on a sofa every month to faithfully watch the Blood Moon Trial?
"This is definitely not information a mere cleaner could access," Igola said suddenly. "Who on earth are you? How did you deceive the Sin Hunting Hall?"
"I am just a cleaner," Harvey replied calmly. "My duty is disposing of corpses. The bulk of my job consists of making sure the corpses don't cry for help, don't resist, and don't run away."
"The Control Master!"
Ronald suddenly remembered something. "A few years ago, there were several murder cases considered legendary even within the trade! The victims were murdered in their homes, yet the rooms showed no signs of struggle, and the victims vanished without a trace. Not a few of those victims were sorcerers, either... People called that killer the 'Control Master,' believing he possessed a formidable control miracle capable of leaving even Two-Winged Sorcerers completely helpless to resist!"
"You flatter me. I was merely exploiting existing loopholes." Harvey shook his head. "As for how I deceived the Sin Hunting Hall, it was simple: first delete the memories, then find a way to retrieve them."
Yaxiu was utterly baffled. "If you could delete memories, why didn't you just delete all memories of your illegal deeds? Wouldn't you have been acquitted on the spot?"
"He couldn't," Igola said. "His primary faction is necromancy, and most of his memories are tied to it. If he deleted all memories related to necromancy, it would be no different from total amnesia. But if he kept his necromancy and deleted only his memories of disposing of corpses, the Sin Hunting Hall would know at once that he had wiped his memories—one cannot study necromancy without corpses."
"This was the best calculated outcome he could manage."
Yaxiu let out an 'oh.' "Wait. If you prepared your memories in advance, does that mean you got arrested on purpose? Did you have a reason you absolutely had to enter Shattered Lake Prison? For example... for Na'erbeier?"
A bone-chilling wind suddenly swept through the sealed, hidden room.
When Harvey lifted his chin, his sinister eyes sweeping across the surroundings, Langna immediately pulled Ronald behind him, and Igola stepped forward in front of Yaxiu.
The wind gave Yaxiu goosebumps. His breath caught, and his mind went completely blank.
A sorcery spirit, or a miracle?
The wind vanished as quickly as it had arrived. Harvey lowered his eyelids. "I can place restrictions on the prison guards, preventing them from taking any action or even raising an external alarm. Can this ability earn me a promise from you?"
Igola said, "State your condition first."
"After the prison break, you must help me kill someone."
"Who?"
"Alandor Financier." Harvey uttered a widely known name. "The current mayor of Kaimeng City."
...
Void Realm, Sea of Knowledge.
"So you signed a binding contract, and even before breaking out of prison, you already put a high-ranking mayor on your assassination list?"
"Yes. Coincidentally, there was a contract master in our group, so we didn't have the luxury of giving a verbal agreement only to go back on our word later."
"Tsk, you actually considered reneging."
"What else?"
"After breaking out, you could have immediately banded together with the others to kill the necromancer! That way you wouldn't have to fulfill the contract. The contract didn't say you couldn't harm each other, did it?"
"As expected of you. You should be the one in prison."
Amid their idle chatter, the disheveled Umbrella Bird Dragon—looking like a battered umbrella—suddenly folded its wings and spun like an umbrella, darting toward the white mist in retreat. At the same time, it flung a sorcery spirit in the opposite direction!
"Sword Princess!"
"On it!"
Yaxiu rushed over to catch the sorcery spirit, while Sonia ran directly in front of the Umbrella Bird Dragon. Facing the dragon's aggressive charge, Sonia showed no fear. She assumed a stance with her wooden sword drawn back while flowing threads of moonlight rippled into existence around her!
Clang!
The moment the Umbrella Bird Dragon touched the moon silk, Sonia reacted like a coiled spring. Her wooden sword traced a flawless arc, unleashing a crimson wave of sword energy!
Miracle: Killing Intent Water Moon! A new miracle that incorporated the Killing Intent Sword into Water Moon to boost its power!
"Kuruuu—"
The Umbrella Bird Dragon was sliced open. With a final, unwilling cry, it dispersed into wisps of smoke, leaving behind two sorcery spirits.
Seeing this, Yaxiu sighed. "Still no Experience Orb. At this rate, when will you ever advance to Two Wings..."
Sonia comforted him, "You can't rush these things. Many sorcerers say the Void Realm listens to our wishes—the more we crave something, the less it gives it, but the moment we stop caring, it delivers it right before our eyes."
"The Void Realm sounds pretty spiteful."
"Say another couple of words like that, and you might never see an Experience Orb again for the rest of your life."
With the aid of the Expulsion Secret Poison and the Void Realm Telescope, Yaxiu could now consistently locate knowledge creatures to hunt. To help Sword Princess advance to Two Wings as early as possible so he could ride her coattails and advance his own rank, Yaxiu specifically sought out knowledge creatures that might drop Swordsmanship Orbs.
Yet tonight, after consecutively hunting a Fishcleaver Dragon and an Umbrella Bird Dragon, nothing had dropped aside from a few sorcery spirits; there was not a trace of an Experience Orb. This was somewhat disheartening for Yaxiu. At this rate, fattening Sword Princess up to Two Wings within ten days was simply unrealistic.
"I don't even know how many Swordsmanship Orbs it takes to push one's realm to the Gold tier."
Sonia lay in the skiff, resting both feet casually against the gunwale, and said lazily, "Sorcerers mostly rely on study and Void Realm voyages to raise their faction realms. Finding an occasional Experience Orb is already an enormous joy, and finding one for your primary faction is an achievement you could brag about for a lifetime. Bludgeoning your primary faction's realm upward using only Experience Orbs? An idea like that would make even children laugh at you."
"An idea that gets laughed at is an idea worth bringing to life." Yaxiu glanced at her swaying calves clad in black stockings, as well as the pale expanse of skin between the stockings and her short skirt. "Is it my imagination, or do I feel like you're getting more and more relaxed around me?"
"No way. I'm just a little tired, so I'm resting."
"But I remember that even when you rested before, you used to sit upright with proper posture."
"How could sitting ever be as comfortable as lying down? Hey, Watcher, can't you make the boat a bit bigger? A footrest would be great too. I want to put my feet inside the boat and have a nice, long stretch."
"Don't push your luck, Sword Princess!"
"What, you're allowed to act all coquettish, but I'm not allowed to stretch?"
"W-w-w-what do you mean coquettish!" Yaxiu stammered in agitation. "When did I ever act coquettish! Don't you go slinging mud!"
Sonia cleared her throat. "'I feel as light as a balloon, with only a thin thread tying me to the ground. Sword Princess, to me, you are that thread...'"
"Hmph, you think you've got leverage on me? You think I'm the type of person who gets embarrassed over something like that?"
"Then—"
"Still, leaving your feet resting like that might get your stockings wet. It wouldn't do if you slipped during battle later." Yaxiu patted his thigh placidly. "Actually, I know a bit of foot massage. Why don't you rest your feet on my lap?"
Chapter 108