Chapter 128: Lady Ciel Will Surely Be Pleased

Lady Ciel Will Surely Be Pleased

This thought surfaced in Ciel’s mind and lingered for a long time.

She knew there was currently no concrete evidence to support her idea, but everything was simply too coincidental.

Ciel had to quickly bring the mastermind sealed artifact, or its holder, to the surface. The longer it dragged on, the more likely the situation was to change.

Ciel stopped pacing in the living room, took a deep breath. The smell of dust and wooden floorboards entered her nostrils. Coincidentally, a wave of coolness washed over her mind, and Ciel gradually calmed down.

The more critical the moment, the less one should panic.

She moved a stool and sat at the turn of the stairs, beginning to ponder the procedure for the “Coroner” Reconstitution Ritual, lest she miss anything.

Simultaneously, her seated position allowed her to observe movements on both the first and second floors, while the first-floor window couldn’t see Ciel’s position, at most only her calves or shoes.

This maximized avoidance of stray bullets coming through the window and provided room to maneuver upstairs or downstairs in case of danger.

Ciel had nothing else to do now but wait while maintaining her thoughts, either for Tara to bring back the corpse or for the Blood Letter Gang members to bring intelligence about Oppold.

Time passed minute by minute, second by second, but Ciel, sitting and waiting, felt her heart grow increasingly calm.

Corpse... stitching...

These days, Ciel had seen quite a few corpses.

As for stitching... she knew some.

Though not stitching corpses, nor stitching wounds.

Just helping her sister Lichie mend her torn work clothes.

Ciel narrowed her eyes slightly. In her vision, two illusory corpses seemed to appear. Ciel raised her hands, as if holding illusory needles and thread.

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But after raising her hands, facing the two illusory corpses, her hand movements paused.

She somewhat didn’t know where to start.

Moreover, the corpses then certainly wouldn’t be so complete. Achieving completeness and stitching them to resemble normal humans more closely definitely couldn’t be solved simply with needle and thread.

It might even require taking some parts from more complete corpses as supplements.

After thinking for a moment, Ciel lowered her hands. The illusory corpses before her began to break apart, becoming pieces of human bodies, like assembling a Gundam model.

This way... the approach is better.

Ciel closed her eyes slightly. The fragmented corpses constantly reformed in her illusory vision. It seemed she had some ideas about the specific implementation of the Reconstitution Ritual.

...

Ding—

A peculiar rusty coin tapped against an azure eyeball, emitting a crisp sound. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

“Hmm?” Oppold pinched the coin in his hand, then looked at the azure eyeball placed on the dining table, making a puzzled sound.

Next, Oppold took out a small knife, made a cut on the fingertip of his right hand, and held it level above the rusty coin.

Blood gathered at his fingertip, its surface tension like a transparent film, striving to pull it back into the finger’s embrace, maintaining its perfect round shape.

But the blood droplet gradually swelled, beginning to tremble slightly at the fingertip.

Just as gravity was about to prevail and pull the blood droplet down, Oppold abruptly changed the direction of his finger. The droplet fell accurately onto the “Evil Eye.”

The blood droplet coated the azure eyeball, flowing down the round object. At this moment, Oppold spoke, “‘Evil Eye’, if I drip blood onto this coin, will there be any danger?”

The blood droplet flowed down the “Evil Eye,” absorbed by the low-quality wooden table. The surface of the “Evil Eye” remained as bright as new.

Seeing this, Oppold directly raised his hand and smeared the blood from his finger onto the eyeball angel on the front of the rusty coin.

The blood of a transcendent, no matter where, always had unexpected uses.

If one were to ask what was most valuable on a transcendent, besides undigested potions and mutated body tissues, the most valuable thing would be their blood.

But blood also contained a large amount of information. Casually giving blood could easily lead to danger, so unless a transcendent was extremely poor, they wouldn’t choose to sell their own blood.

Oppold waited for a moment. The rusty coin showed no change. He frowned slightly.

Since snatching this sealed artifact from Lucy, he hadn’t found any way to “contract” with it.

Or rather, hadn’t found any way to use it.

It just automatically landed somewhere at a certain time each day, but almost always one heads and one tails. Oppold had no clue.

However, the only thing that comforted him was that after killing Lucy, he felt his potion digestion speed had increased... Even the body mutation he previously thought irreversible had now almost completely recovered.

He felt his current state was better than ever before.

Just one slight regret was that the “Evil Eye” wouldn’t respond to any inquiries Oppold made regarding the rusty coin, as if it couldn’t see the coin at all.

This situation was very rare. At least so far, Oppold had only encountered it when asking the “Evil Eye” about the Queen.

Forget it... Lunch break is almost over. He had to get back to the factory quickly, otherwise, if misfortune struck, he wouldn’t be able to handle it.

The incident of falling into the furnace last time was still fresh in his mind. Fortunately, his life was hard and his constitution tough; otherwise, he would have long become a pile of ashes.

But recently, he found the pattern of the misfortune rule and gradually adapted to his current life. Although depressing, as long as there was improvement, he could accept it.

Maintaining the current rhythm of life, misfortune wouldn’t come knocking. And he was confident he could find the mastermind behind the letters.

It’s really great without misfortune.

Oppold casually picked up the “Evil Eye” and the rusty coin from the table. As he prepared to stuff them into his pocket, his heart skipped a beat.

Just now, his touch sensed that the coin slipped from his hand in a very incomprehensible way, falling towards the tabletop.

Not good!

-

He didn’t have time to turn back. He quickly reached back, trying to grab the coin. The moment his palm touched the coin, his palm rapidly decayed and weathered. The coin passed through the palm, loose enough to scatter with a puff of air, landed on the tabletop, and began spinning.

What happened? Isn’t it supposed to automatically toss only at night?

And I didn’t trigger any misfortune rule at all? Why???

If this wasn’t misfortune, Oppold absolutely wouldn’t believe it. How could he, a dignified third-tier transcendent, make such a mistake?

The coin gradually stopped spinning on the table, wobbling. The penetrated spot on Oppold’s left hand was already covered by a layer of black armor.

He frowned tightly, watching the coin standing upright on the edge of the table.

It’s fine... Since birth, luck has always been on my side. Even a “Favored” couldn’t contend with my strong luck...

The coin fell. The rusty demon face faced the sky, its bloody smile seeming to mock.

“Fuck...” Oppold cursed.

He reached out to retrieve the rusty coin lying on the edge, but just then, a comical scene occurred.

His toes caught on a crack in the damaged wooden floor. His hands almost subconsciously braced against the edge of the table. Just that little push shifted the table forward slightly.

Just that tiny distance and vibration, the coin tumbled off the tabletop, fell vertically to the ground, bounced and flipped a few times on the wooden floor, and the eyeball angel side once again pressed against the ground.

“Ah?!” Oppold’s pupils constricted slightly. He looked incredulously at the rusty coin lying on the ground. He didn’t even notice a drop of sweat trickling down from his temple.

Fuck...

Fuck!!!!!

Oppold quickly bent down, scooped up the coin from the ground, put it in his pocket, and hurried towards the door.

He couldn’t be late. He had to return to the factory, otherwise, misfortune would stack!

Originally negligible misfortune might, under the circumstance of two consecutive tails, become the last straw that crushed him!

Oppold, initially wanting to crash through the door, suppressed his anger and astonishment at the last moment, carefully pulling the door open, afraid that too much force would damage it.

If the door broke, he didn’t have enough wages to compensate the landlord.

Outside, it was dim and gloomy, with light rain falling. The temperature had dropped considerably.

Oppold walked quickly down the road, stepping on the waterlogged black gravel ground, heading towards the factory.

He deliberately rented a place relatively close to the Church of the Savior Goddess to avoid their scrutiny. The factory was quite far from his residence; he had to run there.

But just as Oppold ran past a street, he gradually slowed down, his pace slackening.

The... people on the street?

Normally at this time, workers heading back after lunch break would fill the streets.

But Oppold ran all the way here without seeing a single person on the street. Even the shops along the street seemed to have closed their doors.

He looked back. The street behind him was also empty. Only the patter of rain and the distant roar of factory steam engines reached his ears.

Faint blue fluorescence quickly flowed over his body. Black armor emerged from within him, tearing through the dirty, cheap clothes, covering his chest and arms.

I clearly wasn’t late yet... Clearly misfortune wouldn’t be stacked and strengthened... Why?

The cheap clothes tore apart and fell to the ground. As if shedding this layer of restraint, he raised his hand and swept his rain-soaked golden curly hair back from his forehead.

“Who! Get out here!!!” Oppold’s voice was filled with fury. Whoever came today, he had to make them pay the price.

The other party seemed to hear Oppold’s words.

On the rooftop amidst the rain screen, a white shadow emerged, standing at the top.

“Heh...” Oppold looked up at the white shadow and snorted coldly.

“From the Church of the Savior Goddess? What business does your esteemed church have with me? I don’t believe I’ve violated any of your rules.” Oppold’s words were extremely impolite.

The Church of the Savior Goddess itself was a church with fundamental conflicts of interest with the nobility, otherwise, it wouldn’t have been suppressed so badly.

And Oppold, as an upper-echelon noble, wouldn’t pay much attention to the Church of the Savior Goddess.

If an “Ascetic” dared to block him, without the constraints of the misfortune rule, even if he killed them, the Church of the Savior Goddess could do nothing but condemn.

“If there’s no business, please don’t block the way.” Oppold gave the rooftop direction the middle finger and sneered, “Perhaps if I’m happy, I could donate a few pence to you, let your Goddess show me proper gratitude...”

The further Oppold spoke, the quieter his voice became.

Because, behind the white shadow just now, a black shadow slowly walked out, standing on the rooftop, quietly watching Oppold on the street below.

Three... four... five...

Black or white shadows of various forms and attire emerged from the rooftops and the four directions of the street, like ghosts in the rain, blocking every fork in the crossroads.

“Damn it...”

Where did this bring me? Is this still Berren City?

Or did the Ansu Holy See of the Church of the Savior Goddess directly relocate to Berren City? Why hadn’t he heard about this?

They came with ill intentions.

Almost without hesitation, the Molten Tower Shield reappeared in Oppold’s right hand. He held the shield vertically before him and charged straight ahead.

Break through the blockade first!!!

Rumble—

Oppold, like a humanoid bulldozer, charged towards those black and white shadows with his shield at extreme speed. The immense force plowed a ditch deep enough to hold water in the ground.

While advancing at full speed, Oppold’s body was gradually covered in armor, armed from head to toe.

He encountered no resistance throughout. Those black and white shadows were like paper, sent flying directly by his unstoppable force.

The moment he broke through the encirclement, he retracted the shield and continued running towards the end of the street.

Just kidnap a few civilians, and those ghost things won’t dare touch me!

-

Oppold ran forward at full speed. Soon, he saw groups of people heading towards the factory on the street not far ahead.

They seemed completely oblivious to the scene here, either chatting and laughing or just walking, but all very tacitly avoided this path, as if there were some invisible barrier here.

“Come here!” Oppold violently swung his right hand forward. A scorching red hook chain made of black armor shot out from him, heading straight for the workers outside the street.

Dong—!!!

Suddenly, the chain swinging in the air seemed caught by something, crashing straight down onto the ground with a dull thud, splashing up gravel and water.

In the shadow beneath the heavy chain, dozens of black and white shadows on the ground used shadow chains to hook Oppold’s armor hook, like taming a fierce serpent, dragging it firmly onto the ground, sticking it together with the shadow on the ground.

The loud noise attracted the attention of the crowd at the crossroads ahead. They peered into the street.

“Hey, what’s that guy doing naked from the waist up? He fell and made a pit in the ground!”

“Stop looking, we’re gonna be late. You don’t want your wages docked, do you?”

“Hah, don’t mention it. Just yesterday you were docked 1 pence for being 1 second late... Why don’t they pay 1 pence per second?”

“Oh, Tom, if you mention this again, I swear I’ll kick your butt hard with my boot.”

The factory bell rang. The workers stopped chatting and quickened their pace towards the factory.

They couldn’t see the armor on the transcendent, nor the layers upon layers of black and white shadows behind him. All they could see was an unlucky fellow falling in the mud.

And they would never remember why they took a detour to the factory today. Today would just become another “ordinary day” in their memory.

“Bastard...” Oppold quickly turned back, looking at the dense shadows behind him, only feeling his scalp tingle.

Work time was already late. Misfortune... had already begun quietly stacking, and under the coin’s effect, doubling.

He couldn’t escape.

“What exactly do you want?” Oppold’s rationality was almost consumed by anger.

He endured for so long, everything was proceeding according to plan, but why? Just when everything was on track, about to succeed, it was ruined by a church he wouldn’t have given a second glance before.

He wasn’t resigned!

“Do you know who I am?! In the name of Thaddeus! I swear you will be punished for what you’ve done!” Oppold tried to move, but the chain on his right hand was held fast to the ground, as if shackled, unable to move even a fraction.

Patter, patter, patter...

Footsteps sounded from behind those shadows. The shadows parted, revealing the newcomer to Oppold.

It was a petite figure, upper body shrouded beneath a cloak.

She slowly removed the hood. Pale long hair fell down along the cloak. The rain-soaked ends revealed the dark green beneath the white hair.

“Fuck... Church lackeys! Hurry up and let me go! Otherwise, when I get back, I’ll smash your damn goddess statue!” Oppold shouted angrily. Every second counted now. If he returned to the factory earlier, he still had a chance to live.

With the currently stacked misfortune, at most, he’d soak in the furnace a few more times. If the remaining time was wasted, he didn’t know what awaited him.

Thinking this, Oppold took a deep breath, looked at the girl still walking towards him, and lowered his stance.

“If you let me go, I’ll immediately write a check for 100, no, 3000 Su pounds to the Clock Tower church as a donation.” Oppold panted slightly, then continued, “I swear on the name of my family, Thaddeus.”

“3000 Su pounds...” The girl stopped before Oppold, looked down, seemingly pondering slightly.

After a moment, the girl looked up, smiled towards Oppold, and said, “Thank you, Mother Goddess should like it.”

Mother... Goddess?

Not Goddess?!

Oppold froze for a moment, then saw the girl gently wave her palm towards him.

The next second, overwhelming black shadows rapidly swam towards him along the ground, drilling directly into his shadow.

It’s over!!! Not the Church of the Savior Goddess!!!

Oppold was dragged backward rapidly along the ground. One shadow after another, like chains, completely bound the shadow beneath him.

...

The rain fell harder and harder. Oppold was dragged along numbly.

Unsure how long he was dragged, he was finally brought into a newly built, unfinished factory, forced heavily onto his knees on the ground.

The factory was empty, but Oppold’s pupils trembled slightly when he saw a corpse lying not far from him.

That corpse, already starting to decay slightly, was Lucy...

Why...

“Arrange this place. Wait for my return... Watch him.”

“Hee hee... Lady Ciel will surely be pleasantly surprised...”

In Oppold’s peripheral vision, the girl ran out of the factory. And through the factory entrance walked one cultist after another.

They skillfully began carving spiritual arrays on the ground, meticulously placing statues. Among them, a figure dressed in noble attire was recognized by Oppold.

“Gemma? Gemma!!! You!!!”

The woman called out slowly turned back towards Oppold, her face showing no emotional fluctuation.

“Aren’t you in Ansu? Why are you here? Quick... Quick help me tell them, I can pretend nothing happened. You can even find a ‘Psychologist’ or ‘Dream Stealer’ to wipe my memory of this past month. I absolutely won’t resist!”

“May the Mother Goddess bless you.” The woman called Gemma merely curtsied slightly towards Oppold, then continued with her task.

It seemed past friendships vanished like smoke at this moment.

Time passed minute by minute. Despair gradually began to fill Oppold’s heart. The rain fell harder, and the sky gradually darkened.

After an unknown amount of time, he heard messy footsteps. He slowly looked up ahead.

The group of well-dressed men and women knelt neatly in front, facing the entrance.

Who... is it?

“This is the place... Lady Ciel...” The voice of the girl from before came from outside the factory. Soon, another cool, girlish voice followed.

“Is the surrounding area confirmed safe?”

“No problem, Lady Ciel. All dangers have been cleared.”

Two sets of footsteps came from outside the factory.

Oppold saw the girl from before, humbly leading the way in front, maintaining a bowed posture at all times.

And the other person walking in caused immense confusion in Oppold’s mind.

This trench coat... this hair... this hat... the ordinary girl standing before the gangsters earlier?

She’s actually a high-ranking member of the Divine Advent Church?

And at this moment, Oppold also noticed.

The beautiful girl, originally with a calm expression, upon walking into the factory and seeing them, her eyes widened slightly, pupils trembling wildly, looking almost ready to turn and run.

I’m about to die, what is she afraid of?

Oppold was puzzled.