The "holy maiden" in the main hall said, "To show my sincerity, I will first help you get what you have been looking for."
The voice behind Odis and Fors sounded curious: "Do you know what I'm looking for?"
"We once obtained some information about the Abrahamic family," the "Saint" said. "Among them was a document explaining 'special storage'."
"We didn't realize what this meant until we found the relevant descriptions in the materials from the Southern Continent. That's when we looked up the information about the Abraham family and understood what you really wanted."
The "Saintess" paused for a moment: "We learned that what you needed was something that the nobles of the Second Solomon Empire had been asked to help you find."
"After finding it, in order not to attract the attention of the 'Emperor of the Underworld', you asked the nobles of the Second Solomon Empire to use the 'teleportation array' of the Abraham family to transfer the goods."
"But unfortunately, the 'War of the Four Emperors' suddenly broke out, Mr. 'Door' was suddenly sealed away, the Abraham family collapsed, and its members were hunted by many organizations."
"In places like this 'extraordinary transit station,' everything that could be stolen was looted, and the members of the Abraham family here were all slaughtered."
"But what you want is still here, so after the 'Emperor of the Underworld' fell, the only way to search for it is to come here."
"But the extraordinary mechanisms here are extremely advanced. Without the internal information of the 'Extraordinary Transfer Station,' you can't find what you're looking for."
Odis thought to herself: The whole thing is clear now. Recently, because of Mr. Azik's appearance, the 'Witch Cult' has taken notice of a batch of information from the Southern Continent. They must have discovered something important in the information, or an important clue to something.
Based on those clues, they discovered this 'gruff-voiced' figure again and learned about his current situation through information they had stolen from the Abraham family.
Judging from the scratch marks all over the walls, this being of the "Grim Reaper" pathway is indeed looking for that thing, and has been looking for it for a very, very long time.
However, because he had no idea how to open the warehouse, he hadn't found what he was looking for. Even after some destructive searching, he still hadn't found it.
Meanwhile, the 'Witch Cult' found this place based on the clues and located this 'gruff-voiced' person.
Of course, they wouldn't offer help for nothing; they must have ulterior motives.
"All of this is for His Majesty the 'Emperor of the Underworld'," the deep, resonant voice said. "However, this matter must not attract the attention of others."
He didn't continue the conversation, but instead said, "Since you know what I'm looking for, take it out."
"Then we'll discuss the terms."
The "Holy Maiden" said, "Don't worry, our cooperation with you will not cause you any trouble; in fact, you will be very happy to cooperate with us."
She paused for a moment and then said, "According to some records, the warehouse here is in that corridor, and what you want must be in there."
"Moreover, the warehouse is easy to open; it doesn't require anyone to have Abrahamic blood or inherit Abrahamic family characteristics."
The muffled voice said, "I've tried every inch of the walls in both corridors and found plenty of warehouse entrances. Besides, these walls are very sturdy and hard to break."
"That's because you're not in the right place doing the right thing." The "Saintess" smiled and said, "To prevent theft, this place uses 'Ancient Giant script,' but by the Fourth Age, very few people understood this obscure script."
"I don't know if you remember, but the Abraham family controlled a lot of extraordinary trade back then. These 'transfer stations' were built to facilitate trade, and they were definitely designed to prevent them from being robbed or stolen."
"Moreover, it is said that the buildings here can defend against attacks from demigods, and your years of searching here have proven this."
"Fortunately, not many people in Abraham's family understand 'Ancient Giants' script,' but they have an explanation in Ancient Fussack script."
The two men, talking in muffled voices, left the stone chamber and went into the corridor.
Odis and Fors felt a significant reduction in pressure.
However, now is not the best time to open the secret door. Odis took a deep breath and knew he needed to be patient for a little while longer.
Soon, a crisp "click" sound came from the corridor, indicating that the warehouse in the corridor had been opened.
Immediately afterwards, an extremely cold sensation filled the stone chamber.
Odis was familiar with this feeling; it was the chill emanating from the river that flowed between the real world and the underworld, carrying spirits, a chill that even spirits would feel.
Clearly, what the "muffled voice" is looking for is related to the underworld or the "Grim Reaper".
The deep, muffled voice said, "It really is here..."
Judging from his voice, he entered the warehouse while talking.
Now is the perfect time!
Odis suddenly grabbed Fors's hand, raised it to the correct position, and whispered in her ear, "Spirituality."
Fors understood and immediately infused that place with spiritual energy.
"Click~"
Another crisp sound rang out, and the hidden door in front of them was immediately opened.
Odis immediately pushed Fors inside, and almost the instant they entered, they both felt death approaching. At the same time, they both felt as if they were seriously ill, and they didn't even have the strength to lift their hands.
Clearly, the two demigods noticed something amiss in the stone chamber. They had merely spread their auras there, and Odis and Fors had almost completely lost their ability to resist.
Odis has a higher sequence and is more resistant to attacks.
The moment he entered the room, he struggled to get up and closed the hidden door behind him.
The two of them breathed a long sigh of relief. They had moved very quickly; the entire process from entering the door to closing it probably took less than two seconds.
But in that instant, both of them felt as if they had one foot in the underworld.
Odis sighed, thankfully the contents of the warehouse were important enough, and the two demigods were somewhat wary of each other, so they didn't come to the stone chamber immediately, otherwise he wouldn't have had a chance to close the secret door.
After catching his breath, Oss was still a little worried, so he quickly got up and looked around. He first found the switch for the "crystal chandelier".
Once the light came on, Odis saw the ancient giant script inside and locked the door.
Even if there were descendants of Abraham's family outside, they would not be able to open the door.
This dark room has a sufficient defense system, so even the two demigods outside cannot find a way in for the time being.
At this moment, Odis smiled and said, "Cough cough cough... That was close, that was close."
He took out several herbs from the "wilderness of knowledge," mixed them into a powder, ate some himself, and gave some to Fors.
Fortunately, the "Saintess" hadn't gone all out against them, so the effects of the extraordinary virus on her were limited, and the medicine she concocted herself was enough to alleviate the symptoms.
After taking her medicine, Fors realized how dangerous the operation had been. Before the teleportation array was activated, she had no idea that the exploration mission had suddenly become so perilous.
When she realized how dangerous it was, she was already overwhelmed by the terrifying aura and had no ability to resist.
The two men sat on the ground to rest, completely lacking any decorum. The aura of the two demigods had put immense pressure on their minds and spirits, and they needed to rest before proceeding with their next action.
Fors asked, "When did you realize the danger?"
At this moment, she realized that when she came out of the warehouse, the "captain" seemed to have started to save himself, and she had not felt any danger at the time.
"From the moment I learned that the 'Saintess' was coming," Odis said, "I had previously received some information about the 'Witch Cult,' and the 'Saintess' is a demigod of the 'Witch Cult.'"
Fors opened her mouth: That was close! If the person on the expedition hadn't been the "captain" with a wealth of intelligence, they would definitely have encountered the Holy Maiden who had arrived, which would have been tantamount to suicide!
She looked around and saw a small room behind the hidden door, with a staircase leading down the side. So she asked, "Where is this?"
It's clear that although there's a lot of dust here, there aren't any signs of damage like outside.
Odis said, "Below is the 'teleportation array,' which is the most crucial part of the 'Extraordinary Transfer Station.' Even in the Abraham family's records, it should be rarely mentioned, or not mentioned at all."
It is possible that only a few people inside know how to enter this dark room.
Just as Fors was about to ask, "Then how did you know?", he suddenly remembered that the "Hermit" was an expert in mysticism and magic circles, and must have used his knowledge to find out about the existence of this dark room.
This relieved Fors once again.
Odis, leaning against the wall, stood up and said, "Now the question is how to get out of here."
He had just planned to use this teleportation array to go to the Southern Continent, but little did he know that the teleportation array seemed to have been occupied by a demigod of the "Death God" pathway.
The other party clearly used this place as a base, even leaving their own body here.
The uncertainty on the other side of the magic circle has increased, and it must be very dangerous there as well. However, Odis has just had a new idea. To figure out how to leave this place, she should first take a look at the "teleportation magic circle".
The two people went down the stairs, and below was a fairly large space. The first thing that caught their eye was a magic circle that was about half the size of a basketball court.
Upon seeing this magic circle, Odysseus was immediately captivated and unable to move.
This teleportation array is so advanced that, in Odis's eyes, it is practically a near-perfect work of art!
In comparison, the teleportation array that Odis designed earlier was a completely simplified version.
"Wait a moment." He didn't care whether Fors heard him or not, and took out his notebook and pen to start scribbling.
After taking notes for eight pages, Odis finally closed the notebook with satisfaction.
"It's so exquisite!" he exclaimed. "Sometimes I really wish I could talk to the people who designed these ancient magic arrays."
Odis sighed deeply: "Why was such a useful thing lost after the Fifth Age?"
After thinking about it for a moment, he seemed to understand why.
After the decline of the Abraham family, the "teleportation array" completely disappeared from people's sight. After the elves faded from people's view, the magic array of the "underwater city" also disappeared.
The reason for their loss is likely that these magic arrays were all in the hands of a certain family or race, and when that family or race declined, these magic arrays were lost as well.
After Fors saw that "Captain" had finished memorizing, he pointed to a nearly illusory crystal in the magic circle and asked, "Captain, what is that?"
She always felt that the crystal had a mysterious attraction.
"That's an extraordinary quality of a 'traveler,'" Odis said. "It's the source of this magic circle's extraordinary power."
Odis invented a teleportation array that allows a maximum of two people to pass at a time, and requires a one-hour rest period after each use.
The teleportation array in front of them was wide enough to transport goods!
Odis estimated that each time it was used, seven or eight carriages could pass through without any problem.
In addition to the magic circle itself being sufficiently sophisticated, each magic circle also requires the use of a "Traveler's" trait.
However, only one characteristic is needed for the incoming and outgoing magic circles.
For example, the magic array from here to the Southern Continent uses the corresponding properties, so the secondary array in the Southern Continent doesn't need to be used.
Not only is it necessary to use the "Traveler" attribute, but also to have at least an angelic being to help this magic circle widen the portal to the spirit world.
When setting up the magic circle, you only need to widen it once; there's no need to widen it every time you use it.
According to Odis's previous plan, after finding this magic circle, he would infuse it with spiritual energy at the corresponding location and then be able to teleport away.
However, doing so now would be tantamount to sending himself and Fors into the enemy's stronghold.
So the plan changed. Odis decided to open a "passage" in the wall here, and take Fors out of this space and directly into the spirit world.
The space where Odis and the others were located was situated between the real world and the spirit world. Using the "teleportation array" he invented, a passage could be opened in this space to either enter the real world or the spirit world.
After seeing the teleportation array here, Odis felt a sense of connection and became more confident in the plan.
Before that, however, Odis went to check out another magic circle in the underground hall.
There are two large magic arrays in the underground space. Odis's attention was drawn to the teleportation array earlier, and he only has time to take a look here now.
After taking a look, Odis was certain that this was a central control array. The "ventilation array," "oxygen generation array," "lighting array," and even the "travel array" on the tall wall outside could all be controlled to some extent from here.
At the same time, Odis also saw a hexagonal crystal floating in mid-air. This crystal was very similar to the hexagonal crystal found in the "underwater city" of the elven ruins, and its function was also similar.
This made Odis realize that in ancient times, there must have been a template for central control arrays, and based on that template, some arrays could be modified to suit different situations.
Then, Odis smiled slightly: "I can change the access permission of that tall wall to prevent anyone from entering or leaving."
Of course, this wouldn't be enough to trap those two demigods, but it would certainly cause them considerable trouble.
Fors was slightly taken aback, and immediately felt that the initiative seemed to have returned to the "captain's" hands.
After thinking for a moment, Odis decided to draw the magic circle to escape from here first.
...
At this moment, the ordinary crew members and sailors who obeyed the "Spiritual Society" had already evacuated from the corridor leading to the Southern Continent, leaving only the "Holy Maiden" and the "Witch of Pain".
In the hall, a dark, shadowy evil spirit now stood beside the man who had previously been hidden beneath the pile of skulls.
The evil spirit held a feather fan in its hand. This feather fan was made from the feathers of the "Ancient Death Goddess" Gregarri. The feathers were covered with obscure symbols and constantly burned with illusory, almost transparent flames that emitted a pale white light.
He needs to use this sealing artifact to reconnect his spirit with his body, so that the two can become one again.
At this moment, the "Witch of Pain," under the orders of the "Saintess," had finished exploring the warehouse in another corridor.
But the results of her investigation made her uneasy. She hurried back: "Mareya died in that warehouse..."
In her surprise, the "Witch of Pain" guessed that Maria must have found the two people's trail, then secretly followed them into the warehouse, only to be discovered and killed inside.
This instilled a sense of fear in the "Witch of Pain" towards those two individuals. They were merely a Sequence 6 and a Sequence 8, yet they had manipulated so many "Mid-Sequence" Extraordinary individuals at will, and had even killed three of them.
The "Saintess," who looked to be only in her early twenties and was breathtakingly beautiful, stared at the "Witch of Pain" and said, "You've brought shame to the entire Southern Continent."
The "Witch of Pain" lowered her head, not daring to say anything.
The "Saintess" took a deep breath before saying, "It seems that this is the work of the so-called 'Scroll Professor' you mentioned."
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
"The women who were with him were likely from the Abraham family, otherwise they wouldn't have been so familiar with the environment here."
"Go investigate them and kill them."
The "Witch of Pain" looked at the stone chamber in astonishment: "They...aren't they trapped inside?"
The "saintess" smiled and said in a very beautiful voice, "I don't think this place can trap them. Go."
With a wave of her hand, the "Witch of Pain" appeared on the tall wall in the blink of an eye.
Here, there is a "magic master" who is always ready to "open the door" for the people inside.
But after trying several times, he only managed to open an illusory door in the wall, but the outside of the door was still a wall, not a way out.
The Witch of Pain asked, "What's wrong?"
"It won't open." A thin layer of sweat had already formed on the "magic master's" forehead.
The Witch of Pain paused, then said, "Try again."
At this moment, the "Saintess" suddenly appeared behind the two of them: "No need to try anymore, we're trapped here."
The "Witch of Pain" took a slight breath: Even the "Saintess" is trapped?
...
In a dark room.
Odis has already drawn the "teleportation circle", but this circle requires an "Ahonna Crystal" to function.
Fortunately, although there is no connection to the spirit world here, Odis can use the connection with the "Wilderland of Knowledge" to take out the "Ahona Crystal" stored there.
These "Ahonna Crystals" were quite valuable; they were Odis's stock in Backlund, and he spent a large portion of his income on them at the time.
Odis chose the smallest piece and simply inlaid it into the magic circle.
Next, he took away the "Traveler" attribute from the "teleportation array" over there. Without this attribute, the teleportation array could not function.
Then Odis took out a pen and spiritual oil and modified a few characters in the "Central Control Array," thus trapping everyone outside in this space.
Finally, Odis took out an "explosion scroll" and drew a small magic circle.
This magic circle can supply a small amount of spiritual energy and simulate the incantation to open a scroll.
However, Odis has a "delay design" that allows him to supply spiritual energy after half a minute to detonate the scroll.
The "Explosive Scroll" is enough to destroy all the magic arrays here, so that these array diagrams do not fall into the hands of the "Witch Cult".
With everything set up, Odis pulled Fors by one hand and pressed down on a spot in the magic circle with the other.
A phantom passage appeared, and on the other side of the passage was indeed the spirit realm.
Odis breathed a sigh of relief and led Fors into the spirit world.
After the two people left, the illusory passage disappeared. About half a minute later, a violent explosion swept through every corner of the dark room.
Because these buildings were constructed using special methods, the violent explosion didn't even knock off a single piece of plaster, although most of the magic arrays here were destroyed.
In particular, the magic circle that Odis had just drawn had not been reinforced at all and had completely disappeared in the explosion.
After the explosion, the most valuable thing here was probably the "Ahona Crystal" that Odis couldn't take with him.
...
After arriving in the spirit world, Odis immediately used the "Travel Ring" to travel through the spirit world to a small deserted island.
By this time, the sun had risen to the western horizon, and bathed in its light, the two were certain that they were truly out of danger.
They didn't say a word, just quietly basked in the sun for a while before Fors finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's so hot!"
Backlund was still in the dead of winter. Fors knew in advance that the exploration would take place on the sea, so she wore a thin dress, but it was still very hot under the blazing sun!
"Let's divide the spoils first," Odis said, walking into the shade of a tree. "Then I'll send you back to Backlund."
Fors said, "Actually, you only need to give me 600 pounds."
She felt that her contribution to the entire exploration process was simply opening three "doors".
Odis laughed and said, "The fact that you managed to survive such a dangerous exploration to the end without causing any trouble is enough for you to obtain some of the spoils."
"However, it should be noted that I did play a major role in this exploration, and I also lost a crystal worth about 4,000 pounds."
"So I want five-sixths of it, you don't have any objections, right?"
"No objection," Fors immediately replied. "I'm fine with taking one-eighth."
As Odis took the spoils out of the "wilderness of knowledge," he said, "There are two ways to divide them. One way is that I take five items first, and then you take one; the other way is that we each take what we need."
"Because you obviously won't need some of today's spoils, and it would be difficult to take them back anyway... well, to be precise, I might not need them either."
Fors recalled the logs and ore. Just as the "captain" had said, even if she had her share of these things, it would be difficult to bring them to Backlund, and even if she did, there would be nowhere to store them.
So she asked, "How can we each get what we need?"
Odis smiled and asked, "You should need that chest of gold, shouldn't you?"
Fors paused for a moment, then nodded honestly.
"Well then, I can give you that box of gold," Odis said, "and then I'll give you the extraordinary qualities of the 'astrologer'."
"I think these are all the things you need."
The total value of these two spoils is roughly one-fifth to one-sixth of the total value.
Fors took a deep breath to calm herself down: "Wouldn't...wouldn't that be too much..."
Odis smiled and said, "Since you have no objections, we will divide it this way."
Fors breathed a sigh of relief. Her teacher, Dorian, had previously said that he did not have the main materials for "astrologers," so Fors had to collect the materials herself.
Before I even had a chance to collect them, I already had the main ingredients for the potion.
"However, to prevent the 'Gnostic Society' from divining the location of this characteristic, I need to have someone process it first, and then I will give it to you next Monday," Odis said. "We are all members of a mystical gathering, so you don't need to worry about me reneging on the agreement."
Fors nodded: "I...I know, um...I mean, I trust you."
Fors remained in a daze throughout the rest of the journey until the "captain" took his leave. He felt a heavy weight in his hands and suddenly realized: he was carrying a chest of gold! A chest of gold worth at least 6,000 pounds!
So she stopped walking toward the public horse station and instead hailed a horse-drawn carriage.
It wasn't because I suddenly became rich and extravagant, but because taking a horse-drawn carriage was safer.
Once inside the carriage, Fors seemed to finally come to her senses. She pinched her cheek: "Normally, I always thought of myself as an extraordinary person. My job to make a living is pretty good, and sometimes I even feel quite impressive. But I never imagined that just a chest of gold could make me so blinded."
In the end, she exclaimed: Exploring ancient ruins can really make money!
Then, she recalled the exploration process and thought about it more and more: "The captain is really knowledgeable and wise. Even with such a powerful enemy, he still managed to obtain so many spoils of war, and in the end, he only felt a little cold and was not even seriously injured."
Fors thought about it more and more and realized that it wasn't that exploring ruins was profitable, but rather that exploring ruins with the right people was the way to make money.
This helped her regain her senses and stop thinking about actively seeking out or exploring the ruins.
Back at the rented room, Hugh, with her adorable baby fat on her face, was already back: "The box you're carrying... looks really old-fashioned."
Fors smiled and said, "It was indeed found in a ruin."
She was torn between telling Hugh what had happened that day.
But after thinking about it, Fors decided to wait and tell her later. Although they both knew the "Captain," Fors did not have any way to contact the "Captain" openly.
"I'm going to change my clothes," Fors changed the subject and quickly went into her room.
While organizing the documents in his hand, Hugh said, "You are indeed dressed too lightly."
Seeing that Hugh was no longer paying attention to the box in her hand, Fors said while changing her clothes, "By the way, I remember you said that you know someone who collects jewelry and gold."
"A friend of mine asked me to help him process some gold bars. I can get a reward of 60 pounds, and I'll split half with you."
Hugh glanced up at Fors's room: "The pay is very high!"
Such commissions usually only pay a few pounds.
At this moment, Hugh, who had already learned some of Odis's skills in intelligence gathering, immediately thought of the box Fors had been carrying and Fors's attire.
But she didn't raise any questions. Instead, she said, "I'll give you an answer tomorrow morning."
...
Inside the captain's office of the "Argo".
Suddenly, a magical door opened, and Odis saw that two tall wooden crates had appeared in the workshop.
These are the last batch of "Extraordinary Puppets" parts sculpted by Kaina, and they arrived just in time.
Odis did a quick check, then went back to her bedroom and changed out of her somewhat torn clothes.
After changing into her work clothes, Odis first used meditation to enter the "wilderness of knowledge".
Here, he first sorted out today's spoils, especially the ores and logs, which needed to be stored in a considerable amount of space.
Then Odis looked at the other spoils of war, first of all the sealed artifacts that corresponded to the "Faceless Man." Its main ability was to transform into the appearance of other people, changing their hair color, pupils, and height. Even the sealed artifact itself could change its own appearance, although the rose-red gem could not change its appearance.
The second ability is that he can perform divination.
For Odis, the ability to perform divination alone made it a very useful sealing artifact.
As for the negative effects, they are not very strong: if you wear it for more than an hour at a time, you will start to be afraid of water; if you wear it for more than two hours at a time, you will feel very handsome or beautiful, and then gradually you will not want to take it off and will wear it all the time.
As long as the wearing time is kept within one hour, the negative effects can be neutralized.
So Odis transformed it into a pendant with a huge gemstone, and named it the "Faceless Pendant".
Then, Odis looked at the black iron-colored stone that he didn't recognize but thought looked very high-class.
After examining it using the "Central Simulator" in the "Knowledge Wilderness," it turns out to be an auxiliary material for the demigod level of the "Lawyer" pathway!