Looking at the two cups of black tea the waiter brought to the counter, Dorothy pursed her lips and then spoke.
"Thank you, boss, for being so thoughtful, but I think the tea is unnecessary. My brother and I just finished eating and drinking and came out. We can't drink anything else for now. Isn't that right, Grego?"
Dorothy said, looking at Grego beside her. Grego, who was casually flipping through an old magazine, came back to his senses after hearing her and nodded in agreement.
"Mm, yes, the juice at that restaurant just now was quite good. I accidentally drank a bit too much and don't want to drink anything right now."
Listening to Dorothy and her brother's responses, the waiter behind the counter looked a bit troubled. He looked towards Clifford, who was searching for books among the shelves in the distance.
"Boss... this..."
"Hehe... If the guests say they won't drink, then don't. Take the tea back. We can taste it a bit later." Clifford, who was searching for books, said to the waiter with a smile. Hearing Clifford's words, the waiter nodded and took the tea back.
Then Clifford continued to bury himself in searching for books. From an angle where he couldn't be seen, Clifford's expression suddenly turned sinister.
'Damn it... they're not drinking... And I didn't expect that man to be Gregorius. In that case, using force won't work either. I can't let such a good opportunity slip away easily...'
Thinking this in his heart, Clifford glanced at Dorothy not far away with the corner of his eye, then looked at the old book in his hand. After that, he made a decision in his heart.
Then, Clifford put on a surprised expression and said.
"Oh dear... it seems there are a few volumes that aren't down here. Excuse me, I need to go upstairs to take a look. Guests, please wait a moment, I'll be right back."
"Mm, we'll wait here." Dorothy nodded and said. Then Clifford immediately went behind the counter and walked up the stairs, quickly arriving on the third floor.
Then, Clifford went to the wall and turned a candlestick mechanism. A cabinet silently rotated open, revealing a dim secret room. Clifford walked into the secret room and picked up a red-covered book about a finger's width thick from a desk.
'If you won't drink the medicine, then you'll always read books, right? Studious little girl, feel the temptation of the "Cup"...'
While thinking, Clifford opened the book, directly tore off the first few pages, and then tucked them into one of the books he was holding.
After that, Clifford closed the secret room and came out. After finding a few more books on the shelves in the house, Clifford carried a stack of books downstairs. Upon seeing Dorothy and her brother again, he smiled.
"Hehe... Sorry for making you wait, little girl. The books you wanted are all here." As he spoke, Clifford placed the books in his hand onto the counter with a smile.
After carefully checking the titles one by one, Dorothy said with a slight confusion.
"Mm, they are indeed all the books I wanted, but why are a few missing?"
"Ah, that... I'm very sorry, many books here are very rare, so they are only for rent, not for sale, and you can't rent too many at once. This Miss, remember to return these after you finish reading them, and then rent others." Clifford continued to say. Listening to his words, Dorothy also nodded.
"Mm... that's true. After all, rare books can't just be sold. So now... Grego, help pay the money."
"Oh, are you done searching? Then it's my turn."
As he spoke, Grego began to pull out his wallet to pay. Normally, Dorothy currently has no financial means, so it was naturally Grego, as the guardian, who would pay this money.
Then, Dorothy packed all the books on the counter into her bag and left the bookstore with Grego. Looking at the backs of Dorothy and her brother as they left, Clifford showed a hint of meaningful sly smile.
...
Sitting in the carriage on the way back, Dorothy touched the books in her bag, then said to Grego.
"By the way, Grego, what did you think of that bookstore just now?"
Hearing Dorothy's words, Grego thought for a moment and then spoke.
"The atmosphere felt a bit strange, but most of the shops on White Pearl Street are like that. It's as if everyone has a little secret behind them. It's a normal phenomenon on that street. Also, that boss... hiss, he felt a little too enthusiastic... By the way, Dorothy, are the books he gave you okay? There aren't any fakes in there, are there..."
Grego spoke while thinking, and Dorothy also nodded in response.
"Mm, they're all fine. They're all the books I was looking for."
"Is that so? That's good..."
...
Taking the carriage, Dorothy and Grego returned all the way to Nanyang Flower Road. After arriving home, Grego went to take a bath, while Dorothy went straight back to her room with her bag, closed the door, and sat down at her desk.
Then, he took out the old books he had rented earlier, opened them one by one, and quickly flipped through them. Finally, when Dorothy was flipping through Volume 3 of "Light Gospel", she found a few hidden inserted pages within the book.
Pulling out all these inserted pages, Dorothy held them in her hand and examined them carefully, then a slight smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"Indeed, you've sent me secret transmission..."
That's right, what Dorothy was holding in her hand at this moment was secret transmission, a torn page of the "Cup"'s secret transmission.
After seeing that the Holy Communion Society's stronghold on White Pearl Street was actually a bookstore, Dorothy, who was thinking about how to deal with this stronghold, had some other ideas.
Dorothy knew that the Holy Communion Society's goal was to corrupt Gregorius by corrupting herself. And according to Aldrich, the "Cup" society generally had two ways to corrupt people: one was drug control, and the other was Spirit Sight temptation. After seeing the bookstore opened by the Holy Communion Society, Dorothy immediately set her sights on the latter.
How could there not be secret transmission in a bookstore that served as a Holy Communion Society stronghold?
Since the Holy Communion Society wanted to corrupt her, if she went there to buy books, they would definitely not miss this great opportunity and would try to corrupt her, either with drugs or with Spirit Sight.
And what Dorothy had to do was to find a way to avoid the drugs, so that they could only use Spirit Sight.
This was why Dorothy had to bring Grego with her to that bookstore.
If Dorothy went to the bookstore alone, who knows, those lunatics from the Holy Communion Society might see a sheep entering the tiger's den and directly pounce on her, forcefully controlling her and then giving her drugs. Even if she managed to escape, her Extraordinary nature would be exposed.
But as long as Grego was by her side, they, who were wary of Grego, would not use force. As long as she and Grego didn't eat or drink anything in the bookstore, their drugs would be useless.
Dorothy knew the truth, so not eating anything was simple. And to prevent Grego from accidentally eating what they prepared, Dorothy suggested beforehand to find a restaurant to eat their fill before going to buy books. The result was that neither she nor her brother ate anything the Holy Communion Society served.
So, after failing to use drugs, if the Holy Communion Society wanted to take this opportunity to corrupt Dorothy, there was only one way.
That was Spirit Sight... Inserting secret transmission into the books rented to Dorothy, so that Dorothy would be unintentionally distorted by Spirit Sight while reading, ultimately achieving the goal of corruption.
And this was also what Dorothy wanted...
...
Emmm, everyone, it's going to be released tomorrow.