Iggwente Upper City, north bank of the middle and upper reaches of the Iron Mud River.
At noon, on the street by the riverbank, a carriage was slowly moving forward. The Corpse Puppet Brandon was sitting inside the carriage, being taken by the Holy Communion Society's contact to the Society's stronghold. Far behind the carriage, Dorothy's carriage was following at a distance.
Sitting in the carriage, Dorothy manipulated the Corpse Puppet while observing the surroundings. She saw that the roads were clean, the street trees were lush, and the sides of the roads were lined with exquisite detached houses, each with a small garden. The main gate of each house was the iron fence gate of the front yard garden, and the occasional passersby were well-dressed and presentable.
'This is the Silver Riverbank area. That Mr. Buck seems to have some status.'
Looking at the scenery outside the carriage window, Dorothy thought this. The Silver Riverbank is the wealthy area of Igwinte. Starting from the middle reaches, the Iron Mud River that flows through the city is heavily polluted by industrial and domestic wastewater, gradually becoming turbid and foul-smelling. Therefore, only the middle and upper reaches of the riverbank within the city are habitable, and the Silver Riverbank is the best section here, attracting many wealthy people from the city to live.
The people living here have relatively substantial family backgrounds in Igwinte, and that Mr. Buck is no exception. At this moment, Dorothy was already rubbing her hands together, eager to start her anti-cult work.
Her goal was to raid Mr. Buck's house before the An Yin Bureau did!
Just like that, with Dorothy following all the way, Brandon's carriage finally reached its destination, a beautiful three-story mansion built by the river.
'Wow... this guy's house is really big, about three times the size of that Mr. Burton's mansion, and it's incomparable to that broken bookstore on White Pearl Street. It seems that among the Holy Communion Society leaders who have appeared so far, this Mr. Buck is the one with the most status.'
Looking at Mr. Buck's mansion through Brandon's eyes, Dorothy said with a slight sigh. Then Brandon's carriage entered Mr. Buck's courtyard through an iron gate and finally stopped in front of the mansion's main entrance.
Seeing this, the Corpse Puppet Brandon got off the carriage with his briefcase and entered the beautifully decorated entrance hall under the guidance of the doorman.
"Mr. Buck's arrangement is that if you, Mr. Brandon, arrive, please wait for him in the study. He will return after dealing with those dogs. I will show you the way." At this moment, a man who appeared to be a butler appeared in front of Brandon. Brandon nodded and said.
"Then I'll trouble you."
Then, Brandon followed the butler up the stairs and walked towards the upper floor. During this time, Dorothy manipulated Brandon to casually check the surroundings.
'There isn't much remaining force. Including the coachman, there are only about three or four people. It seems that most of the henchmen have been transferred to the Sunken Wharf for the ambush... In that case, it's perfect.'
While observing, Dorothy thought. Along the way, she saw a room with large porcelain vases and glass display cabinets, filled with many handicrafts.
'So much porcelain and glass... Is this a collection room? It seems this guy also has a collecting habit, but it's a pity these large vases arranged in several rows are too troublesome to move out. Otherwise, I wonder how much they would be worth if they were all sold?'
While Dorothy was calculating how to help Mr. Buck sell his family property, she manipulated Brandon to follow the butler. The butler saw Brandon's gaze linger on the glass and porcelain room next to them, and said.
"This is Mr. Buck's collection room."
"I see, they are all very beautiful..."
Brandon nodded. Soon after, the Corpse Puppet Brandon was led by the butler into a large study, and the butler continued to say.
"Mr. Brandon, please wait here for a moment. Mr. Buck and the others should be back soon. I will go down and prepare the Holy Communion needed for the meeting."
"Okay, thank you for your trouble."
Brandon replied, and then the butler turned to leave the room. Just as the butler's back was turned to Brandon, Brandon's expression suddenly darkened. He took two steps forward, covered the butler's mouth, took out a small knife, and slit his throat.
The butler, whose mouth was covered, whimpered in surprise a couple of times, and then gradually fell silent. Then, with the intervention of the "Cup"'s Spirituality, his wound stopped bleeding, his expression became dull, and his entire body had completed Corpse Puppet transformation.
'One down, there should be two or three left. After dealing with them all, I can confidently and boldly plunder.'
On the street not far from Mr. Buck's mansion, Dorothy, sitting in the carriage, thought this. Just as she was about to control these two Corpse Puppets to slaughter the entire stronghold from the inside out, an unexpected voice reached her ears through the Corpse Puppet's hearing.
"Mr. Buck is back!"
The servant's voice came from downstairs into the study. Hearing it, Dorothy couldn't help but be startled.
'Back? So fast? No... shouldn't these guys have been ambushed by the Hunters? Haven't they been killed at the Sunken Wharf yet?!'
Dorothy thought in astonishment, but her actions didn't stop at all. She manipulated the butler to adjust his scarf to cover the wound on his neck, had Brandon sit in the study, controlled the butler to walk out, and soon saw Clifford, covered in blood, and Mr. Buck, covered in dust and dirt, walking up the stairs.
"Huff... huff... finally back, but the others should be gone, right? Bah! Which goddamn person leaked the news? When did the An Yin Bureau plant an informant on our side... Ugh..."
Leaning on a cane, Clifford complained while speaking, his expression full of pain. His body was covered in bloodstains. After taking a shot of shrapnel from Turner at close range, he was significantly injured. Although the iron armor he was wearing at the time blocked a large part of the damage, the parts not blocked by the armor had a large number of small iron pieces embedded in them, and the intense pain made it difficult for him to move.
"Hiss... Damn it... I need to find a place to pull those things out."
"Perhaps it wasn't an An Yin Bureau informant. If the An Yin Bureau really had an informant among us, we would have been ambushed again as soon as we returned. Now the stronghold is intact, which means the An Yin Bureau didn't know about this place before the operation. Perhaps that mysterious organization reported it to the An Yin Bureau again..."
Walking beside Clifford, Mr. Buck said. Compared to Clifford, he didn't have any obvious injuries on the surface, his expression was serious, and his steps were steady.
"But it's still not very safe here now. The situation is very strange recently. Pack up the important things, and we'll temporarily withdraw from Igwinte. We'll talk about it later."
Mr. Buck said. At this moment, the butler passed by not far from his side and respectfully said.
"Mr. Buck..."
"You smell a bit bloody?" Looking at the familiar butler in front of him, Mr. Buck said, and the butler replied directly.
"Ah, that's right. Mr. Brandon was injured when he escaped, and I was just helping him bandage his wound. He is waiting for you in the study now."
Listening to the butler's words, Mr. Buck nodded and then instructed.
"Okay, immediately go down and tell everyone else in the house to prepare the carriages and evacuate. I'll be down in ten minutes."
"Yes..."
The butler responded and then turned and went downstairs. Mr. Buck and Clifford pushed open the study door and walked in, seeing Brandon sitting on a chair, holding his bandaged right hand and resting.
"Mr. Buck."