Chapter 84

The little white mouse ran for a very long time in the sewer before stopping at the end of the sewer.

The sewer system stopped producing sewage in the latter half because it became clogged with a lot of garbage, forcing the sewage to be diverted.

At first, there was a foul smell from the garbage and sewage, but a little further on, there were several pieces of dry wood dumped there, covered with mushrooms and moss.

Further ahead, a faint light could be seen. This was due to an abandoned, dry well providing some illumination.

By the time we got here, the stench from the sewers had completely disappeared.

At the end was a basement door, which was locked. But instead of people, rats came in, so they could squeeze in through a small hole below.

Hidden deep inside was something small—a girl who looked about Lori's age. She was sitting on a pile of relatively clean rags, reading a book by the light filtering through the cracks in the ceiling.

Although it was a book she had read many times, she couldn't do anything about it here.

She was locked in the basement by her family. Several years ago, she had accidentally wandered in due to a small mistake. Perhaps her family was intentionally trying to harm her, but it didn't matter anymore; her family was all dead. The reason was unknown, and the exit was now piled high with clutter.

In short, she was locked here, in a not-so-small underground space. It was a basement, but it leaked and had mushrooms. The girl was fortunate enough to survive.

There was another reason she survived: she inexplicably had the ability to communicate with animals. Strictly speaking, these animals were rats, and as a pure human being, communicating with rats was a disgrace to her parents. So she was locked up, and that's how she survived.

Basements are never short of rats, especially those connected to the sewers.

"Jerry, what interesting news have you brought back today?" She smiled naturally as she watched the mouse crawl in through the hole.

In fact, it was almost completely dark here, except for the last sliver of light that shone through the crack. There was no other light source.

But those who live in the dark always make their ears exceptionally useful, and with their sense of smell, identifying which mouse it is is not a problem for them.

The mouse bounced off the ground and landed on her head, huddled there for too long, making strange noises. Although only the child could understand it, she seemed to be laughing happily.

In this place where one is abandoned, perhaps the only way to find happiness is to interact with other abandoned creatures. The world has left them no space to live, so they can only huddle together for a sense of security.

There's nothing strange about it, really; it's just that some strange creatures have appeared in the sewers again today. At times like this, the rats try their best to attract their attention, hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl trapped in the basement.

But every time it's the same, we stop halfway through because of various things, and we don't know when we'll be able to start again.

In short, people have come into the sewers, but those guys still haven't found this place. Because freedom is still far, far away from this child, as far as the horizon.

But at that moment, the door was suddenly broken down, and as dust flew up, firelight shone in, irrationally allowing the relatively open air outside to rush into the basement.

It's as if they were messengers sent by God to save those who are suffering.

"Is anyone inside?" the monster that had suddenly barged in asked. Flames illuminated the space, and the girl, whose skin had turned pale from being in the dark for too long, stared blankly in the firelight.

The timing of this guy's intrusion is inexplicable; he clearly said that the guys outside hadn't followed him at all.

However, this guy was definitely not with those others; he was Ghost Lord who had chased after them to help. He was covered in blood, and the pain from his own self-inflicted wounds had made him much more alert.

And, he also learned that Lori was now missing, and Karl had gone after her, so he had no choice but to grab a hammer from the wall and come out—a not-so-heavy hammer, something he had made for Ghost Duke on the way to defend himself.

I thought I should help in some way, but I got lost while chasing after Carl.

And it even fell into the sewer, thankfully it didn't fall into the dirty water.

Ghost Duke couldn't get back up from where he fell, so he had no choice but to keep walking along the road and through the sewers until he reached this point.

He heard someone inside the door, and the padlock was rusted. Thinking Lori was hidden inside, he excitedly picked up a hammer and smashed open the rusty door.

But all that appeared before him was a girl trembling with fear.

After a long while, Ghost Duke's question went unanswered. He scratched his face and scraped off a dried blood clot.

It's no wonder the child ignored him; anyone would probably be scared if they saw him.

"Um, this is a good person. Don't worry, they won't hurt you." Ghost Duke felt a bit speechless because this was a girl who looked quite cute. In his original world, he had watched a lot of anime and played a lot of games. Making a good first impression on a girl was very important; maybe he could use it to find a girlfriend.

Although the child appeared visibly malnourished from prolonged imprisonment, with unhealthy white skin and a foul odor, his unkempt black hair was longer than his height, and his black eyes, in the firelight, were like still water, devoid of any reflection.

But he wasn't in much better shape... his clothes were filthy from the fall, and he was covered in blood. Bandages were wrapped around his shoulders, carrying the unique smell of the sewers. He was carrying a hammer, and the sudden turn of events made the hammer feel incredibly heavy; he felt he couldn't possibly take more than a few steps with it.

He's exhausted like a dog right now. If he didn't have to worry about whether his body was in good condition, he would have been lying on the ground panting long ago.

If you were to add a picture, it would probably depict two wandering ghosts suddenly meeting, both staring at each other, unsure of what to say or what they could say.

But the guy just watched him until much later, when he reached out his hand from a great distance, whether to keep him at arm's length or to ask for help from the shadows.

......

Leili opened the cabinet, took out a key, and waved it in front of Lady.

“I found it in a hidden compartment.” She paused and said, “That guy named Krypton hid this thing in a very secluded corner. I found it purely by chance. I thought it was quite well-made, so I secretly kept it.”

"Does your father know?" Lady hesitated as she took the key from her hand. After all, the key looked very strange, with dense alchemical patterns filling all the empty spaces. It resembled a work of art rather than a key.

A very beautiful work of art, yes, that's a good description. This thing really doesn't seem like something a normal person would use, because it's far too complex. One can imagine that if there were any damage, the tightly sealed door would be impossible to open.

“I don’t know. That guy is too obsessed with his research notes; he only glances at other things. That’s why I’ve kept this very well hidden.” She looked at Lady and said, “But do you know how to use it?”

"Do you know?" Lady asked first.

“I know, there’s a really interesting puzzle on this.” Riley kept it a secret for a moment: “After you’ve figured it out, I’ll take you to the basement, just like I said. That guy has hidden a lot of secrets there, and if you’re curious about yourself, then of course you should explore it properly.”

Lady didn't answer; she just stared at the key.

Strictly speaking, this thing can't be called a key at all, because it's a complete cuboid. It's a long prism with square sides. It's engraved with alchemical patterns, and it's quite heavy, feeling substantial in your hand.

But this wasn't how it was supposed to be, and Lady couldn't control her hand as she continued. It drew something strange on it uncontrollably, and then the entire rectangle began to change, until it became something even more distorted.

That's because several patterns were triggered by the touch, completing a series of alchemical processes within this small space. Afterward, the original long prism had transformed into a bizarre shape; the previously joined metal had separated, converging at the end to form a handle. The front end had split into seven completely different sized prisms.

"Wow, that took me a week to finish," Riley said, looking somewhat admiring. "Then you can go find that painting."

"A painting?" Lady paused, realizing she was probably referring to the painting that originally belonged to the person named Lady.

The painting is now hanging in the room where I used to live. I took it with me after getting permission, because I inexplicably felt that there might be something related to me in it.

But when she suddenly mentioned that thing, she realized that it was still in her room.

“That thing is a door. If you put it in the right place, this key will open it. You forgot the painting, but don't worry, someone brought it for me.” Riley looked behind Lady and said in a disgruntled voice, “Hey, how long are you planning to hide?”

"It's fine to pretend you didn't see me." Yak walked out helplessly and handed over the thing he had been carrying on his back.

He found the object rather strange, so he brought it along when he decided to follow it. After all, being a businessman for a long time, one tends to develop the habit of carrying everything on one's person. Even such a large painting was always carried on his back.

To be fair, it was quite surprising that this unassuming fellow could detect him. Even Ark himself was a little taken aback, considering he had managed to evade Lady's senses, but not this child's voice.

“But isn’t this exactly what I need you to carry?” Leili looked at Acton and paused before saying, “Following two girls all the way home late at night is a really bad thing to do. Aren’t you afraid I’ll ruin your reputation if word gets out?”

“I’ve done far more bad things than this.” Yak seemed unconcerned as he handed over the painting, glancing at the half-open door out of the corner of his eye.

Inside was Kendry, who had been given a strong dose of sleeping pills by his daughter. Even if there were a huge explosion here tonight, he probably wouldn't wake up again, so the three of them chatting like this didn't disturb him.

This guy seems to have become a completely different person while his father was asleep. The somewhat timid guy from before seems to have vanished along with the extinguished sun, leaving behind a completely different person standing here.

She stopped arguing with Actor, took the painting from his hand, and went straight upstairs. Once she reached the empty hall, she hung it in a small corner.

It was a place that was not easily noticed, and it was probably because her sister's death made her very withdrawn that she discovered such a secret in that corner.

Then he inserted the key into the painting and turned it slightly.

Strictly speaking, the very tip of the key is completely submerged in the painting. It's as if the painting is a puddle of water, and the entire tip of the key is submerged in the water.

“This guy killed my sister, and I hate him to the core. But I have to admire him.” Leili muttered, “He lost the original painting somewhere, and this one is a repainting. He used alchemical patterns to make the whole painting an alchemical field. And this location just happens to connect to the other arrays he set up here.”

Lady and Ark followed behind, watching as the scene suddenly disappeared, replaced by a small passage that could only accommodate one person crawling through.

Ark looked into the passage, but couldn't see anything inside. It was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything at all.

The only thing known is that the person who created Lady was either a madman or a genius, and possessed extremely high attainments in alchemy. Alchemy was originally the city's heritage, but only recently, due to the development of steam-powered machinery, has it become a technology that assists in the creation of machines.

However, it's hard to say whether this approach is right or wrong, because if alchemy were to be developed with full force, who knows what kind of fantastical place this place would become.

“So he made this thing.” Riley said, pushing herself up with both hands and entering the passage. “This thing will close in three minutes. If you want to get in, hurry up.”