Endless World: The Rise of Leonard Lawson

Mirelle was only left disappointed that she failed to inquire further about how to destroy the terrible system.

She had finally managed to get close to someone who knew a lot about the slave system of controlling and was willing to spill the beans.

'How does one erase a blood mark?' She sighed softly, clearly feeling frustrated from being cut short of the knowledge.

Her expression and mindset were vividly displayed to Leonard, who could only shake his head.

'Seriously… how could someone like her be qualified to become a tutor?' He wondered silently. Her power was undeniable, but her mindset and attention span were severely lacking.

No, rather than lacking, it was more correct to say she was easily distracted.

If she were able to split her concentration into multiple sections simultaneously, then Leonard reckoned she would become a deadly individual to be wary of.

Alas, this was a bad habit she might have developed for who knows how long. To change a bad habit was more difficult than trying to achieve something new.

"Are we still exploring or just having a casual conversation?" Claudia, who could not advance forward because it was out of the isolation device range, lashed out.

She didn't even care about the possible repercussions.

Shirley was a bit taken aback by her audacity.

But soon, she recalled that this slave was an assassin.

A failure, to be more precise! To be held captive and have a slave collar placed on your neck, she had to be a ridiculous low rank.

While Shirley's opinion of Claudia went to a negative value, Leonard didn't bother to react much to her questioning.

"I suppose you couldn't withstand the foul stench either." He snickered. "Irritate me once more, and I might just force you to give a long sniff at the foul stench."

"You—"

Angered, Claudia could only swallow whatever words she wanted to spout aloud back inside her mouth.

The foul stench was indeed very abnormal. It could invade the inside of her body system and wreak havoc.

Prior to Caroline's isolation device being revealed, she was actually suffering more internal injuries when the foul stench pierced through the protective barrier.

If it weren't for such mysterious effects, then Claudia wouldn't have been so troubled.

What sort of foul smell had she not sniffed during her training as an assassin?

She could have easily endured a bad stench, but when the stench was laced with anomalies and unknown variables, she had to avoid these dangers.

Despite her frustration, Claudia actually held some clues to what the substance these slaves had consumed.

She couldn't confirm whether it was true, but based on her instinct, she reckoned it was definitely what she had in mind.

'For even non-mage slaves to invoke such power and craving for blood… All this had to be linked up with the Wrathbane Extract. But this substance should still be in the development phase.' Claudia pondered silently.

While she had some suspicion, she refused to speak them aloud for Leonard to be prepared. If it truly was the Wrathbane Extract, then he would be in a hell of a lot of trouble if he continued to dabble in the investigation.

'Hmph, want to act so arrogant? I'll just wait for you to get burned.' Claudia sneered inwardly.

Sometime later, the group finally bypassed the front gate and was greeted with a chaotic sight.

"This is the central corridor. It's a long hallway that splits the Coop into left and right sections." Shirley explained the layout. "The left section is where we sleep at night, and the right section is where we are trained."

Her tone was devoid of any emotion, almost as if she were a robot narrating a layout from a geography textbook.

Leonard didn't say anything about her temperament. Instead, his eyes shifted to the dim torchlight that was still flickering and revealing the walls covered in blood, scratch marks, and some filth.

"The torchlight used here isn't bad. They remained strong and illuminating. If I use them at nighttime, then I will become a beacon light." He commented, trying to make light of the atmosphere.

The situation was too gloomy and grim. With everyone's emotions constantly on a high alert, it would cause a strain on them. Hence, he decided to crack some jokes to lighten the mood.

And indeed, his joke caused Shirley to giggle somewhat. It wasn't because the joke was great, but because it was so bad and unbelievable.

"I suggest you refrain from joking, Boss." Mirelle nearly had the urge to vomit after hearing such a terrible joke.

"Might as well kill me if I have to listen to such jokes again." Claudia rolled her eyes and said coldly.

"..."

Instantly, Leonard's mood soured. He was trying his best to crack that joke, alright!

It even went against his usual character, but as expected. Those with good intentions were always taken advantage of.

When Shirley noticed his mood was down, she approached him and lightly said, "I think Master's jokes are quite unique and exquisite."

"Save it." Leonard shook his head. "I don't need some consoling."

"But I'm not consoling," Shirley replied. "I'm speaking the truth."

"Yeah, the truth of a property." Claudia snided.

"You—" Dumbfounded, Shirley didn't expect Claudia to behave so unruly.

Does she not know her status?

"Alright, that's enough." Leonard clasped his hands and decided to never crack some jokes. His effort would always be wasted anyway.

"Let's just head to the right section first." He then suggested. Given that the left section was for sleep and it wasn't nighttime yet, he reckoned the situation should occur on the right.

Nobody had any objections to his decision.

Soon, Claudia continued to take the lead and advanced on the right section. Along the way, they could see signs of battles and struggles.

But unlike the outside, where there were only corpses of guards, this time, there happened to be some women amongst the corpses.

Each of them had tearful and frightened expressions on their faces. Their corpse was particularly more dried up than the guards, a clear sign that they were drained of blood.

These bloodless women expressed many regrets even upon death, almost as if they weren't willing to accept such a fate.