NOVEL NEXT Chapter 127: A Survivor?
"Master, are you alright?" Amidst Leonard's shocking enlightenment that he had been targeted for a while, Shirley hurriedly approached him and asked in concern.
The shock was too much for him to handle, causing him to be in a complete daze.
Thanks to that, his action caused the group to become alarmed by his state.
"Master, are you infected by the substance? If so, then please use my blood to sustain yourself." Shirley's voice resounded in his ears once again.
This time, it was even more outrageous as Shirley offered her blood in confusion that he was under the effect of the Wrathbane Extract.
After all, he did attempt to touch them and give it a try.
As for why he held such an impulse and committed the reckless behavior, it was due to his physical body wanting to cleanse the addiction. This sudden addiction had surfaced because of exposure to the substance after a long while.
Nevertheless, he managed to break through the addiction because the one who had the addiction was the old Leonard who had vanished already.
"I'm alright, Shirley." Leonard extended his hand and stopped Shirley from trying to bite her hand to release some blood.
"I was just in deep thought about another matter." He continued, not divulging further of his discovery.
Although he was surely certain his deduction wasn't off this time, he still needed to verify the truth by capturing the middleman.
This middleman was the most important figure. He should have been the bridge between the mastermind and the actual person responsible for the development of the Wrathbane Extract.
If anything, the mastermind must have figured out the person responsible for the development and used it as material to threaten or blackmail the latter to take actions against him.
Otherwise, why would there be such a timely outbreak of berserk slaves from Slave Merchant Gerald at the capital while he was traveling?
The incident could be said to be perfectly timed if done in cooperation between the middleman and the mastermind in the capital.
First, they placed the Wrathbane Extract on the slaves that Gerald brought along.
Second, the mastermind in the capital would mobilize and secretly place their own capital guards to create blockades.
Lastly, all they needed to do was wait for him to arrive at the perfect checkpoint and commence the operation.
Once his life was forfeited, both parties would have benefited.
After all, his arrival in Velastra must have been an immense threat to the responsible person.
As for the mastermind in the capital, there was no need to spell the obvious aloud!
Without him being the Crown Prince, the position would naturally become vacant and available for contention again.
They sure planned it well and immaculately!
This was something that Leonard had to give them an A+ for effort!
Had it been the old Leonard, he would have definitely died without even knowing why. The concealment of the Wrathbane Extract was extremely difficult to detect.
Not even Spencer was able to unless he scrutinized it deeply with his profound mana!
While the atmosphere turned quiet from Leonard's silent analysis of the series of events, there was a sudden bumping noise.
Instantly, the group became alerted.
Leonard eyed Mirelle, who promptly condensed her mana, ready to launch a spell at any given time.
Mirelle's eyes shifted to the floor beneath at the far end of the corner. Although very brief, she had easily discerned the source of the sound.
"Either reveal yourself now, or I'll gladly burst you open," Mirelle warned coldly. She had no intention of approaching the floor and risked putting herself in danger.
There had been too many fools she had witnessed in the past who stepped closer to the unknown source, only to end up getting killed or heavily injured in the process.
Like, why couldn't you just stand from afar and check what it was?
After waiting for a good while, the person beneath the floor showed no intention of coming out.
Mirelle also couldn't sense what was beneath the floor because of some restriction or the material used to build this Slave Coop.
"Since you preferred death, then so be it." Her mood was already low, especially seeing this grisly scene. It would be a miracle if she still had a joyous mood.
As a surge of powerful pressure consumed the scene, the person beneath the floor felt the intense tremor.
"Wait, please don't kill me!" They shouted in a panic.
Almost immediately, Mirelle's actions were paused—not because of the other person's order, but because of the voice.
"A woman?" She was a bit taken aback.
Her confusion was soon cleared up when the person removed the floor tile and peeked their head out a little.
Her face was filled with fear as she spotted many foreign people. However, her eyes soon widened in surprise when she spotted Shirley standing behind Leonard.
"A-Aren't you Shirley?" The woman exclaimed in shock.
"You know her?" Mirelle turned to Shirley and asked.
"I don't recall her." Shirley shook her head. The people she had interacted with in the past or known were either dead or sent away, their fate unbeknownst to her.
While she remained clueless, Leonard noticed the fragile and timid woman's wrist was wearing a one-bead bracelet.
'A level 1…' They were in the training section, which meant every woman had to undergo the daily training to improve their skills. But based on the surroundings and context clues, it was easy to determine that it was lunchtime.
In that case, a level 1 woman, according to Shirley's explanation, meant they weren't allowed to remain here and must be outside at the feeding pit.
"You were a fortunate and unfortunate survivor," Leonard commented. The woman was fortunate to have evaded death by sneaking into the area during lunch time, but unfortunate because she had to hear many traumatic events.
Looking at her condition, she may not have witnessed the chaos much, but she definitely understood what was going on. Hence, she kept herself hidden even though she was warned to come out of Mirelle.
It was only when she felt the intense tremor that she realized she needed to reveal herself, lest she be buried alive.