Chapter 178
One hour was reserved for the plan to steal the sealing artifact from Opode. If that didn’t work, Tara could disguise herself as a member of the Tribunal and lure Opode away. Worst case, Tara could make a noble sacrifice, offering herself to the deity she believed in.
The plan had already taken shape in her mind; now it was time to put it into action.
Finding an extraordinary corpse was indeed a challenge. In the past simulations, Xia'er had known quite a few people who could turn into corpses, but in reality, they were all long dead, leaving the Xia'er of the future with no corpses to work with.
If all else failed, she could have Tara go dig up graves at the Dedton Manor. There were plenty of bodies there, and perhaps she could even find an opportunity to steal Lucy's corpse.
It was a pity that Bragg's body had been completely absorbed, and Kidi's body had become a vessel for a divine servant... She wondered if a divine servant's corpse counted as a corpse.
If it did, along with Lucy's body, she would have a third-tier extraordinary corpse and another with second-tier vessel properties, the strength of which was uncertain.
Such an extravagant setup was likely beyond the capabilities of any other "coroner." If she really managed to stitch them together, she wondered what kind of entity Xia'er would create and whether it would have a more positive effect on the digestion of potions.
Perhaps she should ask Tara about it. Calculating the time, if all went well, Tara should have already returned to Boren City.
There weren’t many people holding umbrellas in the light rain; it was the brief midday break, and the streets were bustling with pedestrians.
Upon seeing the commotion, many hurried to the sides of the road, fearing they might attract the attention of the plague god.
Just as Xia'er was about to step onto South-North Stone Street, a figure nearly made her stop in her tracks.
Opode!
Fresh from the coal processing plant, covered in soot, Opode was wiping his face with a dark gray towel as he walked toward Xia'er, only to be blocked by the group she led.
She couldn’t show any weakness; he didn’t know who she was.
In an instant, Xia'er made her decision. She slowly raised her head, casting a cold glance at Opode, her narrowed eyes reflecting a disdainful indifference, as if she were looking at a lowly pig.
At that moment, Opode was equally troubled.
Why did he, a third-tier extraordinary being, have to work over ten hours in a factory?
Doing such menial work infuriated him, but what angered him more was the mysterious figure lurking in the shadows, who had been feeding him information.
Initially, he thought it was just a supernatural gamble set up by the third-tier "Chosen One," Lucy, which led him to confront her directly.
Only after killing Lucy and still receiving those letters did he realize that someone else was behind it.
But he had uncovered the secret of this "conspiracy"...
The secret lay in the sealing artifacts...
As long as he could gather the sealing artifacts, something better would surely happen, and he would seize this opportunity.
He was over seventy percent sure that the mysterious figure who sent the letters was weaker than him; otherwise, they wouldn’t need to rely on the lives of the dead to deliver messages. They could have come to inform him directly.
Moreover, after he killed the dead soldiers, he faced no retaliation, which further solidified his suspicions.
Now, although he was in the open and his enemy was hidden, he was confident that given a little time, he would uncover the truth and drag that hidden person into the light.
He glanced at his right hand, which looked just like any ordinary person's, and a faint smile crept onto his face.
Just two sealing artifacts had brought about such a significant change... What if he gathered three?
At that moment, he stopped and looked at the group of people in front of him.
These lowly scum again...
According to the rules of misfortune, Opode had to earn enough shillings each week, neither more nor less, relying entirely on his labor.
Yet these blackwater thugs had the audacity to demand protection money from him. After teaching a few of them a lesson, he thought they would back off, but instead, they escalated their aggression, seeking revenge.
If he weren’t worried that killing too many would attract the attention of the Goddess of Salvation and get him expelled from the area, Opode would have had no qualms about dealing with these sewer rats.
In the past, he would never have encountered such blind fools.
But when he looked down and saw the girl under the black umbrella, Opode froze.
"Get lost."
The girl spat out the word without any politeness.
Opode, however, said nothing and simply stepped aside, his gaze continuously assessing the girl.
When did the blackwater gang get such a beautiful leader? The daughter of a gang boss, perhaps?
And she was just an ordinary person?
And that gaze... If any man looked at Opode like that, he would have definitely gouged out their eyes.
Yet when that girl looked at him, Opode felt no anger at all.
Now, he was extremely intrigued by her, but he decided to set aside his personal feelings and focus on resolving the immediate problem first.
Opode continued walking in the opposite direction, while Xia'er let out a small sigh of relief.
Fortunately, in the simulation, it wasn’t her who killed him.
Otherwise, if the "Nemesis" activated, everyone would know Xia'er was no ordinary person, which would definitely raise Opode's suspicions.
At the same time, Xia'er felt her vigilance heighten.
Boren City was just beginning to develop heavy industry, and the city wasn’t very large. It was all too easy to run into familiar faces in a place as small as a clock tower district.
Xia'er had to be constantly on guard, trying to avoid direct encounters with Opode. Otherwise, she would likely be unable to defeat him unless she could set up a [Spiritual Summoning] array in advance—but even if she could, there weren’t enough extraordinary beings around to sacrifice for her.
Unless she sacrificed those extraordinary beings she was investigating at Dedton Manor... Although sacrificing members of the righteous sect was a bit extreme, this was a simulation, not reality. If necessary, Xia'er would go through with it.
Soon, Xia'er returned to her residence at 44 South-North Stone Street. Outside her door, two figures wearing newsboy caps were loitering.
Upon seeing the group led by Xia'er, the two young men quickly stood at attention, bowing their heads.
Xia'er stood at the door, and as she opened it, a deep voice from a burly man behind her spoke up.
"Boss, that man from earlier..."
Xia'er paused for a moment, turning to look at him. "Keep watching. Don’t get discovered, and don’t do anything to him. Just note down his movements... You can go back now."
"Yes."
The man bowed deeply toward the direction Xia'er had left, and only after the wooden door closed did he let out a sigh of relief and turn to the others.
"Disperse."
They didn’t understand the inexplicable fear they felt toward Xia'er; perhaps only she truly knew its origin.
As soon as Xia'er returned to the living room, she felt a bit of relief upon seeing the familiar surroundings. Just as she was about to search for the potion she had left in her room, she opened the door and froze.
Tara was frantically climbing out of her bed, hastily adjusting her clothing while quickly descending, looking in Xia'er’s direction.
"What are you doing?"
Xia'er sighed inwardly.
It seemed that everyone from the Holy Ascendancy was a bit off.
No, not just a bit off.
Quite perverse, actually.
"It’s not what it looks like, Lady Xia'er! Please let me explain!"
Tara suddenly dropped to her knees in front of Xia'er, speaking nervously, "I originally snuck in with information to wait for you, but during my meditation, your despicable servant sensed your great and warm aura from the sanctuary. It opened my heart and accelerated my thoughts, resolving many of my previous doubts, and I fell into a state of enlightenment..."
"And when I came to, it turned out like this..."
The more Tara spoke, the more anxious she became, accidentally biting her tongue several times. By the end, she lowered her head, looking somewhat guilty.
"Oh."
Xia'er nodded expressionlessly.
To translate: she snuck into my room, caught a whiff of my scent, and ended up rolling in bed.
Previously, Kidi had an unusual obsession with her legs and feet, and now this slender little Tara seemed to be sensitive to her scent...
Sigh...
Xia'er silently sighed in her heart.
If she didn’t still have use for Tara, she would have wanted to dismember this pervert and use her as stitching material for her "coroner" resurrection ritual.
"What about the information?" Xia'er asked.
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