Chapter 923: Teacher

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After completing the procedures at the Student Union, Dorothy and the other two began flying toward the autonomous mechanical civil engineering specialty's base.

"Sophilia, you seem to be in great spirits—did something good happen just now?"

The home witch asked curiously, watching the pure white witch sitting elegantly beside her on the broomstick.

She recalled her recent visit to the Student Union and couldn't recall anything particularly joyful—even though she'd met a few senior students again, that alone shouldn't have made her usually stoic housekeeper show such obvious delight.

"I just remembered something happy—you'll find out in a few days, Miss."

Sophilia played the riddler, smiling without giving a direct answer.

She was eagerly looking forward to the expression on Miss's face when dozens of graduated witches from the Witch Academy arrived with recommendation letters seeking employment.

Miss has been worried every day lately about not having enough staff—she'd even started eyeing other workshops to poach talent. Now she won't have to worry anymore.

Though this move might attract too much hatred—essentially sweeping up all the top graduates from the Witch Academy over the past few years, leaving other societies with years of cultivation wasted, turning them all into victims.

But the pure white witch felt no blame lay with her; she'd merely offered a tiny bit of gentle guidance. The biggest lure came entirely from Miss herself.

Come to think of it, Miss is being utterly unreasonable—first she mentions building a shipyard, then talks about legendary warships, even invokes the reputation of the Witch of the Woods—who could possibly resist such temptation? It's downright unethical.

Whatever. Miss already has so many debts she doesn't care anymore—her reputation as the Foolish Grand Inquisitor is already terrifying enough; she probably won't mind adding another title: malicious competition and talent monopolization.

Thinking of this, Sophilia couldn't help but smile slightly.

Dorothy: "........."

The home witch's fists clenched tight.

You prophetic witches really never change—you're always spouting riddles. Annoying. One day I'll make you beg to spill everything.

Whatever. I'll just treat it as a little life charm. Hmm, woman, you're playing surprise on me, are you? Let's see what this surprise is.

The domineering CEO witch rubbed her chin, strangely feeling a flicker of anticipation.

Laughing and chatting all the way, the three arrived at their destination quickly.

"Looks like Teacher cleaned up pretty fast."

As they entered the first-floor lobby, Dorothy thought, seeing the empty hall.

This place should've been packed with various "Transformers" or "Gao Da"—the prototypes Teacher used to dazzle wealthy clients.

They looked imposing and powerful, but were merely giant labor machines for civil engineering.

Now the hall was completely empty—had Teacher already delivered them, or packed them away early?

The three stepped into the elevator at the end of the room. Dorothy and her junior, Audrey, exchanged glances, curiosity clear in each other's eyes.

Then the two sisters pressed the button for the thirty-third floor underground.

Come to think of it, they'd always attended class on the thirteenth floor belowground. They could roam freely within the first thirteen levels, but anything below that was Teacher's private workshop—twenty floors off-limits, even to Dorothy and Audrey.

Though they'd never spent much time at the Witch Academy, and never had the chance to explore.

If things hadn't been so hectic before, and if Dorothy had followed the normal curriculum, she might've ended up defying Teacher's warning, sneaking down into the lower twenty floors, accidentally discovering Teacher's hidden secret, and getting locked up for a spanking—some bizarre plot.

But whatever. The home witch's school-life daily routine clearly had something wrong with it—this kind of normal student plot felt distant from her.

Dorothy shook her head, shaking the fantasy from her mind.

Hmph, she wasn't some classic horror movie protagonist who ignored warnings and loved self-destruction. She was super timid and obedient—she'd never do anything reckless. Besides, look—they now had legitimate permission to go down to the lower twenty floors!

And Teacher, though she didn't seem like a good person, was surprisingly a good teacher. She couldn't possibly have any strange, hidden secrets, right?

My teacher is just a shut-in who loves playing with dolls—she wouldn't do anything evil like human experiments or living puppets. At most, she'd just collect more figurines and pillows.

The home witch thought this to herself.

Then the mana-powered elevator began descending, and through its high-strength glass doors, they could faintly glimpse the scenes on each floor.

Floors one to thirteen belowground were normal—areas Dorothy and Audrey had frequently visited, merely production and storage zones for mechanical dolls, each with different assembly lines and storage methods depending on puppet type.

But when the elevator finally passed the thirteenth floor and descended to the fourteenth, the sisters' gazes sharpened.

Oh oh oh, we're here—finally getting close.

Will we finally see some of Teacher's hidden secrets?

Dorothy felt a forbidden thrill—this sensation was intoxicating, even making her slightly excited.

Then she broke into a cold sweat.

The fourteenth floor revealed towering glass incubation tanks, filled with green, unidentified liquid, inside which floated living, clearly sentient alien beings.

Elves, dwarves, merfolk, orcs—common and uncommon races alike, enough to fill an alien race museum.

The home witch: "........."

Oh no, now I've truly become a villain's lackey.

Though in the witch world, this was perfectly normal—just like humans using white mice as test subjects—it still made Dorothy frown slightly.

She wouldn't resent Teacher for it; the problem wasn't Teacher—it was herself.

After years of reincarnation, she still couldn't fully adapt to certain things.

Beside her, Sophilia also frowned slightly—she disliked this scene too, for it stirred memories she preferred not to recall.

A prodigy witch born with full memory, she had been born in a lab just like this, as an experimental subject.

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Yet surprisingly, Audrey—the usually timid one among them—remained calm, even smiling warmly on her beautiful face.

Dorothy had instinctively reached to cover her junior's eyes, but turned to see Audrey's innocent, chillingly eerie smile.

Hssss........

Wait, did I grab the wrong script? Teacher being an evil puppeteer is unexpected but understandable—she is a demon witch after all. But Audrey, you—

Oh right, you're a demon witch too. Then it's fine...

Fine? No way! Audrey, act normal! You're not a pink-haired fox—you're a golden-haired fox! Don't pull that "pink-to-black" trope on me—I'm scared!

"Um, Senior, what's wrong?"

Audrey noticed Dorothy's odd reaction, tilted her head, and asked with concern.

Once indoors, especially in enclosed spaces like the elevator, the little fox felt safe, and with familiar people around, her social anxiety eased greatly—she even spoke up.

Her voice, even when normal, sounded like a natural melody—a true pleasure to hear.

Dorothy's momentary horror was instantly healed by Audrey's voice—so exquisite it rivaled her "Voice of the Gods"—and she calmed down.

"Nothing. I just think you're unusually bold today—weren't you scared by what you just saw?"

The home witch didn't hide it, asking directly.

Between close friends, there's no need to hide things—keeping secrets too long harms sisterhood.

"Um, Senior, you think I'm that timid? I'm just socially anxious, not cowardly—I actually love horror movies."

Audrey protested slightly, offended.

"Besides, these guys are practically overflowing with primal sins and desires—they're clearly no good. Being locked up? They deserve it. Why be afraid?"

The little fox added matter-of-factly.

"Um..."

Dorothy looked again at the incubation tanks, her clear black-and-white eyes flashing a fleeting magical rune.

Qi-seeing technique—activate.

"Whoa, the mana's so dark it's turning purple—what kind of hellish scene is this?"

The home witch was startled by the torrent of mana visible through the qi-seeing technique.

Though qi-seeing isn't perfectly accurate, by common sense, nine out of ten of these canned meat specimens deserve execution—there might be one innocent among them.

Oh, then it's fine—Teacher's just carrying out justice.

Dorothy sighed in relief, though she knew Teacher's personality had nothing to do with conventional justice.

"I wonder where Second Aunt got so many perfect specimens—these naturally corrupted human puppets are the best material for crafting high-grade Sin Puppets."

Audrey added, gazing at the tanks with envy.

"Sin Puppets?"

Dorothy paused—this was outside her knowledge. Teacher never taught this before?

"Yeah, it's a family technique passed down in the Arachne clan—a highly advanced puppetry art. I came to study with Second Aunt specifically to learn this."

The little fox spoke honestly.

She studied puppetry to build a Puppet Theater. The Arachne clan specialized in Puppet Theaters—their Sin Puppets were famous for vivid personalities, expressing emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure more intensely than live actors—an irreplicable specialty.

Had Second Aunt not left the Arachne clan, outsiders could never learn this art. Audrey only came because she heard Second Aunt had escaped—otherwise, with her status, private tutoring from her mothers would've been far superior to any academy.

Unfortunately, her puppetry progress was painfully slow—she was still ten thousand miles away from mastering Sin Puppet crafting.

But that was normal—even Arachne witches typically needed two hundred years to master it. Only Second Aunt was a monster—she graduated at twenty.

Based on her current pace, Audrey estimated she'd need about fifty years to master Sin Puppets.

But if it were Senior...

Never mind—it's meaningless. Whether Senior learns it depends entirely on when Second Aunt finishes writing the textbook.

The little fox, still struggling through the basic textbook and barely grasping the advanced one, felt a little shut down.

Life is hard. Fox sighs.

"But Senior, you'll probably learn Sin Puppet crafting soon—you should start gathering materials for these Sin Human Puppets."

Audrey reminded her.

After all, such greed-crazed, utterly wicked individuals were rare—evil people were common, but those whose desires ran this deep? Very few.

Dorothy: "......"

Oh, advanced puppetry? Then it's fine—it's advanced material.

But Teacher, you really do have hidden treasures.

"Actually, you don't need Original Sin—fanatical faith works too. There was once a similar puppetry technique among the Angel Witch clan, called Divine Grace Art."

At this moment, Sophilia chimed in.

Dorothy: "......"

Wait, you call turning people into puppets Divine Grace?

The Home Witch was momentarily speechless.

She often felt out of place in this world because she was too normal.

She shook her head and stopped thinking about it; dwelling on such things only brought unnecessary stress. She decided not to look at the floors below.

As the elevator rapidly descended, they finally reached the thirty-third floor—the Spider Teacher's bedroom.

"Uh, I walk in and see Mom beating up the Teacher?"

..... The Home Witch was stunned....