Chapter 962: Huh? Me?

Dorothy found herself unexpectedly idle over the next few days.

Although the celebrations for her birthday had not yet fully concluded and the small holiday period was still in effect, the rhythm of the Dragon Kingdom had gradually returned to normal, devoid of the frantic fervor of the previous days.

The Duel Tournament was still being held as usual, but Dorothy did not go to watch it again. While the matches in the Unlimited Group were indeed the most spectacular—with the big shots moving mountains and shifting stars, creating massive spectacles—the gap in power was simply too vast. Dorothy couldn't really grasp the nuances of the experts' techniques, so she could only watch for the special effects.

Having seen a few exhibition matches between Peak or Sage-level combatants to broaden her horizons, she didn't bother watching more; it was better to stay grounded and study to improve herself than to aim too high.

However, what she found a bit uncertain was that the Long Wang had become busy again these past few days. Apart from appearing punctually at the dining table for the three meals she and Master Galahad prepared together, she was nowhere to be seen for the rest of the time.

This left Dorothy, who had intended to carefully observe whether the Long Wang was truly Emo La, feeling quite lost. After all, no matter how she looked at it, the Long Wang seemed to be purely craving her cooking, with no particular ulterior motives toward her.

"So, was that cliff-jumping encounter really just a coincidence and not a setup? Was I overthinking it?"

Dorothy felt a bit of self-doubt.

However, even though she couldn't observe the Long Wang directly, she took the opportunity over these few days to chat with experts like Master Galahad in the imperial kitchen, Guinevere who was occasionally cosplaying as the head maid, and Arthur and Lancelot who were constantly bickering. She tactfully probed for information about the Long Wang, hoping to find some common ground between Nidhogg and Emo La from the mouths of these old acquaintances.

But to her regret, after carefully verifying things for half a day, she found nothing. No matter how she looked at it, Nidhogg was the most perfect Witch King, and she had absolutely nothing in common with that lazy, gluttonous, and cowardly Emo La.

Sigh, she was indeed overthinking it. Perhaps she had developed a bit of PTSD from being messed with by her good sister and that fellow Arti, leading her to narcissistically believe everyone was interested in her.

Although Dorothy still hadn't completely abandoned her suspicions—she always felt something was off—in the absence of any evidence, she finally began to let her guard down.

Well, since the Long Wang wasn't arranging anything for her anymore, she began to actively prepare for the upcoming trip to the Mech Wasteland.

This operation to explore the Nine-Star Jin Qi World was a massive joint action.

The Dragon Mother had already arranged the Longqi Army of the Ye Meng Jia family, the Apocalypse Legion under Sophie Liya's command had long been prepared, and Dorothy's own forces from Yingzhou and the Rabbit World had sent word that they were ready.

Senior Miya had also been very busy these past few days. Having crawled back to P5 authority, she had gone "all-in" again, exchanging all the assets she had painstakingly saved up for war resources—from mana reserves and alchemical equipment to medicinal supplies—everything was fully stocked. These essential materials were enough for them to gain a foothold in the Mech Wasteland early on.

Well, ever since Dorothy took down Si Tele, and with Senior Miya "inadvertently" leaking a little bit of information about the Golden Princess, the attitude of the Golden Village had suddenly become very polite. Previously, many had tried to hinder Senior Miya, but now everyone had become friendly and enthusiastic.

Moreover, the Silver Princess Bai Yin, who had previously said she wanted to be friends with Dorothy, seemed to be quite serious about it. She was very earnest, and during this period, she kept trying to offer "friendship fees" in various ways. Since she dealt in the arms trade, the friendship fees she offered were mostly war supplies.

In short, the logistics for this operation were fully maxed out.

Aphrodite had also sent word that they would dispatch an elite auxiliary legion. The members of this legion were carefully selected by the two ladies—all seasoned spies and agents. While they might not be the most formidable in direct combat, they were professionals when it came to infiltration, establishing intelligence networks, and intercepting enemy communications. This was exactly the type of specialized talent Dorothy was lacking.

All in all, Dorothy realized that without even noticing, she had assembled an incredible team.

Look at this configuration: command, logistics, guerrilla units, regular backbone troops, elite vanguard forces, and even specialized intelligence and espionage personnel. This could be considered a six-sided configuration.

Sigh, she had truly never fought such a wealthy war before.

However, even this was not enough.

After all, the battlefield they were about to head to had a difficulty rating as high as nine stars. It was a top-tier Great World that was just a step away from becoming a new Calamity, so she couldn't afford to be careless. No matter how thorough the preparations, it wouldn't be too much.

The configurations mentioned above were merely the direct units of the Witch's House, suitable for serving as the vanguard and carrying out the most difficult initial reclamation tasks.

Once they successfully gained a foothold, they would still need some second-phase follow-up support.

After all, given the difficulty of the Mech Wasteland, unless they called upon dozens of Sages to charge in and rely on sheer power to crush the opposition, it was destined to be a protracted war that couldn't be ended quickly.

Not to mention, she had learned from her good sister that it seemed other worlds were also eyeing the Mech Wasteland. They might eventually have to compete with other races, potentially leading to a chaotic free-for-all among a hundred races.

In short, Dorothy had prepared herself for the possibility of spending dozens or even hundreds of years in the Mech Wasteland.

Therefore, she had to consider the follow-up support in advance.

However, finding this list of supporters wasn't easy.

Although she only needed to release the news that she held the Nine-Star Jin Qi, support wouldn't need her to take the initiative; plenty of high-level legions or top-tier noble families would be shouting "I'm here to help you," then waving their hands to send various resources her way—money, people, whatever she needed.

But ever since the hunting trip, having recognized her own heart and understood that she wanted to engage in a special "war of conquest," she couldn't just accept support from others that required repayment.

To achieve her goal of "conquering through virtue," she needed absolute command over this war of conquest and didn't need others pointing fingers at her. But with this requirement, few people were willing to invest in her.

Thus, Dorothy took advantage of her free time to sort through her connections, trying to see if there were any "angel investors" who would just provide capital without interfering.

Upon organizing them, the homebody Witch was startled to find that, without realizing it, she had made quite a few friends.

Well, perhaps it was more than just a few; there were quite a lot, and many of them had impressive backgrounds and significant influence.

For starters, who knew how many young ladies and princesses were hidden among the interns at Star Cluster Industries alone.

However, she hadn't spent much time at school, so she wasn't very familiar with those interns. Even though many of them now worshipped her like a god, Dorothy still found it hard to ask them for help.

After all, she, the boss, hadn't even paid her employees a salary a few times yet. She couldn't possibly ask them to go back and pull resources from their own families to help the company complete its business. That would be like paying to work.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Dorothy took out her Judgment Order.

"Hmm, should I ask if any colleagues are willing to take on some private work?"

She thought to herself.

Although most organizations weren't very willing to let employees take on private work, the Judgment Court was unexpectedly an exception; it even encouraged employees to have their own lives outside of work.

After all, this way, the identity of a Judge remained more hidden.

Most Judges kept their identities quite secret. Dorothy was rare in being so high-profile, although the homebody Witch didn't intend to be so high-profile; she just couldn't hide it.

She pressed her Judgment Order against the door of her room and pushed it open. What met her eyes was no longer the familiar corridor of the Long Wang's Palace, but a vast and solemn hall.

She had arrived at the Judgment Court.

Dorothy took a step forward, and as she walked, the majestic Great Judge's battle robe naturally manifested on her body, while the wide Witch's hat on her head sank, transforming into a grinning clown mask.

Great Judge Clown, making a long-awaited appearance.

However, as the homebody Witch walked through the court, she felt that everyone she passed was looking at her.

"Eh? Senior, did your mask change incorrectly?"

Dorothy reached out to touch the mask on her face and asked.

"Qian Bao, how little do you think of me? How could I possibly make a mistake with such a small matter?"

Senior Fan Ni tightened her tentacles around the homebody Witch's head, protesting.

"Then why is everyone looking at me? This didn't happen before."

Dorothy was puzzled.

"You should have some self-awareness, you know. You're a big celebrity now; it's normal for people to look at you."

The mask Senior replied, annoyed again.

The homebody Witch shook her head.

"My identity was exposed a while ago, but everyone wasn't paying this much attention to me before."

The fact that Clown was Dorothy's mask had long been exposed, and she hadn't done anything major in the Dragon Kingdom recently, other than opening a shipbuilding workshop and having the Long Wang personally host her birthday party...

Well, that did seem quite outrageous, but other organizations might have given a seven-day holiday because of her birthday banquet, but the Judgment Court didn't have holidays. Surely they weren't looking at her just because they couldn't take a break?

"Emmm, then it's probably because of the Netherworld faction. Although everyone doesn't know that you are actually the Great Judge of the Netherworld faction, Black Hei Wuchang, on the surface, the Clown Great Judge is the only one in the Netherworld faction right now. Maybe everyone wants to ask you about that new faction."

Senior Fan Ni analyzed it rationally and said.

Dorothy nodded.

"That seems to be the case."

Speaking of which, she hadn't returned to the Judgment Court to report for duty or submit her mission reports after raiding the thirteen clans of the Blood Clan.

Theoretically, this was a major dereliction of duty. A harsh leader might even charge her with negligence, but Dorothy herself was the head of the Netherworld faction. Black Hei Wuchang was her, and Clown was also her. It was impossible for her to charge herself, right?

Besides, who said she didn't report? She reported in her heart. If you don't believe it, go ask the Great Judge Black Hei Wuchang.

The homebody Witch argued with herself in her heart.

However, mentioning the Netherworld faction, her eyes darted, and a plan formed.

Tsk, she was just thinking about how to find an excuse to get her colleagues to do private work, but now she remembered she was the big leader. So why distinguish between public and private? Black Hei Wuchang's business was the most urgent mission of the Netherworld faction.

*Cough cough* Well, actually, it wasn't entirely for personal gain; there was indeed official business.

Dorothy touched the mask Senior on her face again, her mind made up.

Without further hesitation, she quickly finished sending out the group messages and then got up and walked toward the office area.

However, the place she was going to this time wasn't the small world office previously assigned to the Clown Great Judge, but another much larger base.

The base of the Netherworld faction.

After all, since an official document had been issued from above, the Netherworld faction's establishment as the fourth faction of the Judgment Court was real. Naturally, the corresponding benefits and treatment wouldn't be lacking, and their office area had long been built. Dorothy just hadn't come to take over until now. Since she had time, she naturally had to go take a look and check in.

"Eh, I didn't expect the Netherworld faction's territory to be right next to the Interrogation Department."

Dorothy followed the signs to find her future office area and couldn't help but exclaim.

Well, this really was a one-stop service: finish the interrogation next door and then directly extradite them to the Netherworld. Perfect.

She complained to herself while showing her Judgment Order to the access control at the door and swiping in.

"Welcome, great Lord Black Hei Wuchang."

Dorothy naturally swiped the Black Hei Wuchang ID card to activate the highest authority for this base. As soon as she entered, the intelligent spirit inside greeted her respectfully.

The homebody Witch looked at this intelligent spirit and found that it was just a low-level artificial idiot without true consciousness.

But thinking about it, that was normal. After all, no one would use someone else's management system for such a faction's base; they would generally bring their own system, so using a low-level idiot spirit to tide things over was fine.

"Then, Zero, go take over the system."

Dorothy didn't stand on ceremony; she took out her spellbook and instructed the Zero projection emerging from the cover.

"As you command, Master of the House."

The Zero projection, looking like a mechanical maid, replied respectfully.

"Address me by my title in the unit. Call me Great Judge from now on."

The homebody Witch said seriously.

Well, although the Clown mask was exposed, the Black Hei Wuchang mask still had to be kept secret.

*Hehehe*, didn't expect that, did you? I'm like an onion with layers.

"As you command, Lord Black Hei Wuchang."

Zero replied with a smile.

*Eh? * This mechanical familiar might have been surfing the Mana Web too much; it actually had enough humanity to smile.

Dorothy sighed in her heart.

However, after careful consideration, she decided she should still protect her few remaining masks.

Thus, arriving at the huge office of the Great Judge Black Hei Wuchang, she looked at the brand-new Great Judge uniform set in the cabinet, and then reached out to take off the mask on her face.

"Senior, put on the uniform quickly. The organization has decided that you will play Black Hei Wuchang first."

Well, she found that it was easy to expose her mask if she went into battle herself, so she decided to be a behind-the-scenes person this time. She would continue to be Clown, and let Senior play Black Hei Wuchang.

Anyway, Senior Fan Ni was originally the designated Underworld King, and the Netherworld faction was under her name. It was no big deal for the big leader to play the second leader.

"Huh? Me?"

The evil woman who had been usurped looked confused. She pointed at herself with a tentacle and asked.

*Witch usurpation in progress... *

(End of chapter)