Chapter 65: 64. Gathering

64. Gathering

The secret passage ahead began to feature upward-leading stairs; this was the first time Li Ang had encountered such a situation.

Most of the previous sections had been mezzanines expanded from the city's sewer system, but following the upward stairs, one could feel they were leaving the underground and reaching the surface.

Observing through the system map, the secret passage had penetrated deep into the interior of the Finat family's luxurious mansion; the walls on both sides were made of standard building bricks, no longer the large stone blocks.

This was sufficient proof that the entire city secret passage network was built by the Finat family, likely planned even before they built their own house.

"There's a fork in the road ahead." Dorothy stopped in her tracks.

The fork she pointed to had one path leading forward and one leading upward.

Li Ang had encountered forks before, but those had been about choosing a general direction; now, the decision was about which floor of this three-story mansion to explore first.

"If you want to get to the bottom of the secrets in the Count's mansion, we should just do a carpet search, one place at a time. Downstairs first, then upstairs."

"Fine."

The first secret passage exit on the ground floor led to the kitchen. It was past nine in the evening, the time when servants cleaned up after the banquet, and the chefs would even have late-night snacks prepared. Through the secret door, one could hear the clatter of pots and pans and smell the cooking fumes and detergent.

It seemed this exit was designed for servants to evacuate the mansion.

The other exit led to the garden behind the mansion. Through the door, one could sense the evening breeze and the scent of grass. There was no sign of anyone, so the two opened the door. The front courtyard Li Ang had visited earlier focused on horticulture, while the rear was a flat, gentle slope covered in soft, tender grass.

One part of this area was used as a playground, with various goals for ball games and magic-guided vehicles produced on Makaina Island; the other part was a vast riding training ground, which appeared to have animal pens.

"Truly extravagant, the rich." Li Ang sighed softly.

What the Newbis world lacked most was land.

Since the establishment of the Guild, it had connected the world and maintained order, and wars rarely occurred. In the four calm airspaces, the situation of land ownership changing was almost non-existent, so it was very difficult to obtain land from the residents or lords who had lived on the various sky islands for generations.

Therefore, regardless of the strength of these landlords, being able to freely use such a large piece of land completely qualified one as a rich person.

"A bit smaller than my family's." Dorothy's tone was as casual as if she were discussing what to eat today.

"I don't want to talk to you about this."

"The inheritance rights wouldn't fall to me anyway, so there's no difference. Besides, no matter how big the land is, it's useless if you aren't happy living there." Dorothy was uninterested and turned back into the secret passage.

"How have you been these past eight years? Do you have a place to settle down?" Dorothy asked, deep in thought.

"I spent most of my time in the Holy Capital, always renting houses. But if I wanted to buy a house, I might as well build a good ship and make the ship my home; it fits the needs of a Sky Knight's life better."

"A big ship isn't bad. Can you build a large bathroom? A tea room would be best if it's big, and it must have a pool. Remember to build an animal pen; if a Salamander hatches, I won't have to walk until my soles ache like this..."

"Hold on, hold on. Even the largest luxury airship of the Contan Helm couldn't satisfy your requirements. And why are you already planning this out?"

Dorothy turned her head with a smile.

"I suddenly realized I never asked you which Sky Knight regiment you're in now? Judging by your tone, it seems like you're the one calling all the shots?"

"Preparing to form a new regiment myself, haven't registered yet."

"Oh? You're testing me? I thought it was some impressive regiment."

Dorothy gave a faint smile and quickly explained: "Ah, I don't have any objections, this is actually quite good. Then I'll be a founding member."

Climbing the upward stairs inside the secret passage, the second floor had a wider range of activity than the first, and there were three exits in total.

The center of the first floor of this three-story house was a spacious front hall that opened directly up to the second floor, so the rooms on the second floor were arranged in a layout circling the front hall.

On the second floor, there were many large sculptural decorations, and behind them was a corridor; one exit was hidden behind a door.

After carefully and slowly pushing open a crack, Li Ang discovered servants passing through the hallway and closed it again.

However, there was nothing here that needed checking, so there was no need to come back.

Reaching the other side of the second floor from the secret passage, Li Ang suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Dorothy looked at him.

Li Ang frowned; his magic frequency perception sensed a slight resonance. Lancelot was nearby.

The secret passage on the other side was also behind a statue; it was estimated that the secret passage structure on the second floor was for convenient evacuation when defending against enemies who had broken through the front.

Li Ang had only opened the secret door a tiny crack when he saw Lancelot crouching behind the pedestal of a statue, using the statue's posture to conceal himself.

Seeing Li Ang suddenly appear from the wall, he widened his eyes, but his well-trained experience kept him from crying out.

Li Ang beckoned, and Lancelot leaped into the secret door like an anxious monkey.

Once the door was closed, his expression was one of surprise, and he said in a lowered but excited tone: "Sigh, what is all this? Did you run into that black-armored bull man?"

"Ran into him, I ran fast."

The young man had suffered several wounds, most of which were not serious. The most severe was on his chest; his standard-issue silver armor had been slashed open, and the wound inside was slightly charred.

He kept holding a silver metal badge in his hand. This thing was called a Badge of Healing. Blessed by the healing profession, the spiritual energy within could draw upon magic to heal; it was a standard-issue item when healers were lacking.

Li Ang cast a series of leveled Shamanic healing water waves on Lancelot.

"Ah, comfortable. A Caster can do this too? How did you know about this secret passage?"

"Discovered it with Caster abilities."

"Casters are that impressive? Never knew that before. It's a good thing you're the type who can grit your teeth and cultivate to the peak of Excellence."

Li Ang wouldn't reveal that his Shaman abilities had also reached Tier 4; anyway, ordinary people didn't understand Casters, so just attributing everything to that would suffice.

After catching his breath, Lancelot said: "That black-armored knight was out to kill me. I don't believe he has nothing to do with the Empire. Damn it, I haven't heard of such arrogant local forces in a long time."

Under the amplification of the strange purple flesh, the Annihilation Knight could use magic summons exclusive to Tier 8 powerhouses. The standard armor of the Order Regiment was only at the peak of the Transcendent realm, and the multi-layered metal defensive barriers awakened would still be breached in front of pure magical creations.

Dorothy stared at the deep cuts in the armor: "What is a black-armored knight?"

"An expert of the Excellence realm sent by the Empire to stop us from capturing Winders. A bit scared?" Li Ang looked at her.

"Even an Order Knight is injured, how could I not be scared?" The lady pouted.

"Who is this?" Lancelot asked.

"A friend," Li Ang said.

Dorothy and Lancelot nodded to each other and exchanged names.

"A friend?" Lancelot looked back at Li Ang: "How come you just had two ladies leave, and now you've brought another one? And they're all so outstanding. I'm becoming more and more suspicious of you."

He said to Dorothy again: "Lady, if you have been deceived or kidnapped, you can ask me for help. Don't worry about his power; he is a Caster, his frontal combat ability is not good—"

"You just rest well." Li Ang pressed on Lancelot's head to stop his words.

"Not at all, I joined his Sky Knight regiment," Dorothy said.

Li Ang shook his head: "Haven't joined yet."

Dorothy's slightly upturned lips parted, but she didn't appeal this topic, instead reorganizing her words: "Are 'those two ladies' also your teammates?"

"Only one."

"That means I'm not the first member, then?"

Dorothy gradually became expressionless.

Lancelot slapped away Li Ang's hand, looked at Dorothy, and grabbed Li Ang's shoulder: "You really have a problem, don't you?"

"Stop, stop, stop."

Li Ang blocked both of their lines of questioning: "Let's first discuss how to leave Spark Island."