Chapter 140: 「The Thief」

Tierni climbed the Hive Tower, ascending by way of the curved structures of the Gothic-style flying buttresses.

An ordinary person at such a height, even with sufficient courage, would be unable to maintain their balance amidst the howling gale and the cold rain laden with ash.

But Tierni was nearing the end of the Path to the Heavens, far exceeding any mortal.

The gray rain was excellent cover for the "Thief."

The toxic clouds of Terra felt familiar to him, just like his home world of Vostonia.

It was just that, following a series of events such as the arrival of the Emperor, the establishment of Exemplar City, and the imitation and changes of other Hive Cities, his homeland had become increasingly unfamiliar.

Tierni had even heard from recruits in the Legion Auxilia, fellow countrymen from the Naryan-Mar Hive City in the far north, that they had seen the sun in the Upper Hive, which was unimaginable to hive-dwellers of his era.

As he pondered, the targeting rune on his helmet's faceplate flickered.

Tierni stopped, and in an instant, he used his right hand to draw a dagger from his waist.

After becoming a "Thief," he had tested various weapons in the training cages of the Void Hunter, and ultimately found that short swords and daggers were the most comfortable to use.

Of course, for him, having undergone Gaizao Shouhu, the length of a short sword was close to that of an ordinary person's long sword, and a dagger was close to a short sword.

The "Thief" twisted his wrist, and the dagger, as if it were a part of his body, pierced into the Rena Family's Hive Tower.

Relying on his superhuman arm strength, he clung steadily to the outer wall of the Hive Tower, using "Extraordinary Observation" to observe the patrol patterns of the guards and the positions of the cameras inside the tower.

After circling the Hive Tower once, the "Thief" conceived a route of action.

He counted the time in his heart, and after the patrol passed by again, he climbed onto the windowsill.

The "Thief's" large hand inserted the tip of the dagger into the door crack of the balcony, and with a light flick of his wrist, he opened the latch.

Open window, flip inside, close window, and land simultaneously.

The "Thief's" movements were fluid and continuous; his massive body did not make a single sound.

After landing, the "Thief" immediately crouched low, avoided the cameras, and quickly arrived at the location marked by his helmet's eyepiece rune: the Rena Family library.

This was not the first time the "Thief" had infiltrated the Rena Family's Hive Tower; he had previously successfully "stolen" the blueprints of the tower and locked onto the location of the library.

The book he was looking for was most likely kept in the family library.

Considering it was written during the Long Night, and Terra's environment was no longer what it once was, it held little value to the current Rena Family and was unlikely to be in Kales's study.

The "Thief" reached his left arm behind his back, and "Agile Hand" pulled the gray zipper of his black backpack in a posture that would be awkward for an ordinary person, pulling out the Rena Family's key.

He inserted the key into the Cogitator, and after a series of green runes lit up, the golden door slowly opened.

Tierni pulled out the key and slipped into the library.

The moment he stepped into the library, his Spirituality was immediately stirred.

Observing the environment was only a minor and unimportant aspect of "Superior Observation"; for the "Thief," its greater utility was that when faced with numerous items, they could immediately perceive those with the most value.

As the golden door slowly closed, the "Thief" had already swept past the first row of bookshelves, quickly arrived in front of the A-3 bookshelf, tucked his dagger back into the tactical pouch at his waist, and then pulled a thread-bound book from among hundreds.

After quickly flipping through a dozen pages, he discovered it was a geography journal.

Although it was not the target of this trip, he still tucked it into his backpack.

The moment the book was placed in the backpack, he felt as if something in his body had melted, and his footsteps became even lighter.

The "Thief" did not stop his pace and went straight to the next target.

After looking through nine books in a row, Tierni had not found that book.

【Could it be that this book is not considered to have high "value"?

If that is the case, this is troublesome; the Rena Family's paper collection exceeds one hundred thousand volumes, and flipping through them one by one requires a massive amount of time.】

The "Thief" followed "Superior Observation" to find the eleventh book; after opening it and seeing the title was "Monster Compendium," he continued to flip through it.

When he reached the thirty-third page, his fingers stopped.

Unlike every monster before it, there was no illustration on this page.

【Eight-Legged Black Wolf】

【He is a living shadow born in the Abyss of Eternal Night.

He is the void of darkness that devours all existence.

Only the most foolish would look directly at his form; the eyeballs of those fools would ooze black blood, and they would die amidst the babbling whispers echoing in their ears.】

【...】

Tierni's eyes lit up; the monster recorded on this page matched the characteristics of the mythical creature most closely related to the Darkness that he had investigated.

【The intelligence was correct; compared to those half-imagined and half-created compendiums, the one collected by the Rena Family truly contains useful information.

The monster's name, the detailed information...

Legend has it that the author of this book, Concepcion Perea, had once seen a creature shrouded in darkness; it was indeed true.】

Tierni immediately tucked the "Monster Compendium" into his backpack, then quickly shuttled between other bookshelves, placing the books of highest value into his backpack.

Suddenly, his black pupils moved; the "Thief's" Spirituality was triggered.

The "Thief" immediately came to a bookshelf and pulled out a book written on parchment, "The Dusty Golden Age," a book that recorded twenty-three shocking ancient tombs across the five continents of Terra.

Tierni tucked "The Dusty Golden Age" into his backpack, placing it together with the "Monster Compendium."

With his backpack full, the "Thief" arrived at the golden door and listened intently.

Spirit Vision can penetrate non-spiritual obstacles to see the color of an aura, but this is closely related to one's own level.

The "Thief" could not see the color of an aura through obstacles and could only use Leman's Ear to listen.

Tierni heard footsteps, then heard the footsteps leave, and then used the key to open the door and returned the way he came.

The next morning, Ninglu received the "Monster Compendium" before heading out, and he flipped to the page of the Eight-Legged Demon Wolf.

【Eight-Legged Black Wolf, the Mythical Creature Form of the "Darkness" pathway is the Eight-Legged Demon Wolf; this is no coincidence.

This Eight-Legged Black Wolf should be the Mythical Creature of the "Darkness" pathway.

However, finding him is by no means an easy task; the authority of the "Darkness" pathway is concealment, and the Mythical Creature already possesses partial characteristics; one can only hope the Eight-Legged Black Wolf is not a Sequence 2 level creature.】

Ninglu stared intently at the page, carefully studying the data on the Eight-Legged Black Wolf.

【Wherever the eight-legged black wolf appears, people always fall into a deep slumber.

But there are no records regarding Fear, and its form is clear.

It should be a Sequence 4 level mythical creature!】

Ninglu reached this conclusion and continued to look at the records of its appearance and disappearance.

【The eight-legged black wolf treads upon the Moon to arrive.

It flies toward the bright Moon.】

【Does this simply refer to it appearing at night, or is it related to the Moon?

A Sequence 4 level mythical creature should not have the ability to travel back and forth between Terra and the Moon, but Malcador said it has followers.】

Ninglu found it difficult to reach a conclusion; after pondering for a moment, he issued an order to Tierni.

"Send a portion of the men to the Moon; besides the eight-legged black wolf, pay attention to other things as well."

He was determined to obtain the Primordial Mother Copy, but the current treasure-hunting team could not yet complete this task.

Acting rashly might produce unpredictable changes.

"Those dilapidated Domes are also glorious ruins, and valuable items can be found within them."

"While you are acting, you must also record detailed maps of the terrain and topography."

"Not just on the Moon, it is the same for other places."

Ninglu added; these were all things to be done in passing, but they might be useful at some moment in the future.

Subsequently, he took the "Dust-Covered Golden Age" and discovered that this book was a main ingredient for the "Knower" follow-up Sequence 8, "Archaeologist."

Besides this one, he had previously found sixteen other similar books in various libraries, all of which were also main ingredients for "Archaeologist."

On the twenty-eighth day of the Primarch's arrival on Terra, he received news from Mars that all projects for the Gloriana-class warship being built for him had passed inspection.

He waited another two days, and after concluding all matters on Terra, he boarded the Void Hunter and sailed toward Mars.

(End of this chapter)