Chapter 3417: Old John in the Night

Difa manipulated the flames to clear the enemies, while Xia De closed his eyes to determine the spatial structure of the third floor, then stepped forward again, appearing in a new room with Difa.

The fluctuations produced during spatial movement hadn't even subsided when a giant mouth opened in front and bit toward Xia De's head. Then, that head with the giant mouth separated from the body and turned into smoke by the Black Moon Mark in the air after death.

In the room that looked like a study, five mimics were standing.

The one Xia De had just dealt with had a neck a full half-meter long, while among the other four, one had wings and a bird's head, one had six bone spurs growing outward from the back of its head, one had seven or eight mouths on its exposed upper body, and the last one had its eyes covered with black gauze, with eyeballs hanging directly on the gauze.

"Two second-stage, two third-stage!"

The manor's courtyard had already turned into a sea of fire, and the front-line battlefield between the mimics rushing out of the building and the young ladies rushing in from outside the manor was now near the already shattered courtyard fountain.

Iluna charged in the front. After stepping on the ground, six or seven pillars of fire rose ten meters ahead, imprisoning the two third-stage mimics that had just been knocked down like fire stakes.

Fireballs streaked past her side, continuing to deal with those people or mimics who were fleeing in all directions and could not be identified.

Iluna took this opportunity to look up at the right side of the third floor of the mansion. Amidst the splashing golden light, the roof and outer wall were blown away. Then, in the smoke of the explosion, a strange thing with wings tried to fly toward the sky, but was pulled back by black chains shot from the smoke.

After knowing Xia De's position, she felt slightly relieved. Seeing Dorothy's red butterflies moving the mimics and corpse debris to one place, she was just about to throw a fireball, but was preempted by Doctor Schneider, who threw black fire.

That fire was more dangerous than the fire used by anyone else; burning corpses was almost instantaneous, and even Iluna felt that she probably couldn't directly touch this kind of fire.

"Focus, the opponent is coming!"

The reminder from Luweiya, who was located in the rear, came to her ears. Iluna looked forward, and a young lady who looked exactly like Difa Servet was walking out of the manor gate that had already turned into a sea of fire.

Luweiya had cast spells for everyone in advance, so everyone heard her voice:

"This is that fourth-stage mimic. Everyone, no need to hold back. This thing's recovery ability is very strong, so don't worry about breaking it and being unable to read its memory. Iluna, Miss Martha McClough, you two go up to meet it, others continue to eliminate other enemies."

Iluna and the tenth-rank witch apprentice then went to meet "Difa" together, and the latter's originally proud figure gradually melted in the scorching firelight behind her. Six spider legs extended backward from the spine, black long hair coiled in a spiral on top of the head, and then the entire head rotated 180 degrees.

When the hands and feet touched the ground and the head tore at the neck to look forward, that face changed to eyes on the bottom and mouth on the top.

When the spider legs reaching toward the sky continued to grow like tentacles, Iluna prayed softly in her heart, hoping that a mimic looking like herself would not appear next—if Xia De saw something wearing her face turn into this appearance, anyone would be very angry.

The holy bell was rung by her, and "Sunlight Guns" fell straight down above the sea of fire. The golden chains of order sealed the space in the ruins in front of the manor gate. When Iluna and that witch apprentice faced the monster head-on, Priest Augustus held the "Holy Scripture of Eternal Sleep" and chanted an awkward spell:

"Rest in peace~"

Everyone had a very good relationship with Difa, so when Xia De jumped down from the third-floor fire scene that had been shattered by more than half, holding the real head maid, that fourth-stage mimic, which was basically equivalent to an eleventh-rank Shushi, had already been burned to ashes by the doctor's black fire, leaving only a charred head held in Priest Augustus's hand.

That head had already faded the disguise of "Difa." At this moment, although it was a human face, it had a grotesque sense of disharmony. This was the true appearance of a mimic.

Everyone gathered in the sea of fire in the courtyard. Because there were still many people hunting and killing other fleeing mimics outside the manor, Xia De couldn't tell how many people had come for a while, but he saw Luweiya, Xiris, and Old John, who had a sighing expression, who were not participating in the battle at a glance.

"Good evening, Old John."

"Good evening, detective... It's really shameful, I didn't expect that there would be such things near our base."

The reason why Xia De was familiar with this location was that the spire-topped building not far away was the sanatorium where Bill Schneider brought Xia De to recover the relic that killed Detective Sparrow in the summer of 1853 (Chapter 13).

At that time, the doctor said there was a count's manor nearby. Xia De didn't expect that he would really have the opportunity to come. And that abandoned sanatorium had been bought by the 【Light-Guiding Ascetic Society】 last year as a base for hoarding materials to survive the end of the world and the cultural heritage they collected.

Luweiya had gone to the sanatorium alone just now. Xia De just didn't expect Old John to be here tonight.

"Old John, you really didn't notice that the mimics were doing such things near your base?"

Xia De asked after nodding to the others. The gray-haired old man looked embarrassed:

"We didn't expect it either. This matter... I didn't expect such a big commotion here. After the incident, the church will definitely search the sanatorium nearby."

He held his hat:

"Well, where is the 【Mimic's House】? Although the Ascetic Society has rules, our duty is to collect cultural heritage and prepare to face the end of the world, and we cannot act at will, but this time I will make an exception and participate in the action. It's not that I don't have manpower, it's that we really don't have many people, and there is no one available at the base."

Xia De nodded. He wasn't blaming Old John, just teasing him a little. And the other members of the group looked at Old John curiously; no one had ever seen this old man act personally.

"Xia De, wait a moment, we need to test whether you are a mimic."

Xiris walked over with Little Mia, who was not very willing to stay with her, with a smile at this time. The cat was aimed at Xia De, so it immediately darted toward him. This cat showed amazing jumping ability, crossing a distance of two meters at once, which was quite exaggerated for a small animal of its size, especially since Little Mia jumped on the spot without any run-up.

"Looks like there's no problem."

Luweiya said with a smile, and everyone laughed.

Even Priest Augustus showed a smile, but he didn't forget the business:

"The activity of this fourth-stage mimic's head is still very sufficient, or rather, if I don't control it, this thing will complete its regeneration at any time. It can be extracted for memory."

The priest was using the power of death to firmly suppress the regeneration ability of the mimic's head, so Xiris, who had not participated in the frontal battle just now, took out the small silver pistol 【Faded Memory】 and aimed it at the head.

Xia De said:

"There is also some information in the study on the third floor, which indicates a location. The mimics seem to always send carriages to that location. Let's look at the memory first. If the two locations overlap, it means the information is correct."

The blonde girl then prayed softly to the Old God 【Elder of Oblivion】, and then pulled the trigger.

Memories that could only be contributed voluntarily were now forcibly extracted by her. Strands of silver-black light entered the gun, and then she aimed at the ground under everyone's feet and fired again. After the bullet hit the ground, the map of Tobesk slowly unfolded on the ground.

If it were someone else using this relic, they would need to search through complex and dangerous memories to find the most critical segment, but this was not a problem for Xiris. The center of the map marked an address on the edge of the West District of Tobesk, and the West District of Tobesk was the "factory district" in the local common sense.

Xia De nodded after confirming:

"That's right, the information I found on the third floor also marks this place."

According to the information of the Church of Creation, mimics have a certain degree of hive consciousness. Although it is not enough to transmit information directly through the air, so many mimics have died here, and the Mimic's House will definitely be vigilant. So without delay, let's set off immediately.

I am worried that the mimics scattered throughout the city are already spying on the situation in the north of the city. We won't enter the city, let's go around from outside the city."

Since Old John agreed to help, he asked seriously:

"Do you know the method to expel the main body of the 【Mimic's House】? It is a building. Although theoretically, destroying the building itself to a certain extent can make the 【Mimic's House】 disappear, the danger in this is not just that there will be a steady stream of mimics rushing out from the door and windows during this period."

Xia De nodded, turning to watch the young ladies doing the final cleanup in the sea of fire:

"I have obtained the most detailed information about this relic from the 【Church of Creation】. I know that when the building is destroyed to a certain extent, flesh and blood tissue will grow from inside the building, trying to keep the building intact. During this period, the 【Mimic's House】 itself has activity, and its danger level will increase somewhat, but it is still very afraid of fire. Only by burning the flesh and blood tissue clean can we continue to destroy the building."

Old John breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he really knew, it seemed that he was just going to help tonight:

"In addition, our 【Light-Guiding Ascetic Society】 also has some information about the 【Mimic's House】. It is impossible to verify which era the information specifically came from. It should have been sold to you at a high price, but since we are also participating in the action, then..."

"Free?"

Dorothy on the side asked with a smile, Old John immediately shook his head:

"Of course not free, I need information about this place in exchange. Although the Diviner didn't introduce it in great detail just now, just the news she revealed is already a big deal."

He pointed to the burning building. Xia De would certainly not refuse. The information about the 【House of Resurrection】 can be used for exchange, or rather, Xia De also hopes that more people will know about the "mimic" plot. This relic has shown too many incredible things this time. ===== CHAPTER 3418 =====