A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 282 Is that all the ambition you have?

The maid was filthy, her messy hair disheveled, and utterly unattractive; one might even mistake her for a rat whisperer. Only the poet paused upon entering, scrutinizing the maid: "What's your name?"

Receiving no response, Freddie arbitrarily named you: "How about I call you Little Coal Ball?"

The maid's only bright spot was her eyes. She glanced at her nominal master, and Crawford said impatiently, "The master gave you a name, so hurry up and thank him!"

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"

"I'm not called 'adult,' I have a name, 'Freddy.'"

The maid, nicknamed "Little Coal Ball," was terrified when she first saw a smile that revealed eight teeth. In the monkey world, baring one's teeth was a sign of threat. Not understanding what a "smile" was, "Little Coal Ball" trembled with fear and was at a loss.

Rorschach was uninterested in the poet's actions. He guessed that the cult leader's stronghold contained more powders, potions, and materials about the cult. He searched using Arcane Vision and indeed found a place where auras were gathered.

The boy said sternly, "There's a basement? Take me down there."

Klopp stiffened, flipped open the rug, and opened the trapdoor. In his eyes, the mage's power and insight had surpassed those of the underground cult's superiors. As a smart man, Klopp had never asked Rorschach any questions, only answering what he knew. He could only guess where Rorschach came from and why he was causing trouble for the cult.

First, let's rule out the useless Earl. If there were a mage in charge of the semi-submerged area, they would have wiped out the branch of the Order long ago. Why wait until now?

From the surface? Or from the core area, the ancient ruins area, or the deep-sea area? Thinking of the latter two areas, Klopp shuddered.

Seeing Crawp trembling, Rorschach assumed it was because the man was old and had difficulty even pulling a wooden door. He used [Mage's Hand] to help him lift the door, allowing Crawp to step into the basement.

It seems that Crawford was right in his boasting; the current "detached house" was indeed part of the former castle. The basement where they are now has an arched ceiling and the stone walls are even more regular than those above, seemingly an uncollapsed corner of the dungeon.

The small warehouse, now designated by the cult leader as a storeroom for important items, contains not only hard currency of the Shadow City such as flour, sugar, and cloth, but also repaired tables and chairs. The tabletops are covered with books and documents, various herbs and knives, a grinding mortar for grinding medicinal powders, and a small stove on the floor.

I thought he was a traditional Chinese medicine doctor from a past life!

"I ask, you answer." Rorschach was satisfied with the dungeon environment; this was a good place for interrogation. With that, the trapdoor slammed shut. Mr. Crawford shuddered and stood at attention: "Yes, sir!"

You old bastard, you've definitely been to jail before. Rorschach first wanted to get to the bottom of the ship: "Tell me, what's the deal with this ship?"

"Sir, I don't know!" Of course, simply saying he didn't know wouldn't satisfy Rorschach. Klopp used negotiation skills, first lowering the other party's expectations, and then revealing the fragments he did know:

"I strongly suspect that the Order has a way to freely enter and exit Shadow City and transport large quantities of supplies. Look, sir, all this fine flour, sugar, and cloth is the Order's supply. This time, we received instructions from our superiors to take over the supplies from the shipwreck."

It seems the cult has more than one similar ship, and the sugar and tea on board are not just for inspection purposes, but are indeed intended for delivery to the Shadowlands.

"Letters? How do you communicate?"

"Bats! Domesticated bats! I keep some in my yard too." Since bats are cave creatures, they hadn't noticed them when they first entered; they never expected it to be the postman.

"Then write back later and say that everything is normal on your end." Rorschach then asked, "Why are the remains used in the rituals on the ship all elves? Where did they come from?" In Istani, elves have the same citizenship as humans, and such a tragedy would definitely cause a sensation if it were discovered.

Furthermore, the ritual patterns also bear traces of elves.

"Sir, I really didn't know! I never imagined that this cult could be so wicked. If I had known, I would have been an enemy of them!" Klopp, again unaware and ignorant, wanted to prove that he was a law-abiding citizen.

However, he still offered a somewhat useful clue: "But I suspect they are all grey elves from El Isle. The other long-eared elves don't consider them their own kind. No one would investigate if a few mud elves died in Istani." He had intended to say "mud race" but not knowing Rorschach's stance on the matter, he changed his word to a neutral term.

Indeed, it is highly likely, as the voyage log shows that the cargo ship frequently traveled to and from El Isle.

Rorschach rubbed together the half-finished powder: "Let me ask you again, do you know why the 'living water body' is more active?"

"I know, sir!" Third time's the charm, thankfully Crawford wasn't truly unaware: "Because I did it!"

"."

Klopp began to launch into a long-winded explanation of his "grand plan": "I've discovered that the water here is very strange! It has its own life force and consciousness, and I've also stumbled upon the fact that the cult's powder can stimulate it to become more active."

"and then?"

Cropp's face flushed with excitement as he talked about his plan: "What's even better is that I found a pipeline from the Storm City Water Company, from which I can get a continuous supply of clean, lifeless water! At least the water that comes out fresh is lifeless."

"so."

"So as long as I keep 'feeding' the water body and make it go crazy, the residents of the semi-submersible area will not be able to get water. At that time, they will only be able to get water from the tap water pipeline that I control! I will monopolize the source of life and let that count go to hell. Everyone will have to bow down to me!" Crawford spread his arms as if he was doing something incredible.

That's it? Rorschach felt insulted. This guy was tirelessly adding drugs to the water just to monopolize the water source?

Seeing that Rorschach didn't understand the intricacies of the plan, Klopp patiently explained, "I've figured out the rules. Stimulating the activity of the water body doesn't count as poisoning, and I'm not directly harming His Excellency the Earl. Therefore, under the rules of Shadow City, I won't be punished in any way. When the people's hearts are with me, the day will come when they tacitly acknowledge me as the master of the semi-submersible zone!"

The reason for this convoluted plan was to circumvent the "rules" of the Shadowlands. The poet Freddy also emphasized that the Shadow Cities have many rules, suggesting that even members of the Order are not immune to punishment. Could the Shadowlands also possess a will, and one whose status is no less than that of Mother Earth? Rorschach might be able to glean information from the eccentric underling.

This guy really has no faith. I didn't expect that the Church of the Return of the Holy Mother would have such a person infiltrated the team while it was still on the rise. He was even in charge of an area. His life was corrupt and decadent, and he had deviated from the ordinary believers. He had caused great losses to the missionary work in Shadow City. Rorschach was heartbroken.

Finally, he didn't forget to have Crawley report back to his superiors. After confirming that the man hadn't tried any tricks to send a distress signal, he called a maid to send the message.

Having done all that, the mage asked one last question: "How often do your superiors come to the semi-submerged area?"

"It's hard to say, maybe ten days or maybe a month. The last time I came was on the last day of the first ten days, to distribute supplies and herbs, using these things to develop believers and control those people."

That's less than five days. Rorschach nodded. Crawford was about to say something more when he suddenly received a chop to the back of the neck and passed out.

"Singrev, come to the basement," Rorschach summoned using the [Telecommunications] spell.

(End of this chapter)