The Villain Princess survived the Imperial Riot

Volume 112: Bird in a Cage: . Black Hand Meets Black Hand Again

Communicating dreams is the core power of dream builders. They can communicate across spatial distances and even travel through the dreams of others.

Hestia focused her thoughts on the dream, watching a bright purple phantom slowly emerge. She couldn't help but feel fortunate that the purple puppy hadn't used this trick against her.

The dream builder can distort the dreamer's perception of reality and illusion through the invasion of dreams. She used this trick to deceive Aphra into believing in the existence of the evil god, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion.

If Aphra attacks the princess in the same way, it will certainly not pose any fatal threat. However, if the dark elves are determined to harass her from the side, creating harmless illusions during the day to interfere with her decision-making, and invading her dreams at night to make it difficult for her to sleep, then when the princess actually suffers a fatal attack, this series of harassment is likely to have immeasurable negative effects.

Moreover, by merely disturbing the dream, Aphra could ensure that the real body could rest assured. With her power, it would be more difficult for the High Knight to find the real body in the city than to destroy the rebel stronghold.

"The purple puppy isn't mean enough."

Hestia sighed.

If she were in her place, she would definitely mail cursed objects to the princess every day, and mix them with dream magic, disturbing the princess's sleep day and night until the princess was completely annoyed. Then she would conspire with other killers and cooperate with her, and would never reveal her true identity.

"Owner……"

The elf in a strange gauze dress spoke calmly, her eyes were complicated and her expression was gloomy, she still found it difficult to adapt to the identity of a slave.

"The clothes are beautiful," Hestia praised.

That gauze dress was the [Evil Spirit Vestment], a Dark Elves ancestral heirloom, the natal ritual vessel of a fallen Prime Minister. If that Prime Minister were lucky enough to ascend to mythical status, this ritual vessel would be upgraded to a Holy Embryo, potentially becoming a Holy Artifact. However, in that case, it would never be passed down to the purple-skinned puppy.

[Evil Spirit Vestments] can peel off living souls and weave them into embroidery, and through endless torture, turn the curse into secret arts or arcane magic.

Since the soul of the vestment had been digested by the Witch Book, and it would take countless years to accumulate it again, Hestia simply returned it to Aphra, allowing her to slightly improve her strength while her power was suppressed.

Of course, Aphra was a delight to behold in this gauze dress, a wicked yet gentle charm radiating along her bright purple skin.

"Have you contacted the Black Hand Guild?" Hestia asked again.

"It can be said that... I didn't show up directly."

"What's the point?"

"They're very cautious and haven't revealed much useful information yet. However, the Black Hand Guild has very little roots in the Old World. After their smuggling chain in Cloudtop City was disrupted, they quickly withdrew and are currently continuing their drug and human trafficking business in Crocodile Bay."

"You said you're an executive officer, so can't you use your position to extract intelligence?"

"The Black Hand Guild is a very loosely organized alliance of criminals, each independent of the others, each with its own leader." Aphra shook her head. "Their only common goal is to create a corrupt, shady, and lawless living environment."

"So what do you do as an executive officer?"

"The guild's leadership controls a vast criminal and intelligence network, which facilitates their own profits. However, precisely because of its loose structure, the guild must also consider the possibility of lawless individuals at the lower levels betraying the guild's interests and members. Therefore, the executive officers serve the core decision-making of the guild and safeguard the authority and interests of the Ten Fingers Round Table," Aphra explained. "I can represent the will of the Ten Fingers leadership and enjoy a certain degree of convenience in various guild strongholds. But unless I can prove that a guild member is endangering the leadership's business, I don't have the power to act arbitrarily."

"Can't you fabricate false evidence, accusing those low-class pariahs of violating the interests of the higher-ups, and use this opportunity to wipe out one or two strongholds and make them serve you?" Hestia sneered. "What are you, Dream Builder, for? The average esoteric sect doesn't have more than ten people at the level of Mastery. The Black Hand Guild is large and disorganized. Even if they have triple-digit Mastery, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to protect all of their strongholds. Besides, you said the Black Hand Guild has only a shallow foundation in the Old World. So the leader of a stronghold is at best a Secret Peer. What are you afraid of? You can't hypnotize, brainwash, or implant memories?"

Hestia had seen the Black Hand Guild at Coral Pier. It was very weak, with only one senior apprentice and a dozen secret servants. Most of the gang members under it were mortals, and it was not even as good as the fashion store of the Cocoon Sisterhood.

The Dream Builder is good at subtly influencing a person's thoughts and consciousness. As long as she doesn't get too close and use her ultimate power, it will be extremely difficult for the Empire to catch her, let alone the Black Hand Guild, which is a mess and can't even count how many fingers it has.

"..." Aphra was silent for a moment before she defended herself, "The dark world has its own rules. The people of the Black Hand Guild are very vigilant. It's not as simple as you think."

"I didn't know you were so obedient," Hestia scoffed. A thought suddenly struck her, and she said, "So, my good, obedient child, when you bared your teeth at me, your master, were you also following the Black Hand's decision? What benefits did they promise you?"

Aphra's expression was complicated, but she spoke softly, "I have a deal with the severed finger of the Ten-Fingered Round Table... I will work for the Black Hand Guild and help it expand into the Rasfen Sea, and they will provide me with the power for revenge."

"Revenge against the Empire, or against your fellow dark elves?" Hestia's question startled Aphra. Seeing the dark elves remained silent, she continued to taunt him. "They still need your help to gain a foothold in the Rasfen Sea, so why would you give you the power for revenge? You're just trying to get something for nothing?"

"That's exactly what I was saying, Master," Aphra said softly. "Two crucial costs were paid in exchange for Master's life. This is known to everyone in the Camarilla."

"Ancient feathered serpent secrets, worship of the elders of order."

"You really do know..."

"What does the Black Hand Guild want?"

"My guess is they don't need either. Killing you and creating chaos is in their best interest. Even if they fail, they won't lose anything," Aphra said. "But I'd like to suggest that the Black Hand Guild isn't the mastermind. After all, their power in the Old World is very weak. Since Your Highness has enemies within the palace, why not give it some thought?"

"Are the Tinson family and the Black Hand Guild in cahoots?"

"I'm afraid it's more than that. According to the guild information I have, the guild and the Tingsen family had no connection before this." Aphra said, "Even if they were in cahoots, there must have been a middleman of considerable influence working in their favor."

"who is it?"

"It's hard to say. The Arcane Alliance, the Adventurer's Guild, the Tailan Financial Group... all have considerable influence overseas. But beyond that, there's another entity that's equally lawless and has an even wider reach."

"You don't mean free will?" Hestia was surprised.

"These people may seem to be on opposite sides, but it's possible for them to unite for the sake of their common enemy, the Master." Aphra said this with a hint of gloating in her tone.

But her smile was quickly caught by the princess.

Hestia grabbed the dark elf's collar and pulled him forward, grinning sinisterly, "You seem very happy?"

"No, Master..."

"Two days. In the remaining two days, you must find out the role of the Black Hand Guild in this." Hestia said viciously with a fierce look in her eyes, "Otherwise..."

Noticing the princess's gaze on her, Aphra felt sad for a moment, knowing that she would have to feed the dragon with her own body again.

What made her even more ashamed was that the way the Celestial Dragons humiliated her was not to torture her body, but to moisten her with their watery skin until she felt pleasure and charm all over her body.

When she surrendered, the princess stopped causing her pain.

But precisely because it was not painful, she felt even more painful every time she recalled it.

Every time Tianlong turns the material world upside down, it will be reflected as an indelible mark in her dreams.

Then, she heard the princess continue, "Otherwise, I will use a branding iron to imprint the coat of arms of Lorraine and my name on your lower body." The princess hooked her skirt again, evil and terrifying, terrifying. "Then I will use the power of order to solidify it, making it an external attribute of yours that cannot be erased or repaired, hehe."

Aphra shuddered. She hid the hatred in her eyes, but more of it was sadness. She whispered in obedience, "Yes... Master."

……

Crocodile Bay, Hollyoak Harbour, Golden City Casino.

In a separate box, the dark elf, who had returned to her original appearance and removed her hair knot from her pierced ears, sat in the shadows where the light could not reach.

She leaned back on the upholstered sofa, twirling a dice in her right hand and holding a blood-red and turquoise jade plaque in her left hand, which was engraved with a strange statue of a god in a red hat and green robe.

This jade token seemed to contain the power of the Way of Heaven, able to absorb emotions of hatred and resentment, giving her a strange sense of familiarity. Whenever she felt grief and anger, the jade token would flicker, easing the oppression that Tianlong exerted on her.

In fact, the blood-red jade token is connected to the enemy. The reason why Aphra is familiar with it is not only because she has seen the blood river in the Witch's Book, but also because this jade token itself was made by Hestia using the power of the Dream Builder.

But she didn't recognize it. On the one hand, the jade token itself didn't cast spells; on the other hand, the realm of the Heavenly Path also encompassed the most direct sensibility of esoteric cultivation, and the many myths of this path themselves symbolized emotional overtones, which wasn't surprising.

There is a heavenly dragon in front and an evil god behind.

Clenching her fists, Aphra felt like her life was over.

But no matter what, it's a good thing to help her break free from the shackles of being a princess.

"Even if I die, I will take you with me on the day I die..." Aphra murmured.

At this moment, the door to the private room opened, and a man in a tuxedo with a black bandage around his eye walked in. He sat down across from Aphra and said humbly, "Sorry to have kept you waiting, Honorable Executive Officer. I wonder if you are satisfied with the casino's service?"

He waited in silence for a moment, then noticed that the shadow in his spiritual perception suddenly became blurry. He asked again, "Master Executor, are you still there?"

Aphra regained her haughty demeanor. She retracted the jade token, toying with the dice in her hand. "Severed Finger gave me the mission, so that young dragon should be my prey. If you wish to involve others in this, you must lay down sufficient leverage. If you simply wish to die, I can also offer you a ride."

"You misunderstood, Mr. Executive," the blindfolded manager said quickly. "There have been some bad rumors in Yunling recently. The two people with you seem to have been in trouble. I thought you had given up on this failed business."

"Failure?" Aphra scoffed. She raised her hand and clenched it, as if strangling the manager's soul. The pain, illusory and yet not illusory, made him feel as if his body was being torn apart. "You dare to question me?"

"Of course I'm not..."

The manager spoke with difficulty. At this moment, the bandage covering his eyes began to grow, slowly wrapping around his body, as if creating a barrier to isolate him from the outside world.

Finally freed from Aphra's influence, the manager didn't lose his temper. Instead, he took a breath and regained his composure before saying, "Thank you, sir, for showing mercy."

"Humph."

Aphra snorted.

If this manager could break free, then he would be able to peek into the secret realm. With her current strength, it would be difficult to gain an overwhelming advantage unless she plotted against him.

"The 'Eclipse Night Secret Technique' was indeed created by the guild, but you know, the Yunling Coast is now full of those sentinels. The guild has been swept away once and has no foothold at all. Naturally, they can't send people to set up a magic array of that level. And we didn't expect it to be used in such a place."

"Humph."

Aphra watched coldly, agreeing with the other party's statement.

Ultimately, the Black Hand Guild of Crocodile Bay and the Fingerless Killer weren't on the same side. If you had to be precise, these guys were the underlings of the underlings of the underlings of the Eight Fingers, but they weren't Eight Fingers' minions either. Instead, they were business partners in the industry chain, with complex ties of interest, and they collaborated with many high-level executives of the Ten Fingers Round Table.

In addition to smuggling, slave trading, running casinos, distributing addictive drugs, and lending usury, the Black Hand Guild in Crocodile Bay also acts as a middleman, providing a certain degree of convenience for the Black Hand Guild's business.

But they have their own interests and would not be stupid enough to send people to assist in the assassination of the princess.

Even if they really wanted the nosy princess to die, they would never want to have anything to do with it.

Once the falcon follows the clues, there is only one way out: to uproot it.

Aphra asked again, "So, to whom did you give the Eclipse Secret Art?"

"This is business, and business requires some privacy for customers. I hope the Executive Officer will understand."

"It can't be free will, right?"

"..."

There was a long silence.

"In that case, I won't bother you."

Finally, Aphra stood up and left through the gate in a graceful manner.

After confirming that the executive officer had left, the manager coughed twice and pinched his throat. At this moment, a waiter in a shadowy figure appeared from the darkness.

The waiter said, "There's something wrong with her."

"There's always something fishy about the dark elves. They're a bunch of two-faced lunatics. If she can sell out those two idiots, she can sell us out, too," the manager said calmly. "Order everyone to move our base to safe house number two, to prevent us from being wiped out one day."

"Sold? You said she defected to the Empire?"

"How could the Dark Elf possibly defect to the Empire? Broken Finger has instructed that if she can't close this deal, then don't let her get involved in the rest. After all, we're not on the same page." The manager waved his hand. "Even if she doesn't defect to the Empire, it won't stop her from selling us off. It's always better to be cautious... Besides, Crocodile Bay has those running dogs of the Shaye family."

"What a shame! If we could continue to harness the power of that dark elf, we'd have the initiative in the money-printing business." The waiter shook his head. "Free will isn't easy to deal with, especially since they dared to use the Night Eclipse to murder the princess... It's a shame they could do it right under the Iron Army's noses."

The two of them were busy chatting, completely unaware that in the shadows, a strange purple figure was playing with dice in silence...

Volume 113: Bird in a Cage: . Enemies Everywhere

In just one night, the princess secretly executed eleven officers involved, including three of the Iron Knights. They were publicly declared to have died heroically in an ambush by the rebels.

But if someone is interested, it is not difficult to guess the essence of political revenge. If you think about it in more detail, this may be the prelude to the struggle for the throne between the Sixth Princess and the Crown Prince.