Girl in the Box: Please tell me why I was reincarnated as a mimic monster!

"Of course..." Li rolled his eyes at her. "Are you alright? What just happened?"

"I'm fine," Xiaoming said. "I just happened to find this place while I was scouting the way, and then I was about to push the door open to take a look when this guy suddenly rushed out. Luckily, I dodged quickly."

"Is this so..."

Li's attention returned to the ghost in front of him, and he used his magic eye to analyze the information about the person. However, it didn't seem to be that easy to deal with. The ghost in front of him was quite high level, and the composition of his skills was also quite intriguing. But the key question was why he was here alone.

Li glanced at the mini-map on the side of her vision. It showed only six magical reactions within the church. Five of them were undoubtedly her and Alice's group, and the last one was definitely him. But that was the suspicious point. Li didn't know why he was here alone instead of with the other ghosts.

Logically, they are currently the most dangerous force in the world, posing a danger to themselves and others. The surviving nations and major powers should be aware of their existence and be on high alert. At this juncture, it's completely incomprehensible why they would act alone. If they were discovered by those who knew them, they would surely be surrounded and attacked by a large group.

In this situation, wouldn't it be less likely to be targeted if they acted together? But they didn't follow this idea. Was it because they were too confident, or something else?

Li remained silent for the time being, not dwelling on the matter. Their immediate concern was how to deal with the ghost before them. Since he had appeared because Xiao had tried to open that door, there must be something behind it. Li used her magic eye once more to check the surroundings. A large amount of magical energy was already reacting outside the church, likely originating from the Royal Guard Knights. Meanwhile, the three magical energy reactions from Ning's side were also steadily approaching.

Since that's the case, let's rely on the two of them to deal with the ghost in front of us.

"Xiao," Li gave her a look, "Are you ready?"

"Hmm." Xiao nodded, and the blades of the two knives glowed faintly, ready to strike.

The opponent is a ghost, a strange being unable to communicate with words, and also a group of deeply sinful people, enemies to whom no mercy is necessary. After telling himself this, he silently began the countdown...

"three……"

It can activate the body's vitality.

"two……"

Xiao adjusted the position of the knife.

"one----!"

The two sisters rushed out at the same time. Li used her magic to transform into a dragon and simulated the claws of the Time-Space Dragon King. She raised her hand high and smashed it down on the ghost. The excessive force caused the claws to tear through the air. The ghost had already skillfully dodged the attack in that instant. Xiao, who was known for her speed, had been waiting for her at the spot where she had dodged.

Having been startled by the ghost's sudden attack, Xiao Ke had no intention of showing him any mercy. She couldn't afford not to turn the tables here.

"Winther!"

Xiao called out the name of his trusted partner. The ghost Wenser, invisible to ordinary people, used the spiritual power skills that undead monsters are best at to bind the ghost. The blue spiritual power chains restricted his movements. This unprecedented situation made the ghost panic for a moment.

However, this did not affect his performance. He drew a long whip with a metal blade from his waist, swung it at high speed to form a protective barrier, preventing Akatsuki from getting close. At this moment, Riko provided timely assistance, using claws formed from magic to grab the whip, giving Akatsuki the opportunity to take down his opponent. Akatsuki seized this opportunity and used someone's ultimate technique, knocking him unconscious in one fell swoop.

Akatsuki used the back of her blade to strike both of the ghosts, so the damage she inflicted on the ghosts was merely to knock them unconscious. She felt that the ghosts she encountered in the labyrinth were much weaker than those she had encountered before, or perhaps it was a lingering effect of her recent battle with Lycia. She felt that these people were all too weak... While thinking about these things, Akatsuki put away her sword and returned to Ri's side.

"You've worked hard." Xiao patted her head approvingly. "It's good that nothing went wrong after you did this kind of thing all by yourself..."

"Hehe~"

Xiao happily accepted the reward, wagging its tail joyfully.

Meanwhile, Ning and the others arrived from elsewhere. Of course, Ning's first reaction was to rush over and give Li a chop to the neck.

"Are you an idiot?" Ning rolled her eyes at her. "You just rushed out without thinking? What if you encounter danger?"

"Waaah, I'm not a child!" Li covered her head and jumped to the side. "Besides, wasn't it you who told me not to think so much and to leave the thinking to you?"

"I'm not telling you to just give up thinking altogether..." Ning said with a headache, "You should at least think carefully about what problems might arise before you do anything... Fine, I won't say anything to you this time."

"So, what happened here?" Alice asked tactfully after the couple finished bickering.

“Hmm… just like you see.” Li pointed to the ghost lying unconscious on the ground. “We’ve encountered a ghost.”

"There really is one..."

Everyone's expressions immediately turned serious, because this was indeed not a situation to be optimistic about. The fact that ghosts still existed proved that ghosts were still active in this world, which already indicated how critical the situation was.

"Your Majesty!!"

At this moment, the Royal Guard Knights arrived in time and asked Alice what had happened. They must have also noticed the commotion inside the church, as their expressions showed how extremely nervous they were.

“You’ve come at the right time.” Alice turned around calmly and said, “This man is a criminal who intended to destroy the church. Take him back; I have questions for him later.”

"I will obey Your Majesty's will."

The Royal Guards saluted Alice and gestured for the others to come and help. Several Royal Guards who arrived used ropes to bind the ghost and then simply took it away. "They're efficient enough, but not very bright," was Ning's assessment of them.

"Then..." Ning changed the subject, "what is this?"

Ning was naturally referring to the old door that looked quite different from the others. This door, located in such a place, was very out of place, because the environment inside the church was always like a luxury hotel. However, it was impossible for something so out of place to not attract everyone's attention.

“Xiao found this,” Xiao explained. “After Xiao found this door, she wanted to push it open and go inside to take a look, and then she was attacked by the ghost from earlier.”

“Is that so…” Alice approached the door. “Indeed, I’ve never seen anything like this in all my time in the church…”

Li carefully recalled everything Nao had told her, but she found no memory or knowledge about the door. However, everyone present was certain that there was definitely something wrong behind this door that seemed to be protected by a ghost.

“Anyway,” Ning pushed open the door, “we have to go in and take a look.”

“I think so,” Alice agreed. “There’s no point in staying here; it’s more meaningful to go inside and take a look.”

If they stay here and don't go in, they probably won't make any progress. Since that's the case, they might as well go in. Besides, they felt it was about time to wrap things up for today. They'd searched so many places without any results, and now that they'd finally found this door, they couldn't just leave empty-handed, could they?

Pushing open the old door, a jarring sound echoed from its hinges. The first thing they saw was a long, dark staircase leading downwards. Ning and Alice used magic to create a light source before descending, while Senno walked at the back and Xiao at the front, with the other three in the middle ready to respond to any emergencies.

This chilling place was even more unsettling than when she had been wandering around the church earlier. Li's mind was on edge; her magical eyes had been almost constantly open since she entered the church that day, lest she miss something strange. Although she had dealt with undead monsters in the labyrinth for a long time, she was still terrified of supernatural phenomena.

Especially in such a dimly lit place, her innate fear of the dark was aroused. The group descended the spiral staircase, the only sound echoing in their ears; nothing else. This silence only intensified Li's fear. As she nervously surveyed her surroundings, a cold hand suddenly reached out and nearly made her jump.

But she recognized the touch; the hand belonged to Ning, who was walking ahead of her. Ning didn't say anything, nor did he turn around to look at her; he simply held her hand silently as they walked forward. Holding that hand, Li inexplicably calmed down, her grip tightening unconsciously. This should probably be alright…

Senno and Iris, who had witnessed all of this, cast somewhat envious glances. Iris even whistled in a show of support, but they were still happy to see the two so affectionate. Same-sex love is not uncommon in this world, but this couple deserved their blessings.

Unbeknownst to them, the group had reached the end of the stairs. Xiao stopped at the top, turned back to look at everyone. Li nodded to her, indicating that everything was alright. Xiao then placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, cautiously descended the stairs, and entered the exit at the end…

Chapter 45 The Church's Underground

By sheer coincidence, Akatsuki found a door leading to an even lower level on the lowest floor of the church. At the same time, he encountered an attack from a ghost. This ghost wasn't as powerful as the ten wielding the holy sword and was quickly defeated by Akatsuki and Riku. It has now been taken away by the Royal Guard Knights who noticed the strange occurrence and arrived at the scene; Alice will interrogate it about the incident later.

Now, the group's task was to explore the world beyond that ancient door, to find out what lay behind it. They descended the stairs, down the last step, and entered the exit at the top. On the other side of the exit lay a completely different world.

A world filled with a pungent odor and covered in dust. Only under the illumination of the orb could the people barely make out its structure and layout.

This is an underground space that is unimaginably large, and it seems to be divided into several places. The only thing that can be confirmed is that there seems to be nothing here.

"Ugh..." Xiao pinched her nose uncomfortably. "This smell is so pungent... What is it...?"

As the one with the most sensitive sense of smell among them, Xiao was now in trouble. The huge underground space was filled with an indescribable, pungent odor. The others were fine, but for them, it was an unbearable smell. So what exactly was the source of this odor?

"...This is the stench of a rotting corpse," Ning said calmly, revealing something extraordinary.

"Wait? Why does it smell like this?" Li asked incredulously. "What is this place even used for?"

Senno chanted a spell, using wind magic to dispel the smell. Fortunately, while the smell couldn't be completely eliminated, it was noticeably better than before. Xiao was still very uncomfortable with the smell, and both Li and Ning began to worry about her.

“Xiao,” Ning walked to her side, “if you really can’t stand it, you can go outside and wait for us there.”

"Don't try to be brave in strange places," Li advised. "It's nothing to be ashamed of not being able to handle these smells. You've already done very well. It's normal to feel physical and mental resistance. Can you go back and wait for us on the stairs?"

At first, Xiao stubbornly insisted on staying there, but after being persuaded by everyone, she obediently returned to the stairs. The air here was too unfriendly to her; even they felt nauseous just being here, let alone the beastmen with their powerful senses. For her own good, Li and Ning advised her to go back to the stairs, where the air should be much better.

After escorting her back to the stairs, the group re-entered the enormous underground space. The space was unbelievably vast, even echoing, which further indicated its immense emptiness. Ning increased the magical output to the light sphere, allowing its light to illuminate the surroundings, and then fixed it above them. The leopard within this space should be impossible to spot with the naked eye.

Once the entire space was revealed through the magical light, both Li and Ning seemed slightly startled, as its size was truly astonishing.

“Such a huge place…” Alice exclaimed in astonishment, “I just found out about this kind of thing. There’s something like this in the church’s underground…”

During this time, the information that Alice obtained from investigating Seric's actions was almost useless, because an unexpected situation had occurred. If it were still in the dim state before, it would be different now. Now, with the help of magic, it can be seen clearly.

Under the magical light, the emptiness was emphasized once again, because this place was truly vast, and completely devoid of anything. Surely Seric wouldn't have arranged such a place so carelessly? He wouldn't have spent so much manpower and effort to hollow it out completely and then just mindlessly leave it empty, would he? The stench of corpses was enough to say a lot.

"There are a few more doors here..."

Li pointed ahead, where there were indeed several doors. Serik had finally demonstrated that his mind was still sharp. Li quickly used his Magic Eye to pinpoint several particularly intriguing areas, but this also created tension for the remaining four, as none of them knew what lay behind those four doors.

“Wow, it’s huge…” Senno exclaimed.

“Yeah…that old man actually spent the money here.” Alice said indignantly, “I was wondering why a sum of gold coins always disappeared, so that’s where it was spent.”

While sorting through the bills, Alice discovered something similar: whenever she investigated church expenses, she would find that a sum of money allocated to the church would inexplicably disappear. Now that she was here, she realized that the money had been used for this purpose.

“But…” Li didn’t quite understand, “why build a place like this?”

“Do I even need to think about it?” Ning said matter-of-factly. “This is where Seric trains ghosts.”

"Is this the place?" The man's question marks multiplied. "Can a place like this really be used to raise ghosts?"

The emptiness is a key feature of this vast underground space, and as the name suggests, it's completely empty, devoid of anything. It doesn't look like a place that could have nurtured those ghosts.

"Probably, someone moved things away before we found this place..." Ning speculated. "Although there's a lot of dust here, some areas have a subtle difference from the rest, or even no dust at all. It's like something that was originally there was moved away."

“You noticed that too?” Alice chimed in. “I also noticed that the dust in some places doesn’t seem like it’s been left unattended for a long time. If we investigated carefully, we would definitely find footprints. But we don’t have time to do that right now…”

"So, the target now is those three doors, right?"

As Ning uttered those words, everyone's gaze invariably drifted towards the three doors inside the empty space. This place had once been the birthplace of ghosts, so it wouldn't be surprising if something appeared behind those three doors. But even so, she was still very nervous because Ning had just mentioned a word.

The smell of a corpse.

“Let me give you three a heads-up,” Ning warned, “Don’t open the rightmost door… I don’t think you want to see what’s inside, I mean it. If you want to know why, you’ll find out when we get closer to those three doors.”

Ning's expression was so serious that she didn't seem to be lying. As if to confirm whether they had listened to her, she looked around and everyone nodded to indicate that they understood.

“Alice, Senno, you two go through the leftmost door,” Ning instructed. “Li and I will go through the middle door. If there are any problems, just call out and we’ll come to help.”

"I understand. You two be careful too."

Alice nodded and led Senno straight to the leftmost door. Because the air felt somewhat unsettling, she didn't dare take a deep breath to calm herself. After closing her eyes and silently counting to three, she pushed open the door and went inside with Senno. Watching their retreating figures, Li felt a strange, indescribable feeling.

"Let's go."

Ning gave Li no chance to process her words, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the middle door without explanation. As they approached the door they were about to enter, Li understood Ning's meaning. An extremely strong stench of decay wafted from the door on the right—a truly terrifying level. Li looked at Ning in horror…

“Those people were probably treated as failures.” Ning’s hand stopped on the doorknob. “For that old bald man, Seric, nothing else mattered. He was a man who valued efficiency. Once he thought a method was not feasible, he would abandon it without hesitation. They were the group that were abandoned, and those who survived became ghosts.”

“…Is that so…?”

After a long while, Li Cai finally managed to squeeze out those three words. Dizziness, nausea, chest tightness, shortness of breath—all sorts of adverse reactions began to surface. This was something she didn't even dare to imagine. Just smelling a tiny bit of air leaking from the crack in the door, she could already picture the hellish scene inside. Just contemplating that image made her breathless.

“It’s alright,” Ning comforted her. “I’ll tell Alice later so she can give them a proper burial… I told you not to open the door to prevent new viruses from entering this world. For example… a plague.”

"plague……"

“Yes, the plague,” Ning explained. “If a plague breaks out now, the kingdom will be truly finished. The medical technology in this world is basically based on magical medicine, and most treatments rely on magic. However, the treatments that magic can provide are limited. But with just these, there is no way to resist the plague. Coupled with the current situation, the kingdom is definitely doomed. That’s why I told you not to open that door… at least not until we’ve confirmed it.”

“I understand…” Li nodded.

Ning never does anything without reason, and Li knows this best. This time, she made the most advantageous choice, and Li herself also believes that it is the best choice.

"Is it much better now?" Ning asked tentatively.

"Much better." Li forced a smile. "Let's open the door. We won't get anything out of standing here like idiots."

"Don't be impatient..."

Urged on by Li, Ning pushed open the door. Inside, there were many beds similar to those used in military camps. These beds were basically still in the same condition as when they were last used. This was probably the only place here with traces of life.

"This is..." Li looked bewildered.

“This is probably where the ghosts used to rest.” Ning walked closer to one of the beds and fiddled with the blankets. “But there are so many of them… How much preparation did that old bald guy make…”

Ning glanced around and saw that every bed she saw was like this. She didn't bother to count how many there were, just took a look and then looked away. A lot of dust fell from the blanket she lifted, and there were mottled black and red bloodstains on the dirty sheets underneath. She silently put the blanket down to cover the bloodstains.

With such cramped living spaces, if one person gets sick, a whole bunch of others will fall ill...

Ning pondered some trivial matters and continued deeper into the area. Li followed silently behind her, temporarily rendered speechless by the series of shocks. Combining the information at hand, Ning was certain this was the ghost-breeding facility Hao'er had mentioned, only that Hao'er was too severely injured to investigate further.

They had no way of knowing if things were the same as before, whether anything had been moved out, or what had been left behind. Right now, Ning could only vaguely discern some clues that something had been taken away, but she didn't know what it was or who had taken it. If the person who did this was a ghost, what was their purpose?

Ning couldn't figure it out, but the only thing she was certain of was that the ghosts still existed and were still moving around, which was not good news for them. The names crossed off the list were those of ghosts who had been confirmed dead. Although these ghosts already numbered more than half, there were still many ghosts left.

Now, they are in the open, while the ghosts lurk in the shadows. What they do in the shadows is beyond their control. Perhaps some plans must be brought forward...

Just as Ning was still considering these things, Alice and the others suddenly called out to them from the doorway.

“Li, Ning,” Alice called out, “we’ve found something that’s interesting, come and take a look.”

The two exchanged a glance and then left. There seemed to be nothing of note to be found, and since a new discovery had been made on the other side, there was no need to linger. After leaving the room, they quietly closed the door and went to the leftmost door, entering it.

Compared to the room they had just entered, this room was smaller and sparsely furnished, containing only a chair, a table, and a large pile of books scattered on the floor. Senno was tidying up the books, stacking them on the table, and Alice casually picked one up and handed it to the two of them.

“Look at this,” Alice said.

Li took the book with a puzzled look, then opened it and took a look. She originally thought it was an ordinary book, but after opening it, she couldn't understand it at first glance. Then she glanced at it again and realized the problem, and then she exclaimed.

“This is——!”

As if she knew some earth-shattering secret, Li handed the book to Ning and then quickly flipped through the stack of books on the table. Ning looked at her blankly and also opened a book to look at it.