How Level Zero Devil Destroys Player Experience

Auston rubbed his brows and said, "Someone come."

"My Lord Prince, what do you want me to do?"

Several guards walked in from outside and asked cautiously.

"Put these papers away."

The guards hurriedly picked up the documents scattered on the ground, trying their best to avoid eye contact with the words on them. After putting them back in place, they hurriedly left and returned to the door.

Auston picked up a few documents next to him and started reading them again.

However, he could not suppress the worry in his heart. He could not bear to read on for a few more seconds. He quickly glanced at the last document in his hand, but he still couldn't let it go. After thinking about it, he stood up and walked to the door, and gave instructions in a deep voice to the guards outside the door.

"You guys guard this place well. No matter what happens, don't let anyone else in. Got it?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Auston returned to the room, drew up the curtains, walked to the bookshelf, reached out and took down a thick brown book in the corner of the bookshelf, and inserted the key between the pages into a hidden groove on the edge of the desk.

Click.

Accompanied by the turning of the key and a slight sound.

The bookshelf slowly opened to the sides, revealing a deep passage hidden behind it.

After taking a look around to make sure everything was alright, Austin took out an oil lamp from the drawer under the desk, lit it, and stepped into the passage. After he walked in, the bookshelves on both sides closed again.

A small spider on top of the bookshelf silently took in all of this.

Chapter 45: Basement

The royal city of Kanalan, the palace of the princess.

In the beautifully decorated dormitory, a petite figure was looking at the documents in her hands worriedly, sighing from time to time.

"Why is there no useful information at all?"

I shook my head, put down the rubbing of information I got from Enroth, hugged Ahri next to me, fell on the bed and let out a long sigh.

Although during this period, the camp has made good gains.

Among them, Sherlock and the Thieves' Division were the worst, killing a large number of officers under Austin through assassination, ambush, and infiltration attacks, and faction nobles could not escape the fate of assassination. The more than 1,200 soldiers were equivalent to the number of the Third Legion and the six battalions of the Garrison Army, which were all outstanding achievements.

Satasia, Jacinia and the Ice and Fire Demons successfully triggered a beast tide in two cities near Kanallan, which not only tied down the territory's garrison, but also forced Austin to send people to support them.

After the fourth day of the celebration, the guilds of the Princess' camp, such as Alice and Rose Heart, continued to launch an all-round siege on the Levis camp, coordinating their actions with each other.

According to the statistical results, although there were about 300 casualties in the princess' camp, they exchanged for 500 casualties in Levis' camp. This form of exchanging lives is extremely beneficial to the current situation, not to mention that the ratio is roughly one for two.

If we add up the number of deaths from the beginning to the end, according to my estimation, almost all members of Wenren Shanshui's group have been killed twice, and perhaps dozens of them have been sent back to Orwen or the Constantina Empire.

However, under such a good situation, there is always an unsolvable problem hidden.

Enros sent many of his confidants to conduct investigations in Kanallan, the Morfa family's residence, and the city of Heshvia, with Kai, Isabella and others also assisting.

Information related to Morfa and the Heshvia attack has been continuously unearthed, expanding the intelligence we have at hand. Even so, we still have nothing to learn about Morfa's whereabouts and the truth behind the incident.

Enros's men and Kai and his team investigated various possible hiding places, and they also contacted privately people related to the area where Morfa disappeared and those who knew the situation.

However, in the end, either the clues were suddenly interrupted or the intelligence was wrong at a key point.

During this period of time, I and Bayard have conducted investigations in the royal city, but we also didn't gain anything.

Without this key evidence, it will be difficult for us to launch a powerful attack on Prince Austin and the forces under his command.

Moreover, the coronation ceremony will be held in two days, and the diplomatic incident and the trip to Kanallan will also be concluded by then. After that, there will be no more opportunities.

"We can't give up until the very end." I sighed and climbed out of bed. "Hill, let's go to the place Bayard mentioned before. Edith, you stay here and cover for me."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Hill put down the brewed tea and nodded.

During this period of time, Hill has been carrying out operations beside me. With his unique abilities, the people in the palace were completely unaware that there was an outsider in the palace during this period of time.

Strangely, there was no response from Edith.

I looked over and found that Edith, who was originally learning how to make tea with Hill, had stopped at some point. Her eyes were out of focus, as if she was immersed in something, and a serious look appeared on her beautiful face.

"Your Highness, there is something going on in the Agate Palace."

Hill reacted and reminded.

I nodded, held my breath and walked to Edith without saying a word to interrupt her. Ali in my arms also imitated me, covering his mouth with his hands, looking very cute.

Edith's state will only appear when Spider-Man detects key information, and this so-called key information is most likely Bayard's previous guess.

"Your Highness, there is a secret passage in Prince Austin's study."

Sure enough, Edith gave out important information after she recovered.

After Bayard helped bring the Black Spider to the Agate Palace two days ago, Bayard and I were very concerned about the situation there. However, there was no movement from Austin, so we had no choice but to temporarily shift the focus of the investigation elsewhere.

Unexpectedly, this speculation that was about to be rejected by us finally yielded important results today.

The secret passage of the Agate Palace, combined with Morfa, has made the answer obvious.

"Edith, contact Bayard and ask him to lead Austin and Hill away with the delegation. We'll be there now."

"Yes, Your Highness."

In the Agate Palace, after lunch, Austin suddenly received a message from Bayard, saying that the delegations from both Orwyn and Constantine had new proposals for modifying the agreement and wanted to negotiate on the matter.

Even if Austin had more, he could only change his plan temporarily and go to the meeting hall outside the royal city.

Not long after Austin left the Agate Palace.

A petite figure took advantage of the patrol team's changing of shifts and hid in the shadows to sneak into the palace silently.

Although I was not familiar with the rooms and corridors in the Agate Palace, I had a goal in mind. After entering the palace, I chose to go straight up without much hesitation. It didn’t take long for me to reach my destination and arrived in front of the large study on the third floor of the Agate Palace.

Perhaps Austin felt that the strict security outside was sufficient, or perhaps he felt that too many defensive measures would only attract unnecessary attention. My level eight lock-picking skill allowed me to easily open the door of the study.

He closed the door and called out Ahri to ask her to stay at the door to stand guard.

Hill and I walked straight to the bookshelf. Following Edith's instructions, we took down a book from the corner and inserted the key inside into the groove under the edge of the desk and turned it.

As the bookshelves opened to the sides, a deep passage soon appeared in front of them.

Hill and I looked at each other, and without further ado, we put the keys and books back where they were, took out lanterns from our backpacks, and stepped into the passage one after another.

The passage is straight downward, two people wide, and slightly taller than an adult.

It was hard to imagine that there was such a secret passage hidden behind the bookshelf, and I remembered that there was a room next to the study when I came here. Auston should have used the walls of these floors to do something, otherwise the servants in the Agate Palace would probably find out during his daily activities.

Although it was troublesome, the effect was obviously achieved.

If it weren't for Edith's ability, even if Bayard and I guessed that there might be a secret passage in the Agate Palace, we would never have thought that the entrance to this secret passage was on the third floor of the palace leading to the underground.

Walking down the passage to the third or fourth floor, the view gradually becomes wider.

After we stepped up the last step, a dim basement appeared before our eyes. Apart from the lantern in my hand, there were only sporadic lights emitted by the magic stone lamps in the four corners.

Chapter 46 Rescue and Interrogation

The sound of dripping water came from the canal next to us.

The ground was littered with various food remnants, bandages, and pieces of cloth. Bloodstains could be seen on them, and judging from the black color, it was estimated that many years had passed.

Following the light of the lantern in hand, we also found a figure in the basement.

He sat on the ground with his back against the wall. He was tall and thin, wearing a thin prisoner uniform.

The iron chains extending from the wall confined him to a small range of movement, the shackles on his hands and feet restricted his movements, and the blockade of the iron cage was enough to show how much Auston valued him.

This "importance" can also be reflected in the various torture instruments not far from the cage and the appearance of the other party.

Various wounds could be seen on the torn parts of the prison uniform, some of which had already turned into blood scabs, while others were still bandaged and oozing a little blood. Several nails had been forcibly pulled out, and the marks of burns could be seen on the chest.

Just from these aspects, we can know what this figure has experienced.

It seemed that the light of the lantern stimulated the other person. Having stayed in the dim basement for many years, he was particularly sensitive to the presence of light sources. Before Hill and I got close, the man raised his eyes slightly and spoke to himself.

"Nice to meet you again, Lord Austin. Let me think how many times this month this has happened. Ah, I can't remember. I am a useless person like me. I am really honored that you have bothered me so much and cared about me every two or three days."

The sound was hoarse, like an old bellows blowing a drum, or like sandpaper grinding on a rough ground.

It is difficult to connect the capable middle-aged man in the portrait with the pale, thin and haggard face in front of him, but he can still be recognized through the facial shape that is 80% similar to the former.

"I'm sorry, I thought this was the first time we met, Mr. Morfa."

I smiled slightly.

Morfa finally raised his head and looked at the two completely different figures from the past that appeared in his clear vision.

"You are?"

"We're here to get you out."

"Family or Legion? It's quite a feat to be able to find this place."

Morfa's gaze remained calm from beginning to end, as if the person we came to rescue was not him, but just another insignificant person.

"Mr. Morfa doesn't seem very happy."

"There were five other people who saw me before you. Guess where they are now?" Morfa laughed softly, with a hint of chills in his voice. "This is the place he is most satisfied with. Do you think you can still get out?"

No wonder Enros's clues were either cut off or the intelligence was wrong. It turned out that Morfa's hiding place had been constantly moved by Austin over the years. Naturally, I could understand the meaning of Morfa's words.

"If it's a mechanism, Hill has already solved it. Otherwise, do you think we can still stand in front of you?"

Morfa seemed to be in a cage, but in fact he was in the safest place in the entire basement. This space was filled with various traps arranged by Auston. However, these were solved by Hill.

Morfa's expression finally changed a little, and he looked at us with narrowed eyes.

"Who...are you?"

"The question is not important, Mr. Morfa."

I smiled slightly.

"The important thing is, do you want revenge on Prince Austin?"

If there was a slight change before, then at this moment, when he heard these words, Morfa's expression could be described as ferocious, and his tone was cold and gnashing, as if this hatred had penetrated deep into his bones.

"Haha, what nonsense are you talking about? I dream every day of turning this guy into ashes, but this is really letting him off too easy. If possible, I will destroy everything he has in front of him, and then slowly torture him until he dies!"

"So what price are you willing to pay for it?"

"Price? I am willing to pay any price, even if it means death, even if my blood is drained out, my heart is dug out, and my soul is forever exiled to a world full of demons!"

Morfa's tone suddenly changed at the end, and he laughed at himself, "But what's the use? Can my wish come true as long as I want it?"

I can see Morfa's determination to get revenge at all costs and to burn his boats.

As expected of a former military and political minister, people who can freely control their emotions are often very scary. Even in desperate situations, there is still a wolf fire buried in his bones. As long as he is given an opportunity, he can use this fire to burn the target to ashes.

"The demon world is too easy for you, Mr. Morfa. You still have many sins that need to be paid for, but you should be thankful that the time to pay for them is not now."

I shook my head and reached out to touch the cage.

"It's useless, this is specially made..."

Morfa reacted and tried to remind him but he stopped abruptly halfway through his words.

Because he saw that the cage lock that could stump the master thief was easily opened in the other party's hands.

In front of the "energy" that can transform into everything, the special locks are just a pile of scrap metal, and the same is true for the chains on Morfa.

It was hard for Morfa to believe that he was a prisoner just a moment ago, but now he was free again.

Of course, what was even more difficult for him to believe was that this dungeon was obviously built with the most expensive anti-magic materials, but the next moment another figure who looked like a maid had a magical light in her hands.

"Hill, take us out of here."

"Yes, Your Highness."

We used Hill's teleport to leave the Agate Palace, and with Bayard's help, we followed him out of the royal city through a special route. We used a black robe to hide Morfa, otherwise the terrifying image alone would attract the attention of the guards.

All the way to the agreed location.

Enros, Noah and others who received the news had already been waiting here. I handed Morfa over to Enros's men. They would take Morfa for treatment, a brief rest, and prepare for subsequent interrogations.

"I didn't expect that Morfa is actually still alive and hiding in the Agate Palace in Austin."