Chapter 53

“This is more dire than I had anticipated.”

Sharon felt the venomous liquid had already eaten through the skin on her thigh, yet she experienced little pain, only a slight burning sensation in her lungs.

It must be the effects of the potion taking hold.

The two of them rushed straight to the middle of the corridor and stopped in front of the stairs, looking down at the scene below.

The marble staircase had been cut in half, and in front of the pile of rubble, a knight clad entirely in silver armor knelt semi-upright.

The knight’s spear was corroded and pitted, as if it could break with a little pressure, but his massive tower shield remained intact—though covered with dense clusters of barnacle-like holes.

In front of the knight lay a terrifying figure riddled with holes.

Its body was draped in tattered black robes, with clean cuts at the hem, suggesting it had been cleaved in half.

Beneath the shortened black robe, four curved appendages sprouted, their surfaces covered with dense clusters of purple-green barnacles, with fine tentacles twitching weakly inside the cavities, gradually ceasing their struggle.

The crowbill mask was nowhere to be seen, leaving a blood-red circular depression on his face. Without any features or brain, only a bloody cavity with sharp teeth embedded in it.

He had fully transformed.

“He’s dead.” Aviana let out a sigh of relief, leaping directly from the broken staircase to the knight’s side.

“Miss Sharon, lend a hand. We need to leave quickly.” Aviana urged Sharon to help, and Sharon maneuvered the shadow to leap down with her, dragging the kneeling knight out of the manor together with Aviana.

Only when they dragged the knight out of the garden did Aviana finally collapse to the ground, breathing heavily.

Meanwhile, Sharon turned back to look at the enormous manor behind her.

The top of the manor looked as if it had been struck by a meteor, leaving a large crater, nearly half of the manor had collapsed, and fires had started to spread within.

“We’re safe now,” Aviana said, slightly catching her breath, struggling against the side effects of the potion. “Once reinforcements arrive, they can help us identify what poison we encountered… My potent antidote can alleviate the symptoms, so it shouldn’t be a new type of pathogen.”

“The infected creatures I saw, I recognized them; Xie Lun hadn’t spent much time studying the virus.”

They had survived safely.

Sharon felt a bit relieved as well.

She asked about her sister, and upon learning that Aviana had arranged for her to stay in the Jewelry District, she felt less worried.

Because of the need to investigate the epidemic, Aviana had not brought her sister to Jazz Bridge 15, which was normal given her early decision to give all servants a holiday, indicating her kindness and careful planning.

After the side effects of the potion subsided slightly, Sharon re-entered the manor.

She approached the horrifying corpse of Xie Lun and instructed the shadow to search his body.

Sharon hoped to find his spiritual notes or some record of the antidote.

Luckily, she found a notebook. After taking it out and showing it to Aviana, Aviana used a crystal to break the seal and discovered detailed records of the virus research inside.

Although Xie Lun wanted to kill to change paths, he didn’t want to go mad, and his spiritual notes still documented his fascination and pride in creating the virus.

With this information, the Redemption Society could more quickly reverse-engineer the antidote, and without the influence of the sealed object, this dehydration syndrome wouldn’t be immediately fatal.

Aviana, overwhelmed by the side effects of the potion, collapsed beside Sharon, drenched in sweat.

Her body twitched incessantly, and she occasionally mumbled incoherently.

Sharia did not rush to end the simulation; the event had not truly concluded yet.

She stayed by Aivana’s side, waiting for almost four and a half hours until late into the night, when finally, the aid Aivana had mentioned arrived.

They quickly tended to the wounds of both Aivana and Xia’er and began cleaning the “Crown Guard’s” shield.

It wasn’t until they lifted the helmet of the “Crown Guard” that Sharia noticed it was empty inside.

This sent shivers down her spine.

Which pathway’s third-tier? How could the body be gone? Only the armor remained?

After confirming the outcome was completely safe, Sharia ended the simulation with the spiritual note already broken of its seal.

She was too exhausted to do anything else.

…

“Reality”

“Sheng Year 741, June 18th, 18:32”

“Evaluation: You found one way to survive and successfully resolved the danger.”

“Considering the vast gap in strength between you and your opponent, this indeed is a relatively high-quality and lower-risk solution.”

“Accept it, you deserve it based on your performance.”

“Reward: Mortality Point*34, [Calm Thinking Lv.2], [Art of Conversation Lv.2]”

“Mortality Points: 50”

“Whew…”

Sharia took a deep breath, slowly opened her eyes.

After several simulations, along with peering into the Other Realm and using the skill [Reversal of Death], Sharia’s mind was already quite fatigued.

She lacked the energy to simulate again, seeking a better solution. If she were to simulate again, she feared she would fall unconscious upon returning to reality, missing any opportunities that might arise.

Since she had found a solution to survival, she needed to optimize it. This was both dangerous and potentially an opportunity she couldn’t afford to miss.

Sharia took a deep breath, picked up her bag from the table, and ran downstairs. She immediately rented a carriage and headed straight for Aivana’s home.

Sharia did not know when Xie Lun would arrive at Aivana’s house to assassinate her.

But if she could get there faster and meet Aivana before Xie Lun, she could gain Aivana’s trust more quickly.

“Driver, can we go any faster?” Sharia tapped the driver in front and handed him a five-shilling coin.

The driver, holding the reins, saw the coin and his eyes lit up. He took the coin and said, “With pleasure, Miss!”

“Slap!”

The reins struck the brown horse ahead, which neighed and quickened its pace.

In the simulation, it took seventeen minutes, but this time, Sharia only took fourteen minutes. Looking at the time, it was now 18:46.

Knowing there were no guards at the entrance, Sharia pushed open the unlocked door and ran directly towards the manor.

In one of the rooms on the second floor of the manor, an armor silently watched Xia’er run past, but made no move to stop her. It seemed to consider Xia’er no threat.

Sharia familiarly found the drawing room on the first floor, pushed open the door, and saw Aivana reading inside.

Hearing the noise at the door, Aivana looked up, expressionless, at Xia’er. She pushed up her gold-rimmed round glasses and asked, “Miss Xia’er?”

After closing the door, Xia’er walked directly up to Aivana.

“Are you waiting for someone?”

“Yes…”

“Don’t speak yet. Listen to me first. After I finish, if you still have questions, then you can speak.”

“My intelligence network has brought new information.”