Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon
Chapter 366 - 365: Layers of Mystery

Chapter 366: Chapter 365: Layers of Mystery

Chaoyang took a deep breath, pushed open the three-meter-tall imposing door.

The room at the entrance was just as luxurious, as if it belonged to a different world compared to the dense cluster of flat houses outside. Beneath his feet were marble slabs two meters in length and width, the room stretched deep for over twenty meters and at its end were two steps, and then the massive rosewood desk. Behind the desk hung two rows of flags, falling from the beam to the floor, which along with the six-meter-tall floor-to-ceiling windows made the room look as grand as it possibly could.

Looking around, it was clear that this was just an office.

The person sitting behind the rosewood desk was evidently the "Governor."

As Chaoyang approached, he sized up the other party.

The Governor’s physique had undoubtedly become portly, and it was difficult to determine his age from his appearance, one could only roughly estimate that he was over forty. He wore a woolen cap on his head and his face was covered with unsightly dark spots. However, from the scar at the corner of his brow and his sinister eyes, it was clear that this man was not an agreeable character.

"Sit down," he said as he processed some documents, casually pointing to a chair in front of the desk, "talk about the progress, how much longer until we can get inside that damned wall?"

"August, the tunnel collapsed, and the seawater seeped in, nothing but death ensued."

"September 9th, we were rendered powerless, we needed heavy machinery on-site to have any hope of breaking the stalemate. But people could dive in, machinery couldn’t... What to do? What to do?"

"September 25th, Haiboman’s putting the pressure on me again. To hell with it, do they think I want to delay? Maybe we can only take a gamble now, destroy the wall with explosives! I need a detailed explosive arrangement chart, nobody in the City of Defense can calculate this, I’ll have to write to the headquarters of Gleck Academy."

"This is the last page!" Ailuodi read quickly.

"Explosives..." Hearing this, Chaoyang’s mind raced and he almost subconsciously replied, "I plan to try using explosives, if fast enough maybe we can get it done in a week."

The last entry written on September 25th... that meant today must be after the 25th! The City of Defense disappeared on October 5th, in other words, did the people here have less than ten days left?

"Explosives? I heard that right, Mr. Bariff?" the Governor lifted his head, looking at him directly, "That place is below sea level, collapsing the cave and killing a few people is the lesser issue, but burying the company’s entire hopes is a major problem. Are you sure this method is feasible?"

He hadn’t noticed anything amiss!

This gave Chaoyang a sigh of relief, "Ordinary explosions won’t do, it must be a precise targeted demolition. I need the explosives placement designs; only Gleck Academy can complete this commission. When the design arrives—"

Before he could finish, the other party interrupted him abruptly, "You’ve released our information to the Academy!"

Chaoyang immediately realized that this project had a not insignificant requirement for confidentiality.

"Of course not! I’ve sketched a simple blueprint without including any specific location details," he blurted out in desperation, "Calculating such data only requires a similar model, it could be the cliff rock slabs of Snow Country or the city walls of Shengxia."

"Is that so? You’re sure they won’t figure it out?"

"Rest assured, I am certain of it," Chaoyang declared emphatically. He knew that any hesitation would spell serious trouble.

"Next time you do something like this, you better tell me first," the Governor’s expression softened.

"Yes. It’s just that we’re under a lot of time pressure."

"You know... Mr. Bariff, the one thing that I admire the most about you," the other reclined on the couch slightly tilting back his head as if reminiscing, "is that you’re ruthless, or I should say rational. Many scholars from the Royal Capital are out there, but few are as unscrupulous as you. They think too highly of themselves, refusing to get their hands dirty, whereas you don’t mind at all. As long as there is something new to study, you would even use your own kin as experimental materials."

"So you’re that kind of scum?" Ailuodi remarked.

"That’s Bariff, can you stop beating around the bush?"

"It can be said, that you’ve reached today’s position, thanks in no small part to Ransu Company. If you continue to work for the company, your prospects are naturally boundless, but..."

The Governor paused briefly.

Two bodyguards suddenly rushed from behind, grabbed Chaoyang’s arms, and pressed him down onto the office desk!

The owner of the office desk picked up a letter opener and slowly pressed it against Chaoyang’s eyes.

It was at that moment that he caught sight of a small calendar on the desk through the corner of his eye.

The date on it was unmistakably September 27th.

"I’m coming over right now!" Ailuodi exclaimed urgently.

"No, it’s useless if you come, he just wants to threaten me," Chaoyang quickly said, stopping her.

"But don’t forget... the company can support you, but it can also destroy you. If you fail again this time, we will bury you in the sands as a warning to the great scholar who will succeed you. Do you understand?"

Chaoyang deliberately struggled a couple of times, and nodded repeatedly with a look of terror, "I guarantee I will succeed this time!"

The Governor raised the knife as a signal for his men to back off.

"Do your job well, don’t disappoint me again," he said at last.

...

Back in the original bedroom, Ailuodi was swiftly writing something at the coffee table. Upon closer inspection, Chaoyang realized it was all the information she had organized.

"Make me a cup of tea, thank you, the water is already boiled. This body seems to lack a bit in exercise..."

"It’s not a lack of exercise, but rather the body being locked in a state of just having awakened," Chaoyang said as he picked up the kettle, noting that the fireplace used a compressed gas canister. "It’s not just physical strength... even wishing power is the same. Right now, my hand-to-hand combat abilities are only slightly better than an average adult, so hoping to solve problems through force doesn’t look too promising."

"Alright, let’s go over the intelligence we’ve gathered so far." Ailuodi said, picking up a sheet of paper, "First thing’s for sure, this is City of Defense and it’s September 27th of the year 714, with the engulfing mist just around the corner. The owner of this body is a great scholar working for an energy company called Ransu, which fits with their objective of finding a new energy source."

Chaoyang continued, "The Governor in the work notes is Haiboman, and although I haven’t had the chance to verify his name, the impression he gives me is the same as when Bariff faces Haiboman."

"Alright, I’ll note that," Ailuodi nodded, "Currently, they suspect that the new energy source is hidden in a natural cave near the northeastern beach. They’ve been developing it for six months, with many people dead. The company is under pressure, and this pressure is being passed on to the employees. Even Bariff, who is in charge of this, seems quite anxious in his journal."

"That’s why he’s drinking so much and even took the company’s maid to his bed!" Chaoyang had a sudden realization. "Maybe this Bariff isn’t such a good person either, the maid probably wasn’t willing, but coerced. When I woke up, I saw some red marks on your back that could have been from a whip or a belt..."

Looking at her face, he suddenly felt a bit guilty and averted his gaze, "Uh... I didn’t actually look for long."

"It’s fine," Ailuodi chuckled softly, "In that situation, it’s natural for you to be stunned. Don’t think that we’ve got our hands on some basic intelligence now, the actual problems are still numerous. For instance, what exactly is this new energy source? Is it Steam Construct? What’s Bariff’s usual work routine like? We need to handle the cave development quickly, otherwise, people will start getting suspicious. Of course, the most important thing is still what the Evil God said, I... feel that these things... won’t be completely... un... relevant..."

Her voice gradually lowered until it became intermittent.

"Are you sleepy?"

"No... I... it’s nothing... serious..."

"Don’t push yourself, there’s at least a week left before the mist appears. Maybe you should skip the tea and take a nap first."

Chaoyang, holding the brewed tea, came to the coffee table only to see Ailuodi reclining on the edge of the sofa, her lips trembling slightly, her right hand dangling lifelessly as if she had lost sensation, her face as pale as the paper in her hands.