Feng Ling pulled the small notebook out of the coffee table drawer and flipped to the last page.
This page had nine keywords written in Blood Clan script:
Removal Agent, Primordial Blood, Main Control Node.
Now she had the Removal Agent and also obtained the Primordial Blood.
All that was left was to figure out what exactly the Main Control Node was.
Last time, on the castle floor plan she stole from the studio, she had seen a symbol marked in red pen in the corner of the locked room on the third floor, with the words “Main Control Node” written next to it.
But on another, more detailed partial enlargement, there was a line of very small text next to the symbol, and that line was even crossed out with a red horizontal line, only the outline of the words “Formation Core” was faintly visible.
If that room was not just the Barrier Core but part of some older formation, then what would the Main Control Node connect to?
Also, every time the room door was opened, Reverse Perception captured that slow and heavy energy source…
What exactly was that?
Everything was a mystery.
Feng Ling closed the notebook, stuffed it back into the drawer, leaned back on the sofa, and picked up the game controller nearby.
All the clues were currently pointing in the same direction—the locked door on the third floor.
And so far, she hadn’t found any way to open that door without triggering the alarm.
However, the structural diagram marked the energy supply lines for the runes on the door.
Hmm…
The runes themselves were powered by the Magic Circuit in the wall, and the Magic Circuit’s source was the Barrier Core.
If the Barrier were to be impacted by a large number of intruders, Ling Yue would have to go out of the city to fight, and at the same time the energy distribution of the Barrier Core might temporarily shift.
At that time, the rune energy on the door would weaken, and then she could go in and check the truth of everything!
In the afternoon, when Lili came, she put that small box on the coffee table and said in a low voice:
“This is the latest batch of scout patrol route maps from Eternal Blood Prison, and a few magical artifacts confiscated from them.”
“These artifacts can temporarily block the perception coverage of the Outer Barrier, but the duration is only a few minutes. They used these to sneak to the mountain cavern entrance.”
Feng Ling, crouching nearby, pretended to be playing the game, but her ears were pricked up sharper than a rabbit’s.
‘Temporarily block the perception coverage of the Outer Barrier… Isn’t that the window I need?’
Ling Yue picked up one of the artifacts from the box, looked at it against the light, and then asked:
“About how long does it last?”
“Three to five minutes, give or take… The newer batch of artifacts lasts longer, maybe around seven to eight minutes. And it seems they also got something that can resonantly weaken Vampire magic, but I haven’t figured out exactly what it is yet.”
“Resonant weakening? How large is the range?”
“Not sure, I’ve only encountered it once during reconnaissance. It was something the scout was carrying that radiated a magic interference wave. Within five steps of him, the Vampire’s perception field would weaken… After I took care of the scout, that thing broke, and I didn’t have time to pick up the fragments, but I recorded its magic frequency. Next time I encounter something similar, I should be able to sense it in advance.”
As she spoke, Lili took out the items from the box one by one and placed them on the table.
Those artifacts were of various sizes, and each was covered with Vampire sealing runes.
Then, Ling Yue picked up a metal artifact, weighed it in her hand, and said calmly:
“Those are not artifacts that could be obtained from within the Blood Prison… They are contraband flowing into the Black Market from other planes. The fact that they can get this kind of goods shows that behind it is not just Eternal Blood Prison…”
“And the resonant weakening you mentioned is also most likely foreign technology. The Blood Prison has never had this type of Magic Jammer.”
“Then what do we do? Should I go to the Hunter Guild to check more information?”
“No need. Let me first see if these artifacts can still be activated. If I can trace back to their source, I’ll know which forces are supplying those guys.”
After Ling Yue put the artifact back in the box, she waved at Lili.
“Next time you come, you don’t need to bring a whole box of goods. Just bring one is enough.”
“How can one be enough! Look at how chaotic it is outside. Better to stock up than to be caught off guard at the last minute.”
After Lili closed the box, she turned around and winked at Feng Ling.
“Hey hey, Xiao Fengling, why aren’t you talking today? Doesn’t Ling Yue say you usually complain about her?”
“She’s too sleepy today. I woke her up this morning.”
“Huh? You didn’t let her sleep last night again?”
Lili’s expression at this moment was half surprise, and the other half was actually somewhat relieved.
“She slept, but just didn’t sleep well.”
Feng Ling, suppressing the burning sensation on her ears, put down the controller and said.
“Aha~ didn’t sleep well! I understand, I understand!”
Lili poked Ling Yue with her elbow.
“Ling Yue, you can’t torment her like this every day! Let the little one rest for a few days occasionally so she’ll have energy to play with you!”
“What does she have to be tired about? I’m the one doing everything.”
At this moment, Feng Ling decided to give up joining the conversation and directly buried her face in the cushion, letting out a muffled wail.
Before long, Lili prepared to leave.
Before leaving, she turned back, waved her hand and said:
“Next time I’ll bring some maps of the outer areas for you to see! Now the terrain within dozens of miles has been pretty thoroughly scouted by those forces. The situation outside is much more complicated than you think!”
“Ling Yue, you must be careful yourself. And Xiao Fengling, you too. If we delay any longer, who knows what else will come.”
Then, the castle main gate that Feng Ling had been longing for slowly closed behind her.
Feng Ling lifted her head from the cushion.
The artifact that Lili mentioned could temporarily block the perception coverage of the Outer Barrier, creating a three to eight minute blind spot.
Moreover, those scouts had also obtained something that could resonantly weaken Vampire magic.
If she could figure out how that thing worked, she might be able to use it to interfere with Ling Yue’s tracking of her Original Blood Imprint…
Then she wouldn’t need to completely remove the Primordial Blood.
She just needed to have the Primordial Blood signal temporarily interfered with at the same time the Barrier was blocked.
And if that was the case, she wouldn’t even need the Removal Agent.
The bottle of Removal Agent placed in the studio on the third floor was still in her nightstand drawer.
But tonight, when she reopened the notebook, she added a new line:
Artifact blind spot and Primordial Blood interference synchronized—possible.
Next time, she had to find a way to get Lili to explain more about the principle of that thing.
In the following days, Feng Ling noticed that although the scouts invading the castle’s outer perimeter weren’t increasing as rapidly as last week, the time Ling Yue spent cleaning them up each time had become longer than before.
Before, a wave of small fries would at most stall Ling Yue for two to three minutes, but now it was often over ten minutes.
Moreover, among the artifacts Lili brought last week, after Ling Yue dismantled a few, she found they were engraved with Magic Patterns that were not from the Vampire system.
While Ling Yue was behind closed doors on the third floor studying those patterns, Feng Ling was on the living room sofa, perking up her Reverse Perception and listening carefully.
Her Reverse Perception could now penetrate a small part of the perception barrier of the third floor door.
Although the image was still as blurry as if covered with eight layers of mosaic, at least she could faintly capture the energy distribution inside the room.
What Ling Yue spread out in the room was a magic structure more complex than the Outer Barrier, and that ancient and heavy energy source was located right in the center of the room.
As for the mark circled in red pen in the corner of the room, it was on a connecting line between that energy source and the door’s rune.
In other words, the energy flow between the door’s rune and the Barrier Core had to pass through that node.
If she could reach that node, she could temporarily cut off the energy flow between the rune and the Barrier Core, temporarily disabling the door.
“What are you thinking?”
At that moment, Ling Yue’s voice suddenly appeared next to Feng Ling’s ear.
Feng Ling was so startled she almost jumped, and the controller flew out of her hand to the other end of the sofa.
She quickly adjusted her expression and mindset before saying:
“I… was thinking about the game! I can’t beat the boss in this level no matter what. It’s so annoying!”
“Your screen is on the pause screen, and it’s been paused for at least ten minutes.”
Ling Yue leaned down from behind the sofa back, reached out to pick up the controller that had fallen on the other end, and placed it back in Feng Ling’s hand.
“Also, I called you twice, and you didn’t hear me. It was only the last call that startled you.”
“So next time, call me from the front, don’t suddenly appear behind my head. Scared me to death… no, scared a ghost to death!”
“Okay, next time from the front.”
As she said this, Ling Yue walked around to the front of the sofa and sat down next to her.