Leveraging her height advantage and the dim pre-dawn light, Kanna easily approached the cargo truck. She just needed to wait for them to finish their checks, then toss in a Thunderbolt Wedge, and inconspicuously sneak into the truck using displacement.
By this time, the workers had already left after stacking the goods in the truck, leaving only the driver to count the inventory.
Upon closer inspection, Kanna observed that there were two people in the truck's driver and passenger seats, and four people in the escorting off-road vehicle. It was clear that even though they received deliveries from here every day, the manor owner was extremely vigilant.
However, even with the opponent's cunning, he couldn't stop the little Dragonborn's stealth.
Kanna seized the moment the driver got out of the truck and waved her hand. A supremely discreet violet glow, like a meteor, flew through the gate just as it was closing, unnoticed by anyone.
Kanna could now completely control the power and size of each Thunderbolt Wedge, so even a fly-sized object flying out of the grass and into the truck didn't elicit any reaction from the manor owner's subordinates in the front.
By the time the truck started moving, Kanna had already entered it.
The large truck was tightly sealed on all sides, partly to prevent contamination from Originium dust, and partly to prevent ill-intentioned individuals from climbing on and stealing supplies.
Kanna sniffed; most of the supplies inside the truck were fresh meat and some seasonal vegetables.
Logically, a manor owner's population should be proportional to his production capacity, and meat wouldn't typically be prepared for ordinary slaves and servants. Thus, such a large quantity of meat was quite thought-provoking.
Considering the presence of an Originium ore vein within this manor owner's sphere of influence, Kanna estimated that most of this meat was distributed to the mining security personnel and private army.
Without sufficient military force, Originium ore, a highly sought-after commodity, was not something a minor noble could monopolize.
While she was investigating, intermittent chatter came from the front:
"You know, wasn't that woman yesterday a pity? Tsk! Such a beautiful face, yet the young master beat her to death. It would have been better to give her to the brothers below to have some fun."
"If you want to die, don't drag me down with you. Damn it, you know the young master's temper; he flips out in an instant. From what I hear, that woman was originally one of the villagers caught earlier. She was only picked out by the young master because she was pretty and wasn't thrown into the mine. But she didn't appreciate it, not only was she not grateful, but she cried in her room every day. So, the young master lost his patience with her crying and hung her by the door, beating her to death.
Let me tell you a top-secret piece of information: according to an acquaintance of mine who works in the kitchen, after that woman died, her body was made into meat paste, then turned into meat soup and distributed to the working slaves. Those people even looked grateful, it almost made me puke."
"Ugh~ Don't even mention it, just hearing that makes me want to puke. But you have an acquaintance in the kitchen? Or a lover, eh? Hehehe!"
"Hehehe..."
After listening to their conversation, Kanna's face turned ashen.
She had actually had a premonition that these villagers would be subjected to abuse and unfair treatment, but from the conversation between these two, it was clear that everyone, from top to bottom, in this manor was a beast.
Before, she had hesitated, wondering if too much commotion might harm the innocent. Now, she was relieved; anyone who could live in this manor was probably not a good person, so she didn't need to be too concerned when acting.
If there were accidental injuries, it could only mean that the person was unlucky.
At noon, the convoy arrived at the manor as usual. Seizing the opportunity when no one was watching, Kanna slipped out of the truck, then dodged a squad of soldiers who came to receive the supplies, and nimbly jumped onto the rooftop.
As for why she chose the rooftop, a place very easy to be discovered, it was naturally to get a bird's-eye view... Pfft, it was naturally because the signal was better at higher elevations, making it easier to receive messages from Outcast.
Moreover, she could use this time before being discovered to observe the surroundings, which would facilitate the planning of her operation (meaning where to start freezing things) and her escape route.
Once up, she saw the manor's rather exaggerated-looking main gate. Thanks to her sharp eyesight, Kanna saw the spreading bloodstains near the crooked-necked tree by the gate. From their color, they likely belonged to the woman mentioned in the conversation between the two men.
The bloodstains, covering an area of nearly five meters, showed how cruelly that woman had been treated while alive.
Just as Kanna stood on the rooftop contemplating how to deal with this family, the gate opened, and a ragged, extremely thin boy, shivering, ran out. From the metallic glint beneath his torn clothes, it was clear that this person was an Infected.
Before he had run a few steps, a whip covered in barbs lashed out from inside the house with a piercing whizz. The tip of the whip accurately struck the unprepared youth, tearing off a large chunk of flesh.
Accompanied by a scream, a mouthful of fresh blood spurted from the youth's mouth. He tumbled a few times on the ground, then stubbornly stood up and continued to stagger towards the gate.
Kanna recognized this child. He had been following behind the new leader chosen by the villagers at the time, and their relationship seemed quite close. While most children chose to go to Rhodes Island, he chose the other side.
At the time, he might have thought the man beside him would be a strong reliance, but he didn't expect that just a few months later, the strong reliance in his eyes would be torn to shreds by evil people, and he himself would become a "tool" for the manor owner's children to play with.
"Run faster! You're too slow, I'm getting bored!" A cheerful-sounding young man's voice came from inside the house.
Then, a young man who looked to be fifteen or sixteen walked out of the house, holding a whip.
Behind him followed several fully armed warriors carrying weapons.
"George, walk slower, don't twist your ankle for this trash." A sharp, harsh voice emerged from a fleshy sphere of a person, about one and a half meters tall and wide.
"Alright, Mom! This piece of trash, does he even deserve for me to get injured? Speaking of which, this toy is almost dead. Can you ask Dad to send me two more?"
While answering the fleshy sphere with an impatient voice, the young man mercilessly swung the whip in his hand, lashing out at the boy.
Kanna sighed, her eyes turning extremely cold.
Just as the whip was about to strike the boy again, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky. Accompanied by a loud bang, the whip exploded in the middle.
The running boy stumbled forward and fell to the ground.
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