Midday in Igwinte, in a hotel room somewhere.
The thick curtains were fully drawn, blocking out the sunlight, and the gas lamp on the table illuminated the dim space. Dorothy sat at the table, in front of her was a large map of Igwinte, the white map illuminated by the dim light turning it a yellowish-brown color.
On the edge of the map were drawing tools such as compasses and rulers. Above the map, a magic array was drawn with dark red powder, mysterious texts and symbols overlaid on the City map. The main symbols drawn above the magic array were an upright scepter and radiating light, while below was an open eye.
"Whew... done..."
After drawing all the magic arrays on the map according to the information Aldrich provided, Dorothy finally completed the preparations for divination. Now she could perform the first divination of her mysterious student career.
Opening the small wooden box beside the table, Dorothy took out the Spirituality storage item of """Lamp""" she had bought from Aldrich during the day, a small orange-yellow amber.
According to Aldrich's divination teaching, the two types of Spirituality necessary for divination were """Lamp""" and """enlightenment""". She could provide """enlightenment""" herself, while """Lamp""" directly cost her 150 pound. Based on the passive effect of Kane's Appraisal Skill, Dorothy roughly estimated that the """Lamp""" Spirituality in this amber was only about 1 point.
'1 point of Spirituality selling for 150 pound... I wish I could extract my own """enlightenment""" and sell it...'
While complaining in her heart, Dorothy placed the 150 pound amber on the symbol for Light on the map, while the symbol for """enlightenment""" remained empty.
Then Dorothy took out a crystal pendant from her pocket, which she had bought from a grocery stall in the lower city. It cost her a few coins. The owner insisted it was crystal, but Dorothy was sure it was glass.
But it didn't matter. According to Aldrich, what was important for divination was Spirituality, not the tools. As long as the Spirituality was sufficient, other things were harmless.
Holding the cheap pendant, what Dorothy needed to do now was perform a divination called dowsing. Among the several simple divination methods Aldrich had given her, this was the best one for divining locations.
In fact, Dorothy could also try to directly divine the location of the Holy Communion Society's headquarters and report it first, but she wasn't sure if the Holy Communion Society, which existed in the form of various strongholds, even had a headquarters. Even if it did, what if it had anti-divination measures? Her """Lamp""" only had one point, she couldn't waste it, so she wouldn't gamble. Divining the ambush location directly was safer.
Standing in front of the table, Dorothy began holding the pendant, letting the tip of the fake crystal hang towards the map. Then she began to chant silently.
"I, by the all-seeing Light, illuminate the sea of enlightenment..."
Along with Dorothy's murmuring, the amber on the magic array cracked open, and invisible Spirituality was released. At the same time, Dorothy felt something being drawn out from her body. Under the system's prompt, her """enlightenment""" Spirituality decreased by 1 point.
"I need to know the location where the Red Communion Society in Igwinte plans to ambush the Hunter Squad."
Saying the divination phrase, Dorothy then began to swing the pendant. The tip of the pendant began to swing back and forth over the map.
Gradually, as it swung, the pendant in Dorothy's hand seemed to be pulled by some mysterious force. It began to slowly tilt in one direction. As the amplitude of the swing became smaller and smaller, the pendant finally stopped, ultimately tilting in a way that defied gravity, pointing to a spot on the map.
Dorothy's gaze followed the direction the crystal tip was pointing. The landmark showed the name there was... Sunken Wharf.
...
Sunken Wharf, located in Igwinte's east, close to the suburbs, downstream of the Iron Mud River, was once a relatively prosperous small riverside wharf, mainly used for loading and unloading cargo for small river boats and for cross-river ferries. Because the location wasn't ideal, it was often extensively flooded during the river's high-water period, hence the name "Sunken".
Sunken Wharf was not an official wharf, but was built jointly by several merchant fleets. Therefore, some lawless elements often used it for extraordinary transportation, and even a black market once formed here. A few years ago, the Igwinte authorities took action here, arresting nearly a hundred people, so it has become deserted now and is largely abandoned.
In the afternoon in Igwinte, at Sunken Wharf.
Illegally built shacks lined the riverbank in rows, three or four-story houses made of stacked stone bricks without exterior plaster were scattered sparsely, the doors of empty warehouses stood open, and the moored boats on the river were covered in rust, clearly having been unused for a long time.
On a hidden street corner, a carriage was parked here. The white-haired girl sat inside the carriage with her eyes closed, resting. Her consciousness at this moment was connected to the eye in the sky.
Several bird corpse puppets, under Dorothy's control, circled above Sunken Wharf, looking down at the intricate terrain of Sunken Wharf from different high-angle perspectives.
"So... if I were you, how would I choose the ambush location?"
Dorothy thought this way. At this moment, she put herself in the perspective of the Holy Communion Society, imagining how she would select an excellent ambush spot from this complex site, one that could effortlessly eliminate enemies who fell into the trap.
With the help of the multi-angle bird's-eye view, Dorothy quickly found a suitable location.
It was a warehouse, a low, not very large steel-frame warehouse. At four different angles around the warehouse stood four small brick buildings that were abandoned before completion, and even a relatively tall clock tower to the south. These buildings were all some distance from the warehouse. In Dorothy's opinion, if guns were set up in these four buildings plus the clock tower, the enemies inside the warehouse would become turtles in a jar.
The outer walls of the abandoned steel-frame warehouse were gypsum boards, completely unable to resist bullets. In many places, the wall surface had peeled off, creating holes, allowing a clear view inside from certain angles. If the people inside were simultaneously targeted by enemies from five angles, who also had the advantage of height, they would have no power to retaliate.
In low-end extraordinary battles that still involved mortals, guns were still the undisputed main source of output. This was true for both the Holy Communion Society and the An Yin Bureau. Therefore, if Dorothy considered it from the perspective of a gunfight, this warehouse would be an excellent trap location.
For the entire afternoon, Dorothy controlled the Corpse Puppets of birds to fly and patrol over the wharf. Using the eyes of the birds, she conducted a more detailed investigation of those brick buildings and the warehouse. At the same time, she was waiting for something.
Finally, around three o'clock, after Dorothy had waited for more than two hours, she saw a group of men mysteriously walk to the top of the clock tower. From the top of the clock tower, they began to survey the surrounding environment, discussing something intensely.
In the center of this group of furtive men, surrounded by them, was a thin-faced man with gloomy eyes, neat brown hair, and a small mustache. He held a scepter, silently looking at the scene below, instructing his surrounding subordinates about something unknown.
"Ohhh~ You guys finally came for reconnaissance too..."
Watching the scene before her, Dorothy, inside the carriage, stretched lazily.
...
At night in Igwinte, in an apartment building in the upper city.
In the messy bedroom, Brandon knelt respectfully on the ground. In front of him, on the bloody altar, a mouth formed of flesh and blood issued a command.
"The trap has been set. The operation is tomorrow. Our 'flower' will be delivered to the An Yin Bureau at 10:30 tomorrow morning. After they deploy, you will immediately take action."
"Yes, Mr. Buck!"