Using deliberately leaked false intelligence to draw away Ci Rong's main force, then reporting to the An Yin Bureau and providing them with information on Ci Rong's operational target, allowing the Hunters to tie up Ci Rong and his group, and then taking the opportunity to strike their base.
Drawing the tiger away from the mountain, this was Dorothy's strategy this time. The current situation is somewhat similar to when she dealt with Buck in Igwinte, but the difference is that Buck proactively attacked and Dorothy found an opening, while this time, Dorothy managed to proactively draw out Ci Rong with great effort.
Now, Ci Rong and his main subordinates are entangled with the Hunters and won't be able to return for a while. This is the perfect time for her to enter the ruins.
Deep within the Secret Knowledge Society, Dorothy stood before the Spider Web Corridor, looking at the long corridor covered in fine spider webs. She was thoughtful; it was this entire corridor that had blocked the reconnaissance of Dorothy's small Corpse Puppets last time.
'The spider silk on this corridor... if you're not a designated person, just touching it a tiny bit will trigger an alarm. Even though Ci Rong is outside now, there must still be some people left behind in the ruins. It's best not to trigger an alarm to avoid alerting them.'
Looking at the spider-web-covered corridor before her, Dorothy thought this. Then she looked around and focused her gaze on Naifnis beside her.
"Senior Naifnis, could you please trouble you one last time and carry me across?"
"Huh? Carry you across? I'll try, that should be possible."
"Okay, give it a try. If carrying doesn't work, piggyback is fine too, as long as my feet don't touch the ground," Dorothy replied. Then she stepped onto a wooden box and, with Naifnis's help, was lifted up in a princess carry.
To Dorothy's surprise, Naifnis's physical strength seemed unexpectedly good. She held Dorothy steadily, with no need to switch to a piggyback.
Then, Naifnis carried Dorothy and began to cross the Spider Web Corridor. Since Naifnis was recognized as one of their own by the spider silk, no alarms were triggered throughout the process.
Finally, after crossing the entire Spider Web Corridor, Naifnis put Dorothy down. Looking back at the corridor full of alarm trigger lines, Dorothy said with a sigh of relief.
"We finally got through. Thank you, Senior Naifnis. Your physical strength is indeed impressive."
"It's nothing. The field I study often requires going to various inconvenient and desolate wilderness areas, so I exercise regularly," Naifnis replied.
Neff replied, while Dorothy continued to ask.
"So... where should we go now for that so-called torture chamber?"
"This path here. Go straight down to the end, and you'll see a corridor leading downwards. Go down there, and you'll arrive. Although Ci Rong is out now, there should still be people left behind there. Please be careful, Miss Dorothea."
Naifnis said, pointing to a passage, and Dorothy also nodded slightly after looking in the direction Naifnis pointed.
"Understood. Thank you for your cooperation, Senior Naifnis. You can go back now, and it's best to stay away from here. If I need you later, I will notify you using the Codex."
Dorothy said to Naifnis, and Naifnis asked in surprise.
"You're going alone from now on... Is that alright?"
"Don't worry. Even though I'm a bit young, I'm also an Extraordinary and can handle the situation. I don't need your cooperation anymore. Leaving here now will be safer for you, Senior Naifnis."
Dorothy said with a smile to Naifnis before her. Hearing Dorothy say this, Naifnis didn't say anything more but responded solemnly.
"Then please be careful."
Then, Naifnis returned through the Spider Web Corridor, while Dorothy released a few small Corpse Puppets to scout ahead and then walked in the direction Naifnis had pointed.
Soon, Dorothy saw the downward stair passage Naifnis had mentioned. There were fallen stone statues scattered at the entrance of the stairs. Dorothy didn't hesitate, letting the small Corpse Puppets go ahead for a distance before following behind.
Walking down the stairs, Dorothy went down a not-so-spacious passage. After a while, she heard faint screams from afar, and the small Corpse Puppet that went ahead of her had already explored to the exit of the passage.
Using the Corpse Puppet's vision, Dorothy could see a spacious underground space supported by countless stone pillars. In the space, the Light was dim, and there were about ten cell compartments made of wooden boards. Each compartment imprisoned prisoners covered in torture wounds. Since the main force had gone out, most of these prisoners were now huddled in a corner of their cells, trembling. Only a few prisoners were being whipped by two cultists, letting out screams.
"Is this the torture chamber Neff mentioned? As expected, there are still some people left behind..."
Observing the scene inside the torture chamber through the Corpse Puppet's vision, Dorothy muttered to herself. She counted briefly. Excluding the prisoners, there were a total of six people left in the torture chamber: two were whipping prisoners, two were sitting and resting, and two were guarding the stairwell leading further down to the next level. Among these, there might be one or two Student-level Extraordinary.
"In that case... I'll deal with you first before going down."
Dorothy murmured, then took out her magic box, expanded the opening, and used the Corpse Puppet Ring to control three human Corpse Puppets to crawl out. She then sent them forward to lie in ambush at the entrance of the torture chamber.
Next, Dorothy took out a few more things from the magic box: a section of black candle, a talisman, and a carved Stone coin.
Putting away the magic box, Dorothy's main body moved a little closer to the torture chamber. Then she picked up the black candle, injected 1 point of """Shadow""" into it, causing it to ignite with a faint black flame. This was the Extraordinary item she had obtained from Luer, the Light-Extinguishing Black Candle.
Dorothy blew out the Light-Extinguishing Black Candle. Suddenly, all the Light in the surrounding passage was extinguished, and along with it, the already sparse Light in the torture chamber also went out.
Instantly, pure darkness descended upon this underground space. Everyone's vision was plunged into pitch-black darkness where they couldn't see their own hands.
This is the advantage of underground spaces; without the influence of moonlight, extinguishing the light source can create a completely dark environment, unlike the last time Dorothy extinguished the lights in Saint Amanda's Church, where she had to board up the windows beforehand.
"What! Why did it suddenly get dark?!"
"How did the lights go out! It's so dark."
"Quick, find the lights and relight them!"
The sudden darkness caused chaos in the torture chamber. The cultist guards who were left behind panicked in the face of the sudden darkness. They all got up to search for the surrounding lights to try and relight them, but moving in the pure black environment was extremely difficult. Many were tripped by obstacles around them. Many prisoners were also startled by the darkness, looking around frantically in their cells. Some mentally unstable prisoners started screaming hysterically in the darkness.
At this moment, Dorothy wrapped the talisman she had taken out earlier around the Stone coin, then pressed it onto the ground. Next, she closed her eyes and began to activate the talisman.
"Earth-Listening Talisman..."
The talisman, seized by Dorothy from Deer Skull's subordinates during the Church battle, was activated by a "Stone" Spirituality storage item. Instantly, using the earth as a medium, Dorothy accurately sensed the vibrations coming from all around. Through these vibrations, she located all moving targets in the torture chamber without needing vision, whether they were guards or prisoners.
Dorothy had previously used the Knower's memory ability to record the coordinates of all prisoners and guards. The moment after the lights went out, she compared the location of each vibration with the location of each person before the lights went out, using the Knower's information processing ability. She easily determined which vibrations were prisoners and which were guards.
Then, Dorothy had the three Corpse Puppets ambushing at the entrance attack simultaneously. They held cold weapons like daggers and short knives and quickly approached the source of the guards' vibrations in the darkness.
Soon, the first scream echoed in the darkness.