Chapter 398: The Secret Digger's Ill-Gotten Gains
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 398: The Secret Digger's Ill-Gotten Gains
Perhaps it wasn't anything I had done. Maybe… they had discovered something and their consciousness had simply abandoned this shell?
This was far too bizarre. Could the civilization invading this world actually be some kind of parasitic lifeform?
But… I hadn't observed anything unusual leaving the body. Or was it because I hadn't focused my Spirit Vision on scanning for information data?
I closed my eyes briefly, then forcibly activated my Spirit Vision talent, proactively opening myself to the streams of information I had previously discarded or ignored.
"This is… hm?"
I had expected to see an invisible form escaping—perhaps an energy-based lifeform or something similar—but under the active stimulation of my Spirit Vision, I saw only a single golden thread I had previously overlooked. It snapped abruptly, severing its connection to the man who had just lost all signs of life.
I surged my mental power, reaching out to catch it, but it was like a piece of rootless duckweed; it drifted easily into my grasp.
"A Luck Thread…" I frowned, staring at this strand of luck before looking back at the man, who was now undeniably dead. His once-elegant clothes seemed to lose whatever was supporting them, disintegrating into countless tiny, square fragments that scattered into the air. I noticed these fragments were perfectly cubical, yet they didn't seem to be physical matter. Ultimately, they broke down further, dissolving into the familiar information data.
However, this data seemed equally meaningless; at least for now, my Spirit Vision couldn't discern its true nature.
"So… what exactly is going on?" My brow furrowed deeper. I couldn't understand how this guy was connected to Luck.
Or had I been wrong from the start by categorizing these Secret Diggers as invaders from outside the world?
After all, this was just a single world. What right did it have to be invaded simultaneously by a transcendent race like the Abyssal Demons and this unknown civilization? It seemed like too much of a coincidence.
My mood was souring. Judging by that man just now, these Secret Diggers didn't seem to fear death. Or rather, the death of their current shell wasn't a "true" death for them, which explained their utter recklessness.
In that case… was it possible for them to descend again through other channels?
Now that they knew my methods, they could potentially launch a targeted counterattack. The only saving grace was that I had come here in disguise.
But such a persona wouldn't hold up for long. As I continued to use my abilities, I would eventually be exposed.
I walked over to the other two. They were heavily injured but hadn't lost consciousness.
However, by the time I reached them, I found that one had already become as motionless as the first, his breath completely gone.
This was the one who had been caught in the pincer attack of my Spirit Cat and Flame Falcon summons. He had been the most severely injured, and it seemed he had chosen to "log out" immediately.
His death was even more decisive than the first.
I noticed, however, that the Luck Thread on this corpse was missing. A Luck Thread couldn't simply vanish into thin air unless it was… transferred. But there were no viable targets for a transfer nearby.
Left with no other choice, my gaze fell upon the last one, who hadn't yet chosen "suicide." He had taken a punch from me, and his abdomen was likely still throbbing with pain… no, he probably had severe internal injuries. I had, admittedly, been a bit heavy-handed with that strike.
I opted for direct consciousness communication; I couldn't afford to miss the chance to extract information from him.
"Tell me, what happened to those two?"
"Hm… a strange way to communicate. You don't know?" He looked up at me with difficulty, appearing somewhat surprised. "Wait! You aren't a %$&?"
"Your speech is being censored. What's going on?" Seeing his willingness to talk, I pressed him immediately.
"Censored? As I thought. You aren't an Explorer, are you? Is the muting gone now?" he asked.
"Correct, I am not an Explorer. What does this 'muting' mean? Is it trying to stop you from conveying certain information? Can you write it down? Or use hints?" I asked quickly.
"Don't waste your breath. If ￥&$ doesn't want you to know, you'll never find out. I'm curious, though… with those skills of yours… you're definitely not from this world, right?" he said with certainty.
"What makes you say that?" I didn't admit it directly.
"Your clothes, your image, your temperament, and… you probably don't speak the language of this world, do you? That's why you're using this consciousness communication. When you stand in a crowd, the difference between you and the NPCs is like the difference between a playable character and a background asset!"
"Fair enough…"
"You admitted it! You really are from outside this world! Who are you? Those techniques… they're magic, aren't they?"
"Perhaps. I'm a traveler who ended up here by accident. I'm looking for a way back," I said.
A cross-world experience could be considered a trip, so "traveler" wasn't a lie. I was indeed here against my will, and I really couldn't go back yet. I wasn't technically deceiving him.
"Really?! I can't believe I actually ran into an event like this! Can you tell me your name?"
"You…" I looked at him with a hint of disdain. He was in this state, yet he still had the heart to ask for my name?
"It's fine, I'm just curious. Can't you even give me a name?"
"Will you people be resurrected?" I suddenly asked, ignoring his question to focus on a matter of great concern.
"Ahaha~ You guessed it. So, can you tell me your name now? Maybe we'll meet again if fate allows."
"If there is fate between us, it's an ill-fated one. I'd rather sever it myself…" As I spoke, a blazing fireball manifested above my raised hand.
Instantly, the temperature inside the unfinished room skyrocketed.
"Holy… Holy crap! A magic fireball!"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Seeing this, he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Don't be so bloodthirsty! You haven't answered my question! A name, or even a code name!"
"And what are you prepared to pay for it?"
"Uh… that was a fast pivot. You're actually going to tell me? What do you want? Let's get this straight first: there are many things I literally can't say. You've seen the censorship."
"Money. The currency of this world, valuable precious metals, or local equivalents. If you give me enough, I might tell you my name, my code name, or even my title," I said, finally revealing my true objective.
After all, didn't these Secret Diggers love looting wealth and luxury goods?
They ought to be quite rich. The other two were dead, and I couldn't get anything out of them now.
"Money?" The Secret Digger stared at me in shock, then a look of realization dawned on him. "Oh~ Money is important, I guess. I didn't really participate in the robberies much, so I don't have a ton. I just got a decent share during the distribution."
"Hand it over, then," I said flatly.
"I'm afraid you won't be able to carry it all if I take it out!"
"That's none of your concern."
"Fine. But… can you release one of my hands so I can operate the interface? Don't worry, you're so strong, I definitely can't run away."
"Fine." I agreed. As I released his right hand, several floating spells moved into his blind spots. The Spirit Cat stood by in the corner, and the Flame Falcon kept watch outside.
It was essentially foolproof. If he could break through even this, there was a high probability I wouldn't be able to stop him anyway.
Once his right hand was free, he instinctively shook it, seemingly bothered by the tight constraint of the binding. Then, his fingers moved in a rhythmic pattern, and suddenly, a torrent of coins erupted into the air.
I instinctively backed away at the sudden change. My tense expression only relaxed when I saw that the fountain consisted of Hard Wood Coins and stacks of banknotes. So it was something like a storage equipment?
I couldn't tell exactly what kind of storage equipment it was, or if it was simply a storage spell.
But soon, as I watched, the money piled up into a small mountain!
I couldn't help but swallow hard. This was "not a ton"?
This was just a "share"?
It wasn't just paper money and Hard Wood Coins; I saw gold and other precious metals mixed in, along with things that were either gemstones or diamonds—likely luxury goods.
I picked up a piece of gold. It didn't seem to be the Orichalcum I was familiar with.
While Orichalcum was a rare yellow metal like gold, this was just a simple precious metal, whereas Orichalcum was a transcendent material!
"That's about it. Is it enough? I actually have Lanas Bank cards too, but I doubt you're going to let me go. If I'm dead or if it's not me in person, those stingy bankers won't give you a single cent."
"That is a pity. I indeed have no intention of letting you go. In fact… I plan to turn your corpses in for the bounties."
"Is that so? Then it's my honor. To think I can still create value after I'm dead. Good luck to you. Now, surely you can tell me your name?"
"You can call me… Moon," I said after a moment's thought.
"Moon? A single-character name? Nice. And the code name? The title? I'm really curious about that too!" he persisted. "Hey, hey… I saw your eyes light up when you looked at that money. You're definitely satisfied! Don't back out now!"
"Calamity Witch. You can call me the Calamity Witch." This was the title the people at the Witch Academy used for me. Although it was considered small-time in the eyes of the Transcendent Witches, it sounded decent enough, so I decided to adopt it here.
"Calamity Witch? Heavens! You actually dare to call yourself a Calamity Witch? Can you really create calamities?"
"Perhaps."
Without the suppression of the Great Weakening Spell, the power of my Fire Rain Domain spellbook would undoubtedly be far greater.
Back in the underground district of Ninglan New City, the Fire Rain Domain I had conjured with my bare hands was already that powerful, and that was only by drawing from the thin fire elements in the environment. If I were to fuel it with my own mana… ten thousand miles of flaming clouds, blotting out the sky, wiping out nations… it seemed entirely possible.
Furthermore, I still had Tan Han's Ancient Remnant Ice transformation. It was hard to imagine how terrifying that transformation would be without the Great Weakening Spell's suppression. Come to think of it, back in Ninglan New City, Tan Han's use of that spell had been pretty pathetic, hadn't it? I hadn't paid much attention at the time.
So… since my arrival, the people of this world had yet to realize that an existence far more terrifying than any Secret Digger or demon had quietly descended.
But who would have thought that such an existence could be slowed down by a mere pile of money?
I felt a twinge of shame at my own behavior, but I didn't think I was doing anything wrong. If I had started by wiping out a small country the moment I arrived, I would have run into significant trouble.
Besides… worlds are fragile things. It wasn't just the physical world that was fragile, but the civilizations and ecosystems as well. A world could be plagued by disasters just from global warming, or collapse entirely if a single loop in the ecosystem broke.
In essence, destroying a world wasn't difficult.
One would only need a few tricks to turn a peaceful, developing modern society into a war-torn wasteland. Given how many countries there were in this world, a little provocation could easily spark a world war.
Wait… was I thinking about weird things again? Why was I suddenly contemplating world destruction?
"Holy shit… you really can!"
"Of course. There's one more thing I want to ask you. Once you answer, I'll send you on your way."
"Something else? What?" Now it was his turn to be curious.
"You call yourselves… Secret Diggers, right?"
"Eh… close enough."
"So, what secrets are you trying to dig up in this world?"
"What secrets? How should I know? What does that have to do with me? I'm certainly not the one doing the digging. What kind of sane person actually follows the rules? Isn't it more fun to just be a bandit in this world?"
"Hm?"
His answer made me frown deeply. It was a non-answer, yet it seemed to reveal something.
I was still missing a key piece of the puzzle to connect everything and truly understand what these Secret Diggers were.
I looked at the man before me. Upon closer inspection, I realized he also possessed a strand of Luck—very faint, but definitely there.
The Luck of this world seemed incredibly withered, to the point where the information I saw through Spirit Vision was almost easy to miss.
Once these people died, the connection to their Luck would be severed completely. So… what if I proactively severed his Luck myself?
Previously, transferring Luck seemed to require a ritual, but this man had already been defeated by me. Furthermore, he didn't possess a Luck Seed. Theoretically, I should be able to sever his Luck Thread directly. Their relationship with these threads seemed similar to the one between the Shopkeeper and her Luck Thread back then. I should be able to… untie it!
"Anyway, thanks for clearing things up, Miss Beautiful Calamity Witch. We've been talking for so long, and I haven't even introduced myself—"
"I have zero interest in your name." Seeing him try to act familiar again, I didn't hesitate and made my move.
I reached out and grabbed the Luck Thread!
The man froze, confused by what I was doing, his words cut short.
"Time to go!" I pulled with sudden force. I wanted to see what would happen if I forcibly took this strand of Luck. If he was fine, I'd kill him immediately. If something happened… then I would have something very interesting to observe.
"Eh? What are you do—"
Before he could finish his sentence, I unraveled the Luck Thread from his body. He instantly slumped to the ground, limp.
"He didn't finish his sentence… so the Luck was his…"
"What on earth is this? Has the World Will gained sentience, or has Luck itself developed a consciousness?" I muttered, my expression grim.
Things were developing in the most baffling direction I could have imagined.