64: Chapter 64 Harvesting the Cubs

The interior of the watchtower ruins was more eerie than it appeared from the outside.

Behind the archway was a corridor half-hidden by vines and rubble.

The walls, built from elven stone, were covered in glowing moss that constantly changed shape under the distortion of the phantasmal force field.

Sometimes it looked like a row of neat arched windows, and other times it looked like countless blinking eyes.

There were doors on the walls on both sides of the corridor every few steps, but when the Black Cat reached out to touch one, her fingers passed straight through the door panel—another illusion.

The real door was hidden three steps to the left of that illusory door, covered by a phantasm that matched the texture of the wall perfectly.

Selina closed her eyes, the silver-blue static of her Storm Sense flickering on her wrists as she walked, calling out the positions of the living beings she sensed.

"Turn left at the end of the corridor. An adult Displacer Beast. Its heartbeat is a bit faster than the previous one; it must be the mother that escaped."

"There is an even smaller heartbeat beside it. The position is fixed and barely moving; it must be a cub."

Before entering the corridor, Jinbao had already gripped the third bag of Revealing Powder in his hand.

Morpheus followed behind Selina, the amethyst at the tip of his staff beginning to glow slowly, ready to cast a spell at any moment.

The Black Cat walked in front; her dagger was already drawn, and her other hand was pressed against the floor slabs.

She could judge by touch whether an arcane trap left behind during the elven retreat was hidden beneath each floor tile.

Soon, she discovered two of them, marking the edges of the traps with the tip of her dagger to warn her teammates to stay away.

Cecilia followed at Richard's side. Richard had put away his halberd; the narrow space was better suited for fighting with a two-handed battle axe.

After the left turn at the end of the corridor, the space suddenly opened up.

This was a circular hall at the base of the tower, likely once the watchtower's command room or council chamber.

But now, a third of the dome had collapsed, broken stone beams jutted down from mid-air, and the floor was piled with rubble and the remains of shattered wooden furniture.

In the center of the hall, on a relatively flat patch of ground, the mother Displacer Beast was curled up.

Two of its six legs were tucked under its belly, while the other four legs tightly encircled a furry little thing.

The cub was so small that it surprised Richard; it was only about the size of an adult house cat.

Its fur was still damp and deep blue-black, its eyes had not yet fully opened, and its two tiny ears were pressed flat against the sides of its head.

The tentacles on its shoulder blades were only as long as a finger, and the keratinous serrations at the tips had not yet hardened, looking like two soft, limp buds.

It was nudging the mother's belly with its nose, emitting extremely faint chirping sounds.

Seeing them enter, the mother beast let out a low growl that vibrated from deep within its chest.

Its phantasmal force field spread wildly throughout the hall.

Several identical phantoms appeared simultaneously on all four walls, each one making a pouncing gesture in a different direction.

Under the distortion of the phantasmal force field, the eerie green moss turned the entire hall into a kaleidoscope.

But the Revealing Powder was still stuck to its fur, and those phantoms couldn't hide the true body under the reflection of the powder.

Its true body was curled up near the cub, ready to attack at any moment.

Selina raised the holy emblem of the Storm Eye and released Paralyzing Lightning once again.

Richard and Cecilia launched a Charge forward simultaneously, one moving like a ghost, the other as valiant as a fierce lion.

Under the seamless combined offensive of the two, the mother Displacer Beast did not last long before it was killed.

Cecilia stepped forward, carefully using the tip of her sword to push aside the front legs of the mother beast's carcass, and gently scooped out the cub.

The others continued to process the carcass of the Displacer Beast; just the fur alone from this mission would net a huge profit.

When the cub was moved, it let out a sharp chirp, and its unopened eyes squeezed out a few drops of transparent liquid.

Cecilia held it in her palm and gently pressed her finger against its belly.

The little guy's heartbeat was fast and regular; its body temperature was on the low side but still within the normal range.

Cecilia placed the cub into an inner pocket of her backpack lined with soft cloth, leaving only its small head exposed.

The cub's nose nudged against the soft cloth twice, then calmed down, its chirping turning into a faint purring sound.

Not long after, the Black Cat found a mechanism at the very back of the hall.

It was a stone slab with a texture slightly different from the other wall tiles.

There was a crack as thin as a hair along the edge of the slab; if she hadn't felt it inch by inch with her fingers, it would have been impossible to see with the naked eye.

She used the tip of her dagger to pry open the slab along the crack, revealing a secret chamber only half a person's height; the interior of the secret chamber had not been affected by the phantasmal force field.

The stone walls of the secret chamber were carved with faded elven protective runes, all of which were obsolete and ineffective.

Scattered on the floor were several long-dried elven skeletons, and next to them were piles of ancient books written in the Elven language.

The paper of most of the ancient books had become so brittle that it would crumble at a touch.

The Black Cat carefully used the back of her dagger to push aside the broken pages and found the elven tactical manual from the War of Kingship period at the very bottom.

The cover was covered in a layer of dust, but it was made of some specially treated magical beast hide, so it was in much better condition than the ordinary books next to it.

She put on gloves, picked up the book, and flipped through it. Although the elven text on the inner pages had faded quite a bit, the handwriting was still legible, and the lines of the tactical diagrams were still clear.

Morpheus took the book, carefully wiped the dust off the cover with a soft cloth he carried with him, and then opened the title page, his purple pupils quickly scanning the first paragraph of text from top to bottom.

His lips moved slightly, as if he were silently reciting a name only he knew. He closed the book and said in a tone that was extremely restrained but very excited:

"This is it! Tactical notes handwritten by a Commander of the Elven Seventh Tactical Legion during the War of Kingship. The chapters about illusion cover formations and ancient magic arrays—I'll take a good look at them first, hehe."

Richard said with a smile, "Alright, then I'll leave it in your care for the next few days. Just make sure you don't damage it."

"Rest assured, Captain. I cherish books more than anything." Morpheus flipped through the ancient book, unable to put it down.

"Great job everyone. Completing this mission smoothly was all thanks to everyone's cooperation. Let's rest for a bit and then head back," Richard said, and the group ate some simple dry rations.

When they walked out of the watchtower ruins, the daylight outside was brighter than when they had entered.

The mist in the forest was dispersing, and the phantasmal force field gradually weakened as the mother beast stopped creating illusions; the surrounding scenery finally returned to normal.

When they reached the edge of the Black Forest after a few days of travel, the two carriage drivers appeared punctually at the agreed time, squatting by the roadside smoking their pipes while waiting for them.

Seeing the group walk out of the forest, the older driver stood up, brushed the grass clippings off his backside, and grumbled:

"Yesterday on the road, we ran into a few damn goblins who actually tried to rob us. Luckily, we ran fast. It almost cost us our lives!"

Richard settled the commission and gave each of them an extra five silver coins as a tip. When the driver took the money, he raised his eyebrows high and said, "Come find me next time you have work."