280: Chapter 281 The Uninvited Guest

To travel safely to Alice's hometown, thorough preparations were essential. The primary issue was how to safely and discreetly open a passage to that world.

Regarding this, Gui Wanwan proposed a compromise. She admitted that with her currently recovered strength, she couldn't yet precisely pinpoint the exit of a spatial rift to specific coordinates in the target world when crossing between worlds.

"I can ensure the passage's exit appears in the sky over the ocean, far from the main continents of that planet," Gui Wanwan explained. "This will maximize our chances of avoiding a direct intrusion into densely populated or dangerous areas. However, to accurately locate a safe landing spot on land, Alice needs to return to her world first and set up Spatial Beacons in several preset safe zones. Once I sense the beacons, I can open the exit nearby."

This undoubtedly added an extra step, but it significantly increased safety.

"In that case, Alice needs to go back first." Lin Muyang made his decision. He looked at the three young women beside him; for this preliminary action to the Atlantis World, having them was enough.

"I'll... go first!" Hearing this, Alice immediately stood up from the chair next to Lin Muyang. She walked over and squatted before him, looking up with her exquisite little face, her pale red eyes filled with obedience and earnestness.

"Fina, use your Disguise skill first to help Alice change her appearance and Aura," Lin Muyang instructed the Night Elf Maiden beside him. Then, a question occurred to him, and he looked at Alice. "By the way, Alice, do the humans in your Atlantis World look the same as Blue Star humans? Are there any significant differences? For example, ears, skin color, or pupils?"

This point was very important, as it concerned the details of the Disguise.

Alice tilted her head, her long silver-white hair cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall as she tried to recall distant memories. "I remember they should be the same. There are some very old picture albums and books in the castle. The humans depicted in them—whether in body type, appearance, or clothing—look no different from humans on Blue Star. At least, you can't see a difference on the surface."

"That's good then." Lin Muyang nodded, feeling slightly more at ease. If the physical differences were too great, disguising her would be much more troublesome.

Seraphina received the order and walked up to Alice. She reached out a fair hand, gently pressing it against Alice's forehead, while her other hand traced several profound runes in the air. She softly chanted an incantation in the Elven language, her voice ethereal and pleasant to the ear.

As the incantation progressed, a faint, moonlight-like silver glow flowed from Seraphina's palm, slowly seeping into Alice's body. Alice closed her eyes slightly, cooperating with the guidance of the energy.

The change occurred quietly.

Her eyes, which were originally as brilliant as top-grade rubies with the unique charm and depth of a Vampire, gradually faded in color. They turned from bright red to dark red, then to rose red, and finally settled into a clear, light blue, like a summer sky. The majesty and sense of age belonging to a high-ranking member of the blood race faded from her eyes, replaced by the liveliness and innocence of a young girl.

She opened her mouth slightly, and her iconic, tiny fangs—which held a hint of danger amidst their cuteness—slowly retracted like melting snow, becoming no different from ordinary human teeth. Simultaneously, the faint Vampire pressure and slight scent of blood surrounding her, which instinctively intimidated lower-order creatures, were completely covered and hidden by a fresh, natural life-energy field.

In just a dozen seconds, the ritual was complete.

Seraphina withdrew her hand, stepped back, and carefully examined her "work." Then she nodded to Lin Muyang. "Master, the Disguise is complete. Now Alice's Aura and life signs are no different from a normal human girl's. Unless she encounters a being with a higher priority insight ability, it will be very difficult to see through."

Lin Muyang looked at the brand-new Alice before him. She still had her smooth, shiny long hair, but paired with those clear light-blue eyes, she had lost some of her mystery and allure, gaining instead a touch of naive sweetness and purity. Standing there, she looked like a sheltered noble lady stepped out of a fairy tale, giving off a faint illusion of something as beautiful and fragile as a first love.

"Very good," Lin Muyang praised, but he didn't forget to caution her. "However, once you are in that world, you must still be extremely careful. Atlantis has developed for hundreds of years; there's no guarantee there aren't skills or treasures at the sky-opening grade or even higher that exceed our understanding and can see through a mythic grade Disguise. If you feel anything is wrong or encounter danger you cannot handle, do not hesitate—notify me immediately through our Soul Link, and I will summon you back at once."

"Mm-hmm, I'll remember, Master." Alice nodded vigorously, her light-blue eyes filled with seriousness. "Besides, now that we have the Linkage Ability, I can use many skills from my sisters! I even have several invincibility skills. Even if I run into an accident, I can protect myself!"

Seeing her full of confidence, Lin Muyang smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair. "Go then, and act with caution. First, collect at least three sets of spatial coordinates that you deem safe and hidden enough."

"Got it! Master, Sister Wan, Sister Fina, I'm heading out now!" Alice waved goodbye to everyone with great energy.

With a thought from Alice, her figure gradually became transparent and illusory, eventually vanishing completely from before Lin Muyang and the others like a drop of water merging into the air. She directly utilized her bloodline's spatial traversal ability to return to her long-lost hometown.

Almost at the same time, Lin Muyang closed his eyes. By virtue of the unbreakable Soul Contract between him and his summoned maidens, his consciousness could switch to their perspective at any time. At this moment, he immersed his perception into Alice's side.

Atlantis World, a certain dark underground space.

The shift in consciousness brought a brief moment of dizziness, and then his vision became clear.

The first thing he felt was a bone-chilling cold and dampness. The air seemed to have been stagnant for a long time, carrying the smell of stale dust and a faint, rust-like metallic scent. Within his sight was an empty and simple room. The walls were built from large, unpolished grayish-black stones, with dark green moss filling the cracks. There was almost no furniture in the room, only a stone bed covered with old, unidentifiable fabric, and a tilted stone candlestick. A half-burnt dark yellow candle was stuck in the candlestick, its pea-sized flame flickering desperately in the cold wind blowing through the cracks of the stone door, casting flickering shadows across the room and adding a touch of loneliness and mystery.

This was Alice's home in the Atlantis World, a bedroom within a long-forgotten Vampire castle hidden deep underground.

Alice sat up from the stone bed, her long hair shimmering slightly in the dim light. She frowned slightly—not because of the harsh environment, as with her current attributes she was impervious to heat and cold, making this bit of chill negligible—but because her sharp perception told her there were guests who didn't belong here outside the castle.

Even without Lin Muyang's additional perception-type Aura, her own attributes after breaking past level 100 were enough for her to detect subtle movements from a great distance. Moreover, at this moment, Lin Muyang acted on a thought and remotely activated a perception Aura for her. In an instant, Alice felt her senses magnified dozens of times! Sounds, smells, energy fluctuations... countless pieces of information flooded into her consciousness like a tide, which she then quickly filtered and analyzed.

Outside the castle, in an underground cavern several hundred meters away, several unfamiliar, active life signatures and psionic fluctuations were lingering and peeping.

"There are people outside," Alice whispered to herself, her voice echoing softly in the empty stone room. Her gaze became alert and curious. Her original plan was to immediately use Seraphina's skill to go out and set up Spatial Beacons in a remote area. But since uninvited guests had arrived at her front door, she decided to observe the situation first.

"Master," she requested softly through the Soul Link, "there are several unfamiliar human Class Transferees outside. I want to see what they intend to do first."

"You may. Stay safe and keep hidden," Lin Muyang's thought came through, carrying both permission and a reminder.

Having received permission, Alice went into action. She lightly hopped off the stone bed, her bare feet stepping onto the cold, rough stone floor without making a sound. Lin Muyang synchronized the activation of the Divine Concealment Aura for her. A layer of invisible distortion field enveloped Alice, and her figure vanished instantly, as if she had never existed.

"Let me see who has such great interest as to visit my dilapidated home," Alice thought, her footsteps as fast as a ghost's. She didn't even run; she just lightly tapped the ground with her toes, her long, straight legs exerting a bit of force, and her entire body drifted out as if weightless, instantly crossing dozens of meters of dark corridor.

A few long-extinguished wall lamps hung sporadically on the corridor walls, and thick dust had accumulated on the floor. A cold wind constantly poured in from the end of the corridor, blowing her silver hair and skirt, but the wind generated by her movement was perfectly masked by the Divine Concealment Aura.

In just a few breaths, Alice had traversed the winding corridor and reached the inner side of the castle's heavy metal gates, which were covered in eerie reliefs. She didn't open the door but instead phased directly through the closed gates as if walking through a wall.

Outside the castle was an even vaster and more awe-inspiring underground space. It was a massive cavern, either naturally formed or semi-man-made, with a height of several hundred meters and a width difficult to estimate. The castle sitting within it actually looked somewhat small. Countless massive stalactites hung from the cavern's ceiling, and menacing stalagmites rose from the ground. The air was filled with a faint mist and mineral scent. A weak light seeped in from somewhere unknown, barely illuminating the outline of this subterranean giant cavern and creating a mysterious and oppressive atmosphere.

And now, in this subterranean world that should have been silent, five figures were hovering in mid-air about three hundred meters from the castle.

Alice cast her gaze toward them. They were five human Class Transferees, dressed differently but all exuding a capable Aura. Three men and two women, they looked to be in their twenties or thirties. They were standing on various flying tools or hovering using their own skills, and the weapons and equipment they wore shimmered with psionic glows, clearly of high quality. They were pointing at the castle and talking in low voices, their faces showing a mix of excitement, caution, and greed.

With her superhuman perception and the capture of sound while in Divine Concealment, their conversation reached Alice's ears clearly.

A burly man with a full beard and a giant battle-axe on his back said in a muffled voice, "Boss, we're sufficiently prepared this time, right? We even got our hands on two Magic-Breaking Scrolls. Breaking through the ancient magic barrier outside this castle shouldn't be a problem anymore, right?"

The one called 'Boss' was a lean middle-aged man with sharp, hawk-like eyes. He wore form-fitting leather armor and had two daggers glowing with an eerie light hanging from his waist. He stared at the castle and nodded slowly. "The barrier's energy reaction is much weaker than last time. It seems it's been too long without maintenance and is on the verge of collapse. With the Magic-Breaking Scrolls, we have a seventy percent chance."

A young woman in ornate mage robes holding a crystal staff chimed in excitedly, "Hehe, looking at this architectural style and the residual Aura, this is definitely a Vampire lair from the Dark Era! I just wonder if there are any old fossils still alive inside?"

A cold female ranger next to her, holding a longbow, shook her head. "Not likely. The Vampire race almost went extinct after the Great Purge. Even if some slipped through the net and hid in a place like this for hundreds of years without blood to supplement them, they would have long since fallen into eternal slumber or perished."

The burly man who spoke first rubbed his hands, greed flashing in his eyes. "It doesn't matter if they're alive or not! What matters is that Vampire corpses are top-grade materials! I've heard their hearts, fangs, and even fingernails can be used to craft top-tier shadow-element items and cursed objects! Well-preserved Vampire remains fetch a sky-high price on the black market!"

The lean boss also showed a slight smile. "It seems our team is going to make a fortune this trip. Everyone, stay sharp and act according to plan. Break the barrier first, then go in and search. Stay alert, just in case."