Chapter 323: the Mutation
The carriage stopped in front of Tulip Manor.
The carriage driver stopped the horse, turned his head, and shouted loudly, "Miss Dai, we have arrived!"
But there was no response.
The carriage driver paused for a moment, then shouted even louder, "Miss Dai, we have arrived at the Tulip Manor! Please come down!"
Dai, who was in a state of confusion and disarray, finally stepped down from the carriage. She appeared as if she had lost her soul, which made her seem very abnormal.
The carriage driver froze, unsure of what had happened to her.
Dai, with empty eyes, took out money and paid the carriage driver.
The amount was not quite right.
The carriage driver hesitated for a moment, but then returned the extra money, earnestly advising, "Although it's not my place to speak, Miss Dai, as a senior maid of Tulip Manor, it would be best if you refrain from visiting such dirty places in the future."
"If the important people in the manor find out, it might not be good for you."
Dai ignored him and, with a vacant expression, turned around and slowly walked towards the majestic gate of Tulip Manor.
The carriage driver let out a sigh, shook his head, and stopped paying attention to the girl.
"Dai?"
Kaluoer stood inside the doorway, as if she was waiting for her to return.
Dai saw Kaluoer's figure, but there was no intention of acknowledging her. Instead, she simply passed by and entered the mansion of the manor.
Kaluoer remained silent and didn't say anything.
She felt that something was wrong with the girl.
However, Kaluoer didn't have any extra thoughts, and didn't do anything "unnecessary."
She only recalled the assassins she had once met at the Mercury Ball, none of whom had survived to this day.
Assassins have to learn how to guard their inner feelings.
We must not let any unnecessary emotions enter within.
--
Dai returned to the estate, wandering aimlessly with empty eyes, as if strolling around and observing her surroundings.
Soon, she arrived at the grand and elegant main hall, then descended to the basement, which served as the lodging place for the servants.
In the dining hall downstairs, she encountered the familiar maids. They hadn't dispersed after finishing their lunch, as usual, they engaged in idle chatter until around eleven o'clock before resuming their work.
"Hahaha, you didn't really see how silly that person looked."
"Just a poor postman dares to propose to me, haha."
At Tulip Manor, the servants wake up at half-past four, have breakfast at half-past five, start working at half-past six. They must have the master's breakfast prepared and the manor cleaned by eight o'clock. They have lunch at ten o'clock.
It is now half-past ten. The next half an hour would be a time for rest.
Inside Tulip Manor, there were very few servants. If we don't count the cook and the odd job workers, there were only a few dozen formal male and female servants.
Compared to the countless numbers of servants from the four major families, nine minor families, and thirteen other families, it was not even close in terms of scale.
Steward Carson believed that true nobles should have "one task, one servant". Apart from the closest personal servants, the remaining servants were responsible for separate tasks such as dressing, maintaining dishes, indoor cleaning, grooming, and extinguishing the lights.
But even the pleasure-seeking Bai Yan felt that having someone attend to everyday life was a delightful thing. However, if a large group of people were to follow and attend to him, it would feel like constraint and imprisonment.
Dai slowly walked in from the entrance, with an expressionless face.
Her eyes shimmered with a subtle hint of blue light.
Step by step, she approached.
The female servants, who were resting, were all familiar with Dai. When they saw her, they gathered around, chattering away without pause.
"Dai, you came back really early! Have you had lunch yet? Later, I'll have the cook warm up some food for you. We only finished eating not long ago."
But Dai simply listened quietly, completely devoid of her usual liveliness.
There was a tall and slender maid with golden long hair who smiled and said,
"It's really nice, Dai. The Master really likes you and Kaluoer now. If you want to take a leave, you can take a leave."
She paused for a moment, before continuing with a cheerful smile,
"Without even climbing onto the bed, Dai, if you do, in the future, you might even be considered half the owner of the estate. We all envy you so much."
The one speaking was Dai's friend, who was also one of the few senior maids in the estate.
Her tone sounded like she was joking.
But if Dai had a normal mind, she would have been able to sense the strong jealousy and sarcasm.
However, in her current state, her eyes were lifeless, and she remained silent.
Dai didn't react, she simply looked at the girls, one by one.
The eerie blue light in her eyes felt strange to people.
In Annottales, a place like this, it was common for beautiful maids to climb onto their master's bed.
Not climbing up would be surprising.
Dai silently looked at each person, turned around, and left. The maids stood there, staring blankly at her departing figure, feeling a strange sensation in their hearts.
"Is she a little strange?"
The tall and slender maid replied, "Yes, she is a little strange."
"I'm not sure... but your words just now were a bit harsh. Be careful, Dai might complain to the master about you."
The tall and slender maid squinted her eyes and chuckled, "Hehe, I can't help it. I don't have that pretty face, so I can only be jealous... Maybe the master won't even like her in the end, and will only have eyes for Kaluoer. Heh."
"If everyone were like that, then no one would want to ask for leave and go directly to the master to ask for leave. Even the butler wouldn't be taken seriously."
The maids heard these words and all smiled happily.
Suddenly, Mrs. Mel, the elderly housekeeper in her fifties, came over and scolded, "You lazy pigs! Why aren't you working? It's almost ten o'clock! Do you want to upset Steward Carson?"
The maids quickly dispersed.
The slender maid who had mocked Dai ran upstairs and followed her duties to heat up water. Lord Viscount occasionally took a bath at this time, and then she would count the hidden wine with the steward.
For some reason, she always felt a little dizzy.
[Thoughts, making you jealous, almost driving you mad]
[Not thinking anymore might make you feel more at ease]
[Your words betrayed a friend, you understood, as you felt both jealous and pained]
What was that sound...
The tall and slim maid's eyes also gradually became lifeless.
--
After wandering for quite a while, Dai finally returned to her room and pushed open the door.
Her room in the manor was slightly smaller than her old home, but it was clean and tidy, and she lived there all alone.
The high-ranking maids and butlers each had their own rooms.
"Welcome back, Dai,"
Viscount Edmond sat on the bed.
He calmly looked at the newspaper, without lifting his head, and his voice remained as steady as ever.
Dai remained silent, not uttering a single word.
The man glanced at the newspaper, his words sharp like a blade, "Whoever you are, wherever you are, intruding into the minds of my beloved maids, be prepared for death from this moment on."
"You..." Dai finally spoke, but the voice that came out was not her own.
Bai Yan lifted his head coldly and looked over.
With her sharp gaze, Dai seemed as if she could see through the manipulator lurking behind her.
He snapped his fingers.
"Crack!"
In the next instant, Dai felt a seal on her soul being released, and her body trembled suddenly.
In the Tulip Manor, the other affected servants were also instantly relieved from Bai Yan's spiritual power.
Dai closed her eyes and was about to collapse onto the ground.
But in the next moment.
She was lying calmly on the bed, with her eyes closed, lost in a deep slumber.
As if everything that had just happened was merely a nightmare, the evil curse that sealed his soul appeared to be easily shattered before the immensely powerful Bai Yan.
As long as the person involved possesses enough strength, tragedy would not occur.
"Go to sleep and have sweet dreams."
At some point, the gentlemanly Bai Yan stood at the door, calmly turned around, and left.
Lying in bed, Dai seemed to have a dream about her family, her face showing an expression of distress.
After a while, she dreamt about another person, and gradually, her expression became calm.
--
Bai Yan, who had returned to the study, fell into deep thought.
After the Doomsday Crisis, the security in Annottales became even more chaotic than imagined. Dai only returned home once, but her entire being was controlled by soul magic.
The person who was trying to manipulate Dai should be a black wizard.
"I won't let you escape."
Even though Bai Yan had never truly seen the black wizard, he had already memorized the "vibration" of her soul. Anyone who dared to approach within the range of his psychic powers would immediately be detected by him.
"According to Steward Carson, Dai was born in a poor neighborhood... I'm not sure which specific district, um, let me retrieve her memories here..."
Dai always thought that Steward Carson had been hiding her background and not telling the truth to Lord Viscount Edmond.
In fact, Steward Carson had privately told Bai Yan about this matter.
But at that moment... he didn't actually object to Dai becoming an advanced servant; instead, he earnestly described Dai as a hardworking child who perhaps deserved a chance to try.
Steward Carson, who had always been very rigid and set in his ways when it came to noble etiquette, surprisingly took it upon himself to defend someone from a poor neighborhood... This left a profound impression on Bai Yan.
"If the Babel Tower could unlock a mission about the slums, maybe it could solve the problem with the black wizard."
Of course, even if he didn't complete the mission, Bai Yan would still find her.
In Dai's memory, there were already enough clues.
When Bai Yan saw the appearance of the black wizard, he remembered something.
Their own promise with Alan.
"Is it her?"
Something came in.
Bai Yan saw Cola walk in gracefully, and with familiarity, it climbed onto his feet, gave a little jump, and sat on his lap.
"Mew!" Cola looked at him, with a peculiar smile on its face.
Bai Yan was stunned, this cat used to dislike him before, but for some reason, today it had changed its attitude.
"What do you want to do?" he asked, grabbing the cat's ear.
"Meow."
Cola tilted its head, indicating that it couldn't understand.
Bai Yan seemed to be talking to himself, "Why suddenly want to improve relations with me? Is it because of something? Or did you discover something? Or maybe, you want to gather information from me?"
"Meow!"
Cola laughed, as if answering seriously.
But Bai Yan didn't understand at all.
Forget it.
Bai Yan shook his head and completely ignored its behavior. He didn't care.
Anyway, when it came to operating the mobile phone related to the "Babel Tower," Bai Yan always made the incarnation inside the Babel Tower do it. Even though this guy was constantly sticking to him, he couldn't find out anything useful.
Bai Yan started reading normally, continuing to read the newspaper he hadn't finished. Meanwhile, Cola just stayed obediently on his lap, and after a while, it lay down and squinted its eyes.
The cat's body easily becomes tired.
Meanwhile, inside the Babel Tower, Bai Yan was sitting on the throne, using his mobile phone.
Once again, he sent out the Core Operators through the Babel Tower game to complete various weekly missions.
Familiar with the route, he moved with ease.
Because Sacred Heart's Chosen is a native of the otherworld, it opened up new weekly missions about the Continent of Zeuo. Bai Yan naturally assigned her, a local operator, to complete them.
As for the daily and weekly missions in the world of Noah, they were entrusted to the Core Operators in the world of Noah.
Bai Yan murmured with a glimmer of hope, "The World Tree is just ten percent away from growing. Then, both the weekly and daily missions will undergo a complete renewal and upgrade."
Hmm?
He squinted his eyes and noticed the differences.
Today, many weekly missions were generated, and a lot of them were about Annottales.
This amount was more than double the usual.
Bai Yan, who noticed this, easily made a judgment after associating it with Dai's experience today.
In the near future, Annottales may experience some significant event.
--
Annottales, the fifteenth district.
This was the poorest of the poor in the slums.
The most chaotic place in the entire city.
If we were to say that in the thirteenth and fourteenth districts, there were many prostitutes and criminals.
So, in the most chaotic fifteenth district, many women didn't even have the opportunity to be prostitutes... After all, prostitution requires money.
Land of No Return.
Without the priests' "reports," the divine laws of Dark Light were practically non-existent here, and in the Kingdom of Dark Light, there weren't enough law enforcement forces.
Even when the knights with Divine Blades occasionally came to take charge, their numbers were too few to truly eradicate the issue of crime.
Because, fundamentally, the issue of crime is not only about the criminals themselves.
Even though the Knights of the Divine Blade are able to bring criminals to justice, they have no control over other matters.
Not only did many migrants from other cities forcefully settle here, but even sinners could be found among the people of the fifteenth district.
Of course, due to the inherent hatred of the townspeople, sinners in this district still needed to conceal their true identities.
At this very moment, in the fifteenth district, this forbidden land welcomed a new unexpected visitor.
The rain continued to pour heavily.
For the past week, the city had been almost constantly raining.
In certain parts of the fifteenth district, there were even collapses and small-scale flooding, but the church didn't offer a helping hand at all.
This was a street that used to be chaotic and dirty in the past.
Today, it had become completely different, appearing very quiet.
White fog enveloped.
There was a chilling sense of foreboding that made one's heart tremble.
The magician, wearing a crying face mask, stepped foot here.
"Annottales... It's not the first time she has come... but it's the first time she has seen a place like this."
Alan sighed and knelt down on one knee, murmuring softly.
He began to prepare some kind of spell or ceremony.
At the same time, Alan closed his eyes, and his extraordinarily heightened sense extended outward.
This street was very peculiar.
Just like there was nobody around, not even a single living creature, Alan realized that even in the most impoverished and chaotic place, it shouldn't be this empty.
Even the population density in the slums, perhaps, should be high...
Suddenly, Alan felt the presence of someone approaching from several hundred meters away.
Are those things really human?
They indeed had the appearance of humans, but their entire bodies were turning blue-purple, with bulging veins and bloodshot eyes.
They didn't look like normal human beings at all.
"Ah, ah, ah!"
In the pouring rain, these strange beings suddenly started howling together from a hundred meters away.
In an instant, hundreds of strange beings rushed towards Alan from outside the street.
They easily climbed over buildings, leaped over obstacles, and stones thrown effortlessly could soar over a hundred meters.
They possessed powerful physical abilities.
Alan opened his eyes.
He gazed at the crowd surging at the edge of his field of vision, showing no fear at all. He mumbled to himself, "Are you kidding me... This is supposed to be inside the city. What in the world is going on? Isn't anyone going to do something about it?"
According to the information Amy usually organized, Annottales' public safety and order were generally quite high.
Even in the previous districts, following the divine laws had become a common habit, without a single crime occurring in a month... Repressed, they loved venting at the abattoir even more.
Alan felt puzzled. The earlier districts of Annottales and the later districts seemed like two different worlds.
Why have the people on this street turned into monsters?
The approaching strange creatures were of all ages and genders - there were men and women, young and old. The youngest of them was only five or six years old, while the oldest had hair as white as snow.
Alan, while observing them, suddenly became astonished and then shocked!
He had originally thought that all the enemies had been transformed into "monsters".
In reality, it was not so.
The strange creatures were still... human!
All the strange creatures actually possessed fairly normal intellect, as they were probably capable of eating, drinking, and even reproducing normally... They just became endowed with strength and became bloodthirsty, harboring hatred towards others.
Regardless of whether it's in terms of biology or the soul, they were not monsters... just a considerable number of unsightly and wicked pseudo-superhumans.
This includes the children and the elderly.
They, by their own will, chose to attack the sudden arrival of the stranger, rather than being controlled by anyone!
Gradually, the shock and astonishment in Alan's heart transformed into an indissoluble rage.
As a master of sorcery, he could see through it.
This kind of transformation would spread!
Someone wanted to destroy the entire city!
