Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Before Agnes returned, Eve sprinted up the absurdly long staircase, thinking that if the sleeping pills given to Lorca were meant to prevent his escape, they were entirely superfluous.

Just climbing this endless staircase would have taken most of his life.

The mechanism was much easier to open from the inside than from the outside; a firm push from within was all it took. Eve emerged from beneath the floor, placed the lantern back on its original table, and meticulously rearranged the inner room, which she had barely disturbed, a gesture that felt somewhat like overcompensation.

She had never secretly explored hidden passages before, and the thought that her boss was a perceptive non-human made it even more thrilling.

It was almost her usual quitting time. Agnes was someone with a rich foundation of human virtues, especially as a boss; she clearly had no interest in exploiting her apprentice and employee.

To her, Eve’s labor didn’t seem to yield much value, so by dinnertime, Eve could leave and attend to her own affairs. If she wished to stay longer in the lab, Agnes wouldn’t interfere.

However, having just committed a mischievous act, she temporarily didn’t dare face Agnes directly and planned to return early to her room tonight.

Before clocking out, Eve lingered a bit longer to check her work, then packed her belongings and headed to her room.

The moment her bedroom door opened, a shadow lurking behind it suddenly surged forward, grabbing Eve’s wrist, pulling her inside, slamming the door shut, and then pinning her against it.

Eve didn’t resist because, the instant she was restrained, she saw a familiar platinum-gold light illuminate on the other person’s shoulder.

"You’re not surprised at all," Alice said, removing her mask with a hint of disappointment. "I thought I could give you a surprise."

"What a truly 'special' surprise that would have been. If I hadn’t spotted the Luna Butterfly first, it would have nearly turned from comedy to tragedy."

Alice responded to the familiar teasing with a knowing smile, then, as if drained of strength, buried her head in Eve’s neck and whispered, "You haven’t been troubled by anyone these past few days at Venom Fang, have you? We were all worried about you back on the surface."

"Actually, it’s been fine."

If you disregarded Agnes’s occasional man-eating threats, that is.

Eve deliberately steered the conversation away, asking instead, "How did you get up here so quickly? Did you use Leng Feng?"

"I modified his consciousness and brought him back. Now everyone at Venom Fang sees me as their savior."

"So, are you the only one who came to Venom Fang? What about the Captain and the others?"

"Them? They… have other tasks to handle."

Alice lifted her head, her honey-gold eyes sparkling with an inexplicable excitement that made Eve’s eyelids twitch: "...Are you planning something not so good?"

"We just prepared some explosives."

Eve: "..."

Definitely more than "some."

Eve: "If I recall correctly, you were the one who blew up Venom Fang’s last base, right?"

Alice looked quite surprised: "Is there something wrong with eradicating an evil organization?"

"Of course not," Eve sighed, placing a hand on her soft brown hair. "But could you first tell me about the plan? Like when you’re going to make your move."

Lorca was still in the lab’s basement, and she was afraid Alice might accidentally blow up her human insurance.

So Alice proceeded to explain her plan in detail. They planned to act in two days. During that time, Alice would manipulate Leng Feng to attract Leng Tian’s attention, while the other three would plant the explosives.

The plan sounded quite good, but getting so many explosives onboard was the first major hurdle.

The starship did have explosives in its inventory, but they could only be accessed with Leng Tian’s approval.

Alice said, "Don’t worry about that. You haven’t seen Sister Eugene’s Spiritual State, have you? Her Spiritual State is incredibly powerful; it has spatial abilities. She can carry them up with her."

Eve asked, "So, will you still be manipulating Leng Feng and using the 'savior' excuse to bring people up? Using the same excuse repeatedly might make Leng Tian suspicious."

"I know, so I’ve enlisted outside help," Alice smiled. "Didn’t you send Luo Wenzhou to the Upside Down Wonderland before? I told him our companion was captured by Venom Fang, and he agreed to help us."

Eve wasn’t particularly surprised that Luo Wenzhou was willing to step in. After all, in the original novel, the two had a female lead and male supporting character dynamic, so it wasn’t strange for him to offer help without being asked.

She said, "Alright, since the four of you have discussed it, it should be fine. I understand. If you have time, could you do me another favor?"

"What favor?"

"Use Leng Feng to stall the cloaked figure. I need to do some things, and it’s hard to act under her watchful eye. But don’t confront her directly. She likely has mind control skills, and quite advanced ones at that. If you face her head-on, you might expose yourself. Try to avoid direct contact with her. Communicate anything important through Leng Tian and his son."

Alice nodded, not asking what Eve intended to do, and agreed, "I understand."

There wasn’t much else to discuss for now, and both had their own matters to attend to, so Alice put her mask back on and bid Eve farewell.

But not long after Alice left, Eve sensed something was amiss.

If even she had considered that the ailing Lorca was also on the ship, why had Luo Wenzhou so readily agreed to help bring people from the Upside Down Wonderland onboard?

—Wasn’t he afraid that the Upside Down Wonderland might cause trouble and accidentally harm Lorca?

Something felt wrong.

There were two possibilities: one was that Alice had also mind-controlled Luo Wenzhou. But based on Eve’s understanding of her, Alice’s current abilities allowed her to control ordinary exotic beasts like dream eaters, and perhaps a few more, but it was unlikely she could control two humans simultaneously, especially since Luo Wenzhou’s mental power was S-rank, the same as Alice’s. He might have heightened goodwill and trust toward Alice under her influence, but the likelihood of him being completely mind-controlled was low.

The other possibility was that Luo Wenzhou might know some inside information. For example, he might know that something bad was going to happen on Venom Fang’s starship, so out of pity and goodwill, he agreed to help the Upside Down Wonderland rescue their people. That would also explain why he wasn’t worried about them causing additional trouble—because their goals were aligned from the start.

"I forgot to ask her if she found out who was deliberately passing messages between the Upside Down Wonderland and Venom Fang to stir up conflict before."

Eve rubbed her temples, already having a strong suspicion who was behind it.

Someone with the ability to obtain this information, discreetly pass it to both sides, and make both parties firmly believe the source.

Who else could it be but the Luo Family, manipulating things behind the scenes in the black market?

She had misjudged them. Luo Wenzhou and Lorca both seemed harmless, but she hadn’t expected them to deliberately orchestrate conflict between two sides like this.

Perhaps such people weren’t suitable as partners. Eve hid her thoughtful expression behind her blank mask.

She thought it would be best to have a backup plan when making deals with Lorca and the Oliver Family behind him. Relying solely on goodwill to secure them had been too naive.

If Alice proved capable enough, she would need to find an opportunity to see Lorca again tomorrow. But before that, she still had some preparations to make.

-

The next day, Agnes didn’t come to the lab at all, but she sent Luo Wenzhou instead.

After relaying the tasks, he packed up and prepared to leave.

Eve: "?"

She asked, "The teacher sent you to watch me, and you’re leaving after just giving me assignments?"

"Could I even keep watch over you?" Luo Wenzhou glanced at her unhappily. "You’d find a way to send me away regardless. The lady said it’s better to just give you the assignments and leave rather than let you exhaust me."

Eve: "..."

Her mentor really did know her a bit too well.

She was about to say something more, but Luo Wenzhou was already spooked by the sight of her silver mask, afraid of being subjected to another round of difficult questions and verbal traps. Not giving her any opportunity, he shot her a wary glare and bolted out like a gust of wind.

The lab door slammed against the wall with a loud "bang," demonstrating how rushed his departure was.

Eve found his nervous demeanor amusing. She glanced down at the assignment—similar to yesterday’s but a bit more advanced.

Today’s task required outlining the evolutionary thinking and practical applications of the same Alchemical Formula. Having never studied under any other Senior Alchemist, she had no idea that the assignments Agnes gave her were completely above her grade level.

This was already approaching the research level of a quasi-Four-Star alchemist.

Agnes had originally intended to keep Eve occupied with brain-teasers so she’d stay put. But after a few days of interaction, she realized the girl’s talent was truly astonishing, and her reasoning felt weirdly familiar, even if her methods were still a bit rough.

Agnes felt both appreciation and suspicion toward Eve, which was why she had been deliberately assigning these advanced tasks over the past few days.

Eve, completely unaware of this, remained deeply engrossed in her work in the basement. She picked up her pen, pondered for a moment where to begin, and then started writing in an orderly manner.

She analyzed the two sets of Alchemical Formulas provided by Agnes, detailing them as transformation and creation models. To clarify her ideas, she provided another example, comparing the original communication formula with her own improved version, ultimately arriving at the concept of extraction-creation.

In the process of thinking it through, Eve felt her understanding of Alchemy deepen.

Even if it all still felt like a programmer debugging code—somewhat messy and mismatched—the fact that it worked was a success in itself.

After writing a lengthy and thorough response, satisfied, she put away her assignment, pulled out a tube of nutrient solution, bit open the packaging, and held it in her mouth. Then, she prepared another potion and once again activated the mechanism leading to the basement.

The stairway was still pitch black. Eve deftly twisted open the door and, unsurprised, saw Lorca lying on the bed in an unresponsive state. On the bedside table was a new empty glass vial with brown liquid stains on its walls, and the tin-foil packaging of sleeping pills had four fewer tablets than the day before.

Eve’s eyes widened in shock.

—Because taking four strong sleeping pills at once could be lethal.

The black-robed figure wearing the silver mask stood there for a moment, lost in thought, before finally bending down. The cap of the potion was popped open and pressed against the boy’s pale lips, gradually tilting it to increase the flow.

Gulp, gulp.

Eve poured slowly, making sure Lorca’s unconsciously twitching lips swallowed every drop.

In the dimly lit room, the boy’s long eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings as he slowly opened his eyes. He blinked, seemingly still half-asleep and very drowsy, and asked in a hoarse voice, "What time is it?"

"Two o’clock in the afternoon, exactly," Eve replied, purposely deepening her voice as she glanced at her wristwatch.

"Alright, two o’clock exactly. A fine time."

Lorca’s tone was gentle, his demeanor the epitome of politeness.

"So, Mysterious Alchemist," he asked, "why is it that at this hour, you end up in my room?"