Charlotte Holmes

Chapter 23: Charlotte Holmes

Li Ye didn't know if Magie Friedman remaining within Aleka's body was an entirely independent consciousness or if it was still connected to her original self.

If it was the latter, then she should already be dead.

Slipping his sword back into its sheath, Li Ye turned and left without hesitation.

The trail of the Crusader remnants had gone cold, but Li Ye didn't care.

Li Ye had also figured it out: this place was the domain of the Sun King Ozymandias. Aside from the Atlas Institute, which was beyond his control, the whereabouts of the Crusader remnants couldn't possibly escape Ozymandias's notice.

As for any other information regarding the remnants, it had all vanished with Magie Friedman's death.

After Li Ye regrouped with Nitocris, the two of them continued on their journey.

Heading towards the otherworld in the center of the desert—the Atlas Institute!

Several hours later.

"No, Miss Nito, are you really a Pharaoh?"

Li Ye, looking puzzled, surveyed their surroundings. Since he had a Pharaoh accompanying him, Li Ye had naturally asked Nitocris to guide him, an outsider.

But Li Ye never expected that Nitocris would lead him wandering around the desert for an entire day.

The sun was setting, marking the twilight hour.

From day to dusk, Li Ye hadn't even seen a shadow of the Atlas Institute.

Meanwhile, Nitocris by his side refused to admit fault, declaring loudly, "Insolent cur, are you questioning the judgment of Pharaoh Nitocris!"

Clearly, Nitocris would not take responsibility and decisively rejected Li Ye's doubts.

Seeing this, Li Ye, biting on his water bottle, shrugged and sighed to the heavens.

"Ah!" Li Ye suddenly had an idea and, with a smile, raised his index finger. "Miss Nito, I have a plan!"

Half an hour later.

Li Ye gazed with satisfaction at the ghosts scattered across the desert, reveling in his own astonishing intellect.

Since the two of them searching was inefficient, they just needed to call for backup. Fortunately, Nitocris could summon a large group of undead.

"This is disrespect towards a Pharaoh!"

Nitocris, her hands still busy, couldn't help but glare at Li Ye.

Despite her words, Nitocris paid heed to Ozymandias's command. Using the ghosts to conduct a carpet search of the desert, Li Ye and Nitocris continued to advance.

Until night officially fell.

Li Ye and Nitocris had still found nothing.

Until—

"As an alchemy institution, the Atlas Institute naturally has countermeasures against comprehensive searches. This method is unlikely to be effective."

"It's common sense, my friend."

A faint voice drifted from the sandstorm.

Servant?!

Sensing the magical energy fluctuations within the sandstorm, Li Ye instantly spun around, his sword half-drawn!

Soon, Li Ye could clearly see who was within the sandstorm.

Wearing a British-style trench coat, with tall, refined features, what impressed Li Ye the most were his eyes, which seemed to possess an all-knowing wisdom.

"Who are you?" Li Ye rapidly analyzed the newcomer's identity.

Servants, being individuals who left their mark on history, were all renowned heroes.

Seeing the person's well-dressed appearance and that intriguing aura, Li Ye quickly thought of that famous Heroic Spirit.

"Charlotte Holmes—"

"It seems this gentleman knows me. A pleasure to meet you, I am Charlotte Holmes.

And this must be the Servant Nitocris. May I ask how this gentleman would like to be addressed?"

Holmes said with a smile.

Seeing Holmes speak Nitocris's true name directly, Li Ye wasn't surprised. Instead, his own demeanor made Li Ye wary.

The reason was simple: compared to Li Ye, who considered himself intellectually brilliant, Holmes was genuinely smart.

Dealing with such an intelligent person, Li Ye worried he might inadvertently reveal all his information.

Li Ye was currently carrying a great treasure—the Holy Grail was on his person.

And Holmes was exceptionally skilled at observing his surroundings, a world-class detective capable of grasping the whole picture from mere fragments of information, a genius figure known to almost everyone.

He likely noticed the Holy Grail the moment he laid eyes on it—

"My surname is Li, my given name is Ye. I'm a foreigner."

Facing Holmes, Li Ye decided to employ his strongest defensive strategy.

Direct hit.

"Mr. Li Ye, since you're heading to the Atlas Institute, why don't we travel together?"

Holmes said with a smile, holding his pipe.

So he noticed the Holy Grail and came here. And he's already analyzing my origins? Holmes is truly terrifying—

Li Ye's expression remained unchanged as he marveled inwardly.

Even from Li Ye's own perspective, there was too much information that could be gleaned from the name "Li Ye." Although Li Ye could converse seamlessly thanks to his superb foreign language skills, his appearance and name both pointed to a particular country.

A colossal power, entirely different from the mysterious ancient lands of the West, even on the side of mystery.

With Holmes's intellect, even if Li Ye hadn't stated his name, he would have already narrowed down the general direction.

"It would be my honor. How did Mr. Holmes appear in the Sun King's domain?"

Facing Holmes's invitation, Li Ye had no reason to refuse.

It would be incredibly difficult for Li Ye and Nitocris to find the Atlas Institute on their own; it was unclear how many days it would take to reach it.

But with Holmes, it was different. The addition of the "greatest mind" was a tremendous boost for Li Ye and the others.

"Holmes? Another foreign Servant!"

Nitocris, retracting her phantoms that had spread across the desert, looked at Holmes in confusion.

She had never heard this name and assumed he was an ordinary Servant.

Holmes raised an eyebrow, immediately realizing that Nitocris, as a Servant, had not been granted knowledge upon her summoning. He deduced that the summoner was most likely the Sun King Ozymandias, as only the Sun King could summon in a way that bypassed the knowledge-granting process.

"Mr. Li Ye is quite familiar with Servants. Just as you suspected, I am a Masterless Servant who was autonomously summoned by the ley lines a few days ago. I happened to encounter Mr. Li Ye and your party searching for the Atlas Institute, so I thought I'd accompany you."

Holmes answered Li Ye's question and also addressed the question Li Ye had been thinking about.

"Then, Mr. Holmes, how do we find the Atlas Institute? Miss Nitocris and I spent half a day searching without any luck in finding this otherworld."

Confirming that Holmes was temporarily an ally, Li Ye didn't hold back and asked directly.

Li Ye needed to reach the Atlas Institute before Holmes discovered his identity as a Knight of the Round Table!

He couldn't be sure about other things, but he was certain that Holmes was on the same side as the soon-to-arrive Chaldea. Therefore, from a standpoint of allegiance, Li Ye, as a Knight of the Lion King, had a high probability of being in opposition to Holmes and his group.

This was, of course, assuming that Holmes was already aware of the Lion King's existence at this point.

Not long after.

Holmes led Li Ye and Nitocris to the top of a sand dune.

"The location should be around here. Mr. Li Ye, I'll leave it to you."

Holmes, who had been leading the way, stepped aside, giving Li Ye space.

Suddenly finding himself a tool, Li Ye pointed at the desert before them. After confirming the direction, he decisively threw a punch!

BOOM!!

The blow, infused with magic power, pierced the ground. The yellow sand trembled and then collapsed inward like quicksand!

A deep, dark opening appeared before Li Ye and the others.

Thanks to the 100 Qidian coins gifted by the esteemed reader 20180131094855771 (lol, I'll keep working hard).