Clues to a Hidden Class and an Ambush

"Damn, isn't this Cassola Prison? How the hell did they send me here?"

Hidden Profession Clues and Interception

Cassola Prison was quite a famous location in Empress Online because it hid an incredibly powerful Hidden Profession.

However, unlocking that profession required clearing Berman City's storyline and defeating the final boss.

This place was where the Blood Cult kept its sacrifices. Only after killing Bill and unlocking the quest to purge the Blood Cult remnants would players come to Cassola Prison according to the quest.

In reality, Cassola Prison had once been used by Berman City to hold prisoners of war. Berman City had originally stood on the Empire's border, where warfare raged year-round. Later, as the Empire expanded its territory, Berman City was reclassified as an inland city, and Cassola gradually lost its purpose.

After more than a century, this place had long since been abandoned. Even few Berman City locals knew it existed.

With the new character's Spawn Point here, Ryan felt both delighted and speechless.

If he could obtain clues to the Hidden Profession, this character's value would soar.

But she was currently locked in a prison cell and couldn't go anywhere.

'Shari' stood up and walked around the cell, making sure no idiot had forgotten to lock it.

"Little girl, it's useless. We can't get out."

The person leaning against the wooden bars next door spoke in a low voice.

'Shari' shifted her gaze and found that he was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. His eyes were lifeless, and his face was etched with exhaustion and hardship.

"Were you captured too?"

"Weren't you? We're all going to die, killed by those damned Heretics."

"I don't know. I seem to have forgotten why I came here."

"Then you're quite fortunate. Sometimes, forgetting is a kind of happiness. At least you have nothing to worry about."

The middle-aged man muttered to himself. Then he suddenly shifted his body, raised his head, and carefully examined 'Shari'.

"You look a lot like my daughter. She was as young as you, with beautiful long hair... Do you remember your name?"

"Shari."

"Shari... Ah, what a lovely name. Poor child."

The middle-aged man looked sorrowful. "Perhaps you still have hope of getting out of here. They treat you differently."

"Am I different?"

"Yes, at least that's how it seems to me," the middle-aged man said. "They've kept you in a cell by yourself, and the food they give you every day is far better than ours. But perhaps that's another kind of misfortune. Who knows? Ah, seeing you truly breaks my heart. Would you be willing to hear about my daughter and me?"

[1: Be a quiet listener.]

[2: I'm too old to listen to other people's happy stories.]

A quest had been triggered?

Ryan's eyelids twitched.

There had been no Cassola Prison storyline in the game at all, so he had no idea what this guy was supposed to be.

There was no downside to it. He might as well listen for a while.

[His name was Edward. He was a university professor with a beautiful and sensible daughter named Ellie. Their family had always been happy and harmonious, until the Heretics set their sights on Edward.]

[Some people in this world lived in misery, while others lived in ignorance. Dying at the hands of the Heretics was the misfortune of the ignorant. Even now, Edward did not know why he had been captured.]

Half an hour later.

"Ah, thank you. I feel much better after saying all that..." Edward let out a breath, then suddenly removed a small ornament hanging around his neck.

"Take this. If you can get out, please tell my daughter Ellie that I went somewhere far away."

[You have obtained Karut's Blade.]

It was a tiny Cross Sword. Its material could not be identified, but it was very sturdy.

"This is an heirloom of my family. My grandfather told me it was a treasure, but after all these years, I still haven't figured out what it does. If you can get out, take it and find Ellie. My daughter will definitely believe you."

After saying that, the middle-aged man closed his eyes and leaned against the wooden bars like an NPC who had completed his task.

"What heirloom? Isn't this just a quest item?"

The middle-aged man couldn't recognize it, but Ryan could.

[Karut's Blade]

[Quality: None]

[Effect: Don't throw it away. It may have an unexpected use.]

"I didn't expect Karut's Blade to be here."

Ryan was delighted.

This thing was the "key" to unlocking the Hidden Profession. However, by the time the Protagonist Group reached Cassola Prison in the game, everyone inside had already died. Karut's Blade had been hidden in a corner of one of the cells.

How could Ryan remember which cell it had been in? If this man hadn't handed the item to 'Shari', he would most likely have missed it.

Still, although he had the "key," Karut's Blade was not the Class-Change Relic. The relic was in another cell.

"I remember it should be in the lowest level of Cassola Prison. This definitely isn't the lowest level. The question is, how do I get out?"

There were no guards, but the cell was locked, and there was nothing around for him to use... Wait, who said there was nothing?

Ryan tossed the coffee spoon in his hand into the Backpack. The next second, it appeared in 'Shari's' hand.

"Dig down? A spoon definitely won't be enough."

Ryan controlled 'Shari' to inspect the cell's structure. There seemed to be a slim chance, provided he could get a bigger, sharper shovel.

'Shari' turned around and looked toward the people in the other cells. Her cell was at the very end, with occupied cells only across from her and to her right, so it was fairly well concealed.

The problem was...

"Am I really starting such a huge project right after making an Alt Account?"

Ryan pondered for a moment, but he wasn't too worried. At worst, he could smash her head into something and come back tomorrow. That was already the worst-case scenario. How much worse could it get?

If all else failed, he could find an excuse to bring the Bureau of Investigation in and kill his way through, or perhaps make use of the Gate of Janus. The prerequisite was finding this place.

Cassola Prison was not a single location but many locations. And because so much time had passed, very few people still knew anything about it.

Whatever. At worst, he'd kill off another Alt Account. There were always more solutions than problems.

As for now...

Ryan left the Coffee Shop, found a place that sold shovels, bought one, and tossed it to 'Shari' so she could slowly dig. The place where he remembered obtaining the Hidden Profession should have been one level below. If she dug through, everyone would be happy. If she couldn't, then he would wait for the operation on this side.

There was no point in having her force her way out alone. The Blood Cult people might have terrible character, but their strength could not be underestimated.

When he returned to the Coffee Shop, Jack had also come back and was sitting in his previous seat, looking around.

"Captain, Captain!" He waved, excitement written all over his face. "Guess what I just found?"

Ryan said, "A female peace officer forgot to close the door while using the bathroom?"

Jack froze, then his face reddened. "How could I possibly know about something like that? Even if I could turn invisible, I wouldn't... Anyway, it's not that. It's Director Norman. I saw him answer a phone call just now. The person on the other end seemed to be from the Hand of Darkness, and they were discussing an attack on the Train Station!"

"My god! I can't believe my ears. He's clearly the director of the Bureau of Investigation, yet he's colluding with Heretics to murder Her Highness the Princess. This world has gone insane!"

For a nineteen-year-old student, such explosive news was indeed shocking.

"Calm down, Jack. This isn't the time to get excited yet," Ryan said. "You can't make everyone believe there's something wrong with the director of the Bureau of Investigation based on a single sentence. You need evidence."

"Ah, right, evidence, evidence... What should we do?"

"Leave this to me. Your task now is to follow him and figure out the Hand of Darkness's plan of action. That way, we can help Director Jonathan."

What happened to Norman didn't matter at all. But since Adler had handed the matter over to him, it meant he would remain in contact with the Hand of Darkness.

"Be careful. If you encounter Transcendents, stay away as much as possible," Ryan warned.

"Don't worry, Captain!"

Watching Jack leave with high spirits, Ryan opened his mouth, but he didn't even have time to give him a few more warnings.

Was this guy getting a little too excited?

That wasn't a good thing. Experience taught people that young men shouldn't be too hot-blooded. Ryan had gotten hot-blooded once yesterday, and the result had been getting 'Lin Qi's' little sister killed.

He left the Coffee Shop. According to his agreement with Adler, it was time to collect evidence of Norman's crimes.

At noon, Ryan successfully obtained the evidence.

After briefly looking through it, he found that Norman's crimes had already reached a horrifying level. This guy had been secretly in contact with members of the Hand of Darkness, using his position to quietly hand certain prisoners over to them.

Some of the people used in the ritual at Black Ding Street No. 228 had been supplied by Norman.

That alone was enough to send Norman to the Roast Field.

Ryan continued flipping through the documents. Among Norman's dozen-odd pages of crimes were, among other things, raising children in captivity, sheltering gangs, murder, forcing women, and more. Compared to all that, bribery was practically a minor offense.

He stored the evidence away. When he returned to the Coffee Shop, he found that Jack had not yet returned.

"Why is he taking so long?"

Logically, there shouldn't have been any Transcendents at the Public Security General Bureau. With Jack's abilities, there shouldn't have been any problems.

After hesitating for a moment, Ryan headed toward the Public Security General Bureau.

At that moment, peace officers were continually coming out of the building and heading toward the Train Station to maintain order in advance.

Ryan showed his identification as Vice Captain of the East District Branch and entered without any trouble.

"I'm looking for Director Norman."

He spoke to the peace officer in charge of reception.

"The director went out on business."

"He went out? Where?"

"I don't know."

If Norman wasn't there, Jack most likely wouldn't have remained inside either. Ryan left the General Bureau in confusion, only to be grabbed by someone the moment he stepped outside.

"Captain! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Jack?"

Without another word, the Transcendent youth pulled Ryan to the side and urged, "Quick, quick, quick! Otherwise Norman will get too far away!"

"Where is he?"

"Over there!"

Ryan followed Jack around the main entrance of the General Bureau to the rear, just in time to see Norman get into a car and drive away.

Cars in this era were not particularly fast, but they were still faster than two people running on their legs. Fortunately, Jack had overheard where he was going. The two ran all the way there, and by the time they arrived, Ryan was nearly dead from exhaustion.

Jack, on the other hand, was completely fine. A Transcendent's physical abilities really were not something ordinary people could contend with.

"This is... the East District?"

More precisely, it was a border area between Central City and the East District. It belonged to an undeveloped Old Residential Area, where vast stretches of abandoned buildings could be seen everywhere.

The two found Norman's car and eventually fixed their attention on an abandoned factory building in the distance.

This had once been a steel processing plant. But due to Central City's expansion, the Noble Lords had been kind-hearted enough to pity the workers toiling day and night in the steel plant, so they forcibly shut the factory down.

In the end, the city government relocated the factory to the outskirts, while this steel plant that had once supported countless families was abandoned. As far as Ryan knew, the land rights had later been acquired by a Noble.

Ryan took out his pocket watch and glanced at it. It was one thirty.

"That guy should be meeting with the Hand of Darkness. I heard it with my own ears. He also brought a map that looked like a layout of the Train Station. He definitely wants to leak the information," Jack said quietly. "What do we do, Captain? Are we pulling off something big?"

"How? Just you and me?"

Ryan asked.

Jack scratched his head. "Then how about I sneak in and check things out?"

Ryan said nothing. He was considering whether it was worth taking the risk. If they fought the Hand of Darkness's Transcendents, he would have to use the Character Card's abilities.

And then, could they win?