Dungeon Mist Zone.
Alice and Karen stopped behind a relatively dry mushroom rock at the edge of the mist zone.
Karen frowned, trying to pierce the milky-white wall of fog with his gaze. He lowered his voice, his tone thick with confusion.
"Sir, this damned place is all fog and venomous bugs. It's perfect for those thieves who know how to sneak around."
"What was Yano thinking? Hiding in here isn't that the same as walking into a trap?"
"Should we follow them in?"
Alice's gaze was calm as water, as though it could see through the dense fog.
"Karen, since he dared use himself as bait to hook the 'Rusty Keys,' he must have other plans. Beneath that reckless façade, there may be calculations we haven't seen through yet."
"As for following them in, there's no need. This is a thief's home ground. Moriarty may be hiding in some corner. We only need to wait here and close the net."
"Understood, sir."
Karen took a deep breath of mold-scented fog and nodded. He gripped the longsword at his waist tighter, sighing faintly to himself.
Yano, you brat... hiding in a hellhole like this, you'd better pray for your own luck.
Within the dense fog.
Scarface and Jimmy had already been stealthily making their way through the mist for some time.
"Jimmy, do... do you feel like this fog... is thicker than before? It's practically a wall."
"It really is. Be careful. Yano might have other tricks up his sleeve."
Jimmy licked his dry lips, his vigilance growing stronger.
The two moved through the fungal forest, enormous pale mushroom trees looming like silent giants, casting twisted, grotesque shadows through the thick fog.
The silence around them was terrifying. Only their heavy breathing and the squelch of their feet through mud