Hide-and-Seek? The Veil of the "Unknown"

Imina's examination of the body was very thorough.

This caused it to take longer, but thankfully it was late at night, and the guards of the Dark Elf tribe wouldn't come to check the wooden hut where the bodies were stored.

Tang Zheng stood with his back turned, his eyes filled with thought.

The answer was already obvious to him!

The timing of the Elf King's release from confinement coincides with the time of the Dark Elf Plum's death.

"As expected of Sky City."

"An unusually high level of caution, actually sending people directly to the Great Sea of Trees to gather information on the Elf King... Is it to further confirm his identity?"

Tang Zheng was slightly alarmed, but at the same time, he realized something important. "This at least shows that Sky City attaches a certain amount of importance to the Elf King."

"Only..."

"That 'imposter,' after leaving the Elf Kingdom... did he return to the Dolor Desert? Or did he have other purposes?"

This is what Tang Zheng is most concerned about right now.

And this is the answer!

We need to use the corpse of this Dark Elf to make further confirmation!

After the "Impersonator" finished gathering intelligence on the Elf King, he returned to the Dolor Desert. So, what was the point of deliberately leaving behind a corpse?

We cannot be arbitrary!

If that's the other person's personality, then his excessive speculation seems ridiculous.

so.

Imina's test results are important.

"... This is."

Imina suddenly noticed something and spoke in a low voice in surprise, followed by a rustling sound:

"A wound?"

Tang Zheng's gaze was sharp as needles. "What did you discover?"

"I'm not quite sure, could you... could you come and take a look?" Imina's slightly hesitant voice rang out.

Tang Zheng turned around and looked at the corpse of the Dark Elf Plum, only to see that the abdomen of the corpse was exposed to the air.

Imina gently pressed her fingers against her frozen, hardened navel. "There's a tiny wound here."

"It's not visible under normal observation, especially inside the navel. Only by applying pressure can the wound become visible."

Imina paused here, then organized her thoughts to be more concise, raising a finger:

"It was probably a long, sharp weapon that pierced the Dark Elf's body through the navel."

"Only?"

"Why go through all this trouble when there are simpler ways to kill someone?"

Imina's eyebrows shot up; she was somewhat puzzled.

Is it troublesome?

A knowing glint appeared in Tang Zheng's eyes. "The only explanation is that it's to cover up some kind of behavior."

"Cover it up?" Imina.

"This Dark Elf's abdomen is flat, and there's no pain on his face, so it must have been done after death. Perhaps some of his internal organs are missing." Tang Zheng's voice had become calm.

Imina's eyes widened, a mixture of disbelief and confusion in her gaze. "How did you know...?"

"I never expected that such a trap would be deliberately left behind."

Tang Zheng sighed softly, and in response to Imina's question, he said:

"Whether it's Healing Magic or Resurrection Magic, the recipient's body will return to its initial state after the spell ends."

"For example, cutting a piece of flesh off a monster."

"With Healing Magic, wounds will heal, and the severed flesh will disappear; there is no such thing as 'infinite regeneration.'"

"The same applies to Resurrection Magic."

At first.

Tang Zheng killed Khajit of [Zurrernorn], but deliberately left his arm intact, thus discovering that Khajit had been resurrected.

The current situation!

It's nothing more than a replication. Obviously, this method wasn't Tang Zheng's original creation. At least the people of "Sky City" had already utilized this rule of New World.

That's amazing!

Imina looked at Tang Zheng with a hint of admiration.

At this moment, she realized why she had suggested checking first when using "Resurrection Magic".

This man had this in mind from the very beginning!

Why do you think the enemy would do this?

Tang Zheng had already formed some ideas. He turned his head and smiled at Imina.

"Yes."

"Why do we have to do this?" Imina frowned, muttering to herself in thought.

"The fact that the unknown enemy deliberately resorted to such methods is enough to show that they have already taken into account the possibility of ' Resurrection Magic '."

"That means even if the Dark Elf are resurrected, we probably won't get any useful information... yet they still do it."

"You want to know—whether our Elf possess Resurrection Magic?"

Imina looked up, her eyes filled with even more confusion than before.

"It just doesn't feel meaningful..."

Until this moment.

Imina unconsciously pursed her lips, feeling as if her heart was being gripped by an invisible force, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

An unknown enemy is terrifying.

An enemy whose motives she couldn't even fathom filled her with a strange fear, as if she were shrouded in an invisible darkness.

She suddenly realized.

Why was Tang Zheng so serious before? This was completely different from their previous experiences in the Kingdom and the empire!

"No."

"The enemy doesn't want to know whether the Elf possess Resurrection Magic."

Tang Zheng shook his head. "The Elf living in the Great Sea of Trees are natural-born Scout. Even those Elf with magical talent are mostly proficient in Druid-type magic."

"Don't forget, the other side has already gathered all their intelligence here. They already know whether the Elf possess ' Resurrection Magic '."

"Hehe."

Tang Zheng chuckled softly, his voice carrying a special emotion, like a hunter who had discovered his prey:

"That's what they want to be sure of!"

"Is this war between the Great Sea of Trees Elf and the Slane Theocracy possibly a hoax?"

"The enemy hasn't left—their next target is the Slane Theocracy!"

A sharp glint flashed in Tang Zheng's eyes.

Imina opened her mouth, her eyes filled with even more intense adoration.

"Hide and seek?"

Tang Zheng smiled and said, "When I was a kid, I loved playing hide-and-seek. As long as you knew which area I was hiding in, that was enough."

The unknown enemy is terrifying.

But once that veil of "unknown" is lifted...

"Let's have a competition then."

A cold, razor-sharp glint flashed in Tang Zheng's eyes:

"Will you be the one to get the information you want and leave, or will I find you before you do?"

As far as he knows.

There is a monster called "Doppelgänger" that can read the surface thoughts of the person you are talking to and the people around you, extract information about the transformed character, and perform it.

The transformation process involves a special ability belonging to the mental manipulation system.

but.

For characters like God-kin Captain and Zesshi Zetsumei, the information that the Doppelgänger can read is extremely limited.

The entire Theocracy.

Only four people knew some of the information about Tang Zheng.

Besides the two Godkin, only the "Four Elements" and Clementine remain.

As long as these two people stay in a safe area, Tang Zheng doesn't need to worry about his intelligence being leaked.

In addition!

The transformation of the Doppelgänger is through imitation and performance.

The mental manipulation techniques possessed by this monster only read surface-level thoughts, not actual memories.

Simply put, no matter how similar it looks, a fake is still a fake!

"... Well, we can't immediately conclude it's Doppelgänger; there might be other monsters that can transform or mimic."

Tang Zheng's figure flickered and disappeared into the Elf tree.

--at the same time.

Council State.

The Kingdom's delegation, led by Princess Renner, has finally come to an end after more than a month of travel to other countries.

at present.

Princess Renner and her entourage have left the Central City of the Council State, "Metoria," and are resting in a city near the border.

(End of this chapter)