The Security Officers froze for a moment, then nodded one after another. "We understand, we understand. Captain, you go on ahead."
The one who had been guarding the door added, "Adler's little lover is only seventeen this year. She's gorgeous, and she lives at the end of the left corridor on the second floor."
Ryan: "?"
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Nothing. It'll make it easier for you to investigate and gather evidence, Captain!"
Something seemed off, but Ryan could not be bothered to think too much about it.
He entered the large villa.
A woman and a child were sitting in the first-floor living room. The woman looked to be around twenty-five and was Adler's wife, while the child was only about five.
When she saw Ryan enter, the woman pulled the child tightly into her arms, her face full of anxiety.
Ryan swept his gaze around before walking up to her and asking in a low voice, "Do you know who I am?"
The woman answered uneasily, "Y-you're Captain Ryan."
"How did you know me?"
"I saw you in the newspaper."
Good. She did not know him personally.
The odds were low, but what if Adler had said something he should not have in his sleep?
"Where is Adler's bedroom?"
"Second floor, in the middle."
"What about his study?"
"It's connected to the bedroom."
The woman answered everything she knew.
It seemed she truly knew nothing about Adler's affairs.
That made sense. Noblewomen had to obey their husbands completely as well. With Adler's status and power, all she needed to do was enjoy her life in peace every day. Even if Adler kept mistresses in the house, it was none of her business.
Ryan went upstairs. The rooms on both sides were probably the mistresses' rooms. He pushed open the door on the far left and saw a girl around five foot three, dressed in Lolita fashion, sitting at a desk with a book in her hands.
Because they had been confined, they could only pass the time every day.
Seeing Ryan, the girl nervously curled in on herself.
"Don't be afraid. I'm a good person."
"..."
"Do you know me?"
The girl shook her head.
Long golden hair, rosy cheeks, and at least an eight out of ten in looks. Damn Adler. That old bull was still grazing on tender grass every day.
Ryan walked around the room. There was nothing worth inspecting. The wardrobe was full of clothes, and all of them were rather strange.
The mistress in the room on the far right was much bolder. She actually tried to use her body to bargain with Ryan for her release, but Ryan decisively refused.
"Make another pig squeal and I'll lock you up."
Leaving those words behind, Ryan went to Adler's bedroom.
There was nothing else worth paying attention to.
"Strange. He hid nothing? It's this clean?"
Adler's room was completely open at a glance: a bed, wardrobes, chairs, and a study connected on the other side that was packed with books. For the moment, there was nothing suspicious.
"Could there be a hidden room?"
Ryan checked the area once and found nothing. He could only return to the first floor and inspect the other rooms, but he soon found something wrong in one of them.
A Supernatural Being's senses were far stronger than an ordinary person's.
"This room is much shallower."
The room Ryan was currently in corresponded to the space beneath Adler's study.
By normal architectural design, rooms directly above and below each other were generally the same size. But this room's width was clearly off.
He walked to the inner wall and knocked on it. It sounded hollow. He then returned to the second-floor study and estimated by feel that the missing width downstairs was almost exactly the width of a bookshelf.
And a bookshelf stood right against the inner wall of the study.
Ryan walked over and tried to push the bookshelf, but it would not budge. After becoming a Supernatural Being, he was much stronger than before. Even if he could not lift the bookshelf, he should at least have been able to shove it a little.
"A mechanism..."
Where was it?
Maybe one of the books.
Ryan searched for a while but, sure enough, found nothing. Those TV plots where you spotted it with one glance really were lies.
He returned to the first-floor room again, then pulled the Cross Sword from within his body. In its small-sword form, he stabbed it into the wall, slashed and folded the cut, then carved out a rectangular block.
This sword was terrifyingly sharp.
Ryan pushed the cut-out section of wall inward.
Crash—
The inside was hollow, just as expected.
Ryan kicked through the adjacent wall with two or three kicks, opening a hole large enough for a person. He soon saw a staircase sloping downward. It crossed not one floor, but two. The stairs turned midway and were very narrow, but the width of a bookshelf was not enough to conceal them. Only then did Ryan realize there was something wrong with the wall behind the room as well.
He followed the stairs down and finally found Adler's hidden room.
The hidden room was about the same size as the study and had a similar layout: a desk, a telephone, several small boxes. Ryan found over ten thousand Soul Jade inside. There were also two relics: a short blade and a silver handgun.
Demon-Breaking Blade Quality: Tier 2 · Fine Effect 1: Constitution +3, Mana +5 Effect 2: Demon-Breaking. The mana circulation efficiency of struck targets is reduced. Equipment Requirements: Spirit 17, Mana 20 ... Silver Wings Quality: Tier 1 · Fine Effect 1: Constitution +2, Mana +2 Effect 2: Guaranteed Hit. Has a 20% chance to definitely hit the target. Equipment Requirements: Constitution 10, Mana 12 ...
"Good stuff."
Although neither weapon was high-tier, their effects were quite impressive.
Combined with Mana Seal Domain, the Demon-Breaking Blade's effect would make spellcasters cry.
As for Silver Wings, Ryan had obtained it in the game before. It was excellent early-career equipment for the Marksman class.
Most Marksman classes in Empress Online did not use bows. They used firearms instead, such as pistols, rifles, and even sniper rifles. However, these weapons required mana, and firearms made with Imperial technology were still far from that level.
Ryan kept Silver Wings for himself. As for the Demon-Breaking Blade, he would give it to Lin Qi. The Blade of Erosion was already falling behind the times.
"These two things are useless to Adler, so I'm the one benefiting."
Was that not why confiscating estates was the most profitable job?
"The things on this shelf are all good stuff."
Ryan looked toward the shelf behind the desk. Several potion bottles sat on it. He had not paid them much attention earlier, but now that he glanced over them, he spotted Mana Potions among them.
Just as he was about to appraise them carefully, the mirror against the wall suddenly rippled.
"Hm?"
"What is that?"
Ryan froze, then carefully walked up to the mirror.
He had thought it was just an ordinary full-length mirror, but it seemed that was not the case...
As he thought about it, a white-haired loli appeared in the mirror.
"Adler, I have something to tell you... Hm? Who are you? Where's Adler?" Magana's delicate brows furrowed, then suddenly relaxed. "Oh, it's you, Ryan. Nice to meet you."
Ryan: "???"
The air suddenly fell silent.
5k. I'm working hard on writing; there'll be another update today!
Before you continue