The night sky is dotted with stars, and moonlight spills down from the heavens, casting dappled shadows through the treetops.
The underling looked at the photo in Damu's hand and hurriedly reached out to snatch it, but the latter grabbed him by the neck and pressed him to the ground.
"Don't hurt them..." The leader's face flushed red, his pupils filled with anger, fear, but mostly pleading.
"Of course I can fulfill your request. In return, shouldn't you also fulfill some of my requests?" Damu's lips curled into a slight smile.
This guy had taken interrogation classes specifically and did exceptionally well, which was part of the reason Lancelot brought him along.
Upon hearing Damu's words, the small-time leader's face stiffened, and he nodded blankly.
"That's right. Don't worry, as long as you cooperate obediently, your wife and daughters will not only be safe, but you'll also receive a large sum of money, enough for them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives."
Damu knew that constant pressure could backfire. When the other person was pushed to their limit, suddenly relaxing the pressure and offering temptations would actually make them more cooperative, and some might even feel grateful, somewhat like Stockholm syndrome.
To put it simply, "a slap followed by a sweet treat" is a timeless method of managing people.
As expected, upon hearing Damu's promise, a ripple appeared in the previously listless eyes of the petty boss. He opened his mouth and uttered a hoarse voice, "What do you want to know?"
"Manor defenses, the frequency of your patrol rotations..."
After Damu finished asking his questions, the foreman began to recount what he knew.
After explaining everything, the leader gave a bitter laugh and said, "After I die, I hope you'll keep your word."
This guy isn't actually stupid; he knows he's not going to survive.
Damu nodded slightly, flicked his wrist, and the dagger sliced across the leader's neck, spurting out a stream of bright red blood.
After sprinkling some special powder on the minor leader, Damu removed the field.
Strangely, even after the field was removed, the leader's corpse remained difficult to spot with the naked eye.
"Academy products are bound to be top-notch, but they're too expensive. We need to use them sparingly," Damu muttered, carefully putting away the bottle containing the special powder.
"Captain, we've got everything sorted out. This guy isn't high-ranking; he only knows about the defenses of the outer areas of the manor. To figure out what's inside, we need to go deeper."
"Okay, to avoid being discovered during the shift change, you disguise yourself as this guy and deal with him for a while. I'll sneak in alone to complete the follow-up reconnaissance," Lancelot ordered.
There's a set system for changing shifts at sentries. If two people sneak in at the same time, the other will quickly discover that the junior leader is in trouble, which will definitely cause a huge commotion.
"Yes!" Damu nodded, then reached out and pulled out a human skin mask, rubbed it a few times, and it transformed into the face of the minor leader.
Seeing this, Lancelot nodded, the color of the Molecular Aggregation Insect changed, and he disappeared without a trace, as if he had become invisible.
While Lancelot led his reconnaissance team into action, teams from the other three academies were also gathering intelligence in various other directions around the manor.
Gosdo alone, transforming into a shadowy figure as he traversed the darkness. His Curse Realm Ability Energy were incredibly versatile, making him a true all-rounder.
They moved silently through the dense forest, and the passing patrols did not notice Gosdo at all.
Soon, Gosdo found a suitable target.
Hidden in a large, leafy tree is a sentry.
Gosdo remained calm and did not rush into action. He first used a spell to condense an object resembling an eyeball, scanned the surroundings, and only after confirming that everything was safe did he decisively make his move.
Tadpole-shaped runes wriggled beneath his feet, Gosdo's figure seemed to merge into the ground, slowly sinking into the shadows.
Immediately afterwards, the shadow began to move, quickly approaching the sentry post. In the darkness, it was almost impossible to spot this shadow.
The shadow climbed up the tree trunk like ripples on water, making no sound, until it reached the sentry's side.
Suddenly, two hands reached out and pulled the sentry into the shadows.
The latter was like a wild beast that had fallen into a quagmire, struggling and shouting desperately, but to no avail; the surroundings were deathly silent.
A few minutes later, the sentry returned to his post, looking exactly the same as before. But upon closer inspection, one would notice that his pupils had turned completely black, with complex incantations faintly visible within.
But Gosdo had already gotten the information he wanted.
"The manor's security perimeter is divided into eight zones, with the defenses becoming increasingly tighter towards the interior. Each zone has its own command center, containing detailed deployment documents and a wealth of classified intelligence. If I can infiltrate it..." After a moment's thought, Gosdo didn't hesitate much and, following the information he had obtained from the sentries, stealthily made his way towards the central command post of this zone.
Ten minutes later, after dodging layers of tight security nets, Gosdo arrived in front of a tall stone building.
Looking at the well-trained guards around him, Gosdo did not make any rash moves. His intuition told him that if he tried to sneak in as a shadow as before, he would definitely be discovered.
"Let's see if we can find a weak point," Gosdo thought to himself, and began circling the house, carefully observing the patrol's movements.
He quickly discovered a vulnerability.
"As expected of someone who came from humble beginnings, without systematic training, it's no wonder they're full of flaws." Gosdo sneered, showing considerable disdain for the Chosen Ones organization.
Following the loophole, Gosdo slipped into the command post like water flowing into every crevice, and soon found a native fast asleep in a lavish room.
This native had bluish-purple skin, was about three meters tall, and was a Mid-Rank Transcendent Individual.
After sneaking into the room, Gosdo did not make a move immediately. Instead, he used a spell seal to form a hemispherical shield before suddenly launching his attack.
The natives were easily subdued.
Facing Gosdo, this guy showed none of the imposing presence one would expect from someone three meters tall; his body trembled like a leaf, and he was filled with trepidation.
"Confess if you don't want to die," Gosdo hissed.
The natives were surprisingly docile, showing no signs of being ready to die, a far cry from the tough-as-nails sentries they had encountered before.
After the man finished speaking, Gosdo gave him a disdainful look, then snapped his neck with a crack.
"The Demonic Puppet Curse Seal can still control two people. This is my last chance." Gosdo murmured, extending his index finger. A complex black curse seal entered the body of the native named Duoman.
A moment later, the already dead Duoman suddenly sat up, his eyes completely black.