Chapter 334 : Substitution

New Continent, inside a warehouse by the sea.

Using a hastily drawn marionette mark made of blood, Dorothy controls the man who had been knocked out by Kapak, making him stand up. She examines the label on the cloth covering the cargo, and her main body, sitting by the fireplace, nods in understanding.

“New Jacques? If I remember correctly, that’s one of Pritt’s colonial cities on the east coast of the New Continent. So, this must be the port of New Jacques Harbor?”

Thinking this, Dorothy controls the man’s body to walk to the warehouse window and look outside. Through the man’s vision, Dorothy sees a quiet dock illuminated by scattered night lights. In the distance, she can make out the silhouettes of several ships anchored in the harbor. A few uniformed security guards patrol the docks in the darkness, and in some areas, workers are still busy moving cargo late into the night.

“It really is a harbor... If I recall correctly, New Jacques Harbor is one of the largest ports in Pritt’s New Continent colonies. Are those guys planning to ship Kapak and this batch of Silence-imbued cargo out of here?”

Dorothy, sitting by the fireplace, ponders this. She then shifts the man’s gaze away from the harbor and begins to carefully inspect his body. She notices that the marionette she’s controlling is wearing a dock security guard’s uniform, and it’s slightly different from the uniforms worn by the other guards she saw outside.

“Looks like this guy is a security guard. But since he specifically came to check on Kapak and had the key to the wooden crate outside Kapak’s cage, it’s clear he’s connected to the society that attacked Kapak and the wild spirits.”

Dorothy looks at the security guard uniform on the marionette and thinks this to herself. She then has the marionette search his own body. Soon, he pulls out a series of items: a pistol, a knife, some sigils, a bone artifact, an ID, a set of keys, and two iron coins...

There are two types of sigils, both imbued with Silence spirituality. One type Dorothy recognizes—it’s a Sealing Sigil, used to suppress and seal a spirit within an object. Dorothy had seen this before on the assassin Jim during the train ride to Tivian. The other type of sigil Dorothy doesn’t recognize. Since she can’t make the marionette use active skills, she can’t use Appraisal to identify it.

Additionally, the bone artifact clearly bears traces of Silence. Having encountered a Bonesmith before, Dorothy knows that this artifact has a spirit attached to it. It’s likely a spirit the security guard carries for combat, but it was never released before he was knocked out. As for the two iron coins, they are clearly Silence spiritual storage items.

Finally, there’s the ID. Dorothy examines the security guard’s ID and finds that his name is Tom. Not only is he a security guard, but he’s also a security captain responsible for the night shift security of this section of warehouses in New Jacques Harbor.

“Tom... Hmph, with so many mystical items on him, this security captain is clearly a Beyonder, at least a Silence Apprentice. That society probably recruited him to ensure the safety of their cargo.”

“After all, if they want to transport such a large amount of cargo across the ocean, they’ll need to use a major port. Using a mundane port means their mystical materials will be mixed with ordinary cargo, so they naturally need some security measures in place.”

After examining the items on the security captain, Dorothy thinks to herself. Having studied the geography of this world extensively at the Royal Crown University Library, she knows that Dankt is located in the Principality of Bretto on the main continent. Shipping from New Jacques to Dankt requires crossing the ocean, and the distance is considerable.

Just as Dorothy is using Tom’s body to look around, Kapak, still trapped in his cage, finally can’t sit still any longer. He lowers his voice and calls out to the figure standing nearby.

“Hey, you... are you... Detective?”

“Oh... Kapak, I almost forgot about you. Hold on, let me see if I can get you out.”

Hearing Kapak’s voice, Dorothy, controlling Tom, responds. She then has Tom walk over to Kapak’s cage, crouch down, and try the keys she found on Tom’s body. After a few attempts, she successfully unlocks the cage and frees Kapak. Once free, Kapak immediately crawls out of the cage, takes a few deep breaths, and stretches his limbs.

“Phew... Thank you, Detective. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know what I would’ve done today!”

Kapak gratefully says to Dorothy, who is controlling Tom. Having experienced being controlled himself, Kapak knows that the person controlling Tom is clearly Detective. Dorothy has Tom nod in response.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

“Well, if you want to thank someone, thank Aka and Scholar. I’m just fulfilling a request, guided by a higher power.”

Using Tom’s voice, Dorothy responds to Kapak. Hearing this, Kapak closes his eyes and begins to sincerely thank Aka in prayer. After listening to Kapak’s gratitude in her mind, Dorothy speaks again.

“You’re free now. What’s your plan?”

“I need to return to my tribe immediately! I’ll report Banu, that bastard, to Uta, and make his tribe see his true colors. I also need to have Uta check on Black Hoof right away!”

Kapak urgently says to Dorothy. Hearing him mention the wild spirit Black Hoof, Dorothy raises an eyebrow and has Tom glance at the large stack of crates nearby, which are emitting faint traces of Silence spirituality.

“What do you feel about the spirituality coming from these crates?”

Dorothy has Tom point to the stack of crates. Kapak is momentarily stunned, then quickly walks over to the crates. After carefully inspecting them, his brow furrows.

“This feeling... it’s the essence of spirits! It’s Black Hoof’s essence! These spirits are trapped inside!”

Using his heightened sensitivity as a Spirit Medium, Kapak quickly realizes what’s inside the crates. He recognizes that the crates contain nothing other than the essence of spirits, something he’s intimately familiar with.

“So, it’s all spirit essence inside... Hmph, it seems their goal is quite clear.”

Looking at the stack of crates, Dorothy, sitting by the fireplace, coldly remarks. She then has Tom speak to Kapak.

“I think... the wild spirit Black Hoof you’re looking for, along with the spirits around it, might all be sealed inside these crates.”

“What? You mean Black Hoof and the other spirits have been sealed inside these crates by those invaders?”

Hearing Dorothy’s words, Kapak is shocked. He then looks at the stack of crates and asks.

“Why would those invaders do this?”

“Hmph... Probably for spirituality. You might not know this, but among the various Beyonder organizations on the main continent, there are quite a few who will stop at nothing to accumulate spirituality for their advancement.”

Dorothy has Tom say with a sneer. So far, Dorothy has encountered quite a few rogue Beyonder organizations. The biggest difference between these rogue organizations and official Beyonder organizations is that the former have no moral constraints when it comes to accumulating spirituality. They do whatever is most efficient, no matter how unethical. For example, the Afterbirth Cult uses blood sacrifices to consume people, so it’s no surprise to Dorothy that a Silence society would directly consume souls.

In fact, because Dorothy has been working on the holy symbols recently, she’s been periodically consulting Beverly and Adèle for information on various societies. The Nether Coffin Order is one of the key focuses. From the basic information Dorothy gathered from Beverly, the Nether Coffin Order wields significant influence among Silence societies. They use a method called Soul Refining to extract spirituality directly from souls. Therefore, Dorothy has reason to believe that these spirit essences were captured for refining.

“Spirituality... Are the Beyonders among those invaders targeting our wild spirits for their spirituality? Damn it... Then before I leave, I must free Black Hoof and the other spirits!”

Hearing that Black Hoof and the other spirits might be trapped inside these crates, Kapak becomes anxious and immediately steps forward to open the crates. Dorothy doesn’t stop him but instead has Tom silently watch from the side.

The shipment is scheduled to be loaded onto the ship at 6 AM on the 5th. Dorothy calculates the time difference and realizes that it’s currently around 1 AM on the 5th on the east coast of the New Continent. In other words, in a few hours, this cargo will be loaded onto the ship and sent to Dankt. If they want to free the spirits inside, they must act now.

Under Dorothy’s watchful gaze, Kapak uses the remaining effects of Devouring Sigil to forcibly pry open a long wooden crate. Inside, he finds a mainland-style black wooden coffin engraved with runes. Seeing this coffin, Dorothy frowns.

From the information Dorothy has gathered, the Nether Coffin Order is named as such because they extensively use coffin-shaped mystical items. Among these, the most prominent are the Soul-Binding Coffins, which are used to imprison souls. Seeing this coffin, Dorothy strongly suspects that the society behind this is likely the Nether Coffin Order.

“Well, well... I’ve been researching them, and now I’ve run into them on the New Continent…”

Dorothy thinks to herself, while Kapak continues his efforts to forcibly open the coffin. However, as he pulls the coffin lid open slightly, something unexpected happens.

As the coffin lid is pried open, several engraved runes on the coffin light up, and a pale female ghost emerges from the lid. With a knife stuck in her neck, she coldly glances at Kapak and Tom before opening her mouth as if to let out a piercing scream. Her spirit begins to float upward.

Seeing this, Kapak is frozen in shock. Fortunately, Dorothy acts quickly. She controls Tom’s body, consumes a spirituality storage item, and uses a Sealing Sigil to slap the ghost on the forehead before she can fully emerge. The ghost, her scream cut short, is forced back into the coffin lid, and the sigil in Tom’s hand burns to ash.

“Hide! Now!”

After suppressing the ghost, Dorothy has Tom shout at Kapak. Kapak hesitates for a moment but quickly obeys, hiding behind a pile of cargo. Dorothy then has Tom close the crate containing the coffin and waits silently. After a while, when nothing happens, she breathes a sigh of relief.

“Phew... Come out. It seems we weren’t noticed.”

Tom calls out to Kapak, who emerges from his hiding spot and nervously glances at the crate before speaking to Tom.

“Detective, that ghost just now...”

“It’s probably some kind of alarm system. That ghost was sealed in the coffin lid. If the coffin is forcibly opened, the ghost is released to scream and attract anyone with spiritual sensitivity. Those guys went to some lengths to prevent theft.”

Dorothy has Tom explain to Kapak. If she hadn’t reacted quickly and acted in time, the ghost would have flown out and alerted the other society members nearby.

There are undoubtedly other society members hidden around the port besides Tom. However, since Tom has the identity of a security captain, he can move around freely. The others, if they aren’t official port staff, can’t move around the port so easily at night. This is a Pritt colonial government port, and if these society members don’t want to attract the attention of the official Beyonder organizations, they can’t act openly. However, they definitely have hidden forces stationed nearby for emergencies.

Clearly, the Silence society has gone to great lengths to ensure the safety of their cargo while it waits to be loaded onto the ship. Not only did they recruit a Beyonder as a security captain, but they also set up ghost alarms on the coffin lids. It seems that each of the forty-plus crates containing spirit essences has a ghost alarm. Now, it’s clear that the other sigils on Tom’s body, which Dorothy couldn’t identify earlier, are likely used to notify other society members.

Since this cargo is being transported via mundane shipping channels, the society members can’t guard it around the clock. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t have security measures in place. If Dorothy had been slower to act, the ghost might have flown off to alert its controller, who wouldn’t be far away.

“Using imprisoned spirits as alarms? These guys have such methods?”

Hearing Tom’s words, Kapak frowns and looks at the stack of crates before speaking.

“With so many crates... do they all have those alarm systems? Detective, if that’s the case, we can’t just release the spirits and Black Hoof, can we? In that case, I should return to my tribe and have Uta contact the shamans of other tribes to deal with those invaders!”

“No... There’s no time for you to go back. In a few hours, this cargo will be loaded onto the ship and sent to the main continent.”

“Loaded onto the ship? That...”

Kapak stammers with worry, scratching his head in frustration as he tries to think of a solution. Tom also looks seriously at the stack of crates. If they try to open the coffins now, they have no way to deal with the alarm ghosts. Tom only had one Sealing Sigil, and it’s already been used. If they open another coffin now, they won’t have any means to handle the alarm ghosts.

Kapak is only an Apprentice Spirit Medium. He can communicate with ordinary wandering spirits, but he has no way to deal with ghosts controlled by Black Earth or even White Ash-rank Silence Beyonders. And with only a marionette here, Dorothy is equally limited.

If they can’t handle the alarm ghosts, they can’t open the coffins to release the spirits. And in a few hours, the cargo will be loaded onto the ship and sent to Dankt, leaving no opportunity to act. The security on the ship will only be tighter.

“This is troublesome. If we release the spirits now, we’ll definitely attract the Nether Coffin Order members. But if we don’t, the cargo will be shipped away in a few hours. While Kapak has been rescued, it’s a bit frustrating to just hand over this batch of spirits to the Nether Coffin Order, a known cult…”

Dorothy thinks to herself. Currently, her only combat power on the New Continent is this one marionette, so she’s unwilling to engage in direct conflict with the Nether Coffin Order. And with time running out, there’s no chance to call for reinforcements.

“Ugh... this is tricky. We can’t open the coffins to release the spirits, we can’t call for reinforcements, and we only have a few hours... How can we prevent these spirits from falling into the hands of the Nether Coffin Order? We can’t just openly carry out forty-plus crates from the warehouse... That would definitely attract attention... Hmm, moving crates?”

Suddenly, Dorothy, sitting by the fireplace, has an idea. She begins to control Tom to carefully inspect the other cargo stacks in the warehouse.

The port warehouse is large, filled with numerous stacks of cargo, all sorted and packed. From Dorothy’s observations, she notices that the cargo is categorized based on the ships they’ll be loaded onto, and each ship is headed to a different country and port.

Realizing this, Dorothy has a plan. She has Tom carefully search the warehouse, checking the labels on each stack of cargo. Kapak watches in confusion.

Finally, Dorothy finds a stack of cargo not far from the spirit crates. After reading the label, her eyes light up.

“Cargo—Tobacco, 45 crates. Origin—New Jacques Harbor. Destination—Tivian. Loading time—December 5th, 4 AM Loading ship—Endeavor. Number...”

Looking at the label on this stack of cargo, Dorothy then examines the crates themselves. The rectangular wooden crates are almost identical in size and number to the Nether Coffin Order’s crates, and they’re stacked to a similar height.

“This is it...”

Looking at the stack of cargo, Dorothy, sitting by the fireplace, smiles. She then has Tom quickly walk over to Kapak, who is still looking troubled, and pats him on the shoulder.

“Hey, kid, we’ve got work to do.”

“Work?”

Hearing Dorothy’s words, Kapak looks at Tom in confusion. Tom then points with his thumb at the stack of tobacco crates destined for Tivian and says.

“Right now, the two of us are going to move crates. We’re going to swap this stack with that stack over there. Remember to be quiet and not make any noise.”