Chapter 2961: Chapter 2962: The Real Anomaly
In the middle of the kitchen is a large sink, with a vent in the center resembling a chimney, and beside it, the table where the chef prepares the ingredients. This table connects to an unknown black hole outside, from which clean, wrinkly pigs emerge one by one.
The chef stands before the portal, holding a greasy chopper in hand, each stroke precisely slicing the pig heads.
The pig heads fall into the black sludge on the ground, slowly dissolving as if the sludge were a swamp, absorbing everything.
Although the puppet chefâs hands never stop moving, its head is turned to the other side.
Judging by its position, it seems to be conversing with the maid whose head is poked into the main hall.
There are many cabinets and arrangements in the kitchen, but all are covered in grease and some dark reddish blood stains.
To Angel, this kitchen is nothing short of bizarre.
Firstly, having the kitchen next to the main hall is strange enough, but whatâs even stranger is the completely different scene seen through just a drapery.
The main hall, though somewhat gaudy, could at least be called splendid and grand by those unfamiliar, whereas the neighboring kitchen is dirtier and scarier than a grease-covered sewer.
What was the Earl of Black Tea thinking, putting such a different-styled house together?
Absurd, contradictory, and full of oddityâis this the Earl of Black Teaâs idea, or is it the norm of Teapot Country?
While Angel observes and critiques the kitchen, Rabbit Cha Cha leans toward Angelâs ear and whispers, "Weâre lucky, the tea servants are asleep, and the chef is distracted. We can sneak into the storeroom."
Angel hesitated: "Tea servants?"
He only saw the chef, not any tea servants.
Rabbit Cha Cha whispered, "In the air."
This time Angel almost extended his head out of the shadow, only to see two teapots faintly floating on trays in the air. They hover above the sink, moving regularly up and down like breathing.
"This is the shape of tea servants when they sleep. Now they are teapot-shaped, but when they wake up, they turn into puppets with teapot heads." Rabbit Cha Cha finished speaking, signaling Angel to rush.
Angel also realized it wasnât the time for chatter, following Rabbit Cha Cha like a thief, tiptoeing quietly under the cabinets.
As they move, they inevitably stick to the shadows, stopping immediately at any outside movement, cautiously hiding in the dark.
In this way, it took about three minutes for them to successfully move from under the cabinet on the far left to the main door of the storeroomâs outer hall.
The whole process was essentially smooth, with only a small episode occurring in the middle.
One pigâs head cut by the chef failed to fall into the black sludge smoothly but instead landed just below the sink.
Coincidentally, this pigâs head was facing Angel and Rabbit Cha Cha.
This pig head seemed not completely dead yet, its eyes still blinking. Angel even saw his and Cha Chaâs reflection in the pigâs dark pupils.
At that moment, Angelâs heart skipped a beat in fright.
Just as Angel thought they were discovered, the chef chatted with the maid outside without turning his head and kicked the pig head into the black sludge with one foot.
Slowly, the sludge engulfed the pig head.
Not until the pig head disappeared did Angelâs tense mood finally settle down.
It seems they havenât been discovered yet. But that pig head clearly saw him and Cha Cha; will this leave any repercussions?
Angel felt uneasy inside, but he couldnât ask Cha Cha right then and instead followed quietly.
Only when they entered the storeroomâs outer hall and confirmed no one was inside did Angel voice his doubts.
"You mean the pig head?" Rabbit Cha Cha paused, then whispered, "Donât worry, they are all livestock. Even if discovered, it doesnât matter..."
At this point in Rabbit Cha Chaâs words, a hint of gloom flashed in his eyes.
"Livestock?" Rabbit Cha Chaâs explanation only made Angel even more confused.
Thatâs clearly a pig, why label it as "livestock"?
Faced with Angelâs confusion, Rabbit Cha Cha remained silent for a moment and said, "Because they were transformed using the Livestock Creation Technique."
Livestock Creation Technique?
With Rabbit Cha Chaâs explanation, Angel gradually understood what the Livestock Creation Technique meant.
Itâs an extraordinary skill that turns life forms into meat-producing livestock. Most of those subjected to this technique are criminals from Teapot Country. Teapot Countryâs criminals mostly belong to humanoids, and after being transformed into edible livestock, they are referred to as livestock.
"Edible livestock... Are you saying they turn people from Teapot Country into food?"
Rabbit Cha Cha nodded, whispering, "This Livestock Creation Technique is very popular among Teapot Countryâs nobility. They may claim itâs to punish criminals, but I see it as merely satisfying their wicked culinary fetishes. They seem to be eating pork... but the taste is entirely different from real pork."
Angel previously thought this Livestock Creation Technique was somewhat reminiscent of the Northern Territory Wizard Worldâs dark gourmet arts, but after hearing Rabbit Cha Chaâs words, he couldnât help shaking his head.
This even goes a step beyond dark gourmets, who offer their kind to demons. Whereas here, the upper-class nobility consumes their kind as food.
It truly is... a surreal country.
Rabbit Cha Cha: "Letâs not talk about this anymore. No need to worry about being exposed; that livestock has been dealt with."
Angel: "The sludge on the ground?"
Rabbit Cha Cha nodded, "Those are meat-eating fungi, poisonous."
Pausing for a moment, Rabbit Cha Cha turned around and walked ahead: "The storeroomâs outer hall holds miscellaneous items, while more valuable items are in the inner hall. If the Earl of Black Tea placed the half-length mirror in the storeroom, itâs definitely in the inner hall. We need to climb the wall and be quick."
Rabbit Cha Cha naturally mentioned their next target, but Angel vaguely sensed something was amiss. Watching Rabbit Cha Chaâs back, Angel remembered the previous moment where Rabbit Cha Chaâs eyes flashed with gloom while mentioning livestock.
Rabbit Cha Cha didnât want to discuss further and even actively changed the subject; is it because of this?
Angel doesnât know what Rabbit Cha Cha is thinking, but he feels that though this world is surreal, every creature here is remarkably real.
Just like, they genuinely existed.
"Alchemy Omen... what kind of operational mechanism is it exactly?" Angel murmured softly, with eyes filled with doubt and confusion, finally sighing long and deciding not to ponder further.
...
Rabbit Cha Cha was right; the storeroomâs outer hall didnât hold a half-length mirror, only clutter. There are spare teapots, dirty blankets, and various non-food household items, all mostly old and worn.
"Some of the items placed in the outer hall will be cleaned, while some will be discarded. Truly good, brand-new things are placed in the inner hall." Rabbit Cha Cha: "Look, right there."
Cha Cha the Rabbit pointed to an iron door deep within.
The door was locked at the moment. But directly above it were vent holes, just the right size for them to squeeze through.
Climbing the door was impossible, but the nearby wall could be scaled.
After a few minutes, they successfully climbed up the wall to an appropriate height and started inching toward the door.
As they were about to reach the door, Cha Cha the Rabbit leapt onto the doorâs latch, and Angel followed. If it had been before, Angel would have struggled to jump like this, but with Cha Cha as "wings," it was much easier.
They climbed from the door latch and soon reached the vent holes.
Through the vent holes, Angel could already see the storage roomâs interior.
As Cha Cha the Rabbit had mentioned, it was indeed filled with good stuff, mostly daily necessities and uniquely shaped teapots.
At a glance, there was no sign of a half-length mirror.
However, many cabinets blocked the view in several places, so Angel couldnât see the complete situation.
"As it stands, it seems like thereâs no half-length mirror you need. Do you want to go in and check?" Cha Cha the Rabbit turned to ask.
Angel nodded: "Letâs go in and take a look."
To be cautious, Angel planned to enter the inner hall to confirm further.
About ten minutes later, the storage room door opened; the patrolling maid returned from outside, she began sorting the items inside the storage room.
When the patrolling maid wasnât looking, Angel and Cha Cha the Rabbit quietly crawled out from a teapot and quickly slipped out through the open inner hall door.
The whole process was thrilling but safe.
They returned to the outer hall of the storage room, the only regret being that Angel did not find the half-length mirror during the ten-minute search.
This meant that after the Earl of Black Tea returned, he did not place the half-length mirror in the storage room.
Though Angel was somewhat disappointed, at least one location was ruled out; only two places remained: the study or the treasure vault.
The treasure vault was heavily guarded, located underground, making it difficult to escape. If the mirror was really in the treasure vault, a more detailed infiltration plan was needed.
Therefore, Angel chose the study as the next location.
The study was upstairs, and the staircase was located on the left side of the main hall, meaning they would have to navigate through the kitchen and main hall to reach the staircase.
Even though they had experience from earlier, Angel still remained vigilant upon returning to the kitchen.
The kitchen situation had slightly changed; the tea butler was still asleep, but the chef was not chatting anymore, mixing a toxic sauce instead while continuing to chop a pigâs head.
In general, sneaking away was still quite easy.
This time, Angel and Cha Cha the Rabbit took only two minutes to reach the main hall again.
The changes in the main hall were significant; the two maids had recoiled their serpent-like heads. The maid who had been chatting with the chef was now at the door, tidying the dust on the floor to avoid the Earlâs anger upon return; the other maid who had been eating cockroaches was absentmindedly wiping a porcelain jar.
The changes in the main hall were substantial, but it was overall less challenging than before.
With the maid at the door facing away from them and the cockroach-eating maid not looking at the ground, there was much more space for them to hide, no need to take aerial routes.
They relied on the same method as in the kitchen, moving continuously into the shadows of furniture and blind spots in the maidsâ field of vision.
In this way, they smoothly reached the left side of the main hall.
Through thick curtains, they entered the corridor leading toward the central courtyard pond. However, they didnât proceed toward the pond but headed for the staircase.
Since puppet maids werenât good at climbing stairs and other servants wouldnât go upstairs at this time, they boldly chose to climb the stairs.
Even without servant interference, climbing the stairs wasnât easy.
Primarily because they were too small.
From the first floor to the second, there were two sets of stairs, each with twelve steps, making a total of twenty-four steps. Each staircase was hard for Angel to climb. Luckily, the staircases were carpeted, so though exhausting, at least they didnât slip.
When they reached the last step of the second staircase, Cha Cha the Rabbit suddenly signaled Angel to stop.
In fact, Angel stopped climbing even without Cha Chaâs prompting, because he heard a creaking sound coming from the second-floor corridor.
Without a doubt, it was the patrolling maid on the second floor.
The patrolling maid wouldnât descend but would occasionally patrol back and forth on the second floor.
Angel and Cha Cha held their breath, waiting; once the patrolling maid completed her patrol and moved away, they could ascend to the second floor.
The staircase in the main building was built at the end; as the patrolling maid passed by, she casually glanced below but saw nothing, then proceeded to return.
Once the maidâs footsteps began to fade away, Angel and Cha Cha immediately rushed up to the second floor.
Then they hurried toward the staircase leading to the third floor.
Thus, evading the patrolling maid while climbing the staircase for a quarter of an hour, they finally reached the fourth floor where the study was located.
...
The Earl of Black Teaâs study was not far from the fourth-floor stairway.
According to Cha Cha the Rabbit, they would just need to avoid the patrolling maid to reach the study directly. And there was no need to worry about getting in because there was an entry hole for the tea butler on the door of the study.
The tea butler could silently glide through the entry hole to enter the study and place snacks and tea.
They could likewise enter the study using the tea butlerâs entry hole.
Along the way, Cha Cha proudly boasted about her previous escapades into the Earlâs study, having stolen a hat from it, currently hidden inside the Rabbit Hole.
However, for some reason, the more confident Cha Cha seemed, the stronger Angelâs foreboding grew.
Soon, the foreboding proved to be accurate.
As they cautiously peeked out to assess the studyâs situation, Angel and Cha Cha were both stunned.
A fully armed puppet guard stood like a log, immobile at the study door.