Chapter 23

Chapter 23: The Plan Begins

"I think there’s no time left, Master." Lani shook her head. "According to my sister, the grand bishop of Joyful Church will arrive here at midnight and will not delay until the morning light."

"In that case…" Leo looked at the brass wall clock. "We have less than eight natural hours at most."

With such a short time, it is indeed impossible to enjoy ourselves and prepare to deal with the warden.

After all, merging with Miss Mucus is not the same as ordinary enjoyment.

To absorb the energy in her body, Miss Mucus needs to reach her peak, and this process takes more than one natural hour each time.

Also, the same Mucus incarnation can only reach this peak once a day at most.

To get three attribute points, you need three natural hours…

There’s no time.

"So, we need to think of another way," Leo said, resting his chin in thought, playing with the dagger on the table. "By the way, does your sister’s Desire Temptation attack everyone equally, or can she choose her targets?"

This dagger is a treasure of the warden, made from moonstone that can hinder the flow of spiritual energy. It might have unexpected effects.

"Well, it’s an indiscriminate attack spell, but it only works once. This means that when she uses Desire Temptation, it charms all targets within 400 meters, but any targets that come within that distance afterwards will not be affected. If the charmed target leaves the 400-meter range, the charm will also fail…"

"So, it’s a one-time instant control. In that case… I already know how to deal with her. The Ashley Order Sect’s power, Mucus’s Perceived Suffocation, my Enchanting Eye, and…" After listening to Lani’s explanation, a slow smile spread across Leo’s face. "I noticed on my way here that there is gunpowder in the sect, right?"

"Yes, that gunpowder is what was left over from when the altar was dug out. Why does the master want it?" Lani asked in confusion.

"Nothing special, just want to set off some fireworks," Leo replied with a light laugh, not answering directly.

He simply poured tea into the teacup in front of him, placing the cup upside down.

White mist rises.

……

Two natural hours later.

Outside the Joyful Church altar, in the forest at the very top of the forbidden area, there is a pile of gunpowder.

More than twenty believers are carefully setting up the detonation switch.

A flag with the joyful church emblem stands beside everyone, it is an extraordinary item belonging to the Joyful Church.

Its function is to block and affect perceptions and communications within a one-kilometer radius, and if necessary, it can also restrain enemies.

"Warden" Lani is leaning against a large tree, with her arms crossed.

Leo sits on a rock beside her, quietly watching the believers work.

A few minutes later, a female believer walked over, first glancing at Leo, then looking at Lani, "Warden, everything is completely ready, but will the scoundrels from the Order Sect really raid us tonight?"

"Are you questioning me?" Lani shot her a cold glance.

"I wouldn’t dare." The female believer quickly knelt down, her face showing fear.

"Hmph." Lani then let out a soft scoff, "Don’t worry, the information has been confirmed. The witches from the Order Sect have allied with Cass and are now hiding in this forbidden forest."

"Ha, these guys plan to rush out from the forbidden forest tonight to catch us off guard, not realizing that we have already set a trap here, waiting for them to bite."

"I will wait in the forbidden area. You all get ready, and after a natural amount of time, regardless of whether I return or not, just detonate the explosives!"

The female believer listened to Lani’s words and nodded but still looked at Leo with some worry, "Sister Lani, he gave us the information. Can we really trust him? If our secrets here are leaked and we get ambushed…"

After all, she had been with the warden for a long time and was very cautious in everything she did.

"Don’t worry, I have already controlled him." Lani chuckled lightly, "Soon, I will take him to meet his comrades as a hostage, making those guys think twice before acting."

"Since that’s the case, I can relax now," the female believer nodded and smiled.

……

Half an hour later.

Lani took Leo and walked through the secret passage towards the Underground Forbidden Area.

In the dim tunnel, the only visible light was the flame from Lani’s candle.

This secret passage, built nearly thirty years ago, did not have tiles or flooring; debris and gravel were scattered around, making a clattering sound as they walked.

Lani’s feet had turned to mucus, wrapping around Leo as she moved.

[Perceived Suffocation:

[Rating: Unknown

When Mucus wraps around a target, the target’s presence will disappear completely, making it impossible to be detected.

[This ability can be used while in disguise.]

With this ability, Leo can easily enter the forbidden area without being noticed by the real warden.

He could only catch a glimpse of her from a distance, activate the True Vision Eye, and then decide which plan to carry out next.

"Master…" Lani moved closer to Leo, her eyes filled with worry. "Will this really fool my sister? Why not… why not just escape with you now? After all, my current identity is also a warden."

"Where would we run to?" Leo said with a bitter smile. "You harmed her sister; do you think she will let you go? When the grand bishop arrives here, do you really think you can outpace the grand bishop and the judge while carrying me, a burden?"

"…" Lani sighed and murmured, "The master is not a burden…"

"…"

"Alright, don’t worry. Just trust me." Leo reassured her a couple of times and continued to take deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart.

Although the plan to deal with the warden was already set, Leo still felt nervous about putting it into action.

After all, just a few days ago, he was an innocent and harmless homebody.

Now, he had to think of a way to defeat a bad woman who was much stronger than he was.

Yes, telling the Joyful Believers that enemies of the Order Sect are hidden in the Forbidden Forest is also part of the plan.

Leo prepared two plans.

Later, after scanning the warden with True Vision Eye, if her Spiritual Vision score is below 14, then it won’t need to be so complicated.

Miss Mucus will approach the warden using Lani’s identity, and then Leo will use Enchanting Eye to distract that bad woman, while Miss Mucus takes the chance to transform into Ashley and use Order Sect’s magic to bind her and devour her.

A very simple plan.

But to be honest, the chance of the warden’s Spiritual Vision being below 14 is extremely low.

So, that’s why there was a second plan.

"We’ve arrived, Master…" Lani whispered, "My sister is inside."

As they spoke, the two had already reached the edge of the forbidden area.

The narrow passage suddenly opened up, revealing a huge underground space before Leo’s eyes.

This Underground Forbidden Area of the Joyful Church was built similarly to the Sacrifice Square.

The same curved moon-shaped platform, the same stone tablet with the DNA spiral pattern, except the grass next to the altar was replaced with stone.

Warden Reni was now lying flat in the center of the altar, receiving energy from a purple magic circle to heal her injuries.

"Okay." Leo nodded, looking at Reni, and activated True Vision Eye, "Ah, she is definitely not an ordinary mid-level believer, Lani, we must execute the second plan."