Chapter 155: Omen

"So, what are your plans?" Hugh could tell that while the woman was startled by the news, she did not panic. He just wondered where she derived her confidence.

"The primary targets of this attack are the Ring Tower of Light and the Silver Rose. You needn't worry about the Ring Tower of Light; we need you to coordinate with our people inside the Silver Rose. Can you do that?"

"Yes. In a few days, I'll be staying permanently at the Silver Rose, and I expect it will be very difficult for me to come out again. When you make your move, remember to contact me!" Hugh agreed casually. It was just coordination, and if he was careful, the Silver Rose wouldn't even notice him.

"Hmm, do you know the exact location of that mutated plant?" The woman wanted to prepare immediately, striving to take down the two most powerful wizard organizations within the Holy Circle City at once.

"I'm not clear on that. In fact, quite a few people within the Silver Rose have never even heard of this plant. I only just found out about it myself!"

"However, I suspect it's most likely underground!" This was Hugh's speculation.

"That's just as well. Let's see who wins and who loses!" the woman said indifferently. They also possessed a mutated plant, originally intended to deal with the wizards inside the Holy Circle City, but now it seemed they would have a new opponent.

"Have you already made your deployments within the Holy Circle City?" Hugh asked curiously. During these past few days, the Holy Circle City had thoroughly investigated every single corner. If the Black Cross, to which the woman belonged, had truly already completed their preparations, the guards of the Holy Circle City would be utterly disgraced.

"Haven't you already seen it?" A strange smile suddenly curved the corners of the woman's mouth.

"I've seen it?" Hugh recalled his experiences over the past few days, feeling there was nothing unusual at all!

"Didn't you visit Jelin's villa?" The informants planted by the woman in the Holy Circle City knew everything.

"You've been spying on me?!" Hugh's tone instantly turned frosty, but given the circumstances, there was nothing he could do to her.

"Don't be angry. To tell you the truth, the newly cultivated plant that Jelin asked you to tend to is actually a Soul-Easting Tree. We originally intended to use it to massacre the people of the Holy Circle City, but now it seems we can only use it to deal with that mutated plant inside the Silver Rose!" The woman's gaze, however, lingered on Mavis.

"The reincarnation ritual is quite perfect!" The woman directly exposed Mavis's true identity.

"Ah? What reincarnation ritual?" Mavis still wanted to play dumb.

"Enough. I have the profiles of most people in the Holy Circle City. Should I call you Ma Fan, or..." The woman clearly wasn't buying it.

"Call... just call me Mavis!" Mavis offered a sheepish smile. She suddenly remembered that when she had previously helped Hugh capture wraiths, this woman had seen her soul form.

"Hmm, but this reincarnation ritual of yours is quite interesting. After this matter is over, we can have a good chat. What do you think?" The woman could sense that Mavis and Ma Fan's body had fused together quite perfectly. If she hadn't had prior knowledge of Ma Fan, she probably wouldn't have recognized her either.

Yet, being able to achieve such a flawless integration of soul and vessel in so short a time clearly indicated that the reincarnation ritual Mavis used was extraordinary. The woman had lived long enough, but that didn't mean she wasn't afraid of death. Most reincarnation rituals circulating on the market had flaws, but seeing such a perfect reincarnation ritual on Mavis made her feel that she, too, ought to change into a new skin.

"Ahem, a Soul-Easting Tree? You mean Jelin is one of you?" Hugh felt the waters around him ran far too deep.

"Of course. Like me, he has always lived in the Holy Circle City, responsible for gathering and transmitting intelligence, though he was reassigned a couple of days ago." The woman made no attempt to conceal it, directly revealing Jelin's identity.

"In that case, did you intend to use that Soul-Easting Tree to carry out a massacre in the Holy Circle City?" Hugh knew the origin of the Soul-Easting Tree; it specialized in absorbing various souls to grow stronger, and could even bear a peculiar fruit rumored to enhance spiritual power.

"Indeed. But now it seems we'll just let that Soul-Easting Tree grow strong within the Silver Rose first!"

"Oh? I have matters to attend to. Your intelligence this time has been very useful to me. If there are any developments at the Silver Rose, contact me at any time!"

As if suddenly receiving some notification, the woman hurried through a few final instructions and then bolted out of the shop.

"What are we going to do?" Mavis had remained silent throughout the conversation, but she had roughly grasped the situation. However, how to proceed still depended on Hugh's opinion.

"What else can we do? Once the two sides start fighting, I'll contact you. I'll rendezvous with the Black Cross outside, and you will take the guiding talisman to loot the Silver Rose's treasury. Be as quick as possible, grab everything, and we run!" Hugh had no desire to linger any longer in the Holy Circle City.

"Okay, okay!" Mavis looked at Hugh with glowing eyes. This was the sort of thing she loved most; she wasn't cut out for fighting and killing, but when it came to looting, she was an absolute professional.

Yet Mavis quickly calmed down and asked with some concern, "Will we be able to leave the Holy Circle City safely?"

Mavis knew that taking advantage of the chaos to make a quick profit wasn't difficult, but how to escape afterwards was the real issue.

"Don't worry about that. There is a secret passage inside the Silver Rose leading outside the city. The map I gave her didn't mark it down!" Hugh had originally worried about this as well, but after fully mastering the layout of the Silver Rose, he had deliberately omitted the information about the secret passage on the floor plan he handed to the woman.

"Wow!" Mavis felt she had chosen the absolute right master; everything he did aligned with her tastes.

"So, whether we strike it rich this time depends entirely on you!" Hugh looked at Mavis with eyes full of anticipation.

"Rest assured, I'll only take the most expensive things!" Feeling Hugh's gaze, Mavis turned serious and made a solemn pledge.

"Wait for my notice!" Hugh smiled at Mavis's demeanor and then left the shop.

"Things are getting more and more interesting! No, I need to brew some aura-concealing potions so it'll be easier to move around!" Eager to pull off a massive score, Mavis immediately began active preparations, determined to clean out the Silver Rose completely.

"It seems I don't really have any belongings at all!" Upon returning to the villa, Hugh prepared to pack up his things, knowing he likely wouldn't return before leaving the Holy Circle City.

A careful inspection revealed that the items he had left in the villa were sparse indeed. Aside from a few sets of robes and some refining vessels, there was practically nothing else.

"I might just be the wizard least inclined towards luxury!" Hugh stored his belongings into his spatial storage and stood up, ready to head to the Silver Rose.

Preparing early was for the best; should any unexpected developments occur at the Silver Rose, he would be the first to know, which would work to his advantage.

Within the waters of the Domain of Lost, sea monsters that previously lacked any reason were now neatly aligned in rows. The three-eyed merman standing at the very front was still communicating with Samuel in the distance.

By now, all the surrounding waters of the Lost Domain were completely surrounded by sea monsters. Subordinates personally nurtured by Samuel led a horde of marine beasts stationed in the neighboring waters.

The orders they had received were simple: create chaos, the bigger the launch, the better, and execute a surprise raid on the entire Domain of Lost.

Meanwhile, Samuel and the Deep Sea Demon Whale were each lurking in two shallow sea areas closest to the Holy Circle City.

Samuel had hidden himself extremely well during this period; the personnel sent by the Holy Circle City had only discovered the Deep Sea Demon Whale and had yet to find him.

He had already reached an agreement with the Deep Sea Demon Whale: once the time came, the two of them would join forces to unleash a tsunami, allowing the army of sea monsters to storm directly into the Holy Circle City.

Samuel had also gained some understanding of the Holy Circle City's defensive spell array, and breaching it was merely a matter of time.

All of this was thanks to a masked man. Previously, just as Samuel was carrying out his deployment step by step, a masked man had suddenly sought him out.

Samuel had initially thought he was an agent sent by the Holy Circle City and was about to strike him down, when he sensed an extremely familiar aura emanating from the stranger.

Samuel was certain he had encountered this aura before, yet for the life of him, he couldn't remember where.

The masked man hadn't said anything to Samuel; he merely hovered above the sea surface riding a magical beast, tossed a roll of parchment to Samuel, and left.