In Gwen’s house, Carn returned alone, waiting for Gwen and Wong to resolve the lottery situation. Despite the growing tension, Carn opted not to inform Wong about his father’s predicament. He deemed it unnecessary to burden them with additional stress, especially given their current circumstances.
Gwen and Wong hadn’t slept a wink the previous night, having celebrated their unexpected windfall with unrestrained enthusiasm. By the time they finally got out of bed, the clock had already crept past noon. By 2 PM, everyone except the living statues gathered in the living room for another meeting.
Dressed in formal attire, Gwen held up the lottery ticket. She had already signed her name on it to solidify her claim, but her expression betrayed her excitement. She sighed and addressed the group, particularly Carn, as she explained the daunting process ahead.
"Wong and I did some research last night. It looks like it’ll take about six weeks for the money to be processed and transferred. I’ll also need to hire a lawyer and visit the company’s main office to claim the prize. And there might be interviews and other annoying formalities."
Gwen sounded tired. It seemed that she was already exhausted from the thought of tackling these challenges without any assistance. Looking at her, Carn couldn’t help but pity her loneliness.
Still, she had to work for that cash. He encouraged her.
"60 millions…"
At the mention of money, Gwen’s passion was ignited. Her back straightened, and she clenched her fist.
"I’m going to call a lawyer!"
"Yeah, take it easy. The money doesn’t go away. We have 90 days to claim it." Wong laughed at Gwen. "Don’t panic. Take a deep breath. Let’s call a law firm together. Put your phone on speaker.
Gwen agreed. The women then continued their conversation in the kitchen. Wong stood by Gwen’s side when she dialed a law firm to seek help regarding the lottery ticket and the process.
However, Carn’s expression turned dark. He knew that their time was running out. Even if Gwen successfully submitted her claim, the payout would likely be delayed due to the chaos caused by the undead invasion.
Because of the urgency, Carn, Gawain, and Rosa had another meeting in the safe house villa as they planned their next moves.
.
Outside the villa, a chaotic scene unfolded as military police cars and ECD vehicles lined the street. Investigators, hunters, and agents swarmed the area, examining the aftermath of Rosa’s destructive rampage.
They removed the CCTV server’s hard drives to analyze the security footage and attempted to piece together the sequence of events. Nearby, others loaded the stone statues of Rosa’s victims onto carts and forklifts, preparing to transport them to a secure facility for further inspection and potential restoration.
The operation extended beyond the villa, as agents and detectives visited the neighbors. They knocked on doors, questioning residents in hopes of acquiring new leads or any useful information.
At the empty villa across the street, a small group of five agents gathered. They, too, planned to interview with the house owner or the residents.
"Hello? Anyone home?" A middle-aged man in a dark suit called out.
One of his colleagues, a younger agent equipped with thermal goggles, scanned the house’s interior through the windows. He frowned and turned to his superior.
"No signs of life. The place is empty, just a blank house."
The team leader, a grizzled captain with a stern demeanor, asked his subordinates. "Are the doors and windows locked?"
"Yeah, locked tight."
"Good. Pry it open and take a look inside."
The younger agent hesitated, "Sir, the property has anti-theft sensors. If we break in, the alarms will go off."
"Who cares? Trip the sensors and report it as a false alarm later. We’ve got bigger concerns."
Several agents exchanged uneasy glances. The order was a blatant violation of legal protocols, but the captain’s commanding tone made it clear that objections would be futile. It wasn’t the first time they had been asked to bend the rules, and they knew it wouldn’t be the last.
One agent, an augmented human with cybernetic enhancements, stepped forward. Without hesitation, he approached the front window and grasped the frame with his reinforced metal hands. With a sharp tug, he snapped the lock mechanism, then pushed the window open, triggering the house’s alarm system.
The loud, piercing wail of the alarm shattered the relative calm of the morning, echoing through the neighborhood. A few of the agents winced but remained focused.
"Move in," the captain gestured.
All five agents climbed through the window, landing softly on the polished wooden floor of the villa. Each immediately drew out compact tools and devices, scanning for any evidence that might shed light on the bizarre events tied to Rosa’s rampage.
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The agents combed the interior, shining infrared and ultraviolet flashlights across walls, floors, and ceilings. Despite their thoroughness, they found no footprints, no stains, no hint of human habitation.
One agent opened a door leading to the basement. Expecting to encounter a cloud of dust and stale air, he instinctively held his breath and covered his nose. To his surprise, the air in the basement was fresh and slightly humid, reminiscent of a greenhouse. The unusual atmosphere sent a chill down his spine, though he couldn’t explain why.
The anomaly didn’t go unnoticed. The captain, a seasoned investigator with an eye for details, knelt on the floor and ran his fingers along the surface. Holding up his fingertips, he scrutinized the lack of dust or grime.
"This house is too clean. How long has it been empty? Did anyone ask the neighbors?"
One of the younger agents stepped forward, holding a small notebook. "The retired veteran next door mentioned that a former officer lived here, but he passed away last year. The property was transferred back to the government, and no one’s moved in since."
The captain’s eyes narrowed. "He died last year? Then who the hell has been cleaning this place? His kids?"
"The dead veteran has no kids, sir."
The room fell silent as the clues sank in. The agents exchanged uneasy glances, realizing they might have stumbled upon a new lead. Without wasting time, they began dusting for fingerprints around the windows, doorframes, and floors. The captain also called for a forensic team to bolster their efforts.
Within minutes, a team of a dozen forensic specialists arrived, bringing advanced equipment to the scene. They unlocked the villa’s front door, bypassing the earlier forced entry, and efficiently began their sweep. The original group of investigators stood back, watching as the specialists worked with precision and speed.
The forensic team soon uncovered multiple fingerprints on the curtains, on the third-floor windowsill, and on a faucet in the first-floor washroom. Upon further inspection, they pinpointed that the toilet had been recently used as traces of urine were present.
The discovery prompted the captain to climb to the third floor to inspect the scene himself.
Standing by the window, his sharp eyes traced a direct line of sight to Oiler’s mansion across the street. The positioning was perfect for surveillance or observation.
"Bingo. The culprit was watching everything from here. They used this place as their hideout."
The agents around him were relieved that their illegal break-in yielded a result. With this, they wouldn’t get a citation from the office.
.
Meanwhile, Rosa and Gawain lay hidden underground beneath the villa, utilizing their teleportation abilities to evade detection. Every footstep above them caused a faint tremor, enough to inform them about the movements and number of people in the building.
Gawain sighed and initiated telepathic communication with Rosa.
"You really messed up this time, little priestess."
Rosa retorted, "No, I didn’t mess up! It was Master’s fault! He shouldn’t have used his human form in the first place!"
"Don’t insult our Master just because he made a mistake or two. It’s our job to cover his weaknesses and oversights. If we missed his mistakes, it’s on us for not catching them."
Rosa pouted, clearly displeased but unwilling to argue further. Deep down, she knew Gawain was right. Reflecting on the situation, she realized her biggest blunder had been leaving behind the CCTV footage. It wouldn’t take the government long to piece everything together and implicate her in the events at the ECD facility. Worse, they would soon realize she wasn’t buried beneath the rubble as they likely assumed.
Determined to fix her mistakes, Rosa proposed a bold solution. "Should we just go up and slaughter everyone?"
Gawain immediately shut down the idea. "We’ll lose our home base if we do that. Plus, you risk losing your holy power if you start randomly killing innocent people."
Rosa groaned in frustration. "How troublesome."
"Yeah. It’s annoying to rely on this power, isn’t it?"
"Annoying indeed. If only Master had built us a new dungeon…"
Gawain’s thoughts aligned with Rosa’s. Both fell silent as the thought of a dungeon crystallized in their minds. Within a dungeon’s boundaries, they could freely eliminate intruders without worrying about holy power restrictions or morals. Killing intruders was, after all, a justifiable defense.
"Say, how many silver marks do you think we would need to create a dungeon core?"
Rosa puffed out her chest proudly, eager to share her knowledge. "About 10,000 marks for a basic upgradeable dungeon core."
"And how many marks does our lord have right now?"
"…Probably 5,000 or 6,000?"
"If we pool our Aether together, could we make up the difference?"
"…"
Despite the layers of soil separating them, Gawain and Rosa exchanged a telepathic look of inspiration. Both grinned widely.
"Let’s go visit our Master."
"Agreed!"
Without further hesitation, Rosa and Gawain teleported out of their hiding spot, reappearing a kilometer away from the villa’s crowd of investigators. Dirt and worms clung to their rocky skin as they materialized unceremoniously in Gwen’s living room.
Carn, lounging on the couch and munching on potato chips while messaging Han, glanced up at their sudden arrival. An earthworm wriggled out from the dirt on Rosa and fell straight into his bowl of chips, twisting and curling as if greeting him.
Carn stared at the worm, then at his subordinates, then looked back at the worm, then glared at his subordinates again. Holding up the bowl, he pushed it toward Rosa’s face.
"Want some? Fresh earthworm. Lots of protein and Aether."
"…"