Mystic Overlord: Reading Gives Strength-Chapter 477 - 474: The Thief with Many Personalities

Ronald and Cones easily climbed into an unlocked room on the first floor. The pitch-black room faintly revealed a sofa and a low table, looking like an unused space.

"Ron... Ronald, let’s search in this room first!"

Standing in the pitch-dark room, Cones, lacking Ronald’s courage, looked fearfully at the light seeping through the keyhole of the door, his words devoid of any logic, seemingly only trying to stall for time.

Ronald, who had entered the room earlier, had already pressed his ear against the door, carefully listening to the noises in the hallway outside.

Sensing Cones’s voice behind him, he immediately put his finger to his lips, whispering as softly as possible,

"Shhh—"

"There’s movement outside."

Cones instantly abandoned any thought of speaking.

In that moment, the room they were in became so quiet they could not even hear their own breathing.

Maintaining such silence,

Ronald finally made out what the commotion outside was.

Two sets of footsteps, uneven in rhythm, approached from afar, passed the first-floor hallway, and eventually faded into the distance. During this time, snippets of conversation could also be heard.

"You... the master is... we should leave work early tomorrow, right?"

"Who knows..., anyway, our job is much easier than those workers!"

"But it’s rare for the master to entertain guests so late at night."

"I heard that the gentleman brought a book written by a Scotsman, just published this year, seems like it could make a lot of money?"

"Making money from a book... then what about us...?"

"... can’t read, thinking about these things..."

"..."

As the voices distanced and disappeared, Ronald did not change his posture.

Frowning and leaning against the door, he pondered the conversation he had just overheard, already speculating about all the possibilities in his mind.

After all, this was an Original Trial, a pure illusion formed by originals.

Normally negligible details could not be overlooked by Ronald now, as these could very well be the key elements in the trial.

Meanwhile, Cones, still whispering, managed a few restrained breaths and could not help but quietly ask again:

"Ronald, how is it now? Are they still there?"

"They’ve gone, let’s continue."

After answering Cones’s small question, Ronald cautiously opened the door a crack and quietly observed the situation in the hallway.

Within his line of sight,

The situation in the office building was exactly as Ronald had deduced earlier.

Although it appeared brightly lit from the outside, there were very few people actually inside the building, and currently, no one was passing through the hallway.

With reference to the conversation of the two individuals who had just passed by...

If he was not mistaken, the factory owner, Matthew Bolton, was entertaining a distinguished guest, so most of the manpower resources were summoned nearby.

Ronald signaled Cones with a glance and then promptly led the way out of the room.

"Cones, remember, if you encounter anyone, don’t be afraid. Just act as if you are a subordinate of a guest visiting here. Never show any signs of nervousness. If the blueprints for the steam engine are in here, it should be in an office or something. We’ll find it eventually if we keep looking."

"I... I understand."

Cones nodded somberly to show he understood and then followed Ronald, who led the way.

At such a point, he really had no other choice.

Since he had embarked on a path of theft, facing such a situation was inevitable.

As for now...

Ronald at least seemed trustworthy.

He decided to listen to his orders first, then observe how the situation unfolded.

Next, came the slow exploration process of the office building by the two men. Under Ronald’s cautious yet bold leadership, they managed to inspect all the rooms on the first floor in just twenty minutes.

Regarding the blueprints of the steam engine, the result was the most unfavorable: they found nothing.

Although there were items related to the steam engine in the office building, they were far from the actual blueprints, at most involving letters stored by Matthew that mentioned his expectations for the future.

Of course, this process was somewhat special for Ronald.

After identifying the letters and some text records, he figured out the time node of the illusion.

It was the year 1776.

A significant year that could plunge one into deep contemplation.

If Ronald’s deductions in his heart were correct, then this original trial was almost outrageously malicious toward the person undergoing the trial. Rather than calling it an original trial, it was more like a deadly trap set to kill.

Just as Ronald’s expression grew increasingly grim, and he began to approach the staircase leading to the second floor, Cones finally made up his mind but couldn’t stand it anymore.

This guy possessed a psychological quality that fully matched the level of a thief.

Twenty minutes into the exploration, the courage he had mustered had completely drained.

With his voice trembling from fear, Cones continued,

"Ronald, are we still continuing?"

"There are quite a few people upstairs!"

Despite his poor complexion, Ronald immediately rejected Cones’ hesitation,

"We continue searching! Think about it, the payment this time is a whole thirty pounds. How long would ordinary people have to work to save up this amount of wealth? Cones, don’t give up on an important opportunity in front of you just because of cowardice."

"If you could get this money, would anyone still mock you for being driven out of the factory? As long as you have money, all of that will no longer be a problem!"

"..."

Ronald’s words struck precisely Cones’ psychological weak spot.

He stood there stunned, his expression changing repeatedly.

Finally, the thief’s expression steadied, and as he walked past Ronald towards the staircase, he said fiercely,

"Alright, Ronald, I’ll listen to you! Let’s continue to the second floor!"

"If we don’t find it on the second floor, we’ll go to the third floor and keep searching. Tonight, no matter what, we have to find those blueprints for the water heating steam engine..."

Suddenly, Cones’ expression froze on his face.

At that moment, he was walking ahead on the staircase, then turned his head back to fiercely talk to Ronald. But within Cones’ line of sight, Ronald, who had initially been calm, suddenly turned extremely serious, his pupils fixated tightly above the staircase behind him.

As if sensing something, Cones stiffly turned his head to look behind himself.

Right above the staircase, a young girl dressed in servant’s clothes stood there, looking bewilderedly at him.

"Tweet, tweet, tweet—"

Suddenly, an even more unexpected change occurred.

At this very moment, outside the office building, the sudden calls of nightingales unexpectedly arose.

The three individuals heading to another building...

Had they succeeded?!

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