Mystic Overlord: Reading Gives Strength-Chapter 518 - 515 Birch Forest

Ronald acted alone without considering others.

He expanded the "Fury" force’s detection range to the maximum, and with the fastest flying speed for this round, he soared through the air like a nimble reconnaissance aircraft over the outskirts.

The vast detection range combined with a flying speed far surpassing that of birds resulted in a tremendously high work efficiency.

In just over an hour, Ronald had flown several circles around the outskirts.

The outskirts of Springs...

How should one describe them?

Under normal circumstances, it would be reasonable for some hidden organizations to exist in such places, given that Springs is the capital of Gride, and various powers would surely focus on this area year-round.

But now... the actual situation in the outskirts was astonishing.

Even though Ronald had only checked part of the outskirts, the number of various secret gatherings he discovered had already reached more than a dozen.

Having witnessed this ’prosperous’ scene outside the city, Ronald was momentarily lost for words.

The Investigation Bureau had indeed deployed people to patrol the outskirts.

But with such ridiculous numbers, could order really be maintained just by patrolling?

From what Ronald personally witnessed in the past hour, he had seen people from the mystic side take action at these gathering spots.

Reflecting on these unexpected observations, Ronald’s flight path gradually took him further away from Springs.

After flying a few kilometers, the situation finally improved.

In the mountains far from Springs, where small villages began to sporadically appear, hidden casters were significantly fewer.

It was at this distance that Ronald found a sizable birch forest nestled against the mountains. The forest, seldom visited, seemed to offer a sense of peace.

"This place..."

Spreading out the "Fury" force’s detection range massively, Ronald didn’t spot any suspicious individuals; there was hardly anything this season except for villagers who stayed overnight in hunters’ cabins after entering the mountains.

"Hmm?"

As Ronald hovered in the air, something within his detection range caught his attention. From the direction of the manor where Ronald had dealt with Mil’s puppets earlier that night, a heavily burdened person was flying towards him.

—It was Alya.

Considering the time and place and the emotional fluctuations of the other party.

There were hardly any possibilities other than this original holder.

"..."

Ronald, looking towards the direction from which she was coming, remained silent for a few seconds.

In the end, he chose neither to hide nor to conceal himself, but to openly maintain his position and wait for Alya.

During the cleanup of the "Nine Commandments Meeting", Alya had demonstrated her abilities; her flight speed using an umbrella as a medium was definitely not slow.

Ronald had to wait only for two minutes.

The girl’s figure appeared from the darkness and then flew directly towards Ronald.

As Alya realized that the person in the air was Ronald, the wariness in her eyes immediately turned to confusion. She looked back at the direction of Springs, then down at the birch forest below.

As Alya’s expression changed, she also slowly approached Ronald.

When they reached a distance suitable for normal conversation, the girl pointed to the ground with her free hand:

"Ronald, did you notice this too?"

Ronald immediately put on a look of regret, and didn’t forget to ask:

"It’s embarrassing to say, but I only thought of starting from this aspect before heading back to the city, so I came here as soon as I realized. But how did you know to start from here, Alya? You shouldn’t have seen the other puppets made by Mil, right?"

Alya’s reply was still generous:

"A fairly useful spell, nothing special."

"How about you, Ronald? You should have arrived before me. Any findings?"

Ronald shook his head and delivered his most truthful scouting result:

"I flew around the area. Aside from regular hunters spending the night on the mountain, I didn’t find anyone else moving around here."

"Is that so..."

Hearing Ronald’s response, Alya didn’t ask anything further.

The girl thought for a few moments with her eyes lowered, then she lifted her head and invited:

"Ronald, let’s descend and take a closer look."

"Considering it’s nighttime, some things might not be so easily noticeable."

Ronald nodded in agreement:

"No problem."

...

Following Alya’s suggestion, the two began to lower their altitude while flying high in the air.

Enveloped in the pitch-black night, they descended a considerable distance before they could directly observe the ground with their eyes. The silent forest and the surroundings seemed generally indistinguishable, with nothing notably out of place.

However, just as Ronald was almost certain there would be no findings tonight, a faint "crack" sound carried through the night breeze to his ears.

Ronald immediately looked at Alya beside him.

Flying in the same spot, this temporary companion’s expression remained unchanged, seemingly oblivious to the noise.

Ronald softly asked:

"Alya, did you hear that sound?"

"There seems to be a light cracking sound coming from the north."

...

Alya raised an eyebrow and paused her flight while listening intently.

Unfortunately, because the sound was too faint, she couldn’t hear it as Ronald did; her ears only caught the typical sounds of the night forest.

Feeling a lack of results.

Alya remained silent for a few seconds and then led the way northwards:

"Let’s fly over and take a look."

...

Ronald naturally didn’t say much, following Alya toward the northern part of the forest.

Just a few minutes after changing direction, the scenery in their field of vision began to change, alerting Ronald and his companion.

Crossing a small hill.

The density of vegetation in this part of the forest was distinctly higher than before.

And the "crack" Ronald had noticed earlier, Alya could now clearly hear too. As expected, it was the sound of wood being sawed by a tool.

However, this was ultimately a virgin forest.

The night combined with the canopy obstructing their vision still made it impossible for Ronald and her to see through to the real situation in the woods.

...

Faced with these changes, the two exchanged a glance while flying in the air.

It was just a simple silent exchange.

They nodded at each other and continued to decrease their altitude, approaching the source of the sound.

The pair maneuvered through the obstructive canopy, and at less than ten meters above the ground, the darkness no longer obstructed their view.

At this height, the innate human field of vision captured everything.

Finally, the situation here was unveiled to the two of them.

—Inside the birch forest at night. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

—Numerous puppets were hiding here!

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