Witch Redemption

"Go ahead and tell us. We won't refuse if we can help, but it's a different story if we can't."

Li Lan didn't beat around the bush and spoke frankly.

Ryan scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed, "Actually...actually, I'm getting married soon..."

Today, the news that the Litt family has regained its noble title has already spread. Naturally, this news is unknown in Li Lan's circle of witches, but it has caused a huge uproar in Ryan's circle.

The Litt family, whose predecessor can be traced back to the Imperial Duke Anderson Litt Chancellor three hundred years ago, has always been known for its iron-fisted and righteous nature. Eight of its members have held high positions in the Empire and have been loyal to the Imperial family.

However, this once powerful family began to decline a hundred years ago. One reason was that the Litt family offended countless nobles because of their uprightness, which eventually led to these enemies taking revenge and suppressing them.

Another reason is the decline of the bloodline. The original Ritt family had many powerful descendants who produced countless geniuses. However, after the decline, the Ritt family became worse day by day. By the time of Ryan's generation, they had long since faded into obscurity.

For the sake of the family, Ryan's father, Baron Hoss, even took a risk and planned to use the magic core of a high-level monster to conduct a forbidden experiment, which violated the laws of the empire. Not only did Baron Hoss go to the guillotine, but the last noble title of the Litt family was also stripped away.

Ryan never told anyone about these countless past events; they were always hidden in his heart.

Until today, the Empire suddenly announced that it would commemorate the martyrs of the Litt family and decided to restore the Litt family's noble title, granting the title of Baron to Ryan and Reiner who have blood ties to the family, and also issued related commendation measures.

This was quite a surprise. People from all walks of life flocked to the door, even Betty's parents, who had unilaterally called off the engagement, came to express their approval of the marriage, bringing the Ryan brothers, who were in hell, to heaven.

Unlike his ignorant younger brother, Reiner, who only knew how to indulge in pleasure, Ryan, as the older brother, knew from the beginning that this was all a trap, a trap from which he could not escape. He was like a nobody who could only drift along in this unclear situation.

But just one small mistake can shatter all the illusions of happiness we have right now!

No, there's no need for mistakes. All of this is a facade. Ryan is struggling within this illusion, grasping at every opportunity to survive!

"Um, marriage?"

For a fleeting moment, Li Lan had a rather ominous premonition, but then she remembered that this was another world, and there shouldn't be a similar law of cause and effect, so she still offered her congratulations, "Congratulations!"

However, Li Lan thought that Ryan must have called them here for more than just to talk about his marriage, right?

As expected, Ryan's expression remained somewhat grave, and his next words even caused Li Lan and the others to change their expressions.

"My current status and the fact that I can continue my engagement with Betty are all thanks to the Imperial Family. They could be taken back at any time, so I can only do my best to meet the Empire's demands. One of their demands is that the Empire wants to bypass the Witch Cult and control a portion of the witches. This requires me to continue to be stationed in this border region and act as an intermediary for some of the witches."

………………

The four witches returned to the slums and randomly chose an abandoned building to settle down in.

They casually leaned against the corner of the wall, munching on their hard, black bread, but their minds were still on their conversation from not long ago.

The only information Ryan revealed was that he wanted to cooperate with these witches, and that they could receive missions directly from the Imperial Family through him, as well as purchase relevant intelligence.

It was a private commission, and it's unclear whether it violated the rules of the Witch Cult.

"Karen, can that person be trusted?"

Having gradually grown accustomed to the taste of poverty, Della, who was usually taciturn, spoke up for the first time today.

Li Lan thought for a moment and said, "I can't guarantee it, but I can be sure that in this border city, he is probably one of the few humans who are kind to us witches."

"I understand."

Although Li Lan's words did not directly answer Della's question, they were enough for the moment.

After returning from Dawn City, Della, who had been expelled from the witch's abode, had not yet escaped the shadows of the past. She often recalled the bits and pieces of her time after transmigrating, whether it was unconditionally trusting the witch group after accepting the witch cult's favor, or mistakenly developing feelings for Major General Aibo that she should not have had. All of this made her feel regretful.

She often wondered if things would have been different if she had been skeptical of the Witch Cult from the beginning, if she hadn't harbored such strong hostility towards the witches codenamed 001 and 002, and if she had fulfilled her responsibilities as captain.

There are no ifs, the fact is that all of them perished on their journey to Dawn City.

Blindness, arrogance, and cowardice led to this irreversible tragedy.

It's all her fault, the witch code name 013, Della Bertie!

Della's heart is now filled not only with regret, but also with hatred and a strong desire for revenge.

Now, she has an excellent opportunity to obtain information about the Witch Cult and Major General Abbot, in order to make relevant preparations for the future.

The tears had all been shed on the day Britney died, and her desire to live was long gone. Now she was stronger than ever before, transforming from a timid, ordinary girl into a ruthless outlaw who would stop at nothing to numb herself with pain.

Li Lan and the other two were unaware of Della's change. They had always thought that this fragile girl was still struggling to withstand a series of blows, which was why she had lost her smile and become taciturn.

"Karen, could you introduce this guy to us?" Lorina asked, somewhat puzzled. Actually, she was also quite curious about how Li Lan and Lana knew this person.

"It's a long story..." Li Lan briefly explained that she and Senior Number 47 had saved this guy before, and Lana added appropriately, "In short, he's not a bad person. In our world's terms, he's tsundere. Tsundere doesn't discriminate by gender or age!"

“Oh, I see…” When the topic of ordinary people in the Empire came up, Lorina quickly thought of a strange person in the slums. “Actually, I also met a very easy-going citizen of the Empire before. That old lady was best at fortune-telling to get free food and drinks. If I have the chance, I’ll introduce her to you.”

“Okay.” Li Lan was surprised that someone as cold as Lolina knew some easy-going commoners in the Empire, and she became interested.

Lana echoed her sentiment, then asked with some concern, "Karen, what do you think of Ryan's proposal?"

This is no small problem. It's unclear whether cooperating with Ryan would violate the witch's code, and it might even cost them the lives of witches.

"Cooperation means that we have to consider what we should accept and what we shouldn't accept, and everything must not conflict with the demands of the Witch Cult. In other words, we are testing the limits of the law."

It's all about the thrill. Thinking about it, Li Lan realized that she definitely wouldn't get any valuable information from the Witch Cult, but what about the imperial family behind Ryan?

Regardless of whether these two sides are in cahoots, these people are birds of a feather and set a trap for them from the beginning. Li Lan felt that she might be able to learn a lot of information from them.

For example, information about the geographical distribution and detailed myths and legends of ancient times; detailed maps of the present world's geography, plants, monsters, and temple ruins; and even more profound secrets about empires.

"What do you mean?" Lana was also eager to try, as she knew very little about this world.

"Cooperation is possible, and we will accept commissions depending on the conditions, but we cannot be polite in demanding payment."

Li Lan gradually came to a conclusion. He even vaguely guessed that these collaborations were extremely important to Ryan, and even related to Ryan's life and fortune.

After all, Li Lan wasn't an irredeemable demon. He wasn't so heartless as to kick his former savior aside for the sake of his own future.

Ryan was testing the waters, and Li Lan was also preparing to test the waters!

"Okay, let's see what happens next. We might need to be more low-key in the future."

After reaching a consensus, Lana, leaning against the old wall, opened her spellbook and summoned her "Osiris".

The cheerful little red lizard kept rubbing against Lana's palm, making affectionate cooing noises. Lana thought for a moment, then broke off a small piece of black bread and handed it to him, just like she was raising a pet.

Li Lan felt a little envious, so she summoned a "slime" and took out some introductory books she had prepared beforehand, handing them to the respectful servant.

"Next, let's check a world map. 23 degrees 26 minutes, is that 180 degrees?"

Where exactly are the coordinates in Chapter 75?

The night was deep, and the four silent witches were each engrossed in their own personal magic books, absorbing the relevant knowledge.

Della's thirst for knowledge prompted her to supplement her geographical and monster knowledge, while Lana's curiosity about "Osiris" led her to search for more information on magical creatures, tracing back to the legend of the "Floating City That Never Sleeps" on another continent.

The ever-lustful Lolina was reading novels about this world for amusement while secretly glancing at the diverse beauties around her, sometimes chuckling to herself.

Right now, only Li Lan, who is under immense pressure, is frantically flipping through world maps.

"This world has five continents and three seas. We are currently in the Eastern Dawn Land, the location of the British Empire."

Of all the information Li Lan had access to, the most abundant was related to the geographical location and distribution of the British Empire, while intelligence about anything outside the British Empire was shockingly scarce.

For example, the other two super-large nations in the Dawn Lands, "Kazan United Kingdom" and "Ries United Principality", only briefly mention a few important cities.

As for the so-called other four continents, they were only roughly marked as the "Four Sacred Ancient Forest" in the south, the "Mechanical City" in the west, the "Wild Land" in the north, and the "Land of Fallen Sky" in the center, without any further information or intelligence.

"Isn't the world supposed to be flat with a round sky? Then how do we distinguish between latitude and longitude? Is there a difference between east longitude, west longitude, south latitude, and north latitude?"

Li Lan's fingers moved across the magic book, trying to deduce the information left behind by those witch predecessors based on the available data.

"If latitude is not differentiated by north and south latitude and is always calculated as 180 degrees, and longitude is not differentiated by east and west longitude and is always calculated as 360 degrees, then..."

With a thought, Li Lan's world map in the magic book rapidly assembled, with numerous horizontal and vertical lines interwoven into a regular grid that covered all the continents and oceans on the map.

"This……"

Li Lan never expected that this magic book could be so magical, even able to help mark things up like a map.

Soon, Li Lan's gaze settled on the very center of the map.

23 degrees 26 minutes, 180 degrees—the location is precisely! The border city of the British Empire, Mori! And right in the border defense zone!

In an instant, an unparalleled shock washed over him, making Li Lan feel somewhat terrified. He kept pondering what the coordinates meant, and hesitated whether he should immediately head to that location to see what was going on.

"What secrets might be hidden in this location? With my current level 4 magic book, am I qualified to uncover these secrets?"

Li Lan guessed that it was very likely that number 47 had buried some important items or data at this coordinate location, and the secrets that existed there were very likely related to the future survival of Li Lan and his companions.

Moreover, it's not just Li Lan who's keeping an eye on the secrets of that place; the Witch Cult is definitely searching for it as well.

Otherwise, why would the Witch Cult spy on Li Lan and the others' memories after killing four senior witches on the night of the first Crimson Night Torrent? And why would they even secretly monitor them for a period of time afterward? Doesn't this show that the Witch Cult also suspects Li Lan and the others?

“I don’t know if the Witch Order has lifted its surveillance on me and Lana. I can’t act too out of line right now, lest I arouse suspicion. In that case, I might as well go to that area first and take a look. Instead of looking for secret matters, I’ll familiarize myself with the environment and make a decision when the time is right.”

After pondering for a long time, Li Lan gradually came to a conclusion, and her gloomy expression calmed down.

Perhaps noticing the changes in Li Lan's expression, Lana suddenly asked, "Karen, is something on your mind?"

"Well, I was thinking about leveling up in the future," Li Lan casually changed the subject, not daring to reveal any information related to the future escape plan. "As you know, relying solely on mimicry chaos to level up will only become more difficult in the future."

"Indeed, the current experience upgrades are all accumulated. For example, accumulating 100,000 experience points will get you to level 5 in the magic book, while you need to accumulate 200,000 experience points to reach level 6. It's still unclear whether you can upgrade from level 6 to level 7."

Lana could see that Li Lan was hiding something, but she always trusted Li Lan. Since Li Lan didn't want to say it now, she wouldn't force him.

"Yes, it's too difficult. The experience of solo killing with the Mimic Chaos is only 10, which is a drop in the bucket."

Li Lan sighed. If leveling up was already difficult enough for Lana, then wouldn't it be even more difficult for him, a useless priest?

Lorina, who had been keeping an eye on the three witches around her the whole time, quickly picked up the conversation, "Actually, the Witch Cult has a way to quickly raise a witch's level. They assign some tasks every day, and you can get about 100 magic book experience points after completing the task. Unfortunately, I can no longer accept these tasks after joining your cult."

It was supposed to be a bit of a regrettable thing, but Lolina was quite calm when she mentioned it.

"Such a good thing?"

Li Lan and Lana were both stunned. They had been fighting desperately in the monster area every day to raise their magic book level to this point, but others only needed to do one task to equal the difference between killing ten monsters.

That's so unfair!

“That’s true,” Della, who was more familiar with the situation of the Witch Cult than Lorina, said. “Each person can accept more than three hunting missions a day. After completing them, the experience of the magic book will increase. That’s why we level up so quickly when we belong to the Witch Cult.”

However, once they are expelled from the witch's abode, they will also lose this benefit.

Looking back now, it's understandable that Della and the others thought Lorina was a fool. The Witch Cult had bestowed so many favors upon them, so why would Lorina refuse them? Why would she make things difficult for herself?

Only by staying in the Witch Cult and striving not to become a wandering witch like Witch Code 001 can one have a future.

The eight witches, including Della, and all the witches sent in the same batch initially shared the same idea: the Witch Cult was their savior.

Unfortunately, Della was eventually awakened by reality. Only after experiencing numerous hardships and understanding the pain of Li Lan and the others did she realize how hard-won their strength was, and that all witches were nothing more than ants in front of the Witch Cult.

They are all just pieces of trash that can be used and then thrown away!