A chat group where you switch bodies with Alicia at the start?

Page 345

"no!"

"open."

While the two kind-hearted philanthropists were locked in a tug-of-war, Navia couldn't stand it any longer. Suppressing her 'dissatisfaction,' she spoke up with genuine concern:

“Uncle Marcellus, if you really can’t manage, you should go back first. Ying and I can continue together.”

"This won't do! x2"

Marcellus and Virgil spoke in unison.

The opportunity to eliminate future troubles is just around the corner / The secret to Les's manufacturing is within reach, how can we give up halfway?

Forget it, let's not argue with this damn bastard for now. / Forget it, let's let this old man go for now.

After exchanging a glance, the two, each with their own thoughts, smiled.

"Ahem, it's already been agreed upon, how can we abandon it halfway because of a little injury?! In order to bring the mastermind behind the slander against Mr. Carles to justice, my old bones can still hold on."

"It's alright, it's alright, Miss Navia, I'll be able to treat his injuries soon."

"...Oh well."

After Navia nodded, Marcel gritted his teeth, his face pale, and endured Virgil's superb 'medical skills' until he recovered. His pure blue eyes sparkled, and the fairy Ellie looked at the blood on the ground, which looked like it was about to flow into a small puddle, and was a little uncertain.

"Haha, it's all better now, the injury is nothing to worry about." Marcel, with a bandage on her shoulder, stood up with a 'calm' expression. "Look."

To show that he was alright, he even gritted his teeth and waved his arm, the pain was excruciating, but Marcel pretended to be fine and endured it.

"Did they recover so quickly?"

Ying looked surprised, and the fairy Airi beside her sighed in admiration.

Marcel felt a little awkward, but smiled and said, "Yes, it's all thanks to Mr. Virgil's excellent medical skills."

He was deeply impressed by this!

With a forced smile and a gaze filled with rage, he stared intently at Virgil.

Without a doubt, in Mr. Marcel's eyes at this moment, the kind-hearted Virgil was as hateful as the Carles father and daughter, and the Fontaine's guards.

"Then let's move on."

"Speaking of which, we haven't seen any of the mastermind's accomplices at all." Continuing to explore the ruins, while marveling at the numerous mechanisms and facilities left behind, the fairy Airi, who was acting as Ying's stand-in and mouthpiece, spoke out Ying's thoughts—don't ask why she didn't speak, it's just to save trouble.

"I guess they've probably gone into hiding for now. After all, the police have been checking things very strictly lately, and this place is so close to Fontaine. Even if they're being very discreet, they need to lay low for now."

"But if I had to say why, the more likely reason is that the guy hiding behind it is a selfish loafer. With Les making so much money... Les is such a heinous business, the mastermind behind it must have used it as a way to make money. If I were him, I definitely wouldn't let anyone else get involved, but would keep this secret tightly under wraps, preferably only I would know!" Virgil spoke eloquently, occasionally mocking and cursing the Les dealer.

“Hmm, that makes a lot of sense. Virgil also seems to be quite experienced.”

Virgil felt a little guilty at the fairy Ellie's words, and laughed as he defended himself:

"Ah...hahaha, I just heard it secondhand. Don't you think all bad guys are the same? The opera house is always putting on all sorts of crime dramas."

"Is that so? Then you're quite talented. I bet you could play a villain perfectly and maybe even win a 'Best Villain of the Year' award."

This little thing is so annoying.

Virgil was somewhat annoyed, but he still had to maintain a smile: "Really? I hadn't even discovered I had this talent myself. Hmm, I might consider it. But I prefer being a good person to being a bad person."

"Don't be in such a hurry. This place is clearly an ancient site, and it must contain many treasures and documents. It would be a real shame to miss it."

He encouraged him in this way—like Marcellus, Mr. Virgil, who wanted to be a good man, was clearly not prepared to carry out this exploration in such a monotonous way.

After all, if these people were allowed to leave alive, Les's secret might be exposed, and he would be in considerable trouble.

For this purpose, he needs help to kill these fools.

Virgil was somewhat annoyed by his unfamiliarity with the ruins; if it were a place he was familiar with, he could have found dozens of ways to deal with it.

But even so, it doesn't matter. After all, he does have some special talents.

Virgil is quite experienced in exploring ruins, and he also has a certain background in mechanical engineering, which allows him to quickly understand the situation inside even when exploring unknown ruins.

Then, using their excellent mechanical knowledge, they could pry open any guarding devices that might exist within the ruins, directly killing those naive adventurers.

In fact, what Marcell just experienced was his doing.

By briefly repairing the abandoned mechanism, it was successfully triggered, and Marcel was finally caught in the trap—unfortunately, although it was just an attempt and experiment, it almost cost the old man his life...but he was really lucky to survive!

But that doesn't matter. The discovery of the abandoned mechanism is enough to prove that there is a security mechanism in this ruin. All I need to do now is make good use of what's behind it, and that will be enough to send this old man and those two blonde girls with pink floating spirits to heaven.

Virgil was quite confident about this—after all, he had already tricked and killed countless foolish adventurers.

Of course, there is indeed a possibility that the traps in this ruin may not be enough to deal with these fools, but that doesn't matter. Virgil glanced at the toolbox he was carrying, his smile somewhat sinister.

When that time comes, it will be time for it to take the stage.

Virgil's suggestion was indeed adopted, but not for any treasure. After all, Navia wasn't particularly interested in such things. All she wanted to do was bring this notorious scoundrel beside her to justice. As for Luminous... well, she was a little tempted. But perhaps because a certain greedy stand-in hadn't appeared yet, with Ellie taking her place, she preferred watching the two of them put on a 'farce' rather than the money. Hmm, quite interesting.

The purpose of the search was not for treasure, but simply to 'not miss anything' – since the goal was to obtain evidence and clues, no corner could be overlooked, after all, this was the lair of the mastermind behind the serial disappearances of that girl.

As expected, Virgil did discover many malfunctioning mechanisms during this process.

Unfortunately, even though most of their targets were that old man, perhaps because of the previous attack, Marcellus was now fully alert.

"hateful..."

Marcel was in a terrible state, his clothes were tattered and he was panting heavily as he stared at the bronze arrow beside him with gritted teeth—if it weren't for his former adventurer's vigilance being rekindled, this shot would have sent him to his death!

At this moment, he was furious. Damn it, this was his old lair, and he had known this place inside and out for the past twenty years. Yet, these damned obstacles were nothing compared to what he had already suffered.

Looking at the small security units that had attacked Navia and Ying and been easily crushed, Marcel gritted his teeth—a bunch of useless things!

I wasted a lot of money buying these secondhand junk from those unscrupulous old nobles!

Fortunately, the main force of the security forces was still stored in the area behind, and there was also some primordial water of the womb there. With this in mind, Marcel had an idea.

No matter how powerful Navia is, who possesses the heart of God, she will be dissolved if she comes into contact with the waters of the Primal Sea of ​​the Dead.

When the time comes, as long as he launches a sneak attack and splashes the Primordial Sea Water onto this annoying brat, it will be enough to eliminate the most powerful fighter present. As for the fact that the other blonde girl is not a Fontaine and will not be dissolved, Marcel doesn't care.

Once Navia, the holder of the Eye of God, is dealt with, what's there to fear from that mere brat with the pink floating spirit? The security devices I've placed in the core area are more than enough to handle her and that powerless pink floating spirit...

"Well--!"

Lost in thought, Marcel's expression suddenly changed. With an ugly look, as if she were constipated, she slowly looked behind her. There, an armed weapon from a security agency was already inserted into her, hitting the spot perfectly and causing a sharp, agonizing pain.

"Uncle Marcel, are you alright!" Noticing Marcel's unusual behavior, Sister Huangdou was worried and also felt a little apologetic. Because she hadn't controlled the intensity, the excessive output of elemental power in the cannonball directly blasted away the security mechanism that was rushing towards her. Unexpectedly, the part that was soaked in some elemental power happened to hit the distracted Marcel. This was indeed a mistake.

"I...I'm fine." With her teeth clenched so tightly they were about to break, Marcellus squeezed her thighs together, turned to the side to cover her injuries, and then forcefully pulled out the weapon from behind her back, forcing a smile onto her face.

Hold on, hold on!!!

Persistence is victory, Marcellus, for Vinier, you can do it!

Mr. Marcellus displayed astonishing willpower, forcibly suppressing his pain even though the blood flowing down his body almost soaked half of his lower garment.

The loss of a large amount of blood made Marcell's consciousness gradually become hazy. Marcell followed Navia and the others, staring blankly at the portal to the core area.

...Just get to that place, just get to that place...!

Parting the clouds to reveal the dawn—

After much anticipation from Marcel, he finally saw a glimmer of hope.

"Hey, the water's flowing backwards!" Fairy Airi exclaimed in surprise as she looked at the unusual spring. "What amazing water!"

Curious, she flew directly to the spring, lay down on the bank, dipped her fingers in the water floating in the air, and then tentatively licked it.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! It's so salty!"

Her sweet voice was full of complaints, and the fairy Ellie's little face was all scrunched up. "This water is just like seawater, bitter, salty, and brittle."

"..."

Ying also approached curiously, tried dipping her index finger in the liquid and putting it near her lips... and then her face turned sour.

"So salty."

Despite having vocal cords, her speech was unusually brief, but one could understand everything through her disdain.

“Really? I’ll try it too,” Navia said.

This statement caused Marcellus, who was about to give orders to the security forces hidden in the surrounding area and was slowly approaching Navia with a bottle of primordial sea water, to stop in his tracks.

He was somewhat surprised and uncertain, yet also pleasantly surprised—Huh? Such a good thing?

I don't even need to splash it, you're already courting death!

Well, Marcellus could understand. After all, he and Vinier had fallen victim to the Primal Sea of ​​Fetal Water using a similar method back then, and Navia's actions now even reminded him of her.

Of course—this was just a kind of nostalgia. He had no lingering affection for Navia—that old dog Kares—he only wanted to get rid of this persistent nuisance as soon as possible.

Out of longing for Viner, Marcellus silently hid the primordial water of the womb behind her back, then looked at Navia with great anticipation.

Go touch it! Go touch it! Then you'll turn into water! Just like Verner!

And I can continue my experiments without worry, until someone can bring Vinier back to my side!

However, just as Marcell was excitedly watching Soybean Sister approach the Primordial Fetal Sea Spring, the restless fairy Ellie spoke up again:

"Hey, there's a box here, and books too..."