[Bonus Chapter!♥]
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"Hmm.. How do you read this thing, again?" Wade asked.
The goblin respectfully explained, "When the dial emits light, it means this power still exists somewhere in the world. As we bring it closer to the source of that power, the light changes color. The closer we are, the deeper the color becomes… until it finally turns red, which means we've reached the vicinity of that power."
"And what about this pointer?" Wade asked.
"That… according to the goblin craftsman's design, once the dial reaches a deep red, the pointer should direct us toward the exact location of the power…"
"But this is only a prototype, and the pointer function hasn't been completed yet…"
"We originally wanted to find another craftsman to finish it, but we have no samples left. So now, we can only rely on the dial's color to search for the location of this power."
"Once we find a source, even just a trace, we can use it as a sample to perfect this device and then uncover all the rest of the power hidden elsewhere."
Wade gazed at the faint pink hue on the dial and frowned slightly. "Does this pink mean that power is nearby?"
The goblin nodded. "Yes, but this is only pink, which means we're still quite far from it. That's why we split into multiple groups to search from different directions, hoping to locate it quickly."
Wade fell silent.
In theory, there shouldn't be any "residue" of that power left in this world anymore. So why was the goblins' device still able to detect something?
Could it be that their device is malfunctioning?
No—!
Wade suddenly realized something. There was still one place in this world where "residue" remained, and plenty of it too!
It was where the Senior was trapped!
In fact, her body itself acted as a container for that "residue," just like the metal vessels once forged by goblins to hold it.
He recalled that he had stumbled into her place through a portal in the Forbidden Forest.
Which meant that Senior's hiding place was likely near the Forbidden Forest, perhaps even within it!
If the goblins were left to continue their search, they might indeed discover her location before long.
Of course, given her power, even while trapped, these goblins could never break through the nightmare magic and illusions guarding her and uncover her exact whereabouts.
But now that Wade was aware of this, there was no need to let the Senior handle it herself.
"One last question. Where is your search party's rendezvous point?"
The goblin obediently handed over a map of the Forbidden Forest.
This map instantly caught Wade's attention.
As expected of goblin craftsmanship, it turned out to be an incredibly detailed map of the Forbidden Forest!
And, being an alchemical item, the map, though it looked small, could actually be dragged and scrolled through!
It was just like those maps Wade used to move around on his phone before he transmigrated!
Sweet~!
The goblin pointed to a marked spot on the map. "This is our rendezvous point… To avoid alerting the wizards, we only come out at night to search and return there during the day…"
After the goblin finished answering all the questions, Wade, to verify the truth of his answers, directly pointed his wand at the goblin's head.
"Legilimens!"
"Agh!"
Moments later, the goblin collapsed to the ground in a faint.
The last goblin, witnessing this scene, was so terrified he collapsed on the spot as well.
"Excellent, you didn't lie…"
The goblin slumped on the ground instantly breathed a sigh of relief. "Then… can you let us go?"
"Ah?" Wade looked at him with a strange expression. "What made you think you still had a chance to live?"
The goblin froze.
"First of all, I can't possibly let you go to report back. Second… you just said you were going to kill us, didn't you?"
"Since you intended to kill me, if I turn around and kill you instead, it's only fair, isn't it?~"
Hearing Wade's words, the goblin fell into utter despair. Had he known it would be death either way, he might as well have said nothing at all…
But then, thinking of Wade's Legilimency, the goblin despaired even further. Even if he said nothing, it was pointless…
"Aw~ Don't worry. Because you were honest, I'll give you a quick death."
As soon as Wade finished speaking, the two goblins collapsed to the ground, dead without a sound.
Even though they were right next to him, neither Tom nor Andre had seen how Wade killed them!
With a casual wave of his wand, the ground shook violently.
Thick roots burst out from the ground, tightly wrapping around the corpses of the three goblins.
Then, the roots dragged the goblin corpses deep underground.
In just a few seconds, the ground returned to its original smooth state, as if nothing had ever happened.
Ding! Detected that the host killed an evil goblin, sparing those who would have died at its hands in the future. Rewarding host with 100 merit points!
Ding! Detected…
Ding…
From the system's notifications, it was clear that eliminating these goblins was considered a good deed. Evidently, these creatures were far from innocent, so Wade felt absolutely no guilt whatsoever.
He turned around, his face once again carrying that gentle, familiar smile.
"What do you think about what just happened?" he asked.
Tom and Andre looked at his smile, feeling chills run down their spines.
Though they weren't exactly good people themselves, Wade's ruthless efficiency still left them deeply unsettled.
"If this power they spoke of truly exists… then we absolutely cannot let the goblins have it," Tom said after a moment of thought.
Andre said, "Exactly. The goblins have already staged rebellions before. If they gain control of this kind of power, it could very well spark another goblin uprising. And this time, they'll be stronger than ever."
Wade nodded and put both the pocket watch and the map back into the bag that had been enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm.
"Let's move for now. We've been delayed long enough. We can talk as we walk."
A few minutes later, the group returned to the path.
But this time, Andre no longer felt the same fear toward the Forbidden Forest.
Honestly, with someone this terrifyingly powerful walking right beside him, what in the Forbidden Forest could possibly pose a threat to them?
That said, it wasn't quite accurate to say Andre wasn't afraid anymore. His fear had simply shifted—from the Forbidden Forest to Wade himself... Gulp!
The group continued along the path at a steady pace.
Only now, Wade had taken the lead, rather than Andre.
"About what happened tonight… What do you two think we should do once we're back?" Wade asked.
Andre quickly said, "I think we should report it to the Headmaster! Then have the Ministry send people over to crush the goblins' conspiracy while it's still in the cradle."
Wade chuckled. "That's a good thought. But… how do you plan to explain how you got this information? Are you going to tell them it was extracted after I finished off three goblins?"
Andre shuddered, his voice trembling. "No… that's not what I meant! I… I would never snitch…"
"I believe you won't, Andre," Wade said with a warm smile. "After all, you're already involved in tonight's events, aren't you?"
Andre understood instantly—he had unwittingly boarded a pirate ship.
If he really did go and report this, he'd never be able to clear himself from involvement in the death of the three goblins.
He hurriedly said, "We could say we stumbled across the three goblins while patrolling the path, overheard their conversation, and then they noticed us eavesdropping and tried to attack. But we managed to knock them out, grabbed their belongings, and ran off. When the professors ask where the stunned goblins went, we can just say we ran too fast and forgot about them…"
Wade snapped his fingers with a smile. "Not bad at all. I'd say the professors definitely wouldn't suspect us in the slightest."
A flattering smile spread across Andre's face. "Then… should we—"
"But," Wade interrupted him, "I don't plan to do that, Andre."
"Ah?" Andre was stunned, but he quickly caught on. "Then what do you plan to do?"
Wade didn't answer immediately but instead turned to Tom, who had been quietly pondering on the side.
"Tom, what about you? What do you plan to do?"
Tom lifted his head and said, "If they weren't lying, and that miraculous power really exists… why should we hand it over? Wade, we need to become stronger, and that power could help us tremendously!"
"I knew it, Tom. You really are the one who understands me best," Wade replied with a smile. "Exactly, I was thinking the same thing. If we tell the professors, then either the Ministry will take it away, and we'll never know who benefits from it, or the professors will seal it away. Since that's the case, why don't we take it for ourselves?"
"But… is that really alright?" Andre was clearly uneasy.
Wade said, "We'll be secretly foiling the goblins' conspiracy and doing a great service for the wizarding world. So if we take a small reward in return, that seems perfectly fair, doesn't it?"
"That… does make sense," Andre admitted, though he was still nervous, clearly tempted by the thought of that power.
Tom said, "If that's the case, then we have to seize this power before the goblins do!"
Wade asked in surprise, "Before the goblins? Tom, haven't we already got the location of their gathering point? Why don't we just wipe them all out first?"
Tom was completely silenced by Wade's casual suggestion.
Wait… is that even an option?
It took him a long moment before he managed to squeeze out a response.
"Wade, I feel like you're being just a bit too extreme…"
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