Chapter 506: The Basic Qualities of a Beautiful Actress

Leech dispatched ten men to investigate news related to Prince Hoffman’s caves.

According to what he’d heard in the tavern, Prince Hoffman surely had a large number of explored caves under his control. Even if they had already been plundered clean, they were still caves and thus had collection value. This was perfect for Leech’s plan to decorate every corner of his domain with tombstones.

Endless tombstones would represent countless caves, each one packed with coffins filled with Magic Antiseptic and stuffed with Corpse Ghosts.

The thought of them all surging forth in wartime was enough to make one’s blood boil with excitement!

Now *that’s* what you call an Undead legion!

A tactical lean back.

The remaining Soldiers, holding Magic Firearms that had become rather eccentric after numerous modifications, followed Leech into the Rift Cave.

They were eccentric because the firearms were diverging further and further from Leech’s memory of conventional weaponry. Their robust, mechanical aesthetic was almost gone, replaced by magical runes and the rounded, twisted forms of alchemical creations. They had a very unscientific, yet exceptionally magical, appearance.

Fortunately, their operation remained the same: load the gunpowder and bullet, pull the trigger, and watch smoke pour from the muzzle.

The overall handling hadn’t changed one bit, which made Leech wonder what valuable research the alchemy workshop had actually accomplished after devouring so much of his funds. ‘Are they trying to “de-scientify” everything to more firmly walk the “path of Magicism”?’

Still, he accepted this seemingly stagnant form of progress, as it allowed for the integration of Scholar Toma’s Alchemy, which greatly accelerated the research speed.

In the future, they could integrate even more alchemy techniques. Crafting a Magic Laser Cannon by hand would be just around the corner.

‘One blast to pierce the very stars!’

Leech eagerly awaited the day a Magic Cannon could part the atmosphere of Lu Leiyi’s planet right down the middle, like hair.

There were some good optimizations, however. For instance, the gunshots were quieter, and they produced less thick smoke.

Gunpowder consumption, in particular, had been significantly reduced thanks to constant refinement of the formula.

Rumor had it that Betty’s alchemy workshop was researching a new method: combining the bullet and gunpowder into a single unit. This would eliminate the need to use a ramrod to pack the barrel and clear out residue, thus speeding up the reloading process.

It was because Betty’s alchemy workshop continuously delivered results that Leech was willing to increase his investment. While most of the prototypes were a pure waste of money, ‘you can’t have technological growth without throwing money at the problem’.

Money earned was money to be spent. The lessons from countless wars had taught him that weapons development must never cease. It was better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them.

The party entered via a gentle downward slope. The passage was so wide that riding in on warhorses was no issue. The journey was so easy that even the clatter of hoofbeats sounded cheerful.

There were occasional potholes, but they were of little consequence. The horses possessed excellent night vision, allowing the party to traverse the dim environment as if it were level ground.

They descended uninterrupted for a long time. Leech was certain they were now very far from the entrance to the Rift Cave.

Looking back, the light from the Rift Cave’s entrance was gone.

Visibility grew poorer as the surroundings became darker.

“We’ve reached the bottom.”

Leech sat on his horse before a pool of water that glowed with a green light. The reflection cloaked the Cavalry beside him in a layer of green armor and cast an emerald sheen on their faces. As the water rippled, the green light shimmered and swayed across them.

Ahead lay a great fissure. It seemed they had reached the very edge of the Rift Cave.

“My lord, should we light torches?” a cavalryman at his side asked.

The air was unnervingly still; there was no sound of wind or insects. It had been daytime when they’d descended, but now, they had no way of telling the time.

With their range of vision so limited, all they could do was tighten their grip on their newly modified magic flintlocks.

“Not for now,” Leech said, shaking his head.

‘This is a cave, after all, and we don’t know what’s in here. A torch might attract something dangerous. Safety first.’

But the larger the cave, the harder it would be to find the remaining “Black Dragon fragments” needed to assemble a complete “Black Dragon.”

As they passed through the fissure, their surroundings suddenly brightened. The light came first from glowing moss. ‘These things were in the Promontory Cave,’ Leech thought. ‘I didn’t expect to see them here, too.’

The rest of the light came from the “sky” above, where an aurora-like phenomenon shimmered. It likely spanned the entire cavern. Leech was certain that the ceiling above was not made of earth and rock. This place was truly no longer a simple cave.

The aurora was proof.

Setting Magic aside for a moment, the appearance of an aurora is related to a planet’s atmosphere.

However, it was difficult to ignore Magic. In this world, it seemed far more logical to “set science aside.”

Leech gazed into the distance. Even with his superior night vision, he couldn’t see any sign of a boundary at the limits of his sight.

“Let’s advance a little further. Stay sharp,” Leech commanded. “Everyone, be ready.”

At Leech’s reminder, the Cavalrymen fumbled in the dark to load their firearms.

The stories he’d heard in the tavern were full of dog-eat-dog incidents. This place had become the default location for settling personal grudges… or creating new ones. Few died to the cave’s monsters, but countless had died at the hands of their own kind.

Its greatest product wasn’t the treasure accumulated by monsters over the years, but human corpses.

…

“They’re here.”

A voice spoke, seeming to come from the air itself, but its owner was nowhere to be seen.

A few small pebbles skittered away as if kicked by an unseen foot. Then, one of the pebbles inexplicably shot up and flew off into the distance.

The voice spoke again, an admonition: “Caitlin, be wary of that group of stone-skinned trolls. They’re clumsy, though, and can’t actually hurt you. In fact, they’ll help you win the Baron’s trust.”

“I know. Don’t worry.”

A young, blonde woman in red leather armor appeared.

Her golden hair was as smooth as a waterfall, cascading over her shoulders.

Her skin was porcelain-pale under the aurora’s light, her limbs long and slender. Her delicate face was set with two mesmerizing, emerald-green eyes. With every blink, her long, upturned lashes fluttered as if showcasing a precious treasure, making those emerald eyes sparkle.

“Those clumsy fools won’t be able to catch me!” the blonde woman said, pulling a small knife from her boot.

She slashed the knife across her leather armor a few times, then slid the blade into her collar and deliberately tore a section open, exposing a large patch of her fair skin.

Then, with practiced ease, she took off her pants. Gritting her teeth, she tore several gashes in the fabric, ensuring the damaged trousers would perfectly reveal her long, pale legs. She pulled them back on and rolled on the ground to make herself look more disheveled.

Finally, she took out a small mirror to inspect her face, making sure not a speck of dust had sullied it.

‘Wearing tattered props was a fundamental part of being an actor.’

‘Ensuring one’s face remained flawless, no matter how fierce the supposed battle, was another.’

‘Who needs acting skills? That’s just an insult. Caitlin was an idol, not a thespian!’

She was well aware that this scene required her to captivate a young, powerful Baron with her charms. And what was the best way to showcase one’s charms at first glance? By showing as much skin as possible, and of course, presenting her delicate face from a variety of angles.

The admonishing voice by her ear faded. Caitlin knew her associates had gone to stir up the trolls. She smoothed her long hair, trying out a few angles.

“They seem to be on horseback,” Caitlin mused. She held the mirror up high, tilting it at a forty-five-degree angle to simulate looking up at a mounted nobleman. She practiced a pitiful, helpless expression, then broke into a satisfied smile. “Perfect!”