423: Chapter 410 The Missing Lady Louise

Zhang Mu moved through "The World" and stepped out of the light gate in the Royal Capital.

Upon landing, he first went to the Command Post to find Domit and explain the matters needing attention recently.

First, they must increase their vigilance against Kingdom, even though the Silent Forest hasn't completely disappeared yet.

This fellow had not participated in the war between the Alliance and Ryan from start to finish, so his strength remained intact. If he concentrated his forces for a sudden attack on Lake, given that Lake's main legions were all scattered across the Alliance regions, the heartland would likely suffer a heavy blow.

Domit nodded and stated that the third round of army expansion had already begun. At that time, elite legions would be deployed in Gur City to guard against Kingdom, while new recruits would be sent to garrison the captured cities.

Zhang Mu continued, saying that the Gangnuo Empire would definitely retaliate for the destruction of the Bauhinia Legion. However, the distance between the two sides was far, so a large-scale offensive wouldn't happen for the time being.

They only needed to dispatch a small number of people to keep an eye on the teleportation arrays leading from Ganno to the Western Border, ensuring any incoming legion would be discovered immediately; there was no need for heavy defenses. Their current primary enemies were still the remaining Kingdoms in the Western Border.

As for these Kingdoms, Zhang Mu didn't plan to conquer them quickly.

Lake had just occupied the entire territory of the Alliance, with many cities under its command, and urgently needed to digest the spoils of war to stabilize its rule. It wouldn't be too late to continue the pace of expansion once the rear was stable.

Moreover, their current military strength was very tight. Every captured city required troops to take over the city defense, meaning the more victories they had, the faster the non-combat attrition of the legions. Furthermore, city lords had to be dispatched to manage internal affairs. These matters were incredibly tedious and also a test of the Kingdom's comprehensive strength.

Afterward, Zhang Mu left the Command Post and went to Avril's bedchamber.

Avril originally handled government affairs in her private office, but later found commuting back and forth troublesome, so she simply ordered Mora to deliver the documents to her bedchamber every day.

When Zhang Mu found her, she had just finished breakfast, and Mora was carrying the tray out of the room.

"Junior, is the war on the front lines over?"

"It's come to an end for now."

Avril smiled: "Thank you for your hard work."

"Don't say that, we're not strangers." Zhang Mu pulled a wooden chair and sat next to her, reminding her, "Now is not the time to relax. War could return at any time, and we've made an enemy of the Gangnuo Empire.

We must hurry and organize the territory we've conquered so we can have the confidence to deal with them."

"Mhm.

We've already started the third round of legion expansion, and the formation of the Medical Squad has made some progress. It's expected to be put into use soon."

"That's good."

"There's also the recruitment of city lords. The method you introduced is very effective. We've accumulated a large number of reserve city lords in a short time. The only trouble is that the Kingdom's treasury doesn't have enough potions to pay the Vice City Lord's rewards."

"Don't worry about the potions, I'll take care of it."

Zhang Mu patted his chest. Avril trusted him unconditionally, skipped the matter, and pulled his arm to ask about various things.

The content wasn't serious; mostly she was concerned about what food he ate on the front lines, whether he was comfortable sleeping in the camp tent at night, and so on.

Zhang Mu didn't say that he didn't need to eat at all, nor did he need to rely on sleep to recover his energy. Avril, of course, understood these things.

"It was great. I ate well and slept soundly." He nodded his head.

They chatted until late at night before Zhang Mu stood up, said goodbye to Avril, who still wanted more, summoned a Portal outside the city, and returned to Blue Star.

Upon landing, Zhang Mu noticed that the spiritual connection with the statue of god, which had been broken due to going to the Other World, was reconnected.

"Hmm... Faith power has increased a lot, but it's still far from evolution. I need to find a way to open a few more collection points."

After sensing the faith power accumulated during his absence from Blue Star, Zhang Mu flew into the sky and arrived at the NH side.

China's infrastructure capabilities were indeed powerful. In just a few months, the number of cable cars leading to the mountaintop had doubled. Tourists coming to worship the god were endless, forming long queues at the entrance, with armed Soldiers patrolling back and forth to maintain order.

After watching for a while, the scene was peaceful. None of the line-cutting or physical conflicts often reported on the internet occurred.

Zhang Mu was very satisfied. He flew to the mountaintop using the Shadow Technique, spread his magic power to obscure the tourists' five senses, took out the imitation statue of god he had prepared long ago, replaced the original, then retracted his magic power and flew toward Russia.

The journey wasn't far, and in a few hours, he reached the snowy mountain where the statue of god was placed.

This mountain was extremely steep. Even a professional climbing team would find it difficult to conquer, let alone ordinary people. When Zhang Mu hovered high in the sky and looked down, he saw a group of people bowing at the foot of the mountain.

Whether it was because they were too far from the statue of god or because they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, the faith power they provided individually was much less compared to the people in China.

Zhang Mu shifted his gaze to the snowy mountain. The construction team dispatched by the Russian authorities was building a cable car.

They were working hard, but unfortunately, the environment was too harsh. It was freezing cold with heavy snow. After several months, they were still in the preliminary stage of setting up the traction ropes, and the completion date was nowhere in sight.

"I might as well help out; they're too slow. Hmm... I need to put the things in first." Zhang Mu muttered to himself, opened the light gate, and entered 'The World'.

The Psychics he and Avril had captured in the far north region of Lake six months ago should have been utilized long ago, but things happened one after another, causing it to be delayed until now.

Zhang Mu summoned the inventory in the dark void and scanned the dozens of humanoid Psychics stored in the final slots.

From their appearance, they were basically no different from humans, with no non-human features like animal tails or fangs.

"Not bad. No need for much makeup. Just change into a Hogwarts school uniform and get a student hairstyle, and they'll be ready to use."

Happy to have saved time, Zhang Mu took out a magic beast and contracted it on the spot. Then, with a slight thought, he teleported to the Hogwarts Academy area.

The landing point was in the office.

Zhang Mu looked around. The positions of the indoor furnishings were the same as when he last left, with no movement.

"Good, no one is bold enough to sneak into my office." Muttering to himself, he pushed the door open, went along the corridor to the dormitory area, and wandered around.

"Let's see... I'll put one here, and mhm, I can put another one over there."

While strolling, he placed the magic beasts. Zhang Mu clapped his hands together: "Done. Just trigger the mission when they return to the dormitory."

...

Hogwarts, Library.

The afternoon sun shone through the window into the library. Fine dust floated in the beams of light, and the slight sound of pages turning could be heard from time to time.

Ryan sat at a long table, flipping through a book introducing magical creatures. Wino sat next to him, also flipping through a book, his mouth never stopping as he poured out his aspirations.

"I plan to create a society for transcendents, filled with like-minded partners. When the time comes..."

The noise had lasted all morning. Ryan's patience reached its limit, and he spoke up to interrupt: "Do you think Her Majesty the Queen and the Headmaster would allow it?"

"The society wouldn't be independent of the Kingdom and the academy, of course. It would be like a company, operating within the rules to realize our dreams!"

"It's your dream." Ryan said expressionlessly.

Being ruthlessly rebuffed, Wino wasn't quite convinced, and his voice unconsciously rose: "Hey Ryan, you should know that I..."

"Quiet." The Administrator's face, covered in a thick beard, popped up from behind the counter with a stern warning.

"Sorry, sorry." Wino apologized to each of the upperclassmen looking over.

Once everyone looked away, he lowered his voice and continued: "It's hard for me to explain it clearly to you now. I can only say, trust me Ryan, you will definitely agree."

It was rare to have a weekend off and time to come to the library for quiet reading, but he was constantly being disturbed. Ryan was very disappointed. He stood up, stuffed the book back onto the shelf, and walked toward the dormitory with a grim face.

He and Wino didn't belong to the same House. According to the rules, students were strictly forbidden from entering dormitories of other Houses. Ryan glanced at Wino, who was following him, figuring this was the only way to get rid of him.

"Wait for me, Ryan." Wino followed closely behind him, still rambling, "Transcendence has a greater role on Blue Star. It shouldn't just be used for fighting. We can..."

The two of them walked one after the other, one's mouth flapping and the other silent with a dark face, all the way back to the dormitory building.

The dormitories of the four Houses of Hogwarts were not together, but the entrances were concentrated in the same hall. Students from each House shared the same path before entering their dormitory areas. Ryan walked into the hall and silently breathed a sigh of relief; he could finally shake him off.

"Alright Wino, I have to go back to my room. See you tomorrow." Out of politeness, Ryan didn't just walk away without a word and bid him a polite farewell.

Being treated coldly didn't bother Wino at all. He smiled broadly: "I'll wait for you here tomorrow morning."

Ryan's mouth twitched. He felt a bit of regret for his politeness.

I should have just left.

"Whatever." His face darkened as he turned to walk toward his House's entrance.

However, just as he lifted his foot, Misha's shout suddenly came from the right.

"Ryan, over here, come over."

Ryan turned and saw Misha calling him. Without thinking much, he walked over quickly and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Misha held the door frame with both hands, leaning her upper body out at an angle: "You come here first."

He looked puzzled and scratched his head as he entered the door. Wino, not having received an invitation, followed along with thick skin.

Once inside, he was surprised to find Klaisi and Leon there as well, leaning against the corridor wall with their arms crossed.

Ryan glanced at the door at the end of the corridor: "This is the exhibition room. It stores some rare magic items. I heard that no new items have been added for many years, and the upperclassmen are tired of looking at them.

Haven't you all seen enough too? What are you doing here?"

Misha didn't answer. She peeked out the door sneakily, then pulled Ryan to the middle of the corridor and pointed at a landscape painting hanging on the wall: "Do you feel something's wrong?"

"Something's wrong?" The originally uninterested Ryan became focused and examined the landscape painting.

In the foreground of the picture was a lawn, with a withered tree standing on the left. Under the tree was a well, with a bucket overturned on the ground nearby. In the distance was a wheat field. To show the presence of wind, the artist had deliberately painted the wheat leaning neatly to one side.

After a while, he really couldn't see anything unusual: "What exactly is wrong?"

"The person is gone." The remaining three walked over side by side, and Wino, walking in the middle, said.

"Person? Was there originally a person in the painting?" Ryan had only been to the exhibition room once and had a very faint impression of these paintings.

Misha raised her arms high, jumped up, and patted the bottom edge of the frame: "In this painting, there used to be a lady. I heard an upperclassman call her Madam Louisa."

"Then, where is she?"

Leon leaned in mysteriously: "Do you remember the content of the original novel? That missing Fat Lady in the painting?"

"You mean, Madam Louisa, like the Fat Lady, was attacked by an unknown person?"

"Definitely!"

Ryan's face turned solemn, and he turned to walk toward the exit: "I'm going to report to the teacher!"

"Wait!" Misha grabbed his arm.

"Is there something else?" He turned back and asked in confusion.

"We can't report it!"

"Why?" Ryan scanned the faces of Leon and Klaisi. From their expressions, it was clear they supported Misha. "An unidentified person has sneaked into the school, and a victim has already appeared. Are we going to ignore it?"

Wino shrugged: "Are you still confused? They clearly intend to investigate the incident themselves."

Ryan was shocked: "Not allowed!

If the other party has the courage to sneak into Hogwarts, they definitely can't be an ordinary person. How can you three Magic Apprentices deal with them?!"

"It's not the three of us." Misha poked his waist. Just as she was about to speak, she glanced at Wino and hesitated for a moment. Finally, she nodded sharply, seemingly having made a decision, "It's the five of us!"

"Hu-now!" Ryan scolded.

Wino looked indifferent, not supporting either side, and stepped aside to wait for them to argue out a result.

Misha made a bitter face: "Uncle Ryan, this is a great opportunity."

"What great opportunity?"

"It's written like this in books. The protagonist discovers a crisis, takes a risk to solve it, and then receives praise and rewards from the adults."

"We are not protagonists, and the opponent isn't a villain whose death is pre-arranged by the author."

"Uncle Ryan..."

"In any case, it's not allowed!"

Leon and Klaisi wanted to join the persuasion, but the suddenly raised volume made them shiver, and they didn't dare to speak up.

The three of them hung their heads, not knowing what to do. At this time, Wino stood up.

He patted Ryan's shoulder from behind: "Maybe it really is like Misha said.

And most importantly, the long holiday is coming up, isn't it?"

Ryan frowned: "What do you mean?"

"The end-of-term test."

"Impossible. The content and time of the end-of-term test have already been announced."

"That's how you get the element of surprise, isn't it?"

Recalling the "surprise" on the train when they first arrived at the Hogwarts world, Ryan couldn't help but hesitate—the Headmaster did seem to be very fond of surprise tests.

Seeing him waver, Wino quickly added fuel to the fire: "We can set up insurance measures, like recording the events on a Mobile Phone and leaving the phone in the dormitory.

If we really get caught and the teacher doesn't see us in the classroom tomorrow morning, they will definitely go to the dormitory to look for us. Then they'll find the video on the phone."

The teachers and professors at Hogwarts were not old-fashioned people who knew nothing about the outside world. On the contrary, they were very familiar with Blue Star's modern electronic devices, and operating a Mobile Phone was naturally no problem.

Ryan was swayed, but he still had some concerns in his heart. He struggled: "But... even if we go to solve it... we don't have any clues?"

"We do!" Misha jumped excitedly and ran toward the end of the corridor, looking back and waving her hand, "Quick, Uncle Ryan, keep up!"

"Sigh—" Ryan sighed deeply and followed.

Wino smiled and chased after them with Leon and Klaisi.