Chapter 67: Pre-Eve
The shelling continued for three more days. The Olympus Tree, though shaken, showed no signs of collapsing.
So, Boniface, in his fury, ordered that even the mortars still under repair in the warehouse be brought out for a full-scale bombardment to destroy Olympia’s defenses as quickly as possible.
The tense state of preparation within the city also continued for a long time. It was ironic that both sides were preparing for war, but against vastly different enemies.
That afternoon, Hood was sitting in a chair in the common room, watching TV, when the screen suddenly filled with static.
The static was fleeting, quickly returning to normal.
A moment later, the screen was filled with static again.
Is the TV broken? Hood took the wall-mounted TV off the wall and began to disassemble and inspect it.
The result of his inspection was that all the electronic components seemed to have unstable resistance.
Just as Hood was scratching his head, Asker’s voice came from the doorway.
“What are you doing?”
“The TV is broken,” Hood said. “It looks like all these components need to be replaced. What a hassle.”
“Oh, the TV is broken.” Asker suddenly seemed to remember something. “Broken? All the components have problems?”
“Yeah, maybe it’s internal aging.” Hood said uncertainly. All the components aging at the same time? That was strange.
Asker immediately called all the girls out and announced solemnly:
“Everyone, take out your phones.”
Girls: ???
“Any important information on your phones, write it down and back it up in your notebooks. Print out any pictures as soon as possible. There’s no way to back up audio files. Listen to them while your phones still work.”
“Asker?” Nuo asked strangely. “Why back up the information on our phones? Is someone going to confiscate them?”
“No.” Asker was about to explain when he saw Quintus enter the barracks.
“The magic tide is coming early, expected around 6:30 tonight. Has Miss Peggy mastered her sword technique yet?”
“Not yet.” Asker shook his head. “It came too quickly; we probably won’t make it in time according to the plan.”
Quintus sighed and took an object from his waist, handing it over.
“What’s this?” Asker asked.
“A Golden Finger,” Quintus said.
“What Golden Finger?”
“Something to help Miss Peggy improve her stealing ability,” Quintus said.
Asker picked up the object and realized it seemed to be an index finger model cast in gold. The fingernail, fingertip, fingerprints… every detail was incredibly lifelike.
“Want to try it?” Asker handed it to Peggy.
“How do I use this?” Peggy asked.
“Just activate it with your spirituality.” Asker said.
Peggy tried to extend her spirituality. The moment it touched the Golden Finger, she felt the spirituality in her mind expand like water, her perception suddenly sharpening.
She could even “see” all the valuable items in the room. For example, the Thermal Blade at her waist, Asker’s Desert Eagle, the small pendant inside Eleanor’s underwear, etc., all shone with a “high-value” light in her vision.
She just needed to focus her attention to roughly estimate their value.
However, the brightest light was still Nuo. The seemingly ordinary clothes, skirt, shoes, underwear she was wearing, the watch on her wrist, the hairpin in her hair, and even the notebook and pen in her backpack, all shone with a terrifying “astronomical price” light.
It almost blinded Peggy.
“What’s wrong?” Seeing Peggy’s eyes redden and tears welling up, Asker hurriedly asked, “Why are you crying?”
They had even brought out a supernatural item. If it still didn’t work for you, things would be troublesome.
“Nothing.” Peggy wiped her eyes. “I just felt a pang of poverty.”
Asker: …
Focusing her attention back on herself, she concentrated on meditating on her own image, then used her surging “Steal” ability to pull it outwards forcefully.
“It’s out!” The girls cheered.
Peggy looked closely and saw a “herself” standing next to her. Whether it was her facial features, body details, or clothes, pants, and boots, everything was exactly the same.
A strange feeling connected the two. Peggy could sense that the other came from her own mental body. As long as she moved her mind slightly, the other would follow suit.
“That’s great.” Quintus said urgently. “Come with me to the treetop to set up defenses immediately.”
The Azure Longsword mercenary group arrived at the treetop and saw mages busy running around everywhere.
It was around 6:20 pm, and the Crusader shelling from the foot of the mountain seemed to have weakened. Judging from the wisps of smoke rising from the plain, they should have temporarily stopped to eat.
Olympia, however, was in no mood for dinner. The mages were adjusting the magic circle and performing calculations, while the city guards were running around, moving equipment here and there according to the mages’ instructions.
The Spartans, along with their men, had gone to various locations in the city to set up defenses.
The girls of Azure Longsword were boredly backing up information on the treetop, while watching the incoming artillery fire from the foot of the mountain explode on the scale magic circle outside the Olympus Tree, blooming into brilliant flowers of smoke and fire.
“What’s the magic tide like?” Nuo sat beside Asker and asked curiously.
“When the magic tide level cap rises from level 5 to level 10, your phones, pads, laptops, and so on, any device containing electronic components, will spontaneously combust during this period.” Asker replied.
Nuo: …
“Then what should we do?” She asked in confusion.
“That’s why I told you to back up the information on paper.” Asker said. “Don’t trust anything electronic, it will all be destroyed during the magic tide surge. The only things that can be preserved are notes and your brain.”
Just as he finished speaking, all the lights around them went out.
Olympia had stopped all electricity-related production activities and cut off all power supply.
“Olympia has lost power!” As the light around the Olympus Tree dimmed, this news began to spread among the Crusaders.
They firmly believed that it was the Crusaders’ bombardment that caused Olympia’s power supply to overload, leading to a city-wide blackout.
So the Crusaders’ offensive became even more fierce.
On the treetop, Nuo looked boredly at the darkening sky and suddenly pointed above her head:
“Hey, Captain!”
“Hmm?”
“Look at the moon tonight, it seems a bit red, doesn’t it?” Nuo asked.
“Indeed.” Asker observed carefully, and it seemed that the moonlight was indeed a bit reddish.
“And it seems bigger than usual.” Nuo said strangely.
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