Free Web NovelChapter 649: Chapter 6: The Heavily Guarded Imperial Tower
Time slowly ticked away, and Kasmin, being quite the talkative person, engaged in a conversation with Su Changxing, and they quickly became familiar with each other.
"It’s about time now," Kasmin glanced at the green alarm clock on the table and said.
The design of the clock was quite innovative, shaped like an 8, with the clock on top and a small mirror at the bottom.
It gave Su Changxing the illusion that the clock had traveled through time.
A person can hardly break through the limitations of their era, just like in an ordinary world, there are hardly any Extraordinary individuals.
In a world that still lingers in the steam age, having someone design such a clock was surprising to Su Changxing.
"This was also designed by Uncle Eric. He invented something called an electronic clock, which is very convenient. My mother was considering whether to replace the bell clock in the Imperial Tower with an electronic one," Kasmin said wistfully, thinking of her mother.
Su Changxing sensed something unusual. Could this Eric be from another world, perhaps also a Player or some kind of traveler?
"What else has this Eric person invented?" Su Changxing asked.
Kasmin showed an expression of admiration, "Many things were invented by him. His wisdom illuminates this era, and those steamships on the sea are his masterpieces."
Su Changxing fiddled with the alarm clock and found that its energy source was not a battery, but a tube of transparent blue liquid, "What is this?"
"That’s black whale oil," Kasmin said.
"Black whale oil?" Su Changxing frowned, "Is it oil extracted from whales?"
Kasmin shook her head and said, "No, it’s a mixture extracted from minerals. But Uncle Eric’s early invention of energy was whale oil extracted from whales."
"Later, a similar substance synthesized from minerals was called black whale oil, but whale oil is still the main energy source, purer and more stable. Those ships outside all use whale oil."
[Black Whale Oil: A mixture extracted from a certain mineral, usable as an energy source.]
OK.
Terrifying indeed.
Su Changxing realized that if Eric was not a traveler or Player, his creativity had reached a terrifying level.
"Let’s go now. It should be time, and it’s just gotten dark. Their vigilance should be at its lowest at this time," Su Changxing analyzed.
By now, most of his strength had recovered, and he felt quite confident.
If they were discovered, he could still forcefully break through.
The door leading from the safe room to the outside slowly opened without any sound, accompanied by a very slight vibration.
Su Changxing couldn’t help but admire the ingenuity of the mechanism, seemingly utilizing the world’s unique runes combined with steam era technology.
Outside, it was already dark, with only a few stars visible in the moonlit sky.
The guards around were still present, but their numbers had significantly decreased.
"Follow me," Su Changxing motioned to Kasmin as he looked back.
Kasmin noticed how Su Changxing’s figure suddenly blurred and disappeared into the shadows, revealing a look of surprise, "You can use magic!"
To her, this seemed like magic.
In their world, those who could use magic were often branded as heretics, having accepted power from the demons of the Veil Realm, and were universally hated and hunted.
Su Changxing glanced back at her, "This is not magic."
On the city walls, guards patrolled back and forth. As they moved away, Su Changxing led Kasmin to slip over the tin roofs, timing it perfectly.
Kasmin’s stealth skills were exceptional, moving swiftly and silently, and in the shadows, her presence was so low that even Su Changxing found it hard to detect her location.
Yet, a careful eye could clearly see her.
Moving forward, they arrived at a large gate, guarded by four guards on either side. The city wall above had another seven or eight guards, with spotlights from nearby watchtowers scanning the area.
The spotlights could break through stealth, and if caught in its light, they would surely be discovered.
There was no space to pass stealthily; they would either have to take a long detour or force their way through.
Su Changxing squatted in a nearby bush, observing that these guards were not very strong, with only one at Tier Six, while the rest were Tier Seven.
This place was on the outskirts of the Imperial Tower, so even if they forced their way through, they could likely escape without causing too much commotion.
In fact, Su Changxing thought that using the Silent Spear to quietly deal with the guards in the watchtower would be the best approach.
However, he realized that in this world, the restrictions on weapons did not apply to firearms.
But weapons like sniper rifles or silenced pistols, those that surpassed the era, would be suppressed, significantly reducing their power.
Especially his sniper rifle, which was not from the discount store, was almost unusable in this world.
Items from the discount store seemed to have some resistance to such limitations, as they were completely unaffected in the Zombie World.
But in this high-level world, the restrictions were too strong, impacting even discount store items, though they could still be used with reduced power.
The revolver was the least affected among them.
As Su Changxing hesitated, Kasmin took out a crossbow arrow from her back, signaling Su Changxing that she could take out the guards on the watchtower.
Crossbow Arrow?
Su Changxing remembered he also had a bow and arrow, but its power was too weak to kill these guards.
After some thought, he decided to opt for close combat assassination.
As Kasmin moved, he donned his Shadow Cloak, moving forward and gradually closing in on the guards at the gate.
"I heard those City Guard folks are still organizing resistance, really tenacious, but what’s the point?"
```
"The Duke doesn’t want any more casualties, so he let them live. Haha, who knows if they can hold on after tomorrow?"
"I suppose the Princess has already fled. What’s the point of us guarding here?"
"I’ve heard there’s a powerful assassin in the Imperial Tower. He’s killed people, but we haven’t found his location yet. Be careful, he might be nearby already."
"Got it. What powerful assassin? I think he’s just famous in name. Haven’t we killed enough assassins? It’s those heretics that are really troublesome."
...
Su Changxing heard the guards talking loudly from afar. They actually guessed his presence. He wondered if it was a coincidence or something else.
He was always observing Kasmin’s position. They had to act together so they wouldn’t be discovered.
At the moment Kasmin made a move, he guided the White Feather Flashing, displacing to a place behind a guard on the left side of the gate, just beyond the blind spot of the other guards’ vision. Only the person on the watchtower could see him.
Meanwhile.
Kasmin used a crossbow arrow to shoot the guard at the watchtower’s entrance, then quickly climbed up and slashed down the guard who was controlling the long-ranged spotlight.
Su Changxing took down that guard without any commotion. Even though the other three guards were nearby, they didn’t notice anything unusual.
He stepped forward two paces and with a horizontal slash of his scythe, he cut two talking guards in half and used Butcher’s Eye to briefly hypnotize the guard opposite him.
In less than three seconds, four guards were killed by him, without any resistance or noise.
Su Changxing couldn’t help but admire his own skills internally.
As for the guards on the wall, they didn’t bother with them and walked straight out through the gate.
The spotlight was mechanically controlled, and after the controlling guard died, it continued to move on its own. The wall guards didn’t notice anything unusual in a short time.
Walking further ahead.
The guards’ forces became sparse. Under Su Changxing’s guidance, they weaved left and right, circumventing most of the guards and successfully reached the main gate of the Imperial Tower.
The gate was tightly shut, forged from steel, making it very hard to break through, and the city walls were more than ten or twenty meters high.
"It’s hard to get out, and even if we do, we’ll easily be spotted."
Su Changxing noticed more than ten spotlights mounted on the walls, illuminating a large area outside, making it impossible to stealthily approach.
Kasmin gestured: "I have a way. There’s a drainage outlet nearby that leads to the riverbank. We can slide out from there."
"Is it reliable?" Su Changxing found the idea of a passage leading outside within the Imperial Tower rather absurd, thinking it wasn’t afraid of assassins coming in through the passage.
Kasmin smiled and explained, "The drainage channel is blocked by an iron grate, and it’s very steep. The constant water flow makes it impossible to climb up." freёwebnovel.com
Su Changxing touched his chin thoughtfully: "Does that mean we need to open the grate? How do we do that?"
"With a key," said Kasmin.
"Where’s the key?" Su Changxing asked.
Kasmin looked at the ring on Su Changxing’s hand: "That thing on your hand is the key. It’s also a reserved escape route."
Su Changxing couldn’t help but say, "You really thought ahead, planning an escape route when building the Imperial Tower."
"It’s called foresight," Kasmin emphasized.
Following Kasmin’s direction, they reached a drainage outlet near the southern part of the city wall, hidden by weeds that blocked the entire outlet, making it hard for ordinary people to find.
The outlet wasn’t too big or too small, just enough to allow a person to crouch and move forward, likely part of the design.
Below, it was damp, and the air was filled with a stench, but it wasn’t too overpowering.
"The toilet’s water doesn’t drain out here, right?" Su Changxing said. freewёbnoνel.com
Kasmin was uncertain: "There might be, but not much. The drainage pipes have been remodeled many times, so many parts are interconnected."
"Alright, I can already confirm there’s a smell of feces here."
Su Changxing saw a prompt from "True Knowledge" and couldn’t help but criticize.
[Dirty water mixed with feces: Not recommended for drinking, as it’s bad for health. But if you’re really thirsty, you might want to try.]
Ha, this kind of unnecessary information was analyzed very clearly.
Su Changxing held his breath, proceeding along the drainage channel. After about 10 meters, the slope became steeper, and the water flow increased.
The pipes were covered with things like moss, making them slippery. Without special means, the larger water flow made it easy to be washed down.
"This design is clever, channeling all the wastewater to one place and then flushing it away."
Soon, it became hard to stay stable, forcing him to slide down with the water. After more than ten seconds, with a crisp sound, he heavily crashed into the grate.
Subsequently, Kasmin also slid down from behind, and he caught her in his arms.
"Are you okay?" Kasmin asked, hearing the loud sound and knowing Su Changxing had hit the grate.
Due to the grate blocking, the water flow was somewhat eased, submerging half the channel.
"I’m fine," Su Changxing replied.
His body strength was high, so such an impact didn’t cause much harm, although it did make him feel some pain.
Then, he pressed down on the lock hole on the grate and turned it.
Bright runes emerged on the grate.
About half a second later, the grate suddenly opened, and the two followed the force of the water downward once more.
