A Wizard’s Secret

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“What are the benefits of joining Phantom?”

Merlin hesitated before asking.

Heroult pointed at the young woman and laughed, “That’s the reason why I called Lotus here. She’s Phantom’s Logistics Team’s leader.”

Lotus glanced at Merlin and said in a cold voice, “All the Nourishment Pond materials you need, including the formula, can be obtained in the Logistics Team! However, you need contribution points. If it weren’t for Deputy Commander Heroult’s recommendation, someone like you who has never been in an intelligence department would never enter the Logistics Team.”

Merlin’s heart moved. He finally knew where the Nourishment Pond materials Heroult gave him came from. It was most likely obtained from Lotus.

Furthermore, Lotus and Heroult had a close relationship. It was not something simple as a superficial superior-subordinate relationship.

However, Merlin did not wish to know the details. He only needed to know how to access the Nourishment Pond materials. Joining Phantom seemed to be a good choice.

After all, even if the Holy Dragon Empire fell apart, the royal family would not fall as long as they had the Holy Dragon City and the head of the Sacred Lion.

Therefore, the royal family did not have to worry about resources for the time being. By relying on the royal family, there was no need to worry about obtaining Nourishment Pond materials.

“Alright, I’ll join Phantom!”

Merlin quickly made a decision to join Phantom. He may have been restricted and not as free as before, but as long as he could get the Nourishment Pond materials, it was worth it even if he was restricted.

“Very good. Lotus, I’ll leave Leon to you.”

It seemed like Heroult would be leaving the Holy Dragon City for a while. Otherwise, he would not introduce Merlin to Lotus.

“Come with me.”

Lotus nodded before saying coldly to Merlin.

Merlin glanced at Heroult who nodded and followed after Lotus without any hesitation. He could not use the mansion’s carriage, so he could only follow Lotus to the carriage that was prepared beforehand.

“Team leader Lotus, is Heroult leaving the Holy Dragon City?”

Although Merlin had his guesses, he was not clear on the real reason.

“The Deputy Commander has a secret mission. To obtain contribution points, you need to perform missions. Otherwise, the royal family will not provide the Nourishment Pond materials for no reason.”

Lotus seemed to know Merlin’s true purpose in joining Phantom. Nourishment Pond materials and formulae were all provided by the royal family. The power of the royal family was great, and these mere resources were nothing to them.

However, since a reward and penalty system was established, it had to be implemented without hesitation. Contribution points were the most important method. Only with contribution points could one obtain the various resources in Phantom.

“It’s somewhat similar to the practices of some major forces in the past.”

Merlin was not surprised. Since the materials were so precious, the royal family could not give them to many people for no reason.

“How do you obtain contribution points? Do we have to do missions too? What tasks does the Logistics Teams usually do?”

Merlin asked many questions in succession which caused Lotus to frown.

“You ask too many questions. You’ll naturally learn when you reach Phantom. I’ll explain later.”

Then, Lotus leaned on the carriage, closed her eyes, and stopped moving.

Merlin let out a sigh. Seeing Lotus remain silent, he also closed his eyes and quietly waited until the carriage reached Phantom.

After about an hour or so, the carriage gradually stopped. The Holy Dragon City was large, but the carriage spent a full hour’s time. It showed that Phantom was located close to the border of the Holy Dragon Empire.

When Merlin and Lotus got off the carriage, Merlin only saw a deserted castle in front of them. It did not seem like there were any figures around.

“This is Phantom?”

Merlin followed Lotus into the dilapidated castle and saw Lotus walking directly to a corner of the living room where there was an old broken vase.

Just as Merlin was wondering, Lotus put her hand into the broken case and seemed to activate a mechanism.

“Rumble.”

A huge dark passage immediately opened up in the manor, and a ladder that was seemingly bottomless was revealed at a closer look as if danger lurked below.

Just as Merlin was about to descend, Lotus waved her hand and sneered. “If you go down that path, you’ll die. Even full-shifters will be trapped inside!”

Merlin was shocked. This path was a trap?

“Don’t be surprised. Phantom is an intelligence department; how can someone easily find the entrance? Those who aren’t truly from Phantom will never find the entrance. Even if they find this manor, they’ll be misled and enter a dangerous path.”

Saying that, Lotus seemed to feel for something in the vase, and another passage soon appeared in the castle. However, Lotus still did not enter this passage.

There was no doubt that this was also a fake path. If one did not pay attention, they would enter the fake channel, and the situation would become very dangerous.

“Rumble.”

When Lotus opened the third path, she finally walked into it. It turned out that the first two paths were both traps and only the third path was the correct one leading to Phantom Headquarters.

“How secretive.”

Merlin secretly nodded. As expected from the royal family’s intelligence department. Those that wanted to find Phantom would suffer a great loss just from the traps arranged at the entrance.

Even if someone was followed into the abandoned dilapidated castle, they would not find the correct path into Phantom Headquarters.

Merlin followed Lotus onto the path. Although it was very dark, Lotus seemed to be very familiar with it. There was no light at all as they walked towards the depths in darkness.

After a short while, Merlin found that there seemed to be an exit ahead, and it was gradually becoming brighter.

“We’ve reached Headquarters! Remember, you’re now a member of our Logistics Team, and the necessary ceremonies must still be carried out. You must first swear allegiance to the royal family. Of course, this oath is only symbolic, but our Logistics Department places great importance on relationships, and we can’t let other teams find any faults.”

Lotus gave Merlin a few words of warning and took him through the channel. A huge underground square appeared in front of them.

The square was divided into many areas and many people came and went constantly which created a busy scene.

“This is Headquarters?”

Merlin watched carefully. From what he could see alone, Phantom Headquarters seemed to have two to three hundred people. There was no sunshine in the underground square, and the lighting depended on colored glass lights on the top of the underground square. The light emitted was very soft and bright, making the entire square shine as if it was daytime.