Chapter 377: Chapter 376 Probability
Just as Li Ang’s teammates were absorbing lessons from his utterly shameless and unscrupulous methods, a knock sounded on the door of their hotel room.
The visitor was the secretary of the Governor of Mori City.
He explained the situation: just a moment ago, while the Governor was in the conference hall receiving the mermaid delegation, he had received a secret letter from the Rune Kingdom Capital.
The letter was from a mysterious VIP. The Governor had previously reported to this person about Li Ang and his companions, explaining their situation.
In this reply, the VIP expressed great interest in the Eastern Monks’ miraculous medical abilities and wished to hire them to perform a secret surgery in the Rune Capital.
Li Ang stood in the living room, rubbing his chin. "Hmm..." he mused, then suddenly asked the secretary, "What is the name of this VIP?"
"I’m sorry, I don’t know either," the secretary said helplessly. "But I can assure you, he must be exceptionally powerful. Gaining his friendship can only bring benefits; there are no downsides."
Li Ang and his teammates exchanged glances and agreed. They needed a reason to travel to the Rune Kingdom Capital anyway. Their original plan was to accompany the mermaid delegation, so a faster way was naturally preferable.
The VIP’s need was apparently so urgent that he had immediately booked them first-class train tickets for a compartment departing that very afternoon.
The secretary handed the train tickets to Li Ang and the others, then left the hotel, asking the Eastern Monks to make some brief preparations.
After he left, Li Ang and his team immediately started discussing their strategy.
"From the current situation, it’s very possible that the VIP is either Princess Anna or the Snow Queen herself," John Joyce said urgently. "Should we go?"
"We definitely should go; we just need a reason to get there," Li Ang said with narrowed eyes. "If it really is the Snow Queen who’s fallen ill, then all of this would make sense."
"Suppose it’s the Snow Queen or her sister who arranged this consultation," Julia said softly. "Then according to their plan, we will definitely be surveilled along the way. And once we reach our destination, we will probably be closely guarded, with no chance to utilize the Magic Mirror or gather intelligence. We’ll need to be prepared."
"Mm-hmm." Li Ang glanced at the train ticket, considered the timing, and without another word, took out the Magic Mirror shard and activated its fifth Special Effect.
[Special Effect: False Prophecy. The user touches the Magic Mirror to prompt it to predict the probability of their death within the next twenty-four hours and the percentage of various fundamental causes of death. No consumption, cooldown time seventy-two hours.]
As Li Ang pressed his finger against the Magic Mirror shard, rows of data materialized on its surface.
[Probability of death within the next twenty-four hours: 0.05%]
[Fundamental causes of death percentage: acute cardiac tamponade due to ruptured coronary artery aneurysm 20%, mechanical injury 19%, mechanical asphyxiation 17%, Thunderbolt 11%, temperature-related injuries 10%, exogenous poisoning 7%, decapitation 4%, strangulation 1%...]
The data was dense and somewhat unsettling just to look at.
However, Li Ang didn’t care in the least; instead, he observed the possible causes of his future demise with considerable interest.
"A death probability of only 0.05% within the next twenty-four hours means that as long as I don’t tempt fate, there won’t be any danger," Li Ang said calmly. "The fundamental causes of death... these should be the potential ways I might die if an accident occurs, likely during a battle with the Spellcasters’ army. For acute cardiac tamponade due to a ruptured coronary artery aneurysm to have a higher percentage than mechanical injuries... that’s quite interesting."
The others didn’t dare make a peep. Even though 0.05% was a small probability, it wasn’t negligible, and they were genuinely afraid that Li Ang might vent his frustration about his potential future causes of death on them.
Li Ang pondered for a moment, then buried his doubts. Since the probability of death was not high, he decided against using the Magic Mirror’s sixth Special Effect, "Temporarily Undead."
Later, the players briefly organized their equipment and items. Li Ang instructed Smoker, Bo, and John Joyce to head to the train station first and wait, while he and Julia went to the Governor to offer their farewells (and also to confirm the details), before proceeding to the station to catch the train.
Smoker, Bo, and John Joyce were already waiting in the train compartment, accompanied by two lower-ranking officials in uniform. These two were likely Advanced Casters directly subordinate to authorities in the Capital, accompanying Li Ang’s group as much for protection as for surveillance.
Fairy World’s lopsided technological development was quite apparent. The streets of its bustling cities were still mostly filled with horse-drawn carriages, and automobiles were a rarity. Yet, train technology was surprisingly advanced, offering smooth and fast travel.
Li Ang quietly flipped through a book. John Joyce played cards with Bo and Smoker, while Julia leaned against the window, dozing.
After an eight-hour journey, the group arrived at the Rune Kingdom Capital’s train station at night. Under the guidance of the two Spellcasters, they boarded a spacious carriage.
The carriage’s curtains were black as ink, completely blocking out any light.
Inside the carriage, two officials were waiting. They held several long black silk ribbons—not for strangling Li Ang and his companions, but for blindfolding them.
Li Ang and his companions put on the black silk ribbons, their eyes covered, and sat in the carriage as it moved silently through the Capital.
The carriage circled the city a few times, but such minor subterfuge was largely ineffective against Spellcasters. Moreover, Li Ang possessed an excellent sense of direction and had already memorized the map of the Rune Kingdom Capital countless times before arriving.
By calculating the elapsed time using his pulse, relying on his excellent sense of direction, and referencing the map in his mind, Li Ang quickly determined that the carriage had stopped at an apartment building near the Governor’s mansion.
People were waiting outside the apartment building. They led the blindfolded Li Ang and the others inside and up to the third floor.
There was a noticeable bustle of activity on the third floor, and the air was filled with a peculiar smell. Li Ang, who had practically steeped himself in Magic Potions for the past few days, clearly recognized it as a Mandala Datura Magical Potion.
Its specific effect was to enhance the user’s cardiopulmonary functions, and it was used specifically to treat or alleviate severe congenital heart diseases.
The ingredients for the Mandala Datura Magical Potion were rare, its refinement process arduous, and its price exorbitant—affordable only by the great nobility.
Most crucially, one of the potion’s key ingredients was fresh human blood drawn from the heart. This meant that creating a Mandala Datura Magical Potion typically cost a human life.
This type of potion had long been officially banned. Its formula could now only be found in museum archives or the treasured collections of secret sects.
Judging by the strong medicinal scent in the air, this person must have been taking the potion long-term and in doses far exceeding the normal amount.
As Li Ang and his group arrived, the sounds of movement in the apartment building lessened considerably. However, these people were completely unaware that Li Ang and his companions possessed special Scout abilities, allowing them to perceive their forms even through the blindfolds.
These individuals were all dressed in uniforms. Judging from the nameplates on their chests, they all held important positions in the Capital.
This meant... the important person lying here had to be Princess Anna—sister of Her Majesty the Snow Queen of the Rune Kingdom, and the de facto ruler of several kingdoms.
The other companions also realized the implications and couldn’t help but feel nervous. They had been under the watchful eyes of the Spellcasters the entire time, with no opportunity to use the Magic Mirror’s detection function to scan the building.
But it was obvious that the team responsible for Princess Anna’s security would be from the most elite and formidable Spellcaster organization in the land.
They were deep in enemy territory. If their guards discovered the Magic Mirror fragments the players carried, or sensed anything amiss...
John Joyce and the others grew somewhat nervous as the Spellcasters led each of them into separate small rooms, removed their blindfolds, and conducted body searches.
All the Magic Mirror fragments the players had collected had previously been handed over to Li Ang for safekeeping. However, the security personnel conducting the searches apparently failed to find the mirror on him.
After emerging from the small rooms, his teammates looked at Li Ang with peculiar expressions, as if wondering whether he possessed some bizarre storage device like a Four-dimensional Chrysanthemum.
Amidst their doubts, the players were led by security personnel into a sickroom on the fourth floor of the apartment building. There, in the sickroom, they saw Princess Anna.