Chapter 361: Chapter 361: Advancement
The carriage etched with dark gold crow carvings.

Three horses covered in black mist to draw it forward.

Only one man in the Holy City had such a carriage, that could leave the city without inspection.

“Mr. Black White’s real status within the Holy City far surpasses the Head of the Division plus a Chief of Staff of the Plague Knights.

He truly is the recognized ‘prophet’.

It is estimated that Mr. Black White, through astrology, solves a quarter of the yearly workload of the Thirteen Knight Orders.

Forewarning is really all-important.”

Inside the carriage.

Dumps and Han Dong sat facing each other.

He had received permission from Mr. Black White to join Han Dong on a trip outside the city.

However, Dumps wouldn’t follow Han Dong to Stuart Manor, but would disembark midway.

In this way, all of Han Dong’s worries were alleviated.

After all, Han Dong did not want anyone to know the secrets about the Manor.

The trip outside the city was pre-set for 108 hours. Once the time is up, they meet up in the location where Dumps disembark, and return to the city together.

“Dumps, where are you going?” Han Dong asked.

With his pinky slightly tilting the bangs hanging on his eye-brows, Dumps whispered:

“To a place where I can train my ‘Fingers’.

I haven’t been able to find a way to get out of the city without suspicion for quite a long time.

Thanks to you this time.”

“Well… Since I leave the city quite frequently, you can tell me whenever you need to go.”

As long as it didn’t involve the secrets of the Manor, Han Dong was okay with taking Dumps along with him… not to mention, the two had a mutually beneficial relationship.

The carriage took a completely different route than usual.

As per Dumps’s request, the carriage crossed the forest and arrived at the edge of a cliff several hundred meters high.

At the edge of the cliff, where there should’ve been nothing, there was a Black Stone House, mysteriously built using sharply spiked black stones.

On the spikes of the black stones, many ‘strings of fingers’ were hung.

Clearly, this Black Stone House was precisely for picking up Dumps.

Actively picking up.

Which shows that Dumps’s status outside the city was not inferior to his status inside the city.

If one was to trace it back to the source, they might find a rather terrifying background.

“Then, we’ll meet again in three days.”

After waiving goodbye, Dumps instantly entered the Black Stone House standing on the edge of the cliff.

For a moment, the entire house began shaking, then it detached completely from the cliff…

Upon closer inspection.

The bottom of the Black Stone House had grown two legs as tall as the cliff. Its leg surface similarly grew black, spike-like ‘leg hairs’, carrying the black stone house slowly away.

“Dumps Martin… He has quite a deep background.”

Without wasting too much time.

The carriage immediately headed towards the Manor.

…….

Caw Caw Caw!

Two crowman elders flew out of the castle to greet Han Dong.

“Congratulations on securing your precious treasure!”

“Also congratulations on your increase in power!”

These crowmen, who had reached the level of ‘demon’, had amazing observation skills. They could see the aura of a treasure emanating from Han Dong… especially a particularly dazzling light source, that made these crowmen, who had been living in the dark outside the city, a bit wary.

“I will be living in the Manor for four days, I might ask for your help with some knowledge about ‘Crow Magic’.”

The Crowman elder bowed slightly, “Caw~ we’ll fulfill any request.”

“Oh, and…”

Han Dong immediately removed his gloves.

Instantly transforming into Duo Zeya.

But compared to before, Duo Zeya’s condition seemed quite odd.

In the world of Strange Tales, Duo Zeya had merged with Han Dong several times, and also been nourished by the essence of the Faceless Head Skull, it had battled powerful Strange Tales during this fusion period.

Duo Zeya was now in a state of ‘Meditation’.

“Oh! It’s about to advance… Please allow me to take Duo Zeya back to the castle! After all, it represents our crowman tribe and is always at your side, protecting you. We can’t afford any mistakes in the process of its advancement.”

“Can I observe the advancement process?”

“Please follow me, sir.”

Han Dong was also quite curious about the advancement process of the crowmen.

He immediately followed the elders to the castle.

The grand castle, which used to have a complex design and many different zones, had been remodeled by the elders, turning most of the first floor’s walls into an open hall, adorned with vine and branch decorations.

Duo Zeya was placed in the center of the hall, within a formation created mainly from skull, black water, and branches materials.

It was visible to the naked eye that Duo Zeya in a meditative state was absorbing energy from the formation.

In a short while, a phenomenon of flesh squirming appeared at its neck…it was about to grow a second head.

A crowman elder explained on the side: “We crowmen lean towards the ‘Wizard’, and advancement mainly manifests in the ‘brain domain’… so from the outside, it mainly shows on the head.

The formation of two heads will allow Duo Zeya to store more dark energy, and while enhancing its thinking, it will allow it to format spells inside its head more easily.

When the time comes for a deep pact with you again, it will be able to provide even greater power.”

“Hmm… Duo Zeya is quite useful.

Speaking of which, will the formation of the second head also bring about a second consciousness?”

“No. An additional head is just a manifestation of the expansion of the ‘brain domain’, the consciousness is still only one… we crowmen are low-rank beings, we can’t compare to your brain.”

“Haha.”

With the formation of Duo Zeya’s second head.

Its body’s feathers grew much more fuller, shiny, and black.

“Caw! Sir…thank you!”

Due to the formation of the second head, Duo Zeya’s language ability was basically perfected, and it could speak an accented, stuttering tongue.

However, from Duo Zeya’s gaze, it seemed to still have a bit of timidness. Becoming stronger did not change its weak personality.

“Rarely do you return to the tribe, so for these few days feel free to do what you like in the Manor.”

“Yes.”

“Elders, you don’t need to pay too much attention to me… I’m going to the underground area first.”

Han Dong instantly took a secret path within the castle that had been preserved, and like sliding down a slide, directly arrived at the core experimental zone underground.

On prior visits to the Manor, Swollen Doctor always came to greet him.

Today, there was no movement.

“Oh…the lab’s construction is basically completed. But, the Doctor’s aesthetic style is somewhat ‘dangerous’… Speaking of which, where is the Doctor?”

While walking in the lab area styled like ‘brain neurons’, he saw no sign of the Doctor.

However…

A piece of craftsmanship not far away caught Han Dong’s attention.

The surface was connected with various pipes and metal wires and the interior was embedded with gears and small hydraulic devices.

“This is…a brain?”