CHAPTER 624: CHAPTER 621: THE BRAND-NEW PORT AREA

"The great detective, Ronald, returned to the mansion and reclaimed the three most crucial items he was best at using."

"So, the pursuit of the criminal suspect became much smoother."

"..."

In the air around.

The narration announced the progress with a very joyful tone.

But as a beginner,

Tobacco was definitely not a good experience for Ronald.

Yet, under the immense lure of deciphering the maze, he bravely kept trying the pipe in his hand in exchange for precise analysis of the maze’s layout, time after time.

—The effect was immediate.

Paths through the maze that would take him minutes to unravel before, Ronald could now see through almost at a glance with the aid of his tools.

With such a dramatic increase in speed,

Their efficiency in moving forward was only slightly worse than traveling in the normal urban areas.

"Cough cough cough—"

Maintaining the efficiency of a heavy smoker, when they left the riverside district and reached the commercial district, Patricia asked with concern, accompanied by another bout of violent coughing from Ronald,

"Ronald, are you alright?"

"If it’s really unbearable, perhaps we could swap tasks?"

"..."

Ronald turned and looked at Patricia beside him.

Under the picture-book-style worldview, the girl’s already neat appearance, with a slight frown of concern, seemed inappropriately cute for a swordsman.

—Ronald felt he shouldn’t break this cuteness.

So, he waved his hand and rejected the suggestion.

"It’s okay, this isn’t too much of a problem for me."

"Alright then..."

After a brief exchange, Ronald and Patricia continued deeper into the commercial district.

This journey was quite familiar to Ronald.

Back when he was working for the Ginkgo Leaf Business Alliance, he used to pass by this area frequently on his way to and from work. Therefore, he was almost intimately familiar with the architectural layout of this district.

With the assistance of his pipe tool to decipher mazes,

In less than half an hour, Ronald and Patricia already arrived at a fairly central location in the commercial district.

"..."

At that moment, Patricia glanced down at the compass in her hand.

With the direction indicated by this tool, they kept a constant track of the location of the five "Nine Commandments" Casters.

—The situation was highly favorable.

Those guys were still lingering in the dreadful maze within the slums.

Just as Ronald had analyzed previously.

The difficulty of solving it was definitely at an unimaginably high level!

And their exaggeratedly slow pace even made Patricia somewhat doubt the reliability of the compass in her hand.

Thus, after entering the commercial district and confirming the location of the "Nine Commandments" members for the sixteenth time, the girl couldn’t help but speak up:

"Ronald, do you really think there’s nothing wrong with the reliability of this compass? Those people have been delayed at one spot for almost half an hour! As the holders of the original text and users of the Complete Technique, isn’t their speed way too slow?"

"This doesn’t make sense!"

Ronald nodded in agreement with Patricia’s idea and, out of an understanding of the rules of the picture book maze, began to say,

"If everyone follows the rules of this maze world, then I think they..."

His explanation had just begun when Ronald abruptly stopped speaking,

for he saw a slightly larger black cat crouched beside a building in the commercial district ahead.

Although the picture book world’s artistic style was adorable, many of its features remained consistent.

Based on appearances alone, there was no doubt that this was a relative of the initial black kitten they had encountered when they first entered this world—the one that mentioned wanting to eat pancakes!

The initial black kitten had provided the first clue in the pursuit of the fugitives.

Therefore, this one before their eyes was unlikely to be much different.

With a plan in mind, Ronald immediately plastered on a smile and approached:

"This one..."

"I know you, the great detective Ronald,"

the black kitten cut off Ronald’s attempt to cozy up. The adorable little creature just lay on the ground, rubbing its head, its tone revealing an unexpectedly calm demeanor:

"The great black cat clan is always well-informed. I’ve already received news from other friends in the city about how you’ve just helped my relative and about the conquest of the Sphinx."

"However, the harbor district you’re trying to pass through is not simple. It’s the most perilous and difficult area of the entire Springs Great Maze!"

"..."

Ronald was already familiar with this maze game.

After hearing the black kitten’s description, he immediately began thoughtfully:

"Since that’s the case, how can I get help to crack the maze?"

"You’ve come to the right cat!" The black kitten looked quite pleased with Ronald’s response, then stretched out, stood up, and with a light leap, landed on Ronald’s shoulder. "Take me to the port with you, and then buy me a boat ticket. That’s all the price you’ll need to pay."

Ronald’s tone was somewhat curious:

"Buying you a boat ticket... do you plan to go out to sea?"

The black kitten, with a brazen expression, did not hesitate to reply:

"Of course! The great Allenx will take a ship to the New World. There, our black cat clan’s plan for world domination will receive a significant boost!"

"..."

Ronald silently accepted the reality of the kitty’s plan for world domination.

He made no comment.

Instead, he simply waved to Patricia and, reverting to a group of two people and a cat, continued on towards the harbor district.

About a quarter of an hour passed.

The trio finally made it through the commercial district’s maze.

What appeared before them was the final obstacle of the picture book maze—the harbor district.

Just looking at the situation in the harbor district ahead, Ronald understood the black kitten’s description of this place.

—It was indeed the most perilous and difficult area.

The picture book maze’s transformation of this area could be described as fundamental.

The entire urban district that was previously constructed around a giant port now presented a completely different posture in the world of the maze.

Diverse sampan wooden bridges connected the numerous dock rudders, and the different types of vessels turned this already complex place into an even more chaotic space.

And beyond that—there was nothing but seawater.

The seawater, completely blocking all walkable roads, had turned the entire urban area into a structure similar to the Venice Water City. Rather than saying this was an urban district on land, it was more like a castle built upon the sea.

Moreover, with Ronald’s vision,

he could even see sea monsters lurking beneath the surface of the water, looking ready to launch an attack on the pedestrians on the shore at any moment!