Thud.
A cup of coffee was placed on the table, and its rich aroma spread along with the steam.
"Apton, your coffee."
"Thanks."
The man with glasses quickly took the cup, took a sip, and continued typing away on the keyboard.
"Here, Zeke."
The woman in red, Veronica, handed another cup of coffee to the man with the ponytail.
Zeke took the coffee and frowned. "Still haven't found that woman?"
Veronica shook her head. "No. We've searched the forest five times. The sensors set up on the beach and in the shallow waters haven't been triggered. We've checked every hiding spot in the factory."
"The sausage production workshop?"
"Checked."
"The prison cells?"
"Also checked."
"Is there anywhere on this island that we haven't accounted for? A secret chamber? A cave, a dungeon?"
Zeke's voice grew louder, and for a moment, no one in the room dared to speak.
No one knew the layout of this island better than Zeke.
Their surveillance covered nearly the entire island—aside from personal dormitories and bathrooms, which still retained some privacy, every other accessible area was monitored.
Yet, an adult woman—who didn't even seem particularly smart—had vanished from the island without leaving a single trace. It was as if she had disappeared into thin air, just as mysteriously as she had appeared.
Zeke narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze across the room, his voice was cold as ice.
"Could it be… that someone is secretly helping her? Hmm?"
His gaze moved from one person to another.
Veronica—also a woman—sometimes showed sympathy for the children on the island, and sometimes even sneaked them a few pieces of candy.
Apton—the man with glasses—short, fat, and cowardly, with no women interested in him… And that blonde woman who sneaked in, though foolish, was undeniably beautiful.
What about the others on the island? Could there be an undercover agent sent by the wizards? Or someone under the wizards' magical control?
They say there's a kind of love potion that can make people fall so deeply in love that they would even abandon their own family...
Everyone under his suspicious gaze shuddered involuntarily, afraid that they might be the next to be dragged away for interrogation.
This island was filled with things far worse than death.
Veronica quickly spoke up, "Actually, I've always wondered— is that woman really still on the island?"
Meeting the man's icy stare, she forced herself to continue, "Maybe she's already escaped… After all, wizards can fly, turn invisible, or even transform into mermaids and leave through the sea…"
Zeke's eyes flickered as he stared at her, and a thin layer of cold sweat began forming on Veronica's forehead.
Suddenly, the man with glasses, Apton, noticed a brief blur on one of the surveillance screens. He instinctively leaned in for a closer look, but the image quickly returned to normal.
—Maybe a bird just shook the camera a little?
He checked the signals from the sensors again. He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but a few of them seemed to be transmitting at slightly higher levels than usual… about 10% higher.
He opened his mouth to say something but, sensing the tense atmosphere in the room, wisely decided to keep quiet.
If Zeke checked and found nothing wrong, then the one in trouble for giving a false alarm would be him.
Zeke, unaware of Apton's hesitation, frowned and said, "Then how do you explain the messages on the Book of Friends?"
Hearing this, Veronica immediately knew that he had the same suspicion as she did. She let out a quiet sigh of relief and picked up a blank sheet of paper from the table.
"The Book of Friends— it's a wizard's invention. The alchemist-made copies controlled by us may look almost identical to the real thing, but they're not exactly the same."
"What if she's already figured out how we're tracking her? Then every message she sends is just playing us for fools."
"She's making us believe she's still on the island, focusing our search efforts here, when in reality, she's using that distraction to escape…"
Veronica's voice was soft, and her smile was enchanting.
Apton, unconsciously, glanced at her reflection in the monitor, admiring her curvaceous figure.
As he stared, something moved in his peripheral vision. He instinctively looked—
It was a tabby cat pawing at a surveillance camera.
—A cat?
Relieved, Apton shifted his gaze away. But just two seconds later, his heart suddenly dropped, like he had missed a step on a staircase.
—Wait. The only pet on this island is Veronica's white cat. Where did this tabby come from?
He whipped his head back to the screen, but the cat was gone. Panicking, he quickly pulled up all the surveillance feeds in that area. After some frantic searching, he found it again.
The tabby cat was standing in front of the electrical panel. Somehow, it had managed to open the cover and was now raising a soft little paw toward the thick electrical cables inside.
A tiny ball of fluff standing before the massive electrical box, baring its tiny fangs at cables thicker than its own tail— the scene should have been comical.
But Apton felt nothing but dread.
Unable to stop himself, he shouted, "STOP—!"
Everyone in the room turned to look at him, confused.
Zeke hadn't even made a move against Veronica; in fact, the two of them had just started drinking their coffee.
But on the screen, the tabby cat, oblivious to Apton's outburst, casually swung its paw.
A flash of cold light streaked through the air—
The thick cable snapped in two, the cut smooth as glass.
The screen suddenly went dark.
Apton sat dumbfounded in his chair, unable to comprehend what he had just witnessed.
On the surrounding large monitors, twenty or thirty surveillance feeds turned black one after another, as if a massive mosaic had been plastered across them.
"What happened?"
Zeke and the others were shocked.
In response, more screens plunged into total darkness, leaving only a few struggling to stay operational.
Across the island, large sections lost their lighting, the once-roaring machines fell silent, and the conveyor belts that ran ceaselessly throughout the facility ground to a halt.
In one of the rooms, a boy with dull, lifeless eyes suddenly lit up with a spark of hope. He let out muffled cries and thrashed desperately, but the restraints binding him to the bed held firm.
The people in surgical protective suits standing nearby exchanged glances.
"What's going on?"
"A power outage?"
"Hold on a moment. Maybe it's just maintenance."
Their voices remained flat, as if completely oblivious to the tear-streaked boy struggling on the bed.
A few minutes later, the backup generator kicked in, and the metallic clatter of medical instruments resumed in the room.
In another room, Haley looked up at the lights flickering back on. Her pupils shrank as if stung by the brightness, and she quickly raised her small hands to shield her eyes.
Beside her sat a plump woman, who smiled and said, "The power lines might be unstable… Don't worry about it. Let's continue reading, okay?"
Haley asked softly, "Once we finish, can I go back?"
The plump woman gave her a curious look. "Go back? Why would you want to? Do you like the prison cell?"
"No," Haley shook her head, then added, "But Mabel is still waiting for me!"
The woman stroked her fine, soft hair and said, "Mabel has her mission, and you have your own path. Be good, Haley."
Haley's small body trembled slightly. She lowered her head in silence.
The woman praised her, "Good girl."
The room fell into a quiet rhythm, the only sound being the gentle flipping of book pages.
Haley was very thirsty, but when she glanced up at the woman, she didn't dare ask for water.
She lowered her head again.
In her hands was a picture book—the story of Little Red Riding Hood, who was eaten by the Big Bad Wolf and later rescued by the hunter.
In the corner of the book, someone had scribbled a faint, blurry name in pencil.
[Salah]
Haley remembered that strange child—his skin was very dark, and he lived in the room diagonally across from them.
Sometimes, he would sing songs that no one could understand. Other times, in broken English, he would tell them about the animals on the grasslands or how he had fought other children for water.
It all sounded as if he came from another world.
Had he also been brought to this place to read books over a month ago?
Suddenly, the door to the reading room was pushed open. A woman in green stood at the entrance.
"Bring her in."
She said.
The plump woman pulled Haley up by the hand. As she stood, she turned back in confusion and saw the final page of the picture book—Little Red Riding Hood, rescued by the hunter, happily reunited with her grandmother.
A gust of wind from the hallway flipped the pages with a loud rustle—now it was showing the scene where the Big Bad Wolf swallowed Little Red Riding Hood whole.
…
At that moment, chaos had erupted across most of the island.
Strange creatures had suddenly appeared everywhere. They had adorable appearances, but their razor-sharp claws and fangs told a different story.
With just a casual swipe, they could slice through thick electrical cables and metal frames. The automatic machine guns installed along the walls had no chance to fire before they were shredded into pieces.
Birds, resembling sparrows, swooped down from the sky—their sharp beaks piercing through soldiers' thighs like bullets. Guards holding guns collapsed to the ground and were screaming in pain.
Swordsmen charged forward in great strides, while women, resembling housekeepers, swung pruning shears to shatter the arms of guards.
Tiny figures, no bigger than a human forearm—or even as small as a fist—charged into battle with enough force to send adults flying.
And the strangest part? Even brooms and dustpans were attacking the base—
Slender brooms, though seemingly unmanned, spun wildly, smashing both weapons and people out of the way.
Dustpans, wielding themselves like hammers, struck down upon soldiers, sending them fleeing in panic.
Some soldiers who hadn't yet been attacked quickly grabbed their guns and fired back, the "bang! bang! bang!" of gunshots echoing continuously.
A small cat, even after losing one leg, continued leaping and attacking with remarkable agility on its remaining three.
The rest of the creatures and objects, even when hit by bullets, barely reacted. As if they couldn't feel pain, they would momentarily pause before resuming their assault.
Only a few of them would suddenly stop moving, collapse to the ground, and never rise again.
"Aim for the head! Shoot these monsters in the head!"
Someone had successfully "killed" a leopard and hurriedly shouted his discovery to the others.
A soldier, struggling not to be flung away by a spinning broom, cried out, "Where the hell is this thing's head?! You tell me where it is!"
The bristles at the top of the broom hardly looked like a weak spot.
A second later, the soldier was sent flying through the air in a perfect arc.
Not everyone was as unlucky as him, though. Most attackers had clearly defined "heads."
Immediately, the scattered gunfire focused on headshots. The leading maid creature had her head riddled with bullets, nearly turned into a sieve.
The soldier in front of her grinned with joy and shouted, "Die, you monster!"
But in the next instant, he was struck so hard that his entire body was embedded into the ground.
Silence fell.
Under the horrified gazes of those around, the headless maid reached up, touched the small remaining part of her skull, and then—
She suddenly went berserk, launching a frenzied assault on the surrounding soldiers.
Everyone was nearly scared out of their wits. With a shriek, they threw down their guns and ran for their lives.
The headless maid roared and chased after them, followed closely by all sorts of bizarre attackers.
A pack of hunting dogs that had just been released found themselves face-to-face with the charging headless maid. Letting out a fearful whimper, they tucked their tails between their legs and turned to flee, their pitiful cries of "whimper whimper whimper" echoing behind them.
The soldiers had no time to fight back—at this moment, they only wished they had more legs to run faster.
"Buzzzzz——"
Suddenly, a deep humming sound echoed across the island.
Everyone knew what this meant: The island's strong magnetic field has been activated.
At times like this, most people would stay quietly in their rooms, and those who had to patrol would wear protective suits to shield themselves from the radiation.
As they ran, they gradually realized that the battle cries behind them were fading.
Hesitating, they slowed down and turned around—only to see that the once-fearsome attackers had collapsed to the ground, motionless like discarded scrap metal. Only a few were still twitching, struggling weakly.
The soldiers were stunned for a brief moment, then erupted into cheers. Some even ran over and stomped on the fallen creatures a couple of times in triumph.
They knew the strong magnetic field would harm their own bodies as well—but so what? It was better than being slaughtered by monsters.
…
Meanwhile, taking advantage of the chaos caused by the enchanted magical dolls, Wade and Dumbledore had successfully infiltrated the base. They, too, heard the ominous humming sound.
One of them gripped a table for support, while the other leaned against the wall, gritting their teeth and enduring the pain in silence.
The concrete walls and their protective cloaks had blocked most of the damage, but even the slightest residual effect made their entire bodies, including their internal organs, feel like they were being stabbed by needles—an excruciating sensation.
Wade noticed that the headmaster's arm was trembling slightly and, out of consideration, looked away.
It had nothing to do with how powerful one's magic was—if anything, the stronger one's magic, the sharper their senses, making the pain even worse.
They couldn't even use Protego (the Shield Charm) or Impedimenta (the Impediment Jinx) to resist—any magic that left their bodies would be immediately disrupted by the field.
After two or three agonizing seconds, the humming finally stopped.
It took another long moment before Wade managed to stand upright again, his back already drenched in cold sweat.
"That is insane!" he gasped, unfastening his protective cloak. "The machines will take at least half an hour to cool down—this is our chance."
"Don't take off your cloak," Dumbledore warned, stopping his movement. "They might have more weapons like this."
"…Understood." Wade reluctantly put his cloak back on. Then, after a pause, he suddenly asked,
"Professor, do you think… we still need to hold back against these people?"
On the table beside them lay a stack of bloody photographs.
--------------------------------
🙏🙏Please consider supporting this translation project by becoming a P@treon member!!!
Your support is greatly appreciated!
Available on my P@treon page for just $4!!
Early access to the following translations:-
⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- +235 Chapters
⭐MCU: Druid's Adventures (MCUDA)(⭐COMPLETE⭐) - Total Chapter 460
⭐Famous Police Detective in Detective World (FPDDW)- +165 advance chapters
⭐Marvel: Little Genius (MLG) (⭐COMPLETE⭐) - Total Chapter 450
[email protected]/Lightreaper457
--------------------------------