Chapter 176: A Screw

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
[Margaret’s Perspective]

Once again, I was hustled to a small room. It was an enclosed bathroom. I could see all the furnishings at a glance. The entire bathroom only had a toilet and a sink. Most importantly, there were no windows.

I showed Arthur my bound wrists and said, “How can I go to the toilet in this state?”

“I can help you.” He looked at me subtly.

I felt goosebumps rising all over my body. “No,” I refused.

Arthur grunted. He took a knife out of nowhere and cut the rope around my hands. I moved my wrists, which were sore from being tied up for so long. I looked at my feet and wanted to signal for him to untie me too.

“Just go,” Arthur said coldly. “The rope around your feet doesn’t affect you unless you’re running away.”

I stroked the ligature marks on my hands and bargained with him. “At least loosen it for me. I’ll trip over myself easily like this.”

…..

Arthur grabbed my newly freed wrists. I felt the pain coming from above. “Don’t keep setting conditions. Do as I say. I’ll be outside. Don’t play tricks.”

With that, he pushed me inside and closed the door.

I heard him leaning against the door. He looked like he would stay outside until I got out.

I took a deep breath and examined the cabin again. There were boards all around. I tried to move over and touch them to see if there were any signs of loosening. There were no windows, so the only way out was through the door.

And even if there was a window for me to escape, I couldn’t do that. Elizabeth was still in their hands. After I left, they might not kill her immediately for some reason, but they would definitely torture her to vent their anger or warn her.

I sat down on the toilet and started thinking about what to do next.

The plan I told Elizabeth was:

The first step was to find a way out of the basement.

Step two. Observe our surroundings after we leave. Find a way to untie ourselves.

The third step was to seek an opportunity to leave.

I’d already done that step.

If we stayed trapped in the basement, we wouldn’t be able to do anything. But if we came out, we would possibly have more tools to choose from.

I had originally expected that by sowing discord between Arthur and Angel, I could pretend to cooperate with them and hint that we could do what Angel could. If the other party’s goal was us, we could also actively cooperate with them.

After winning the other party’s trust, we would make a request for the ropes to be untied. This way, we could find a chance to leave.

However, given the current situation, although it was useful to sow discord between them, he only allowed me to come out of the basement. After coming out, he refused to communicate with me. It seemed like he had no intention of untying me.

The lobbying trick was not going to work at the moment.

If we were to rely on ourselves… I had to do something before I went back to that basement.

I first tried to use Mindlink to connect with Donald again. I had tried countless times in the past half day, and failed every time. I felt that the effect of the black potion had almost been absorbed by me. I couldn’t understand what was stopping us now.

I didn’t eat anything or even take a sip of water. Did the other party attack Donald? I wondered.

I became nervous again because of this guess. To be able to cut off the communication of an opponent on such a large scale was lethal in a battle. The rapid transmission of information was the foundation for the general to make the next deployment in time. Did the other party’s technical level really reach this level? This was unbelievable.

“How much longer do you need?” Arthur was knocking on my door outside.

“I… I’ll be done soon.”

I knew that I couldn’t delay much longer, but I wasn’t willing to go back empty-handed.

I interlocked the fingers of my hands tightly, looking for something useful on the wood that was already turning a little black on the walls. Anything.

Suddenly, I observed that one of the wooden boards behind the toilet was corroded beyond recognition because of the leak and the years of wear and tear. The screws inside that held the boards together were showing.

Screw. It could be used to cut rope.

With effort, I crouched down and reached for the screw.

More than half of it was already showing, and a small half was still stuck in the wood.

I didn’t have any tools on hand, so I could only use the strength of my wrist to twist it loose as best I could and try to remove it.

“Hurry!” Arthur urged again from outside the door.

I yanked it out with all my might. The screw was finally pulled out. I half fell to the ground from inertia. I had cut my fingers.

I saw the blood flowing from my fingers and suddenly had an idea.

The Mist was good at hiding most scents, including the special smells between the mates, because it was designed for werewolves. But blood was different. It wasn’t just werewolves. Ordinary humans bled, and the smell produced by blood wasn’t within the Mist’s range.