In addition to the figure with their back turned, there is another clue in this image.
From some of the blank phantom shadows, you can vaguely see that there are quite a few silhouettes around the altar, not living sacrifices bound in the small cavern, but people dressed in cloaks like the figure with their back turned.
This indicates that the cavern’s ritual is not the work of just one person, but a group is involved.
However, it’s still impossible to determine their identities.
After viewing the second image, Dororo once again used spiritual power to touch the parchment, arranging the third image.
Dororo: "After seeing the symbols on the stone slab, several broken images flashed before my eyes. After reconstruction, two relatively complete images could be presented. This is the first one."
When the image appeared on the parchment, Angel and Nis understood why Dororo would describe the image as "relatively complete" because this new image was indeed much more complete than the previous two.
Only about a quarter of the space was blank, with the rest filled with color.
The scene in the image was still inside the cavern, though different from before, this time focusing on the rectangular stone platforms around the altar.
In reality, Angel did not pay much attention to those rectangular stone platforms, as they displayed only individual and broken body bones, such as arm bones, leg bones, rib bones, and some peculiar bones from non-human creatures.
Compared to the three hundred sixty complete skeletons in the cavern, they were quite unremarkable. The only notable aspect was that these body bones seemed to have traces of energy saturation during their lifetime, perhaps part of some Extraordinary Life.
Unlike the real-world bones that were already white and even calcified into powder, in the image presented by Dororo on the parchment, those limbs were even attached to flesh and blood.
The image showed that almost every rectangular stone platform had a special transparent container on it.
Each transparent container was filled with murky yellow liquid, in which different limbs were soaked.
Because the limbs varied in size, the containers were also of different sizes. For example, a pair of gigantic demon wings soaked in a massive container as large as a hill; whereas a thumb emitting a golden glow was held in a cup-sized container.
"These limbs include those of Abyss Demons, Void Magical Creatures, and even some... that appear to be limbs of Transcendent humans." Nis frowned as he looked at the different containers in the image: "Could it be someone is smuggling body parts from Otherworlds to sell?"
To pursue greater power, transplanting Extraordinary creature limbs is not particularly rare among Wizards, as long as one can overcome the problem of bloodline collapse, a full body transplant is possible.
Some Bloodline Wizards start transplants even when they are apprentices because Bloodline Wizards have more means to overcome organ incompatibility than Wizards of other sects. This is one reason why Bloodline Wizards’ combat strength at the same level is relatively stronger.
Since Wizards need to transplant extraordinary organs, a corresponding industry chain naturally forms.
However, many extraordinary organs belong to creatures from Otherworlds, and any industry involving Otherworlds faces extreme sect persecution. Thus, trafficking and trading extraordinary organs is a grey area industry in the Southern Domain.
"If these people are a grey market trade group, there’s no need to continue investigating this matter." Nis remarked straightforwardly, as such trade caravans aren’t rare in the Wizards’ Realm.
Even the secluded wing station that Lord Reine took Angel to last time actually belongs to the grey area. The hidden wing caravan behind it is said to serve the highest-end grey market, otherwise, they wouldn’t have managed to obtain an awakened Demon Person like Earl Mi.
Angel: "There’s no issue if it’s just a trade group, but why does it involve the Quest World? And why use such a large-scale living sacrifice to smuggle and sell Otherworld organs?"
Three hundred sixty lives—this number wouldn’t be significant in worlds controlled by Evil Gods. But here, where Otherworld creatures find it extremely difficult to invade the Southern Domain, holding a sacrifice ceremony with three hundred sixty lives is significant.
Moreover, judging from the cavern’s situation, the target for the living sacrifice wasn’t an offering to an Evil God, but to some entity or faction in the Quest World. To consume sacrifices on such a scale, in the souls of the Quest World, is no small matter.
Is going to such lengths necessary just for organ smuggling?
Nis pondered and nodded: "Indeed, something’s off. According to the nature of ordinary trade caravans, such a ceremony shouldn’t occur."
Angel: "There’s another point I find strange. If this is truly about organ smuggling, why would they leave the organs directly in the cavern?"
There were indeed many ossified organs on the rectangular stone platforms in reality. If they were intended for sale, how could they be left in the cavern to rot?
Nis nodded, recalling the cavern scene Angel presented last time through illusion: "I remember many of those rectangular stone platforms were empty, without any organ remnants. But in the image Dororo saw, every rectangular stone platform had a container holding organs; it seems those behind it still took many extraordinary organs."
"But you’re right—if it was for trading or selling, they should have taken everything, not left some behind."
Nis thought hard for a long time but couldn’t understand these people’s intentions and could only look at Dororo: "You mentioned earlier, there’s another image?"
Dororo turned to Angel, and seeing Angel’s nod, he waved his hand to clear the parchment image, starting to construct the last image he saw.
This last image is the most complete of all the images, with only minimal edges left blank, and the main section entirely clear.
You can clearly see that the center of the image is still the rectangular stone platform.
But unlike the previous panoramic view, this time the focus is on one rectangular stone platform.
On the platform, there is still the same type of container, in which is soaked a right arm engraved with black and red patterns.
The arm looks very slender, with nails painted with the same black and red pattern as the arm. It can be basically confirmed that this arm should belong to a female human or a female Humanoid Race.
The black and red pattern is a clue that can be probed, but Angel and Nis have never seen a similar pattern and can only overlook it for now.
This image has another very important detail: next to the rectangular stone platform stand three people.
All three are wearing cloaks, and with their faces turned to the side, shadows obscure most of their appearances, but you can see black tattoos on their faces.
The person on the rear right has a slightly clear tattoo on the side of their face, displaying the number 6.
While the tattoos on the left rear and directly in front are not very clear, if they too are numbers, it can be deduced with detail that one is 3 and the other is 0.
Among them, 3 and 6 are at the back, and 0 is at the front.
The cloaked figure with the tattoo of 0 extends a hand, palm touching the container’s wall. A faint glow emanates from the contact point, while a glowing symbol appears on the back of the cloaked figure’s hand.
The symbol is shaped like concentric circles, with a hexagon inside.
"This is a symbol of the Quest World!" Nis looks at the stone slab on the table, apart from the absence of the two worm-like symbols in the center, it’s exactly the same.
Nis couldn’t help but look at Dororo: "Are there symbols inside the hexagon?"
Dororo nodded: "There are symbols, but I can’t remember them."
Being unable to memorize them fully aligns with the symbolic traits of the Quest World!