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The transaction phase ended, and in the subsequent free exchange phase, Hanged Man was the first to share information:
"A new Pirate Admiral has appeared on the sea, and she has subdued Qilangos, the Vice Admiral Ailment's fleet."
"She?" Miss Justice Audrey noticed Mr. Hanged Man's choice of words and asked with great interest.
Hanged Man Alger nodded slowly:
"She was a very famous pirate before, Disease Maiden Tracy, have you heard of her?"
"No, I don't know much about this."
Miss Justice Audrey shook her head honestly.
Apart from Hanged Man Alger, who was active at sea, only Leyton, who had spent some time at sea, knew about this information.
The scene was silent for two seconds. Alger didn't waste time explaining and continued to speak:
"She subdued Qilangos's fleet last month and renamed the ship 'Black Death,' calling herself 'Vice Admiral Ailment.'"
"She is skilled in using curses, black flames, and ice-based abilities. Those who are hostile to her always suddenly develop various diseases. Currently, no one knows which Sequence she belongs to, but it can be confirmed that her strength is at the Sequence 5 level."
"Demoness Pathway, this Vice Admiral Ailment should be the Sequence 5 Demoness of Afflictions."
Amidst everyone's surprised or enlightened gazes, Leyton continued to describe the characteristics of Demoness of Afflictions:
"Demoness of this Sequence have active Charm abilities and can even make enemies give up resistance to get close to them. Through long-term interaction, repeated Charm can make the target's good feelings for them deeply ingrained."
"They are good at destroying beauty and reaping pain. This is both for Acting and, well, a certain degree of psychological distortion after a man transforms into a woman."
Miss Justice's lips parted slightly in surprise, wanting to say something, but not knowing where to start.
Hanged Man first nodded slightly, then pondered for a moment and said:
"It is said that after Qilangos's fleet was subdued by this Vice Admiral Ailment, they indeed showed great loyalty, even more loyal than when they were under Qilangos."
Under Klein's control, Mr. World also spoke:
"Demoness are always accompanied by disaster and chaos."
Thump Thump.
The sound of tapping the bronze long table came, and everyone turned their heads again to look at Mr. Fool at the top.
Klein chuckled softly with a hint of disdain, then said:
"This is the influence of them approaching the Primordial."
"Primordial?" Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man exclaimed in surprise simultaneously.
The word Primordial has a different meaning.
But Mr. Fool, covered by the gray fog, did not explain further, which made Audrey, who wanted to ask more questions, hesitate whether to speak.
Leyton shook his head slightly. Klein's self-directed and incomplete explanation probably meant he only knew this much, or perhaps it was partial information he divined from that Demoness.
Suppressing the swirling thoughts in his mind, Klein could observe everyone's state at all times here. He didn't want to expose himself being distracted during such a serious topic.
Leyton slightly raised his hand and coughed lightly to attract everyone's attention, then said:
"Cough! I can answer some of your questions."
"The Primordial Mr. Fool mentioned should be the Sequence 0 of the Demoness Pathway, Primordial Demoness, also known as Chaos Demoness."
Without giving others a chance to ask what Sequence 0 was, he continued:
"In the Potion system, on the same Pathway, high Sequences have a natural suppression over low Sequences. As the Sequence increases, this influence becomes more obvious."
"After reaching Sequence 0, they have absolute control over the entire Pathway. All Beyonders who embark on this Pathway will inevitably gravitate towards them."
As everyone was incomparably shocked, Klein, covered by the gray fog, was the first to react. He understood many things.
Why there was the Acting Method, why Roselle described the Acting Method as stealing power from the Potion, why after thousands of years, the major Churches still only controlled one or two Pathways, and only one Pathway was fully controlled.
Then Klein's body, covered by the gray fog, leaned back slightly and chuckled:
"Heh! This is the origin of the Acting Method."
"This is the origin of the Acting Method?" Justice Audrey was slightly stunned, then began to let her thoughts wander.
So the Acting Method is about Acting as the corresponding Pathway's deity? But there are only seven Orthodox Gods. Could it be that some Pathways are Acting as those Evil Gods? For example, the Demoness Pathway Mr. Tower just mentioned, is Acting as that Primordial Demoness.
No wonder Mr. Fool emphasized that we are just Acting when he told us about the Acting Method!
Once they lose themselves, will Beyonders also be assimilated by the corresponding deity?
Hanged Man Alger also thought of these questions. Being in the Church of the Lord of Storms, he understood this even more clearly, because although the Church's Beyonders had their own personalities, as long as they were Beyonders of the Sailor Pathway, they inevitably had many commonalities.
"No wonder the Church only fully controls the Sailor Pathway. It's not because they can't get other Pathways, but because only this Pathway is fully controlled by the Lord of Storms!"
Hanged Man Alger couldn't help but start to associate more, and without exception, these were all blasphemous thoughts.
Only The Sun Derrick did not show too much worry, because he knew that The Sun was the authority of the Omnipotent and Omniscient God worshipped by the City of Silver.
"I am approaching the Omnipotent and Omniscient God. If being assimilated can save the City of Silver, I am willing!"
The Sun Derrick's inner thoughts were different from others. Being in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, he cared more about saving the City of Silver than himself.
Justice Audrey hesitated, looking at Mr. Fool at the top for a moment, then at Leyton in front of her side.
"Miss Justice, what do you want to ask?"
Leyton saw Audrey's actions and could guess that she wanted to ask which deity the Spectator Pathway corresponded to.
Klein also guessed it, but he didn't know the answer either, so he kept pretending there were no hints.
Justice Audrey nodded slightly and said:
"Mr. Tower, do you know which deity the Spectator Pathway corresponds to? What reward do I need to pay?"
"Reward, huh? You can help me custom-make some clothes for small animals. I'll tell you the specific sizes and styles later."
Leyton was preparing to get some custom-made clothes for his Bugs Bunny. After such a long time, Bugs Bunny's vests and cloaks were all damaged. It was a good opportunity to have Miss Audrey custom-make a few sets for it, no, for his rabbit.
"Bugs Bunny? Clothes custom-made by Miss Justice herself, that must be exclusive to nobles! I never thought I would one day envy a rabbit." Klein thought helplessly.
"Clothes for small animals?"
"Okay, no problem. I will ask my favorite designer to custom-make them for it."
Miss Audrey was very interested in the small animal Mr. Tower mentioned. If Mr. Tower personally asked someone to custom-make clothes for it, it must be a magical animal like Susie, right?
I wonder what kind of animal it will be? Is it also a dog? Or a cat? Or something else? Will it be of the Reader Pathway like Mr. Tower, then it would need custom-made glasses too.
Audrey was lost in her imagination of another magical animal and temporarily forgot to ask Leyton for the answer she wanted.
"Cough." Leyton coughed lightly to bring Miss Justice back to her senses, then said:
"The Spectator Pathway currently has no deity."
"Currently none? So, there might be one soon?"
Justice Audrey understood the hidden meaning in Leyton's words.
Maintaining a smiling expression, she nodded slightly towards Leyton, then fell into deep thought.
Mr. Tower means that there is already an existence close to a deity in the Spectator Pathway. I hope that one is not an Evil God, otherwise I will need to consider changing Pathways.
"The Spectator Pathway has no deity? Hmm, this aligns with my related conjectures."
Klein, covered by the gray fog, nodded with a very small arc. The others, whose vision was obscured by the gray fog, could not see this subtle movement.
After obtaining the information she wanted to know, Audrey then shared some things she knew about Backlund:
"Backlund recently had a series of murders, a total of 11 cases, with only one confirmed as a imitate crime."
"The characteristic of this series of murders is that it targets women who used to be prostitutes but now have legitimate professions. The murderer breaks open their abdomens and removes all their internal organs."
The Sun Derrick, sitting to Leyton's right, suddenly spoke at this moment:
"I know this ritual."
"Ritual? You know?" Audrey asked back with great surprise and delight.
The Sun Derrick nodded:
"I remember this ritual. I saw it in a textbook. It's quite ancient, a ritual used by Devil to assist their advancement, often appearing when advancing from Sequence 6 to Sequence 5."
Audrey asked with considerable surprise:
"A ritual used by Devil to assist their advancement?"
"Yes, the Sequence 6 of the Abyss Pathway is called Devil, which is also the origin of the Devil as a race name."
The Sun Derrick answered very seriously.
Then, at Audrey's insistence, The Sun Derrick described the specific content of the ritual:
"A minimum of 13 people, a maximum of 49. The more complete the ritual, the better the effect."
"There must be at least a three-day interval between two killings, otherwise it's easy to lose control, but it also cannot exceed nine days, otherwise the ritual will reset."
"After each killing, the Devil will eat the victim's internal organs. From then on, he will remain in a state of irritability, bloodlust, and desire to harm others until this desire is satisfied."
"That's truly terrifying…"
Audrey sighed from the bottom of her heart after listening to The Sun Derrick's description. She even felt that just imagining the scene was cruel.
Leyton thought of Klein, who was invited by Isengard Stanton to participate in the investigation of this case, and spoke up to add some information about Devil:
"Due to the special nature of the Abyss Pathway, Beyonders who embark on this Pathway are very prone to losing control. Even if they are lucky enough not to lose control, they will gradually become Unwinged Angel and cruelly insane, easily controlled by desires such as bloodlust and slaughter."
"Moreover, Devil evolved from different races vary, each with their unique abilities. Therefore, the descriptions of Devil in those stories and legends vary so much."
Klein slightly raised his head, staring at Leyton, who was describing the characteristics of Devil. He always felt that the other party was reminding him at this time.
"Al's meaning is that the Devil in this case is not necessarily human?"
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