Cattleya lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment, then took a deep breath and nodded calmly, "No problem."
Leyton calmly glanced at Cattleya, who was slightly in front of him, and nodded gently:
"After the gathering, I will have someone send the blood to you."
He paused for two seconds, then swept his gaze around the other members and chuckled lowly:
"Help me keep an eye out for demigod-level items from the 'Sun' and 'Storm' Pathways. It can be a lone Beyonder or a Mystical Item."
Moon Emlyn looked at Leyton in surprise. He hesitated for two seconds before speaking:
"We Sanguine have such Mystical Items. If you can help us recover the corresponding characteristics of a Sanguine Count or even a Marquis, I think our Sanguine big figures would be very happy to trade with you."
"Alright," Leyton replied with a light chuckle.
Hermit Cattleya, who had just made a deal with him, also expressed her stance:
"I will help you keep an eye out, but demigod-level items are not common, especially those from the 'Sun' and 'Storm' Pathways. Most of them have been recovered by the churches of the Eternal Blazing Sun and the Lord of Storms."
Leyton nodded slightly in Cattleya's direction as a greeting.
"I will also help you keep an eye out."
"Me too. I will go through the Sealed Artifact data that the City of Silver has, but I can't see much with my authority, and my contributions are far from enough to exchange for them."
Chariot Anderson and Sun Derrick also made their promises one after another. The remaining Tarot Club members did not speak; demigod-level items were still too far away for them.
Next, "Justice" Audrey, "Magician" Fors, and Chariot Anderson initiated trades one after another. Some succeeded, some failed.
After a brief silence, The Fool Klein, who was leisurely sitting at the head of the mottled long table, chuckled:
"You may communicate freely now."
Hearing The Fool's prompt, "Justice" Audrey quickly raised her right hand and, after glancing around at everyone, said:
"Today, I met a member of the Psychology Alchemists' Council. His true identity is Hvin Rambis, an advisor to the Loen Royal Family."
"From him, I learned a piece of news: the president of the Psychology Alchemists was assassinated, and it was successful. However, that unknown president did not truly die due to some special characteristics of the 'Spectator' Pathway. I don't know what specific characteristics they are; Hvin Rambis did not tell me."
"The Psychology Alchemists have increased their efforts in training new members because of this incident. They have already started assigning me some tasks to accumulate contributions for exchanging for the Sequence 5 'Dreamwalker' potion."
Finally, she added, "I feel that the Psychology Alchemists seem to have entered a tense atmosphere. While they are vigorously training newly joined members, they are no longer developing and accepting new members."
Hanged Man Alger sneered:
"They are afraid of exposing themselves and attracting new assassinations, but some tasks that originally belonged to them still need to be done."
"At this time, new members like you, who have just joined and haven't established too deep a relationship with them, are just right. Those who survive this turmoil will become loyal due to the organization's vigorous training, and if they die, it won't be too much of a loss for them."
Audrey was momentarily stunned, her expression clearly bewildered. As a noble young lady who was naive about the ways of The World, she had never encountered such things and had never thought about this issue so deeply, so darkly.
"Tsk, you humans are truly malicious!" Moon Emlyn leaned back in his high-backed chair, sighing with a tsk-tsk sound.
Next to him, Chariot Anderson also shook his head, then continued his words:
"Although such speculation about human nature is overly dark, in many cases, this is the truth."
Hermit Cattleya observed the noble young lady for a moment and said calmly:
"Members of the Psychology Alchemists have high research in the spiritual and mental domains. You need to be careful; that Hvin Rambis might have left psychological hints or some hidden influences on you."
Audrey instinctively looked at the figure shrouded in Gray Fog at the very top, and said with a hint of relief in her tone:
"He did do that, but I prayed to The Fool in advance and received the protection of an angel."
It could be like this? The Fool sometimes provides substantial help to the members of the Tarot Club... Hermit Cattleya's thoughts began to wander after a brief moment of astonishment.
During this process, Audrey had already requested The Fool Klein's permission to materialize the portrait that Hvin Rambis of the Psychology Alchemists had shown her, and displayed it before everyone's eyes.
Leyton glanced at the image on the grayish-brown parchment, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. It seemed Adam wasn't prepared to help them, not even giving me a portrait. In fact, he even actively helped me cover up the traces I left in Eden, preventing the Psychology Alchemists from getting effective answers through divination and prophecy.
Thinking of this, he chuckled and said:
"This portrait really doesn't resemble me at all. It seems they didn't get Adam's help."
"Having lost his main body and most active identity, it's uncertain whether your Psychology Alchemists' president still retains his demigod status. He might be somewhere guarding against potential backstabs from the council members."
"Justice" Audrey looked at Leyton somewhat bewildered, pursed her lips, and then hesitantly asked:
"Mr. Tower? Are you the one who assassinated the president of the Psychology Alchemists? Why?"
Leyton leaned back in his chair leisurely, his voice calm as he said:
"I traded a 'Dream Weaver' characteristic for a 'Cognizer' characteristic."
Finally, he added, "By the way, I still have a remaining characteristic that includes the 'Spectator' Pathway from Sequence 9 to Sequence 4. If you need it, you can purchase it from me before I use it."
"Dream Weaver" and "Cognizer." The former should be Sequence 3 of the Spectator Pathway, so what about the latter? Hmm, most likely from the 'Reader' Pathway... But Mr. Tower actually directly broke into the headquarters of the Psychology Alchemists. This is truly... truly too arrogant.
Audrey pondered for a moment, quickly adjusted her emotions, and calmly said:
"Once I successfully advance to Sequence 5, I will purchase that characteristic from you."
"However, I'm still a bit curious, what does it mean to lose the main body and the most active identity? Why did Hvin Rambis say that the assassination was successful, but the president didn't truly die?"
"Sequence 3 'Dream Weaver' of the Spectator Pathway can separate some of the identities they once possessed, turning them into living people. Even if these identities die, it will not cause the main body to fall. If the main body falls first, they can awaken their self from the avatar and complete their revival."
"However, the characteristics that have been lost will not return. The main body of the Psychology Alchemists' president and the King of the Black Throne on the sea were both killed by me, and their characteristics were taken."
"Besides the King of the Black Throne, it is highly likely that his remaining identities are not even at the demigod level. The identities separated by a 'Dream Weaver' do not possess actual power; they must gain power by accommodating characteristics."
"I understand." Audrey nodded slightly in response. She suddenly felt a longing for "Dream Weaver"—to be able to turn past experiences into a real identity, just like characters from an adventure story stepping into reality.
Being able to separate out identities one once possessed, this is somewhat like a prerequisite for a Visionary's ability... The Fool Klein, at the head of the mottled long table, made a judgment in his mind.
The communication continued, and this Tarot Club meeting quickly drew to a close.
After everyone stood up and bowed, streaks of deep red light rose, carrying everyone on both sides of the mottled long table away from the space above the Gray Fog.
Looking at the suddenly empty hall, Klein leaned back in his chair and sighed softly, waving his hand to make The World at the very bottom disappear.
"Not a single person was curious if this new card was a Card of Blasphemy, or what kind of card it was? Perhaps they noticed, but didn't have a suitable reason to ask me."
As he spoke, he reached out and picked up the new card that was face down on the table. The front of this card depicted a church, and in front of the church stood a group of Emperor Roselle in different outfits. Some wore Sailor suits, some wore captain's hats... At the very front, the tallest Roselle wore a pope's robe and a triple crown.
In the upper left corner of the card, a line of small text was written in Ancient Feysac: Sequence 0: Tyrant!
Turning the Tyrant card in his hand twice, Klein threw it back onto the table and then left the space above the Gray Fog.
In Constant City, Midseashire County, Leyton opened his eyes in the armchair by the hotel window. He tilted his head to look at the clock on the wall; it was only 3:30 PM.
Today's Tarot Club ended a bit faster than usual. Well, as their Sequences increased, everyone's needs clearly decreased, and the focus of the Tarot Club had unconsciously shifted towards the final exchange and sharing session.
While sighing inwardly, Leyton placed his left hand under the sunlight streaming through the window. His thumbnail lightly grazed the pad of his middle finger, leaving a small wound.
Specks of pale blue light, carrying bits of stardust, overflowed from the wound. The surrounding sunlight instantly dimmed. Inside the hotel room, on the street outside, on passersby, everything around him appeared abnormally distorted, like a stretched image on an old television with a bad signal.
In less than two seconds, everything around him returned to normal. The Sun was still bright, and the pedestrians on the street continued to walk and talk as if nothing had happened.