Leyton retracted his gaze from surveying his surroundings and quickly walked to the round table where Orange Light and his companions were seated, lowering his voice to greet them:
"Good evening, Mr. Hillarion."
"Good evening, Miss Glenn."
"And good evening to you two lovely kittens."
Orange Light Hillarion scrutinized Leyton with profound eyes, maintaining a gentle smile on his face as he said:
"Good evening, Your Excellency."
After a two-second pause, he added:
"Congratulations, you've taken another step towards reclaiming your authority."
"Although it might be rude to say so, I feel that in the near Future, I might witness the birth of a true God of Knowledge."
"Hmph!" A cold snort, devoid of any emotion, suddenly sounded as Mr. Hughes, dressed in a simple robe, appeared silently beside them.
"Haha... My apologies, I misspoke." Orange Light Hillarion chuckled and bowed to Mr. Hughes in apology.
Mr. Hughes's expression showed no emotion, seemingly not taking the small interlude to heart. His gaze fell upon the square iron box Leyton held in his hand, and he calmly spoke:
"You've found a Dream Weaver characteristic so quickly?"
Leyton nodded, handing over the iron box containing the characteristic while explaining how he obtained it.
After listening to his narration, Mr. Hughes nodded slightly, not replying, his gaze deepening slightly as if he had entered a state of thought.
After a moment of silence, he leisurely spoke:
"There is a certain coincidence of fate, but it should only be to make you and Adam meet."
"As the one closest to a Visionary, he is also the best Psychiatrist in this world. If he is willing to help you weave a true and rational humanity, it will be of great help to you."
Leyton gently shook his head, his tone calm as he said:
"It's impossible for me to let him weave humanity for me, just as he is unwilling to let me touch the first blasphemy slate. We lack the necessary trust between us."
Mr. Hughes nodded gently and then said nothing more. He opened the metal box containing the Dream Weaver Beyonder characteristic, took a look, and then returned it to Leyton, saying at the same time:
"Help me give it to Lucca Brewster. His contributions to the Church are already enough for advancement, but he has always lacked the corresponding characteristic, and he is also unwilling to switch to the Hanged Man or Storm pathways."
As he spoke, faint silver-white glows emerged from his body, swiftly moving around and outlining one Omniscient Eye pattern after another.
These silver-white specks of light rapidly converged towards his open right hand and gradually solidified. As the silver-white light faded, a pair of cold, indifferent silver-white eyes were revealed within.
As Leyton received these two characteristics, Mr. Hughes explained in a calm tone:
"This Cognizer characteristic belongs to my personal belongings. The Church indeed has no spare Cognizer characteristics, and even if it did, it would quickly be allocated to personnel who need it."
Leyton shrugged, smiling with little emotion:
"Alright, I hope Bishop Luca isn't too surprised or upset when he finds out he's been promoted to a Dream Weaver, while his colleague becomes a Cognizer."
"He can return to Wisdom Angel in the next sequence," Mr. Hughes responded in a very calm tone.
Leyton smiled silently, then bowed to the other party before his body disintegrated into countless complex knowledge and he left the Library.
After Leyton left, Mr. Hughes turned to look at the round table nearby. The two people and two cats there continued to flip through the books in front of them without changing their actions.
Mr. Hughes shook his head slightly and then calmly said:
"The frequency of your page-turning is too obvious. For someone who has experienced the Detective stage, this is a very clear trace."
After a one-second pause, he continued: "I have already had a technical university in Lenberg send an invitation for cooperation to the Steam University in Trier. When it comes to knowledge in the mechanical field, the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery is at the forefront."
Miss Gland closed the book in her hand and said in a deep voice:
"Given the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery's fanaticism for technology, they will definitely agree. However, this will expose too much information to them, and it's possible they could genuinely research it."
"All we need is a time difference." As the words fell, Mr. Hughes's figure silently disappeared from the Library hall.
The next day, Empress Borough, Backlund.
Audrey, accompanied by her Psychiatrist teacher, Escalante Oseleka, arrived at an empty cafe where she met Hvin Rambis, who introduced himself as a member of the Psychology Alchemists' Council.
He was a gentle and refined middle-aged man with a pair of blue eyes that seemed to hold boundless wisdom and knowledge.
Audrey restrained her gaze and the extent to which she scrutinized the other party, while silently sighing inwardly, thinking, "I didn't expect the Royal Advisor to also be a member of the Psychology Alchemists. No wonder Mr. Tower said that the high-ranking members of the Psychology Alchemists have certain inclinations in their stance and beliefs."
Hvin Rambis observed the beautiful young lady before him with gentle eyes. In the spiritual domain, his virtual personality had already silently invaded Audrey's consciousness island.
After Escalante left, Hvin Rambis took out a white paper from his briefcase and said in a calm voice:
"I apologize for disturbing you so abruptly, Miss Audrey. According to our original plan, we did need to observe you for a while longer, but some things have happened recently within the Psychology Alchemists that have forced us to accelerate the training of new members."
"What happened?" Audrey asked at the appropriate moment.
Hvin Rambis did not rush to answer, but first handed over the white paper. Audrey took it and glanced at it. It still depicted a hooded, humanoid monster covered in eyes.
The reason she used the word 'monster' to describe it was because she couldn't find any human features in the painting other than its humanoid shape.
Hvin Rambis's tone became somewhat heavy, carrying a hint of fear he himself could barely detect as he said:
"Our Psychology Alchemists' president was assassinated, and the assailant succeeded. Fortunately, due to some peculiarities of the 'Spectator' pathway, Mr. President did not truly die."
Audrey's eyes suddenly widened, her shock completely undisguised, nor did it need to be.
Midseashire County, Constant City.
Leyton spent only one morning with Shawn, exploring all the remaining festival activities in Constant City.
Under Shawn's earnest gaze, Leyton gave him a ritual to summon his messenger, and then disappeared from his sight with the surging crowd.
He found a local specialty restaurant, enjoyed lunch, and then rested at the inn until the wall clock reached three in the afternoon.
As the wall clock accurately chimed the hour, a thick Gray Fog surged before his eyes, and deep Red Light pulsed like a tide, rapidly engulfing his vision.
Leyton restrained his instinctive urge to resist, and guided by the deep Red Light, his Spirit Body detached from his physical body, arriving at the grand and ancient palace above the Gray Fog.
Sitting on the high-backed chair belonging to Mr. Tower, Leyton lowered his gaze, looking at the mechanical glove that had accompanied him above the Gray Fog, a rather calm smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool~"
It was still "Justice" Audrey who first rose and bowed, but her state today was not as lively as usual; she seemed to have encountered something troubling.
After everyone rose, bowed, and nodded to each other according to procedure, "Hermit" Cattleya was the first to raise her hand, directly presenting four pages of the Roselle diary.
She chose not to ask a question or exchange them for items, but rather exchanged all the accumulated diary pages for a promise of help from Mr. Fool, to be provided when necessary.
The diary pages contributed by Miss Hermit are accumulating more and more, and my pressure is also growing... If it's a demand for more profound mystical knowledge, that's fine, but if it requires Mr. Fool to act, Mr. Fool can't do it!
Klein sighed as his gaze swept across the faces of the people on both sides of the mottled long table.
Seeing that only "Hanged Man" Alger and "Chariot" Anderson were looking at the extra playing card on his right side, a hint of disappointment flashed in his heart... If Miss Hermit had asked me about the content of this card, it would have been great, I could have gotten away with it again, what a pity.
As he sighed, he bent the fingers of his right hand and lightly tapped the edge of the table twice, making a 'thump-thump' sound, and at the same time said:
"You may begin."
Upon receiving the prompt from The Fool Klein, "Hermit" Cattleya looked directly at Leyton and spoke calmly:
"I wish to exchange for a drop of your blood. What price do I need to pay?"
"It seems you are eager to increase your strength. Have you encountered something?" Leyton asked curiously, then added:
"Two conditions. First, I need the Future to help me transport some things between the Northern and Southern continents. You can understand it as smuggling."
"Second, you need to regularly hold a class on the Future, teaching the crew some necessary knowledge, and based on their feedback, compile it into a book and send it to me."
"Only these? This is not equivalent to an Angel's blood," Cattleya questioned, a hint of confusion in her voice.
Moreover, she felt that the two conditions Leyton proposed were a bit strange. She could understand the first condition, but the second was very difficult to comprehend... Apart from Frank and Ottolov, the rest of the crew on the Future had no enthusiasm for learning. If this were done, the Future would likely fall into the same long-term shortage of personnel as Vice Admiral Iceberg's Golden Dream.
Leyton looked at Cattleya, whose face showed confusion, and calmly explained:
"It's not easy to make pirates obsessed with learning, and this involves a very important plan of mine later on, so this is equivalent to a drop of my blood."