Charles's words made Darrell's face alternate between red and pale. After a while, he calmed down and asked as if he had just realized something:
"Are you worried that I might 'instigate' those ordinary people on the steam train and cause chaos, which is why you suggested accompanying me?"
He paused, then added, "Are you official Beyonders? When did you start watching me?"
As he spoke, his right hand, holding the leather briefcase, tightened its grip.
Charles shook his head and chuckled, "Something like that. You don't need to be so nervous. If we had ill intentions or wanted to do anything to you, we wouldn't have waited until now, especially given the vast difference between us."
Darrell's retreating steps unconsciously stopped. He felt that what the middle-aged gentleman named Charles said made a lot of sense and was convincing.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, he seemed to suddenly realize something and looked at Charles in astonishment, saying,
"You're also an 'Instigator'? A higher Sequence 'Instigator'?"
Raymond, who was standing nearby, suddenly burst out laughing. Charles, who had maintained a calm demeanor, suddenly froze, his expression hardening as he gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "I am not."
As he spoke, he glared at Raymond, who was still laughing, silently accusing him:
A Sequence 8 'Instigator' couldn't possibly detect my influence. It must be you, you mischievous fellow, playing tricks.
Darrell didn't pay attention to their interaction, seemingly having completely lowered his guard, and said with a touch of emotion,
"I know that to fully master the power of the potion, one needs to act according to the potion's name, gradually adapt to it, and then master it. I've been trying. You found me based on these clues, right?"
Charles nodded, his tone calm as he replied, "More or less. It seems you still have a teacher."
Darrell's expression suddenly became a bit sad. His right hand, holding the leather briefcase, tightened, as if he wanted to put the briefcase into his embrace, but seeing others around, he held back.
After hesitating and struggling for a while, he suddenly spoke:
"They are gone. I... I want to be alone for a bit, then find a hotel and get a good night's sleep. Since you don't plan to arrest me, that should be fine, right?"
Charles nodded noncommittally, seemingly having no intention of doing anything to him.
Relieved, Darrell turned and walked back the way he came. After he was out of Charles and Raymond's sight, he turned and slipped into a nearby alley.
Watching Darrell's disappearing back, Raymond looked at Charles with a half-smile and casually said,
"The one from the Southern Continent is moving much faster than we expected."
Shrugging, Charles said without much change in his tone,
"No matter how bad it is, he's still His son. How could He not help?"
"They are now father and son, challenging the gods."
He paused, then brought the topic back to Darrell:
"Someone who looks quite normal, but in reality, has long been affected, corrupted, and turned into a monster in human skin. Hmm, aren't you curious how he had pleasure with a mystical item?"
"Not curious," Raymond shook his head.
Charles shook his head and sighed, "As a Mystery Pryer, you lack the necessary curiosity."
"Curiosity isn't about wanting to see everything; that's courting death. A Mystery Pryer's curiosity is a form of exploration, not merely a desire to peep."
As the two spoke, some of the crew members from the Future had already arrived at the dock along the transparent starlight bridge.
Charles merely glanced, his gaze drawn to Nina, the Feysac-blooded chief Sailor leading them. His eyes scanned her up and down, especially her chest, which was well beyond the acceptable limit.
Noticing Charles's gaze, which rose and fell with Nina's movements, Raymond lightly coughed:
"You're almost drooling. Do you need me to inform Bernadette? Tell her that her father has taken an interest in her adopted daughter's crew member."
"Cough, cough~" Charles coughed while reluctantly tearing his gaze away, muttering continuously:
"Don't slander my innocence without basis. I am merely appreciating beauty."
"Moreover, her appearance isn't outstanding or even remarkable among my past bed partners, but her figure is definitely among the most exceptional. Many Demonesses can't compare."
At this point, Charles seemed to be relishing something, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.
Raymond nodded in agreement with his words, "Everyone knows your famous quote: 'The taste of a Demoness is not bad.'"
Charles's expression froze for a moment, his face changing colors. After calming down for a while, he gritted his teeth and said, "One day, I will destroy all my diaries and the memories of everyone who has read them."
Raymond sighed with a placid expression, "That might be a bit difficult."
A crow happened to fly over their heads, crossing the sky above Utopia and heading towards the Hornacis Mountains.
Charles glanced at the departing crow, then withdrew his gaze, muttering in a low voice,
"Zaratul actually found this place before Amon. That's a bit incredible. Does that old man who loves riddles have that much strength and luck?"
Raymond mused,
"The interaction between people is also the interaction between minds. They will feedback into the surrounding collective subconscious sea, forming a reef, an island, and then be observed by the ruler of the Mind World."
Charles nodded noncommittally, "Are you saying Zaratul has sided with the True Creator? He knelt too quickly!"
"The Lord of the Mysteries definitely needs Attendant of Mysteriess, and the emergence of The Fool will inevitably retrieve all Attendant of Mysteries characteristics. If He doesn't choose Amon and can't snatch them, then He can only wait for death."
As the words fell, Raymond's figure became ethereal, disintegrating into streams of information that merged into every corner of the city.
"I suddenly miss the quiet days in the mausoleum." Charles shook his head and sighed. His body became quite ethereal, seemingly turning into some kind of illusion, like a shadow, moving forward outside the world's underlying rules.
On the deck of the Future, Cattleya suddenly felt something and turned her head, the faint purple glow in her eyes flowing and then disappearing.
A moment later, she murmured in confusion, "Was there something in this city just now? Is it related to the Future suddenly arriving in the Midseashire from the Fog Sea?"
After two seconds of thought, she used the Eyes of Mystery Prying planted on her crew members to send them a message:
"Return immediately after purchasing supplies. Do not linger in this town."
"Don't worry, Captain, I'll keep an eye on them."
"Wait, there's a sound..."
Chief Sailor Nina's voice was transmitted to Cattleya's ears through the connection of the Eyes of Mystery Prying. The image forming in her mind moved forward continuously, stopping after turning left into a small alley.
Deep in the alley, a naked man leaned against the corner, embracing a delicate and beautiful doll the height of an adult's forearm, performing some indescribable movements with it.
It was Darrell, who had left alone. He was currently immersed in extreme pleasure, completely unaware that he had gained an audience behind him.
"Uh, though I know Intis's customs are very open, isn't this a bit too open?"
Nina paused slightly, then casually complained to Cattleya, with whom she had a connection.
As she spoke, the low gasps and the pungent smell from ahead happened to reach her. For a moment, she felt a bit dazed, her body unnaturally hot, with an urge to join the other party, to snatch and monopolize the doll.
She swallowed, her cheeks flushed red.
"This isn't normal. I clearly just two days ago..."
"Cough~ Captain, what do you think?"
On the Future, after the scene Nina saw appeared in Cattleya's mind, she subconsciously averted her gaze. This action couldn't prevent the formation of the image in her mind; what Nina saw, she could still see.
"Get away from there, you've already been affected."
While warning Nina, Cattleya used the Eyes of Mystery Prying placed on her to exert influence, reducing the charm Nina was experiencing.
Nina paused briefly, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her head. The heat in her body subsided. Although she still had an urge to find someone to vent her desires, it was within a tolerable range.
"This is terrifying. What is that thing? It made me so desperate that I wanted to snatch a masturbation tool from a man?"
Nina complained as she moved away, stopping only when the gasping sounds were gone and she could no longer smell the pungent odor.
Cattleya's calm and rational voice echoed in her ears through the Eyes of Mystery Prying:
"A mystical item from the Demoness pathway, but it seems to have other things mixed in, something that can incite desire."
Above the Gray Fog, Klein, who also noticed this scene, raised a hand to cover his eyes.
"I feel like my eyes have been dirtied."
"Those two followed this guy all the way and didn't even deal with this obviously problematic item. Is there some other purpose? Or a hidden danger?"
After muttering a few words to himself, to ensure that no unexpected incidents beyond his control occurred in Utopia, Klein chose to perform a divination on that strange doll.
His divination went smoothly, without any interference, and he quickly obtained all the information about this strange doll:
An incomplete "Demoness of Pleasure" characteristic, combined with some additional elements, granted this item abilities outside the 22 pathways.
As long as it's carried, it can make the body healthy and strong, but at the same time, it will always be in a state of thirst, constantly craving to mate with people. As the contact time increases, this desire will become stronger and stronger.
The holder will gain the ability to manipulate black flames and ice, but at the same time will be cursed, slowly falling in love with this doll, becoming mad and obsessed, until becoming the other party's captured prey. In the end, the person holding this item will have children with it.