Circus.
After the Demoness incident concluded, there were no new tasks, and since it was the Circus's rest day, there were no strenuous performances.
The members of the Circus team found themselves in a long-awaited period of calm.
The Magician also enjoyed a rare moment of leisure. He picked up the coffee beside him and took a sip, his gaze fixed on the notes on his desk.
He had heard of this Antigonus Family notebook, and he was well aware of the potential consequences it could bring.
He read it very carefully, even using a page-turning wand to flip the pages, fearing even a trace of extra spirituality might contaminate it.
This notebook was to be returned and handed over in a few days when the mission ended. He planned to study it during this last period of time.
"Boss!"
Hearing his subordinate's voice, the Magician frowned slightly. He gently closed the book, a hint of displeasure in his expression.
He disliked being interrupted during such rare moments of peace.
"Boss, are you looking at this book again?" The Clown smiled.
"Yes, I have to hand it in in two days."
"Speaking of which, things went quite smoothly that night. I originally thought there would be a fierce battle," the Clown recalled.
The experience of obtaining this notebook that night was quite miraculous. No one in the Circus team had expected the Nighthawks and the Hermes Society to both suffer heavy losses, allowing them to seize the notebook with almost no effort.
"However, that Nighthawk captain was quite skilled," the Magician suddenly mused, recalling the mission.
"Really?" The Clown was curious. His boss rarely praised enemies.
"Even while injured, he could still launch an effective counterattack. If I hadn't been prepared, I would have almost been dragged into a dream by him."
"This is definitely not something an ordinary Nightmare can do."
"You didn't just come to chat, did you?" The Magician quickly changed the subject, turning his head to glance at his subordinate.
"Boss... what did the Official say about the Demoness incident?"
The Magician picked up his coffee and took a sip, using these few seconds to ponder before answering.
"The assessment is not considered a failure."
"Then my..." The Clown was somewhat pleased and was about to say something when the Magician interrupted him.
"But, it's not considered a success either."
"What? What does that mean?" The Clown's smile instantly froze.
"Literal meaning." The Magician sighed, looking at his fidgety subordinate.
"Although the Demoness named Shelun died, she was not killed by us."
"So, naturally, the assessment isn't considered a success," the Magician said, taking another sip of coffee.
"But didn't we injure her?"
"And if that team of Nighthawks hadn't suddenly appeared, that Demoness definitely wouldn't have escaped."
"Uh..."
Hearing this, the Magician recalled that night again. After the failed sneak attack, the Clown rashly charged forward and was immediately bound by the Demoness's threads and thrown downstairs, leaving only himself to contend with the Demoness.
Looking at his subordinate, who was full of indignation, the Magician suppressed his temper and instead picked up his coffee, drinking it all in one gulp.
"You want to ask about the promotion, right?"
"Uh... yes." The Clown was a bit embarrassed to have his thoughts seen through, but he still nodded.
"Sigh, I'm not even in a hurry, why are you?"
"What, you want to stand on my head?" The Magician deliberately changed to a displeased tone.
"Of course not." Hearing his boss's words, the Clown quickly waved his hands.
"I mean, my Clown Beyonder potion has already been digested, and..."
"Even if a Beyonder potion is digested, it still needs time to settle."
"And..." The Magician sighed.
"The higher the Sequence, the more troublesome things become. As for you..."
Looking at his fidgety subordinate, the Magician truly didn't think it was a good idea for him to be promoted so quickly. This kid completely lacked the restraint that a Seer Pathway should possess.
"It won't make a difference in these two days."
Unlike his subordinate's eagerness, the Magician wasn't particularly anxious about his own promotion.
He had some understanding of the Seer's Sequence 6, Faceless. He knew that a Faceless had the ability to change appearances, and frankly, he wasn't particularly interested in that ability.
Moreover, if he were to be promoted to Sequence 6, the difficulty of assigned missions would definitely increase.
The ability to change appearance would, in all likelihood, lead to him being assigned to the intelligence department, where the work would involve either being a spy collecting information or going undercover in other organizations.
These missions were far more dangerous than his current job of guiding new recruits.
So, considering everything, he had no ambition to advance.
Unlike those young people eager for promotion, the Magician had understood a truth long ago.
In the Beyonder domain, being able to withdraw unscathed was already a great fortune; anything else could only be considered a luxury.
"Boss, by the way, what's our arrangement when we go back?" The Clown, after his dejection, regained his smile.
"Maybe transferred to the special operations department, or maybe continue to be stationed abroad.
Of course, there's also a chance we'll stay in Backlund and do some auxiliary tasks, since I heard Backlund is short on people lately."
The Magician's tone was somewhat uncertain.
"I can't say for sure about such things; I can only follow the arrangements from above."
"Ah? Auxiliary tasks don't earn much merit..." Hearing the Magician's words, the Clown muttered softly.
Merit was the main currency for obtaining Beyonder potion formulas, and the merit from auxiliary tasks was pitifully small.
"Can't we just..." The Clown still wanted to say something.
"Captain, you have a telegram."
The Seer suddenly walked in, interrupting their conversation.
"Got it, I'll be right there." The Magician put down his coffee cup and leaned forward, standing up.
"Don't be too impatient."
Before leaving, he specifically turned back to admonish the Clown.
"There will be many more opportunities in the future. Think about it carefully."
After his boss left, the Clown's smile gradually faded.
Clearly, the long-awaited promotion falling through made it impossible for him to be happy.
"It's not like I have to wait for the people above to give me the formula. Perhaps I can..."
The Clown's gaze fell upon the black-covered notebook the Magician had left behind.
Perhaps because he left in a hurry, the Magician hadn't put it away.
The Clown subconsciously reached out and stroked the dark cover.
"It's said that the Antigonus Family belonged to the Seer Pathway, and this notebook is so miraculous. Perhaps..."
...
To solve the problem of feeding himself and the cat, Luo En ultimately chose to risk going out to shop.
Watching Lachi eat heartily, Luo En gently squatted down and stroked her back.
"Thinking about it, Lachi is really smart!"
"Not only can she help me fight, but she also uses the toilet herself, even the commode."
Thinking of the toilet, Luo En's face twitched a bit. Others might not know, but for him personally, the toilets of this era were truly...
And the rough texture of the toilet paper, as well as its tendency to tear at any moment, was simply too...
"Sigh, let's not think about this anymore. Let's think about serious matters."
Compared to the joyful Lachi, his current expression was much more melancholic.
He had just thought about it carefully and realized that too many strange things had happened recently.
"This city is even more dangerous than I imagined..."
"Should I just leave..."
"But... it's still unclear if that peeping, hidden existence has been dealt with by the Official."
"And my notebook..."
Luo En was a bit conflicted. If he could, he really didn't want to give up that notebook. Its potential value was simply too high. If it truly contained Beyonder potion formulas of higher Sequences, then he wouldn't have to worry about anything in the future.
"No, I need to do something."
...
Outskirts of Tingen City.
Luo En found an open space and began to train himself.
He pulled out his pistol and aimed at the wooden barrel in front of him.
After some thought, Luo En decided that he needed to at least improve his combat abilities, otherwise, he would have no means of resistance when encountering danger.
The Robot had no direct combat ability, nor any special enhancements for combat; it merely provided a simple improvement in physical fitness.
He had also considered some so-called combat training.
However, the self-study effects of those things were not good, and some special combat techniques required specialized instruction to be effective.
As things stood, Luo En simply didn't have the conditions for that.
In his current state, the most feasible option was to practice shooting. Although there was no professional guidance, with the Robot's ability bonus, it wasn't difficult to get a feel for shooting.
Moreover, this special revolver didn't require bullets to fire, saving even the cost of consumables.
Luo En held the gun with both hands, aimed at the target in front of him, and pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
The first shot's recoil made his tiger's mouth numb, and a black flame erupted, incinerating the nearby wooden barrel.
"Bang! Bang!"
"Bang!"
Next came another black flame, followed by a black ice.
...
After several shots, the wooden barrels used as targets were all destroyed beyond recognition.
And as ice and fire collided, a hot steam permeated the surroundings.
"Five out of six, huh...?" This result was better than Luo En expected.
The Robot's improvement in shooting was better than imagined; even someone like him, who had never practiced before, could achieve decent accuracy.
The only shot that missed had a small error, merely grazing the target.
Through this practice, Luo En also discovered a small drawback of this gun: it needed to pause for a buffer period after every 6 shots and could not fire continuously at high intensity.
However, this wasn't entirely a bad thing. This gun's consumption of spirituality was greater than Luo En had imagined, and without pausing, his spirituality wouldn't be able to sustain it.
The gun practice went smoothly, but Luo En also had a question.
"Why did the bullets fire smoothly during practice, but before, they absolutely refused to fire?"
"This time, after several rounds of practice, it only misfired once."
"Last time, when I intended to ambush that policeman, it misfired twice in a row."
"Could it be that this pistol only fails at critical moments...?"
For a moment, Luo En had the idea of selling it.
"Sigh, forget it. After all, it's a Beyonder weapon, and such things are hard to come by."
There was no other way; the Robot's combat ability was simply too ordinary.
In Luo En's opinion, the only outstanding point might be that the Robot's spiritual intuition was relatively high, probably belonging to the type with higher inspiration among sequence 8.
But this was just an estimate; he had no comparison to know exactly how much higher it was.
Moreover, powerful Beyonder weapons were not something one could simply buy whenever they wanted.
Having one that was barely usable, he might as well make do with it.
"Let's give you a name." Luo En raised the pistol, examining its alluring silver-grey patterns.
"Hmm... let's call it Phantom."
Looking at the gun's patterns, Luo En's face gradually drew closer, his nose twitching slightly.
The scent of gunpowder mixed with a faint fragrance was inexplicably intoxicating.
"Close call, close call. I almost got tempted again."
Looking at the Phantom in his hand, Luo En felt a lingering fear. This negative effect of occasionally tempting the user was indeed a bit of a trap.
"It seems I still need to use it carefully."
...
Blackthorn Security Company.
Klein was alone, bored, behind the Chanis Gate.
"I wonder how Benson and Melissa are doing. I haven't been home in days. Will they be worried about me?"
"Although Leonard has already gone home and told them that I was temporarily sent on a business trip by the company's arrangement..."
"They'll probably complain about the company's inhumanity, not giving any notice."
"Perhaps Benson will even feel a sense of relief, relieved that his younger brother has grown up."
Thinking of his family's faces, Klein sighed.
"If this goes on for too long, this excuse might not work anymore."
"And, if the truth of my transmigration were discovered, they might also be isolated and investigated..."
Thinking of some possibilities, Klein clenched his fists. He truly didn't want his older brother and sister to be implicated because of him.
Frey told me to wait until the captain returns, and then we'll discuss my situation together. Captain... Thinking of Dunn Smith's face, Klein felt both reassured and a pang of lingering fear.
He wasn't sure what emotions he should use to face the captain.
Just as he was lost in thought, the basement door slowly opened.
"Klein, are you alright?"
"Leonard? Why are you here? Aren't you off these two days?" Seeing the person, Klein was a bit surprised. He hadn't expected the usually lazy Leonard to come to the company on his day off.
"I came to see you, to see how things are now."
"Everything is normal behind the Chanis Gate right now."
Leonard nodded and said:
"You're not a Sleepless. Being in this environment for a long time might be uncomfortable for you. I was a bit worried, so I came to check."
"Actually, it's fine. No matter what, I'm still a sequence 8. No problem." Klein smiled, the concern from his teammate providing some comfort.
"That..."
"Klein, I know you wouldn't betray the Goddess."
"Of course not." Klein nodded.
"Leonard, is there something you want to tell me?" Klein asked, seeing Leonard's hesitant expression.
"It's nothing major."
"I want to ask you something?" Leonard looked at Klein.
"Go ahead."
"Do you know Lorne Disonke?"
"Ah?"