Just as Lorne was pondering how to investigate Audrey, his spiritual intuition was slightly stirred. A letter appeared out of thin air in front of his desk.
"It's a letter from Queen Mystic again—"
Lorne sighed softly, reached out to pick up the letter, and tore it open.
What came into view was, as always, a page of scrawled and flamboyant Chinese—Roselle's diary.
Behind the diary page, there were several sheets of letter paper written in Loen language.
"This must be the reply—"
He set the page of Roselle's diary aside, deciding to read Queen Mystic's reply first.
About two minutes later, Lorne put down the letter and leaned back wearily in his chair.
"Snake of Fate—"
In the letter, Queen Mystic answered his questions regarding the scenes he had seen in his dream earlier.
She briefly speculated on what the symbols in the dream might represent.
Among them, the most important piece of information was: that giant silver-white snake was very likely the mythical creature form of the Monster Pathway.
"Mythical creature—that's something only at the Angel level can possess."
"So—Will Auceptin is indeed a high-Sequence powerhouse, and in all likelihood, an Angel."
"An Angel—" Lorne recalled the rotting corpse of Will Auceptin that he had once dug up outside Green Cemetery.
"An Angel shouldn't be able to die that easily—"
"Even if they really died, it's impossible for there to be absolutely no commotion."
In addition to answering Lorne's questions, Queen Mystic also agreed to Lorne's request to find an Artisan. She stated that if Lorne had any needs, he could send the Beyonder characteristic and specific requirements to her via a messenger, and the payment could be settled in gold pounds.
Besides that, this time she also provided Lorne with a method for crafting a Talisman related to the Worm of Time. Through a specific ritual, that Worm of Time could be crafted into a Talisman with special effects.
"A Talisman—that works too. That worm is just sitting here, useless anyway—"
"And the Artisan—which characteristic should I use to craft a Mystical Item?"
"Scribe, Mentor of Disorder, Wraith, and three other characteristics that I haven't had time to identify yet—"
"And the Swindler brought out from Amon's villa."
After weighing his options for a moment, Lorne chose the Scribe.
The Swindler had no means of attack and no Beyonder abilities that he particularly needed, so he ruled it out immediately.
Then—although the probability was low, if any accidents were to happen during the crafting process, compared to the Sequence 5 Mentor of Disorder and Wraith, he could still accept the loss of a Sequence 6.
"As for the requirements for the Mystical Item—" Lorne began to brainstorm.
"The side effects must be as minimal as possible; at the very least, they shouldn't cause too much interference during combat."
"And portability—"
Originally, having a portable space meant he didn't really care about this. But during the exploration of the ruins two days ago, that evil spirit had sensed the existence of the poker cards and launched a surprise attack on him, which taught Lorne a lesson.
Keeping all his equipment in the poker cards was too risky. Once the poker cards were stolen or lost, and since he didn't have any powerful attack skills, his combat ability would be severely compromised.
Therefore, Lorne hoped that this Mystical Item would be easy to carry, ideally in the shape of a common object, so that carrying it around wouldn't seem out of place—
"Speaking of which—" Thinking of the Beyonder characteristics, he suddenly remembered something else.
"I wonder if the characteristic of that Wraith, Steve, from last time is still usable—"
After all, Steve was ultimately "poisoned" to death by the Full Moon Speech Disorder and that corrupted ear. The Beyonder characteristic he left behind after death couldn't possibly be without any issues.
"Maric still hasn't advanced yet—"
"If that characteristic doesn't work, I could sell them the Blood Admiral's characteristic—but do Sharon and the others have that kind of money?"
In his impression, Sharon and Maric had always lived quite frugally.
However, Sharon had previously fished out quite a few benefits with him in Amon's tomb. If everything were sold off smoothly, they should be able to scrape together a considerable sum of funds.
"I also need to find a way to sell some more things. While the wave of factory closures in Backlund hasn't completely subsided, I should acquire some more businesses—" Lorne pulled his thoughts back to himself.
"Hmm—I also need to get Danitz to find a way to bring me some gold from the colonies. And get a secret room and a safe or something, just in case."
Lorne was very clear that the title of "hero of the east district" above his head was, to some extent, a means for the official to appease public opinion and set up a role model. This status certainly made his social standing and business much easier, but it also meant that he was, to a certain degree, placed in the spotlight, receiving more attention and potential constraints.
Moreover, he hadn't forgotten that he had indeed discovered some incredible dirt and evidence in Capin's villa, including those special service lists provided specifically for big shots, as well as some ledgers of interest transfers.
Although things were calm now, there was no guarantee what might happen in the future. The money in businesses and banks might not be quickly liquidated or taken away at a critical moment, so it was better to store more hard currency and leave himself a way out.
"That guy Danitz should be at Sequence 6 by now. I wonder how his potion digestion is going. If things go smoothly, I could sell him the Sequence 5 formula at a friendly price."
Thinking of this, he suddenly cracked a joke.
"If I really can't make it in Backlund in the future, I'll just go back to being a pirate. Although it's a bit awkward to return to an old job, the Captain—she should take me in, right?"
Truth Society.
"You mean that 'Devil' has already noticed your investigation into him and has started retaliating against you?"
Charles's expression turned somewhat ugly after hearing Klein's report.
The Desire Apostle was even more high-profile and crazier than he had imagined.
"Yes. One of the Detectives participating in the investigation has already been targeted by his retaliation—" Klein said in a deep voice.
"Is this—what Emperor Roselle said, a dog jumping over the wall in desperation?" Charles seemed to be asking Klein, or perhaps talking to himself.
"No, I feel that the 'Devil' might have other motives. His recent actions are just too high-profile; it doesn't look like he's trying to evade capture at all," Klein analyzed.
"Mm." Charles nodded. "Investigate, continue investigating."
As he spoke, he took out a Talisman made of white tin with complex patterns carved on it from his drawer and handed it to Klein.
"Sherlock, this is a communication Talisman. I just got it from the Intelligence Department."
"As long as you inject spirituality into it, you can achieve long-distance conversation. The range is enough to cover most of Backlund."
"If there's any emergency on your end, just call me directly using it. I will also use it on my end to convey the latest instructions to you."
Klein glanced at Charles. He felt that his superior was inexplicably anxious. Moreover, he had specifically fetched something from the Intelligence Department—this didn't match his usual style.
Is he really that concerned about that "Devil"—
Some things couldn't be asked directly; he would go back to the gray fog to divine it later.
Klein sighed in his heart, then nodded and put away the Talisman. "Understood, Director."