Chapter 103: The Assassin Potion
"Mrs. Sharon's aura is similar to Triss's. I have reason to suspect she is also a Demoness."
As Lu Ze spoke, the others all showed surprised expressions.
"Are you sure?"
Dunn asked with deep eyes.
"I can't guarantee it, but it's very likely."
Lu Ze didn't speak with absolute certainty, as being too certain would make him seem suspicious. "And speaking of Mrs. Sharon, her most famous deed is her beautiful appearance, which is highly sought after by high society. Triss's appearance greatly improved after becoming a Sequence 7. So I feel that this Pathway might enhance one's appearance."
Klein and Frey exchanged glances upon hearing this.
It sounded somewhat reasonable. But how could they verify it?
Dunn pondered for a moment before speaking:
"How about this: first, we retrieve Mrs. Sharon's body, then we go to her residence to investigate. If she is a Demoness, we should be able to find clues at her place. Perhaps information related to Triss can also be obtained this way."
With the captain's orders, the Nighthawks naturally followed suit. They helped Frey put the body into a bag and loaded it into the carriage.
Clues about Triss… She might even be Mrs. Sharon's subordinate.
Lu Ze thought to himself. Just then, a question suddenly came to mind.
"Oh, right, Captain."
Lu Ze asked, "That day when we dealt with Triss, you didn't let Klein participate, saying he was support personnel. But he has already advanced to Sequence 8 and has combat capabilities, hasn't he?"
After passing the review, Klein had already consumed the potion and advanced to Sequence 8 of the Seer Pathway: "Clown."
According to his own description, a "Clown" possesses agile movements, can turn playing cards into throwing knives, and predict others' actions. Based on these descriptions, Lu Ze strongly suspected that Sealed Artifact 3-169, which he carried, was related to the "Clown" potion.
Hearing Lu Ze's question, Dunn was also taken aback.
After a moment, he slowly shook his head and said, "You're right, I forgot he had already advanced."
Huh?
Lu Ze was speechless for a moment.
Forgot…
It's acceptable to have forgotten.
Klein, who was standing nearby, was also a bit stunned after hearing Dunn's words. "Captain, you didn't let me go, and I thought you had other considerations. It turns out you just simply forgot."
Dunn's eyes darted around. He said nothing more and quickened his pace toward the carriage.
It was clear that he seemed a little embarrassed.
"Is the Captain's forgetfulness a bit severe?"
Lu Ze, left behind, wasn't in a hurry to catch up. Instead, he said to Klein.
"That's because the Captain is now a 'Nightmare.' Sometimes he can't distinguish between reality and dreams, which is why he seems a bit muddled. The day his memory returns to normal, that will be the most dangerous thing."
Klein explained in a low voice.
Later, the Nighthawks entered Mrs. Sharon's room to search and, as expected, found a bone statue of the Primordial Demoness in her safe. From this, Dunn concluded that Mrs. Sharon was indeed a Demoness. With Lu Ze's impetus, the case was ultimately classified as an internal struggle among cultists.
Upon hearing that Mrs. Sharon's identity was problematic, the high society members who had originally been clamoring for Justice on her behalf immediately fell silent. Although the Church wanted to find relevant clues, they ultimately met with no success due to numerous obstacles.
From the conclusion, Lu Ze easily cleared himself of suspicion.
Of course, these were all later developments. For now, Lu Ze had merely avoided the risk of working overtime that night. After leaving Mrs. Sharon's residence, he didn't return to the company. Instead, he used the excuse that he needed to buy some supplementary mysterious materials from the underground market, bid farewell to Dunn and the others, and took a carriage to the docks.
The Evil Dragon Bar in the docks area was as lively as ever, with a bustling crowd in the underground market. Lu Ze tried to find traces of Admiralsol, the "Monster," but was unsuccessful. Only after asking others did he learn that Admiralsol had been too terrified to leave his home recently.
Lu Ze had intended to ask him for details about the "catastrophe" he mentioned, but seeing the situation, he had no choice but to give up. He could only wander around the market, purchasing the auxiliary materials his sister needed for her advancement, and replenishing his own materials along the way.
Klein had once suggested that he could use the "reimbursement" system invented by Emperor Rosell to cover the cost of materials. However, Lu Ze found filling out the paperwork for reimbursement a bit troublesome, and since the materials didn't cost much, he had never tried it.
After buying everything, Lu Ze took a trackless carriage back to his home at Daffodil No. 6.
By then, it was already dark.
"Lu Ze, welcome back."
Cecilia greeted him at the door as usual.
"Cecilia, don't come any closer yet, I have a bit of a smell on me."
Lu Ze quickly stopped her. After examining Mrs. Sharon's body that afternoon and helping Frey move it into the carriage, he had picked up the stench of a corpse. This smell wasn't so easy to remove. All afternoon, he had been able to faintly detect the odor on himself.
He placed his belongings on the table and went to the bathroom first, washing himself thoroughly for a while. Only after managing to suppress the smell to a very faint level did he come out.
After leaving the bathroom, Lu Ze first went upstairs to the bedroom. He retrieved a suitcase from under the bed, which contained Mrs. Sharon's organs preserved by ritual, several of Mrs. Sharon's personal items—a dagger, jewelry, and the like—as well as two Beyonder characteristics: a black thorn, which was a Sequence 9 Assassin characteristic; and a purple crystal, which was the Beyonder characteristic extracted from Mrs. Sharon, likely from a mid-Sequence of the Assassin Pathway.
Lu Ze carefully took out the black iron-colored thorn, then closed the box and sealed it again with a Wall of Spirituality. Only then did he carry this "Assassin" Beyonder characteristic downstairs.
Ms. M and Cecilia were already waiting for him in the living room.
"Cecilia, wash our pot clean and bring it over."
Lu Ze suppressed his unease and said to his sister. To be honest, he wasn't this nervous even when making potions for himself. While his sister went to fetch the iron pot, Lu Ze took out the auxiliary materials one by one and arranged them on the table.
80 milliliters of pure water, 5 drops of white datura juice, 5 grams of nightshade powder, 10 grams of adult spirit cat whiskers powder. He recalled the potion formula once more, and after confirming it was correct, Cecilia brought over the iron pot.
"Alright, I'm going to start."
Lu Ze smiled at Cecilia, as if comforting his sister, but in reality, he was encouraging himself.
He poured 80 milliliters of pure water into the pot, then added the nightshade powder and white datura juice. The liquid in the pot turned a dull green. After the two ingredients were thoroughly mixed, he threw in the "Assassin" Beyonder characteristic.
With a "thump," the black iron-colored thorn submerged into the liquid. The originally hard characteristic quickly dissolved, causing the entire pot of liquid to begin swirling, occasionally sprouting sharp, pointed tendrils that looked like thorns from the outside. Only when Lu Ze poured in the last ingredient, the spirit cat whisker powder, did the potion return to calmness.
By this time, the potion had become a transparent light blue, like semi-solidified jelly.
It seemed to have succeeded.
Lu Ze thought.