Chapter 157: Advancing to "Dream Stealer"
Enveloped by the gradually rising gray fog, Nimrod opened his eyes. What greeted him was the scene within Roger's bedroom. In the home of "Black Scorpion" Roger, the leader of the Stinger Gang, his deputy "Baldy" Harman also lived there. Harman was the person Roger trusted most; the Stinger Gang had been slowly built up from a dance hall by the two of them from the very beginning.
It was just a pity that a sequence 8 "Gardener" could not tell that his boss had been quietly replaced.
Besides Harman, there was also Roger's mistress "Short Candlestick" Castina, and "The Hammer" Ait, who had betrayed the Sava Party. However, "The Hammer" Ait had lost his life in Lumian's previous assassination, which was one of the reasons why the Sava Party's boss, Gardner Martin, showed favor to Lumian.
But did Gardner really extend an olive branch to Lumian just because he took out a traitor? Not exactly; for Gardner, this was merely an excuse. The real reason was still wanting to use Lumian to achieve certain things.
As for how Lumian managed to kill "The Hammer" Ait under the Stinger Gang's layers of protection after killing Wilson and Margot, one would have to ask the Stinger Gang's "kindest" boss, Nimrod.
With the intelligence provided by Nimrod and Lumian's own superb assassination skills, Ait lost his life without any suspense.
A "Hunter's" constitution combined with an "Assassin's" full-strength strike was incredibly underhanded.
After waking up, Nimrod did not recall the details of what he had done during his last "transmigration" as usual. Instead, he stood up directly and walked to the windowsill.
Those leaders of the Stinger Gang, or the gang members managing the lowest-level thugs and hooligans, had more or less been temporarily staying at "Roger's" house under various identities at night during this period. This was because there were constant rumors of Passion's intent to assassinate them recently, making them somewhat anxious and uneasy.
To this end, Nimrod generously allowed them to come to his house to stay temporarily. Anyway, he wasn't "Roger" himself, so he naturally didn't care if his subordinates had other thoughts about him. Living together made it more convenient for him to catch them all in one net and for today's—ritual.
Three minutes before the transmigration, Nimrod used the messenger's "teleportation" ability to arrive at Leonard's side and stole his "Dreamwalking" ability—this was a deal between him and Leonard, for which Nimrod paid a Beyonder material that Leonard needed.
And just as he had expected, after crossing the timeline, his "Steal" ability still existed.
Standing on the windowsill, a faint glimmer appeared in Nimrod's eyes, and the light and shadow deep within his pupils quickly became profound: "Dreamwalking"!
"Nightmare" can freely enter and exit the dreams of every sleeper within a vast range and provide limited guidance to the dream's content. The unique abstract images and deep colors of dreams emerged around him. Nimrod quickly adapted to this ability and stepped into the interconnected dreams of Roger's subordinates one by one.
He looked down at his own body. At this moment, his body seemed to be composed entirely of gray fog, looking like a tall, thin, and distorted silhouette.
The details on this silhouette were constantly recombining like a mosaic, sometimes becoming clear and sometimes becoming blurred.
To this, Nimrod had only one thought:
My dream image is a bit too humanoid in an ugly way—no, he felt it would take a "metaphorical" stretch to even consider it human.
However, Nimrod soon shifted his attention from this slightly weird thought and began to focus on observing the dream images of the people currently sleeping in this house.
When many people think they aren't dreaming, their brains are actually quite active, unconsciously creating dreams. These dreams inevitably contain their recent profound memories. These memories either manifest as independent dream images or mix with other memories to form bizarre and grotesque dream messages.
In the dreams of these Stinger Gang lackeys, the images of both the "Boss" and "Roger" appeared frequently. In a mystical sense, these two images were equivalent to the current Nimrod and could both serve the ritual's purpose.
Nimrod had already "stolen" Roger's identity. Although it didn't involve Beyonder means, several weeks of acting and interacting with those around him had indeed linked Roger's Fate to Nimrod's.
Even for those dreams where the images hadn't appeared, after Nimrod provided a bit of guidance and tried to use the "Nightmare" ability to replicate his image within them, they soon turned into similar dreams.
It was clear that Roger's subordinates had a deep impression of and psychological shadow regarding Nimrod's two images.
That was enough.
If even here many people felt deep fear toward the "Boss's" image, then in the Market District, where almost everyone had more or less heard rumors about the secretive "Boss" behind "Passion," how many people would dream of him?
The advancement ritual for "Dream Stealer" is to "become an important supporting character or a major villain in the unconscious dreams of at least thirty people when consuming the potion," and now—the feedback provided by this ritual had far exceeded the standard.
And all this feedback would become Nimrod's helpers in wearing down the spiritual imprint within the "Dream Stealer" characteristic.
After finishing all this, Nimrod quickly exited the dream state, set up the Wall of Spirituality Seal, and checked the "Dream-Eating Rat" that had been soaked in Sefirah Castle for many days to fully remove the starlight scent. Nimrod didn't hesitate to reach out and make a cut on the "Dream-Eating Rat," and a still-beating heart fell into his hand.
In the next moment, this heart fell vertically into a glass jar that emerged out of thin air from the gray fog. This was the bottle of "stench of corruption" provided by "Grisha Adam." After the two merged, the blood flowing from the Dream-Eating Rat's wound and the remaining auxiliary materials also fell into the bottle.
Lapis Lazuli, Lavender Hydrosol, and the tears of others shed due to broken ideals.
As these substances mixed together, the contents of the bottle that originally held the "stench of corruption" melted away, finally turning into half a bottle of a deep,
dark liquid that seemed capable of binding all thoughts.
Nimrod closed his eyes, tilted his head slightly, and poured the potion into his mouth.
At the moment he swallowed the potion, a suffocating sensation immediately welled up in his heart. Nimrod opened his eyes and felt as if he were standing on a pitch-black water surface, with arms reaching out from beneath the dark water, trying to drag Nimrod's spirit body into the depths.
This was not an Illusion from drinking the potion. If a Beyonder failed to endure during the consumption process and their spirit body was dragged beneath this water—which was the same color as the "Dream Stealer" potion—then their Beyonder abilities would truly lose control, turning them into an out-of-control Monster.
These arms tugged at Nimrod's spirit body, but the gray fog dissipating around the spirit body didn't budge.
Nimrod didn't even feel the resistance generated by these arms pulling him.
Just then, specks of light appeared in the distance like souls seeking their destination, swimming toward Nimrod from the pitch-black sky like slow meteors. He raised his hand and tried to touch these specks of light. When he touched one, a scene appeared before his eyes.
Then came more specks of light, each one instantly bringing an impression of "himself" to his mind.
Some of these images were ones he had just seen among the Stinger Gang subordinates, while others were ones he hadn't.
Facing these dream images, some of the dream's owners showed panic, while others showed peace of mind. A thousand people, a thousand faces, yet all roads led to the same end. The essence of this ritual was to help the Beyonder anchor their own image so they wouldn't lose themselves in the potion's power.
But for Nimrod, this was truly just a ritual to help wear down the Celestial Worthy's imprint.
Among these thousands of faces, not one truly belonged to him. Even the face without any disguise—was the countenance that once belonged to "Amon."
Following the reminder of his spirituality, Nimrod raised his head and looked directly in front of him—on the water surface opposite him, the figure of the Celestial Worthy stood abruptly. The specks of light formed by those dream images streaked past Nimrod and finally passed through the Celestial Worthy's figure, returning to Nimrod's body.
No expression could be seen on the Celestial Worthy's mask-like face; he simply placed his hands in front of him and lightly applauded.
Soon, those specks of light all merged into Nimrod's body, illuminating the deep, dark water beneath his feet. As the last speck of light surged in, a scene more intense than all the previous images appeared before Nimrod.
Lumian lay on a rooftop enveloped by the scent of wheat and stars, with a blonde girl sitting beside him, her gaze cast toward the sky.
And Nimrod—the Nimrod with Amon's face, the undisguised Nimrod—stood behind the two of them, seemingly merging into the gray fog, yet also seemingly watching them.
"Huff, huff, huff!"
Lumian startled awake from the dream and subconsciously raised his head to look around. Suddenly, he saw a somewhat familiar figure sitting there.
This figure wore clothes like those of a classical mage, without a soft cap or glasses. In his hand, a card emitting a blood-red glow flickered between his fingertips.
Lumian's gaze was drawn to that card almost instantly—the moment he saw that blood-red card, he felt an irrepressible attraction emanating from it. This attraction firmly gripped his vision, making him look there involuntarily.
That is?
Lumian remembered a legend his sister had once told him, a fan of Roselle. Emperor Roselle had once released 22 blasphemy cards that possessed divine power and contained the secrets of becoming a god—could it be that the card in his godfather's hand was—?
If this was true, then no wonder his godfather would lose contact from time to time recently, and no wonder his godfather always had confidence in training him to become a true god!
—
"There's good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear?"
Nimrod's voice sounded in Lumian's ear. Lumian suppressed the excitement and wild joy in his heart from seeing his idol's item and the hope of becoming a god, and said as calmly as possible: "Either is fine."
Nimrod flipped the card over, and a line of blood-colored text immediately appeared before Lumian's eyes:
[Sequence 0: Red Priest]
It really was Emperor Roselle's "blasphemy card"! This way, I won't have to worry about my subsequent potion formulas, and I'm one step closer to saving my sister—Lumian said, unable to hide his smile: "And the bad news?"
"The bad news is, you can't use it for the time being."
A smile also curled on the corner of Nimrod's mouth. Lumian was smiling because he didn't know what was going to happen next, while Nimrod was smiling because he knew what he was about to say: "I helped you ask an Angel of the Hunter Pathway. The suggestion he gave was that if you want to continue advancing like this, then at the stage of Sequence 7—you need to switch to the "Demoness" Pathway."
"But well, for me, this counts as good news. I've always wanted a daughter, but unfortunately, I never succeeded. Now—I'll have a goddaughter."
Lumian's smile froze on his face, and his expression became slightly stiff. But just then, Nimrod added: "Of course, while you possess the "Demoness" form and advance spirally, your sister's soul fragments will also gradually recover."
"Does that make it a bit easier to accept?"
Lumian's lips pursed slightly, and he quickly accepted Nimrod's explanation.
He took a deep breath, and after preparing himself mentally, he immediately asked Nimrod: "Godfather, since I'll soon be advancing to Witch, can I go directly to forcibly find Louis Lund and help you clear out the Stinger Gang?"
He had always been a pragmatist. Since he had decided not to follow the "Hunter" Pathway but to switch to the "Demoness" Pathway in the next stage, Lumian had to make full use of this.
Because as long as he could complete the advancement at any time, then after the gender swap, no one would be able to find the version of him tainted by "Fate"!
He was already somewhat—impatient to cross a few names off his revenge list and to dig out the secrets hidden in Cordu Village from Louis Lund's mouth.
"It's possible." Nimrod pondered for a moment before answering Lumian: "But this matter needs to be planned carefully. The Roger I am currently playing is a subordinate of "Madam Moon" and has a certain relationship with Pualis, who is "Madam Night." Perhaps before long, Louis Lund, who is being sought by so many gang members and detectives, will actively seek asylum from me."
"Moreover, I have already figured out the details of the Stinger Gang. The identity of Roger is indeed no longer suitable to continue using."
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#158Chapter 158 Janna
Chapter 158 Jenna
"You—no, how does the Roger you're playing have a connection with Madame Pualis?" Lumian said in surprise. "Could it be that Louis Lund has also been under your watch?"
Nimrod replied with a smile, "Perhaps you'll know news of Louis Lund in a while. You've been making quite a stir in the Market District lately. If nothing goes wrong, Madame Pualis will likely have 'Roger' go protect Louis..."
"Lund."
"Alright."
After saying that, Lumian hesitated for a moment before voicing the question in his heart: "Godfather, have you always been concerned about my sister's affairs? Don't you need to plan your own things like other high-level existences?"
Since Lumian escaped from the nightmare of Cordu Village, it had already been over a month since he arrived in Trier.
During this time, Lumian had come into contact with many people, both ordinary and Beyonders, from Charlie, who could be considered a friend, to the powerful Mr. K, and then to the lady "Magician" who seemed to be an acquaintance of his Godfather—
Except for Charlie, who was truly an unlucky guy caught up in it, Mr. K and the lady "Magician" both seemed to carry some sort of strong "mission."
His Godfather was the same. He—Lumian didn't know if his Godfather should be called "he" or "Him," but Lumian was willing to call his Godfather "he."
Because although the Godfather himself had clear goals, outside of this mission, Lumian felt a certain—warmth—that was different from those great existences.
Lumian couldn't explain exactly what the difference in this "warmth" was, but he believed there was a distinction between his Godfather and other high-level existences.
Lumian was quite sensitive to the emotions of others, whether it was the selfish people he saw during his days of wandering who just wanted to survive, or the genuine concern his sister showed him afterward, Lumian felt them all quite keenly.
It was precisely because of this that after his sister's death, Lumian felt a world-shattering pain.
At this time, his Godfather came to his side and gave him hope for resurrecting his sister, causing Lumian to inevitably transfer some of his feelings onto Nimrod.
But Lumian felt a slight sense of unreality regarding this groundless warmth.
Nimrod's fingers moved, and amidst a surge of gray fog, he took back the "Hunter" card. He didn't say a word, just walked to Lumian's side and gently pressed down on his head.
After a long time, Nimrod finally said seriously to Lumian, "Lumian, I am your Godfather."
"I know the situation with your biological father, but I will take on the role of your father—forget about your previous father."
He looked Lumian over—from his appearance, Lumian was only eighteen. Even on Earth, he would just be a prospective college student who had just graduated from high school. But in this world, this eighteen-year-old youth had to make himself ruthless just to survive.
Even though he could only be considered a young man before transmigrating, he was still several years older than Lumian.
After Nimrod left, Lumian reorganized his thoughts.
If he thought about it carefully, he felt that the Market District had been too quiet lately, as if some big event was about to happen, with a distinct sense of a gathering storm.
Thinking of this, and then recalling the dream he had before concerning his sister and his Godfather, the corners of Lumian's mouth twitched slightly, revealing a somewhat ferocious smile. For a moment, there was no longer any—
—sleepiness.
He prepared to go to the underground of the Market District to clear his head and, while he was at it, continue checking on his turf in the "Avenue of the Blouses."
As for the fatigue caused by staying up all night, Lumian didn't mind much. Anyway, everything would reset at six tomorrow morning.
Walking to the level where the "Avenue of the Blouses" was located, Lumian noticed some obvious footprints on the road, which was slightly damp due to the underground moisture. They looked like footprints left by a male weighing over a hundred kilograms.
Hmm, the size of the footprints—probably a male between 1.7 and 1.75 meters tall. Such a male is unlikely to exceed a hundred kilograms—
But Lumian identified some discordant colors in the traces. He felt that the physique of the owner of footprints this size couldn't possibly create such depth.
In that case, there was only one possibility: this person was carrying some heavy objects.
So, what would be the heavy objects carried in the underground Market District late at night?
A small half of the Market District and its underground were now the "territory" of "Passion," and coincidentally, Lumian, this "Hunter," was quite unwilling to let people or things he didn't know about appear in his territory.
It was like seeing someone sneaking into your basement with a heavy load late at night, and then when caught, telling you they were just here for a weighted run. Would you believe such a line?
Lumian didn't believe it anyway.
Whether they were transferring a kidnapped person or stolen or robbed goods from here, Lumian felt that this matter should be handled by him.
The instincts of a "Hunter" allowed Lumian to quickly analyze the characteristics of the owner of these footprints. He thought for a moment and prepared to follow the trail for a distance to see what this person was actually here to do.
After tracking for a while, Lumian's nose twitched, catching the scent of perfume.
"This is?"
Lumian pondered for a moment, walked a distance to the side, and casually knocked on a nearby wooden door. Someone immediately poked their head out and said to Lumian with great spirit, "What's up, Boss Ciel?"
This was one of Lumian's subordinates. To maintain control over his "territory" in the chaotic Trier, Lumian had some clever tricks.
Some of the gang members he recruited were not known to others but were hidden under legitimate jobs, monitoring hard-to-notice corners of the Market District for Lumian.
"Did you see someone pass by just now?" Lumian raised his chin and asked his subordinate. "I suspect it's a Criminal, hmm, maybe a kidnapper. There's a scent of a woman's perfume on him. I'm quite curious who dares to commit a crime on my turf."
"Someone dares to commit a crime on your turf?" The subordinate dressed as a vendor was slightly surprised, but soon said, "I saw someone pass by just now, but I couldn't remember their specific appearance—wait for me, Boss. I'll go ask Old Eli, who knows how to write."
Old Eli was originally another low-level vendor in the Market District. He was now old and couldn't compete with the younger vendors for spots to sell goods.
However, although he was old, it was precisely because he was born early that some of the public schools Roselle had once established hadn't been closed when he was young. Fortunately, he learned a bit, allowing him to have basic reading, writing, and recording skills even now.
Because of this, after joining the trade association organized by "Passion," he was also arranged by Lumian's subordinates to record the descriptions of late-night pedestrians for extra pay.
After the subordinate dressed as a vendor repeated Lumian's request to Old Eli, he rushed back and admitted his mistake to Lumian: "Old Eli said his notebook recorded a person passing by with a sack, but I didn't smell any extra scent—sorry, Boss Ciel, it's my fault."
Lumian shook his head and didn't blame his subordinate. "It's normal that you couldn't smell it. That scent was very faint to begin with. If you could smell it, I'd have to promote you to an officer."
"Hunters" have extremely keen observation and sense of smell. For those hostile to Hunters, they are used to calling this a dog's nose. However, just as Lumian said, this is a specialty of being a "Hunter."
Lumian himself didn't have the ability to make others Beyonders, and collecting Beyonder materials also cost money, but Lumian had another way—there were plenty of Beyonders in Trier. He just needed to find trustworthy Beyonders to serve as small leaders of "Passion."
For example, the "Spectator" Anthony, who had a similar goal to his.
Just as he was about to turn around, Lumian seemed to remember something and instructed, "You guys continue watching here. I'm going to drag that audacious fellow out. Before I come back, keep an eye on this place. If anyone wants to come through tonight, stop them."
Hearing Lumian's command, the subordinate immediately said flatteringly, "Yes, Boss Ciel!"
Lumian followed the trail of footprints and soon went all the way down, quickly moving from the underground street into the tunnels of the quarry.
Not long after, he came to a fork in the road and saw a faint blue light appearing at the end of the stone wall.
Lumian hid himself completely in the Darkness and cast his gaze toward the light source.
The center of the cave was a relatively flat area where a dark iron carbide lamp was placed. Not far from it, a man wearing a blue peaked cap stood there, tearing open a cloth bag and dragging out a young girl.
"Really a kidnapper?" Lumian saw the man and felt a slight sense of surprise. Logically, everyone in the Market District knew this area was "Passion's" territory. Gangs from other places wouldn't care about kidnappings or robberies—they weren't the police.
Even Lumian would occasionally mock himself, saying only "Passion" would be bored enough to do this.
Yet he still insisted on coming here. Did he think "Passion" was just joking, or could he not control his lower half?
However, in just a short time, Lumian felt something was wrong.
This man's desire clearly had an abnormal tendency, strong to an almost pathological degree.
This immediately brought to Lumian's mind the mysticism knowledge his Godfather had taught him:
This is one of those abnormal Pathways, the sequence 8 of the "Scrooge" Pathway representing "Desire," the "Sex Addict"!
Lumian also understood the principle that knowledge is power. Therefore, during this time, besides studying the Witchcraft Notes his sister left him, he would also write to his Godfather from time to time to ask about Beyonder Pathways.
And his Godfather was very supportive of his behavior, informing Lumian of the simple abilities of the 22 Pathways up to around Sequence 7, and even giving some general information about several abnormal Pathways. (Note 1)
After noticing this, Lumian's thoughts suddenly changed:
"A 'Sex Addict' can rely on direct touch and the use of spell-like abilities to make a target feel varying degrees of lust, the strongest of which can make a person briefly lose their reason—"
"Moreover, knowing he's not just a Criminal but also a Beyonder, I definitely can't let him walk out of here alive. Not only might he have information, but according to Godfather, people with this abnormal Pathway are, to some extent, aligned with the camp of the evil god of 'Fate'!"
"I can't control other places, but in my place—"
Lumian revealed a calm and cold smile, the violent emotions he had hidden earlier slowly surfacing. He reached into the inner side of his clothes and pulled a pistol from his pocket almost silently: "The people the Trier police don't care about, I'll handle. The people the official Beyonders can't kill, I'll kill!"
Lumian hardly needed to aim. He just casually pulled the trigger, and several bullets entered the man's body in almost simultaneous succession, making this "Sex Addict" snap out of his lust-soaked state and wake up instantly.
That's right, what a "Hunter" is most proud of is indeed their close-combat ability, but who uses close combat when they have a gun? This was a hunt for prey, not a duel of honor, and even mid-Sequence Beyonders couldn't withstand the attack of firearms!
The man, who had been pressing down on the struggling girl wearing a white short top and a creamy-white fluffy short skirt, immediately lost the ability to continue his assault after being hit by several bullets. Instead, he curled up on the ground and couldn't help but twitch.
The girl reacted quickly. Even though some lust had been induced, she still struggled to crawl to the side, propping herself up against the stone wall with her hands. She stood up with her weak body and raised her foot to kick the man's head hard.
She was even cursing as she did so.
You're quite the warrior too—Lumian thought to himself as he walked toward the girl, feeling somewhat impressed by the ruthlessness and frankness of her kick. He asked her casually, "Why were you kidnapped here?"
But at the same time, Lumian felt something slightly off.
Logically, given the girl was weak from the induced lust, she shouldn't have been able to exert such force. Moreover, the technique the girl used just now reminded Lumian of the "Assassin's" "Full Strike."
Lumian's pupils contracted slightly:
Holy crap, is this person an "Assassin"?
Didn't Godfather tell me that most "Assassins" are basically male and specifically trained by the Demoness Sect? Is this a female "Assassin"?
The girl was about to answer when she saw the man at Lumian's feet raise his head, a faint green light flashing in his eyes. Just as she was about to call out a warning, she saw Lumian raise his arm, and a bullet pierced the man's skull.
"Ah, I wanted to keep him alive, but now I'll have to channel his spirit.
Lumian shrugged his shoulders and said with some regret.
Chapter 159: "Lion" Ciel
"Uh—" Seeing Lumian take out the Criminal who wanted to force himself on her without hesitation, Jenna was slightly stunned, but not out of sympathy: "You just killed him? Don't you need to ask him some things?"
Lumian smiled and replied sincerely, without a hint of testing: "Actually, dead people can speak too."
Dead people can speak too—right, he's a Beyonder! Jenna realized this immediately upon hearing Lumian's words and stood aside in silence.
Doesn't this test confirm that you are indeed a Beyonder? Although I had some guesses before, it wasn't certain; it was only because I had also drunk the "Assassin" potion that I associated it with your situation—Lumian narrowed his eyes and withdrew his gaze, cutting a strip of cloth from the corpse beside him: "Should I blindfold and plug your ears, or will you do it yourself?"
A look of shock and panic immediately appeared on Jenna's face: "What are you trying to do? You're Ciel, a cadre of 'Passion', right? You should know I'm Franca's—"
Lumian walked over with a chuckle and, under Jenna's disbelieving gaze, tied her hands and blindfolded her.
"Of course I know you're 'Red Boots' Franca's mistress. I'm not the kind of guy controlled by my lower half, and I don't plan on doing anything to you—but, I have to prevent you from seeing things you shouldn't, got it?"
Thinking of this, Lumian curled his lip and dragged the corpse to the side.
Although this news was likely just a means Franca used to protect Jenna, based on my understanding of Franca, she probably does like Jenna. Plus, Gardner Martin is monogamous.
However, Franca really likes Jenna but hasn't had physical contact with her? That's not like a Trierman—Heh, university students from my sister's hometown are indeed more normal than those in Trier.
Lumian actually appreciated this point. Back in Cordu Village, he occasionally bullied men but never oppressed women; the men he bullied were mostly the village's Villains, a value system taught to him by his sister.
While sighing inwardly, Lumian swiftly set up the "Wall of Spirituality" and placed several pieces of food he carried with him around the area.
"—Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings." Lumian finished chanting the four segments of the strange and tongue-twisting honorable name. The flames of the candles before him lit up one by one, forming a faceless phantom.
"What is it?" the phantom Nimrod asked in a low voice.
Lumian honestly stated his request: "Godfather, I want to ask you to perform spirit channeling on this person. He has the kind of—abnormal Beyonder ability you mentioned. From the information you gave me, it's somewhat similar to Susanna, who haunted me and Charlie before."
"You intend for me to perform spirit channeling like this?"
Nimrod nodded slightly and sighed, but had no intention of refusing: "You seem to be asking for the impossible. How can I perform 'spirit channeling' without touching the corpse? You need to sacrifice this corpse to me before I can complete the subsequent steps."
The spirit within the boon-recipient Lumian killed had not yet dissipated, and the boon had not yet returned to the corresponding Outer Deity. Nimrod prepared to extract the boon from it—this way, there would be two boons stored on Sefirah Castle.
One was Roger's "Warlock," and the other was this "Sex Addict." Nimrod had not yet found an Artisan who could safely turn these two boons into Beyonder items; after all, he didn't feel comfortable handing Beyonder powers carrying Outer God pollution to ordinary Beyonders.
"Alright, Godfather. Just share the information with me after you're done with the spirit channeling."
After changing the ritual circle into a sacrificial ritual and sending the corpse into the opened bluish-black door from before him, Lumian's thoughts couldn't help but wander, thinking about what his Godfather had just said.
His Godfather originally said he was just an ordinary person, but now, whether it's sacrificing or using mystical means to contact him, he's speaking more and more fluently.
Even if Lumian isn't an expert in mysticism, he can judge the difference between his Godfather and ordinary Beyonders—using such high-end mystical means for daily communication and concealment, how could he possibly be an ordinary Beyonder?
If he had to say, Lumian believed that what his Godfather put outside was a powerless incarnation, while his Godfather's true body was in a hidden state or sealed somewhere.
After finishing all this, Lumian did not completely clear the traces of the ritual magic. Instead, he walked toward Jenna with a smile and removed the restraints on her one by one.
Light returned to her eyes, and Jenna immediately looked around in confusion, but didn't see the corpse: "The corpse of that bastard pervert is gone?"
She had originally wanted to give it a few kicks to vent a little; even now, Jenna was still somewhat shaken.
In response to Jenna's words, Lumian showed an ambiguous smile: "Yes, I sacrificed him to my boss."
"—Boss, sacrifice?" Facing these two words that didn't seem to go together, Jenna suddenly found it hard to understand: "Fuck, you're not using some slang, are you? Sacrifice is only something you do to evil gods, only..."
Jenna looked at Lumian, whose expression hadn't changed at all, and her eyes suddenly widened, as if she had realized something.
Shit, this guy isn't an evil god Believer too, is he?
"Why must sacrifice always be bound to evil gods? Some hidden great existences can also accept sacrifices." Seeing the expression frozen on Jenna's face, Lumian suddenly felt like teasing her: "Otherwise, how could I come here alone and build such a large influence in a month? Even Emperor Roselle took many years to have his own influence—"
The deeds of Roselle Gustav were still household names in Intis even now.
"—Of course, I just used a bit of mystical ritual to dispose of the corpse. I have absolutely nothing to do with evil gods."
Lumian, who carried "Fate" pollution, the "Sefirah Castle" Seal, an "Amon" parasite, and the gaze of "mystery," said a lot and finally retracted his words, telling a small lie: "I definitely had to deal with the corpse; I can't let the police see it! I didn't expect you to actually believe what I just said."
"Fuck!" Jenna cursed rudely. She had subconsciously pressed her palm to her chest to calm her panicked heart: "By the way, why did you save me?"
"Isn't it good that I saved you?" Lumian crossed his arms and sneered: "Why don't you guess why I saved you?"
"You know so much about me, I guess you have a secret crush on me, otherwise—" Jenna made a casual joke, but after noticing Lumian's gaze gradually becoming unfriendly, she immediately changed her tune and shrugged helplessly: "Fine, I can't guess. Just say it."
"If I'm not mistaken, you're an 'Assassin'." Lumian smiled and exposed Jenna's deepest secret. Watching Jenna's face change uncontrollably, he added: "Well, don't worry. Just as you thought, I'm a Beyonder too. Since you're so close to Franca, this shouldn't be a secret to you—I'm a 'Hunter'."
"In that case, you should know that a 'Hunter's' territory is their hunting ground. I certainly can't allow dangerous prey to run wild in my place. As for running into you—that was purely accidental."
Lumian deliberately only said he was a "Hunter" rather than a "Provoker," guessing that Jenna wouldn't be able to tell.
Even if she later learned his true Sequence from Franca's mouth, she would never know that he also had "Instigator" mixed in!
Of course, who says a "Provoker" wasn't once a "Hunter"? So Lumian considered himself quite honest, not having told a single lie.
Jenna was silent for a while, seemingly processing the meaning of Lumian's words. After a moment, her eyes widened suddenly, and a wave of lingering fear surfaced in her heart: "Fuck, so you really just happened to be passing by?"
Lumian said indifferently: "Fortunately, I couldn't sleep tonight and felt like taking a walk. Otherwise, you really would have been kidnapped and forced to do things you didn't want to do."
Although the fear and anger toward that perverted kidnapper were still building up, Jenna breathed a sigh of relief and said in an eager tone: "Speaking of which, what do you plan to do next? I heard Franca say before that you're a dangerous person who killed many leaders of the Sava Party and the Stinger Gang?"
She felt that Lumian was different from the other gang leaders she had seen; she even felt that Lumian had some qualities similar to Franca.
But Jenna felt in her subconscious—no, she was completely sure—that if she said these words out loud, she would definitely be mocked mercilessly by the Lumian in front of her. So Jenna suppressed these words in her heart.
Lumian turned his gaze toward Jenna and said candidly: "Yeah, I killed two from the Stinger Gang and one from the Sava Party—don't tell me you have friends among them?"
Jenna gave a "heh": "Of course not. Besides Franca, which leader treats showgirls as human? Even so, the Sava Party still has many coerced showgirls and forced women—"
As Jenna spoke, her tone became low: "Because of the showgirls' affairs, Franca is also under a lot of pressure. What other gang gives showgirls a base salary? Because of this, if it weren't for Franca's own special status, she would probably be openly ostracized by the other leaders."
Lumian twitched his lips and suddenly smiled: "Go back. Remember to tell Franca that I saved you; she'll know what I mean."
Jenna looked at Lumian suspiciously and asked him: "You seem very familiar with Franca—you're not Franca's lover, are you?"
Hearing Jenna's words, Lumian's eyes widened, and he walked toward Jenna aggressively. However, Jenna showed a smile and walked away quickly. Her tone seemed to change slightly, carrying a hint of trust toward Lumian: "Ciel, I believe you're not that kind of person. I think you're very similar to Franca; you're the same kind of people! You're definitely not just a gang cadre; I can see a lion sleeping in your eyes!"
Lumian's footsteps gradually stopped as he watched Jenna walk away, the smile on his face slowly fading.
He thought of Esans, who had been forced to sell her body; he thought of the residents in the Golden Rooster Inn; he thought of Charlie, who had nearly died.
"This—shitty world." Lumian pressed the Seal on his chest and cursed in a low voice, but soon, his expression became peaceful again: "Sister, although I didn't get into university, I'm now walking on the path you once mentioned..."
"When you return, I will make this place look the way you wanted it to."
Nimrod expressionlessly took a special glass bottle from the shelf next to him, then pulled a piece of gray fog from the side and sealed it tightly.
This was a clever little combo that could only be used in the "circlet timeline."
The "mysteries timeline" and the "circlet timeline" seemed to have some fundamental differences. In the "circlet timeline," Nimrod could overdraw Beyonder abilities two Sequences higher and use the "Sefirah Castle" to perform some great powers close to a deity—but not in the "mysteries timeline."
In the "mysteries timeline," "Sefirah Castle" at most served as a storage space and the effect of himself passively entering when Klein entered "Sefirah Castle." Nimrod guessed this might be related to the state of "Sefirah Castle." The Celestial Worthy might know, but he couldn't possibly tell him.
Nimrod turned his gaze to the side, looking at the Celestial Worthy who was lying there leisurely with his legs crossed. The "light cocoon threads" hanging above this area had been cleared by him, transforming this area into a space like a study.
There was still some time left for this "crossing," but overdrawing high-Sequence abilities had consumed a certain amount of time, and it might be too late—Nimrod thought for a moment, summoned the crimson star belonging to Lumian, and slowly spoke: "Lumian, I already know about Anthony's situation."
"Bring him to see me tomorrow."
Nimrod walked to another chair on the side and closed his eyes.
Eyes open, return.
He looked at the "animated void" beside him that had just closed the "Door," and memories from what was two days ago for him surfaced in his mind.
Nimrod glanced at the "animated void" beside him and nodded slightly: "Well done."
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#160Chapter 160 Return, Talismans and Conspiracy
Chapter 160: Return, talismans, and Schemes
Before this traversal, he had just returned from the Tingen Squad's Detective Agency, "borrowing" the "Dreamwalking" ability from Leonard at the cost of a Beyonder material.
But now, the duration of the "Dreamwalking" ability he could use had long since ended; it didn't become available again just because he had returned to this timeline.
But he guessed that the side effect of Leonard having his Beyonder ability stolen—no, borrowed—still persisted on Leonard; within 24 hours, he wouldn't be able to use the stolen "Dreamwalking."
Could this be considered one of the "Errors" generated by the jump in timelines? According to the Celestial Worthy's words, the more that changed in this timeline, the more "Errors" would be generated in the future—Nimrod glanced at the countdown on the back of his hand and pondered for a moment.
Traveling through different times was an ability that Sefirah Castle originally did not have; it could only have been brought about by his traversal. And every time he traveled through time, it would bring about certain Errors. In Nimrod's view, the Errors appearing on him were divided into two types:
The first type was that when the "mysteries timeline" changed, there was a certain probability that things that originally did not exist in reality would appear in the "circlet timeline." These Errors were the erosion of the future by the past.
The other type was the changes that naturally occurred during his act of "time travel." The state of his own Beyonder abilities changed according to "his own time," but it would not have additional effects on others.
For example, the time for Nimrod's theft of the "Dreamwalking" ability had already passed, but Leonard's stolen Beyonder ability had still not returned.
Furthermore, Nimrod had some expectations regarding his inability to respond to other honorific names, but he believed this might be a backup plan set in advance by the Celestial Worthy. Since that was the case, asking the Celestial Worthy about such matters would be futile; he might not even believe the words the Celestial Worthy spoke.
But no matter what, he couldn't stop at this stage for fear of risks; he had to increase his own Sequence. Only by reaching the level of an Outer Deity would he have the chance to find the answers to his traversal.
Moreover, if he didn't make a breakthrough before the apocalypse, then he, this "Error," would truly be corrected by the Outer Gods.
Additionally, Nimrod was currently thinking about the next step of development in the "circlet timeline." He didn't plan to follow the script of the two brothers, Adam and Amon.
Setting aside the fact that Lumian's fate trajectory and state were far worse than before, the mere fact that Lumian was going to turn into Lumianna later on was already very far from the script.
Adam shouldn't have any objections; he had already noticed that behind Lumian, there was some eerie existence nurturing Lumian in a way that was closer to "Calamity" as He originally intended. Naturally, He would hide Himself behind the scenes, waiting for subsequent developments and observing.
For the sake of this world, Adam could even sacrifice Himself, let alone a main body of Amon.
However, since he planned to sell out the Stinger Gang later, he had to deeply disguise himself as Roger. Therefore, the "Warlock" abilities originally belonging to Roger were essential.
Although "Dream Stealer" had the ability to disguise as a Believer of other deities to steal their power, the problem was that he had just advanced and hadn't had time to wear down the spiritual imprint within; currently, this ability was still in a state of being deleted by Amon.
At the same time, "Dream Stealer" itself should have an enhancement that allows it to retain stolen Beyonder abilities for a week.
If stolen boon abilities could be maintained for a week, that would be enough, but this ability was also deleted by Amon and could not be returned temporarily until the potion was digested.
However, after a simple thought, a brilliant idea popped into Nimrod's mind. He felt that sometimes his thinking shouldn't be too rigid, and he shouldn't limit his vision to his own Beyonder abilities.
If the essence of the "boon" given by an Old Ones to its Believers is a "Beyonder ability" projected directly onto the supplicant by bypassing the barrier, then in the case where he could respond to himself, could he treat the "Warlock" boon on "Sefirah Castle" as a part of "Sefirah Castle" and let it return to the real world?
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Of course, Nimrod didn't plan to use his own body to accommodate this boon, but instead planned to use Beyonder materials to create a simple Beyonder container and then use this container to accommodate the boon.
As for the materials for making the "container," Nimrod had already chosen them: he would use mysticism items with faint symbols of "Space" and "Seal" to carry the boon. For example, Beyonder materials related to the "Door" Pathway plus certain metals with "Seal" symbols could create a container to hold the boon, similar to making a "talisman."
Mysticism rituals are common; with sufficient status, one can respond to oneself. Although Nimrod was somewhat uncertain if this ritual would succeed, considering there were no other gods above his head, and the Astral World barrier was still relatively stable at this point in time, he planned to give it a simple try.
After all, the production process wasn't the difficult part; the difficulty was that most deities that Beyonders could pray to didn't have the ability to bestow boons.
But this wasn't a problem for Nimrod. Although he couldn't enter "Sefirah Castle" like in the "circlet timeline," he could perform the operation of responding to himself by simply utilizing the connection between "Sefirah Castle" and himself.
Nimrod quickly set up the complex ritual. The original form of this ritual was one used by Believers of Outer Gods to pray for power. After modifying the direction to the honorific name of the Celestial Worthy that he could respond to, Nimrod softly recited a few lines of incantation.
Soon, several Beyonder materials placed in the center of the ritual merged. An evil, gloomy power descended from an infinite height, seeping into the opaque liquid before him, gradually condensing into a translucent talisman under the light of the candle flame.
Nimrod reached out and took this talisman with blackish-green patterns, wondering if he needed to use divination or deciphering methods to test the usage of this boon talisman.
The only thing he could confirm now was that under the control of "Sefirah Castle," the "Warlock" characteristic stored within had completely disappeared and been poured into this talisman, without returning to the "Mother Goddess of Depravity."
This ritual was a success—there was no doubt about that.
But just then, the voice of the Celestial Worthy came from Nimrod's ear.
[What did you make? This attempt is quite ingenious, very much in my style.] The Celestial Worthy raised an eyebrow and said to Nimrod:
[I've made such little toys before. Do you need me to give you a brief introduction?]
Nimrod didn't answer, just quietly looking at the phantom of the Celestial Worthy.
The Celestial Worthy's appearance here proved that this "boon talisman" had a certain uniqueness, and He wanted to use himself to achieve some purpose or provide secret guidance.
[In the words of the Western Continent and the era of the Outer Deities, this is called a "talisman."] The Celestial Worthy seemed somewhat "sentimental" as He said to Himself:
[You don't need to divine; just hold the talisman and inject spirituality to use it. Ancient cultivators integrated talismans with themselves, so they didn't need extra spirituality; this is basically equivalent to a boon integrated into the body—disciples of old integrated talismans into their souls, thereby stealing the power of the Heavenly Dao.]
"Equivalent to a boon stolen from other Outer Gods?" Nimrod raised an eyebrow, hearing the subtext in the Celestial Worthy's words.
[Yes.] The Celestial Worthy smiled:
[I once taught the disciples of the Western Continent to let them steal power from the sealed Sefirah for me—just like anchors created by humans to resist the will of the Outer Deities, while a massive number of cultivators use talismans to steal the Sefirah's power, they also subtly influence the corresponding will of the Outer Deities.]
[How do you think it would look if the Outer Gods outside the barrier finally managed to open my Seal, only to see a part of themselves turned into an unfamiliar appearance?]
Nimrod nodded slightly, roughly understanding the Celestial Worthy's idea—He wanted to hint for him to steal the boons of the Outer Gods one by one, thereby weakening those Outer Deities who were coveting his Sefirah.
"Don't start by talking to them about the glory of the Lord. For weak humans, they must first be full and have a stable life before there can be glory. Even I, a born angel, know this, and you still don't understand?"
"And you, how many times have I said, don't start by talking about dedication. It's all about dedicating one's own things to the Church; what's the difference between believing in the Lord and believing in other gods? The reason the Lord is the Lord is that the Lord is the leader of humanity, and following Him truly leads to salvation."
"Hey, I have to tell you about the Lord's past deeds. Why do you think humans were able to defeat those natural Beyonder races when there were no Beyonder Sequences? It's all because the Lord fought the ancient gods and started a new era!"
"Remember, in terms of antiquity, no deity is more ancient than the Lord!"
After finishing a banquet, Nimrod had just stepped off the carriage and walked through the secret passage by the hall into the manor's underground when the Red Angel's arrogant voice reached Nimrod's ears: "Mr. A, there are still many things your missionaries aren't doing well enough. But then again, you yourself are very devout to the Lord; you need to solve these various problems in a timely manner, understand?"
The manor's underground was a fairly wide hall. Through the joint efforts of Beyonder abilities and devout Believers, they had together created a subterranean cathedral that could be called magnificent. Despite the lack of expensive materials, various reliefs were carved bit by bit inside the cathedral, possessing a solemn temperament under the reflection of candle flames.
And in this solemn cathedral, the Red Nanny was teaching Mr. A and the missionaries how to proselytize.
Just then, Medici's gaze also swept from a distance, seeing Nimrod, and He gave a casual greeting: "Yo, you're here."
"What are you doing, Medici?" The surrounding missionaries retreated in an orderly fashion under Mr. A's lead. Nimrod found a seat and sat down, asking Medici just as casually.
"Helping the Lord find His Believers," Medici said in a grave and solemn tone. "What you did, tsk, although very pioneering, was still a bit too crude."
"I'm not a professional after all, and considering the situation, it was just something done in passing." Nimrod smiled, not refuting Medici's words. "If we're talking about professionals and those who care about the True Creator, isn't there still you?"
Medici instinctively turned His head: "That sounds a bit disgusting."
He always associated this avatar of mystery with using Amon's face to talk to Him—to be honest, Medici still found it quite hard to accept Amon talking like that.
But soon, He leaned back again, leaning against His chair as He asked Nimrod: "Tell me, besides helping the Lord find His anchors, what is such a large group of people planning to do? You're considered half a father to Amon. To be honest, I don't really believe the reason you told me before; you definitely have your own purpose."
What kind of good person could "mystery," who was even more malicious than Amon, be? Medici believed that even if He was dragged down by those two trash, Sauron and Einhorn, His intelligence wouldn't drop to such a level.
Nimrod smiled: "A small layout. Besides that, I want to use the Aurora Order's power to deal with someone in Backlund. It's not very convenient for me to act alone; since that's the case, it's good to borrow someone else's strength."
"Ince Zangwill?" Medici sneered. "Is it worth so much trouble? I can just take him out directly. That's just a tiny demigod."
"Behind this matter is the shadow of Amon's brother."
"..."
"Then I have to sit up and fight." Medici immediately became serious, beginning his own careful and prudent analysis.
In that hotpot feast two thousand years ago, Adam was the main planner of Medici's death.
Even the strongest "Conspirer" in history would occasionally feel doubt and confusion when facing Adam. Medici wondered why He hadn't seen this talent of Adam's when He was still young——
"This guy definitely wants to become a god. Heh, He has been planning to let the Lord be resurrected in Him after He becomes a god for a long time." Medici still didn't know that Adam was the half-body of the "Ancient Sun God." "I guess He has the same idea as you, also wanting to kill Ince Zangwill; otherwise, how would He recover the Beyonder characteristic? So you don't have to worry about Him obstructing you in this matter; He will most likely go with the flow and let Ince Zangwill die here——"
Medici analyzed for a good while, then made a final decision: "But no matter what, I have to recover the high-Sequence characteristic of my Pathway; otherwise, it's not convenient to set a trap here. Leodero—tsk, Octopus Head is also here. Seeing any angel related to the Lord appear will most likely lead to a Divine Descent."
"You want to help the True Creator recover a characteristic?" After Medici finished a series of words, Nimrod spoke up quietly.
"Yes." Medici hesitated for a moment. "But I have to think carefully about how to lure them. That little demigod is easy to handle, but the Lord's rebellious son won't be easily fooled—and I can't let the Lord of Storms pick up His Beyonder characteristic and that pen."
Nimrod stood up, not intending to stay for long. "Then I'll leave this matter to you. I have quite a few things to do, and it just so happens you can save me some trouble."
Chapter 161: Secret Base
"Klein, how has work been lately after settling the matter with the Ambassador?"
Walking along the road, Nimrod spoke to the bearded Klein beside him.
After leaving his manor, he simply changed his appearance and went to find Klein as "James Holmes." After letting Dunn know, he pulled Klein away from the Detective Agency.
For the Tingen City squad, after the Ambassador incident was basically over, they didn't have any pressing missions lately besides normal commissions.
Rather, besides the doubled training intensity after joining the "Red Gloves," Klein's current work was just like when he first joined the Nighthawks and was bait for the "antigonus family notebook"—he could look for some directions he was interested in to investigate, using it to attract Ince Zangwill's attention.
It was already quite late when they left the manor, and by the time they left the Detective Agency, Backlund was already shrouded in the Darkness of night.
However, the place Nimrod was taking Klein was indeed not suitable for daytime visits. He was too busy during the day, but fortunately, he didn't need to host a banquet today, so the entire evening was free.
Nimrod really felt he needed to get a "Sleepless" characteristic; otherwise, he felt quite weary every day.
"Nothing much has happened lately, but I've met some fairly interesting clients and joined a few clubs in Backlund. Well, I think the circle I've built through commissions can't compare to yours; after all, you're usually the one paying to commission others."
Klein said tactfully, then asked Nimrod curiously, "Speaking of which, where are you taking me so mysteriously?"
It was already quite late. The two didn't take a carriage but just wore the trench coats and hats commonly worn by detectives, carrying a lantern as they strolled along the road.
The surrounding architectural style made Klein feel as if he were walking through Victorian-era London. With the physical enhancement of a Beyonder, he didn't feel tired or cold; he just felt this was a unique experience.
"I recently purchased a base," Nimrod's voice came from beside Klein's ear. He paused, "I hope to transform it into an underground base for the two of us."
"Us?" Hearing Nimrod's words, Klein was slightly surprised, feeling this seemed somewhat inappropriate: "But I'm an official Beyonder—"
However, Klein wasn't the type to rigidly stick to rules. He quickly realized the meaning behind Nimrod's words, plus there were indeed many seniors around him who had done similar things:
Old Neil, who was proficient in expense reports, and Daly, who secretly studied Beyonder knowledge and secret organization concepts.
The Church didn't seem to oppose official Beyonders making similar attempts as long as it didn't involve evil gods. Knowing the impending apocalypse of this world, Klein also understood why the Church didn't tell all official Beyonders about the Acting Method.
First, due to the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Indestructibility, once all official Beyonders knew the Acting Method but didn't have enough time to accumulate contributions or find advancement materials, there would likely be a large number of Beyonders stuck at the bottleneck of advancement, potentially turning their sights on their colleagues and superiors.
Ince Zangwill was the best example of this.
Secondly, the Church actually intended to nurture those Beyonders with enough talent. They could quickly summarize the Acting Method through their own observations and use it to rapidly digest their potions, soon touching the threshold of divinity.
Moreover, because of their own experiences of summarizing, they were less likely to lose control or fail their advancement due to potion backlash when advancing to demigod.
Ince Zangwill was also an example of this failed advancement.
Previously, Klein had always lived with his teammates, so he hadn't thought about making secret preparations—
Just then, Nimrod's voice came again: "But your goal isn't to be an ordinary official Beyonder. Your own uniqueness dictates that you won't always serve as an ordinary Beyonder in the Church of the Night. So, will you need your own informants? Will you need your own contact points? These are all things you need to consider."
Nimrod's voice paused again. He and Klein walked around the street corner side by side. The lantern lit up his profile, casting a long shadow: "You will likely become an Archbishop or a Deacon later—a Deacon who acts alone like Crestet. You should have some expectation of this. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, your promotion within the Church of the Night should be smooth sailing."
Klein indeed thought so. Not just him, but his other unique teammate, Leonard, was also very fast at both accumulating contributions and digesting potions. Even Ms. Daly, who didn't possess such uniqueness but was considered a "Beyonder genius" in the eyes of ordinary Nighthawks, had great hope of advancing to demigod.
From what Klein knew, Daly was now just a matter of time away from Sequence 5.
Klein thought for a moment: "I understand what you're saying, but—I can't just accept your favors for nothing."
"Although your current identity has far more funds than I do, you've also taken on too many risks hiding your identity within the Aurora Order. Compared to you, I only have the identity of 'The Fool' to show."
"Since that's the case, I can't just watch you build the base and give me half of it for free. I also need to contribute my part. Only if I also provide some help will we be equals, rather than you giving unilaterally."
Seeing no one around, Klein stopped and leaned against the wall, speaking seriously to Nimrod: "Otherwise, I'd be a poor friend."
Klein didn't think for long, nor did he take the opportunity to leech off Nimrod. He felt this went against his conscience and principles.
Nimrod smiled: "Alright, let's go."
Although he didn't actually have any "risks of hiding"—Klein's favorability did seem quite high. Hearing those words made Nimrod feel much better.
However, Nimrod had heard from Dunn earlier that Klein had looked troubled for quite a while when he heard the name Nimrod had chosen. If Klein knew that he was currently in an alliance with the True Creator, wouldn't his jaw drop?
The two walked into this house, which had been renovated but had no Aurora Order members stationed there, and went all the way down the stairs to the basement.
The heavy floor and the simple, damaged wooden door entered Klein's sight, giving him a strong sense of déjà vu.
Klein's previous self was a university student specializing in history, and he was quite obsessed with Fourth Epoch history. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so obsessed with deciphering the antigonus family notebook that he lost his life.
As the two went deeper into the passage, Klein recognized which era the huge underground space beneath the house belonged to based on the architectural style of the surrounding bricks: "Is this a ruin from the Fourth Epoch? It has a very Solomon Empire and Tudor Empire style."
"Yes." Nimrod carried the lantern and walked forward, the swaying light gradually illuminating the entire hall: "This place once belonged to the Tudor-Trensost United Empire. Based on my investigation, there shouldn't be any Beyonder-level traps left here. And it's hidden enough and spacious enough, so I plan to transform it into my base."
"Whether for secret contacts or storing items, it's quite suitable."
Speaking of which, Nimrod smiled: "Most importantly, although the Aurora Order paid for it, this place is indeed my personal property. You saw it when you came, right? I didn't let any Beyonders from the Aurora Order come here."
When he turned his gaze over, he saw Klein's body was a bit stiff. Nimrod followed Klein's gaze forward, trying to see what could scare a "Clown" with the ability to control facial expressions like this:
It was clumps of snakes tangled together in balls.
Right, Klein was afraid of snakes—looking at "Klein-cat" who seemed about to hiss using his "Magician" ability, Nimrod suddenly realized. He fabricated a few simple commands in his mind and sent them to the simple brains of these venomous snakes, driving the snake balls to break apart and crawl into the cracks of the bricks beside him: "It's fine now."
"That's a huge help." Klein immediately breathed a sigh of relief, his gaze shifting back to the hall in front of him: "Is there anything I can help with?"
Klein narrowed his eyes and looked carefully ahead—although a "Magician's" five senses weren't outstanding, they had been enhanced once during the Clown stage, allowing Klein to vaguely identify the scene shrouded in Darkness before him.
Tall seats, extremely numerous and high-specification decorations; he even suspected that the ruin before him was once the royal palace or council hall of Alista Tudor and Trunsoest.
"By the way, did you say Tudor-Trensost United Empire?" Klein asked. After receiving Nimrod's answer, he immediately understood, feeling a strange sense of lament for the history of this world.
The history books regarding the world's history before the Fifth Epoch—to be honest, Klein now felt that none of it was entirely believable.
"It can't be helped. After all, the history of certain deities isn't as holy as written in the scriptures. Plus, those great families of the Fourth Epoch were all composed of Beyonders. Therefore, history could only be forged into a form unrelated to the Beyonder. Every Church is a master of fabricating history." Nimrod shook his head: "First, do some divination above the gray mist. I'm not proficient in divination, nor can I actively go above the gray mist. That's something only you can do."
"However, I have a new discovery regarding the gray mist."
Although it wasn't a new discovery, Nimrod hadn't told Klein before, so now was a good time to explain.
Nimrod traced a segment of meaningless runes in the air to pretend he was busy, muttering a few lines of the Celestial Worthy's honorific name. Immediately, gray mist gushed from Nimrod's hand and was pulled out by him:
It was a huge, assembleable iron rack, produced by the Fried Smelting Factory, each module priced at 5 pounds.
Klein watched Nimrod's movements of taking items from the gray mist, and a significant amount of surprise surfaced in his heart: "It seems the gray mist spaces we control aren't in the same place—but you can actually use the gray mist as storage space? I don't seem to be able to do that."
Thinking of this, Klein's thoughts suddenly drifted. He was wondering if he could do the same, but after thinking about it, he eventually found it impossible. He could only use the "Sacrifice-Bestowment" ritual to access items and couldn't use the gray mist so quickly.
However, looking at it this way, the gray mist Nimrod controlled seemed more inclined toward providing him with some convenience in the real world? This seemed to be a difference in inclination—unfortunately, Senior Roselle didn't choose our three Pathways; otherwise, I would have more conjectures.
Thinking of this, Klein shook his head and couldn't help but chuckle in his heart:
If Roselle had also controlled the gray mist, then perhaps it wouldn't be his turn to be here researching; he could just go home.
Nimrod nodded, not offering much comment: "Indeed."
He didn't mention for now that the gray mist space he controlled corresponded to the place representing "Truth." He was afraid Klein would lose control immediately.
He remembered that even after becoming a demigod and having his humanity diluted by divinity, Klein's emotions were still extremely sorrowful and he found reality hard to accept, to the point of needing to seek treatment from a Psychiatrist.
Klein said no more. He went to the four corners of the hall, took four steps backward, and entered Sefirah Castle to prepare for divination.
Soon, Klein's eyes regained their spirit. He nodded to Nimrod, indicating he had finished divining the surroundings: "There are no problems in the hall, but the things behind those doors in the distance carry a certain level of risk."
Having said that, Klein looked curiously straight ahead: "But, is this where the deities' thrones once were?"
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#162Chapter 162 The Throne That Once Belonged to the Gods
Chapter 162: The Throne That Once Belonged to a God
The "Blood Emperor" Alista Tudor and the "Night Emperor" Trunsoest were both once bona fide gods. However, based on Klein's divination, it seemed they weren't so deranged as to leave behind contingency plans or traps on their former seats.
There was a certain level of risk in the area between several doors—perhaps because of the statues of the six gods.
The statue of the Evernight Goddess could be kept, but should the statues of the other gods be smashed? However, the danger Klein divined might not come from the statues themselves, but potentially from the act of smashing them.
Nimrod calculated carefully and soon had a plan.
After all, these were rare humanoid statues of the six gods; it was better to be cautious.
So Nimrod decided to Seal the doors where these statues were located; he happened to know several rituals with sealing effects.
Nimrod took two steps forward and patted the heavy chair beside him: "That's right, want to sit and try it out?"
Klein was slightly surprised and hesitated for a moment: "Is it okay? This is a cultural relic, after all—"
You're actually older than this chair—the thought popped into Nimrod's mind: "Of course, now it's just an ordinary chair. Most things related to the Fourth Epoch have been cleared by the churches and officials. After all, no one knows which item might contain Tudor's backup. Even in the Beyonder world, things related to the Fourth Epoch are quite dangerous."
For example, Beyonder items with "full moons mutters," ancient artifacts parasitized by Amon, objects that grow Spirit Body Threads, or items that can be pulled onto the gray fog by the evil god 'The Fool'—ahem, the last one doesn't count.
After saying that, Nimrod added with a slight sigh: "Actually, I can somewhat empathize with Tudor's thoughts: the gods had abandoned Him, and the other Magistrate He spent day and night with also betrayed Him to choose godhood."
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"And His former superior was about to be resurrected and return from the Astral World. Once Solomon returned, He would be liquidated—so there was actually only one path left before Him: He had to choose to forcibly jump His own Pathway."
Klein listened carefully to Nimrod's words. After he finished, Klein cleared his throat: "It's getting late, let's finish moving the things here first—is this a product recently produced by your company?"
"Yes," Nimrod introduced while continuing to pull things out of Sefirah Castle for Klein: "This was designed for companies that need to mine minerals or set up temporary housing. The concept utilizes an idea similar to shipping containers. It just so happens there are many miners in the Southern Continent, and I have a shipping route to transport goods there."
"I see—" Klein said thoughtfully.
While helping him move things, Klein enthusiastically offered many suggestions, gradually dividing the area outside the main hall into several sections and setting up various rituals and ritual prototypes by category.
With the existence of Sefirah Castle, Nimrod didn't specifically need to create a safe house to store items here, but some reusable mysticism rituals still needed a place for testing and placement.
After finishing all this, Klein finally took a break. He felt a sense of accomplishment from the process of arranging this area.
Nimrod was already sitting on the heavy throne, and Klein followed, sitting down side-by-side with Nimrod.
For a moment, as Klein gazed at the solemn, gloomy hall before him, he felt as if he were within history itself. He remained silent for a moment before asking Nimrod: "Is this how the two Magistrates of the Tudor-Trunsoest United Empire sat here back then?"
"Exactly," Nimrod answered every question: "Unfortunately, the Tudor-Trunsoest United Empire soon collapsed. Following that were the War of the Four Emperors and the Pale Disaster. It was simply too difficult for ordinary people to survive in that era; one disaster followed another."
At this point, Nimrod also took down several wooden boxes containing food from above the gray fog. On Sefirah Castle, which symbolized the "king of time and space," the concept of time was infinitely weakened, so the food was still as if it had just come out of the pot or steamer: "Have something to eat."
He always allowed himself some enjoyment at times like this. After all, with a Beyonder's constitution, it was hard to get fat.
Klein's eyes widened: "You even use the gray fog to store this?"
"It's a portable space and keeps things fresh, so why not use it? I made a lot at once and hid them in my gray fog space to prevent a day where I fall into some Beyonder's trap and can't find food supplies. It would be a bit too humorous to have this kind of portable space and still starve to death one day."
Having said that, Nimrod gave Klein a small suggestion: "I think you could try it too. For example, sacrifice a storage rack or something to place on the gray fog to stockpile some food—though for you, this food needs to be hidden well."
Klein was suddenly puzzled: "Why?"
Nimrod smiled: "Otherwise, what happens to The Fool's dignity?"
Hearing Nimrod's words, a corresponding image immediately formed in Klein's mind.
If there was a god who looked extremely majestic, but one turned around to see a PS5, leftover instant noodles, and potato chip bags sitting next to him—if that were the case, then the god's dignity would be over.
The style, your style is all wrong! Klein shouted in his heart as he picked up a shrimp dumpling with chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth.
So delicious.
While casually enjoying the food, Nimrod said: "By the way, Mr. A reported something to me. One of the Authors under me, a lady named Fors Wall, hears a kind of 'raving' during the full moon—and she herself is a Beyonder."
"From Mr. A's report, she won't be able to last much longer. If she hears the ravings when she's in a bad state, she might lose control."
Klein felt the name sounded very familiar. Searching through his mind, he found the corresponding image: "That best-selling Author?"
When he was a Nighthawk in Tingen, he had read Fors's works and was greatly shocked by the plot jumps that fluctuated across various genres.
"Yes. Besides that, she knows Miss Justice. They came to Mr. A's gathering together before." Nimrod said to Klein: "Miss Justice mentioned before that she hoped to have some people become members of the Tarot Club. This should be the person Miss Justice wants to bring into the Tarot Club."
"You think I can help?"
Klein caught the underlying meaning in Nimrod's words: "Since you didn't do it yourself—I probably understand. You want me to pull her onto the gray fog when she hears the ravings, using that method to help Ms. Fors stay away from the ravings that make her lose control?"
Nimrod didn't deny it: "Yes, the gray fog can isolate her ravings."
Klein nodded, and after a brief thought, he spoke: "That's a very easy thing to do. However, this curse—I'm not sure where this curse actually comes from. For Fors, this is also a method that treats the symptoms but not the root cause."
"As far as I know, the curse on Fors Wall comes from a used Beyonder item, and this Beyonder item is related to the Abraham Family." Nimrod took a sip of Sweet Iced Tea. "The Abraham Family all suffer from this curse, the source of which is suspected to be their missing ancestor, Mr. 'Door'."
Klein let out a surprised "Eh?": "I remember, the diaries you collected before also mentioned this name. Is it the hidden existence that guided Roselle? —If you are sure Fors is trustworthy, I will pull her into the Tarot Club. Perhaps it will allow us to gain more understanding of Mr. 'Door'."
Klein still trusted Nimrod quite a bit in this regard.
"I've done some investigation on her," Nimrod replied: "A shallow Believer of the God of Steam and Machinery who has never received a response from the god. She has always been a wild Beyonder and shouldn't have any close relationship with the Abraham Family."
"Then should I contact Miss Justice at the next Tarot Club meeting?" Klein said tentatively.
Nimrod shook his head and gave another plan: "Since a life is at stake, I'll go there personally."
Actually, he was really a bit worried whether the Salted Fish lady would play herself to death because of the butterfly effect of the Aurora Order not "wanted" The Fool—that would be a huge joke.
After a moment of silence, Klein changed the subject: "I recently received a hint from the Captain."
Nimrod signaled Klein to continue, and seeing this, Klein went on: "The Captain told me that I don't need to act alone for the next period of time. I can temporarily act freely or with other members of the Detective Agency to lure out Ince Zangwill's location."
Hearing Klein's words, Nimrod knew what he meant: "I am also one of the members of the Detective Agency, well, on the surface."
"James Holmes and Sherlock Moriarty—if later Transmigrators find out these names, our covers will definitely be blown completely." The expression on Klein's face was a bit strange, but he quickly adjusted: "Yes, and the Captain's habit of always forgetting things has already been fixed—"
The two looked at each other, and Klein coughed lightly: "I guess this is an instruction from the Church."
"I think you can boldly voice that guess. Moreover, I think since that's the case, you can also start preparing your own things." Nimrod said to Klein: "Even a heretic like me can get support from the Church. I think the Church of the Night is quite open-minded. As long as order can be maintained, sometimes even heretics who aren't too excessive will receive some support."
Nimrod wasn't prepared to speak ill of the Goddess; after all, he and She were currently in a state of peaceful probing. He couldn't afford to provoke the Evernight Goddess, and the Evernight Goddess was also afraid of the "Lord of the Mysteries" exploding everywhere on the eve of the apocalypse.
Amon was already enough of a headache for many gods. If the Celestial Worthy were to awaken in a large number of Beyonders, it would be as disgusting and threatening as a septic tank exploding.
After enjoying the midnight snack, Klein took out his pocket watch to check the time and bid farewell to Nimrod: "It's getting late, I'm preparing to head back too. I'll find you later to go fishing for Ince Zangwill."
Klein walked back under the fragmented moonlight. Upon returning to the agency, Dunn turned his head and said to Klein: "Klein, there's a new job."
Klein heard Dunn's words as soon as he entered. He was momentarily dazed, but he still sat down, prepared to listen to Captain Dunn finish his words.
Dunn pushed a stack of documents in front of Klein and said: "You can choose to accept it or not. You should know about the recent serial murder cases. The police have issued a bounty, and the Church has also provided us with the bounty information."
Klein weighed the pros and cons in his mind and tentatively asked Dunn: "Captain, what do you think?"
Dunn revealed a gentle smile: "This might expose you to danger. If some coincidences occur, you could very likely fall into a desperate situation. If you have some trump cards that neither I nor the Church know about, then I recommend you accept this bounty."
"Of course, Klein, don't forget that the Church is your strongest backing. Once Ince Zangwill appears, the powerhouses of the Church will find him and eliminate him at the first opportunity."
The Captain is still hinting at me—Klein nodded and said seriously: "I think I can give it a try."
.
"Ince Zangwill is thinking about killing me right now. If I actively expose myself to danger, he won't pass up the opportunity. Moreover, this is also to contribute to maintaining order in Backlund. Ince Zangwill almost let the True Creator descend in the most out-of-control state back in Tingen City. What could he do while cooperating with the Demoness Sect?"
Klein took a deep breath and forced himself to say Nimrod's pseudonym: "To be safe, I'll call on Detective Holmes to investigate this matter together."
Dunn nodded slightly and said in a deep voice: "Good."