The past was built upon collecting unique characteristics.

Inside the newspaper office building.

Everyone here seemed to be in a hurry, and the constant rustling of printing presses and writing, combined with the sounds of arguments, created an incredibly busy and noisy atmosphere.

Morian navigated the cluttered foyer with practiced ease, heading straight for a wooden table piled high with manuscript papers.

Today he was still dressed as a part-time reporter, wearing a brown vest over a slightly loose white shirt.

The middle-aged man sitting at the wooden table was about fifty years old, with thinning hair and thick-rimmed glasses on his nose. He was none other than Berger Bell, the old editor in charge of local news.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Bell." Morian greeted him with a smile, gently placing a stamped manuscript on the table.

But Berleg didn't even look up when he heard the voice. He just mumbled a response from his throat and kept flipping through the manuscript paper in his hand, scribbling with his pen.

After a moment, he seemed to finally pull himself out of the manuscript, squinted at the person who had come, and then his gaze moved down to the file bag with the official seal.

"That report about the dock area? Has the office approved it?" His voice was hoarse as he reached out and held the manuscript up to his face to check again.

Despite seeing the prominent official seal, out of professional caution and past experience, I still asked one more question.

"It's been approved. The manuscript contains firsthand accounts from several workers, and all the information has been verified," Morian responded calmly.

"Don't worry, I guarantee I won't cause you any trouble this time."

Upon hearing the word "trouble," Berleg couldn't help but snort, recalling unpleasant memories from the past. However, the young man in front of him could indeed often provide information that other reporters couldn't obtain.

"I hope so."

Without uttering any unnecessary words, the veteran editor pulled out a register and a small stack of cash from the drawer, skillfully counting out a few banknotes.

"You'll be paid the exclusive report, a total of twelve gold pounds and six shillings. If there are no problems, just sign here."

Maurian neatly signed "Randall" in the payment section, accepted the stack of banknotes. Twelve gold pounds wasn't much, but it was a fair reward.

Moreover, this can be considered extra income from being a journalist. As the saying goes, every little bit counts, and you can never have too much money.

"Thanks, Mr. Bell. I'll contact you again if I have any good stories to share." Morian smiled and carefully put the money away.

After saying that, he didn't linger. He turned around and disappeared into the noise of the newspaper office, quickly leaving the building.

Strolling along the familiar streets, the afternoon sun poured down without reservation, illuminating the stone pavement brightly; the weather was quite beautiful.

Several horse-drawn carriages drove by at a leisurely pace, and the shouts of vendors echoed through the streets. Even from a distance, one could faintly smell the rich aroma wafting from the coffee shop.

It's hard to imagine that just yesterday, beneath this calm surface, the city nearly came to a literal end.

Quickly regaining his composure, Morian suppressed his emotions and quickened his pace back to the firm.

Pushing open the familiar door and hanging up the "Temporarily Closed" sign, I finally felt a sense of relaxation, both physically and mentally.

Morian took off his brown waistcoat, casually draped it over the back of his chair, and then walked to his desk, where he neatly placed the twelve pounds and six shillings he had just received from the newspaper office on the table.

Next, he took out another thick envelope from deep inside the bag, which was unusually bulging because of its full contents.

The contents of this container are the reward given by the Earl of White for solving the Joseph case; it is a full thousand pounds.

It's time to take stock of what I've gained since the "Grey Paradise" incident.

First, in terms of money, the Earl of White gave him a thousand gold pounds directly, and the church gave him another two hundred gold pounds as a reward. In addition to the royalties he had just received, his income instantly surged to about twelve hundred gold pounds.

After taking out all his money and roughly counting it, Morian calculated that he now had a total of 1,633 gold pounds, which was a huge sum of money, enough to cover rent and living expenses for a long time.

But the expenses will definitely not be limited to these. You also need to factor in the money needed to purchase alchemy materials, attend extraordinary gatherings, and customize some magical items.

So, when you calculate it this way, this seemingly generous sum of money isn't actually that "easy to spend".

He thought for a moment, counted out 1,300 pounds, picked it up, walked to the safe next to his bed, and deposited the huge sum of money inside.

The remaining three hundred pounds were put into a wallet for daily use or other places in the business as readily available liquid funds.

In addition to the monetary reward, the church also gave them a small gadget that could perhaps be considered a magical item.

It was a small badge, entirely silver-white with a faint glow. According to the clergyman, this little thing could dispel darkness and coldness in a small area, and could also weaken certain weak spirits.

Injecting it with spiritual essence allows it to emit light and be used as a flashlight, but the price is a bit too extravagant...

Morian accepted it without hesitation; after all, something was better than nothing, and it might even come in handy in certain situations.

After putting away the collected items and money, Morian sat in the high-backed chair behind his desk and began to examine the more fundamental changes in himself, namely, the extraordinary gains.

In the brief encounter by the highway yesterday, two members of the End Times cult, one "Shepherd" and Charlotte, were killed by him and Charlotte, while the other "Gravedigger" escaped.

He naturally also extracted the corresponding abilities from that "shepherd," but the situation was urgent at the time, and he only had time to examine his gains after finishing all the cleanup work.

The abilities gained are two in total, one is called "Taming" and the other is called "Abundance".

The former's effect is that it allows communication with beings possessing life energy, enabling them to be "herded" and carry out the commands of the ability user. Most importantly, theoretically, the number of beings that can be "herded" is unlimited.

In other words, he alone has the potential to build an "army"!

Of course, this is without considering the consumption of spiritual essence.

The latter effect is that it can actively guide spirituality, stimulate and accelerate the circulation and restoration of life energy in a small area, such as revitalizing withered plants.

If you continue to apply this ability to a barren piece of land, it may quickly regain its vitality and even bear fruit! This is an ability that leans towards assistance, restoration, and environmental transformation.

However, what really bothered Morian was that the "Shepherd" seemed to have two different branches.

They are respectively "Guide to Abundance" and "Degenerate Servant," each representing a completely different path and power.

The core of "Guide to Abundance" lies in "guiding" things toward prosperity, and its source of power is related to the vitality of nature and the order of life.

The core of "fallen servants" leans towards "driving" things into chaos, drawing power from scenes of pain and depravity.

The "shepherd" I encountered yesterday clearly possessed the latter, but the ability he received was exactly the opposite, symbolizing abundance.