Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Chapter 241 They were all taught by the same master, so they can't break through each other's moves!

Tsk~

As Karula spoke, she muttered under her breath, somewhat annoyed:

"I should have just held back."

"Thanks."

Audrey lowered her head slightly and whispered.

She knew that the reason Karula hadn't 'endured' was entirely because of her.

Otherwise, she could have simply allowed herself to continue being influenced.

The more deeply Adam is influenced, the more deeply he is trapped, the more thoroughly he is exposed, and the easier it is for Karula to capture him.

"You're welcome."

Karula glanced at Audrey and scoffed, "I only wanted to obtain His extraordinary qualities. I'm glad He got away quickly."

Carla did not accept Audrey's thanks, but the upturned corners of her mouth still betrayed her inner joy.

Looking at Karula's appearance, Audrey suddenly had a strong sense of déjà vu and automatically translated Karula's words—

"I...I didn't do it to save you..."

Such people are often referred to as tsundere in the works left by Emperor Roselle.

Audrey chuckled, and seemingly sensing Audrey's helpless thoughts, Carula rolled her eyes, amused and exasperated, and said irritably:

"Can't you be serious for once?"

Audrey blinked; this was something she usually said to Carula. But since Carula had brought it up, Audrey gathered her thoughts and cautiously asked:

What extraordinary abilities do writers possess?

She'd been influenced for so long without even realizing it—

She even attended several tarot readings along the way, and even Mr. Fool didn't notice anything unusual about her. Even now, looking back, Audrey still feels a bit scared.

"It's a bit complicated to explain, you can see for yourself."

In response to Audrey's question, Carula muttered something, then pulled out a card from somewhere and tossed it to Audrey.

"What is this?"

Audrey reached out and caught it, looking at the card in her hand with some confusion.

The front of the card depicted a man dressed as a priest, wearing a simple white robe and a cross pendant around his neck. Audrey almost immediately connected this to the white-robed priest she had just seen, but the man's appearance was completely different and looked very familiar to Audrey.

This is Emperor Roselle!

She had seen portraits of Emperor Roselle more than once, including the blasphemous plaque that recorded the "Path to Godhood".

"Wait! The Blasphemy Card?!"

Audrey glanced at the upper left of the statue of Roselle, dressed as a white-robed priest, where the glittering starlight condensed into a line of text:

"Sequence 0: Visionary!"

Audrey subconsciously infused her spiritual power, and the next second the playing card suddenly became three-dimensional, like a miniature book the size of a palm.

As the pages of the book are turned, there is a Russell Gustave on every page. He is dressed as a psychologist in a white coat, or holding a pocket watch with a smile on his lips, or holding a quill pen as if he is writing something.

Audrey's gaze followed the different images of Emperor Roselle to the ancient Fussac text beside her:

「序列9：观众……序列8：读心者……序列7：心理医生……序列6：催眠师……序列5：梦境行者……序列4：操纵师……序列3：织梦人……序列2：洞察者……序列1：作家……序列0：空想家……

This document details the potion recipes and extraordinary abilities for each sequence of the 'Audience' pathway, using the simplest and most direct language to allow people to intuitively understand the terrifying nature of this pathway!

Especially 'writers'!

Manipulation: The 'Writer' of Sequence 1 can grasp the ocean of the collective unconscious and thereby control 'coincidence', turning accidental and wondrous phenomena into echoes of the mind, making them appear whenever they want.

Words become law: The stories written by writers will inevitably become reality, but if the stories are illogical and instead drive events with vague reasons such as "inexplicable" or "strange," the costs will increase.

Whatever is spoken will be known: when you know Him, He also knows you, and everyone you come into contact with. The more you know about Him, the more likely you are to be included in the woven story.

……

Looking at the contents recorded on the Profane Card, Audrey finally understood some things. Her "abnormal behavior" all stemmed from the ability of "manipulation," an ability she actually possessed as a Sequence 4 "Manipulator." It was just that it had undergone a qualitative change in the hands of the Sequence 1 "Writer"!

The manipulation by the "writer" can no longer be called manipulation, because the manipulated person will not notice anything amiss and will instead believe it to be their true thoughts.

Because, influenced by the writer, those were indeed their true thoughts.

for example.

If there were a cake in front of Audrey, she would really want to eat it.

The manipulator's manipulation will forcibly change her thoughts, making her subconsciously perceive the originally delicious cake as a lump of rubbish.

The 'writer's' manipulation is more subtle. He makes Audrey naturally think that 'eating cake will make her fat,' thus changing her original idea of ​​wanting to eat cake. Even if she really wants to eat it, she will not eat it because she is afraid of getting fat.

The former showed obvious signs of manipulation, while the latter was completely untraceable because it was indeed Audrey's true thought! She wanted to enjoy the delicious cake, but she was also afraid of gaining weight from eating it; both were just some of her countless subconscious desires.

So when she was influenced by the 'writer' and gave up tasting the cake, even Mr. 'Fool' couldn't detect any trace of her being influenced!

The saying "Every word spoken will be known" left Audrey with lingering fear.

She thought that as long as she didn't utter the names of "Twilight Hermits" and "Adam" in reality, she would be fine. But now it seems that the moment she learned of the existence of "Adam" and "Twilight Hermits," her existence was already known to "Adam"!

This is precisely why Carula said that once she advances to Sequence 2, it will be even more difficult for her to catch 'Adam'.

Audrey couldn't help but ask:

"What does Naya... what does He want from me?"

Why would a Sequence 1 'writer' go to such lengths to influence her?

Karula shook her head and corrected her:

"It's not you, it's me, and the embers."

Audrey did not disagree with this statement, after all, she did not think she had any value worthy of the attention of a Sequence 1 angel.

The only reason is that the other party hopes to influence Karula and Ember through her, and at the same time extract more useful information from them. For example, the information Karula just revealed is exactly what Adam is interested in; otherwise, he wouldn't have been lured out.

But could this also be interpreted as Karula revealing some rather important information in order to lure Adam out?

From Audrey's perspective, Karula only said that her purpose in advancing to Sequence 2 was to dream. Although Audrey didn't know what this "dream" actually was, the "dream" itself was like a fog to her. However, because she was only a Sequence 5, she couldn't obtain enough information and therefore couldn't see the truth behind the fog.

However, this may not be the case for Adam, who possesses two Sequence 1 extraordinary properties and uniqueness. He may have already guessed the truth from a few words, which may greatly hinder Karula's plan.

Thinking about this, Audrey couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"Don't worry."

Compared to the worried Audrey, Carula appeared quite composed, smiling as she said:

"Even if He knew, so what? He's not even Sequence 0, he couldn't possibly affect the plan in any way. Not even His father could change anything, let alone Him."

"and,"

Carula said meaningfully, "How do you know that I didn't intentionally leak this information to Him?"

"Intentional?"

Audrey paused, puzzled, and asked, "You were lying to Him just now?"

As soon as the question was asked, Audrey immediately denied the speculation.

If the information was false, how could it have fooled Adam? Before taking the bait, Adam must have already gained some understanding of what Carla was planning through various channels and possessed the ability to distinguish truth from falsehood. He simply didn't know the specific details, and these could only be learned from Carla herself.

It was precisely by exploiting the other party's eagerness in this regard that Carula was able to lure Adam step by step into the trap. But the premise for designing this trap was that the truth, or at least a part of the truth, had to be used as bait.

So, is Carla confident that even if Adam finds out, it won't have any impact? Or... is she actually expecting Adam to do something? Is this also part of her calculations?

"Probably not?"

Audrey was startled by her own guess, and her expression showed some surprise and doubt.

Regardless, Adam is a Sequence 1 writer and possesses uniqueness, making him the strongest being below the True God. While Karula does possess the power of the King's Soul, she is only a Sequence 2 Insightful Being.

It's not surprising that Karula, with her power of the King's Soul, could threaten Adam and prevent him from confronting her directly. However, the idea that Karula wanted to scheme against Adam sounds somewhat unbelievable.

After all, he's a 'writer'!

The extraordinary individuals who utilize the 'Audience' pathway are most adept at manipulating minds. The 'Psychotherapist' at Sequence 7 is already capable of applying psychological suggestion, while the 'Hypnotist' at Sequence 6 can even forcibly hypnotize enemies during combat.

By the time you reach Sequence 5, you can travel through and modify other people's dreams, and thereby control the behavior of the dream's owner!

Even if hypnosis and suggestion are done through dreams, traces will still be left, and there is still a possibility that they can be seen through.

But the 'writer' of Sequence 1 is already able to 'go with the flow'. He can even turn a devout follower of a true god into his double agent, and the 'true god' himself will not notice anything unusual about it.

Moreover, the other party possesses the characteristic that "everything they speak will be known," making any conspiracy against Him futile. After all, Adam could completely foresee all actions directed against Him…

"wrong!"

Audrey felt a growing sense of unease, for she had suddenly discovered a blind spot—

If Adam could truly be 'omniscient,' then how did he almost get captured by Karula in the first place? He had no prior knowledge of any of this, nor did he see through Karula's plan.

Does this mean that Adam's saying "Everything that is spoken will be known" actually has its limits?

"He is not omniscient, much less omnipotent."

Carula looked approving and explained:

"Although Adam is indeed very strong, He is still just a Sequence 1 'writer' and not a Sequence 0 'dreamer'. Therefore, His 'omniscience' has its limits. For example, He cannot perceive the thoughts of other 'Sequence 0' true gods. Even if these true gods are plotting how to kill Him, He will only have a faint sense of crisis and will not know where the crisis comes from."

"As for me..."

Karula's lips curled up slightly as she smiled and said:

"Audrey, have you forgotten something? I am the holder of the King's Soul."

The King's Soul can not only 'purify' the pollution within extraordinary traits, but it is also a powerful tool for dealing with other extraordinary beings and even true gods. The 'Writer' of Sequence 1 can theoretically be omniscient about any being, but this is only theoretical.

This world is vast, so vast that there will always be things beyond the 'writer's' 'omniscience,' such as the true god of Sequence 0, or magical items or sealed artifacts of the same or even higher rank!

Even if the King's Soul is divided into nine parts, any one of them is a "magical item" that is on the same level as a true god!

If Adam could break through the barrier of the King Soul's power, why would he risk his life to steal Karula's information?

Karula possesses the soul of a king and knows that Adam cannot be 'omniscient,' which is why she devised a plan to tempt Adam.

Adam knew that Karula possessed the King's Soul, which is why he took precautions while risking his life to avoid being tricked.

Karula knew that Adam was aware of her possession of the King's Soul, so she had already anticipated Adam's successful escape and prepared a second trap for him...

"Such a complicated relationship..." Audrey thought to herself.

Is this how all high-sequence Extraordinary beings from the "Audience" pathway fight? It's clearly a game of wits, seeing who has more cunning and who can make unexpected moves to gain the upper hand or even win.

This was completely different from the battles between Extraordinary Beings she knew before. Could it be said that he was indeed an Extraordinary Being of the 'Spectator' pathway?

Or is it that battles between extraordinary individuals from other pathways are also this unique?

Audrey briefly simulated the extraordinary abilities of the "Black Emperor" pathway:

The core ability of those who have achieved the "Black Emperor" pathway is to distort the rules.

Therefore, in battle, they will distort the rules to restrict their opponents and strengthen themselves, while also distorting the rules that are being distorted by their opponents, so as not to put themselves in a disadvantageous situation.

In a sense, battles between Extraordinary Beings through this pathway are quite unique. And this "uniqueness" is something that Extraordinary Beings through the "spectator" pathway cannot achieve.

Since those of the same path and extraordinary nature are fully aware of each other's abilities, their battle will likely be quite lengthy. After all, their abilities are exactly the same, and their fight will simply be a matter of reacting to each other's moves. The most likely outcome will be a stalemate, with neither side able to gain the upper hand.

"Hey."

Carula suddenly looked at Audrey with a smile and asked:

"Would you like to dream along with me?"

Eh?

Audrey blinked.

(End of this chapter)