They are all characters I control.

Her hair was gray, shoulder-length, and plastered messily to her face.

His skin was bluish-gray, clinging to his bones, like a corpse that had not yet decayed.

He was wearing a tattered linen shirt, barely covering his body. There were iron chains on his wrists and ankles, the other end of which was embedded in the wall.

He closed his eyes and remained motionless.

Grace and Megan stood there watching, while Claire walked straight over.

“William Redgrave?”

The old man's eyelashes twitched.

He slowly opened his eyes. They were deep brown eyes, cloudy and dull, like dusty glass.

But when he saw Claire, when he saw Eleanor's face, his eyes suddenly lit up.

It wasn't a surprise. It was shock.

"Who...who are you?"

His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, but Claire could hear it clearly.

He said "you," not "Eleanor."

This must be the church knight who once fought against me. Even after a hundred years, and now that I've aged so much, he still recognizes me.

Although it was hard to believe, Claire believed it.

He knew the old man recognized him as soon as he met his eyes.

“Don’t you recognize me? Look at my face, don’t you recognize me?” Claire replied.

The old man's lips trembled slightly.

He stared into Claire's eyes, into those cold, slightly mocking eyes that didn't belong to Eleanor.

This tone and attitude are definitely not something this body could have done.

That smile was bitter, like chewing on a bitter herb.

"...What do you want to do? Why are you here?"

"What can you do even if you know?" Claire's voice was calm.

Grace stood behind Claire, her eyes wide.

She looked at Claire, then at the old man, completely bewildered. "Female Knight, what are you talking about? I don't understand a word! Do you know your father?"

Megan crouched in the corner, clutching the dead cat, her gray eyes staring straight at the old man without saying a word.

The old man ignored Grace and simply watched as Claire gradually leaned against the wall behind her, looking more at ease.

“You don’t seem to be one of those people.” His voice was soft. “Then what do you want to ask me?”

Although we haven't seen each other for a century, a lot has happened outside.

Looking at Claire in this state, William also had many questions.

But at this moment, those things seemed unimportant, or rather, Claire's appearance before him now wasn't just for tomb raiding.

Moreover, William, looking at the body controlled by Claire and Eleanor, understood something to some extent.

"Am I your daughter?" Claire's question left Grace and Megan, who were standing nearby, completely bewildered.

“Eleanor is not my daughter.” William said softly, his breathing rapid, “She is a ‘vessel,’ she is…”

Before William could finish his reply, footsteps came from the entrance above.

Grace and Megan immediately retreated from the entrance, warily grabbing their tools and staring at the entrance.

The next moment, Mother Martha appeared before them.

"There are things you shouldn't say casually, William."

Mother Martha held a candlestick, the candlelight casting a shadow on her face.

Behind her, believers appeared one after another, and Mel, who looked like a little girl, stood prominently behind Mother Martha.

At this moment, Claire and her companions seemed like prey who had stumbled into a pre-prepared trap.

Chapter 63 Mental Bonds Unlocked

In the basement where William was imprisoned, all the characters had now arrived.

Mother Martha held a candlestick, the candlelight casting an eerie shadow on her face.

Behind her, more and more figures emerged, a dozen or so, dressed in coarse cloth, holding machetes, hoes, and pitchforks, their eyes empty yet fanatical.

Mel stood beside Mother Martha, a faint, enigmatic smile playing on her lips as she looked at Claire.

This is clearly a trap.

Claire slowly stood up, facing the entrance.

"Mother Martha, you've come at just the right time."

Actually, Mother Martha had probably planned to do this from the very beginning.

After Claire's somewhat suspicious questioning, Sister Martha seemed to have already made her decision the moment that question arose.

That is to abandon the futile deception and personally guide Claire to where the truth lies.

In that case, the place where the truth is located can be turned into a trap.

The truth lies with William.

Since Claire wants to know Eleanor's father and Eleanor's background, she'll use that as bait.

The reason for doing this became clear with the arrival of Mel.

That means Mother Martha knew that Claire (Eleanor) was a 'Chosen One' and knew that without proper preparation, it wouldn't be easy to defeat Claire in a direct confrontation.

Once Claire consumed the Philosopher's Stone, her power increased exponentially.

That was something no ordinary believer could fight against, not even a high priest. Dorothy the Scarlet Witch was defeated by Claire.

That's why traps are needed, and why arrangements like this are necessary right now.

Sister Martha looked at Claire, her face still bearing that gentle, kind smile, but her deep brown eyes were now devoid of warmth.

Her voice was very soft, as if she were coaxing a disobedient child. "You shouldn't listen to this old man's nonsense."

At this point, it seems that Mother Martha has not yet given up playing her role.

“Nonsense?” Claire laughed. “How do you know it’s nonsense before he’s even finished speaking?”

Mother Martha's gaze passed over Claire and landed on the old man on the bed. William leaned against the wall, his ashen face expressionless, only his cloudy eyes staring straight at her.

“Martha, you have betrayed your faith.” William’s voice was hoarse, but every word was clear. “You have betrayed the church, and you have betrayed yourself.”

“Faith?” Mother Martha’s voice turned cold. “You’re talking to me about faith? I’m asking you, if you have faith, then why did you end up in my hands, and why did my child die?”

William's lips trembled slightly, but he did not refute.

This was clearly a private matter between William and Sister Martha, and Claire was unaware of it, but could guess at some of it.

Mother Martha turned to Claire, her smile returning to her face.

“Eleanor, this old man is insane. Every word he says is to deceive you. Don’t believe him.”

Claire looked at her. "What did he mean by 'container' earlier?"

Sister Martha's eyes flickered. "What container?"

“Eleanor is a ‘vessel’ you created.” Claire’s voice was calm as he uttered his conjecture. “Cultivated with William’s blood, with your blood, and with fragments of the Philosopher’s Stone. To create a ‘chosen one’ who can perfectly absorb the Philosopher’s Stone.”

The air in the dungeon seemed to freeze for a moment.

"Who told you that?" Sister Martha's voice remained gentle, but her eyes had changed.

“Him.” Claire gestured with her chin toward William.

The reactions of the old village chief and others encountered so far, as well as Mel's own experience with the power of the Philosopher's Stone, all illustrate this point.

Mother Martha was silent for a moment. Then she smiled.

The smile was no longer gentle or kind; it was a cold, condescending, all-knowing smile.

“Eleanor, you’ve been deceived.” She shook her head. “This old man isn’t your father at all. He’s just a dog of the Church of Eleanor, a dog that’s used and then discarded. The things he said were meant to sow discord between you and me.”

“And what about you?” Claire countered. “Are you a member of the Church of Life?”

Mother Martha did not answer.

"You've lived for many years, haven't you?" Claire continued. "Over a hundred years, and you still look like you're in your thirties. You don't know holy magic, you don't know any magic, yet you've lived so long. How did you do that? The Philosopher's Stone?"

Mother Martha's pupils contracted slightly. She neither denied nor admitted it.

“You are the true ‘vessel’,” Claire finished for her. “William’s blood, your blood, fragments of the Philosopher’s Stone, nurtured Eleanor, and then used her blood to make potions, so that you yourself…”

Just then, a white light suddenly exploded in Claire's mind.

It wasn't the kind of image he saw in the system; it was a deeper, more primal resonance, etched directly into his soul, like a string that had been stretched for too long finally snapping.

Of course, it wasn't Claire's issue, but Eleanor's.

【Ding--】

[System Notification: Detected a violent emotional fluctuation in the proxy 'Eleanor Redgrave', her bond value has exceeded the critical point...]

[The player has triggered Eleanor's deepest memory: Where did I come from?]

[Current Bond Level: 71%↑↑↑]

[Unlock the Mind Bond Mode.]

In this mode, the agent can engage in "bullet screen" style commentary, sharing some of the agent's senses and surface thoughts with the main body's actions during the controlled period.

[Eleanor's consciousness is awakening...]

Claire was not surprised at all; on the contrary, she breathed a sigh of relief.

It's finally here; this is his reason for cooperating with Mother Martha.

Only by unlocking the most important hidden secret of a character can you greatly increase the bond value at once. This was triggered once on Lia, and now it's being triggered again on Eleanor.

[Eleanor: Where...where am I? How...how did I see myself?]

[Eleanor: What happened? Why can't I move? Who is that old man? Why is Mother Martha...?]

[Eleanor: You! Who are you?! Why are you inside my body?!]

The barrage of comments flooded in, filling Claire's field of vision.

Clearly, whether she was a female knight or a noble lady.

They all have the same reaction when they discover that their bodies are being controlled by someone else.

Claire: Be quiet, be quiet.

[Eleanor: Calm down? You want me to calm down?! Who are you?! When did you enter my body?! What did you do to me?!]

Claire: I saved your life. In Ryukyu Village, in Grayrock Town. Without me, you would have died long ago.

The comments section paused for a moment.

Eleanor finally met the church knight who had saved her.

But she never expected that the other person was also 'herself'?

Chapter 64 This sword is still not fast enough

Now everything was connected; all the things that had puzzled Eleanor before were now linked together.

During her previous missions, she noticed that things that happened around her that she had no memory of would keep happening.

Leaving aside how she ended up in the cabin after being seriously injured and unconscious, let's just say that she had just met Mel and the others, yet suddenly appeared in the village.

The village still looked desolate after the great war. When they returned with the knights, they discovered that they had actually attacked the town's residents.

He was clearly in the Knights' prison, yet he suddenly appeared outside.

He had no weapon, yet a broken, rusty sword inexplicably appeared on his body.