Mystery: The Witch of Desire

"By the way, shouldn't you pay me hush money? You don't want the Hanged Man and Justice to know that Mr. Fool is just a low-sequence Beyonder, do you?"

Klein was both amused and exasperated by what he heard.

"Hey, you're from the great foodie country, not little Japan, so please don't try that on me."

Livre shrugged and said:

"Alright, let's get serious. I'll give you a chance to help me for free. As long as it's within my capabilities, I'll help you. In exchange, if you ever get your hands on Roselle's Diary, you can read it with me. How about that?"

Upon hearing this, Klein's lips curled up slightly, but he still tried to negotiate:

"Only once? Isn't that a bit too few?"

"Hey, don't be too greedy!" Livre glared with her beautiful eyes. "If it weren't for me, you guys might have suffered a huge loss when you went to capture Triss last time!"

Klein chuckled somewhat sheepishly:

“Alright, it’s a deal. I’ll share with you the Russell’s Diary that I have so far. Uh… I’m afraid my spirituality isn’t enough to support you watching it for long above the gray fog. I’ll materialize it for you to memorize. When you return to the real world, if you forget it, you can recite my name again and I can help you remember it.”

"That would be perfect."

Livre nodded in satisfaction. Then, Klein raised his hand and waved his hand, and page after page of the diary appeared in front of Livre.

Like in her previous life, Livre frantically memorized every minute and second, just like she did in the last five minutes before an exam.

Three minutes later, Klein rubbed his temples, looking somewhat tired.

"Alright, I can't hold on any longer. Let's stop here for now."

Klein's a bit weak, he's already done for after only three minutes...

Liviel was slightly disappointed, but since she could still pray to Klein to recall the past, it wasn't a big problem.

So the two said goodbye, and Livre's figure blurred as she returned to the cabin.

She immediately recalled the Russell diary she had just read, went through it, and then prayed to Klein to fill in the missing parts.

These Russell diaries were mostly copied and passed down by later generations, so the order is not based on Russell's actual life events. After organizing the contents according to the timeline, Livre began to study them carefully.

The first part is Russell's own account of his early experiences after arriving in this world, including his revelation that his real name is "Huang Tao", his journey of writing a diary in simplified Chinese to express his secrets, and his identity as Russell Gustav. Between the lines, he reveals his pride in believing himself to be the chosen one.

However, he soon began to complain about life in this other world, lamenting that the food was so bad it caused constipation, and missing Earth's food and entertainment...

Then, Rosell invented the steam engine and a series of other items, which greatly promoted the progress of productivity in this world. The current social structure where steam and mystery coexist can be said to have been created by Emperor Rosell, who is therefore known as the "Son of Steam".

In his diary, Emperor Roselle also complained about the lack of oil in this alien world, which prevented him from leading people into the era of the internal combustion engine...

"That's a bit strange. Oil is formed naturally from the remains of plants and animals buried in geological structures. Logically, as long as there is life, there should be oil. Is it because this world is too young to have oil?"

Livre couldn't help but have some doubts, but she didn't dwell on it too much and continued to look through the pages.

Rosell consumed the "Generalist" potion, a sequence of extraordinary individuals that seemed to turn them into study fanatics. Rosell, who initially disliked studying, began to devour knowledge, regarding learning as his greatest entertainment. It was precisely thanks to this knowledge that he achieved so much in the field of invention.

Furthermore, Rosell mentioned many valuable occult points in his diary. Besides the 'playing method' that Livre already knew, two others seemed particularly important: the law of conservation of extraordinary properties and the law of conservation of extraordinary properties within similar sequences. Rosell learned these from a mysterious figure called 'Mr. Door'. Based on these two laws, many interesting conclusions can be derived. For example, within the same pathway, more high sequences mean fewer low sequences, and vice versa.

Therefore, Livre also understood why the Church kept the knowledge of law and other things a closely guarded secret. This was because the total number of extraordinary beings in a particular path was constant. If there were more low-rank beings, there would naturally be fewer high-rank beings. From the Church's perspective, cultivating a high-rank being was much more useful and easier to control than cultivating a large number of low-rank beings.

In terms of his love life, Emperor Rosell was also very happy. His wife, Matilda, was very beautiful. In addition, Rosell, being an Intis, was quite the womanizer, so he had relationships with quite a few women.

Later, Roselle had a daughter named Bernadette, whom he adored. However, a divination predicted that his daughter would hate him, which greatly troubled Roselle.

The next entry in the diary mentions that Russell has been participating in gatherings of an ancient, secretive organization. He never mentions the name of this organization, but it reveals that its members are of very high status, some even being great figures who have lived for thousands of years. The things they are plotting are all related to major events such as the Quaternary Period and the Profaned Tablets.

The final diary entry in the timeline mentions the final stage of Roselle's life. He wanted to switch to the adjacent Seeker pathway and ascend to Sequence 1, the "Knowledge Emperor." However, at this time, his mental state seemed to be deteriorating, and he held a pessimistic view of the world, believing that humanity's efforts would ultimately lead to destruction...

At this stage, the writings of Emperor Roselle had taken on a certain eccentric and mystical quality. Livre had a premonition that if she were to read the original diary, she might be corrupted and fall into a dangerous situation of losing control.

Russell believed that the only way to achieve redemption was to become a Sequence 0 true god, and only by becoming a Sequence 0 could he protect himself and his family. He set his sights on the "Black Emperor" path, wanting to switch to the Black Emperor path at the cost of becoming half-mad and ascend to Sequence 0.

Black Emperor, changing course...

Livre murmured to herself and closed her diary.

Admittedly, the diary she saw was only the tip of the iceberg of Russell's entire diary, but it was enough to stir her thoughts and make her feel the weight of Huang Tao's life as a time traveler.

Aside from the occult knowledge, what intrigued her most was the matter of changing paths. She had originally thought that once a path was chosen, the path was fixed. But now it seemed that it was still possible to switch to adjacent paths. It appears that Emperor Roselle, in his later years, switched from the path of the knower to the path of the enigma.

That's why Emperor Roselle wrote on the first page of Livre's diary: "Beware of extraordinary beings of this path and adjacent paths, because extraordinary beings of adjacent paths can also use each other's extraordinary characteristics to advance."

In this light, the Dark Forest Law of this world is even more cruel. Not only must one guard against those on one's own path who might plot against them, but one must also guard against those on neighboring paths... Liviel felt that if she were in charge, she would also close off this knowledge to prevent large-scale killings among the lower and middle-level extraordinary individuals.

But speaking of which path is adjacent to the Witch Path? If I switch to another path, can I turn back into a man?

Lying in bed, I was slowly thinking when, before I knew it, it was dinnertime.

At that moment, Livre keenly sensed that someone was moving around outside the cabin door, and the other person's movements were very abnormal. It didn't seem like a passenger walking past her door; rather, it seemed like they were pacing back and forth, as if they were monitoring something.

Livre got dressed, pushed open the door as usual, and glanced casually in the direction of the crew area.

A sailor in uniform hurriedly turned his head, looking out the window as if he were just admiring the scenery.

Livre immediately understood. No wonder Trol had asked her to move to first class; it was so that he could easily send someone to monitor her.

It seems he still cares a lot about what he saw about Asimov.

Livre didn't have much of a problem with this. As a captain, it was understandable to keep an eye on passengers who might have issues on board.

She pretended not to notice she was being watched and headed to the restaurant on the deck.

When she arrived at the restaurant, she noticed Danitz sitting in a corner, looking somewhat forlorn, so she took the initiative to sit opposite him.

"Miss Marilyn Monroe!"

Danitz was somewhat surprised, then looked around warily to make sure Captain Trol wasn't with her before she relaxed.

Should I say you're cautious, or that you're too cowardly?

Livre gave a somewhat helpless, mocking look:

"Don't worry, I have no male companions tonight, it's all for you."

Danitz's cheek twitched, then he said somewhat defiantly:

"It's not that I'm afraid of that big oaf, it's just that I respect the lady's choice."

Just then, Trol, dressed in uniform and wearing a captain's hat, entered the dining room from the forward cabin. His gaze swept over and he spotted Livre sitting in the corner, then he walked over.

Livre chuckled, looking at Danitz who seemed somewhat dazed, and said with a smile:

"You're my choice tonight, so please don't back down."

Danitz's expression was unpredictable, his brows gradually furrowing. As Trol approached, his brows furrowed even more deeply.

"Miss Marilyn Monroe, we meet again."

Trol wore a gentle smile and gave Livre a slight bow. His tall figure, dressed in a crisp uniform, with strong facial features and a neatly trimmed beard, made him several levels more charming than Danitz, who had half his face covered and looked timid, thanks to his status as captain.

"Your demeanor remains as outstanding as ever."

Livre smiled and nodded in return, her praise like a knife, piercing Danitz's pride.

Trol turned to look at Danitz, his gaze scrutinizing, before calmly asking:

Who is this?

Livre simply smiled slightly, without offering any introduction, and looked at Danitz with a hint of encouragement, as if waiting for him to define his own identity.

Danitz shuddered violently, then revealed a resolute expression.

He stood up firmly, looked at Trol, who was a head taller than him, and spoke in a tone that was neither humble nor arrogant:

"Hello, Captain, my name is Dart, and I am Miss Monroe's male companion on this journey."

Trol raised an eyebrow and asked in a probing tone:

"Mr. Dart, it's a pleasure to meet you. I didn't see you this morning."

Danitz was taken aback, then spoke somewhat awkwardly:

"As, well, a businessman, I sometimes have to stay in the cabin to keep an eye on the latest industry developments so that I can send telegrams to my company in Backlund and direct their business operations when we land on the next island."

He became more and more confident as he spoke, as if he had successfully assumed the role of a businessman.

Trol nodded noncommittally, glanced at Livre, and maintained his gentlemanly demeanor:

"Ms. Marilyn Monroe, let's talk again another time."

After saying that, he left without looking back and sat down in another corner of the restaurant with several senior crew members.

"Send the latest arrest warrants to my room in a bit."

He glanced sideways at Danitz and coldly gave orders to his men.

After Trol left, Livre looked at Danitz, who was letting out a long sigh of relief, and teased him:

"Mr. Dart, you're really something. I'm really impressed with you."

Danitz casually shrugged his shoulders, pretending not to care:

“It’s nothing. It’s just that at sea, I respect him as a captain. But if this were in Terry… no, in Backlund, I would show him what a difference in status is.”

Livre simply smiled quietly, without exposing Danitz's lie. Instead, she complimented him again and took the opportunity to order several expensive signature main courses from the Marlin, which Danitz paid for, of course.

While enjoying his dinner, Danitz said:

“Miss Monroe, I also inquired about Amosif this afternoon, but no one has seen him. I even asked a sailor, and he didn’t even know there was a chief engineer named Amosif on board. Is there some mistake?”

Surprisingly, Danitz seems quite interested in my affairs...

Livre put a tender piece of grilled fish fillet into her mouth and whispered:

“Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Dart. This is not important. Let’s leave it at that.”

Danitz shrugged noncommittally. Since Livre didn't care, he didn't want to investigate any further.

After dinner, Livre suggested that she wanted to wander around by herself, so she parted ways with Danitz and went to the deck alone.

The night wasn't too deep yet, and many passengers were still on the deck, enjoying the sea breeze, sipping cocktails, and chatting. The sea under the night sky rippled gently, like a lover's whisper, a perfect setting for gentlemen and ladies to deepen their feelings for each other before returning to their cabins for a romantic night.

Statistics show that the probability of a passenger having a sexual relationship with a non-partner of the opposite sex on a ship is 45%, and this probability is doubled on Intis.

After all, there are very few entertainment options on the desolate sea.

Alone and alone, Livre rejected the advances of several gentlemen and went to the bow of the ship where she had met Asimov earlier that day.

She activated her spiritual vision to observe the surrounding environment:

The air was very pure, leaving no trace of spiritual fluctuations. Of course, this doesn't mean anything. After so much time, even if some spirituality remained, it could have dissipated in the sea breeze.

More than an hour later, a deep horn sounded on the Marlin, signaling the start of curfew. The outer decks would be closed to passengers, who would only be allowed to move around in the cabins and superstructure.

For passenger ships sailing on the high seas, curfews are an essential policy. The deck at midnight is fraught with unpredictable dangers; passengers could fall into the sea due to rough seas or be attacked by pirates approaching in small boats.

Even encountering those legendary monsters.

In every port, on every passenger ship, and among every sailor, there are eerie legends about deep-sea monsters, ghost ships shrouded in mist, or terrifying fish-men. These stories are passed down orally under the salty sea breeze and the flickering kerosene lamps, becoming the whispered fears of people at sea and the nightmares that awaken voyagers in the middle of the night.

After the curfew was sounded, Livr returned to her room. The crew member who had been watching her was still standing by the window, pretending to look at the sea outside.

Is the ocean really that beautiful? They could at least cover it up with a newspaper.

Livre muttered to herself, glancing at the wall clock:

Nine o'clock in the evening.

It's an hour earlier than the usual curfew. It seems Mr. Hanged Man's assessment of the recent tensions at sea is credible.

After a moment's thought, she activated her invisibility ability, then climbed out of the room's window into the corridor and silently returned to the deck.

Perhaps, at night, you can see things that you can't see during the day.

Chapter 159 Night Raid

Livre sat on a raised wooden platform below the mast, watching the crew busily clearing passengers and checking equipment.

Nearly an hour later, even the crew members returned to their cabins. Only the masts, superstructure, and stern lookout posts remained with crew members on watch, vigilant for potential dangers during the night.

Complete silence descended upon the deck.

Liviel also stood up, maintaining her invisibility, and began to wander around the deck.

From bow to stern, Livre found nothing except faint sounds of intimacy emanating from a few first-class cabins adjacent to the deck.

She had no choice but to walk back from the stern to the bow of the boat again.

As she passed under the mast, she suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a person standing by the railing at the bow of the ship ahead.

The man was not tall, wore a sailor's uniform, and was facing the sea, quietly gazing at something.