Mystery: The Witch of Desire

Her shock was beyond words; Arrodes' explanation contained a wealth of information.

First, this resolved a question she had always had: that the so-called true god was really just the pinnacle of a path—Sequence 0!

Those beings who are like gods are actually just powerful extraordinary beings. As long as they have magic potions, rituals, and the materials needed for advancement, they can become Sequence 0 and become true gods!

However, advancing to Sequence 0 requires three Sequence 1 extraordinary characteristics and one 'uniqueness', which is extremely difficult.

Furthermore, why is it the property of three parts of sequence 1, and not some other number of parts? Does this mean that a path only has the property of three parts of sequence 1? If so, wouldn't sequence 1 and sequence 0 be unable to coexist...?

At this moment, Arodes appeared with new text, interrupting Livre's thoughts:

"I've already explained the concept of uniqueness to you, now answer my question."

Having gained enough knowledge, Livre said without any regrets:

"I do not know."

"Humph……"

Arodes pouted and continued to ask:

"Next question, how many angels does the Witch Cult have in total?"

The angels of the Witch Cult... How would I know? Chick is probably a true god, not an angel, but there probably aren't many angels... Should I just guess?

Livre thought for a moment and then guessed casually:

"Three."

"Wrong answer!" A large X appeared on Arodes's face. "You will be punished twice by me."

Liviel could already feel the excited aura emanating from the Mirror of Arodes, and couldn't help but roll her eyes: What a wicked mirror!

Arodes then displayed several lines of bloody text:

"My first punishment is to bind you with my tentacles for an hour."

Tentacles again, but this time, are they not going to do anything else?

Before Livre could even catch her breath, Arodes continued:

"My second punishment is to shock you with lightning for an hour, which will not cause any real damage but will bring some pain and stimulation!"

……

Livre could hardly believe her ears.

This Arodes is way too overpowered!

Maybe we should let Fors ask the questions from now on. Anyway, Fors should like these punishments.

What should we do this time? Maybe we should just run away.

Liviel quietly raised the sapphire ring, intending to activate her mirror-travel ability, but Arrodes seemed to sense her attempt to escape, and several tentacles immediately coiled around her:

"The contract is in effect; you can't escape!"

Immediately afterwards, thunder roared in the room, and a silvery-white lightning bolt gathered on the surface of the Arrodes Mirror.

Click!

A wicked grin appeared on Arrodes's mirror, as he channeled the electricity into thin beams, precisely controlling it at a few points...

……

……

The next morning.

Livre angrily threw down a sum of money and limped away from the inn.

Just then, Little White crawled up from under her skirt and said in a somewhat tired voice:

“Livia, I kept hearing strange babbling all night, which prevented me from participating in your game with that mirror.”

That's not a game... it's the necessary price to pay in the pursuit of knowledge...

Liviel sighed inwardly with a hint of helplessness and asked:

"What kind of delirium?"

"I... I can't explain it..." A look of confusion crossed the snake's tiny, pea-sized eyes. "Yes, that sounded like crying, the cry of a baby..."

"A very, very terrible cry..."

The baby is crying...

Liviel was startled, and immediately remembered what Xiaobai had heard before about the arrival of the evil god's offspring.

Klein had mentioned before that they were going to capture Lanius, a cult member of the Aurora Society, soon...

He had consulted a diviner; the operation was doomed to fail…

Could it be...?

Chapter 192 Pregnant Woman

Livre immediately recited the name of the Fool:

"A fool who doesn't belong to this era;"

"You are the mysterious ruler above the gray fog;"

"You are the king of yellow and black who holds the key to good fortune."

"How did the operation to capture Lanius go? Do you need my help?"

A moment later, the Fool's illusory voice reached my ears:

"The operation failed. Lanius knew about our plan in advance and had already escaped."

I see……

Liviel felt a little relieved. Although the capture operation failed, she had avoided a conflict with Lanius, so there shouldn't be any major incidents.

"Be careful of crying babies."

After reminding Klein, Livre curiously took out the letter she had found at 27 Minsk Street. She was slightly surprised when she saw the sender's name:

"It was him? Mr. Valentine."

Liviel remembered the short, middle-aged man with small eyes, whom she had met when she first arrived in Backlund. He was a merchant who aspired to become the Mushroom King.

Upon opening the envelope and reading the letter, Liver was surprised to discover that this small merchant, who had once been kicked out of Paria by the waiter, had grown into a large businessman with several farms and factories, employing hundreds of workers.

Following Livre's advice, he improved mushroom cultivation methods, earned his first fortune, and then founded Backlund Fungi Production and Processing Company. He established a complete industrial chain for mushrooms, from production to processing, quickly becoming Backlund's second-largest mushroom producer, with a market value of £230,000, second only to the true mushroom king: Baron Derek.

What surprised Livre even more was that Mr. Valentine remembered his promise to give Livre 10% of his shares free of charge. Although after several rounds of financing, Mr. Valentine's shares were diluted to 30%, Livre still effectively owned 3% of 'Backland Fungi Production and Processing Company'.

In other words, Livril has £6900 worth of shares and can receive several hundred pounds in dividends every year without doing anything.

Mr. Valentine wrote to invite River to go to the Backlund Fungi Production and Processing Company at 69 Commercial Street in the Joewood District to claim a share of the company, as a way of repaying River for the encouragement and advice she had given him before.

Livre was stunned for several seconds before realizing that a windfall had fallen into her lap. To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, she even performed a divination to confirm that it was not a trap.

“Mr. Valentine, someone as grateful as you deserves to succeed…”

Livre muttered to herself in a cheerful mood, hailed a carriage, and headed to the Georgewood district to meet £6900... no, to meet Mr. Valentine.

When she passed by Backlund Commercial Bank, she went to check and found that her anonymous account had an extra 6000 pounds. It seemed that Danny, the devout follower of the Lord of Storms, had already received the bounty from Steel McVitie and promptly transferred it to Livre's account.

这下，加上艾德雯娜给的那张2500镑的支票，莉薇儿的财富总额达到了14175镑6苏勒9便士！这还不包括瓦伦丁先生给的那6900镑股份！

Having confirmed her wealth, Livre continued her carriage journey to Mr. Valentine's company in the Joewood district, humming a cheerful tune:

"What a beautiful day!"

……

Tingen, Halles neighborhood...

In front of house number 62, Klein, dressed in a suit, stood with Leonard Mitchell, the "Midnight Poet" with messy, beautiful hair.

This was the house that Lanluus rented under an alias, but due to a leak in advance, or because Lanluus discovered something through occult means, the capture operation failed, leaving only an empty house.

After the raid failed, Dunn Smith and the rest of the team evacuated first, leaving Klein and Leonard to conduct a more thorough search.

Luckily I didn't invite my lover, otherwise I would have wasted a whole opportunity...

Klein felt relieved and followed Leonard into the house, where he began to divine whether there was a hidden compartment or secret room, as Leonard had requested.

And the result is yes!

"A hidden compartment or secret room in this house."

Klein wrote down the new divination statement, sat on the sofa, and closed his eyes while reciting it silently.

After seven repetitions, he entered a dream, his vision blurred.

In the gray world, Klein saw the oak bookshelf, rows of books, one of the books being pulled out, and the wooden surface next to it suddenly opening up to reveal a hidden compartment.

The image quickly disappeared, and Klein opened his eyes, saying to Leonard:

"In the study."

He wrapped the citrine pendant and followed Leonard into the study, where he saw the oak bookshelf he had just dreamed of.

“Take out that book; there’s a hidden compartment in the place it’s covering.”

Klein pointed to the book furthest to the side.

“It’s here… We searched the whole house but found nothing.”

Leonard, who had already searched the book, walked over and pulled out the book that Klein had pointed to.

He fumbled around for a while, finally found the mechanism, and snapped open the hidden compartment.

"It seems that I know better how to use divination than a real diviner."

Leonard smiled and tossed his hair, quite pleased with himself for asking Klein to do a divination.

If Emily's mouth were half as good as yours, she could easily digest the Provocateur Potion...

Klein muttered to himself as he opened the side door of the hidden compartment and saw a letter lying quietly inside.

A letter? Lanius hid a letter here? Klein was very surprised by this.

He consulted a divination to see if the letter contained any dangerous items, and after receiving a negative answer, Leonard reached out and grabbed the letter, opening the envelope which had no address or recipient.

Leonard pulled out the letter, flicked it, and unfolded it.

Klein moved closer and stared intently at the letter, which began with the following paragraphs:

"Haha, congratulations! Congratulations on finally finding this letter!"

"This shows that you are not too stupid or too slow-witted, and are qualified to participate in this game of life and death that I have designed."

"Child laborers who die young, factory workers who rarely live past ten years due to the harsh environment and hardship, female workers who risk serious illness for meager wages—I see countless resentments shrouding every factory, making the surroundings oppressive and gloomy. This is the worst of times, and the best of times. Our game will begin against this backdrop."

"Fools, get ready, I'm about to give you a hint!"

Upon seeing this, Klein and Leonard simultaneously looked up from the letter, exchanged a glance, and muttered to themselves:

"Is this guy crazy?"

"Is Lanius actually a madman from the Prisoner's Path?"

A true madman with paranoia and antisocial personality disorder… Klein’s thoughts raced, his heart tightened, and he quickly turned his gaze back to the letter:

"Ladies and gentlemen, my hint is that I have planted a bomb in Tingen City, a bomb that will grow stronger over time."

"Go find it, and take care of it before it explodes on its own. If the game fails, boom! The entire city of Tingen will be reduced to ruins. Believe me, I haven't lied about anything in this matter."

"Lanus loves to surprise his friends the most."

"A bomb?" Klein looked at Leonard and muttered to himself in confusion.

Leonard held the letter up to the sunlight, turning it over and over, but found no other clues.

"Bomb should just be a metaphor. I've never heard of a bomb that can keep getting stronger."

Klein frowned and replied thoughtfully:

"No, I mean, it might be a bomb in a occult sense, like some kind of evil ritual that constantly accumulates power..."

Leonard tilted his head, as if listening to something, and his expression suddenly became serious.

He nodded, his green eyes narrowing slightly.