A Gift from Amon

"Hey, interesting. Do you know me?"

"Did that paranoid guy introduce me to you? Hmm, no, that doesn't sound like his style. So, where did you learn about me, and how were you able to recognize me at a single glance?"

The young postman wearing a monocle on his face smiled as he approached, reaching out to pat his shoulder while looking him up and down.

"Relax, I'm just curious about what that paranoid guy is plotting again, so I came to take a look."

"Of course, it wouldn't matter if you didn't relax. He won't know I'm here, and you can't send out any messages either."

Cyril watched the postman-dressed Amon in silence. It wasn't that he wanted to be silent, but Amon had stolen his voice, as well as the very thought of running away.

"Your internal monologue is truly rich, all messy and chaotic. Is this your way of guarding against the Spectators around you? It's quite unique, actually."

"Since you aren't satisfied with this gift, how about I give you another one?"

"Going to that grumpy old pigeon's cathedral this time... 'grumpy old pigeon,' what an interesting nickname. You're much more amusing than that paranoid guy. Any interest in joining me? I can make you my attendant."

"The kind of attendant that gets promoted straight to a King of Angels?"

Cyril hurriedly shut his mouth. His voice had returned so suddenly that he hadn't been careful and had blurted out his own internal snark.

"If that's what you like, it's not impossible."

Amon wore a troubled expression, but his hand had already produced a monocle ground from crystal before anyone noticed.

Cyril subconsciously took a step back upon seeing the monocle in Amon's hand, but his body moved a step forward in a bizarre fashion.

"So proactive. It seems you really like..."

Amon sighed while pressing the monocle toward Cyril's eye socket.

Cyril stood there blankly. He couldn't form the thought of running away, nor could he make the motion to lift his legs.

Damn it, have the guts to stop controlling me...

(@[]@!!)

Wait, no, I was wrong... don't come over here!

In his terrified gaze, the monocle Amon was pressing toward his eye socket fell to the ground.

Amon pursed his lips: "Tsk~, boring."

Cyril looked down at the Monocle lying by his feet, belatedly realizing that the parasitism of a Marauder could not affect entities with a higher Sequence level than their own, and his level was far above that of a King of Angels.

Phew~

Cyril let out a long breath in his heart. Although the crisis wasn't over, the fact that he couldn't be parasitized was the best news possible.

The postman Amon in front of him looked at him and sighed: "I really just wanted to give you a gift. Why won't you believe me?"

"The paranoid guy and I are brothers. Since he thinks highly of you, isn't it normal for me to come and add an extra investment?"

Cyril remained silent. He suspected that Amon couldn't steal too many memories or thoughts from him; otherwise, he shouldn't be this calm right now.

Did Adam place a protection on my memories?

"What a pain." The postman Amon frowned as he looked at the night sky above, complaining suddenly before looking back at Cyril:

"We don't have much time left. Have you decided what kind of gift you want? For example, how about this?"

As he spoke, he reached into the air and pulled out a "diamond" the size of an eye.

Cyril's heart rate accelerated uncontrollably. He recognized the identity of this "diamond"—it was a Beyonder characteristic belonging to an Astrologer.

Even though he knew Amon had ill intentions, he couldn't help but drool with desire in his heart.

Taking a deep breath, he shook his head and refused: "This is too valuable. I can't afford it."

"Too valuable?" Amon chuckled, the corners of his mouth curling up:

"It seems you're very short on money. That's easy to fix."

The smile on Amon's face was obvious, as if he had thought of something interesting. He then reached into the air and pulled out an asymmetrical black classic wallet and tossed it into his hand.

"This is Jacob's Wallet. Although there is nothing inside it, you can take anything out of it. With it, you will never be short of money again."

"The only problem is, be careful of the original owners coming to find trouble with you."

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding night suddenly brightened. Cyril saw the ground beneath his feet turn into a deep, dark sea woven from unconsciousness, and the pitch-black night sky turned into a spiritual sky with seven colors that enveloped everything.

He realized a beat too late that he had entered the collective unconscious sea, entering the world of the mind.

Between the deep sea and the vast spiritual sky, a giant figure made entirely of light appeared abruptly.

Amon's face darkened instantly, and he gritted his teeth, spitting out two words:

"Adam!"

The giant made of light stood there with its hands raised high, as if it were merely a projection from the past:

"Let there be light!"

Following the giant's voice, endless light surged forth, enveloping Cyril and covering Amon as well.

He didn't know what happened to Amon, but Cyril felt his body melting at an unimaginable speed, like a block of wax thrown into a furnace.

Fortunately, this "melting" did not last long. The surrounding light faded, and then he found that he had returned to his room.

"Perhaps it wasn't the light that faded, but rather I who was shifted out of the battlefield."

Having just muttered this, he saw the mild-mannered, golden-haired priest appear before him.

He paused, then bowed and greeted the other party with great seriousness: "Good evening, Mr. Adam."

Adam nodded slightly, then spoke in a flat tone, as if discussing the weather: "It is His nature. The more you try to stop Him from participating in something, the more interested He becomes. He will find ways to get close, figure it out, and then join in or sabotage it."

Although no name was mentioned, the person being referred to was undoubtedly Amon, and the meaning of these words was clear: he had been targeted by that brat who loved wearing a monocle.

"At least He cannot parasitize me."

Though this might further increase Amon's interest in me.

With a bitter smile, Cyril handed the black, classic wallet from Amon to Adam.

The latter merely glanced at it without taking it:

"A small gadget made by Amon; you keep it. Even if you give it to me, you will just receive another one. He has enough Worm of Time to waste."

"..."

As expected of a King of Angels who has gathered most of the characteristics of the Error pathway, He is certainly generous.

Noticing Adam's choice of words, he asked with some curiosity: "Isn't this Jacob's Wallet?"

Adam chuckled: "A thief does not need to prepare a wallet for himself."

Cyril: ...

Fair enough, that logic seems sound.

After a pause, he looked at Adam and asked cautiously: "Can you help me place some restrictions on the Worm of Time on this?"

Adam did not refuse. He reached out to take the wallet, and the pads of his right fingers lightly brushed across its surface. One after another, complex and three-dimensional mysterious symbols formed in rows under his hand, creating a complex, scale-like network that wrapped around the entire wallet before quickly fading away.

Having done this, He handed the wallet back to Cyril: "Amon can no longer exert influence on you through it, nor can He accurately locate or monitor you, except when it is subjected to external stimuli."

"It has no obvious negative effects, but due to Amon's personality, you won't find it easy to get what you want when using it."

"Additionally, do not use it in front of Beyonders of a higher sequence than yourself; people who have had their things stolen tend to be quite irritable."

Cyril nodded earnestly... understood, using it makes one prone to getting beaten up.

Seeing that Adam did not leave immediately after returning Jacob's Wallet, he hesitated for a moment before suddenly realizing that the other party had seen the doubts in his heart and was waiting for him to ask.

After weighing his words, he asked curiously: "Why don't you help Amon obtain the final Worm of Time Beyonder characteristic? With your help, He would have a very high probability of becoming the Lord of the Mysteries."

"With the help of a Lord of the Mysteries, your recovery of authority and characteristics would also become very smooth."

Adam looked at him and calmly retorted with a question: "Why do you think that is?"

Uh... Cyril forcibly suppressed the urge to retort and quickly spoke:

"You have other plans?"

Adam shook his head slightly: "Even the most brilliant Author cannot make everything in the world develop according to His own will."

"Many times, we must make trade-offs and compromises."