Neil

What should he do now? Should he kill him outright, before he mutated into a Monster?

Aster had never played a Mystery Pryer Pathway alt, so he did not know much about Neil's storyline. Whenever he encountered an NPC who had not yet become a dungeon boss, his first instinct was to act immediately and nip the danger in the bud.

But his reason quickly vetoed that idea—until he fully mutated, Neil was undoubtedly still a member of the Church of Evernight's Nighthawks in Tingen City. Rashly killing an official Beyonder who had shown no abnormalities would be an enormous provocation against the Church. Aster might not even be able to protect himself afterward.

No matter how he handled this, he had to test him first... Aster's fingers had already closed around the thin silver chain at his neck, drawing a pendant out from beneath his collar.

Townsend Neil had not left yet. Hopefully he would not notice... Just as Aster prepared to channel spirituality into the pendant around his neck, he sensed someone reaching out toward him from behind.

"Sir, Boss Swain would like to see you." He turned around and found one of Swain's men from yesterday. He seemed to be the one from the Spectator Pathway—the man who had spoken up to remind Swain in the office.

"What is it?" Aster looked toward Neil again, but he had lost sight of him. Perhaps he had gone out through the back door, or perhaps he had crouched down to inspect the items at a stall and been obscured by the standing crowd...

Swain's subordinate, who was suspected to be from the Spectator Pathway, did not seem particularly restrained. He scratched his head. "Something about Ghost Shark blood, I think? He asked me to see whether you were interested."

After his searching and price inquiries just now, there was no way to hide his desire for Ghost Shark blood from Swain, the protector of this trading market.

"He did not mention a price, did he?" With a sigh, Aster gave up looking for Townsend Neil and followed Swain's subordinate through one hidden door after another, returning to Swain's office.

Neil probably would not turn into the flesh-and-blood boss from the game anytime soon. This was one detail Aster remembered fairly clearly: he should not fully mutate until early September.

That gave him time to think carefully about how to deal with him... Aster stepped into Swain's office and found the former Mandated Punisher drinking Lielangqi, a particularly potent liquor. In the game, drinking it not only increased Inspiration and the success rate of certain ritual magic, but also granted a buff of +3% acting value gain.

But that was only a setting from the game. In reality, it was just a bottle of strong liquor... Aster sighed inwardly once more, becoming more deeply aware of the cruel truth: this was not a game, but a real world.

"I heard you were purchasing Ghost Shark blood." Swain got straight to the point, his blue eyes fixed on Aster like a hawk's. "That is a material needed for Sailor Pathway potions... No need to pretend. I can tell that you are not buying it to make charms or other consumables, and you are definitely not a Beyonder of the Sailor Pathway. I need to know who the person behind you is—the one who truly needs this material."

"Maybe it is for a friend... or maybe it is for me." Unfooled by Swain's bluff, Aster kept both hands in his pockets, wearing a gentle smile Swain found rather unpleasant. "Would you give up this deal just because I refuse to answer?"

Swain could seem easy to fool in some respects, but that did not mean he would be easy to talk to when someone crossed his bottom line. He stared coldly at Aster, showing no sign of backing down just because Aster had helped him yesterday. "I must make sure the buyer is neither a traitor to the Church nor an enemy of it."

He was worried that the buyer was a deserter from the Church of Storms, or someone who had once killed a member of the Church of Storms... It seemed Aster needed to reveal something appropriate... He looked into Swain's eyes, which showed no hint of age, and quickly decided what information to disclose.

"Fine. I will use it to trade with a friend for Beyonder materials I need." Aster spread his hands helplessly. He was wearing the Witch's Kiss he had taken from Swain yesterday—he needed to make it accumulate enough spirituality as quickly as possible so he could use [Metamorphosis] and [Cocooning] to change identities and do things that were inconvenient for "Aster" to do. "I can assure you that my friend is definitely not the criminal pirate or deserter you imagine... In fact, he is merely an innocent child."

"He was born half a Sailor, inherited from the father he had never met—his mother was merely a streetwalker at the Red Theater, and she died not long after giving birth to him. He only survived through the Church's aid. That is precisely why he feels nothing but gratitude and devotion toward the Church of Storms." Trying hard to recall the character biography of the Hanged Man, Alger Wilson, from the wiki, Aster combined it with some fanworks he had seen in his previous life and did his best to fool Swain.

"A small part of that is true... He is indeed not a Sinner or traitor, at least as far as he believes." The Beyonder from the Spectator Pathway spoke again. For now, Aster could only be grateful for his presence—it spared him from having to say much more to earn Swain's trust.

If Swain still did not believe him, he would have to spend money trading with the Hanged Man. Not only would that mean paying a higher premium, it would also mean he had to return to Backlund to withdraw money as soon as possible—Aster did not carry much cash on him. Most of it was stored in the secret room of his Backlund residence rather than in a bank. Without cash, he could not remain in Tingen City for long.

He watched Swain's furrowed brow gradually relax. "Fine. May the Storm watch over him and keep him safe. So, how much Ghost Shark blood do you need? One hundred milliliters, I presume?"

"Yes. I offer 220 pounds. That is the highest price I can pay." It truly was Aster's highest acceptable price. He knew better than to play haggling games with these "people of wrath." Otherwise, they might start throwing punches at his face in the middle of an argument. If Swain asked for more than that, he would rather spend his money on Whispering Sheep horns.

Perhaps sensing Aster's resolve, or perhaps because the price satisfied him, the old man tipped his chin toward his subordinate by the door. The man nodded in understanding and disappeared through the doorway. Before long, he returned carrying a small bottle.

"All the blood of a Ghost Shark amounts to only one hundred milliliters... More precisely, only one hundred milliliters remains effective. The blood released after killing a Ghost Shark rapidly evaporates and condenses, eventually settling at around one hundred milliliters." Holding the bottle up for inspection, Swain watched as Aster expertly counted out 220 pounds in banknotes from the inner pocket of his formal jacket and placed them on the desk.

Taking the small bottle and staring at the liquid rolling within like ocean waves, Aster's gaze flickered as a pale blue screen appeared before his eyes.

[Name]: Blood of the Ghost Shark (100ml)

[Type]: Beyonder Material

[Level]: 25

[Effect]: ?

[Remarks]: The blood of a Ghost Shark. Anyone who needs it naturally knows how to use it.

"Finally got it..." Smiling in satisfaction, Aster left the Evil Dragon Bar with the Ghost Shark blood.

"He did not react as though he was testing or divining it," the Beyonder of the Spectator Pathway reminded him softly. Swain fell into thought.

"Is there an appraiser or Notary behind him?"

After returning to the inn he had rented, Aster placed the Ghost Shark blood in his suitcase and sat by the window, beginning to think over the information concerning Townsend Neil.

In the dungeon, Townsend Neil had directly mutated into a room of flesh and blood that constantly attacked players who entered it. The players could only keep dodging and jumping while doing their best to counterattack the surrounding flesh. After enough counterattacks, the flesh would briefly weaken, and Neil's head, in spirit form, would appear on the ceiling. Players had to seize that opening and destroy his head.

Since it was a Version 1.0 dungeon, its mechanics were not particularly difficult, but its visual style had a distinctly Lovecraftian feel—somewhat like Song of Saya.

As for Townsend Neil himself, Aster had not interacted with him much. He could only rely on fanworks from his previous life to speculate about the chain of events that had led to this dungeon's creation.

"First, one thing is certain: Neil was not corrupted by an evil god from the beginning. This should have happened only recently. Both the game's storyline and the information he showed when I met him just now confirm that..." During their brief encounter at the Evil Dragon Bar, Aster had not sensed anything unusual from Neil. Not even his Inspiration had stirred. At the very least, that proved Neil's spirit and body had not yet been corrupted by that evil god.

"His mind may have been corrupted, though..." Aster removed the Witch's Kiss from his hand. The glove, which seemed almost alive, actually appeared reluctant to be taken off. "Hmm, if I want to nip the hidden problem in him in the bud, there are two options. One is to get rid of him ahead of time... That is the more dangerous, inferior choice. The other is to report him."

The moment he thought of reporting him, Aster's face, somewhat pale from the glove drawing too much spirituality from him, immediately brightened.

No matter what, the Church of Evernight could not tolerate Townsend Neil attempting to resurrect his dead wife by worshipping an evil god. As long as the relevant information was delivered to the Church of Evernight, he would immediately be restrained by several Nighthawks.

This method could solve the problem while keeping him out of it. Aster thought it was quite good, but there were still issues with carrying it out.

Neil had managed to complete that bizarre resurrection ritual in the game's storyline, which meant he had his own way of hiding himself. Reporting him rashly would only alert him. Moreover, it might not even be a matter of hiding—he might not have attempted the ritual from that evil god at all yet. If Aster reported him and the Nighthawks found no problem with Neil, Aster himself would be the one in trouble.

And even if Neil truly had problems serious enough to be discovered, Aster still had to consider how to report him—official Beyonders would not be foolish enough to believe the provocation of an evil wild Beyonder so easily.