Sequence 9: Reader

After leaving the apartment where the gathering had been held, Abner, carrying 350 Gold Pounds, two Beyonder materials, and a handbag full of study materials, did not hurry home. After removing his disguise, he took a detour through Bridge Borough and returned to Bravehearts Bar.

After finding Kaspars in the lounge, the other man greeted him with a smile, then said as his very first sentence, "Storm above, I'm so glad you're still alive. Looks like you didn't provoke them."

Ignoring his teasing, Abner cut straight to the point. "Mr. Kaspars, I still have a few matters I'd like to ask for your help with!"

Kaspars' smile faded at those words. Frowning, he asked, "What is it? But let's be clear first: I think I've more or less repaid the favor I owed your father. If you ask me to handle more matters, there won't be any discounts."

With several hundred Gold Pounds on him, Abner felt considerably more confident. He merely nodded and said, "Money isn't a problem... Well, there are three things for now. First, I need a revolver."

Remembering how powerless he had felt in the face of that powerful Beyonder, even though the other party had borne him no ill will, Abner desperately wanted some means to protect himself! Even if he had to rely on external tools.

"Sure. Three pounds! I'll also give you fifty rounds and a holster." Kaspars immediately named a price. Though he had said there would be no discount, it was still somewhat cheaper than what he would charge others.

"Second, I hope you can introduce me to a shooting club..." Having a weapon was useless if he did not know how to use it. What, was he supposed to rely on blind luck when shooting?

Kaspars nodded and casually tore a sheet from the notebook on the table. After scribbling down several lines, he handed it to Abner. "Go to this address after nine tomorrow morning and find someone named Dave. He'll take you there. And let me remind you, the annual fees for such clubs won't be cheap."

Abner took the note and looked it over. The address was on Riverside Street in Saint George Borough. Thinking back, he realized that place seemed quite remote, almost out in the suburbs. Did that mean he would have to take the subway every time he practiced shooting?

Pushing the jumble of thoughts from his mind, Abner maintained a solemn expression and continued, "Third, I want to rent a laboratory with basic facilities and equipment. Preferably one that's available right now!"

Kaspars shot Abner a surprised glance. He clearly knew something about Beyonders and immediately guessed what Abner intended to do. He could not help but advise him vaguely, "Are you really in such a hurry? Won't you prepare a little more?"

Abner nodded firmly and said only one thing: "The longer the night, the more dreams there are!" He had not originally been in such a hurry. He had planned to borrow the public school's laboratory tomorrow to complete the Potion, but tonight's experience had deeply affected him. He believed he needed to gain the power to protect himself as soon as possible. Besides, in less than three days since his Transmigration, he had directly or indirectly come into contact with several supernatural incidents. Nothing appeared to be wrong so far, but it was hard to say whether he would encounter genuine danger later.

Thanks to Emperor Roselle's outstanding contributions, Kaspars clearly understood the idiom. He sighed, gestured for Abner to follow, and carefully tried to persuade him once again. "A friend once told me that Beyonders may seem glamorous, but in truth, they're merely a group of pitiful wretches walking along the edge of danger..."

"Thank you, Mr. Kaspars. I understand the risks of being a Beyonder, but I have no choice but to take this path." Following the man's limping steps, Abner could not help sighing inwardly. The original owner's father really had made a good friend!

Kaspars said no more. He silently led him out of the bar to a courtyard on the adjacent street, then took out a Key, unlocked the gate, and entered.

Abner looked around and discovered that the place stood at a street corner, with buildings blocking it on three sides. Its location was quite concealed.

"This was a friend's temporary residence before. When he moved away, he didn't dismantle the laboratory, so you can use it. The things all belong to him anyway, so I won't charge you. Hmm, you can stay here overnight for now." After opening the living room door, Kaspars turned around and spoke.

"Thank you sincerely, Mr. Kaspars!" Abner said with heartfelt gratitude. Without the other man's help, how could he have had such convenient conditions now?

Kaspars waved a hand. "It's only a transaction. Be careful yourself! I'll come tomorrow morning to take you away, and I'll bring the revolver you wanted... if you still exist by then..." Then, without waiting for Abner's reply, he left the courtyard.

Drinking a Sequence 9 Potion wouldn't be so easy to suffer Loss of Control from, right? Kaspars' words made Abner's scalp tingle, but there was no turning back once the arrow had left the bow. Having reached this point, he would not retreat.

After taking a deep breath, he turned on the gas lamps inside the house. Clusters of flames sprang up and quickly grew larger. Bright light first filled several wall lamps, then passed through the transparent glass and bathed the room in brilliant color.

By the light of the lamps, Abner soon found the laboratory left by the house's former owner. Without resting much, he began the ritual and created a Wall of Spirituality in the laboratory to prevent the Potion-brewing process from being disturbed.

"Other than pure water, I have all the supplementary materials on me. The main ingredients are currently in the tin box and don't need any processing either... All I need to do is distill pure water, grind the Ball Grass into powder, extract the juice from the Calamus, then add all the ingredients in order and stir them?"

Although, according to Lord of Mysteries, Sequence 9 Potions were all this simple to prepare—as long as one added the materials according to the proportions—Abner was still nervous. It took him nearly half an hour to truly finish brewing the medicine.

Looking at the blue viscous substance, which was difficult to call either a cupful or a lump, Abner swallowed with difficulty. Then he gritted his teeth, picked up the glass flask, tipped back his head, and drank the Potion.

Gulp! Gulp!

The icy Potion flowed down his throat, with countless bubbles constantly bursting along the way. A vast Information Flow suddenly surged into his mind, transforming into one firework after another as they bloomed.

If a weak-willed person encountered such a situation, they would probably suffer Loss of Control on the spot and become a Monster!

Fortunately, not only was Abner quite strong-willed, he had often experienced the sensation of Information Flow crashing into his mind while using the Pure White Eye. He had long developed resistance to it, so he passed what was the most difficult step for others with relative ease.

Even so, he still felt as though his head were expanding, as if it might burst apart. Everything he saw had countless overlapping images, while endless buzzing and roars rang in his ears.

Abner knew this was caused by the Potion's power overflowing because he could not yet fully control it. Recalling the method Old Neil had taught Klein in the novel, he entered a meditative state and finally escaped those abnormalities in his vision and hearing.

After quite a while, Abner awakened from meditation. He clenched his fists and muttered excitedly:

"Finally, I've become a Beyonder!"

Then he lowered his head and examined his body, finding no abnormalities. Yet his clearer mind told him that his concentration, memory, and even comprehension had all been significantly strengthened. Though they could not compare to the Pure White Eye state, they were at least two or three times stronger than before he drank the Potion.

After calming his excitement, Abner took out the blue gemstone stored in an iron cigarette case. He intended to verify whether the Pure White Eye had improved after becoming a Reader.

He rapidly blinked each eye four times in alternation—this was the Suggestion gesture Abner had set to actively activate the Pure White Eye—and his pupils instantly turned pure white.

Ten seconds later, after another rapid series of blinks, his pupils returned to their usual pale blue. This time, however, he only felt somewhat mentally fatigued and had no urge to faint.

"After becoming a Beyonder, the Pure White Eye's usage limit has probably increased to around fifteen seconds. If I use Suggestion to shut it down within ten seconds, it no longer puts too great a burden on my mind. But I still can't activate it consecutively. By my estimate, there needs to be an interval of at least two hours. Once I reach the fifteen-second limit, or activate it repeatedly within a short period, I'll most likely still fall into a six-hour coma! Hmm, this limit isn't fixed either. It should be related to the Spirit Body and my own Spirituality. As the Potion is digested and my Spirituality increases, the Pure White Eye's duration will gradually rise."

"But more importantly, after becoming a Reader, I can finally gain preliminary control over my cheat. This control doesn't merely mean turning it on and off, but also what it does while the Pure White Eye is active! Every time I activated it before, it was actually constantly operating in Multithreading. It not only recalled and understood the books I'd read, but also performed Analysis on Beyonder Characteristics and analyzed and planned all kinds of intelligence... Its computational power was too scattered, and it was wasteful. I had no way to change that before, but now I can at least limit those operations to a certain range! For example..."

At this thought, Abner opened the bag beside him and took out the Ancient Feysac materials given to him by old Mr. Eye of Wisdom. Then, rapidly blinking his eyes in alternation, he entered the Pure White Eye state once more!

Only a few seconds later, Abner shut his eyes and collapsed onto the prepared cushion. His final thought before losing consciousness was:

"My reasoning was right. Activating it consecutively really does cause a forced coma..."

At the same time, in a workers' bar near Dock Borough, Xio sat facing a man in his thirties in a corner. Amid the bar's clamor, Xio seemed to have asked something that stirred the man considerably. He actually slapped the table and said bitterly:

"You're asking why the boss kicked me out and hired that pretty boy Sick instead? Bullshit, I want to know too! Can you imagine it? That guy met the boss once, spoke to him for less than ten minutes, and gained the boss's complete trust! Even more trust than us old hands! You have to understand, Boss Rosen is a suspicious man. He never trusted strangers at all before! If the boss weren't normal in every other way, I'd suspect that pretty boy had replaced him!"

(End of chapter)