Inert Material

"How is Frank?" After hearing about the rest of the story, Cattleya asked her Sailor Nina.

"He's very disappointed," Nina shook her head. "You know, Captain, his research hasn't made much progress—"

Honestly, I think that's a good thing, but he seemed to be in a bad mood.

"I understand," Cattleya nodded, frowning. "I'll find a chance to talk to him."

She frowned and walked toward the Captain's Quarters. The moment Door Opening, she froze. There stood a figure dressed in a white Warlock's robe, wearing a pointed soft hat, the most striking feature of which was the Hat Ornament made of blue-green feathers on the brim.

The figure seemed to sense something; she turned her head, revealing a pale, youthful face, and said in a light tone, "You're back, Hermit Lady!"

This is Neph.

While Klein was searching for the Skull, he didn't forget to retrieve the completed Hat Ornament and give it to her. After receiving the Hat Ornament, Neph looked at the Numinous Episcopate, which was making little progress for the time being, and decided to visit Frank Lee, whom she hadn't seen in a long time.

She still had some awareness of being a guest. Although she found Cattleya through location tracking and confirmed that Frank was on the ship, she did not visit him directly. Instead, she obediently waited in the Captain's Quarters for Cattleya's return.

Therefore, when Cattleya opened the door to the Captain's Quarters, she was greeted by the "Pure White" lady, who had taken over the role of the guest. The lady was holding a Crystal Ball that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, gesturing around it. Cattleya restrained her expression, stepped into the Captain's Quarters, and closed the door, saying, "Miss ' Pure White '?"

"~" Neph responded.

Cattleya relaxed, her gaze sweeping over the Hat Ornament that hadn't appeared last time. Neph noticed, fiddled with the feather, and winked, saying, "What do you think of this souvenir from Mr. 'World'?"

"It suits your eyes very well," Cattleya replied.

Neph put down the Crystal Ball and said to Cattleya, who was still standing, "I've come to see Frank."

Cattleya paused for a moment, then carefully chose her words before speaking, "Frank —he hasn't been in a good mood lately."

"Why?" Neph asked, puzzled.

She didn't know the details of this part, only that his experiment seemed to be going poorly, which was reasonable, because if Frank had really figured something out, he would definitely not forget to send her a copy, Neph was confident of that.

She looked at Cattleya, Cattleya carefully explained, "His research isn't going well. I haven't heard the details yet, but I overheard him complaining a bit, and he seemed to mention something like 'difficult to react' with Inert Material."

"Perhaps you'd like to see it for yourself?"

Inert Material—? Does that mean my flesh and blood? Hmm, I know that well. In situations like this, a Catalyst is needed to reduce the difficulty of the reaction, like an enzyme—Enzyme Dickinson?

Neph's lips twitched slightly. She suppressed a smile and said, as if to cover it up, "Then take me to see him."

Cattleya responded and, after giving a few instructions to the others, led Neph into the Lower Hold. On the way, she explained, "After obtaining your flesh and blood, Frank was Oldest One excited for a while, but gradually, he became more and more lost and anxious. Recently, he has been neglecting his normal work. I am planning to find out more about the situation so that I can persuade him."

"He is, after all, the first mate of the ' Future,' and things can't go on like this forever."

That made sense, Neph nodded in agreement. She stopped in front of the Lower Hold, Cattleya knocked twice on the door, calling out, "Frank? Are you in there?"

Frank Lee opened the door quickly, and as soon as Neph saw him, she couldn't help but frown. Her red-rimmed eyes and listless appearance were too conspicuous.

"Have you been sleeping for days?" she couldn't help but ask. "No, not just sleeping, you probably haven't been eating properly either—"

Neph's expression Distortion slightly. She couldn't help but look at Cattleya with a questioning gaze, only to find Cattleya shaking her head with a wry smile. She remained silent for a moment before looking away.

Persuading Frank to stay was no easy task.

Frank seemed to have noticed Neph's actions as well, and chuckled as he said, "It's not the Captain's fault. I was just too focused on the experiment. If the Captain hadn't been watching me, I'd probably be in a much worse state right now."

"Experiment----sigh----"

He frowned, his expression grave. Neph couldn't help but frown as well, and asked, "What's wrong? What makes you look like this?"

Frank asked, "Have you experimented on your own flesh and blood before?"

Who would do such a thing!

Neph suppressed the twitching of her face and spoke as calmly as possible, "No."

Frank nodded, turned and made way for them to enter the Lower Hold, explaining, "Your flesh has an inertia that I can't comprehend. I've tried to make it reproduce on its own, or hybridize with other things, or—in short, I've tried many things, but the results are basically the same: either it fails, or it succeeds very difficultly and by sheer coincidence, with no way to replicate it."

"I'm sure they're alive, that the life force still flows within them, but for some reason, they also seem to be dead."

"It seems I'm unable to achieve anything with this—"

To be honest, Neph actually thought it was a good thing. Although she had given her flesh and blood to Frank, she still had some reservations about her flesh and blood becoming an experimental subject. She was really afraid that Frank would produce some results.

Fortunately, Frank remained silent for a long time, which relieved Neph's psychological pressure considerably. Since she happened to be talking about this with Klein, she decided to come and see how far Frank had come.

The result was predictably unsuccessful, but in front of Frank, Neph couldn't openly express her joy. She looked around and carefully said, "Before handing over the flesh and blood to you, I didn't expect this phenomenon, but it sounds quite normal, like the Mushroom before—I remember regarding the characteristics of reproduction, you should have been separated from the Sanguine and yourself?"

Since New Life Authority can bring about such changes, then considering my Authority, your research results seem quite normal.

"I'm not a professional—well, I can't give you any great advice—but I have an idea that you might want to consider."

"I know a little about chemistry, and I've heard of something called Catalyst."

Something that can reduce the reaction requirements might have some effect on such Inert Material? In addition, adjusting the environment might also affect the properties of the material, perhaps even causing changes in the Inert Material.

"Of course, there is another possibility: my flesh and blood have been baptized by the aura of Authority, and certain characteristics have remained on it. For you at your current level, this is almost unsolvable; you need a higher Sequence to resolve this."

Frank's eyes lit up, and he agreed with Neph: "That's right!"

"Thank you, my friend. The ideas you mentioned are all very important. I will look for materials or special environmental conditions that may generate stimulation. In addition, I will strive for promotion!"

"Once I reach a high enough level, none of this will be a problem!"

Neph's expression froze slightly. She turned to look at Cattleya, who seemed used to this kind of scene. Cattleya calmly said, "In the meantime, perhaps you can try some other research directions. I remember you had many ideas that you hadn't had time to implement yet. You can certainly continue working on them, can't you?"

Frank gradually cheered up, Neph managed to extricate herself from the situation amidst his enthusiastic thanks, preparing to return to West Balam.

Considering that Mr. Azik and Klein were both in the Southern Continent, and that she might have to Visit the Church of Evernight again, Neph did not cancel her reservation at West Balam. After all, she was only there to see Frank and would not stay on the "Future" any longer.

But when Neph tried to rummage through the vast ocean for memories of the hotel owner, waiters, or other guests, her expression suddenly changed.

She couldn't find these people anymore!

It is not only the living who possess memories, but it is clear that only the living possess minds. Neph's expression changed in a few seconds before she quickly made a decision. With a swift movement, she appeared in the Underground of the Silent Church, which she had visited before.

Ilya opened her "Eye of the Goddess," eyes that held the stars within them. In a wisp of white mist, a girl she had only met once appeared before her. She frowned as she looked at the girl and noticed an obvious look of panic and worry on her face.

"What happened?" Ilya asked.

"I don't know," Neph answered truthfully, "In fact, I haven't dared to go and see yet."

Ilya listened attentively, Neph hesitated before speaking, "Because I found it too troublesome to travel back and forth all the time, after a few times, I booked a hotel nearby. If Backlund— "

If nothing unexpected happens over there, I won't run back.

"Nothing was wrong at first, but just now, well, because of some personal matters—I went to see a friend and left for a while. When I was about to come back, I found out—"

She swallowed hard before continuing, "It seems like everyone in the hotel I stayed at died during the short time I was gone—"

This was indeed a significant matter. Ilya's expression changed, and she stood up, immediately asking, "Hotel name, location, and room number."

"I'll have the Red Gloves ' and the Nighthawks ' go check—um, are you in the area under the Church of Evernight's jurisdiction?"

"Of course!" Neph nodded quickly and gave her location.

Ilya quickly delivered the message, then returned to Neph's side and asked, "Do you want to stay here, or wait for me to inform you?"

"Stay here!" Neph answered without hesitation.

There's no doubt about it; she approached the Church of Evernight with this very intention—she suspected their target wasn't the other people in the hotel, but her!

Don't forget, this is the Southern Continent! The Mother Goddess of Depravity's old stronghold!

She's been here so long; it's about time her "mother" came to visit.

She seriously considered the possibility of sleeping in Pure White Space in the future, something only she, at Sequence 3, could do. Of course, before Sequence 6, she could have done this as well—as long as she wasn't afraid of the cold.

But now she is no longer afraid of the cold of the Pure White Space. Being able to send her body back into the Pure White Space provides her with the possibility of sleeping in it. Moreover, the Pure White Space is different from the outside world. The arrangement there is up to her liking, and she can even restore her former room.

To be honest, after advancing to Sequence 3, she continued to stay in Hotel simply because she wasn't used to it.

Furthermore, the nature of the Pure White Space is similar to a divine realm. If I were to live in Pure White Space for a long time, isolated from the world, it doesn't sound like a good thing—after all, I'm not God yet—in my memory, Saint Anthony of the Church of Evernight took the bus—no, he took the subway to work—

Ilya's star-like eyes fell on Neph, and her slow voice startled Neph from her reverie. "You—well, in that case, I'll have Leonard come over."

"Why Leonard?" Neph couldn't help but ask.

"You seem to know him best," Ilya said casually.

"No," Neph refused, "I'll sit right here."

She stared into Ilya's eyes.

Ilya stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly realized, "Even if my title is ' Eye of the Goddess,' it doesn't mean I really am the eyes of Goddess."

"If you have any concerns, I would recommend that you visit the Church of Serenity, which is absolutely safe."

"Alternatively, you could consider going to Backlund. As the capital of Loen, the Church of Evernight has a strong enough presence there to ensure your safety."

I know, according to what you've said, I actually have another option: Isar. The Church of Knowledge might not protect me, but it certainly won't let anything happen to me in a place that's both the capital and the Holy Cathedral —this is beyond the realm of diplomatic incidents; after all, if something can happen there, so can the Pope. But then again, if we're talking about safety, where can compare to the "Forsaken Land of the Gods"? If I go there now, I might end up kneeling alongside Ouroboros.

She said expressionlessly, "While that's one reason I'm staying here, it's not the whole reason—staying here means I don't have to make another trip to find a place to stay, and it also ensures my safety to some extent, so why not?"

"I understand." Ilya nodded thoughtfully.

Neph stared at her star-like eyes for a few seconds, then began to speak with a hint of curiosity, "By the way, have you heard of the Pale Empress? About that level 0 Sealed Artifact she possesses, the Death God's Eye."

Ilya glanced at her, but instead of answering the question directly, she offered an unexpected piece of information. "As far as I know, the Pale Empress..."

"He did not suffer the loss of the news, but we received the news from him. Not long ago, a man named Sigia Klenpa Yashi had already appeared."