Friend, Tasty

Fifth Epoch, Thursday, June 28, 1349. Night.

Lower Iron Cross Street, West Borough, Tingen City, Awwa County.

Of course, the tenants living here refused to be lumped together with the slums two hundred meters away, so they had coined the name "Middle Street."

Tingen lay in the northern Loen Kingdom. Its distinctive climate kept winters warm and summers cool, which might have been one reason it was known as the "University City."

Lin Chuan stood alone in the shadows at a street corner. The sky was growing darker, but he had not concealed himself.

The evening rush had long since passed. A scattering of pedestrians and rickshaws came and went, yet not one person noticed his faintly translucent outline.

This was not because he had secretly learned Adam's "Psychological Invisibility," nor was his level or symbolism at work. Having deliberately manifested himself, Lin Chuan was visible on a physical level.

It was simply that most residents of Iron Cross Street earned barely enough to get by.

Everyone had something to do. Lin Chuan was the only one just standing there.

Everyone had something to do except Lin Chuan. He just stood there.

He quietly listened to the commotion inside the apartment building: the clatter of pots and pans, the voices of tenants talking or arguing...

There was also a girl's faint, frightened questioning and a young man's confident reassurance.

"Once Melissa notices something's wrong with the seasoning box, I wonder if Klein will still be allowed into the kitchen to touch the stewpot."

With malicious amusement, Lin Chuan imagined Melissa scolding Klein for wasting the black pepper and lard.

Sure, I was the one who suggested, "Since Melissa's coming back, I'll head out for a stroll to avoid any trouble," but couldn't that guy at least have asked me to stay?

He didn't even bother with "Why not stay for dinner before you go?" Am I really that unwelcome?

Lin Chuan grumbled inwardly, though he knew Klein probably thought that, after spending thousands of years imprisoned in the Boundless Void, he must be itching to explore this world freely.

Perhaps Klein even thought Lin Chuan had only suppressed that desire and stayed to answer his questions, and had suggested going out because he finally could not bear to wait any longer.

"Ah, I made up that backstory myself. Guess I'll have to live with it." Lin Chuan sighed softly, but the corners of his mouth rose despite himself.

"This is nice."

He narrowed his eyes and gazed at the street before him. A few children were still chasing one another near an alley corner, while some housewives were heading toward the nearby Slin Bakery, hoping to find discounted bread being cleared out.

Only after seeing all this did Lin Chuan truly feel that the Earth of this era had a sense of "reality" to it.

Only after seeing all this did Lin Chuan truly feel that Earth in this era had a sense of "reality."

Just like modern society, it was all genuinely real.

Of course, such sentiments might also have had something to do with Lin Chuan blocking his sense of smell and deliberately ignoring the garbage and excrement littering the streets of the Victorian Era...

Tingen's West Borough bordered the South Borough, where factories and chimneys crowded together, leaving the night murky and dim.

Tingen's West Borough bordered the South Borough, where factories and chimneys crowded together, leaving the night murky and dim.

Lin Chuan suddenly remembered that he had yet to tell Klein the middle-aged police officer he had met today was a Sequence 7 "Nightmare," who would infiltrate his dreams to investigate while he slept.

But on second thought, it hardly mattered. With Evernight's blessing, Klein could remain lucid even in a dream. Given his quick wits, fooling the officer should not be difficult.

"Heh."

Lin Chuan's verdict was, "It's only a dream, anyway. Running away one more time can count as practice in making an escape and getting to know the Beyonder world."

This was an essential lesson for Klein's first introduction to the diversity of Beyonder abilities, ensuring he would not underestimate his enemies in the future!

It absolutely was not because Lin Chuan wanted to see the sorry spectacle of Klein seizing an opening, fleeing like mad, and ultimately getting caught red-handed by Dunn.

Uh, now that I think about it, I don't seem to have returned Klein's gun.

If Dunn asks where that revolver from Welch went, won't that be hard to explain?

Klein really didn't know where the revolver had gone, after all, and Lin Chuan hadn't told him how he'd hidden it.

After all, Klein really did not know where the revolver had gone. Lin Chuan had not told him how he had hidden it.

"But..." Lin Chuan withdrew his gaze and began considering what to do next.

It was only a little past half past seven. The day was still far from over.

"Should I start by finding someone recently dead or half-dead to possess?" That was the first idea that popped into Lin Chuan's mind.

Considering how inconvenient his state as a Spirit Body-or at least something that outwardly resembled one-was, finding a body was something of an urgent priority.

Before Lin Chuan had separated from the Sefirah, he could project his will into other people or Beyonder creatures at will. The precise limits on Pathways and numbers were unclear.

After all, there had been no Beyonders or Beyonder creatures on Earth back then, and Lin Chuan would not use ordinary people to test the numerical limit.

At the time, he had not been sure whether this was an authority or an innate trait. Neither explanation quite fit, but now it seemed it might have been an authority of the Sefirah.

Because now, he felt he could no longer simply take over any living person he pleased. At least, he no longer had that... feeling?

That was hardly a bad thing. In fact, it left him relieved. He had never intended to use that authority.

But Tingen was such a big place, and Lin Chuan was unfamiliar with the area. Where was he supposed to find someone who'd just died?

But Tingen was such a large place, and Lin Chuan was unfamiliar with both its people-his own status as one was debatable-and its streets. Where was he supposed to find someone who had just died?

Huh?

He suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

Since I can't find a ready-made corpse, why not try a different approach?

If I can't find one, I might as well stop looking. Keep an open mind. Why not just sculpt a custom body for myself?

Lin Chuan was not picky about bodies. Anything usable would do; he simply could not find fresh material at the moment.

Once he possessed it, whatever its former name, appearance, or physical problems, it would ultimately be standardized into the "Lin Chuan" template.

The Planter Pathway's Sequence 4 "Ancient Alchemist" could use Life Alchemy to create ordinary humans capable of existing for a long time.

Although he currently had neither an "Ancient Alchemist" characteristic nor a Sealed Artifact like the Life Staff... human transmutation was not exclusive to the Planter Pathway.

Whether imagining a body out of thin air

or shaping one with an authority related to flesh and blood, either could serve as a substitute.

Those abilities simply had even higher requirements, and Lin Chuan did not feel like calling over that voyeur Adam just yet.

Then it was time to choose the most cost-effective option.

None other than the lifelong friend of Mystery Pryer Pathway Beyonders, an enthusiastic teacher, a generous soul, and the leading example of "knowledge chasing people" in the world of mysteries-

The child of the Knowledge Moor and the Mother Goddess of Depravity, the living manifestation of the "Hermit" Uniqueness, and Lin Chuan's good friend whom he had never met: the "Hidden Sage"!