The gray fog churned and writhed, reforming into a barrier as Clyde's body trembled and he prostrated himself on the ground.
"I do not wish to see a second time." Joey's indifferent voice echoed from all directions of the great hall, filled with divinity and majesty.
"Your will be done," the two replied in unison.
The mental attack originating from the crazy babbling vanished, and Clyde finally let out a sigh of relief.
In this situation, he did not dare to make any more presumptuous moves. Since he could not vent his curiosity, he could only shift his gaze toward Helena.
"Mr. Hermit, I wish to know the method to digest the potion as quickly as possible." Saying this, she paused, and carefully continued, "What do I need to pay?"
She knew that every gift from the gods came with a price tag. They were fickle, sometimes even like mischievous children, and at other times turning into cruel, bloodthirsty tyrants, merciless in their slaughter.
This method is common knowledge in Senegal. Could it be that information is blocked for outsiders? Why would the seven gods block information? Joey was quite puzzled.
Yet upon second thought, he understood the underlying reason. The population of Senegal was already sparse, and wanting to explore the paths leading out required a large number of Beyonders. Out in the outside world, however, the population was countless; without control, what would appear would not be a mass of Beyonders, but countless out-of-control Mythical Creatures.
Miss Rabbit raised a very good question. Joey was thrilled inwardly.
If she raised matters that exceeded the scope of his ability, his status might not be preserved.
He kept silent, waiting for time to pass before speaking slowly. As a deity, making his attendants wait-wasn't that a very normal thing?
"Acting, digesting, integration."
Helena savored these three words carefully, pausing for a moment before a sudden realization dawned on her.
The expression of Clyde at the side mirrored hers.
So this is the key to advancing in sequences! It seems I have heard a secret locked away by the Churches of the Seven Gods. This Hermit is likely an existence no lesser than the seven gods.
She was inherently a clever woman and quickly grasped the crux of acting.
As a sheriff, one had to fully immerse oneself into this role, acting and integrating into it.
No wonder I've felt the potion within me consume more than half over this period. It turns out to be because of the Acting Method. At this rate, I might be able to digest the potion's side effects in less than three years.
"Mr. Hermit, what do I need to pay?"
Rabbit Officer seems very nervous. Am I that terrifying? Joey thought for a moment, then spoke softly:
"You can tell me some secret events after the First Epoch, such as... the great fog?"
Secret events after the First Epoch? Could this one come from the distant Catastrophe Epoch? Outwardly, Clyde kept his composure, but inwardly he was extremely nervous.
The Seven Gods only emerged during the Second Epoch; in the Catastrophe Epoch, they were merely third-rate deities. Clyde could not even begin to imagine this entity's level of terror.
He likes hearing secret events. Perhaps I can use this to seek help and rid myself of the viral infection.
Clyde made up his mind, but he did not speak in a hurry, choosing to wait quietly instead.
For a moment, Helena did not understand what the so-called secret events referred to, but a flash of inspiration quickly crossed her mind.
Regarding the great fog, wasn't there a recent event tied to it? She immediately organized her language and slowly spoke:
"'Color Out of Space' is an indescribable entity from the depths of the starry skies. Rumor has it that it descended upon Chernobyl at the end of the First Epoch. It polluted a large swath of land, plants stopped growing, and all living creatures underwent mutations. The civilians living in Chernobyl were affected, becoming mad, mutating in body, suffering a decline in health, and ultimately dying in a mysterious manner."
"That night, the branches of all trees moved toward the starry sky. The indescribable color faced the stars and pulled upward, vanishing into the firmament. The form it displayed was that of irregular fog."
Saying this, Helena was filled with anxiety, for she did not know whether that entity favored this secret, nor was her knowledge detailed.
Hmm, this intelligence is quite interesting.
On the surface, Joey was calm, but inside, his heart was already churning violently.
Senegal was very likely the Chernobyl Helena spoke of-polluting the land, draining vitality, preventing plants from growing-everything matched up.
In other words, the current tragic state of Senegal was caused by that 'Color Out of Space'.
And even more pressingly, it now seemed that entity had descended once more. This was going to be an unprecedented disaster.
"Continue," Joey replied in a detached voice.
Helena lowered her head anxiously, answering with a slightly trembling voice: "I'm very sorry, Mr. Hermit, I don't know much. I hope you can give me a chance; once I return, I will gather intelligence regarding the 'Color Out of Space'."
Return? We can still go back? Isn't this one going to take our souls? The tension that had gripped Clyde until now finally dissipated.
This entity did not seem like the evil god of legends, but rather resembled an ancient god with a sense of kinship.
Rabbit Officer seems to be afraid of me all the time. That won't do. Joey pondered; it was time to change their perception of deities.
"You can treat this place as a..."
He paused and then continued: "Story symposium. You can speak freely; I enjoy being a listener and will not have any impact on you."
He might as well have said: I won't lay a hand on you, so hurry up and tell me all the information.
"New friend, you should introduce yourself. Of course, you can also choose your own codename, just like this one, Rabbit Lady."
Codename? Clyde felt a secret sense of delight.
Pirates like them, who carried wanted posters from official authorities, feared the exposure of their identities most of all.
Only then did he notice that Helena's chair was carved with a cute rabbit.
His gaze drifted, finally settling on a chair carved with a snake.
Helena pursed her lips and smiled lightly. "It really suits you, Viper."
Clyde bowed in salute.
"Mr. Hermit, I have a secret here that you might like."
"Continue!"
Having received permission, Clyde slowly began to speak.
He then recounted the events his fleet had encountered at sea, and at the end, asked cautiously:
"Mr. Hermit, may I beg for your purification?"
Apprehensive though he was, Clyde had to make this request, considering it concerned his own little life.
Joey was still trying to figure out how to refuse while maintaining his status. He had no choice; he was merely a Sequence 9, so where would he get purification abilities? That was a capability only Sequence 3 angels possessed.
As a deity, did he need to explain?
No?
With a pretense of profoundness, Joey remained silent.
Helena had been knitting her brows all along. After a moment of silence, she spoke:
"I think I am able to provide you with some help."
Though he hadn't obtained that entity's bestowal, Clyde was still very grateful to receive help from another angle.
Joey, hanging high upon the throne, nearly failed to maintain his status and burst into applause.
Well done, Rabbit Officer. You really are my lucky charm.
As a descendant of nobility, Helena had once been able to get in touch with some deep-seated historical materials, though back when she was young, she had forgotten many things.
However, she happened to remember the matter Clyde had mentioned.
"The island you encountered is very likely R'lyeh; it is a gathering place for Deep Ones. What you have contracted should be a virus, and the solution to this mutation is actually very simple."
At this point, Helena hesitated.
Clyde thought the other party was demanding compensation and unhesitatingly offered his price: "I can pay the reward."
Saying this, he cast his gaze toward the endless gray fog. "We can ask Mr. Hermit to act as a witness."
What am I supposed to witness? One of you is to the east and the other to the west-how are you going to exchange rewards?
Wait! Can't gods draw things through sacrificial methods? Should I try that too?
The reason Rabbit Helena was reluctant to speak wasn't because she was demanding a reward, but because the method was too cruel.
Seeing her hesitate, Clyde immediately spoke: "I can pay with a Sheriff potion formula."
Sheriff was a Sequence 8 of the Arbiter Pathway, exactly what Helena needed.
He had long deduced the other party's identity from Helena's attire, and various signs indicated that her sequence wouldn't be very high.
Facts proved that Clyde had guessed correctly.
Helena fell into a struggle, finally letting out a soft sigh. "The Deep Ones worship Mother Goddess Hydra. Since you plundered wealth, you must offer up a beautiful woman to appease Her wrath."
Hydra?
How could Clyde, who frequently traveled the seas, have never heard of this honorific name? What he found strange was that Helena actually dared to call Her name directly.
Helena seemed to perceive the other's doubt and immediately explained:
"Mr. Hermit is here, so we shouldn't have any reservations."
Saying this, she bowed deeply toward the endless gray fog.
Hydra's honorific name was the Mother Goddess from the depths of the ocean, the owner of storms and lightning, the ruler of all schools of fish.
Clyde hadn't expected that he would one day call out the true name of the sea god directly.
He readily provided the Sheriff potion formula, and finally requested respectfully toward Joey in the upper seat: "Mr. Hermit can serve as a witness; this potion formula is absolutely genuine and contains no deception."
He had freeloaded a potion formula, and Joey felt wonderful inside. As for whether it was true or false, who knew? This wave meant he didn't lose, and the other party gained nothing. If problems arose, it was due to their dosage, having nothing to do with Mr. Hermit.
"Very well, lady and gentleman, this gathering ends here."
"Very well, Mr. Hermit."
As their figures faded, the two left the roundtable hall.
Joey did not hurry to leave; instead, he dispersed the gray fog and strolled over to the twelve round tables.
"It seems I need an alternate account. There are some things and words that Mr. Hermit, as a deity, cannot utter. That is unfavorable for the consolidation of his status."
Thinking thus, the gray fog wriggled, quickly shaping into a figure. The stature wasn't tall, and the facial features were rather ordinary, differing greatly from Joey's own appearance.
"Hello."
"Hello!"
The two gazed at each other four-eyed, and Joey was very satisfied.
"Sure enough, here I can accomplish many incredible things."
"Then, what identity should be chosen for you?"
His gaze swept across the twelve chairs one by one.
"The rabbit is an Isamothian, the viper is a Las Vegatian-seemingly a pirate. This alternate account must possess a certain degree of speaking power; the status cannot be too low."
The twelve seats corresponded to twelve animals.
If the alternate account avatar wanted to act as a spokesperson, its ranking had to be near the front.
"You shall be called Azure Dragon! The Eastern Azure Dragon, the Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon."
Having settled the matter of the alternate account, Joey's consciousness returned to his body, and he began to ponder the issue of sacrifices.
Facts proved that above that gray fog, he indeed possessed certain powers resembling those of a deity, meaning that prayer and sacrifice were feasible. What he needed to consider now was how to accurately locate them so as not to graft them onto other deities.
"To a certain extent, it seems I have grasped luck and hold good fortune. As far as this world is concerned, I do not exist in the present age; the First Epoch has turned to ashes, and history has been obliterated."
"The wielder of catastrophe and fortune,
The witness in the torrent of history,
The hermit returning from the old days,
The great existence above the ashes."
Having determined the honorific name, Joey began to prepare candles, food, wine, and a rag doll-these were the only items available on the spot.
"I should prepare a gesture-the Sun God embracing the sky, or the Evernight Goddess drawing a circle with her left hand? Or taking four steps counterclockwise? Forget it, special gestures make it easy for people to exploit loopholes. I'd better just meditate on the honorific name once. Even if the honorific name is leaked, outsiders will find it difficult to complete the ritual."
Joey began chanting the honorific name, and to be honest, it felt quite embarrassing.
Once the chanting was finished, he recited it silently in his mind once more. Immediately, a boundless, endless gray fog churned before his eyes, and he felt a stir within his heart as something in the dark guided him.
His consciousness drifted into the gray fog and then responded to the prayer. Following that, an incredible thing happened: the physical body he had left behind outside actually appeared inside the roundtable hall.
With both his spiritual body and physical body present, he felt as if he were facing a mirror, except that the body opposite him had no expression whatsoever on its face.
Soon, he discovered something was amiss. The skin of the body began to crack, showing a tendency to shatter. Horns sprouted from its head, its pupils turned scarlet, and its teeth grew sharp-this was completely the state of a Mythical Creature mutation.
"Oh no!"
Fumbling about in a panic, he sent the body back to reality, and only when he saw the mythical mutation halt did he let out a long sigh of relief.
"It seems I can only exist in the form of a spiritual body."
After experimenting a few times, inanimate objects could accept sacrifices. Although it couldn't accommodate living people, he was already quite satisfied with this result.
Being able to accommodate inanimate objects meant that in the future, item exchanges could be conducted. Through this, the channels for acquiring potion ingredients would widen considerably.
Another point was that sacrifices required him to make a response above the gray fog; without feedback, the target of the sacrifice had no way to locate this place.
Meanwhile, back on Clyde's end.
His consciousness returned, and his person was back on the ship. The sounds of his companions' wailing and painful roars rang in his ears.
Struggling to his feet, he whispered a few words into the ears of several crew members who were still in relatively good condition, and then walked with staggered steps toward the inner cabin. Before long, he dragged out a woman with a graceful figure. Her clothes were half-undone, her brows curved, and her eyes brimming with affection-she was the captain's woman.
Amidst the dumbfounded stares of the crowd, Clyde unhesitatingly tossed the woman into the sea. Soon after, a robust middle-aged man chased his way out; he was the captain, and also the strongest person on this pirate ship-a Sequence 7 Navigator.
"Clyde, don't you want your piss-pot of a head anymore? What are you doing?"
Perhaps due to his high sequence, the captain was in a much better state of viral infection than everyone else.
"Captain, you're old and no longer fit to control this ship. Go to hell together with your beauty."
Since he had decided to act, he had to see it through to the end, just like a venomous snake baring its fangs-either the enemy died, or he did.
"Do it!"
At Clyde's command, everyone who still retained mobility moved out in unison. A Sequence 7 Navigator, a grand pirate who could run amok wantonly across the ocean, thus met the Grim Reaper in such an inexplicable manner.
The corpses were thrown into the sea, quickly torn apart and devoured by sharks.
A gaunt-looking crew member asked in a low voice:
"Clyde, will this really work?"
Raising his volume, Clyde spoke in a resonant voice: "I received a warning from a deity. It was that woman who offended the ocean, and only by offering her up can we appease the wrath."
Thinking back, the crew members realized that their landing on the island was indeed due to that woman bewitching the captain. Coupled with the fact that their physical mutations were gradually subsiding at this moment, most of them believed Clyde's words.
Clyde Phoenix successfully took control of this pirate ship, of course, with the aid of the fabricated identity of a deity's attendant.
Though he didn't want to admit it, on the sea, there were no innocents. As for that woman, despite appearing on the surface to have been abducted and brought aboard, in reality, she had secretly harmed who knows how many people before finally being driven to a dead end and boarding the ship.
For such a person, if not for constraints of status, she would have died countless times over already.