Joey felt as though he were watching a stage play, with an uncanny sense of being right there in the scene.
Should I stop him, or should I stop him? Why does it feel like the captain isn't acting?
Those vivid, deeply emotional expressions made it hard not to question whether this was really a theatrical performance.
Still, Joey hadn't forgotten that they were in danger. He deliberately made some noise, trying to draw Captain Wade's attention.
He tried several times, but the captain remained unmoved, seemingly absorbed in his performance.
Joey couldn't understand it. Judging by the resourcefulness Vade Wisker had shown before, he shouldn't have been this helpless.
The calm composure he had displayed when they first entered the castle was difficult to reconcile with the Wade before him now.
Where did things go wrong? Joey wondered in frustration.
Besides, according to their original plan, Wade was supposed to be in the inner residence, where he could reach the basement most easily. He shouldn't have been here at all.
"Captain!" With no time to think further, Joey decided to take a risk. Doing this might well attract 0-013's attention, but he had no choice. The sky was already darkening, and moving around would become even harder after nightfall.
Vade Wisker didn't react at all. Instead, the woman screamed and fled in panic, leaving only the sight of her graceful figure retreating.
"What's going on?" Joey approached curiously, looking at Wade's indifferent expression.
Vade Wisker watched the retreating figure with a complicated look, then sighed helplessly. Reluctance filled his face, along with a trace of sorrow that was difficult to catch.
"Captain, you haven't been mentally assimilated?"
Rather than answer his question directly, Wade spoke gravely.
"All right, Joey. We need to finish the rest of our mission."
Captain, people who leave things half-said get cursed by lightning.
Although Joey desperately wanted to know about that woman, he suppressed his curiosity and followed Wade at a slow walk.
The entire castle seemed to have fallen into a chilling silence, as though the woman's scream had hit a pause button.
The butler, servants, and gardeners had all vanished. In that vast castle, only the footsteps of the two men remained.
Tap, tap, tap! Every footfall seemed endlessly amplified, keeping time with their heartbeats.
As they passed a window, Joey suddenly noticed in its reflection that Wade's expression was gradually stiffening. The change looked very much like what he had seen in those maids earlier.
He gave Wade a sharp shove, and the dazed captain finally regained his expression.
Wade shook his head and looked at Joey with a somewhat grave expression.
"0-013's power is growing stronger. Someone must be undoing its seal."
Joey feigned nonchalance as he asked,
"Why haven't I felt anything?"
Wade pondered briefly. "Maybe a Fortune Teller's spiritual awareness is stronger than that of other Sequences. Or maybe your Sequence is too low."
"Captain, that hurts." Joey made his disagreement clear.
"All right. You're already far more capable than most Sequence 8 Transcendents."
Perhaps because they were getting closer to the castle, Wade's movements began to lose coordination. He looked increasingly like a stiff mechanical puppet.
"Captain, why do you think the disciples have their eyes on this Sealed Artifact?"
For the next stretch of their journey, Joey asked questions from time to time, trying to lessen 0-013's influence. Although it had no effect on him, he was doing all this to keep up appearances before Vade Wisker.
If Vade discovered that a Sealed Artifact he couldn't resist as a Sequence 7 left a Sequence 9 completely unharmed, anyone would become suspicious of Joey's identity.
Though the constant questions irritated Wade, he still answered patiently. They also helped him remain alert.
Some of Joey's questions were practically nonsense, but he slipped in a few things he genuinely wanted to learn.
For example:
"Captain, as an earl with status and standing, he should be able to request help from the empire's Transcendents. Why would he call in a little Sheriff's Office?"
Vade Wisker's expression turned solemn. Joey could clearly see that he was hesitating, struggling with himself.
"There's a lot going on beneath the surface in the imperial family right now. The second prince, Charles, has rebelled, and all the factions are watching one another because no one knows who will ultimately win. Both sides are trying to win people over. To protect themselves, many have chosen to avoid contact with either side."
"Earl Aaron is my friend."
The flame of a kerosene lamp flickered. Its faint light barely revealed what appeared to be a study, lined with numerous books.
A notebook lay on the desk. It suddenly opened, and a line of writing gradually appeared on the blank paper.
'Earl Aaron, caught having an affair by the groom, sent assassins to silence him. Additional condition: Vade Wisker must not be harmed.'
Meanwhile, Joey and Vade had slipped into the castle.
The closer they got, the more insistently Joey's Fortune Teller intuition warned him of danger. He could only steady his emotions through his breathing.
"I am Joey. I am a probationary officer at the Sheriff's Office in Senegal's West District 9."
"I am Joey. I live at..."
"My landlady is Naomi Jeff. She is a mature woman who has lost her husband."
"Joey, you don't need to say it aloud. Just meditate."
"Captain, don't you think this is a better way to distract ourselves?"
"I don't."
Vade Wisker walked forward cautiously, carrying a gas lamp.
"Captain, you're so boring. Beautiful ladies won't like that."
Everything had gone far too smoothly along the way, making Joey suspect that a greater storm might be brewing in the shadows.
He had witnessed the disciples' cruelty. Earl Aaron was truly unlucky to have become their target.
Wade suddenly stopped, and Joey nearly crashed headfirst into him.
"Joey, wait here. If I don't come back in time, run." He turned and gave the warning gravely.
The faint glow of the gas lamp illuminated his deep-set eyes. Their message was clear: this order had to be obeyed.
George nodded gently, took a coin from his pocket, and tossed it into the air. He let it fall, then covered it with his palm. "Today's luck. Guess whether it's heads or tails."
Wade stopped Joey from uncovering the coin. Without a word, he shook his head gently, then turned and stepped through the entrance leading to the basement.
Only after Vade Wisker's figure had disappeared into the darkness did Joey open his hand. Tails.
It signified danger. He closed his eyes and tried several more times, but it still came up tails.
Should I leave?
He now had two choices: flee or wait.
He tossed the silver coin again, this time for himself.
"I will be lucky today."
Tails.
Again!
Tails.
He rarely tossed a second time. Today was an exception. Both of them had received an omen of misfortune.
Rustle, rustle!
A jumble of footsteps sounded nearby. Joey's heart tightened, and he gave a bitter smile. "I really am unlucky!"
The moment he finished speaking, a coldly gleaming blade grew larger in his field of vision. Its target was his head.
The blade moved so fast that it was upon him in an instant. Joey's intuition had warned him of the danger before the attack even began, but he was still a few seconds too late.
The blade skimmed his scalp, taking a large clump of hair with it. Joey, who had possessed a full head of black hair, was forced to endure a bald crown far too early in life.
Only when the second slash came did he belatedly react, twisting aside and rolling backward.
"Goddamned curly-haired baboons!"
Even my intuition and spiritual awareness couldn't help me dodge. Was this because of 0-013's mental assimilation?
His body had seemed to stiffen for an instant. That was why his hair had been sliced off.
Only now did he have a chance to examine his attacker.
A black cloak concealed the enemy's entire body. The outfit made his identity obvious: a disciple of the Necromancer Sect.
Joey sensed no supernatural aura, so the attacker was probably an ordinary member. Several faint traces of killing intent lurked in the darkness. There were likely six or seven of them.
Outer disciples like these normally wouldn't merit a second glance. Martial skills were of little use against Transcendents, whose special intuition and enhanced bodies had long since put them far beyond ordinary people.
But now, with 0-013 interfering, the situation was dangerous.
His true enemy was no longer the Deathless Disciples, but 0-013, which could interfere with his mind and will at any moment.
When opponents were evenly matched, life and death were often decided in an instant. His consciousness was already divided between two tasks, and now he had to split his attention further. That was difficult for Joey.
I can only run!
There was no time to mourn his lost hair. He turned and fled, heading away from the basement rather than toward it.
It wasn't that he didn't want to regroup with Wade. He had discovered that whenever he moved toward the basement, his intuition screamed a warning. That meant it was even more dangerous down there than outside.
With the mental assimilation interfering, Joey soon accumulated numerous small wounds. Any one of them, an inch off its mark, could have threatened his life. Without his exceptionally strong intuition, he might already have died.
The chase continued through the pitch-black castle, overturning countless pieces of furniture, tables, and chairs.
"Ugh!"
A sharp rush of air came from behind. His brain clearly ordered him to dodge, but his body was a fraction too slow. A horrific wound opened across his lower back, and blood instantly soaked his clothes.
Six of them!
After repeatedly maneuvering around them, he finally determined the exact number of enemies.
He drew his revolver without hesitation. He hadn't dared draw it earlier because he hadn't known how many enemies there were. He had to save the gun for the most critical moment.
Six people. As long as his aim was accurate enough, he could resolve the immediate crisis.
Just then, however, a loud, authoritative voice suddenly rang in his ears.
"Here, the use of firearms alone is forbidden."
As those words fell, Joey discovered in astonishment that his gun had jammed. It was loaded, yet he couldn't fire it.
Back in the study, the notebook turned to a new page, and fresh words gradually emerged.
'The groom seems to have a peculiar scent. How intoxicating.'
'Perhaps he shouldn't be allowed to die.'
As those words appeared, the notebook flipped back to its first page. The original writing faded, replaced by an entirely new passage.
'The groom has long harbored a secret love for the earl. After catching the earl meeting his lover, he grew resentful and joined forces with outsiders, planning to work together from within and without to steal the Book of Ebola.'
Once that passage was complete,
Joey simultaneously discovered that the unsettling killing intent had vanished in an instant.
The enemies who had been hunting him emerged from the darkness one after another. One even took a small bottle of medicine from his clothes and tossed it to Joey.
His eyes filled with astonishment. Joey recognized it: a healing medicine unique to the Church of the Sun.
What's this supposed to mean? Beat me up, then give me medicine? Are we fighting or not?
He tentatively took two steps backward. The people opposite him showed no sign of attacking.
Phew... He quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he didn't know what had happened, at least the outcome was good. Had things continued as before, he would have been in grave danger.
So what role have I been assigned now?
Such a sudden change could only be attributed to 0-013's ability to direct the drama.
"What's the situation now?"
Since they weren't attacking, that meant their roles had changed. The two sides were no longer enemies.
The black-robed disciple who had fought Joey earlier spoke in a cold voice.
"Things are going smoothly. We've already located the Book of Ebola, but only Earl Aaron knows how to enter that place."
The Book of Ebola? That should be Sealed Artifact 0-013! So I've become one of them?
It was a strange feeling. One second they had been fighting to the death, and the next they were on the same side.
"Who's in charge of this operation?"
He wouldn't have dared ask that of people in their right minds, but under the present circumstances, it was the perfect opportunity to extract information.
Under 0-013's influence, they wouldn't question his identity.
"Priest Wayne is in charge of this operation."
Hearing that name so suddenly, Joey froze for several seconds before reacting. He could scarcely believe it.
"Wayne, the Evernight Messenger?" he asked again, uncertain.
The black-robed man opposite him gave Joey a surprised glance, then said,
"Priest Wayne is a Sequence 6 Living Dead, not an Evernight Messenger."
How long had it been? Wayne had already gone from Sequence 8 to Sequence 6? Joey even wondered whether this was someone else with the same name.
Sequence 6 already counted as mid-Sequence. His revenge seemed impossibly distant.
A profound sense of defeat overwhelmed Joey, making it hard for him to accept.
Do all evil god Pathways allow such rapid advancement?
For one brief moment, he even wanted to worship an evil god.
Rather than gamble on the uncertain Fortune Teller Pathway, perhaps the Necromancer Sect's pathway of the Defiler would be a better choice.
The instant that thought arose, Azure Dragon's body in the Round Table Hall began to collapse, cracks spreading across his spirit form.
A sliver of the maddening whispers that had been kept outside seeped in. Immediately afterward, the entire hall began to shake, and the gray mist churned and surged.
If this wasn't resolved quickly, the entire Round Table Hall would collapse.
Without any time to think, Joey transferred his entire consciousness into the hall.
The instant his consciousness shifted, the face of his body outside became vacant and wooden.
In the study, the notebook's pages flipped rapidly, and a line of writing suddenly appeared.
'Where did he go?'