Although there were only two people in the room, Joey had the unsettling illusion that countless eyes were watching him. His nerves were stretched to the breaking point.
The crystal balls on the shelves looked like eyeballs.
What should I do?
Play dumb, or lay my cards on the table?
Before he could think it through, the elderly man opposite him looked him up and down with eyes that seemed to see straight into his heart.
As expected, before someone who had lived for centuries, hesitation was the greatest giveaway.
He was fully clothed, yet he felt stark naked.
"Your eyes have already given me the answer."
Just as Joey's thoughts tangled together and he struggled to find a response, the old man's kindly voice sounded again.
"Don't be nervous. We aren't enemies. On the contrary, we share the same goal."
"The same goal?" Joey looked utterly bewildered.
As one of the kingdom's highest authorities, the man's concerns would normally revolve around important imperial secrets. What could those possibly have to do with an ordinary citizen like him?
Their only connection was probably Captain Vade Wisker.
At that thought, Joey blurted out:
"Vade Wisker."
That was the only link he could think of between himself and this member of the Elder Council.
"You may call me Golas."
The elderly man before him looked kindly, but an uncontrollable, trembling nervousness still filled Joey's entire body.
Golas was one of the two Demigods the Elder Council had publicly acknowledged. His epithet was the Beast from the Storm, because he was the only remaining High Sequence Beyonder of the giant pathway.
After the Sun God fell, his Beyonder Characteristics split into three Sefirah.
Light, Sun, and Giant. Through those three Sefirah, Senegal had developed its present Sequences.
After a thousand years of extrapolation, they had established a complete advancement system. Naturally, their ability to extrapolate had its limits.
To this day, they had not deduced Sequence 3, the rank of Saint. Demigod was the highest level they could reach; their circumstances had restricted their development.
Light, Sun, and Giant were merely Senegal's names for these three pathways.
Outside the Forsaken Land of the Gods, others had long since worked out the complete Sequences.
That was also why Joey had heard familiar Sequence abilities mentioned during the Heavenly Court gatherings.
For instance, the fairy Sequence Helena mentioned most often had abilities very similar to certain ones in the pathway of light: controlling elemental energy.
He found it difficult to reconcile the notoriously hot-tempered priest of light with the wrinkled little old man before him.
Senegal's method of Sequence advancement was flawed. Many Potion formulas used substitutes, and when combined with mutated food, they not only caused blood disease but also produced a group of mentally unstable Transcendents.
The giant and Sun pathways were the ones with the most errors.
At present, the Sun pathway only extended through the lowest three Sequences. Beyond that, even if advancement was possible, no one dared attempt it.
That was why the soldiers most commonly seen in the kingdom were Sequence 9 Berserkers.
"Greetings, Your Grace."
Golas was a Demigod, as well as the current Bishop of the Church of the Sun.
"May the light warm you every day." Golas spread both hands and tilted his head upward at a forty-five-degree angle, making a gesture of embracing the sun. It was a prayer gesture unique to the Church of the Sun.
Joey copied the gesture.
Golas pointed at the sofa opposite him, indicating that Joey could sit there.
To the right of the sofa sat a silver-white case covered in exquisite patterns.
After Joey sat down, Golas took a crystal ball from the shelf and gently stroked it as though it were a precious treasure. After a few seconds of contemplation, he turned to Joey and said:
"I need your spirituality. It will allow me to pinpoint Vade Wisker's location."
"Spirituality?" Joey's mouth opened slightly in surprise.
This was the same as Wade's earlier plan to find Wayne through him.
"Yes! Spirituality. As a Fortune Teller, you possess an intuition beyond all others, like a guiding beacon in the darkness."
Joey did not understand. Wade, Maimaiti, and now Golas all seemed deeply interested in the Fortune Teller Sequence. And all of them had shown him goodwill.
Unexplained goodwill was often more unnerving than open malice.
"Do you know that you're the only Fortune Teller I've ever seen advance successfully?"
"You seem very interested in this Sequence."
Golas spoke with excitement.
"Eight hundred years. Eight hundred whole years. We once believed that divine revelation could never come true. Your appearance has given me hope."
Joey looked at Golas in astonishment, thinking, Are you sure it was a divine revelation, and not an Evil God's ravings?
"There's no need to doubt it." Golas smiled with absolute confidence. "It was a revelation from Mother Earth. She is not dead. One day, she will lead us out of the darkness."
Strictly speaking, Senegal's true object of worship was the Goddess of Harvest. The Sun God had merely been its ruler.
This was quite a staggering secret. Could the last surviving land have endured because it was protected by the power of Demeter, the Goddess of Harvest?
Joey suddenly felt the air around him grow colder. A sense that his fate was being manipulated arose within him.
The Fortune Teller pathway seemed to be something extraordinary.
He immediately grew wary, his hand involuntarily reaching for the revolver at the small of his back.
"Don't be nervous. As I said, I'm not your enemy."
"On the contrary, I can help you advance to the next Sequence more quickly."
As he spoke, he pointed to the silver case on Joey's left, indicating that he should open it.
For a moment, Joey felt ridiculous. Was he really planning to draw a gun and shoot a Demigod?
He gently opened the case, and a foul stench of decay immediately hit him in the face.
"Very good." Golas's voice held a deep, compelling allure.
"I'll mix these ingredients into a Potion. Once you drink it, you'll be able to advance to Sequence 8. Of course, before that, we must confirm whether you've fully digested your Sequence 9 Potion."
"Deep-Sea Fish, Antenna Worm, turtle sand." Joey's eyes filled with astonishment, doubts stirring in his mind. The other man had already prepared all the main Potion ingredients Joey had struggled so hard to gather.
Most importantly, Senegal had no sea. That meant these Potion ingredients had existed for a very long time-at least eight hundred years.
Back then, there had still been an ocean, unlike now, when they were confined to one tiny corner.
"What exactly are you trying to do?" he asked warily.
Golas ignored Joey's changing expression and simply watched him with a smile.
His clouded eyes held the weathered weight of history.
"Whatever I intend to do, you have no way to resist, do you?"
Holding the crystal ball, Golas walked toward Joey one step at a time.
Despite his stooped, hunched body, he exuded an overwhelming sense of pressure.
Joey remained seated while Golas stood over him. They held that position for a long time, staring at each other.
Under that invisible pressure, Joey finally chose to compromise. He had no choice; he was weaker than the other man.
He shrugged helplessly.
"I suppose you've been waiting a long time for this moment."
"You're right." Golas chuckled, then placed the crystal ball in Joey's hands. He bent down and picked up the case himself.
He walked toward a small door without looking back, his weathered voice drifting behind him.
"Red means you've fully digested the Potion."
Joey suddenly felt a burning sensation from the crystal ball in his hands. The transparent sphere slowly began to turn red.
At the same time, it felt as though something was being drawn out of his body, flowing through his palms and into the crystal ball.
A jumble of sounds rose in his ears. He could neither make them out nor understand them. They resembled the low growls of beasts, yet also sounded like someone speaking.
In that instant, his five senses sharpened to their utmost. He could even clearly discern the frequency of the wingbeats of a tiny insect flying past him.
"You really do bring me surprises." Just before stepping through the small door, Golas glanced back at Joey. Seeing the crystal ball turn red, he smiled in satisfaction.
Joey had no idea how much time passed before he emerged from that state. The crystal ball had become transparent again.
"I passed the test."
He had heard of the crystal balls the Church used to assess Transcendents' mental states.
He simply had not expected them to come from Golas.
"Next comes the Potion for advancing to Sequence 8. I wonder if I can survive it."
Looking at the closed door, a flicker of melancholy passed through Joey's eyes. Perhaps I can recite Monkey's Honorific Name again when the time comes?
He did not have to wait long. Soon, Golas emerged with a bottle of Potion as black as ink.
"Do you need some time to prepare yourself?"
Joey shook his head.
"No."
Things had already reached this point. There was no turning back, and Golas would not let him leave.
He took a deep breath, accepted the bottle from Golas, tilted his head back, and drained it.
Golas said nothing. He simply watched Joey with a smile.
The instant Joey swallowed the Potion, he felt an intense irritation inside his body. Its chemical components irritated his digestive tract, and the power within the Potion began to stir.
The sensation made him shudder uncontrollably, as though insects were biting into his skin.
Then the Potion's power grew active within him, slowly moving down from his throat.
The energy flowed through his body, bringing the contradictory sensations of scorching heat and bitter cold at once. Its eruption triggered all manner of abnormal reactions.
The muscles and veins in his arms bulged. His vision sharpened until he could see everything around him from every angle, without a single blind spot.
Not everyone could withstand an eruption of power. Joey gradually came to understand what that meant.
Dizziness and vertigo drove him to pound desperately at his own head.
Everyone reacted differently to taking a Potion.
It could affect a person's emotions and thoughts. Some might feel excited, manic, or disoriented, while others might experience fear, anxiety, or confusion. Those effects could lead to abnormal behavior, even dangerous actions.
Overall, the body's reactions after swallowing a Potion were complex and varied, depending on its type and ingredients, as well as the individual's constitution and tolerance.
New abilities did not simply appear after drinking it. One had to endure the struggle to survive, strengthening oneself through the Potion.
Joey seemed to hear his own heartbeat. Beads of sweat seeped from his forehead.
That state lasted a long time. He gritted his teeth and struggled to hold on.
Power. I need power.
His eyes filled with longing.
At a certain moment, the energy rampaging through his body reached a critical point. Like an overinflated balloon, it burst with a pop.
Instantly, a wonderfully soothing sensation spread throughout his body.
Golas's voice drifted into his ears.
"Congratulations. You are now a Sequence 8 Fortune Shifter. Next, I need you to do something."
A gleam of gold shone in his clouded eyes.
"You want to find Vade Wisker?" Joey panted, still adjusting to his changed body.
Golas stroked his beard, a faint smile spreading across his lips.
"Exactly." He nodded, looking Joey over with considerable approval.
"May I ask why?"
Golas offered no explanation. Instead, he turned toward the small door. "Follow me."
If the man's Sequence had not been so high, Joey would have liked to pry open his skull and see how many secrets were hidden inside.
Golas walked ahead, with Joey following cautiously behind.
His former self would have chosen to stay as far away from these Transcendents as possible.
Not every transmigrator dreamed of domination. At least, he did not. Tired of the nine-to-five drudgery of corporate life, what he yearned for was a quiet, ordinary existence.
Life with his father, Tony Crevi, had been difficult, but fulfilling.
Finding happiness had required nothing more than food-a tasty meal.
Now, even though he had become a Transcendent and no longer needed to worry about food, he was unhappy instead.
He had been dragged into the schemes of Transcendents and could not extricate himself.
All he could do was make himself as strong as possible.
Beyond the small door, all kinds of equipment filled the room, along with the pungent smell unique to Potions.
"Your Grace, may I ask what your relationship with the captain is?"
Golas walked to the workbench and began handling the bottles and jars.
After Joey asked his question, he distinctly caught a barely perceptible flicker of nostalgia in Golas's eyes.
The man spoke in a low voice. "He is my teacher."
Seeing Joey's mouth fall open in astonishment, he chuckled.
"There's no need to doubt it. That is the truth."
You can hardly blame me for doubting it! Have you looked at your own face? You've already got one foot in the grave. Who would believe Wade is your teacher?
"About two hundred years ago, he vanished without explanation. It wasn't until recently that I sensed his presence again."
Joey detected an unusual emotion in Golas's words, something unlike the feelings a student should have for a teacher.
Could this old man be a...
As Joey wondered to himself, the way he looked at Golas quietly changed.