The Eve of the Journey

After all, with those round beads as an example, bullets might also be able to multiply.

Etc!

Those banknotes and Gold Coins...

A thought struck Lorry, and without hesitation, he took out a handful of coins from another Dimension.

Immediately, he controlled the first Illusions to infuse the "Monstrous Procreation Marionette" with Spirituality, and the coins flew over and clattered to the ground.

Amidst cries of "Mama," the Illusions, under Lorry's command, leaned slightly forward and placed the "Monstrous Procreation Marionette" upon it.

During this process, a mini version of the Illusions popped out of the Illusions's belly and joined the bouncy army of "calling for mommy" next to it.

With the "Clown" ability in hand, Lorry expressionlessly shifted his gaze, his dark eyes fixed unblinkingly on the "Monstrous Procreation Marionette" and the coin beneath it.

Three minutes later.

The two Illusions each gave birth to a child.

"..."

Lorry quickly directed the Illusions to put the "Monstrous Procreation Marionette" back into the dark wooden box to confirm the seal was effective. With a thought, he sent it to another Dimension. During this process, he simulated an "Invisible Hand" to take out several orbs, and then waved his hand to summon a large amount of lightning to completely eliminate the Illusions.

"That's true. Money isn't important to Beyonder, but it's also important."

"If the negative effects of the ' Monstrous Procreation Marionette ' could generate more money, the ' Temperance Faction ' probably wouldn't choose to trade it."

"Its 'reproduction' must be subject to certain limitations," Lorry muttered to himself, letting out a sigh of relief, not entirely disappointed by his earlier wild idea.

He looked at the coins and beads, countless strange symbols appearing in his dark eyes.

This is the ability of "Mystery Pryer".

Symbols danced in his pupils, and Lorry quickly solved the "mystery"!

"I see. The instinct to reproduce is one thing, but it cannot change the essence of something, nor can it give an inanimate object the ability to reproduce."

"Similar to Mystical Item, they can only serve as temporary mediums, carrying the reproductive instinct within themselves, waiting to be passed on to other objects."

"During this process, because their reproductive instincts are not exhausted, the ' Monstrous Procreation Marionette ' skip over them."

"That's why those two Illusions each produced a offspring while being some distance away from the ' Monstrous Procreation Marionette '."

"These coins aren't suitable carriers, so their reproductive instincts will quickly fade, affecting more objects around them in the form of 'broadcasts.'" As he muttered to himself, Lorry's gaze swept over a bird that suddenly landed on a branch and bumped its head, a snake that emerged from its burrow and began to mate, a wild rabbit that lay on the back of its kind not far away, and fish that were paired up in the clear river. He couldn't help but feel his mouth go dry, and suddenly he missed Fors very much.

He closed his eyes and quietly sensed for a moment, then continued talking to himself:

"Through the transfer of a carrier, the power of the reproductive instinct is infinitely reduced, and it can no longer be called an instinct; it is more appropriate to call it the desire to reproduce."

Such a desire to reproduce is far less alluring than the natural temptation emanating from Demoness, and is within the range that normal humans can overcome.

"At the same time, as a temporary carrier, coins may also retain a trace of reproductive desire, to a degree similar to the former."

"As for those beads, due to a lack of necessary information, I cannot 'decipher' what they actually belong to. The only thing I can be certain of is—"

"They are not inanimate objects; they possess the quality of being 'alive,' which is why they were placed in the wooden box to seal the ' Monstrous Procreation Marionette.'"

"Hehe... This is a bad thing for me, but also a good thing."

"The downside is that my 'money-making dream' has been shattered; the upside is that I no longer need to worry about bullets multiplying into smaller bullets, and I can focus all my attention on another matter, which is to design a Ritual Magic to find a way to utilize the pollution within the ' Fire Seed ' Illusions."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lorry simulated an "Invisible Hand," taking all the coins on the ground into another Dimension, and looked up at the Red Moon as the night wind blew.

A moment later, he put away the "Clown" ability and Teleportation back to Backlund.

In the Cherwood Borough, at Xin's Desi Pie Shop, the owner, a man in his forties, heard footsteps and quickly turned around, smiling, "Hello sir, we have a batch of freshly baked pies coming out soon. How many would you like?"

A few... Lorry felt the clinking coins in his pocket, the number immediately becoming clear to him. He rubbed his nose and said, "A pot."

The boss was stunned. "A whole pot?"

"Yes." Lorry nodded affirmatively.

After saying that, he took out the handful of coins and put them all on the counter.

This is a husband-and-wife shop. The wife, who was watching the heat, overheard her husband's conversation with a customer and couldn't help but turn around to glance over, offering some advice:

"Sir, there are a full twenty sheets in this pot; you won't be able to finish them all."

Lorry gave a sincere smile, "I know, we have a large family."

Having said that, the owner and his wife exchanged a glance and said nothing more. They had already advised them that there was no way to kick people out of a business.

The owner reminded his wife that the pies were almost done baking, casually counted the coins to make sure there was no problem with the money, then turned around and helped her pack them up.

"Sir, your Desi Pie."

Lorry nodded slightly, took the pancake, and turned to leave. After he was out of sight, the proprietress couldn't help but mutter, "What a strange person. I've never seen anyone buy so many pancakes at once..."

Don't you think so?

The shop was silent for seven or eight seconds. She turned to look at her husband, and seeing him staring at her intently, she blushed and spat out a curse:

"What are you looking at? Knead the dough."

The shop owner was silent for a few seconds, then licked his lips and said, "Let's close up shop. No more sales today. I'm going home. My son went back to boarding school this afternoon..."

"Well... that's fine, but we'll have to make two more batches tomorrow," the proprietress, several years younger than her husband, said hesitantly, her head bowed.

"Okay," the boss readily agreed, even though he hadn't heard what the other person said.

Two blocks away, inside the house rented by two women.

After Teleportation to the East Borough and distributing food to the Vagrant, Lorry found an empty alleyway and Teleportation back, taking out his key to open the door.

He changed into slippers and walked into the Living Room. Looking at the table laden with food, he raised an eyebrow at Fors was reading a novel on the Long Sofa.

"You bought this on your way back from the Divination Club? To celebrate the Potion being completely digested?"

Fors's performance efficiency has improved significantly over the past month. When he left today, he told Fors that he would be able to digest the "Astrologer" Potion today.

"It wasn't me." Fors shook her head. "It was Hugh and Albert. My original plan was to find Restaurant to celebrate when you got back."

That way we can eat at whichever restaurant we want.

Excuse... You're just lazy, you think carrying so much food is too tiring... Leaning back on the Single Sofa, Hugh glanced at her friend, forcing herself not to expose her:

"Let's eat now that everyone's here, I'm starving."

"The sugar daddy calls the shots." Lorry smiled and went to the Washroom to wash his hands.

"Gold... Master... What a weird combination," Hugh muttered under his breath, getting up and heading to the Kitchen to retrieve Third Mate knives and forks.

After enjoying a sumptuous dinner, they lay on the Sofa to digest, as usual.

"Gambling is bad, we'll all take turns cleaning up after this." After a few minutes of silence, Hugh, finally accepting reality, suddenly blurted out this.

--She lost again in the Fight Evil.

"Are you scared?" Fors said with a smile, rubbing salt into her friend's wounds. "However, we'll probably have to wait until we get back to discuss that." Back to discuss... Hugh sat bolt upright. "You're going out?"

"Yes." Fors, her eyes sparkling. "He plans to take me on a world tour, to act as both ' Scribe ' and ' Traveler ' in advance."

A few days ago, her teacher Dorian Gray Abraham, visited Backlund and delivered on a long-promised gift:

The Scribe's Potion Formula and a Mystical Item.

The latter was the very item that Fors had entrusted to Old Gentleman. Lawrence, who had specially traveled by Steam Train to Pritz Harbor to deliver to his teacher—a keepsake.

"Leymano's Spellbook"

World travel... digesting the Potion ahead of time... Hugh paused for a few seconds, then had to admit that he was actually a little envious of his friend.

Seeing that her friend seemed quite upset, Fors hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Lorry with a questioning look. Seeing Rory smile and nod slightly, Fors immediately understood and coughed, saying:

"If you want to go out for a walk, you can take Albert with you."

Anyway, we don't treat you like an outsider.

A fleeting hint of emotion crossed Hugh's eyes. Without a second thought, he shook his head and muttered, "No thanks, I still have a bunch of requests to make."

"And have you forgotten the important case I told you about today? Do you think everyone's as free as you, able to just leave whenever they want...? You guys go ahead, have fun, leave Albert to me."

"Didn't you say someone hit you in the first sentence...?" Fors muttered in dissatisfaction.

Pretending not to hear, he looked at Lorry:

"Today I caught a Gang leader who colluded with Intis spies. The reward, plus my previous Merit, should be enough to exchange for the Sequence 6 ' Judge ' Formula."

"I'm letting you know in advance so you don't waste your money."

"If I remember correctly, exchanging Potion directly from MI9 should be cheaper than Formula, right? Why don't you just exchange Potion?"

As a former senior Informant, Lorry was very familiar with the system of MI9.

"Exchange two ' Judge ' Potion? Even a fool could guess there's something fishy about me... Aren't you planning to let Albert continue his Advancement?"

Xiu snorted and asked a question instead of answering.

She then added, "Besides, Albert deserves half the credit for what happened today, so I can't keep the reward for myself."

After glancing at the stubborn "Interrogator" lady, Lorry thought for a moment and said, "Once you've digested the Potion, I can sell you a ' Judge ' trait."

"How about part of it goes towards the ' Judge's ' Formula, and part of it is payment for helping Albert and Fors gather auxiliary materials? If you still feel there's a difference, you can discuss it with Fors."

"Judge" characteristics?!

If it were anything else, Hugh was certain she would refuse without hesitation; she didn't need anyone's charity.

Even if this person is, in a sense, a friend.

But with the prospect of Advancement before her, she found it really hard to refuse.