A sense of contradiction

Lumian was quite frank, and recounted in general terms how he met Jenna after hiding in the Underground Trier, despite the aura of disgust and resentment he received.

Franca smiled somewhat awkwardly and changed the subject:

"How could you be so repulsive and disgusting? You haven't Loss of Control."

She had encountered several Beyonder on the "Hunter" Pathway who Loss of Control, most of whom exhibited traits that attracted hatred from those around them, which was the main reason they were quickly eliminated.

Lumian explained briefly:

"I got my hands on a Sealed Artifact, the Negative Effect is that for an hour after removing it, you become repulsive and disgusting."

"What if we don't take it off?" Jenna asked curiously.

Lumian's lips curled into a smile. "Then it will soon become an alarm, constantly attracting nearby Official Beyonder to arrest me."

"It seems to really enjoy attracting attention," Franca teased with a smile.

"After all, it's a guy who values ' Dignity '," Lumian said meaningfully, then casually added, "Its main ability is ' Bribery,' with a touch of ' Distortion ' on the side."

Since he would most likely be working with Franca to deal with the Parish Priest Guillaume Béné, he proactively revealed information about the "Dignity" Brooch, but without going into too much detail, especially regarding the strength and range of its power. After all, Mystical Item are a Beyonder's trump card, and it would be very insecure if someone knew everything about it. Just like in the previous operation, Franca mainly provided information about the "Ring of Punishment" without mentioning the Brass-Colored Revolver or other items.

There is communication, but also concealment; there is trust, but also basic precautions. It requires striking a good balance.

Franca didn't press further, recalling for a moment before saying, "It corresponds to Sequence 7 ' Briber ' and Sequence 6 ' Corrupted Baron ' of the ' Black Emperor ' Pathway. It seems like a ' Corrupted Baron ' died, and his Beyonder Characteristic were released, naturally combining with his belongings to form Sealed Artifact, which didn't properly display his original abilities."

"' Black Emperor '?" Lumian had never heard of this Sequence name before, nor had Jenna.

"The name of the Deity associated with the ' Lawyer ' Pathway." Franca lowered her voice unconsciously, speaking with great interest, "Legend has it that before Emperor Roselle's fall, he had become the ' Black Emperor,' a true Deity!"

Lumian and Jenna were speechless for a moment, looking at each other, both somewhat shocked.

As legitimate Intis, Emperor Roselle could hardly estimate the extent of Franca's standing in their hearts.

He—no, He actually became Deity?

"Rumors, rumors, just rumors," Franca quickly added, to avoid damaging her image as someone completely trustworthy in Jenna's eyes.

After exchanging a few words, Jenna opened the wooden box she was holding in her right hand and took out the box inside.

Each of them contained a small, dark-colored, honeycomb-shaped heart, a sac-like structure secreting a little Dark Green liquid, and a small section of a blackened trachea-like object.

Franca examined it for a few seconds, then nodded slightly and said, "The heart of the Demon-Throated Honeycreeper, the venom sac of the Dark Stalker,' the Main Ingredient are all here. Hmm, the ' Dark Stalker ' is a unique Two-Headed Snake."

"I also have the syrinx of the Demon-Throated Honeycreeper, I'm just missing Blue Mandrake juice, Water Fern powder, Walnut, and Pure Water... I have Blue Mandrake juice here, and the other three Auxiliary Ingredient are easy to obtain."

Water Fern powder... Lumian remembered that this was also Auxiliary Ingredient the "Provocateur" Potion, representing "being easily influenced by others' words."

From this perspective, "Instigator" and "Provocateur" are somewhat similar, and "Hunter" and "Witch" are indeed interchangeable adjacent Pathway.

Seeing Jenna's eagerness, as if she wanted to immediately go to the corresponding store to buy Water Fern and Walnut and prepare Pure Water overnight, Franca specifically instructed her, "Don't rush. First, adjust your state. Although you've already digested the ' Assassin ' Potion, based on the situation in recent years, the probability of Loss of Control if you drink ' Instigator ' now is very low. But why not do something better? Wouldn't it be better to reduce the probability of Loss of Control to negligible levels?"

"I'm wondering what kind of Monster a ' Instigator ' would become Loss of Control," Lumian said, stroking his chin.

Jenna glared at him, sat down on the sofa, closed her eyes, and began to regulate her breathing.

Lumian leaned back into the Armchair next to her, resting her arms on the armrests, and looked at Franca, asking, "Have you collected the real Mummy Ashes yet?"

"No." Franca shook her head helplessly. "I've already gotten 500 Felkine 10 grams, and those guys still brought fakes. They're so useless, they don't even have the ability to tell the difference!"

"Only 500 Felkine?" Lumian scoffed. "Aren't you supposed to be rich?"

"Normally it's only a little over 100 grams of Felkine, 500 is already a lot, okay?" Franca replied irritably, "Besides, I don't have much money right now."

Lumian nodded, having roughly understood why Franca had suddenly become impoverished.

She didn't truly complete the mission of infiltrating the "Iron and Blood Cross Order"; she only assisted Lumian in achieving her goal. Therefore, her reward wasn't one of the Main Ingredient for "Pleasure Witch," but rather the qualification to purchase the Main Ingredient "Pleasure Witch" and enjoy a discount.

"How much more do you need?" Jenna opened her eyes abruptly, trying to offer help.

Franca shook her head:

"You can't get a real one for 500 Felkine, and 1000 won't either. It'll just make people think I'm a fool, waiting for me to offer an even higher price."

She then looked at Lumian:

What are your plans lately?

If she wasn't in a rush, she could wait another half a month or a month and definitely get real Mummy Ashes. But since Lumian needed help next week, she felt it was indeed necessary to consider going to the Stars Plateau in the Southern Continent to find a real Mummy.

Lumian understood Franca's hidden meaning and, as if pondering, said, "Look for an opportunity to 'set fire' and begin digesting the Potion."

In that way, he could receive the Gift of the "Contracted One," and be able to obtain different abilities from different creatures through the Contract.

Based on the information currently available, newly promoted "Contracted One" can only sign three Contract. Lumian plans to choose three from the following four: "Ability to target Spirit Body or mental entities", "preliminary Teleportation ability", "certain disguise ability", and "ability similar to ' Invisibility ' and ' Shadow Hiding '".

However, this decision will depend on the information available about the Spirit World Creature. Perhaps those creatures who are willing and suitable to sign Contract with Lumian do not possess similar abilities.

The only thing Lumian was certain of was that Spirit World Creature possessed the ability to "travel through the Spirit World," which was essentially a rudimentary Teleportation ability. The only difference was the speed. If he were to sign a "White Paper," he might only be able to Teleportation a dozen or twenty meters at a time. If he wanted to use it to travel to the Southern Continent, he would be so exhausted that he wouldn't be able to Loss of Control.

"'Arson'... What are your thoughts?" Franca sat cross-legged in the Armchair.

Lumian then recounted the first rule he had summarized for Acting Principle "Pyromaniac" role.

"Upright Acting is encouragement, reversed Acting is Agitation; both can help you digest the Potion," Franca offered her advice based on her experience. "That's easy. Tomorrow, go to the Dock Agitation the Dock to strike. Their slogan should be 'Demand better pay!'"

Lumian slowly shook his head:

"If organizing a strike could help them gain benefits or achieve their desired goals, I would try it. But if it only brings them Calamity, I don't like doing it."

"I hate the behavior of taking advantage of others without giving them any benefits and even causing them harm. Unless there is absolutely no other way, in that case, anyone can be sacrificed."

"There was this guy who always said that we could only get enough food by sticking together. But who knew that when we united to fight for food, he took advantage of the chaos and ran off with the food."

"You've had quite a lot of experience." Franca looked Lumian up and down again, realizing that he was more than just a "Muggle's" brother.

Jenna felt the same way.

Franca then remarked with a sigh, "You really do lean more towards the upright form of encouragement. If it were me, I'd probably do the same. Although I might be more forceful in my words, actually, haha, I just couldn't bring myself to do it."

Lumian glanced at her, then said thoughtfully, "I feel you're a contradictory person. Sometimes you're experienced, knowledgeable, and have a strong analytical ability, but other times you're naive, simple, and innocent."

Lumian had only seen this contradictory temperament in one other person: his Older Sister, Aurora.

Provoked by Lumian's three consecutive words, Franca blurted out, "Are you trying to Provocation me? What's wrong with me being stupid or naive?"

After she finished speaking, she noticed Jenna's disapproving look.

"Ahem." Franca cleared her throat and continued, "It's because I have the most basic goodwill and expectations for the world, and I still love life even after recognizing its cruelty. Alas, most of us in that generation are like that. Only a few are mentally strong, determined, intelligent, and resourceful, seemingly never troubled by difficulties or moral dilemmas."

Those people from the Curly-Haired Baboon Research Society? Why do they have such similarities? Lumian nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

Because Jenna planned to collect the remaining Auxiliary Ingredient the next day to advance to "Instigator", he quickly left White Coat Street and returned to Golden Rooster Inn.

As Lumian went up the stairs, he saw the Information Broker Anthony Reid coming down with a suitcase.

"Planning to move?" Lumian asked.

"Yes." Anthony Reid, still dressed in military green camouflage, nodded slightly.

Lumian chuckled and said, "Didn't you say there was still something to do in the Market District?"

"The trail has gone cold." Anthony Reid sighed softly.

The trail had gone cold? Lumian suddenly remembered seeing a Member of Parliament campaign poster in the other person's room, so he tentatively asked, "Because Hugues Artois is dead?"