Establishing the Situation

Looking at the half-eaten, swollen, bluish-black Corpse on the Kitchen Counter, Lumian chuckled to himself and muttered:

"They really don't hide anything at all, no wonder it's called the ' Banishment City,' Morola..."

Lumian conducted a brief examination and confirmed that the highly decomposed Corpse was the other part of the "Abscessed Severed Hand," and that it was relatively intact except for the missing left half, the corresponding head, and the "Abscessed Severed Hand" itself.

If it weren't for the rotting flesh wriggling and growing near its Spine, trying to return to its original state, Lumian would hardly believe that the two "Steak" served to him and Albus earlier came from this Corpse, let alone the fact that dozens or even hundreds of these "Steak" had already been sold.

This made Lumian frown slightly, and a question he had considered before resurfaced in his mind:

Is it necessary to recall those "Steak" that have already been sold?

Judging from the completeness of the corpse, it seems unnecessary...

Moreover, the residents of Morola have been consuming this kind of "Steak" for quite some time now, and it's unclear whether they've actually digested the rotten flesh and completed the absorption process...

Based on my perception of the subtle connections between Corpse, even if it's digested, it should only change the state of the decaying flesh; its essence remains unchanged...

As Lumian pondered, he quickly stuffed the half- Corpse into the "Traveler’s Bag" and used the pile of Straight Sword, including the "Sword of Courage," to separate it from the other half of the Corpse, preventing them from Aggregation before finding the head and causing unnecessary Change.

"So this is what they're feeding us. It looks quite tempting." Albus's voice rang out from the kitchen doorway as Lumian put away the half of the "Abscessed Severed Hand Corpse."

The former Iron and Blood Cross Order member from the Medici Family, wearing a black jacket with dark red patterns, clicked his tongue in amazement as he put one hand in his pocket.

He wasn't disgusted at all that he had almost eaten a rotten Steak.

Lumian turned around and replied with a smile, "I'm quite looking forward to seeing what happens after you eat it."

"Gradually gaining some self-healing abilities, becoming even stronger on Moon nights, and mastering some Darkness Spells," Albus said in a tone reciting an investigation report. "However, correspondingly, his self-control has significantly decreased, his intelligence shows signs of regression, and he suffers from constant Nightmare."

"So you came to investigate because you noticed those guys' odd behavior too?" Lumian asked with a smile.

He asked the question not to confirm anything—he already knew—but to show that he was also there to investigate, not because he knew about the half- Corpse from the beginning and came specifically for it.

Hunter must know how to conceal his true purpose to avoid being used as a pretext to set a trap.

Albus, the redhead, chuckled and said, "They actually wanted to keep this a secret, hoping that only they and their collaborators could share the Bar's special food."

"Who among the inhabitants of Morola isn't selfish?" Lumian then asked, "How did you come to the conclusion that their intelligence is regressing?"

Albus raised his right hand and spread it outwards, saying, "If their IQ hadn't regressed, how could I have so easily tricked them into revealing their secrets and finding this Bar?"

Lumian nodded slightly, looked at Albus, and said thoughtfully, "I see. Then, is it necessary for me to kill you to silence you and prevent this secret from spreading?"

Albus calmly responded to Lumian's gaze, smiling as he said, "Do you think those idiots can keep a secret?"

After saying this, the Medici Family member turned around and walked towards the Bar's lobby, exposing his back to Lumian.

Lumian stood there, watching him leave, as if deep in thought.

For a fleeting moment, he truly considered killing him.

He wanted to take this opportunity to kill Albus Medici, so that the other party would not interfere with his operation to get closer to "0-01", or even get That One "Red Angel" to leave his Brand on "0-01" before he could.

Lumian ultimately resisted the urge.

There are two reasons for this:

Firstly, his initial assessment is that becoming Experimental Subjects would have a very negative impact on self-awareness. If this weren't the only option left, he wouldn't want to try it for the time being. In that case, having one more person, one more "cannon fodder" to help carve out a path through the many dangers, is not a bad idea.

Secondly, he wasn't confident he could defeat Albus Medici. If the other was still in the same state as when he was exploring the Depths the Red Swan Castle Underground Palace, he felt he could easily defeat him. But several months had passed, and he had become a "Reaper" and digested the corresponding Potion. It was impossible for the other to have made no progress at all.

Moreover, if Albus truly came to Morola to approach "0-01" on behalf of the "Red Angel," That One Angel King would definitely try to enhance the strength of this Descendants, providing him with powerful items to ensure that his representative is among the top tier below Half-God and can handle all the dangers in Morola.

Lumian didn't leave the kitchen immediately; he checked around the area again.

He was searching for any other special Ingredient —the slightly dull and abnormal behavior of That One "Depriver" earlier made him suspect that it was due to the other person's haphazard eating in Morola, which is one of the main causes of death for Beyonder on the "Gourmet" Pathway.

Unfortunately, Lumian only found common Ingredient such as flour, butter, and Milk.

He then went up to the second floor of the "Carnivore" Bar and entered the bedroom of That One "Depriver".

He planned to stay here for a while, as the winner of the duel.

The bedroom was cleaner than Lumian had imagined; there were no oil stains, no Cockroach, Rat, or various insects. Apart from being a little messy, there were no other problems.

Lumian paced around the bedroom, trying to activate the Black Mark on his right shoulder to see if he could "Teleportation" Morola out.

He can no longer sense the places he has been.

"As expected, there's no way to leave. We can only ' Teleportation ' within this area surrounded by mountains... However, normally no Morola resident would want to leave here... I wonder if Albus would have such thoughts..." Lumian muttered silently as he took out Ritual materials from the "Traveler’s Bag".

He then conducted a second experiment:

Summon the Messenger!

Lumian was unable to summon either the "Doll" Messenger or his own Messenger.

"It's separated from the Spirit World? At least to a certain extent... It really is the place where '0-01' is sealed..." Lumian stood in front of the table by the window, gazing at the dim environment outside and the Torrential Rain that had lessened, feeling the cold, damp air seeping into his body.

He proceeded with the third experiment according to the pre-arranged plan.

He walked to the Full-Length Mirror in the room, placed his right hand on the surface, and activated a Black Mark on his body.

He's using the Contract Ability from "Bloody Jack" to sense the Mirror Image Mark he's left behind in other places!

In the blink of an eye, Lumian caught three rather blurry marks in the Mirror in front of him.

They came from Moran Avignon's Study, the treasure vault of the "Blue Avenger Jenna," and the Apartment Franca rented, respectively.

This means that if Lumian can enter the Mirror, he might be able to use his "Teleportation" ability to go to the Mirror corresponding to the three marks. Even if he can't, he should still be able to exchange information with the outside world!

Lumian felt both pleasantly surprised and satisfied that his prediction had been confirmed:

Having read the "0-01" materials, he roughly knew the origin of this Sealed Artifact and its relationship with Fourth Epoch Trier. He felt that since the sealing methods were so similar, many details should also be consistent— Trier had Special Mirror World, and this place probably had one too; Trier had "Person in the Mirror," and this place should have one too!

The fact that the Experimental Subjects said, "If they hadn't been blindfolded, the person leaving the Mausoleum would have been a Monster just like them," is considered evidence of the existence of "Person in the Mirror" and Special Mirror World.

Based on these premises, Lumian felt that using the abilities related to the Mirror World might allow him to establish some connection with the outside world.

It was based on this speculation that he borrowed the extraordinary "Mirror Buckle" from Franca. Franca had already become the "Witch of Pain," and in a few days she would be able to use the pretext of investigating the "Person in the Mirror" to try to obtain a Charm- like item from the Witch Sect that would allow her to teleport using the Mirror World.

Lumian reached into the "Traveler’s Bag" and took out the Glass Cufflink.

He wasn't in a hurry to conduct experiments to confirm whether he could leave directly using it or only transmit information, because the "Mirror Buckle" could only be used four more times. He would have to wait until there was important intelligence or urgent business to communicate before trying it.

Glug, glug... Just then, Lumian heard his stomach rumble with hunger.

He couldn't help but mutter to himself:

"Honestly, the Church of Knowledge is so stingy! They didn't even give me a meal or a drop of water before sending me to Morola. I'm not Ludwig, who could finish all the prison food..."

Muttering to himself, Lumian went downstairs to the kitchen to cook something for himself, planning to go out and look for the "Abscessed Severed Hand's " head once the rain stopped.

By this time, the Bar Boss's Corpse had been dragged away by law enforcement, and the bloodstains on the ground had been wiped clean. However, the destroyed bar area and the burnt-out hall remained untouched, with shards of glass and wood mixed together, and the smell of alcohol mingling with the stench of burning.

Lumian had just picked up the Bar Boss's legacy left behind by the enforcers—420 Sasson Gold —when he saw someone walk in through the door.

That man was none other than Lies, the seemingly honest-looking Human Flesh Chef.

Lies was soaking wet. He looked around and asked Lumian:

Are they hiring Cook here?

The Convergence Law of Beyonder Characteristics? Lumian suddenly laughed:

"Zhao, go to the kitchen and make something to eat. I'll try the dishes and see how they taste."