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North of the Berserk Sea, east of East Tucker County.
A ship sailed through the waves, and even though the sea was turbulent, the ship remained stable. It was unusually large for humans, said to be able to carry hundreds of passengers.
It had the distinct characteristics of the era, with both chimneys and sails. Each side of the hull had 12 cannons and their respective gunports—a necessity for defense against pirates and rival ships.
The strong Sailors and crew members on deck all wore the East Tucker family crest, and the proportion of Beyonders among them even exceeded half.
In the luxurious dining room within the ship's cabin, Aaron enjoyed some fried fish with a strong Desi flavor, finding the taste quite good, but he knew he couldn't eat it all the time.
Next to the dining table, Evelina, who had already advanced to Sequence 7 Psychiatrist, pushed her plate away with a look of disgust, not forgetting to grumble:
"Aaron, the books all say that fried food isn't healthy. This method completely destroys the original flavor of the ingredients."
"Hmm, I still prefer the merman you caught a few days ago. When are you going to catch a few more?"
Aaron drained the Sonia Blood Wine in his cup before glancing at the haughty Evelina and letting out a soft snort.
"If you want to eat, go catch it yourself. I can even help you by throwing you into the sea so you can eat your fill."
Watching Evelina immediately deflate and obediently eat her meal, Aaron cleared his throat, pointed at the pale gold necklace around her neck, and urged:
"You've only recently advanced to Psychiatrist, and this is when your emotions are most easily stirred. You need to quickly familiarize yourself with your abilities, especially psychological cue."
"With your current Sequence, you can already fully Exploit the power of the Hypnotic Chain. When we arrive at Damir Port, I'll need your help."
Evelina straightened up, almost thumping her chest with her claws, and promised with a confident expression:
"Don't worry, I'll quickly get familiar with my abilities. Just give me any tasks you have."
Aaron nodded in satisfaction, then seemed to remember something, his face darkening as he said:
"Next time you dare to use psychological cue on the ship to make the crew do those strange things, I'll throw you directly into the sea to keep company with those mermen."
After giving Evelina a good scolding, Aaron went to the deck and saw the extremely burly Boyer-Bail, who had distinct characteristics of Southern Continent people.
As Aaron's personal guard captain, Boyer-Bail's actions these days had lived up to Aaron's trust.
Seeing Aaron approach, Boyer-Bail had the rest of the personal guards continue their training to build rapport, while he respectfully approached Aaron.
Looking at the bright sunlight, Aaron smiled and asked:
"In your impression, what is Lloyd City in the Paz River Valley like?"
Lloyd City, the largest city in the northern part of the Loen Kingdom's East Balam colonial region, was Aaron's final destination for this trip.
It and Walter City on the Haagenti Grassland in southern East Balam were the two most important strongholds of the Southern Continent's MI9.
One in the south and one in the north, they jointly maintained the rule of the Loen colony in the Southern Continent and continuously supplied resources to Loen itself.
Boyer-Bail scratched his head in a simple manner, thought for a moment, and then replied:
"Lloyd City was originally established to resist the invasion of the Intis Republic, so even after Loen later conquered other areas of the Paz River Valley, Lloyd City's location is still not very good."
"Its west is the Intis Republic's colonial area, and its south borders the West Balam native area, where forces are extremely mixed. However, due to the high pressure from the Church and the Royal Family, the local area still maintains a superficial peace."
Aaron listened intently, then raised an eyebrow and asked directly:
"Superficial peace?"
Boyer-Bail nodded and explained:
"Lloyd City is different from Walter City in the south. The most powerful Church force here is the Church of the Lord of Storms, which is very hostile to the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun in Caesar Port on the other side of the Intis Paz River Valley, and there are constant skirmishes along the border."
"What's more troublesome is the West Balam native area in the south, which belongs to the eastern part of the Star Plateau. There are many remnants of the Highland Kingdom's resistance army from the early Fifth Epoch there."
"They have received support from the Rose School of Thought and have built many secret bases there, disrupting Loen's colony, and small-scale wars often occur."
"There are also some other organizations, both overt and covert, mixed in, such as the Numinous Episcopate, and also the East Balam Restoration Society, etc."
Aaron nodded in understanding. He wasn't unfamiliar with the Highland resistance army; after all, he had severed an arm of one of their leaders, the one nicknamed "The Silent One," Mahmosi.
Just as he was about to ask something else, his spirituality suddenly stirred slightly. Aaron's mouth curved upward, and he waved Boyer-Bail away, then walked back into his spacious bedroom.
Evelina had long since disappeared, and in the empty room, the colors immediately became vibrant. A translucent eye, much smaller and more solidified, then appeared, its surface covered in interconnected, obscure patterns.
A letter fell, but Astolfo remained there, not returning to the Spirit World as usual.
Aaron took the letter, frowning as he examined his messenger. Astolfo's condition was clearly much better than before, and the patterns on its body were now completely interwoven.
This also meant that it had completely digested the Sequence 5 Wraith Beyonder characteristic. However, it was well known that advancement from Sequence 6 onwards required the assistance of a ritual.
Aaron had originally wanted to communicate with his messenger about how to help it complete the advancement ritual, but the current situation made him think of many things.
There was another very similar situation where one could advance directly without a ritual, and it was one Aaron was quite familiar with: the formation of a malevolent spirit after the demise of a high-Sequence powerhouse.
For example, the Red Angel Evil Spirit could directly absorb and accommodate Beyonder characteristics of its own Pathway without needing ritual assistance.
Of course, the prerequisite for doing so was that the malevolent spirit's own standing had to be high enough; it couldn't directly accommodate Beyonder characteristics higher than its Sequence when alive.
But Aaron could be sure that his messenger was definitely not a malevolent spirit.
As Aaron was observing Astolfo, the eye with its interconnected, obscure patterns on its surface rotated slightly. Its black and white pupils looked at Aaron, and fragmented thoughts were transmitted:
"I need more Beyonder characteristics to recover more memories and to give you greater help."
Aaron's eyes narrowed slightly. Although he didn't feel any malice, he still took out his "Sword of Judgment" and placed it in front of him, then frowned and asked:
"Who exactly are you?"
A human-like confusion appeared on the black and white eye, and the obscure, interconnected patterns on its surface also glowed slightly. After a moment, it spoke softly:
"I am Astolfo now, but I think you should also have heard of one of my former identities. At that time, my believers called me 'The Chained God.'"
Aaron's pupils contracted sharply. He looked at the messenger in front of him with some disbelief, momentarily unsure what to say.
The consciousness became coherent and smooth, no longer pausing, and continued:
"Don't worry, I am not Him, or rather, I am not the complete Him. I only possess a portion of His memories."
Aaron had by this point recovered from his initial surprise. He frowned as he looked at the messenger in front of him, unsure whether to believe it or not.
"The Chained God," as a King of Angels of the Prisoner Pathway, had been corrupted by the Mother Tree of Desire a thousand years ago, living completely in endless pain. Not only was he forced to give birth to Si E'a, but he was also used by the Mother Tree of Desire as a vessel for faith.
Logically, that "Chained God" should have long since lost the ability to resist now, so this one in front of him...
Seemingly discerning Aaron's doubts, Astolfo did not answer directly, but instead transmitted another thought:
"There is one crucial step in the ancient Highland Kingdom's process of making Pharaoh mummies."
"That is to perform the 'Purification Ritual,' placing the body on an altar and praying to 'The Chained God,' hoping that half of the deceased's spiritual energy would remain in the body. This neither affects the return of the Son of God nor prevents the mummy from retaining its spirituality for a long time."
"And the memories I can recall now tell me that I am just another small part of 'The Chained God's' spirit that was separated."
"The Angel I encountered when I took you through the Spirit World was the corresponding other part of that spirit."
Aaron paused, and in his mind, the image of that massive body with festering long legs dripping yellowish-green liquid and wrapped in corpse oil bandages instantly appeared.
Some of his previous doubts were answered, but they were followed by even more questions. If the Angel in the Spirit World was truly formed by a part of "The Chained God's" spirit combined with Beyonder characteristics, why had the Rose School of Thought not taken any action?
Given their indulgence in desire, they wouldn't just stand by and watch an Angel-level Beyonder characteristic remain outside. The Outer God behind them shouldn't allow Him to continue existing in the Spirit World either.
Moreover, Aaron had seen that Angel at the time; there was no trace of rationality, only instinct. Although it was just a fleeting glance, Aaron could confirm that He was definitely not just a Sequence 2 Ancient Bane; there were also some strange things mixed in.
Originally, Aaron had only considered those strange aspects as inherent peculiarities of Spirit World creatures and hadn't thought deeply about them, but now it seemed there was more to it.
Aaron thought for a moment and then voiced his doubts.
However, Astolfo's transmitted will disappointed Aaron. Its memories were originally only vague consciousness until it devoured the Sequence 5 Beyonder characteristic last time, after which it recovered quite a few memories.
It might be missing many important memories, and it couldn't explain what exactly happened back then now.
Aaron shook his head with some regret. Although he was very curious about how his messenger came into being, since he couldn't ascertain what exactly happened back then, he wouldn't force it.
Looking at the black and white eye, Aaron cleared his throat and asked:
"Can you control that existence walking in the Spirit World? I might need His power."
Astolfo stared at Aaron for a moment before transmitting its thoughts:
"No, although I am from the same source as Him, our standings are too different. Even if He only has instinct left, I cannot do it. Instead, He would sense me because of it, bringing disaster upon you."
When Aaron heard the first half of the refusal, his eyebrows had already furrowed, but when he heard the second half, a phrase suddenly appeared in his mind: "diverting disaster."
"Bansy's operation will be more assured now..." Thinking this, Aaron looked at Astolfo, who was still floating in front of him, and slowly said:
"I agree to your initial condition. I will collect Beyonder characteristics of the Prisoner Pathway for you, but this will take time."
The black and white eye floated up and down, as if nodding, then disappeared into the colorful Spirit World.
-----------------
Whoosh!
The whistle blew, and the ship carved with the East Tucker family crest sailed into Damir Port.
It would replenish fresh water and food on this colonial island and set sail again the next morning.
"Flying Fish and Wine…" Aaron, who had already changed his appearance, glanced at the sign and saw that the pub's entrance was covered with various bounty orders. Evelina, on his shoulder, idly wagged her tail.
Thanks to the Hypnotic Chain's psychological invisibility, no one noticed it.
The bounty orders here ranged from 800,000 pounds for a "King of the Five Seas" to hundreds of pounds for ordinary pirate leaders, layered from high to low, forming a unique sight.
Retracting his gaze, Aaron pushed open the pub door. It was extremely noisy inside. He walked to a high stool at the bar and lightly tapped the wooden counter:
"One Southville beer, one plate of special cured meat."
"5 pounds, 6 pence." The bronzed, white-toothed bartender said unenthusiastically as he wiped a glass.
The bartender still had that cold expression. He pushed open the door to the kitchen behind him and quickly brought out a plate of thinly sliced cured meat, clearly red and white with fine marbling.
Ignoring the bartender's attitude, Aaron chewed the cured meat and drained the Southville beer, then asked with a slight curve of his lips:
"Where is your Boss, 'White Shark'?"
Evelina, who was psychologically invisible on his shoulder, instantly had her pupils turn pale gold, and the Hypnotic Chain on her neck glowed faintly.
The previously cold bartender seemed to have had his soul drawn out, smiling foolishly with a look of infatuation, and replied eagerly:
"White Shark is in the basement of the second-to-last private room. You can find the basement entrance behind the wardrobe."
Looking at the bartender, who seemed utterly bewitched, Aaron glanced back at Evelina on his shoulder with slight surprise, then walked towards the back partitions.
In the dim basement, Aaron's figure quietly appeared.
"You…" "White Shark" Hamilton, who was sitting in front of a strangely shaped Robot, first froze, then opened his mouth wide, trying to shout.
At the same time, illusory fish scales appeared on the back of his hand, and his already tall and stout body swelled another size.
Suddenly, his heart pounded faster, and an intense, instinctive fear gripped his throat.
At that moment, he felt that the stranger standing by the Door was a Devil that had been hungry for many days, examining his flesh and soul with cold, hungry eyes.
Aaron's mouth curved slightly, and his low voice, like that of a Devil, sounded in Hamilton's ear:
"I finally found you. I heard you work for 'Admiral of Blood.' I have something I want to ask him. I wonder if you can help me."
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