Alger, the "Hanged Man," was slightly taken aback by the "Hermit's" words: The problem in Bansi Port is not as simple as the sacrifice of the evil god.
The other members, upon hearing that the matter initially involved an evil god and later the "Red Angel" Medici, gradually became drawn to it as well.
"Justice" Audrey asked before "The Hanged Man," "'The Hermit,' what has corrupted them?"
"I don't know, but it's said that the pollution was very advanced and evil," Odis said. "So the angels among the descendants of the Medici became evil gods."
Angel!
Alger immediately asked, "Is there an angel in Bansi Port?"
"This is just my guess," Odis said honestly. "As you just mentioned, the local evil god is called the 'God of Weather,' and I learned from another source that the name of the potion for the 'Hunter' pathway at the angel level is called 'Weather Sorcerer.'"
Everyone was slightly taken aback, not expecting to hear such information during the exchange.
Alger, somewhat surprised, immediately asked, "Was that angel corrupted?"
"This is the information I have," Odis said.
So, the situation in Ban Si Port is quite serious.
After a moment's thought, Alger asked the "Hermit," "May I report part of this information to the Church?"
He can only report a portion of the information, because there is a lot of intelligence that he simply cannot gather at his current level, and reporting it would only arouse suspicion.
Odis smiled and said, "Of course."
Klein, sitting at the head of the bronze table, fell into deep thought. If the pressure he felt at the time was accurate, then it was indeed possible that he was an evil god at the level of an angel.
Before this, he had always thought that it was a demigod, because if it was an angel, even if he didn't see it, his spirituality would still be affected.
However, after Klein returned to the "White Agate" and carefully examined it, he found that he had not been affected in any way, so he guessed that it was a demigod-level being.
An angel in a strange state could be explained. But he couldn't understand why a corrupted angel hadn't corrupted them.
Soon, he made another connection: the situation at the telegraph office in Bansi Port was clearly not right, and there were also problems with the Chamber of Commerce that the "Hermit" had visited, as well as number 15 on the next street. But if he didn't push open the door, these problems would only be inside the door and wouldn't affect the outside.
Therefore, the corrupted angel's true form is not on the streets of Bansi Port. The pressure we feel is likely just an extra manifestation of what He is doing while searching for something, and not pressure directed at us.
Perhaps the true form of the evil god is behind "a certain door," which is why we have not been corrupted by Him.
Thinking of this, Klein came to his senses. At this moment, "The Moon" Emlyn was asking for help: "Gentlemen, I have a question."
"Here's what happened. Suppose a powerful person assigns you to investigate something. You successfully obtain the information, but for some reason, you can't report it to that powerful person."
"Then, how can we continue to obtain support from that powerful figure... Mr. 'Hermit,' what... what are you laughing at?"
Odis couldn't help but laugh: "I... I remembered a joke I heard before the party."
As he spoke, he took a deep breath, his expression turning serious again: I was careless, I couldn't help myself, but... but who could have imagined that "the moon" would suddenly do this?
In fact, not only he laughed, but the other members also smiled to varying degrees.
Klein, behind the gray fog, felt an urge to cover his face: If you were captured by an official Beyonder, there would be no need for torture or even interrogation; they would just talk to you, and you would have to voluntarily reveal all your secrets.
"Hypothetically," Emlyn emphasized again, "hypothetically!"
"We know," Audrey quickly reassured, "I just think the character you've imagined is a very capable person who easily fulfilled that powerful person's request."
These words hit the nail on the head, immediately silencing Emlyn, who then smiled slightly and said, "Yes."
Then Audrey and the other members turned their attention to "The Hanged Man," whom they believed had a wealth of experience in this area.
Alger glanced at the "moon" and said, "It's simple, but you have to take certain risks."
Emlyn immediately denied it, saying, "It wasn't me!"
This was his last act of defiance.
Alger smiled and replied, "Let's assume it's you."
He paused and then continued, "You can gradually show some abnormalities in your daily life so that the powerful person will realize that something is wrong with you."
"He will have two options: one is to interrogate you directly, but that could easily lead to a dead end in the investigation. The other is to subtly offer you assistance so that you can conduct a more in-depth investigation, and then have someone monitor you."
"I think the second possibility is the most likely. The risk you need to take is how to avoid revealing the intelligence you want to hide while under surveillance."
Emlyn was stunned: Could it be like this?
Then he thought: I won't expose myself. Every time I attend a Tarot meeting, I rest in the Harvest Church. The people Lord Nibais sent to monitor me will never approach the Harvest Church.
Then, he remembered something and said to the "Hanged Man": "Didn't you ask last week how to make everyone on a ship fall asleep at the same time?"
"I can provide a magical anesthetic gas that spreads effectively, has no irritating odor, and will cause unconsciousness even if you smell it directly on the deck."
"Of course, you'd better choose a night when there's not much wind."
"It can induce sleep for more than three hours, after which the effect will gradually decrease."
"100 pounds a can, plus an extra 30 pounds as payment."
After thinking for a moment, Alger said, "Okay."
He didn't haggle because he wanted to establish a certain image in front of "the Moon" to prepare for a bigger deal later.
As the exchange was drawing to a close, Klein, through the "World" portal, asked "Justice" and "The Magician," "Ladies, could you help me buy a radio receiver?"
He inadvertently obtained the "Blood General's" telegram frequency and code, along with those of intelligence officers scattered throughout the Raging Sea, intending to use a receiver to obtain their approximate location.
"I can give it a try," said Fors, the "magician."
At a writers' salon a few days ago, she had just heard a science fiction writer talk about telegraph machines, but she wanted to ask that science fiction writer for help in purchasing one.
After exchanging a few more words, Klein announced the end of the gathering.
...
In the castle of the Earl of Hall's estate in East Chestershire.
Audrey returned to the real world and first sacrificed the gold pounds used for the transaction. Then, a slight smile appeared on her lips: "The Hermit" is Lelouch! No wonder I've always had this feeling that Lelouch is not far from me. It turns out we can meet at the weekly gathering.
Then she thought to herself: Being a pirate on the high seas, that has always been my dream, digging for treasure, fighting pirates, having different adventures every day, and leaving behind legendary stories at sea.
Just then, Susie, who was on lookout duty, came in from outside, looked up at Audrey, and said, "Audrey, it seems you've suddenly learned something exciting?"
"Yes," Audrey said, "I've thought of something very interesting."
"What is it?"
"I'm going to write to the post office and ask if they have a local newspaper in the Raging Sea," Audrey said, walking toward her desk. "If they do, I'll subscribe to a few."
She believed that she could find information about Lelouch's whereabouts through those newspapers.
Susie tilted her head, seemingly not understanding what was so happy about this.
...
Lacha Island, inside the Emerald Palace.
Odis opened his eyes and saw the roof of the Emerald Palace. He was in a daze for a moment, and then, just like last week, he took candles and spiritual materials and went to a deserted island.
After setting up the altar, Odis waited for more than ten minutes before receiving a notification from Mr. Fool to proceed with the bestowal ceremony.
He soon received £3,150 in cash, as well as three extraordinary materials of Sequence Level 9.
Odis had a great haul at the Tarot meeting, first by making a deal with the "Hanged Man" for extraordinary properties, and receiving £1,150.
The trade intelligence yielded 2,000 pounds. He was originally only supposed to receive 1,800 pounds, but after explaining the adjacent route to "the Moon," he received an extra 200 pounds, so he ultimately received a total of 2,000 pounds.
Odis then sacrificed the extraordinary properties of the "Briber" and four extraordinary weapons. In addition, the extraordinary weapons transaction left him owing the "Sun" 60 pounds.
After completing the transaction, Odis returned to the Emerald Palace. He was just thinking about where to have a meal to celebrate his promotion when Arya came to visit, bringing the first batch of parts produced by the foundry.
Odis had previously commissioned a foundry on Lasha Island to produce a batch of metal parts, and the first batch of parts was delivered today.
There weren't many, only two sets, mainly for Odis to check and see if they met his requirements.
Odis thanked her and offered Aria a cup of tea.
After seeing Aria off, he simply used "travel" to get to the "craftsman" Dif. Sure enough, the extraordinary parts he had commissioned this "craftsman" to make were already completed, but he hadn't had time to send them to Odis yet.
Odis paid 2,600 filkin, about 110 pounds, and after a brief chat, he returned to the Emerald Palace. He took out his self-made foot-operated carving machine from the Wilderness of Knowledge and began carving mystical symbols on metal parts he had brought from the foundry.
The entire design of the "Extraordinary Puppet" was in Odis's mind; he knew exactly which symbols needed to be engraved on which parts.
He originally just wanted to carve for a while and then go to Bayam for a nice meal around six o'clock.
However, once he started working, Oddess immediately devoted herself to it, carving one part after another.
Finally, he discovered that a set of parts had already been carved, so he simply took out the corresponding extraordinary materials and applied spiritual materials to the carved mystical symbols.
As Odis was assembling the "puppet," he heard Bernadette's personal maid outside ask, "Mr. Odis, are you there? Mr. Odis?"
Odis paused for a moment before asking, "I'm here. What is it?"
"The Queen sent me to invite you to dinner," said the personal maid.
Bernadette's original words were: "This guy is usually quite enthusiastic when eating. Go check if he's in his room. If not, then don't wait for him."
Odis said, "Go and invite the 'Queen' to come to me. Tell her I have something very important to discuss with her."
The personal maid hesitated for a moment, but still said, "Okay."
Odis continued installing the "extraordinary puppet," and when he sensed that there was suddenly another person in the room, he said, "Wait a moment, it will be done soon."
By this time, he had assembled the body of the "Extraordinary Puppet". After installing the breastplate with the magic array inside, Odis installed the crystal-like parts that he had commissioned Dif to make into the hollow abdomen of the "Puppet".
Once it's secured, the rest is relatively easy. The steel spine is already installed; next, the back armor and steel neck are attached.
The neck is very thin, and the top is a bowl-shaped container.
Odis placed the hexahedral Rubik's Cube into the container and smiled, "Look closely, the first 'Extraordinary Puppet' has been born."
As he spoke, Odis turned around and saw Bernadette, who had been silently observing.
Seeing that the audience was indeed there, Odis infused the iron object with primordial spirituality at its lower back, and the iron object's abdomen immediately emitted a soft light.
That was the start of the spiritual energy gathering array, and then a faint light was connected by the arrays and spiritual materials, spreading in two different directions, upward and downward.
As it reached the neck, the bowl-shaped container emitted a faint, pure white light, and the extraordinary symbols within it gradually lit up.
The six-sided Rubik's Cube slowly floated up and gradually transformed into a shape with its pointed corners pointing downwards.
Clack~
The Rubik's Cube suddenly rotated on its own, and the entire "Extraordinary Puppet" seemed to tremble.
Odis said, "Go and pour me a glass of water."
Clack-clack clack-clack clack-clack~
The Rubik's Cube spun a few more times, and then the "Extraordinary Puppet" began to move, turning and walking towards the table.
During this process, you can hear the sound of metal parts rubbing together, but the sound of rubbing together quickly becomes quieter and quieter, and the "extraordinary puppet" moves more and more smoothly.
It poured a glass of water and then brought it to Odis.
Although the "extraordinary puppet's" movements were quite stiff and it even spilled a little water, it was not a big deal.
Odis took a sip of water and asked Bernadette, "How is it?"
Bernadette seemed to suddenly come to her senses: "You... how did you do that?"
If it were a demigod-level extraordinary being, creating an "extraordinary puppet" wouldn't be a big deal, but for a Sequence 7 to actually create an "extraordinary puppet" was enough to surprise her.
Before this, she had always thought that the "extraordinary puppet" that Odis mentioned was a mechanical puppet with a mechanical structure, driven by a spring, and only able to perform fixed actions or do fixed things.
These puppets can be used for rowing, firing cannons, and even fighting.
But she never expected that it would be such an exquisite puppet capable of executing complex commands.
To be honest, the puppet's appearance is somewhat frightening at the moment, with long limbs and a long neck, and only half a head, but it also has a strange beauty that made Bernadette a little lost in thought just now.
"The core technology of this puppet comes from one of my studies: spiritual wave signals," Odis explained. "I discovered that if you study spirituality as waves, the 'waves' it forms can create completely different signals under different stimuli of length, strength, and distance."
"Theoretically speaking, there are countless different combinations of this signal."
"Inside this Rubik's Cube, each small piece contains a corresponding mystical symbol. Through the 'processing' of these mystical symbols, spirituality can form a complex 'combination signal'."
"The 'combined signal' then returns to the magic circle inside the 'puppet's' abdomen, which can then drive different magic circles to complete complex or simple actions..."
"Oh, right, after the upper part of its head was installed, it could actually talk."
Bernadette stared at the "extraordinary puppet" in a daze. She understood each of Odis's theories individually, but when they were put together, she couldn't quite grasp them.
After a long pause, she asked, "What exactly can this 'puppet' do... well, I mean, how complicated can it do?"
"Creative work is out of the question," Odis said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "For example, he can't design a ship or write a poem."
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
"However, it has the ability to learn. For example, it can't build ships now, but if it sees workers building ships, it can imitate them accordingly."
"Or rather, it's called poor imitation, because when objective conditions change, such as tools breaking or materials running out, it needs to be reminded to replace or repair the tools, or to obtain materials from designated locations, so that the shipbuilding work can continue."
"Of course, it's not 'stupid' either; it can come up with a solution the next time it encounters the same problem."
He scratched his head as he said this: "After a period of learning, it can do anything except creative work, or work that involves emotions or feelings, or even very delicate work."
"Well, theoretically speaking, that magic can generate 400 trillion trillion different commands. Of course, in reality, you definitely won't need that many commands, but it's enough for it to complete some complex tasks."
To be precise, this "smart cube" only has six sides, so it can't be used for very delicate work.
If it were Odis's most complex design, the thirty-two-sided "Wisdom Cube," the "Extraordinary Puppet's" movements would never be so stiff; they would be exactly like a human's, and would even possess the logic of emotions and feelings.
It can be said that, except for the inability to create, it can do almost everything else.
Bernadette concluded: "This is completely different from the 'extraordinary puppet' I had in mind."
This puppet was not created using extraordinary abilities, but rather is a product of accumulated logic and technology.
Bernadette suddenly felt it was out of place, out of place in this extraordinary world.
At this point, Odis installed the last part of the "Extraordinary Puppet," the upper part of its head.
Odis left a structure of two glass mirrors in the eyes, allowing pure white light to shine through. After being refracted by the mirrors, it formed a light that somewhat resembled the gaze of the eyes.
Odis asked, "What is today's date?"
The "Extraordinary Puppet" said in a voice devoid of emotion and somewhat ambiguous: "Fifth Era, 1350, January 17th."
Odis smiled and said, "Remember this day. It is your birthday, and the birthday of your people."
He then explained to Bernadette, "You can determine if it is working properly by asking about the date."
"In addition, do you remember the 'smart helmet'? After my modification of the 'smart helmet', it can also be instilled with new knowledge and common sense in the way of 'knowledge instillation'."
"Of course, that also involves the corresponding magic array for extracting knowledge. In the past half month, there has been a significant breakthrough, and it should be able to enter the application stage soon."
Bernadette then came to her senses and asked with a serious expression, "You plan to use these 'puppets' on your own ship?"
"I know what you're worried about," Odis smiled. "Their existence is truly astonishing, and it means that once the time is right, we can build an absolutely loyal and fearless 'puppet army'."
Bernadette nodded; she thought so too. The "extraordinary puppet" before her was something that could completely change the current world order!
Even if the major powers have extraordinary strength to support them, the side with the "extraordinary puppet" will definitely have a huge advantage.
Odis smiled easily: "I've thought about this issue before."
"Similarly, because of its extraordinary power, if one does not understand the technology and internal structure of this 'puppet,' then this puppet is not so special."
Bernadette immediately understood what Odis meant: when people see this "puppet", they will first think that it is something made by a demigod. People's understanding of the extraordinary makes them never think that this is something designed and made by a Sequence 7.
Finally, Odis said, "As for its technical structure and design philosophy, I will only tell you about them."
"If there was a leak, it must have been you who told someone else."
Bernadette smiled and nodded with satisfaction, saying, "It's good that you have the idea."
Odis looked out the window: "If you're not very hungry yet, I'll treat you to roast meat. Well, it'll take some time to prepare it."
Bernadette hummed in agreement.
So Odis brought the "puppet" to the kitchen, asked the cook for beef and mutton, and asked him to marinate the meat first.
During the meat-cutting process, Odis put clean gloves on the "puppet," demonstrated the technique, and then let the puppet cut the meat.
Bernadette followed behind, watching quietly.
The chefs, who were initially too afraid to even breathe because of the "mysterious queen's" presence, later watched this iron contraption cutting meat with rapt attention, as if watching some kind of performance.
The servants working at the Emerald Palace all possessed some extraordinary knowledge, so they were not surprised that this iron contraption could move or be so flexible; rather, they found it novel.
In addition, some chefs are worried that this iron contraption will take their jobs away from them.
After marinating the meat, Odis had the "puppet" move the oven to the beach, and also to test the "puppet's" strength.
Next came moving tables and beer bottles; the "puppet" completed all the instructions.
By this time, the meat was almost marinated. Odis was still in charge of demonstrating. After skewering the meat, he grilled a batch of meat skewers and then let the "puppet" skewer and grill the meat.
Odis sat down on the beach, listening to the waves crashing against the shore. Neither of them needed any lights to see anything around them, and there was moonlight tonight as well.
Odis poured himself a beer, occasionally glancing at the "puppet's" operation, enjoying his skewers and beer with great pleasure.
Bernadette raised her glass and said, "Congratulations on your promotion."
"Thank you." Odis clinked glasses with her and then finished his beer.
Bernadette clearly knew that he had been promoted to Sequence 6.
Odis was not surprised by this.
Bernadette inquired about Odis's condition and, after confirming that he hadn't received any special treatment from the "Hidden Sage," said, "I'm issuing you a mission. Originally, I planned to reward you with gold pounds, but it seems that a Sequence 5 potion recipe can be used instead."
"However, this mission is not dangerous, and its value is not enough to exchange for a Sequence 5 recipe. I can give you the recipe first, and you can go and collect the materials. After all, it takes a long time to collect all the materials at this level."
"You'll need to complete more tasks in the future to make up for the potion recipes you owe me."
Odis nodded: "Okay, what's the task?"
He had originally planned to obtain or trade the potion recipe from Bernadette.
"Investigate a man named Odell in Bayam," Bernadette said. "His nickname is 'Silver Coin Viper.'"
She then explained, "My intelligence officer in Bayam heard that Odel recently claimed to be working for me."
"The main thing is to check his background, whether he represents a person or an organization."
Odis felt the name sounded familiar. After a moment's "recollection," Odis, with her "God's perspective," remembered who "Silver Coin Viper" was: Odel claimed to work for the "Mysterious Queen," but in reality, he served the "Blood General."
He couldn't remember the specifics of this person, only that he seemed cunning and not very high-ranking. So he asked, "Is it just a matter of finding out? Do we need to find out his background and then kill him?"
In that case, the value of this task would be even greater.
"No need," Bernadette smiled. "This kind of person can be eliminated at any time, but if he lives, he might be of greater use in the future."
Odis nodded: "Alright, once I've finished these last two days, I'll start investigating in Bayam."
Bernadette nodded, took a bite of the roasted meat that her personal maid had picked off the skewer, and then took a piece of parchment from her pocket and handed it to Odis.
Odis took it, opened it, and saw that it read: "Sequence 5: Astrologer"
"Main materials: core crystal of the Shining Star Tree, pituitary gland of the Trickster Pegasus."
"Auxiliary materials: 50 grams of Black-striped Peony essential oil, 50 grams of Misty Black Birch sap, one fruit of the Shining Star Tree, and 12 grams of the liver of the Deceptive Pegasus."
"Ritual: Ride on the back of a colorful star-eyed beast and drink the potion in the midnight sky."
Odis frowned. Not to mention the two main ingredients, he had never even heard of the two auxiliary ingredients: the essential oil of the black-veined peony and the sap of the misty black birch.
Bernadette smiled and asked, "Do you find it difficult to advance to Sequence 5?"
For wild extraordinary individuals, reaching Sequence 6 is generally the limit, because at Sequence 5, not only are the main ingredients for potions difficult to obtain, but the advancement ritual is also very difficult to complete.
Therefore, wild extraordinary individuals, without the support of extraordinary organizations, find it difficult to become Sequence 5.
"Indeed," Odis said frankly, "I have absolutely no clue about this potion recipe."
"If you really can't find the main material, I can provide you with extraordinary properties," Bernadette said readily. "In addition, I have three multicolored star-eyed beasts under my care, which can help you solve the ritual problem."
As one of the main extraordinary organizations on the path of "Secret Seekers," it is only natural to be prepared in order to avoid having the "Morse Ascetic Order" affect the promotion of its members.
Odis felt as if she had suddenly seen hope.
At this point, Bernadette changed the subject, saying, "However, you need to accumulate enough merit with me to receive this help."
Odis gave a wry smile. The debt of the potion formula had not yet been paid off, and now he was burdened with the debt of extraordinary properties and rituals.
He thought about it for a moment and felt that he should try to find the main ingredients, as well as the auxiliary ingredients for the potion recipe.
Once you've gathered all the materials, it's best to ask the "Mysterious Queen" for help with the ceremony. Otherwise, if you rely entirely on the "Mysterious Queen," you might not even have time to gather all the merits.
Then Odis asked, "Besides completing quests to earn merit points, what else can you do to earn merit points?"
"You can do what you're used to," Bernadette said. "Gathering intelligence, whether it's about 'Elemental Dawn' or not, as long as it's valuable, you'll earn merit."
Odis nodded: "I understand."
In other words, there's no way to buy merit points with money.
Having finished discussing this issue, Odis focused on the operation of the "Extraordinary Puppet" while considering his next plan.
He never expected that on the very day he was promoted to Sequence 6, he would receive a Sequence 5 potion recipe.
Odis didn't even know if this was lucky or unlucky.
To put it bluntly, this level of formula is something that some extraordinary individuals never obtain in their entire lives.
I'd say I was lucky; I'd just been promoted, and before I even had time to be happy, I was overwhelmed by the main materials and the ceremony.
Seeing that the "Extraordinary Puppet" was functioning normally, Odis took a deep breath: Let's not worry about the advancement for now. We can worry about the potion in a few days. In the meantime, let's enjoy the joy of advancement.
So he said, "Let's give the first 'extraordinary puppet' a name. We may make some improvements in the future, but this 'puppet' is of extraordinary significance."
Bernadette nodded in agreement: "Do you have any good names?"
"How about calling it 'Unit One'?" For the first time, Odis felt that the name she had chosen was quite good. "As promised before, this 'Extraordinary Puppet' belongs to you."
Previously, Odis obtained information about the "Tree of Alamon" from Bernadette, on the condition that he would give Bernadette one after the "Extraordinary Puppet" was completed.
Bernadette had no objection to the name and readily accepted "Unit 1".
After a hearty meal, Odis simply lay down on the beach and quietly gazed at the night sky.
Bernadette sat quietly to the side, staring blankly at "Unit 1" as it carried the oven back.
The personal maid suddenly felt as if time had stood still.