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*****
Among the twenty-two sequences, it seemed that only the Marauder pathway possessed the ability to parasitize.
When a Marauder reached Sequence 4, Parasitizer, they could parasitize the bodies of low-sequence Beyonders to hide and recover from injuries.
However, to dare parasitize a Beyonder of the Church, and to do so without Crestet—who had advanced to Sequence 4—noticing in the slightest, meant the entity's strength was likely at least Sequence 3 or higher.
It was very possibly a Sequence 2 or Sequence 1.
It was precisely because of this that George did not expose the other party immediately.
It wasn't that he was afraid he couldn't win, but rather he felt the other party still had utility value; there was no need to fall out right away.
The specific situation of the other party was still unclear. If they were the type that could be collaborated with, he might be able to obtain a great deal of useful intelligence from them.
The Church was still wary of him, and many truly vital pieces of intelligence would not be shared with him.
After restoring Old Neil, George and Crestet did not immediately leave Tingen to return to Backlund.
This was because Crestet had another task to perform during this trip to Tingen.
That was to assess whether Klein had finished digesting the Sequence 9 potion and to provide him with the potion for Sequence 8, Clown.
Originally, Klein had thought the Church only possessed the formulas and potions for the Sleepless pathway. In reality, the Church of the Evernight Goddess made a special effort to collect potions and formulas for two other sequences.
One was the Corpse Collector sequence, and the other was the Seer sequence.
Among the middle management of the Church, there were many skilled practitioners of the Corpse Collector pathway at Sequence 6 and Sequence 5.
While those of the Seer pathway were temporarily all low-sequence, the Church likely mastered the high-sequence potion pathways for the Seer sequence.
Furthermore, they also raised mermaids, which were essential for a Seer to advance to Sequence 5.
Mermaids, those creatures of legend, were either raised by the Church of the Evernight Goddess or had to be sought out in the dangerous depths of the deep sea.
Crestet had revealed all of this, intentionally or otherwise, while chatting with George.
George understood Crestet's intentions; it was nothing more than trying to use this to entice him into joining the Church.
However, George showed no reaction to this.
In George's view, the dangerous deep sea was only dangerous for average Beyonders; for him, it posed no threat at all.
As for the high-sequence Seer potion formulas, he could obtain them through other means.
Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to join any Church, as it would allow an orthodox deity to keep their attention on him at all times.
After Klein's assessment was finished, Crestet and George returned to Backlund by carriage.
"Regarding the subsequent Seer pathway potions you requested, our conditions are twofold.
First, assist the Church in killing enemies of the corresponding sequence.
Second, help the Church restore Nighthawks who have lost control."
Before George returned home, Crestet informed him of the Church's decision regarding whether to grant him the Seer sequence potions.
After multiple probes, they had discovered that George likely wouldn't join the Church in the short term.
However, because George had helped the Church restore those who had lost control multiple times and harbored great goodwill toward them, they didn't want George to be disappointed in the Church.
Therefore, regarding George's request to purchase the subsequent Seer potions, they decided to provide them—but not for money. He had to work for the Church.
For example, if George currently needed the Sequence 6 Faceless potion, he would have to help the Church kill one Sequence 6 cultist.
Alternatively, he could kill five Sequence 7 cultists, ten Sequence 8 cultists, or twenty Sequence 9 cultists.
Similarly, these could be exchanged for saving those who had lost control, like Old Neil.
Twenty Sequence 9s, ten Sequence 8s, five Sequence 7s, and one Sequence 6 were all considered equivalent.
George was currently a Sequence 7 and couldn't save a Sequence 6, but if a Sequence 6 case of loss of control truly appeared, they would first provide George with the Sequence 6 potion, allowing him to advance before performing the restoration.
The result would be the same.
"No problem."
George didn't find the conditions given by the Church of the Evernight Goddess difficult.
To him, this was clearly not a hard task.
Whether it was killing a Sequence 6 or saving some people who had lost control, achieving it was only a matter of time.
It just so happened that he currently needed time to digest the vast amount of occult knowledge he had just acquired, so there was no rush.
Once he had thoroughly digested the knowledge, if a suitable opportunity hadn't appeared naturally, he could simply create one.
Backlund was the capital of Loen; a vast number of cultists were hidden here.
The "Mr. A" mentioned by Miss Justice previously was likely a cultist of the Aurora Order.
He could simply ask Miss Justice for the location of the Beyonder gathering hosted by Mr. A, then take the initiative to strike and take him down.
Then there was that Pirate Admiral, Qilangos, who had also infiltrated Backlund. Once Miss Justice had news, he could go and kill him to exchange for a potion.
He currently favored problems that could be solved directly with force.
Any problem that could be solved with force was not a problem for him.
---
Another week passed, during which the Tarot Club held its usual meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
The main subject of discussion this time was Qilangos.
The Beyonder hired by Miss Justice had discovered traces of Qilangos but was spotted by him and nearly killed, ultimately losing the trail again.
On Sunday, a grand ball was held at the estate of Duke Negan in the Empress Borough of Backlund.
The Barton family was also fortunate enough to receive an invitation to this ball.
"Oh, by the God of Steam, I never imagined we would receive an invitation from the Duke."
Inside the carriage, Clarice repeatedly checked her makeup in a mirror, terrified of losing her dignity at the ball.
Jack, sitting opposite her, was also somewhat nervous:
"Yes, I didn't expect to receive an invitation either."
Although his current position in the City Hall was quite good, that was only compared to ordinary people; compared to Duke Negan, it was like the difference between heaven and earth.
One was a local precinct director, the other was the Minister of Defense—separated by an unknowable number of social classes.
Even his direct superior had not received an invitation to the Duke's ball.
"Could there really be someone backing me from above? But even I don't know about it!"
Jack couldn't help but complain internally.
He wasn't stupid; during his time at work, how could he not see that things were unusual?
Even if his colleagues at the City Hall were exceptionally kind, it didn't explain why even his boss showered him with care every day, nor did it justify an invitation from the Duke.
Furthermore, he occasionally overheard colleagues discussing him in private, saying he had powerful connections, or even claiming he was the illegitimate child of some member of the Royal Family.
He hadn't believed it at first, but now he was feeling a bit uncertain.
However, he didn't think he was the illegitimate child of the Royal Family, because he looked almost exactly like his deceased father.
He now suspected whether his late father might have been the illegitimate child of some Royal Family member or a great noble.
(End of Chapter)