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Bernadette immediately took the "Sage Frontlet" and "embedded" it into the center of her forehead.
As spiritual energy surged and gradually merged with her body, and a diamond vertical eye appeared on her forehead, Bernadette's body began to dematerialize, breaking down into streams of complex knowledge.
In an instant, Bernadette transformed into a pure stream-of-information being.
However, the large patches of distorted, chaotic pollution on her body did not achieve this state; they detached from her body and gradually converged into a fingernail-sized crystal.
At the same time, the torrent of information that Bernadette had become, free from the pollution, reassembled her original body nearby.
During this process, she seemed to catch a fleeting glimpse of boundless, dark-golden mist.
Above the dark-golden mist, Aaron withdrew his gaze. After peeling off the black emperor card, he rubbed his slightly throbbing forehead. The chaotic eye at the top of the throne flickered a few times, its century-old light dimming before returning to silence.
Aaron looked at the images reflected by the still-dissipating prayer light points and muttered:
"She's incredibly bold, a bad habit passed down through generations. She dares to look at anything with the Eyes of Mystery Prying. Good thing I pulled back in time, or it would have been troublesome."
"But this time, the warning should be very effective. At least next time, she'll try a different way of communicating…"
Seeing that Bernadette had reassembled her body and Sharron was unharmed, Aaron thought about leaving once the prayer light points dissipated.
Suddenly, he heard another layered chorus of pleas, and another prayer light point lit up below, revealing a dark-golden Door, somewhere between illusory and real, that opened wide.
"The Door of Sacrifice and Bestowal? Quite efficient." Aaron's spiritual perception reached out and indeed saw Ferran Eddas, eyes closed in prayer, and a pile of 1000 pounds on the altar in front of him.
Aaron raised his hand and retrieved a blue crystal from the pile of miscellaneous items—it was the precipitated "Seafarer" Beyonder characteristic. After collecting the 1000 pounds that had been sacrificed, he tossed the crystal into the Door of Sacrifice and Grant.
The dark-golden portal closed, and Aaron returned to the real world. He tidied up his items and continued to read "The Proposal for Establishing the Kingdom Atmospheric Pollution Investigation Committee" on his desk.
As the primary initiator and promoter of this proposal, he had to finalize the last version before it was officially submitted to the parliament tomorrow, to satisfy the demands of all parties and gain the maximum level of support.
-----------------
Inside the compartment, Bernadette, pale-faced, removed the "Sage Frontlet." Several ethereal, pure white feathers emerged, enveloping the crystal floating in the air. She then summoned the Spirit World creature with the upper body of a human and the lower body of wind again, handing both the "Sage Frontlet" and the feather-wrapped crystal to him.
With a wave of Bernadette's right hand, the room returned to its original state, and Sharron's slightly ethereal figure solidified and reappeared. This was a protective measure for her, to prevent her from losing control and going mad if she directly faced a mythical creature form.
Sharron had now recovered and, recalling the dream-like scene she had just experienced, looked up to see Bernadette, whose true appearance was now revealed.
Seeing the fatigue on the face of this Pirate King, renowned throughout the Five Seas, Sharron immediately had some suspicions, but she still restrained her curiosity and, as per their original agreement, recounted the images and words she had just received.
"Friday, a gathering…" A subtle shift appeared on Bernadette's slightly pale face. After a moment of contemplation, an exquisite, golden whistle appeared before Sharron, and she spoke, meeting Sharron's questioning gaze:
"Blow it, and you can summon my messenger. You can send messages and seek help."
After seeing Sharron accept it, Bernadette seemed to recall something and softly chanted in ancient hermes:
"The Sacred Spirit that Pursues Knowledge;
"The Mysterious World's Lighthouse;
"Eyes that Pry into Fate;
"The Royalty above the Sea;
"The Pure and Holy Bernadette Gustav."
Without waiting for Sharron to ask, Bernadette proactively explained: "This is my honorific name. I will be staying in Caesar Port for the next few days. If you encounter an unresolvable danger, you can find me. Hmm, this is quicker than summoning a messenger."
"And you only need to help me ask one question at the gathering you attend next week. I will pay the price required to answer that question."
Sharron looked up at Bernadette, bowed slightly, and said, "I will, thank you for your help."
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On the other side of Caesar Port's harbor district, Darkwill, wearing a black robe in the style of a rural witch doctor, around thirty years old, with black hair, brown eyes, a round face, and a plump physique, furtively poked his head out. After confirming no one was following him again, he slowly walked to another street.
He finally stopped in front of an unmarked pharmacy in an alley diagonally opposite Caesar Port's Red Theater. Darkwill clicked his tongue, removed the red cloth displaying a sign for "Exclusive Potency Elixirs," opened the door, and walked inside.
After checking his valuables again, the plump Apothecary Darkwill confirmed nothing was missing. He then took a letter from a secret compartment and unfolded it while muttering:
"I wonder if the old man can escape this calamity this time. He absolutely must not get caught. I just became an Apothecary, and he hasn't given me the subsequent potion formulas yet…"
The letter contained only a few short sentences: "The situation is tense, no meeting for now. Southern Continent is dangerous, leave as soon as possible—Roy-King."
After scanning the letter again, Darkwill sighed with a hint of worry. He then put the letter away and unfolded his newly purchased Northern Continent map, looking at the few marked locations and silently calculating his route:
"Hmm, first take a ship to Bayam, then to Enmat Harbor, Tingen, and finally to Backlund. Stay in each place for a while, sell some potions to save money, and leave when I'm about to be discovered…"
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October 21st, Thursday. Backlund West Borough, Belloto Street, MI9.
Aaron was dressed in a crisp Loen Major's military uniform, followed by Glenn Weil and the others from the Fourth Special Investigation Team.
As the target of this mission was quite dangerous, Aaron only called Glenn, a Sequence 6, to assist in the operation, while the others were responsible for perimeter security.
Accompanied by the clip-clop of hooves, the carriage drove towards East Borough. Glenn, looking at Aaron sitting beside him, couldn't help but ask:
"We've already left MI9. What exactly is the target of this mission? You can tell us now, right?"
Aaron looked at his team members' puzzled gazes, pulled out a stack of documents from his Arms, and handed them over. This was the result of Xio and Fors's investigations over the past few weeks.
After Aaron had informed and warned them about the Demoness last time, they quickly adjusted their thinking after a brief shock, intending to make this Demoness the breakthrough point for the matter.
The two did not rashly track and investigate directly. Instead, they decided to first inquire at various Red Theaters in East Borough to see if there had been any beautiful women with very unique sexual orientations recently. Originally, this was just an attempt, but they unexpectedly found something.
"East Borough, Tito Street, Number 122." Aaron rubbed his chin, thinking to himself as he looked at the final address given in the investigation report:
"My Interrogator potion should be fully digested after interrogating this Demoness. However, this interrogation needs to be conducted secretly elsewhere, so that others don't notice and destroy evidence."
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