In Empress Borough, the luxurious villa of Earl Hall's family.
The cold air was blocked out by the windows and walls. The room was as warm as spring, and the fireplace was elegant.
Audrey Hall was being measured by the fashion designer, Mrs. Ginia, so that she could conceive a costume for the New Year's Ball based on her recent physical and temperament state.
At this moment, her personal maid, Annie, leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Ma 'am Escalante is here to visit."
"Ma 'am Escalante is here to visit."
There's feedback so soon? Audrey was delighted, but she didn't show any obvious changes on her face.
She smiled faintly and said, "Get her to wait in my studio. Oh, five minutes."
"Art studio?" Annie asked in surprise.
"Yes, I want to invite her to admire the oil painting I recently completed. She said that the content depicted in a relaxed state can easily reveal one's true thoughts and emotions," Audrey explained unhurriedly.
Annie was immediately enlightened.
"Yes, Miss."
In less than five minutes, Audrey entered the studio and saw Escalante admiring the painting on the wall.
"That's Mr. Sensi's' Inner Night, 'a masterpiece that makes one feel at peace." She smiled as she introduced Escalante to the painting.
"Sensi's' Inner Night '? The top ten of the Tussock Times' Top 100 Paintings of the Century last year? "Escalante was clearly the kind of person who often read newspapers.
And as a Beyonder of the Spectator pathway, her memory was excellent.
"Yes," Audrey replied simply, as though it was a trivial matter.
"I'm actually lucky enough to see the real thing …" Escalante looked up again at the oil painting.
She swallowed the words "it's worth at least a manor" back down her throat, not wanting to appear too vulgar.
Audrey didn't introduce the other paintings and found a reason to send Annie away. She then signaled Susie with her eyes to "stand guard" outside the door.
Susie took her cue without any trouble, and ran out, wagging her tail and bouncing her bottom.
Escalante closed the door and returned to the easel. Before Audrey could ask, she took the initiative to say,
"We have the characteristics of Human-skinned Shadow and the potion formula of Wind-blessed, but there's no need to sell them unless the other party can give us something we can't refuse."
If he was willing to negotiate, it meant that there was hope! Audrey's eyes turned slightly as she chuckled.
"What do you hope to obtain?"
Escalante stroked her hair and replied with a prepared answer, "That's right.
"The Human-skinned Shadow characteristic, 2,500 pounds. The Wind-blessed potion formula, 3,000 pounds."
'That's a lot of premium …' Audrey didn't feel that it was expensive. She only sighed at the fact that Psychological Alchemy's premium was more than 50%.
According to The Hanging Man's description, under normal circumstances, the price of a Sequence 6 potion formula was less than 2,000 pounds. However, the closer one was to a Sequence, the fewer the potion formulas were in circulation. It was very difficult to buy them, and there was no normal situation at all. More importantly, even if one happened to encounter one, it was very difficult to verify its authenticity.
At this moment, Escalante added, "Don't worry.
"If the other party can use a mystical item to exchange for it, it's fine as long as the value is roughly the same."
That is to say, you are more interested in obtaining mystical items and are willing to accept a price reduction … The Psychological Alchemy is one of the youngest secret organizations. It's clearly lacking in this aspect compared to the others … Audrey pursed her lips.
"I'll give feedback, but I can't guarantee that they'll accept it."
She wasn't worried that the Psychological Alchemy would discover that she hadn't participated in any Beyonder gatherings recently. This was because her schedule was rather tight. Afternoon tea, music lessons, banquets, dances, equestrian training, language lessons, and dance lessons alternated. There were too many opportunities for her to interact with different groups of people. This way, a particular banquet might be a cover for a Beyonder gathering, or the music teacher might be a senior Beyonder. It was almost impossible for the Psychological Alchemy to investigate the matter clearly if she was hiding in the dark and couldn't act openly.
At this point, Audrey asked curiously,
"Teacher Escalante, I originally thought that you wouldn't sell the Wind-blessed potion formula. It's already at Sequence 6."
"Hehe, if there's a chance to spread it, it might be more useful to us," Escalante answered vaguely.
In her heart, although Miss Audrey was a valued new member of the organization, she was still a new member. There were many things that she could not know.
Why? Audrey suppressed her doubts, smiled sweetly, and asked innocently,
"Teacher Escalante, if this deal succeeds, can it be counted as my contribution?"
Escalante could not help but laugh.
"Forget it."
…
Klein spent the entire morning "busy" until he returned to Minsk Street, filled his stomach, and prepared to rest. Only then did he have the time and opportunity to listen to the prayers above the gray fog.
Miss Justice also has a Human-skinned Shadow characteristic? Seriously, it's either none or two … As a secret organization, the Psychological Alchemy is quite qualified in terms of resources … Klein suddenly fell into a dilemma about how to choose his happiness.
Although he only had 1,335 pounds in cash, including the 500 pounds that The Hanging Man had yet to give, this didn't stop him from seriously considering the Psychological Alchemy's request for a deal.
After thinking for more than ten seconds, he first conveyed Justice's words to The Hanging Man to see what choice he would make.
…
3,000 pounds? The Hanging Man, Alger Wilson, who was still in the City of Generosity, the capital of the Rorsted Archipelago, felt as if he had been hit hard with a bat.
After obtaining the Blue Avenger and becoming its captain, he sometimes acted as a pirate and sometimes appeared as a law enforcer, secretly wiping out several pirate gangs. But even so, the total value of the spoils of war didn't exceed 2,000 pounds, and a portion of it had to be distributed to the sailors below. Of course, this didn't include the captured ships and cannons, which had to be handed over to the Church of the Storm.
This often made Alger sigh that most pirates weren't actually rich. They were used to squandering their harvests. Liquor, roasted meat, prostitutes, marijuana, and gambling had drained the pirates' wallets.
Unless I encounter a pirate team with Beyonders, it's really difficult to get rich overnight … Alger paced back and forth a few times before quickly making up his mind.
He took out a mask made of gold from the pocket of his clothes.
There were rough facial features on the mask, and they looked very similar to the characteristics of primitive people in the ancient jungle.
Alger sat down and humbly recited the honorific name of The Fool.
Finally, he said, "… I'm willing to use this mystical item to exchange for the Wind-blessed potion formula.
"As long as this mask is worn, the user will become extremely calm without any emotional fluctuations. At the same time, he will also obtain extremely powerful recovery abilities, exaggerated speed, and outstanding strength. He will also grasp a certain amount of black magic and primitive curse spells.
"Its disadvantage is that as the number of times it is used increases, the wearer will become less and less human. They will become more and more cold, and eventually, they will think of themselves as gods."
…
Klein sat in The Fool's seat and looked at the 500 pounds in front of him, the five strands of dark blue hair that were as thick as snakes, and the simple golden mask. He tapped the edge of the long table with his fingers as he carefully considered what mystical items he could use for exchange.
The All-Black Eye? Definitely not. This is the main ingredient of a Sequence 5 Nimblewright Master. I just have to wait for Little Sun to obtain the method to remove the mental corruption …
The Dark Emperor card? This can't see the light of day, and its value is many times higher than the Human-skinned Shadow characteristic …
Mr. Aztec's copper whistle? It's currently only used to summon messengers. It's an important tool for communication, so it's impossible to sell …
The copper whistle of the Charismatic Order member who left the white feather in the coffin? Similarly, it can only summon messengers, and the other side of the messenger seems to be very dangerous …
Sun Brooch? This is something I need for myself. It can effectively make up for my shortcomings …
Master Key? There are too many secrets when it comes to Mr. Door. In addition, in terms of value, it's far inferior to the Human-skinned Shadow characteristic …
Biological Poison Bottle? This is very compatible with my Spirit Body state. If used well, I can even fight a group of Beyonders alone …
Demon hunting bullets, purification bullets, exorcism bullets? This isn't a mystical item. It's a consumable Beyonder weapon, and its value is much lower …
Book of Secrets? This isn't a mystical item either. Psychological Alchemy likely doesn't lack such knowledge …
From the looks of it, only the Interrogator Beyonder characteristic can be sold, but the other party wants a mystical item. Furthermore, the trading venue is in Baekeland, so it's easy to expose information about the Hero Bandit Dark Emperor …
Klein took this opportunity to sort out the things he had and finally came up with a perfect idea.
He first conjured Mr. World and controlled him to take on a praying posture before replying hoarsely, "Mr. World.
He hoarsely replied, "… I accept the price of 2,500 pounds, but give me two days to raise the funds."
Right on the heels of that, Klein threw the image of The Hanging Man and World's reply into the crimson star that symbolized Miss Justice.
…
After receiving Miss Justice's reply that there were no problems, Klein waited patiently at Minsk Street for the entire afternoon.
It wasn't until dusk that the Machinery Hivemind member, Carlson, rang his doorbell.
Klein didn't ask further and followed him all the way to the Lever Cathedral near the West Balam dock. He then entered the three-story building next door.
The signboard here was:
"Baekeland Machinery Research Institute."
How academic … Klein suddenly thought of the Blackthorn Security Company, and the corners of his mouth curled into a smile.
Under Carlson's guidance, he passed through some strange devices and found himself in a windowless room.
On the long table in the room were many items with strong spirituality, including the characteristic of a Human-skinned Shadow and a Specter Portrait Frame covered with a black cloth. However, there weren't any characteristics left behind by the dead Beyonders.
Clearly, the upper echelons of the Machinery Hivemind don't want me to know about the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Conservation and Indestructibility … Klein wasn't surprised.
"You can choose one." The hatless Ikanser pointed at the long table.
Klein "carefully" observed it a few times and sighed.
"There's nothing I want.
"If I were to convert it into gold pounds, how much would I get?"
He had already decided not to obtain the Human-skinned Shadow characteristic from the Machinery Hivemind.
Although this could be explained as the need to create certain mystical items or attempt unique ritualistic magic, there was still a chance of exposing his Sequence. In a situation where a better choice appeared, Klein didn't want to take the risk.
Therefore, he planned on using pure money!
And this would not only help him gather the 2,500 pounds required by the Psychological Alchemy, but it would also effectively dispel the Machinery Hivemind's wariness.
Ikanser clearly heaved a sigh of relief. He combed his hair and replied with a smile,
"1,500 pounds.
"However, we encourage you to choose money, so the total is 2,000 pounds."
Klein immediately revealed a sincere smile.
"Alright!"
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