Chapter 207: Do you want a cloak? |
After Kay and his companions left, Su'en didn't linger at the ruins of the Central Prison.
According to Sereya, the "Isaac Alchemy Heart" was now on him, and the fallen angel could sense it and would come looking for him at any moment. Only with Mr. Mirror by his side could the danger be minimized.
He signaled Mr. Mirror and then headed in the opposite direction of the trio, towards a relatively safe spot deep within the ruins.
It was a sturdy tower building.
Su'en leaped inside. The view here was wide open, with breezy, broken windows on all sides, allowing him to spot any approaching danger promptly.
But shortly after he settled down, a mysterious figure whose face couldn't be seen appeared out of thin air before him. It was like a beam from a projector; as soon as the light shone in, the person arrived.
Seeing the golden-embroidered cloak, Su'en knew it was someone from the Mirror organization.
Hmm... Considering this method even weirder than teleportation, it was likely Mr. Mirror himself.
By now, Su'en had somewhat figured out some of Mr. Mirror's abilities. She seemed capable of imitating anyone's appearance and powers.
Most of the knowledge system in Old London was excavated from ruins, with gaps and fragments. The introductions to talents were also incomplete, with some missing pieces.
Especially for S-class talents, there were almost no records or descriptions.
Su'en didn't know what Mr. Mirror's talent was before, only that it seemed rarer than A-class.
But just now, in the cursed space, he had acquired a volume called "The Complete Compendium of Human Talent Awakening" and, out of curiosity, flipped through the first few pages. He saw a talent—【S-011-Mirror Guardian】.
It was a talent that could mimic "almost" any ability, as long as one could understand it.
Obviously, Mr. Mirror possessed this kind of talent.
***
The cloaked figure saw Su'en and asked, "Have you seen her?"
Hearing the tone of the voice, although indistinguishable between male and female, Su'en knew it was Mr. Mirror and responded, "Yes."
The cloaked figure listened and let out an almost imperceptible sigh of melancholy.
Su'en had a rough idea of what she was melancholic about.
One of the causes of the cursed space was the fall of ancient powerhouses, where their powerful regrets and residual energies formed special spaces.
The existence of the 【Dawn Central Prison】 cursed space, in a sense, was actually Sereya's "grave."
She must have died when Dawn City was destroyed.
With the dissipation of the cursed space, it also meant that no trace of Sereya could be found in the world anymore.
Su'en watched with an unchanged expression, but something strange stirred in his heart.
He had already confirmed that this Mr. Mirror truly knew Sereya from a thousand years ago.
That meant, the person before him was a real "old monster" who had lived for a thousand years.
Under normal circumstances, ordinary humans could extend their lifespan through career advancements or some special methods, but two to three hundred years was usually the limit.
He had never heard of anyone living for a thousand years.
Thinking back to Mr. Mirror's exaggerated healing ability when she was injured, Su'en wondered: Could it be that she's not human?
Now Su'en knew that this world's intelligent life was not limited to humans; just on the surface, there were dwarves, goblins, orcs, elves, half-orcs, trolls, sea tribes, dragons...
And various strange mythological races, special species from other planes...
Oh, and fallen angels whose nature was unknown.
But Mr. Mirror was definitely not an ordinary human.
***
The cloaked Mr. Mirror, more mysterious than her previous form of a thousand strands, had a chilly aura.
It was unclear if it was due to her innate aura or her personality.
She glanced at Su'en, seemingly guessing his confusion but didn't explain, only asking, "You know what's going on?"
Su'en nodded, "Yes."
Knowing that Theresa would definitely come looking for him, and wanting to understand the enemy's strength to be prepared, he asked, "What exactly is her strength now?"
Mr. Mirror: "Hard to say."
Su'en: "Hard to say?"
Mr. Mirror explained, "We've already found the other body parts in advance, but she's got a small part. She's probably recovered to the level of a fourth-order. However, her understanding of the laws at that level is definitely not comparable to that of an ordinary human fourth-order."
Su'en understood.
It was like how he was only at the standard of a second-order professional, but his understanding of the laws had already reached beyond the third-order, with combat power far exceeding his peers.
Mr. Mirror pointed at the sky, indicating she didn't want to elaborate further, "Let's not talk about this, the problem shouldn't be too big."
With that, she didn't seem to have any intention of leaving and sat down cross-legged not far from Su'en.
Neither of them explicitly referred to the fallen angel.
Gods have sensitive perceptions and can listen to some whispers about them.
Su'en understood the gesture.
With this big shot by his side, he wasn't too worried.
Sir Isaac, who had been scheming for a thousand years, naturally had other means.
At this moment, Su'en suddenly remembered the information he had stripped from the soul of "Forensic" Severus Gerald.
He felt it necessary to speak up, "Mr. Mirror, I've learned some other information. Duke Raphael has begun to suspect Theresa of 'demonic invasion.' Apart from the people in the duke's mansion, there seems to be an exorcism team that has come from outside."
"An exorcism team?"
Mr. Mirror pondered for a moment, seemingly considering something.
That team had avoided the Umbrella organization, obviously coming in secret, and the Mirror organization hadn't received any news.
"Hmm... indeed, we need to be cautious."
She thought for a while, took out an alchemical ring that looked like a communicator, and gave a few instructions.
Su'en was curious about the ring-shaped communicator.
Probably because they were familiar with each other and he knew she wouldn't mind, he appraised it.
【Daggers Goblin Communicator】
Description: An alchemical product from the mythological goblin era, a true antique; can communicate over great distances ignoring certain spatial barriers. 'Daggers Splitting Worms' are a peculiar species that existed during the mythological era. The mother worm can sense the location of its offspring and accurately transmit signals to each other; these worms were widely used for secret intelligence transmission in the goblin civilization of the mythological era;
"Nice piece."
Su'en admired it silently.
This was far more advanced than any communicator he had encountered.
The communication that ignored spatial barriers felt a bit like an "encrypted satellite phone."
And it didn't require a signal tower.
It seemed to be a proprietary communicator of the Mirror organization.
Mr. Mirror naturally saw Su'en's examining gaze. After transmitting the message, she magically produced another identical ring and tossed it to him.
Su'en looked at the communication ring in his hand, slightly surprised, and asked, "Mr. Mirror, for me?"
"Yes, for easier contact."
Mr. Mirror nodded and added, "There aren't many of these. If you lose one, there's one less, so be careful not to lose it."
"Oh."
Su'en put the ring on his finger, suddenly feeling a strange sensation.
With a proprietary communicator, was he now a member of the "Mirror organization"?
But why didn't they give me one of those cool cloaks?
And wasn't the entry threshold a second awakening of talent?
Before he could ponder further, Mr. Mirror directly asked, "Want a cloak?"
Her tone was casual,
But the question,
Clearly, was asking Su'en if he wanted to join.
Before he could answer, Mr. Mirror continued, "'Mirror' is a very loose organization, with no particular responsibilities or obligations. Everyone is currently working towards the common goal of leaving the tower, which is why we complete certain tasks. In the future, it will be like the 'Rosicrucian' of the last era, a purely high-end alchemical academic exchange circle..."
She clarified the purpose of the organization in a few sentences.
Su'en didn't hesitate and immediately said, "I want it."
That golden-embroidered cloak was a good item.
Of course, the most important thing was that he was now very close to several big shots in the Mirror organization, Thousand Strands, Number Nineteen, Mr. Mirror, Mr. Black...
Even if he wasn't, in the eyes of others, he was.
Hearing the response, Mr. Mirror casually tossed him a golden cloak.
Although it was also golden-embroidered, with symbols of snakes, eagles, lizards, fire dragons, thorny flowers... common in alchemy, it had distinct details from the cloaks Su'en had seen before, with some "exclusive" marks, like a scythe representing the Reaper?
Was this prepared in advance?
Su'en took the cloak.
With just a simple exchange, he joined the current number one reactionary organization in Old London.
Both of them were calm.
At that moment, Su'en remembered something else and took out the 【Furnace Lamp of Volgan】, returning it to its owner, "Um... Mr. Mirror, this is the copper lamp I took in earlier..."
But the heart had already been refined into the 【Isaac Alchemy Heart】 and was sealed, so he couldn't take it out even if he wanted to.
He intended to explain, "That heart..."
But unexpectedly, Mr. Mirror didn't seem to care at all and shook her head to interrupt him.
She saw the ring on Su'en's hand, a fleeting light in her eyes, and simply said, "I know."
Hearing this, Su'en didn't say more.
Indeed, as Sereya said, she gave the 【Isaac Alchemy Heart】 to Su'en, and Mr. Mirror wouldn't mind.
After the exchange, they stopped talking.
They meditated cross-legged, waiting for Theresa to come knocking.
***
Previously in the cursed space, Su'en was constantly listening to Sereya's teachings and didn't have time to think about his gains.
Now he had the mindset to properly check his loot.
This meditation immediately felt different from before.
Multiple thoughts could run simultaneously in his mind, yet the pathways were clear – what kind of experience was this?
Su'en used to maintain a certain level of consciousness even when sleeping to suppress other emotions in his brain.
Now that the negative emotions were completely released, stimulating brain development.
The current Su'en could clearly feel his brain working at a faster pace, and the whole world seemed clearer.
Naturally, it was the effect of the mental power secret technique.
Even in ancient times, mental power secret techniques were high-end secrets.
Like breathing techniques, they varied in quality and effectiveness.
Mental power secret techniques also differed. Su'en had experienced Sabina's mental power; a succubus's mental power lies in seduction, soft and enticing, able to stir up primal desires; Mr. Black's mental power was "sharp," like needle pricks, able to probe into the secrets of one's heart...
There were also aggressive mental secret techniques, very domineering.
Different mental secret techniques resulted in different types of mental powers.
Su'en learned the exclusive secret technique of Sereya's puppeteer lineage, an epic secret technique passed down from the last era—【Starry Sky Contemplation Technique】.
The mental power generated by this secret technique was scattered but focused on "quantity."
Like the stars in the sky, twinkling and numerous.
Perfect for controlling puppets.
Previously, Su'en's mental power was like loose sand.
His "reason" was like a small sandcastle built on a beach, with very little usable power, and the excess mental power was a burden.
But now, with this secret technique, Su'en could clearly feel the difference.
During meditation, he could clearly feel the mental power in his brain coalescing into shape, forming a "willow tree."
All the mental power was utilized, forming the trunk.
And the mental power tendrils could spread out like willow branches...
For a puppeteer profession, this was more than suitable.
As long as his mental power was strong enough in the future, these "willow" mental power tendrils would increase infinitely and extend without limit...
Moreover, Su'en could not only increase his mental power through contemplation.
He could also grow it by harvesting residual souls from corpses with 【Reaper of Death】.
This secret technique had a very high compatibility with his talent!
***
Having learned the mental power secret technique, Su'en had completely resolved the burden in his mind and the hidden danger of dying from mental power backlash.
Now he could still control negative emotions, but not by "blocking" them, but by "guiding" them.
The extra mental power fluctuations created by negative emotions directly became nourishment for the mental secret technique.
In the future, he could truly sleep well.
And with the disappearance of negative emotions, it might seem that Su'en lost a desperate measure.
But not really.
Negative emotions could control the excessive secretion of hormones in the body.
Like before in the cursed space, when Su'en completely released his emotions, breaking through the safe threshold of his body, he even had the combat power of a third-order, or even fourth-order.
Now that the violent negative emotions were gone,
Because Su'en had mastered another method, "Forensic" Gerald's unique alchemy 【Hormonal Rampage】!
After digesting his memories, Su'en found that this guy was not only the leader of the Umbrella organization but also a true biological genius.
His research in human anatomy and physiology had reached a very high level, especially in the study of corpses, unparalleled in Old London.
Su'en's previous method of using hormones was barbaric, opening the valve, roughly estimating the intensity, and then leaving it to fate.
But Gerald had precise control!
He could control his own pore breathing, control the precise secretion of his hormones, and achieve a better combat power boost than Su'en's method.
The "White Red Black" jokers were the three stages of hormonal rampage he researched.
The first stage was body excitement, the second stage was doubled combat power, and the third stage was dangerous.
This method was much more scientific than Su'en's barbaric approach.
***
Thinking of this, Su'en suddenly had a strong curiosity and interest.
He wanted to know how Gerald managed to clarify such a complex system as human hormone secretion and mastered it.
After all, having listened to Sereya's teachings, he now understood that an alchemist should not only know how to use but also understand why.
With that thought,
He started rummaging through a pile of notes from his storage space.
Researchers usually have the habit of recording their research diaries.
Gerald was no exception.
Su'en found his years of research results in his storage ring.
Dozens of densely packed research diaries, all numbered.
Su'en opened the first one, number 001.
Neat lines of research notes caught his eye.
"I like studying corpses, they are communicative to me..."
"I've discovered that people secrete different hormones under different emotions. Fear, joy, excitement, sorrow... Some hormones clearly enhance combat power. I need to clarify the connection..."
"People secrete hormones chaotically at the brink of death. I tried choosing live targets, torturing them, recording data, until death..."
"Experiment #771, the hormone secreted by fear..."
"Experiment #1222, I've finally mastered a method to absorb hormones from other corpses. I've named this technique 【Blood Qi Extraction】. External qi and blood can supplement the body's own insufficient hormone production..."
"Since hormones are controlled by sensory emotions, then controlling emotions, could that continue to control secretion..."
"The human body is too fragile,..."
"..."
Not just reading ten lines at a glance,
But with a continuous "rustle" of flipping pages, clear and pleasant.
So fast that each page only lingered for a second or two.
But it wasn't chaotic; there was even a slight rhythmic sense.
Whole pages of notes were almost just glanced at and flipped past.
Even for content that needed understanding, his mind could process it quickly. Even if there were calculations that required time, it didn't affect his reading speed.
His brain would allocate a portion of focus to concentrate, while other thoughts continued to absorb new content.
This was the marvelous benefit of a 5% increase in brain development and the release of mental pressure...
With the double learning aura from 【Isaac's Alchemy Manuscript】 and 【Sereya's Instructions】, Su'en's learning efficiency had reached an unimaginable level for ordinary people.
Su'en was completely immersed in this wonderful and novel sensation,
Reading, learning, mastering, contemplating...
He absorbed knowledge like a whale swallowing prey.
Hearing the sound of the pages, even Mr. Mirror, who was meditating, couldn't help but glance over.
She looked at Su'en for a moment, then slowly closed her eyes again.
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