In Mr. Hughes's hand, the book about dragons was open to a page depicting a city floating in the sky. As his thumb rubbed the page, he said with a hint of nostalgia:
"He is the only ancient god who returned after dying. Although he lost most of his Characteristics, he truly escaped madness."
"In this era, he doesn't have many allies. He will most likely exchange certain help for the 'Devil Monarch's' indirect intervention."
He paused, then added:
"Adam is the same. Besides Amon, he has no other reliable allies. But when facing him, you need to pay attention to those who are overtly or covertly involved in the conflict for various reasons."
"In Adam's pursuit of 0-08, you can use the power of the Storm and the Sun at a crucial moment."
"Evernight and Omebella, for their own reasons, don't have much energy to interfere with reality. Badheil and Steam's positions are not clear, but they may not be willing to help Adam. They will most likely only probe from the side."
Leyton pondered and nodded, saying calmly:
"So, in the contention for 0-08, the only ones who will truly appear as the main force are those Angels who have already chosen their factions."
Mr. Hughes's gaze dropped slightly, looking at the glass bottle in Leyton's hand containing the River of Eternal Darkness's water, and he said flatly:
"Haven't you already prepared? Even a King of Angels wouldn't dare to directly confront the influence from the River of Eternal Darkness."
"You should leave now. Zangwill, who is at the center of the storm, is already approaching Berens Port."
"That fast?"
Leyton asked with a hint of surprise. According to his previous predictions, Zangwill would need at least a few more days to escape to Berens Port under the pursuit of the Iron-Blooded Knight's demigods.
Mr. Hughes's gaze deepened for a moment, then quickly returned to normal. He smiled calmly:
"The appearance of a High-Sequence Characteristic of the Hunter Pathway there passively accelerated the speed at which Medici Sauron Einhorn's evil spirits were drawn."
Leyton nodded lightly, saying nothing more. His body instantly etherealized, disintegrating into pure knowledge, and surged out of the Library as a torrent of information, rushing towards Berens Port.
During this process, he activated the aura left by Sefirah Castle on him, transmitting information about Zangwill to Klein.
Above the Gray Fog, in that magnificent and ancient palace, Klein sat on The Fool's high-backed chair, looking a bit tired.
"I just left, so why is there something else looking for me..."
While complaining, he extended his spirituality to touch the abnormally expanding and contracting crimson star.
Crimson light rippled outwards, forming a string of Hermes words in mid-air:
"Zangwill is almost at Berens Port. Amon will most likely appear there as well. You can observe Anderson above the Gray Fog."
Amon!...Wasn't he in Backlund? How could he have an avatar in the Southern Continent? Klein's face suddenly turned very ugly. Whether Amon's target was him or Pallez, who was parasitizing Leonard, it was not good news.
"Should I give up this chance for revenge? What's wrong with Anderson? Could he have also been parasitized by Amon?"
Taking a deep breath and calming himself, he materialized the dummy "The World" Gehrman Sparrow, and had him make up a random reason to contact Anderson, asking him to provide some information about the Fog Sea.
This kind of information transfer needed to go through The Fool, so Anderson would definitely pray to him. At that time, he would be able to see Anderson's situation through the prayer light spot.
After clipping The World's request into a light film, he threw it towards the crimson star representing Anderson.
At Berens Port, in the open square by the dock, Anderson continued his street performance, with Danitz mocking and cheering him on.
With crisp clinks, a few patterned gold coins were thrown into the triangular hat placed upside down on the ground.
Anderson continued to play his harmonica, giving a thumbs up to the generous guest.
Across from him, a young gentleman in a crisp black long tailcoat, a matching top hat, and holding a section of a black, gold-lined cane, smiled slightly at him.
The young gentleman withdrew his right hand, which had just thrown the gold coins, adjusted the monocle over his right eye, and said with great pleasure:
"I didn't expect to hear a tune with Intis flair in West Balam. It seems my paranoid elder brother didn't lie to me after all; coming here will bring unexpected gains."
Anderson maintained his playing posture, smiling and bowing to the generous gentleman in front of him, considering whether to stop his performance and strike up a conversation with the gentleman. Perhaps if the other party was happy, they would give him a few more patterned gold coins.
Just then, a dense Gray Fog suddenly surged into his vision, and crimson light pulsed like a tide, quickly condensing into The World Gehrman Sparrow's sinister and restrained image. At the same time, the other party's voice echoed in his ears.
In front of him, Amon, dressed as a young gentleman, curved the corner of his mouth into a smile. He raised his right hand, which was holding the monocle, then suppressed the urge and lowered it.
He tilted his head back, muttering softly to a certain spot in the sky:
"How interesting. I've found you again..."
Anderson, who had recovered, put his harmonica into his pocket, stepped forward, bent down, and picked up the triangular hat that had been placed upside down on the ground, gently shaking it twice.
Listening to the clinking sound of the gold coins inside, a pleased smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He looked at the generous gentleman in front of him and said:
"Excuse me, my friend, today's performance ends here. I've already earned enough for a drink at the nearby tavern."
It wasn't until Anderson had put all the money from the triangular hat into his pocket and quickly walked towards the tavern behind him that Danitz came to his senses. He quickly followed, asking in confusion:
"Aren't you going to play two more songs? Maybe if he's happy, he'll give you a few more patterned gold coins."
Behind them, Amon took off his black top hat and slowly walked to an empty long bench nearby. He stood in front of the bench for a while, seemingly waiting for someone on the bench to make room for him.
Two seconds later, he sat down on the right side of the bench, with his legs crossed, a slight smile on his lips. He patted the non-existent dust from his top hat and said:
"There aren't many things that would make you actively contact me. Are you planning to kill Medici's evil spirit as well?"
"Or, has your deal with Evernight changed, and an unexpected situation that even you can't resolve occurred during the retrieval of 0-08?"
After sitting silently for a few seconds, he looked at the empty right side of the bench, pouting a little boredly:
"You're really boring..."
As his voice faded, his body suddenly vanished, then reappeared at the end of the street, and then vanished again.
Unnoticed, a few leaves were blown by the wind onto the empty long bench, then were swept off by an invisible hand.
After entering the tavern, Anderson suddenly turned around, stared at Danitz, who was following him, for a long while, and then suddenly said mysteriously:
"Do you know what's most taboo for people in our line of work?"
"Is it taboo to have too bad luck?" Danitz was stunned, saying somewhat confusedly.
Anderson raised his index finger, waved it in front of Danitz, and said calmly:
"No, it's taboo not to leave yourself an out. Since he's already been generous once, why don't we change targets?"
Danitz stared at Anderson with an expression that said, "Are you crazy?"
"Since he's already been generous once, why can't he be generous twice more?"
Anderson ignored the topic, turned to walk towards the bar, and casually asked:
"Didn't you say yesterday that your captain wanted you to go to East Balam? Why haven't you left yet, it's almost afternoon?"
"Go to East Balam? When did I say that? You must be mistaken?" Danitz scratched his head, looking at Anderson in confusion.
Above the Gray Fog, Klein held the sea god scepter in one hand and pressed the Tyrant card with the other, looking solemnly at the crimson star representing Anderson, which was constantly rippling with crimson light.
Taking a deep breath, he then extended his spirituality to touch this crimson star. Crimson light surged out like a tide, quickly converging into a scene of Anderson praying in front of the magnificent hall.
Klein carefully observed Anderson, who was praying to him, confirming that there were no traces of Amon parasitizing him, nor anything around him possessed by Amon.
"Aside from the abnormally active spirituality on him, Anderson shows no obvious abnormalities."
"No, this is a very obvious abnormality. He should have already passed the stage of needing to act and digest, with his spirituality internalized, and he shouldn't be in this state, as if he just drank a potion."
While muttering to himself, Klein zoomed out the picture to see more of what he had just seen.
Then he saw Danitz in the room next to Anderson, and a priest in a simple white robe sitting with Danitz.
He had a light golden beard that covered the lower half of his face, eyes as clear and innocent as a baby's, a cross pendant hanging on his chest, and a gentle smile always on his face.
He was looking at Danitz, or more precisely, he was looking at Amon, who was coiled around Danitz's Spirit Body like a long snake.
Noticing Klein's gaze, Amon, coiled around Danitz's Spirit Body like a long snake, suddenly looked up and met Klein's eyes. The corner of his mouth curved slightly upwards, and he said very politely:
"Long time no see. I haven't parasitized the little guy you chose this time."
Boom! Boom!
Loud thunder exploded out of nowhere, as if to shatter eardrums. Silver-white electric snakes appeared and vanished without a trace in an instant.