"Does that mysterious item of Zerlings' have any special characteristics?" Audrey asked at this moment, with a hint of confidence.
She had just given it serious thought and felt that she actually possessed rather good abilities to find people in Backlund.
First, her father was among the top wealthy aristocrats, with a good reputation and connections, and she herself was very popular among the younger generation, so she could mobilize quite a few resources in the upper and middle classes inadvertently.
Second, the two mystical friends she knew each had their own circles. The "Apprentice" Fors, originally a clinic doctor and now a newly emerging writer, knew many people in the literary world, in the publishing industry, and among doctors in the middle class.
The "Arbiter" Xio Derecha, who had long helped coordinate and adjudicate events for the lower and middle classes, had some fame in the East Borough of Backlund, among the working class, and in many gang organizations, with many covert channels.
Combined with the other mystics they had encountered and the circles expanded through them, their ability to find people was not to be underestimated.
In response to "Justice"'s question, "The Hanged Man" Alger answered almost without hesitation, as if he didn't need to think:
"The true name of that mysterious item is not known, but those who know about it call it 'The Writhing Hunger'. Zerlings must feed it a living person's soul and flesh every other day, otherwise it will replace its owner."
"This can be an important clue to find Zerlings." Audrey frowned slightly.
That evil item that craved live blood and souls made her feel genuinely uncomfortable and disgusted.
"Yes, but in a big city with at least five million people, the disappearance of a few tramps won't be noticed." Alger reminded, then continued, "Ever since he obtained 'The Writhing Hunger', Zerlings has become very difficult to deal with."
"He was originally just a 'Wind-blessed', possessing decent mystical abilities in the domain of water, wind, and weather. But later, people found that he can make targets go berserk, enter others' dreams, summon light to purify the undead, use songs to enhance himself, change his appearance to different people... he is almost omnipotent." Alger described in considerable detail. "We suspect that these all come from that mysterious item 'The Writhing Hunger'..."
Before he could finish, the quietly listening "The Sun" Derrick Berg blurted out in shock:
"Shepherd!"
"Shepherd"? The Sequence pathway of "Secret Supplicant", "Listener"? Sequence 5? Hmm, there's a newly promoted elder in the "Six-member Council" of the City of Silver who is a "Shepherd", said to be powerful enough to resist Sequence 4 experts, er, a malevolent spirit of equivalent rank? Klein's facial expression changed slightly, but all was concealed by the gray fog, and at this moment, the spectator was not paying attention to him.
"Shepherd?"
"Shepherd?"
"Justice" and "The Hanged Man" spoke simultaneously, one in complete confusion, the other in slight surprise, as if he had heard the name "Shepherd" somewhere and knew something about it, but not the specific details.
Seeing everyone's gaze on him, Derrick was a bit flustered. No matter how silent and introverted he was, how sorrowful and depressed, he was still just a teenager.
He hurriedly stammered an explanation:
"I mean, the characteristics listed by 'The Hanged Man' are very similar to the mystical abilities of the Sequence profession 'Shepherd'. Every 'Shepherd' can devour the souls of others, including resentful spirits and evil spirits, into their body, and drive these souls with a unique method, accordingly using certain of their abilities, just as if they are herding lambs for a deity."
"So, no one knows exactly how many abilities a 'Shepherd' possesses; it only depends on how many mystical souls they have devoured, which makes them seem very terrifying, nearly equal to high-sequence experts."
"But some suspect that the number of souls a 'Shepherd' can devour and herd is limited, but they can be replaced."
So that's the meaning of "Shepherd"... The Sequence pathway controlled by the "Aurora Society" is as eerie as ever... No wonder the object of their worship is the "True Creator", no, the "Fall Creator"? Klein suddenly understood, but did not nod to show that he already knew.
At the same time, he sighed inwardly:
"Sun", you are truly still a child. This is important information, important intelligence that can be exchanged for valuable things, and you just blabbed it out! Blabbed it out...
Hmm, that mysterious item "The Writhing Hunger" that needs to be sealed shows abilities very similar to Sequence 5 "Shepherd"... I wonder if many sealed items also correspond to a certain Sequence profession, in a state of loss of control... I wonder which Sequence profession that sealed item "2-049", the Antigonus puppet, would resemble...
After listening to "The Sun"'s explanation, "The Hanged Man" Alger seemed to have solved some puzzle and nodded, remaining silent for a moment.
"Justice" Audrey, more curious than ever, asked:
"Which Sequence pathway is the Shepherd from? And what Sequence?"
"From the 'Secret Supplicant' pathway, Sequence 5." Klein seized the opportunity to unobtrusively add a remark, indicating that he knew everything.
"'Secret Supplicant'... of the Aurora Society..." Audrey suddenly thought of Mr. A, who was suspected to be a god's messenger of the Aurora Society, and her mood suddenly became heavy.
She began to seriously think about what price she could use to get Mr. Fool to act and easily eliminate that disgusting fellow, but no matter how much she pondered, she couldn't think of how to move Mr. Fool.
Indeed, it's not easy to move characters close to gods... they are not interested in many items or events... Audrey sighed inwardly.
Temporarily abandoning her impulse, she nodded gratefully to "The Sun", thanking him for allowing them all to have new guesses about "The Writhing Hunger", thus enabling more reasonable and effective responses.