Facing Icendrhas Stanton's proposal, Klein didn't react much. He glanced at the closed living room door and said:
"As far as I know, a 'Demon' can foresee danger before we even act, and can even determine the source of the danger, allowing them to take effective countermeasures.
"It will be very difficult for us to find and pin him down."
Icendrhas nodded slightly and said:
"Yes, that is indeed the case, but there is a way to deal with it."
"What way?" Cassandra immediately asked.
Icendrhas smiled and said:
"I've fought him head-on and witnessed his Beyonder ability to foresee danger, so I've gained a preliminary understanding of its strengths and weaknesses.
"A 'Demon' can indeed sense danger well in advance — even a very long time ahead. As long as we formulate plans targeting him and put them into actual action, he will have corresponding premonitions. Of course, the plans must genuinely pose a threat to him."
No, the truth was that different types of "Demons" varied in the strength of this ability — some could perhaps only sense things ten or twenty minutes ahead... Klein silently refuted this in his mind, but didn't say it out loud.
Icendrhas continued:
"The weakness of this precognitive ability is that it can only detect who the danger comes from and where it originates, but it cannot discern the specific details. This gives us an opportunity to exploit."
"What opportunity? I don't think we can get a danger-foreseeing Demon to fall into our trap," Cassandra asked skeptically.
Klein nodded in agreement from the side.
Of course, I could use the Gray Fog to deceive that "Desire Apostle" and prevent him from sensing the danger too far in advance, but the problem was, how could I possibly reveal the secret of the Gray Fog in front of others... Klein silently added a few more lines.
Icendrhas chuckled:
"Normally speaking, that would indeed be impossible, but the Beyonder world is always filled with all sorts of miracles.
"I am a Sequence 7 'Knowledge Guardian' of the 'Reader' Pathway, also called 'Detective.' I'm telling you this frankly to show my sincerity for cooperation.
"In a situation and environment like this, I believe honesty is more important than any other factor."
Only Sequence 7? A Sequence 7 was able to escape from a "Desire Apostle"? It seemed Mr. Stanton had a powerful magical artifact... Klein adjusted his sitting posture with a hint of realization.
"Can the 'Knowledge Guardian' counter a Demon's danger-foreseeing ability?" Cassandra asked, leaning forward.
"No," Icendrhas said with a smile. "But I have a ring. It came from a Sequence 6 of the 'Reader' Pathway who lost control. It allows me to identify, perceive, remember, and replicate all Beyonder abilities I've seen. Of course, the stronger the Beyonder ability, the higher the probability of failure.
"Haha, in our Church there is a motto: omniscience means omnipotence."
Why did that sound so familiar... especially the description of that item... Klein was about to dig into his memories when he saw Icendrhas Stanton produce a resplendent ring.
The ring was inlaid with numerous small diamonds, collectively surrounding a beautiful gemstone as green as a human eye.
Just looking at this ring sent a wave of dizziness through Klein, as if his mental energy had been drained.
W-Wasn't this the sealed artefact "2-081"? Was Icendrhas Stanton the old gentleman "Eye of Wisdom"? Klein shifted his gaze upward in shock, looking at the great detective sitting in the recliner.
That ring was exactly the sealed artefact "2-081" that "Eye of Wisdom" had shown off to him and used several times at the Beyonder gatherings!
Eye of Wisdom... That codename sounded like it was connected to the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom... Klein used the "Clown" ability to control his expression and calmly studied Icendrhas Stanton.
In the end, he found that certain features of this great detective did match those of the old gentleman "Eye of Wisdom," but many details were quite different.
Impressive disguise skills... Was he leveraging the abilities of "2-081"? Klein roughly came to his conclusion.
At that moment, a scenario spontaneously came to mind:
If Mr. Stanton said, "Everyone cooperating against the 'Desire Apostle' — the most important thing is honesty. I've described my Sequence and magical artifact, so it's your turn," what would he say? Silently take out the "Sun Brooch" he'd bought from him?
Wouldn't he then exclaim, "Well, well, so it was you, kid!"?
While Klein's imagination ran wild, Cassandra looked at the ring Icendrhas Stanton had displayed and asked with a mix of envy and puzzlement:
"What ability do you want to replicate to counter that 'Desire Apostle's' danger foresight?"
Icendrhas's lips curved upward as he let out a soft laugh:
"A Demon's danger-foreseeing ability."
In that moment, he looked like a silver-furred fox.
Huh? That works too? Klein couldn't immediately figure out how that would work.
Seeing him and Cassandra looking confused, Icendrhas explained with a smile:
"Step one — what we're doing right now — is to devise a plan that can genuinely threaten the 'Desire Apostle' and put it into action.
"Step two: the 'Desire Apostle' senses the danger and learns that it comes from us, from this location.
"Step three: as a Demon, without prior preparation, some of his instincts are beyond his control. His first reaction will definitely be to eliminate the danger or take revenge on us, and there will be certain physical changes. Only after that will he consider whether the current situation is unsuitable for a counterattack, and whether he should choose to retreat.