Hearing Klein's words, one of the four blonde-haired, red-eyed heads held by Reinette Tinekerr immediately spoke. "Alright…" It opened its mouth and sucked most of the gold coins back inside, storing them away somewhere.
Looking at the few dozen remaining shiny gold coins, Klein took the rather thick envelope, quickly tore it open, and glanced over the opening. He confirmed it was indeed the detailed intelligence on the "Spirit World Plunderer."
After the messenger lady returned to the Spirit World, he put away the gold coins, drew the curtains, sat down, and in the morning sunlight, earnestly read the delicate handwriting:
"Thank you again for your help."
"The mummy of Tutenssis II is a part of my advancement ritual and holds great significance to me."
"'Spirit World Plunderers' live in the depths of the Spirit World. They are scarce in number, intelligent, and highly aggressive. They can transform captured or killed creatures into their split souls. These split souls can take on the appearance of their true spiritual body, possessing similar behaviors and peculiarities. They can also disguise themselves as other Spirit World creatures. When encountering them, one must never let their guard down, as all the surrounding Spirit World creatures could be them or split souls transformed by them."
"This type of creature can effectively influence its prey's ability to think, inducing a state of paralysis... Their true spiritual body has very strong spirituality, often giving them a considerable advantage in related confrontations..."
"They are very difficult to find. The only place confirmed to have traces of their activity is the City of Calderón in the Spirit World."
"This is a legendary city of mysterious origin. There are three guesses about it: first, that it was the residence of the former God of Death, the entrance to the Underworld; second, that it is the fallen divine kingdom of an Ancient God from the Second Epoch, which was attracted by the Spirit World, sank into it, and gradually transformed into a city both real and illusory; third, that it is a real city swallowed by the Spirit World during the Great Cataclysm."
"No matter which guess is correct, they all point to one thing: this city is very dangerous, full of special and peculiar places..."
"I do not have the mystical coordinates of Calderón. Even many high-ranking Spirit World creatures do not..."
"I can offer two approaches. The first is to use a specific mystic ritual to pray to the 'Red Light,' El Moria, and obtain the corresponding answer. I will not go into detail about what the 'Red Light' is here. If you don't understand, you can write to me again and ask. The second is to find the Abraham family. They inherit the 'Traveler' Pathway and have a very deep exploration of the Spirit World..."
Miss Sharon, even when writing letters, gives off a very restrained feeling... So, the pharaoh's mummy was indeed prepared for the "Puppet" Ceremony. That evil spirit from the underground ruins back then also said it could become a component of this ceremony... So, the specific requirement of the ceremony is the corpse of a high-sequence Beyonder that retains its spirituality after death, or an evil spirit formed from their resentful soul?
Heh, can I pray to the "Orange Light" and ask It to inquire with the "Red Light"? Hmm, for others, finding the City of Calderón is an extremely difficult task, but for me, it's incredibly simple. I can just commission Miss Magician directly. She's a great benefactor of the Abraham family now...
I really hope the first guess about the City of Calderón is correct. If so, once I contact Mr. Azik, I can see the city's dangerous residents lining up in two rows to welcome me... Klein shook his head, casting the pleasant fantasy aside.
He re-examined the "Spirit World Plunderer," confirming they possess some characteristics of the "Puppet Master" and "Faceless." They are quite dangerous high-level Spirit World creatures.
Giving a split soul the appearance, behavior, and peculiarities of a true soul body is consistent with how a "Faceless" grants their own abilities to puppets... At Zaratul's level, or a Sequence 3 "Ancient Scholar," could they also temporarily grant certain Beyonder powers to other creatures that aren't puppets? Klein thoughtfully folded the letter paper, flicked it casually, watching it be engulfed by crimson flames, turning into charred fragments that fell into the trash can.
Reining in his thoughts, he walked to the bedroom door in his pajamas, telling his valet Richardson to come in and help him change his clothes.
...
Deep beneath Saint Samuel Cathedral.
Leonard Mitchell, as usual, leaned back in his chair, propping his feet on the desk.
On the surface, there was nothing unusual about him, but his mind was thinking about Amon.
Ever since learning that he had arrived in Backlund, Pallez Zoroast, who was parasitizing his body, had become unusually silent. He was no longer as active as before, speaking up and offering opinions on his own.
If not for the fact that he still got a reply when asked, Leonard would have even suspected that the old man had secretly run away and found someone else to parasitize.
Amidst his swirling thoughts, Sost, the captain of their "Red Gloves" team and a Nighthawk Executor, walked in.
"Did the interrogation yield anything?" "Any results?" The "Red Gloves" members in the room, who were each doing their own thing, cast their gazes towards the door.
Late last night, they had just completed a mission, capturing three members of the Church of Immortality who they had been tracking for a while. Now they were awaiting the results of the interrogation.
Sost glanced around with a serious expression and said:
"We've made a great contribution, but this is not a good thing."
"According to the confessions of those three Church of Immortality members, and the information the Church has gathered in the past, we can preliminarily determine that the Church of Immortality has split over whether to resurrect the God of Death or create an Artificial God of Death. The latter has made some progress and achieved considerable gains."
"They are full of hostility towards Loen, towards us, and have placed part of the experiments for the Artificial God of Death in Backlund! Yes, their thinking is the same as your current worries. Even if the experiment fails, they can seize the opportunity to heavily damage this City of a Thousand Cities."
Leonard snapped back from his distracted state, exchanging glances with Bob, Cindy, and the others, seeing the shock and anger in each other's eyes.
At this moment, Sost knocked on the table beside him, stopping the team members' discussion.
He cleared his throat and said:
"Our current task is to use the clues from the testimony to go to the Southern Continent to find a few key members of the Church of Immortality's Artificial God of Death faction, investigate how many thorns are left in Backlund, and then remove them one by one."
"For this mission, we will be assisted by Lady Daly. The Church will advance her the potion and help her prepare the ritual so she can become a 'Gatekeeper' before we depart."
"Furthermore, the high-ranking deacon in charge of the Southern Continent, Her Excellency the 'Eye of the Goddess' Ilia, along with the local Nighthawks, will also provide assistance, granting us the corresponding sealed artefacts and conducting advance investigations."
"Ladies and gentlemen, go back and rest for a day. Prepare yourselves. We depart tomorrow night."
"Yes, Captain!" Bob, Cindy, and the others stood up to respond.
Leonard also stood up, but didn't speak. The first thought that flashed through his mind was:
I can use this chance to leave Backlund and escape the threat of Amon!