Mystery: A Spark

Hiss~ Thinking of this, Emlyn couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

Just then, Bishop Utravsky turned around, and Emlin quickly took two steps back to protect his rear.

Feeling uneasy, he retreated to the wall and pressed his back firmly against it.

So when Bishop Utravsky turned around, he saw Emlin leaning stiffly against the wall, his face turning pale and then red.

?

A question mark slowly appeared above Bishop Utravsky's head, and he asked somewhat strangely:

"What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, no, no, I'm not uncomfortable, I'm not uncomfortable." Emlyn shook his head frantically.

He believed that if he answered that he was not feeling well, the perverted old priest would definitely give him a physical examination and then use that opportunity to do this or that.

"Hmph! I will absolutely not give you that chance, give up..." Emlin looked at Bishop Utravsky with a wary expression.

Bishop Utravsky looked at Emlin's wary expression with some confusion at first, but then he gradually understood.

It's worth noting that although he now appears to be a kind and benevolent priest, he used to be a ruthless pirate.

As a pirate with blood on his hands, he probably killed more people in the first half of his life than most people have ever seen in their entire lives, making him incredibly knowledgeable and worldly-wise.

Moreover, pirates typically operate in the gray world, where they might encounter all sorts of things, so Bishop Utravsky quickly realized what Emlyn was worried about.

After realizing what was happening, Bishop Utravsky's wrinkled face twitched involuntarily. He organized his thoughts and then explained:

“You’ve misunderstood. Arthur needs to stay in the basement for a while for some other reasons. He’ll be out soon. We’re just friends, not the kind of relationship you’re thinking of.”

“Hehe, Father, I actually believe you.” Emlyn said this, but he didn’t loosen his grip on the wall at all.

You have the bigger fist and the power to speak, so of course whatever you say goes. Even if you point at a mouse and say it's a duck, I wouldn't dare say I don't believe you... That old geezer is really wicked, deceiving a young man who's hundreds of years old like me... Emlyn secretly curled his lip.

He felt that in this cold and terrifying church of Mother Earth, only these solid walls could bring him a trace of warmth.

As for what Bishop Utravsky had just said, he naturally wouldn't believe a word of it. Who knew if this perverted old man was trying to lower his guard first, and then take advantage of him when he wasn't paying attention...

Seeing that he was still leaning stiffly against the wall, Bishop Utravsky knew that he had just wasted his time explaining.

He sighed helplessly, ignored Emlyn, and turned his attention back to the basement.

……

In the basement, Arthur looked at the Schemer's Potion that had been successfully prepared, let out a soft breath, and then drank it all in one gulp.

As soon as the Schemer's Potion entered Arthur's mouth, it seemed to have a life of its own, quickly entering his esophagus and then spreading throughout his body.

Instantly, an extremely strange feeling filled Arthur's limbs and bones, as if it were modifying his body in some way.

The main part of this modification was Arthur's brain.

In that instant, Arthur felt his mind become incredibly clear, as if he could perceive every clue he encountered in life, and then follow those clues to know the secrets hidden behind them.

This feeling was somewhat similar to when he wore Bonova's black-rimmed glasses before; it was a kind of mental enhancement.

He felt as if he had become a spider, weaving an enormous web that seemed to hold the control of no one and nothing.

"This is amazing! I'm starting to understand everything."

Arthur was momentarily intoxicated by the thrill of controlling everything from the shadows, his thoughts gradually wandering across the enormous web, unaware that the temperature of his head was gradually rising, even emitting faint white smoke, as if it were about to overload.

As Arthur drank the Schemer's Potion, Arthas, who was watching curiously from the side, felt a strong wave of drowsiness wash over him.

"Well, what's going on?"

Arthas muttered something in confusion, his small body began to sway, and his head began to nod like a chick pecking at rice.

A moment later, it plopped down on the table and fell asleep.

The moment the puppy fell asleep, wisps of something barely perceptible to the naked eye began to emanate from its body and were absorbed by Arthur, who was standing nearby.

At this moment, Arthur, who was happily exploring the spider web and didn't even realize that his head was starting to heat up, suddenly felt some images appear in his mind.

The appearance of these images interrupted the unrestrained divergence of his mind, gradually bringing him back to his body, from the illusion, back to his flesh-and-blood body.

Ouch! My head is spinning... As soon as Arthur regained consciousness, he felt waves of dizziness, just like the feeling of not getting enough rest after staying up for two consecutive nights.

He felt something damp on his head, and when he reached up to touch it, he found that his head was covered in sweat, and a wave of heat was emanating from his hair.

Good heavens, thank goodness I woke up in time, otherwise my brain might have been burned out... This Schemer's Potion is really powerful, I wonder how the other hunters survived this ordeal... Arthur breathed heavily, still feeling a bit shaken.

To be honest, he felt that his reaction after drinking the Schemer's Potion was a bit too much. Even though he had digested the arsonist's potion through role-playing, this unexpected situation still occurred.

The three promotions prior to this, while not exactly easy, at least did not involve any particularly dangerous situations.

This time it could be said to be somewhat dangerous. If he doesn't wake up in time, his brain might be seriously damaged, and he might become an idiot, only able to live a life of "Aba aba".

That kind of situation is terrifying to even think about.

No wonder I felt so uneasy when I was mixing potions last night. If I had ignored this premonition and stubbornly insisted on advancing, I might have become an idiot... Luckily, I played it safe back then and finally succeeded in advancing to Sequence Six. I wonder if it will be just as dangerous next time... Arthur breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed his head.

After a short while, he felt his dizziness lessen. Although he was still very tired, at least he wouldn't faint on the ground.

I need to get a good night's sleep when I get back... Arthur thought to himself as he glanced at the table beside him.

Only then did he realize that his dog had fallen asleep.

"I'm suffering here, while you're enjoying yourself, kid." Without saying a word, Arthur reached out and poked Arthas awake.

He was still struggling to stay awake, but the little one was sleeping so soundly, which made him feel resentful.

"Ouch, what are you doing!" Arthas grumbled in dissatisfaction after being woken up by Arthur.

"Hmph, you little brat... Hmm? Wait, Arthas, I feel like you've grown up a bit?" Arthur was just about to cuddle the puppy a couple of times to vent his dissatisfaction with its sleeping and slacking off.

However, when he picked up the puppy, he was somewhat surprised to find that the little thing seemed to have grown a bit.

It was originally only about the size of a palm, but now it's almost the size of two palms.

"What do you mean 'grown up'?" Arthas had just been woken up, and the dog was still a little confused.

"You, haven't you noticed you've grown a bit?" Arthur picked up the puppy and shook it a couple of times to wake it up.

"Am I all grown up? Hmm? It seems so." Arthas spread out Arthur's palm, stood on it to compare, and immediately became quite excited.

"Hey, I thought you'd be this big for life, considering you've been eating all the time for the past few months without gaining any weight. I never imagined you'd suddenly grow so much." Arthur ruffled Arthas's hair, sighing like a father.

Arthur didn't think too much about Arthas's increased size, because this kid was, after all, a creature created by the gods, so it was normal for him to be special no matter what.

Moreover, he is currently extremely exhausted and doesn't want to engage in any complex thinking.

“Let’s go. You seem a bit tired. Let’s go back and get some sleep.” Arthur put Arthas on his shoulder and led him to the basement door.

He reached out and pounded on the basement door twice, then waited quietly.

A short while later, the stone door to the basement was slowly pushed open, and outside stood the tall and imposing Bishop Utravsky.

In addition, Arthur was somewhat surprised to see Emlyn.

Emlyn looked a bit strange at this moment. He was sitting on the stone steps, but his back was pressed tightly against the step above him, and his posture looked very stiff.

“You’re here too.” Arthur greeted Emlyn.

"Heh." Emlyn gave a dry laugh, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, as a response.

Arthur climbed the steps, only to find the church outside dimly lit. Somewhat surprised, he asked:

"It's already evening?"

Why did it take so long to drink the potion this time?

“Yes, you’ve been inside for most of the day. I thought you were locked up by this old man like me.” Emlyn stood up and backed up the steps one by one.

Why is this guy walking backwards? Arthur frowned, sensing that something was amiss.

But he was too tired to delve into these unimportant things.

“Sir Bishop, thank you for your help. I’m a little tired and would like to go back and rest.” Arthur turned to bid farewell to Bishop Utravsky.

“Okay,” Bishop Utravsky replied gently.

Chapter 168 You've gone too far! You still dare to ask for money?

Early morning, 7 Downsend Street.

"Ah...that was a really good sleep." Arthur, who had just woken up, opened his eyes, stretched, and yawned, feeling refreshed.

His head was spinning last night, so he hadn't noticed anything yet.

When Arthur woke up this morning, he found that his body seemed to be a little different than usual.

Just like someone who was born blind suddenly regains their sight, Arthur felt that his body seemed to have gained something compared to when he first transmigrated.

It was as if he had become more complete after this promotion.

However, this feeling is very vague, not as obvious as a blind person regaining sight, and seems to be just an illusion.

Anyway, it feels much better than before. I guess everyone's experience of taking potions is different... Arthur thought to himself.

This promotion did indeed bring Arthur some new abilities.

This was infused into his mind through a mysterious means while he was taking the potion.

This knowledge is imprinted in the mind, and can be recalled whenever one wishes, without error or omission, nor forgotten.

This is the unique magic of the potion system.

Of course, while potions of the same sequence inherit roughly the same abilities, the effects of the potions on different people can vary subtly depending on the degree of compatibility between each person and the potion, as well as the differences in their individual spiritual bodies.

A typical example is the demon category. After different creatures consume the potion, the resulting demons possess different characteristics and abilities.

This can be seen as a manifestation of the chaotic logic at the bottom of this world.

The core ability that the Schemer's Potion gives Arthur is "scheming".

The meaning of this word is to achieve one's desired goal through lies based on facts, using methods such as planning and scheming.

This seems somewhat similar to the audience approach.

In reality, however, audience manipulation involves influencing the minds of others to control their behavior, and in terms of events, it involves using coincidences and other methods to steer things toward the desired outcome.

Schemers, on the other hand, use lies based on facts—in other words, to deceive, mislead, and entice others to act according to their own ideas.

Conspirators don't actually have much control over events themselves; they can't simply and crudely control the development of events through coincidences like the audience can.