846 “Negotiation”
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846 “Negotiation”
Upon reading the first line of the letter, Franca felt a sense that the moment had finally arrived.
She had been waiting, waiting for Mr. Star to make a request, so she could exchange it for Mid-to-Low Sequence potions from the Evernight pathway for Amandina.
Franca read the rest with a mix of antic.i.p.ation and nervousness: “He hopes you can help him decipher the text in the attached materials. They are somewhat similar to those in Emperor Roselle’s diary.
“He hasn’t set a time limit, so you can take your time.
“The information you provided about Krismona’s father possibly being Blood Emperor Alista Tudor is very useful and important.
“Now, we suspect that the ent.i.ty in the deepest part of the special mirror world, the one worshiped by the Mirror People, may not be the Primordial Demoness in the complete sense. Rather, it could be connected to the creation of the special mirror world by the Blood Emperor and the Primordial Demoness. It seems to have gone out of their control, and this might be why the Primordial Demoness is in a bad state.
“Your main tasks with Seven of Cups are to find the Mirror Person, Jasmine, and probe the Demoness of Black to see if she has a deep understanding of the special mirror world. Of course, your safety must be ensured.
“If you encounter any anomalies, you can ask me for help.”
Madam Judgment sure goes straight to the point… Franca turned to the next page of the letter.
The rest were the attached materials.
Franca’s pupils dilated upon seeing them: This wasn’t anything like the text from Emperor Roselle’s diary!
It was either oracle bone script or bronze script, one of the oldest forms of writing from her and Emperor Roselle’s country pre-transmigration!
Where did this come from?
Who the h.e.l.l knows this stuff…
Not sure if it’s genuine oracle bone script or bronze script, since I don’t understand it either. I’m illiterate in this…
Is it a mysticism language unknown to this world, just similar to oracle bone script?
But it does look like hieroglyphics!
Franca began to examine it carefully.
Although she hadn’t studied oracle bone script or bronze script, as a young person growing up in the internet age, she had seen a few and remembered the meanings of some of the simplest characters, like “person.”
Before long, she found several similar pictographic characters.
A bit different from what I remember, but mostly the same…
Let’s treat it as oracle bone script or bronze script first… Where did Mr. Star get this from? Did they find Harrison of Resurrection Island? No, if they did, they would have told me…
Or, when the Major Arcana card holder of the Moses Ascetic Order was tracking the missing Ten Pillars Kmerolo, they encountered something related to the Celestial Master?
Very possible! No wonder the preface of this material told me that the order of the text had been disrupted to prevent corruption during interpretation. As expected from the Celestial Master, who oversees the Mystery Pryer and Savant pathways!
But without context, the difficulty of interpretation is more than doubled…
Chen Tu! Armored Shadow Chen Tu might know, but I can only ask three or four questions per summoning… Don’t know if I can directly ask what the general meaning of this material is…
Franca’s mind raced, deciding to seek help from the Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society first.
Many members of the society came from the same country as her, and there were quite a few highly educated ones, some of whom might have studied oracle bone script or bronze script.
Franca didn’t need them to be masters in oracle bone script or bronze script, just being able to recognize the commonly used characters would be enough. The rest could be guessed by the Major Arcana card holders based on the original context.
With this decision, Franca enthusiastically began writing a letter, planning to summon Madame Hela’s messenger to request a gathering soon.
She was too lazy to head out to go on a “date” with Lumian and discuss the Demoness of Black. After eating a cream bun, she sat at her desk and carefully selected the characters she barely recognized, studying them repeatedly.
…
In the apartment Lumian rented in Quartier de la Cathédrale Commémorative.
Lumian sat on the sofa, watching Ludwig read the Ghost Face magazine, and pondered the next steps of “taming.”
After a few minutes, he smiled at Ludwig.
“You’ve been pretty free lately, haven’t you? Besides eating, you have nothing else to do.
“Let me give you an a.s.signment.”
The key to “taming” was to make the other party follow orders, even forcing themselves to do things they didn’t want to do.
Of course, pure intimidation and suppression wouldn’t work. Once or twice was fine, but more than that, Ludwig would definitely run away again.
Ludwig’s expression turned to horror, as if saying: “See, you have indeed been corrupted by the Church of Knowledge!”
Without giving him a chance to speak, Lumian continued, “This a.s.signment is to taste Trier’s famous meat pies. Gather information yourself, plan the route yourself, and finally compile a food report.”
The first step in following orders was to make the orders acceptable to the child, something he could and would do, then gradually increase the difficulty.
Ludwig’s eyes lit up.
He licked his lips and said, “Alright!”
The little boy glanced out the window and eagerly stood up. “I’ll go right now!”
Lumian chuckled. “It’s already dark, and it’s too dangerous outside. You’re just a child.”
Too dangerous… just a child… Lugano couldn’t help but glance at Ludwig, his face full of disapproval.
Lumian sighed and said, “I mean, you’re just a child with insufficient self-control. It’s more dangerous for the citizens of Trier walking at night.”
He then told Ludwig, “Tonight, gather information from newspapers and magazines, make a plan, and go out tomorrow morning.”
“Mm-hmm!” Ludwig jumped off the single sofa and started flipping through the newspapers and magazines they had subscribed to, taking it very seriously.
Satisfied, Lumian nodded, returned to his bedroom, and placed a continuously burning incandescent white flame in the separate s.p.a.ce of his Traveler’s Bag.
After a while, he took out the completely charred, deformed piece of Celeste’s corpse, examining it for a few moments.
According to Franca’s Magic Mirror Divination, this could be refined and extracted to replace the tail tip of the Two-Tailed Black Snake in the Affliction potion’s supplementary ingredients.
The supplementary ingredients’ Flower-Faced Bat blood also didn’t need to be collected. Franca’s blood was a better subst.i.tute.
Lumian stuffed the corpse piece back into the Traveler’s Bag and took out the books he had borrowed from the Morora Knowledge Cathedral.
Although Madam Magician had already sealed Black Tear for him, useful knowledge was always welcome.
Of course, the more useful the knowledge, the more likely it was heavily corrupted, requiring careful consideration and trade-offs.
Lumian lit the gas wall lamp, picked a book t.i.tled “Entering the Mysterious Hall,” and leisurely began to read.
As time pa.s.sed, he suddenly turned his head to look at the door.
His door creaked open, and a figure emerged from the shadows.
It was Jenna, wearing a white shirt and a light gauze skirt. Her slightly darker flaxen hair was pinned up, her blue eyes bright and large, with a faint layer of powder on her face and a small black mole on the bridge of her nose.
Her white blouse, adorned with floral decorations, wasn’t revealing, yet its nearly perfect curves made one’s mind wander and mouth dry.
At that moment, Lumian felt as if he saw the past Showy Diva Jenna and actress apprentice Celia Bello overlapping, exuding an indescribable allure beneath her fresh appearance.
“I need your help with something,” Jenna said with a slight smile as she closed the door.
Lumian suddenly felt a sense of danger-not to his life, but a different kind of unease.
“I’m afraid I can’t help you,” Lumian said calmly, relying on the traits of an Ascetic.
Jenna lowered her eyes, hiding the brilliance in her blue eyes.
She walked to the bedside, sat down, looked at Lumian again, and said with a smile, “Listen to me first, hear my reasons.”
Lumian fell silent for a few seconds before stating, “Go ahead.”
Jenna propped her hands on either side, leaning forward slightly in a somewhat playful manner. “It seems you’ve guessed it. Yes, I want you to help me digest the Pleasure potion.”
As expected… Lumian said with a headache, “Why not ask Franca?”
“Two reasons, one superficial, one genuine. Which do you want to hear?” Jenna asked with a smile.
Lumian rubbed his forehead. “The superficial one.”
Jenna pursed her lips and smiled self-deprecatingly. “She’s very willing to help me digest the Pleasure potion, with no internal resistance, causing little pain. This wouldn’t comply with the acting principle of pleasure bringing pain, slowing my potion digestion.
“But you, I know you’re unwilling, resistant to this. The more so, the quicker I can digest the potion by making you experience pleasure, ultimately even feeling a bit reluctant, and the self-blame that follows. Also, a very important point is, you have a false Angelic rank. If everything goes smoothly, I might be able to digest the potion within two or three weeks and consider advancing to Demoness of Affliction.
“As team leader, isn’t this the best choice? It can effectively help you improve the team’s quality and enhance the ritual’s effect.
“You don’t have to recommend Black Tear to me. Digesting the Pleasure potion requires a target.”
Lumian remained silent.
Jenna couldn’t help but scoff. “Just think of it as teleporting a teammate, lending strength to a teammate. I’m not seeking your emotions or soul. Without emotions, you’ve never cared about these things, always thinking you have no morals, right? Hey, do you have a cleanliness obsession? It’s just helping out!”
After a few seconds, Lumian asked, “What about you?”
Jenna lowered her eyes and softly laughed. “I’ll also experience pleasure in pain and feel pain in pleasure, very much in line with the acting principles.”
Lumian remained silent for a while before asking, “What about Franca?”
Jenna bit her lip, her eyes deep. “If she finds out, it’ll help her digest the Affliction potion.”
Lumian sighed deeply. “I thought you’d try to seduce me, ignite my desires to achieve your goal. Didn’t expect you to negotiate and reason with me.”
Jenna wrinkled her nose and grumbled, “If I tried to seduce you, you’d teleport away!
“It’s better to explain the pros and cons, tell you it’s as normal as drinking water or having a meal. No guilt involved, no emotions needed. This is very common in Intis!”