During the Roselle era, Lynn successfully acquired Artisan as assistant. With his help, Lynn began taking control of the Church of Steam and Machinery. Meanwhile, in the Fifth Epoch, thanks to Cattleya's relentless efforts, the Future finally arrived at the sea where the mermaids resided.
It was truly a cause for celebration.
Unlike the mermaids from fairy tales, the mermaids in this mysterious world were not only beautiful but also undeniably dangerous. However, when they noticed Klein approaching in a small boat, they panicked and fled in fear, as if they had already sensed the danger posed by Mr. Fool.
Had it been anyone else, they might have been at a loss, but fortunately, Klein possessed the Sea God's Scepter. Having crafted many charms from the Storm Pathway, he quickly used one of these charms to calm the fleeing mermaids. With their song guiding him, Klein successfully consumed the Marionettist potion.
"I've finally reached Sequence 5," Klein remarked, opening his eyes after his successful promotion to Marionettist. As he stretched his body, he couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"Do you really have the right to say that? It took you less than half a year to go from an ordinary person to Sequence 5," Lynn, who was sitting next to him in the small boat, couldn't resist teasing him. Such a sigh would surely make other Beyonders, who spent decades climbing to Sequence 5, envious.
Klein glanced at Lynn and replied coolly, "What right do you have to criticize me?"
Truth be told, Lynn's promotion speed was even more outrageous than his own.
"Of course, it's different! I'm a Smurf Account, having already maxed out my main account. You're the one who started from scratch," Lynn scoffed, not bothering to hide his sense of superiority.
Klein rolled his eyes and decided to ignore him, instead focusing on familiarizing himself with the Marionettist's abilities.
As the name implies, the Marionettist potion granted Klein the power to control the spiritual threads within every person. By manipulating these threads, Klein could directly control a person's body by influencing their spirit.
In theory, as long as Klein had enough time and wasn't interrupted, he could turn anyone into his marionette. However, he could only control one person at the moment. If he wanted a new marionette, he would have to give up the previous one. Even after digesting the Marionettist potion, he would only be able to control up to three marionettes.
Marionettes retained their abilities as Beyonders, meaning a skilled Marionettist was incredibly dangerous. Fighting one would essentially mean facing four opponents at once.
However, despite their impressive control abilities, Marionettists shared the same physical vulnerabilities as Seers. If they lost their marionettes and were forced to fight directly, they could easily be killed. One could look to the infamous Rosago for an example—he went into battle without a marionette and was promptly defeated, becoming the laughingstock of history.
If only Rosago hadn't been so reckless, if he hadn't been mesmerized by Sharron, his Wraith marionette, and instead had waited and gathered more marionettes in secret, he wouldn't have met such a ridiculous end.
"Alright, now that you've successfully become a Marionettist, have you thought about the choice I mentioned earlier?" Lynn asked suddenly after waiting patiently for Klein to familiarize himself with his new abilities.
"Ahem…" Klein nearly choked on his own spit. He hesitated for a moment and then glanced at Lynn, still uncertain. "Do I really need to decide so soon? I just got promoted, and I still need time to digest the potion…"
"It's not too soon. According to his plan, you're supposed to become a demigod by the end of this year. If you miss that opportunity, it'll be much harder to find another demigod to hunt," Lynn said, smiling as he casually dropped a bombshell.
Klein was stunned. He stared at Lynn in disbelief. "What's wrong with the Angel of Secrets? There's only a little over a month left until the end of the year! Are you seriously suggesting I digest the Sequence 5 potion in just over a month?"
"Don't forget about time travel. A little over a month in our world is enough time for several trips. Even if each trip only lasts a couple of months, in total, that could add up to a year and a half. With your potion digestion speed, a year and a half should be plenty," Lynn replied with a smile.
Klein was momentarily speechless but had to admit that Lynn had a point.
If he only had a month, digesting the Sequence 5 potion would be challenging. However, with time travel factored in, it was possible.
He quickly turned his attention to another question. "What do you mean by 'find a demigod for me to hunt'? Are you serious?"
As someone who had orchestrated numerous schemes, interacted with powerful forces, and received instruction from Mr. Door, Klein knew full well the immense gap between Sequence 5 and a demigod. Even a newly promoted Sequence 4 could easily crush a Sequence 5.
This gap was nearly impossible to bridge, even with the help of sealed artifacts or mystical items. No matter how powerful the items were, they could never match the complete control a demigod had over their Pathway.
Moreover, using sealed artifacts required a great deal of spirituality, and it wasn't as simple as just wielding a high-level item.
"Well, as ridiculous as it sounds, the ritual for the Bizarro Sorcerer requires a Beyonder to publicly assassinate a Sequence 4," Lynn spread his hands and gave Klein a sympathetic look. "I'd love to help you change the ritual, but that's beyond my capabilities."
Klein's expression turned blank as he struggled to process the information.
After a few moments, he snapped out of it and gave Lynn a suspicious look. "How do you even know the Bizarro Sorcerer's ritual?"
"Because that guy's memories have it all," Lynn replied nonchalantly before flashing Klein a bright smile. "By the way, you guessed correctly—I also know the formula for the Bizarro Sorcerer potion, but…"
Lynn blinked innocently and continued with a grin. "There's no free lunch in this world. My price is either a collection of cat pictures or 5,000 pounds."
"Of course, I'd recommend the cat pictures. It's not like you'd lose anything—just turn into a cat and pose for a few photos. It's not embarrassing at all. And they'd be cat pictures, not your true form, so what's the harm?" Lynn reasoned shamelessly. Before Klein could retort, he added, "If you're really embarrassed about doing it alone, I could join in. How about I turn into a husky?"
Klein: …
(End of Chapter)
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