The Next Morning—
When Lin Ruo woke up and saw the colors of the sunrise, he was a bit confused.
"Didn't get pulled to Klein's side today?" Lin Ruo blinked, puzzled by the mechanism that had previously pulled him to Klein's side.
The first two times it happened at dawn, so Lin Ruo thought it would always be like that. But now it seemed otherwise.
"Is it really random? If it happens during a fight, I'm doomed!" Lin Ruo muttered, then started his morning routine. After washing up, he went to the market to buy food for the next few days. He ate breakfast while reading the morning paper.
As expected, the newspaper reported on the incident at Kapin's villa yesterday. It didn't mention anything extraordinary, just that Kapin, a bloodthirsty human trafficker, was punished by a mysterious person.
Unlike in the original story where Klein, disguised as the Black Emperor, punished Kapin and earned the title "Bandit Black Emperor," the newspaper simply referred to Lin Ruo as a mysterious person. It detailed the Tarot cards at the scene, calling it a ritualistic act of justice.
"Stupid newspaper, it's doomed!" Lin Ruo sneered. After finishing the paper, he realized he had made a major mistake yesterday.
He should have taken the items from Kapin's safe. Unlike Klein in the original story, who didn't have time, Lin Ruo did but simply forgot.
But it wasn't entirely his fault. Lin Ruo never lacked money and was focused on eliminating scum, completing the hunt, and achieving his goals. He didn't think about the safe.
As for scattering Tarot cards at the scene, Lin Ruo didn't mind.
Firstly, although he hadn't joined the Tarot Club yet, he believed that with his relationship with Klein, becoming an unofficial or even official member was just a matter of time. He wanted to promote the Tarot Club early.
Secondly, with the Tarot Club still in its infancy, having only three official members, two of whom were government officials and one a noblewoman, Lin Ruo wasn't worried about causing trouble for them.
In fact, Lin Ruo's actions might make Klein safer—who would suspect that the leader of an organization with an angel was just an ordinary person?
Even though Lin Ruo was only a Sequence 9, it had the flavor of the Tarot Club!
After some internal grumbling, Lin Ruo stretched and began thinking about his next steps.
First, he needed to continue his role-playing. Given the current environment in Beckland, this wouldn't be difficult, as there were plenty of suitable targets for his hunts.
Next was the issue of obtaining subsequent potions.
The Red Priest card could wait for future team efforts. Lin Ruo needed to consider other channels now.
The first option was attending various extraordinary gatherings, including those the original owner had attended and those mentioned in the story that took place in Beckland.
The second option was finding the descendant of the Blood Emperor, the fallen noble Rafter Pound. As a descendant of the Blood Emperor, even if his family had declined, he likely had the subsequent Hunter potion formulas.
However, there was a problem. In the original story, Rafter was possessed by the Hotpot Evil Spirit and became its servant.
The story didn't specify when Rafter was possessed, only that by the time Klein and Miss Sharon encountered the Hotpot Evil Spirit, Rafter was already its servant.
There was still some time before that, but Lin Ruo couldn't be sure if Rafter was already the Hotpot Evil Spirit's servant.
Even if Rafter was already possessed, Lin Ruo might still obtain the Hunter potion formulas from him, but the chances would be much lower.
The third option was targeting the ambassador who was killed by Klein for five pounds in the original story. The ambassador was a Sequence 6 Conspirator. If Lin Ruo could kill him and obtain his main characteristic, he could use necromancy or divination to get the Hunter pathway's subsequent formulas for Sequences 8, 7, and 6.
This wouldn't be easy. Hunting an ambassador was different from hunting Kapin. The ambassador's protection was much tighter, making it hard to find an opportunity.
The fourth option was leaving Beckland to seek opportunities elsewhere. Compared to Ruen, where Hunters were less active, the Five Seas had more active Hunters, increasing the chances of obtaining formulas. However, unless necessary, Lin Ruo didn't want to leave Beckland now.
The fifth option was straightforward: using the Truth ability to encounter extraordinary beings on the Hunter pathway. Whether he persuaded them to give him the potion formulas or killed them to obtain the formulas through necromancy depended on their actions.
For most people, the first option was purely luck-based, the second was dangerous, the third was suicidal, the fourth wasn't much safer, and the fifth had no implementation conditions.
But for Lin Ruo, the first and fifth options were the most suitable.
The latter was self-explanatory, and for the former, Lin Ruo could use the Truth ability to facilitate purchasing the Hunter potion formulas at extraordinary gatherings. Given Beckland's unique situation, this wouldn't be too difficult.
Lin Ruo planned to pursue both options simultaneously.
He would first use the Truth ability to try the first and fifth methods. If they didn't work, he would consider the riskier methods.
Finally, Lin Ruo thought about the original owner's enemies.
Roldi Frel's father died in a political struggle, leading to the family's downfall and the fire when he was 18. These events deeply affected the original owner, leaving a lasting but vague impression.
The original owner learned about these events from the old butler and his mother, but they were vague about the details.
Lin Ruo, having seen the original owner's memories, was sure they knew something but didn't want the original owner to know.
Even the old butler, who died in the fire, told the original owner to forget everything and start a new life in a new place with his last breath.
All this suggested that the original owner's father's death involved a significant secret, likely related to powerful entities the Frel family couldn't afford to offend.
The original owner had guessed this and had been investigating for the past year, regretting not paying more attention to it over the past 18 years.
Due to limited time and resources, the original owner hadn't found many clues, only identifying a target related to the events—Viscount Stafford.