"The surgery was a success?" Tracy didn't grasp the meaning of Ebner's words. Still somewhat disoriented, she instinctively repeated his phrase while her rusty brain pondered philosophical questions like "Who am I?", "Where am I?", "What am I supposed to do?", and "What does he mean?"
After about a minute, she finally recalled what she had experienced.
She tried to struggle up but found herself too weak to even lift a finger. She could only ask in a hoarse voice, "Who are you... Where is this? Where's Gehrman?"
As she spoke, she used her nearly depleted spirituality to sense her body. Finding herself dressed and feeling no abnormalities, she breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"My name is Ebner Bryan. Gehrman was helpless against the poison in your body, so he transferred you to me...
"And you are currently in my Ancient Vine Manor in Trier, Miss Tracy."
Ebner Bryan answered her questions with a smile.
Speaking of which, early this morning, Ebner had gone with the "criminal" butler whose mind was controlled by the "Magic Mirror," as well as the agent and lawyer provided by the "club," to complete the property "transfer" procedures.
So, it was now legitimate to say that this "Ancient Vine Manor" belonged to him.
For this, Ebner paid nearly 20,000 Fels, but it was essentially a left-hand-to-right-hand transaction, costing only dozens of Fels in processing fees.
And now, the "Magic Mirror" was still representing him, along with the lawyer and agent, to transfer the shares of "Mirror Apostle" Herta in the shipping company and the Susit Bank.
As for her luxurious villa in Trier's Saint Laurent District, Ebner Bryan did not intend to take it over, planning to sell it directly for cash.
—After all, ostensibly, "Herta" was selling these properties because her business abroad ran into problems and she urgently needed a large sum of capital... If Ebner bought everything himself, it would look too suspicious.
More importantly, the villa's location was not ideal and did not fit Ebner's next plan.
"Ebner Bryan..." Tracy muttered the name several times. Suddenly remembering something, her eyes sharpened, and she asked in a dry voice, "Helene... is she with you?"
Although her mother, Caterina, hadn't fulfilled her promise to tell her Helene's whereabouts, the mere clues of "Bayam" and "maid" had narrowed the scope, and she had a list of suspects in hand.
"If it weren't for Helene's request, I wouldn't have agreed to save you." Ebner's impression of the "Vice Admiral of Ailment" was clearly not as good as that of the other three female pirate generals.
"Helene..." Tracy's eyes first softened, then she looked at Ebner Bryan with a complicated expression.
Though she suspected he might have been involved with Helene, he was also the one who saved her.
"Thank you..." Tracy thanked him, then struggled to raise her head to look further, wanting to see if Helene was nearby, but failed. She could only exhale and say, "Where is Helene?"
"She went home to help her father with some debts; she should be coming over soon," Ebner replied casually. At the same time, he pulled back the covers to examine Tracy's body, finding that his initial treatment last night had yielded considerable results. At least her body and spirit had stopped deteriorating.
In fact, if Ebner wanted to quickly cure Tracy, it wasn't impossible. As long as he arranged a ritual to summon Lady Helene, the problem would surely be resolved.
But Tracy had no relation to him, and Ebner Bryan had no intention of owing favors for her. So, he simply experimented on Tracy after specifically modifying the "Violet's Perfect Recovery Art." It seemed effective, and perhaps could be further adjusted.
"Learning mystical arts, developing mystical arts, teaching mystical arts..." According to the role-playing principle of a "Mysticism Magister," Ebner Bryan's plan was to research a "mystical art" specifically designed to eliminate this "toxic potion," then teach it to Tracy, allowing her to recover on her own, thus completing a "role-play."
As for the pain Tracy endured during the "experiment"... that would be her paying the price for her misdeeds... Moreover, with Helene's care, she might even willingly act as a "guinea pig."
It's worth noting that through Ebner Bryan's research, the drug provided by the "Celestial Sect" was actually quite complex. The so-called "aphrodisiac" was merely a pretext; even the "antidote" provided could only alleviate the symptoms, not truly eliminate them... Once the "antidote" was stopped, those who had taken the drug would become even weaker than the "Vice Admiral of Ailment" in a very short time!
It could be described as both a "poison" and a "curse"... It was likely something specifically developed by followers of the "Mother Tree of Desire" to control others.
The "Biological Toxin Bottle" in the original novel was a product of those guys' failed experiments. Could this potion have a similar origin?
As he pondered, Ebner heard Tracy ask in a surprised tone, "You... you two aren't living together?"
Ebner snapped back to attention, glancing at her. He naturally understood what she wanted to ask, but was too lazy to bother, simply continuing to examine her body on his own.
Tracy was initially a bit nervous at his actions, but quickly realized his eyes were clear and he was indeed only conducting "academic" research. She then relaxed.
As a pirate, and as someone who had once been male, she genuinely didn't care about minor physical contact.
After a moment, seeing Ebner cover her with the blanket again, Tracy inquired once more: "How's my condition? When will I recover?"
"Your condition is basically stabilized. Use the potions I formulated for a few days, and once you regain some mobility, I will teach you a mystical art.
"After that, you'll use the 'mystical art' yourself to continue clearing the effects of the poison. You should recover completely in about half a month," Ebner said after some thought.
"Half a month..." Tracy mused, then suddenly asked, "What was that 'surgery' you mentioned earlier?"
That was just a joke you wouldn't understand... Ebner Bryan muttered to himself. He used his "Spirit Vision" to observe her mental state, his eyes twinkling, and said with a smile:
"'Congratulations on a successful surgery, you've turned from a man into a girl'..."
"There once was an 'Instigator' who was tricked into drinking a 'Witch' potion. When she regained consciousness, someone offered her congratulations with that very joke."
Tracy froze at his words, her expression twisting slightly. It felt as though a deep-seated shame had been brutally dug out and exposed to the sunlight.
Her azure eyes immediately clouded with anger stemming from shame and irritation, and her pale, poisoned face instantly flushed red.
But, unable to even move a finger, she quickly reined in her emotions, scoffed, and said in a low, hoarse voice:
"As expected of the 'Romantic Detective,' your understanding of demonesses far surpasses that of ordinary people."
Ebner ignored her sarcasm, merely nodding with satisfaction. "It seems your mental recovery is quite good... You should know that, according to my research, this poison you've contracted amplifies emotions and desires. Once an extreme emotion arises, it's very difficult to control...
"The 'Violet's Perfect Recovery Art' is indeed very effective at removing spiritual contamination."
Tracy stared blankly. She hadn't expected that he wasn't trying to expose her past, but merely testing her mental recovery?
If that's the case, did what I just said sound impolite? Will he speak ill of me to Helene because of it?
Just as Tracy was lost in thought, the sound of the door being pushed open came, and Helene walked to the bedside.
"Ebner, how is she?" Helene asked.
"She's awake. You two can catch up now," Ebner replied with a smile, then turned and left the bedroom, only adding before stepping out, "But be moderate; don't delay the company's work."
With that, he casually closed the door.
Helene didn't reply; her full attention was on Tracy. Seeing her weak and powerless state, she felt all her fear of her vanish.
Tracy also looked at the familiar yet somewhat strange face, saying with a complex tone, "Helene, you're still as stubborn as ever, but your eyes seem much firmer... no longer so wavering..."
"This is all Ebner Bryan's guidance to me..." Helene said.
This was not a lie. Being with Ebner , she had learned many excellent qualities from him—of course, she didn't know that this was a "Mysticism Magister's" deliberate and subtle guidance tailored to her personality, also part of his role-play.
Tracy's mood immediately darkened. She felt that even if they weren't living together, their hearts had grown closer... According to Emperor Roselle's saying, she suspected her head might be a little green...
But before she could dwell on it, her chin was lifted by Helene's finger. The girl who had once been beneath her now looked down, saying:
"Everything you did to me before, I'm going to get my revenge!"
At this moment, Helene fully embodied the domineering female CEO persona from some of the stories Ebner had told her.
.....
On the other side, Ebner , having left the bedroom, directly pushed Tracy's matter to the back of his mind, turning instead to contemplate Klein's recent reply from "Little Snake" Will:
"This is the choice of destiny..."
The choice of destiny? What exactly does that mean? "Mystics" really are annoying when they speak!
Muttering inwardly, Ebner Bryan stepped out and boarded a carriage, pondering:
"The note left by Darkwill's teacher actually had two choices: one was to hand the 'Dice of Probability' to Councilman Joes Red, as in the original novel, and the other was to hand it to me...
"And the choice of destiny... does that mean the uniqueness of the 'Wheel of Fortune' ultimately chose me?
"Why would it choose me? And why did the little snake allow the uniqueness to fall into my hands?
"Could it be that other Transmigrators brought by the 'Pure White Eye' also obtained the 'Wheel of Fortune' before?
"The God of Luck?"