In Backlund, in Earl Hall's study.
Earl Hall, whose youthful handsomeness had been ruined by his expanding waistline, looked at Aaron, who was sitting beside Audrey, and chuckled relaxedly:
"Due to the sinking of the ironclad, Prime Minister Aguesid Negan has already submitted his resignation to the King and Parliament. The Conservative Party has truly suffered a severe blow this time."
Aaron stroked Susie, who was rubbing against his feet, and glanced at the somewhat melancholic Audrey, knowing that she was probably mourning the sacrifice of the ironclad's crew.
But war was like this, and it would only become more brutal in the future. People caught in the currents of the era had no chance to choose their own destiny.
Sighing inwardly, Aaron squeezed Audrey's hands and said softly:
"Even if Aguesid's resignation is truly accepted, the position of Prime Minister can still only be chosen from the Conservative Party. The most important thing for the New Party is to push for the relief efforts for the victims of the Great Smog and those sacrificed ironclad crew members."
"Regarding the ironclad incident, what is His Majesty the King's attitude?"
Earl Hall frowned, thought for a moment, and said:
"Sadness, but no concrete ideas."
"However, now, whether it's the noble members of the Upper and Lower Houses, or the common people at the bottom, it's hard to believe that a few self-proclaimed pirate kings could sink an ironclad that was boasted to be invincible."
Aaron raised an eyebrow, chuckled disdainfully, and completed the second half of Earl Hall's unfinished sentence:
"Especially since the sinking occurred north of Sonia Island."
Earl Hall nodded heavily, sighing:
"Yes, therefore, what's important now is no longer the truth, but what purpose His Majesty the King intends to achieve through this matter."
"If he wants war, to restart the struggle for Sonia Island, then the news that the so-called Pirate Kingdom secretly conspired with the Feysac Empire to cause the ironclad's sinking will spread throughout Backlund."
Noticing the obvious change in Audrey's emotional expression as she had been silently listening, Aaron didn't continue the topic and softly comforted her:
"Loen's current series of reforms haven't stabilized yet. Even if His Majesty wants to use this to wage war, he doesn't have the capability. At most, it's a form of war propaganda."
Looking at the two whispering, Earl Hall smiled, got up, and left the study.
After a moment of tenderness, Audrey, her face flushed with a slight blush, seemed to remember something, and her emerald-like green eyes sparkled:
"The Hypnotist potion can be fully digested by the end of this month at the latest. I want to prepare for the Dreamwalker advancement ritual in advance!"
Aaron was not surprised by this. It was already late April, nearly half a year since Audrey advanced to Hypnotist.
If not for the previous separation of her virtual personality, which required a certain amount of time after advancing to Hypnotist to use qualitative psychological cue to open the Door of her Body of Mind and Heart and eliminate residual hidden dangers, Audrey would have long since completely digested the potion.
After informing Audrey of the Dreamwalker potion formula and advancement ritual, Aaron, just about to say something, suddenly saw wisps of dark golden mist appear before his eyes.
His heart stirred, and his spirituality connected to his sub-consciousness within the Nation of Disorder, seeing the source of the anomaly:
On the stone chair beneath the nine-tiered steps, the dark golden light cluster symbolizing Klein flickered erratically. Thin gray-white mist emerged, instinctively repelling the Nation of Disorder.
Raising his hand to suppress the anomaly, Aaron, whose body was entirely condensed from dark golden mist, raised an eyebrow. The dark golden light cluster rapidly expanded.
Is this a mermaid? Klein has advanced to Marionettist...
Looking at Azik at the edge of the scene, who seemed to have noticed something, Aaron roughly guessed how Klein found these mermaids, but what interested Him more was Klein's current state.
Under His true vision, He could clearly see a thin layer of gray-white mist, slightly spreading outwards, on Klein's body during his advancement.
Looking towards the source of the mist, there was faintly a brilliant light Door, tainted with some greenish-black.
That light Door was composed of countless overlapping light spheres, and the body of each light sphere was a pile of distorted worms huddled together. Those transparent worms carried symbols and patterns that were either complex and indescribable or profound in meaning.
Aaron, whose body disintegrated and then re-condensed, voluntarily cut off his connection with Klein, leaned back against the chair, his expression somewhat peculiar.
The harm caused by the repulsion between different Sefirah was even greater than consuming potions from non-adjacent Pathways. As an Angel who controlled the Nation of Disorder, he was not afraid of these corruption, but Klein, who had not yet reached demigod status, could not withstand the aftershocks of the Nation of Disorder's spontaneous counterattack.
However, Aaron was mentally prepared for the current situation. After all, as Klein advanced, his control over Sefirah Castle also increased, and it would increasingly repel the aura from the Nation of Disorder that he left on Klein.
The only thing he hadn't anticipated was that this change would arrive before Klein even achieved demigod status. His spiritual intuition told him that this was likely related to the last time in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, when the Celestial Worthy's will within the Attendant of Mysteries characteristic stirred Sefirah Castle.
A repulsion reaction already appeared at Sequence 5. When Klein achieves demigod status and initially grasps Sefirah Castle, he will probably be able to detect my true identity… Aaron closed his eyes, sensed the changes in the Sefirah, clicked his tongue, and made a judgment in his heart.
Several photos tucked away in a corner of the clutter flew up. Aaron looked at the various death poses of Mr. Fool in those photos, a mischievous smile appearing on his face, which then turned solemn and righteous:
"These treasured little photos can indeed stimulate Klein's humanity, lest he collapses after learning that the so-called transmigration was just an illusion."
The illusory figure on the throne disintegrated, and the golden light in Aaron's eyes dimmed as he withdrew his consciousness, beginning to explain the special nature of the Dreamwalker ritual to Audrey.
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On a desolate island, Azik frowned slightly, looking at Klein, who was trembling all over and even had transparent worms appearing on his body after swallowing the potion. The Underworld Gate on his brow flickered with a faint green light.
Before he could suppress Klein, who was showing signs of losing control, a gray-white mist, even denser than before, suddenly appeared, forcing a wisp of incongruous dark golden mist out of Klein's body.
Before Azik could react, it suddenly rushed into the dark golden token in his hand, which Aaron had given him, engraved with complex patterns.
Looking at the token in his hand, whose aura grew deeper, and then at Klein, who was gradually returning to normal, the expression on Azik's face subtly changed.
Ignoring the mermaids fleeing in panic in the distance, the space around Azik immediately became colorful. An abstract painting symbolizing the Spirit World enveloped Klein, who was either unconscious or asleep.