In the room, Luo En listened to Danitz's vivid account, and the corners of his mouth curled into a cold smile that matched his current attire. "Good luck," he commented. "Everything is proceeding according to our initial plan."
"Damn it, that guy almost caught up!" Danitz, still shaken, took a gulp of wine. "If that wall hadn't collapsed in time, the show would have been over."
"Originally, I had prepared a backup plan," Luo En said indifferently. "If there was a mistake midway and he arrived early, I would have just thrown a corpse at him."
However, fortunately, the plan proceeded very smoothly.
Alger was successfully influenced by the "Calamity." The sudden appearance of the drunkard, and the perfectly timed collapse of the wall, were all manifestations of the Calamity Priest's abilities.
Although Luo En couldn't precisely control the specific form of the "Calamity," by attracting its power, he could just barely manage to make someone's actions go awry.
It was these "accidents" that slowed down Alger's movements, giving him and Danitz enough time to stage the carefully arranged, "death" of Brando.
After all, witnessing the prey "accidentally" die in front of one's eyes was far more convincing than simply discovering a cold corpse.
Honestly, to deal with various contingencies, Luo En had prepared several backup plans. Thinking of this, Luo En suddenly fell silent. He took off his glasses, rubbed his temples, and let out a soft sigh.
Why did he feel like he had become a little evil?
Designing traps, manipulating people's hearts, using a "substitute" to stage a death—even if this substitute deserved his fate.
No, if anyone was to blame, it was this damned world!
He quickly convinced himself in his heart.
That Alger, too, if he hadn't initially harbored greedy thoughts and wanted to hunt me with Danitz, I wouldn't have specifically arranged this trap for him.
I merely gave him the "Calamity" he deserved.
For a moment, Luo En seemed to vaguely grasp the true meaning behind the Sequence name "Calamity Priest."
Unlike normal Beyonders, due to the direct digestion of the potion, Luo En couldn't clearly experience the process of the potion being gradually "acted out" and digested within his body.
For him, completing digestion was more like fulfilling a prerequisite mission in a game, satisfying the conditions for promotion.
This also led to another problem, besides the lack of corresponding insights: his corresponding skill levels were maxed out, but he had no proficiency whatsoever.
Today was his first time actively and successfully using the power of "Calamity."
Luo En snapped out of his brief contemplation, his eyes sharpening again.
"We can't delay any longer," he told Danitz. "We need to process this corpse again while Alger is busy dealing with the bounty."
"Process it again?" Danitz was a bit confused. "Wasn't the previous processing enough?"
"No," Luo En shook his head. "Tracy is a Sequence 5, highly experienced. The previous processing might not fool her."
"Bring over the materials we prepared beforehand."
Danitz nodded and retrieved a pile of bottles and jars from an inconspicuous box in the corner of the room. They contained various powders and liquids with strange odors, all spiritual materials Luo En had specifically asked him to procure from the black market, which had the effect of interfering with spirituality and confusing auras.
For the next hour or so, an indescribable, strange smell permeated the room.
Luo En put on gloves, like a calm surgeon, performing the final touches on the "product."
He first used special reagents to clean all traces on the corpse. Then, he used spiritual materials to set up several rituals for handling spiritual bodies that Edwina had taught him.
Danitz watched from the side, feeling a chill run down his spine. He suddenly wondered if this Brando, wearing glasses and a top hat, was truly the same person as the Brando who always liked to joke with him.
Just changing his attire seemed to change him completely... cold, cunning, unfeeling.
Finally, after finishing everything, Luo En looked at the "corpse" before him, which now showed no flaws, and nodded in satisfaction.
He still needed to perform one final confirmation.
He took a pendulum from his pocket and let it hang still above the corpse.
Luo En closed his eyes and began to silently repeat in his mind:
"This corpse is Monchi Brando."
"This corpse is Monchi Brando."
The pendulum hanging from his fingertips merely swayed slightly and irregularly to the left and right, then completely lost its reaction and became still.
"Very good—"
Luo En opened his eyes, a relieved smile on his face as he saw the result.
The divination had failed.
This meant that the various interferences he had applied had taken effect.
If even he, the person himself, couldn't get an accurate result from divination here, then Tracy, far away on the "Black Death," probably couldn't do anything either.
Bayam, Juniper Leaf Bar.
"Sly Speaker" Mithor sat alone at the bar, drinking one silent drink after another. The liquor was strong, but it couldn't dispel the gloom in his heart.
Because he had harbored inappropriate thoughts on the derelict ship earlier, he was mercilessly "exiled" to Bayam by the returning Captain Tracy. It was euphemistically called making him atone for his sins by searching for an adventurer named "Monqi Brando."
Mithor knew very well that he was currently under the Captain's observation and punishment. He had to complete this mission quickly and achieve a great merit to regain trust and return to the "Black Death."
However, he was also full of curiosity about this guy named "Monqi Brando." What kind of person could make the Captain issue such a sky-high bounty of ten thousand pounds?
He had wanted to ask at first, but seeing the Captain's cold face, which clearly read "keep out," he swallowed his words.
An adventurer—the Captain had encountered an accident before—he probably tried to take advantage of the situation and harm the Captain, which is why she held a grudge.
Could it be that this adventurer, while the Captain was injured, did *that* kind of thing to her—
At this thought, Mithor's Adam's apple bobbed, and he swallowed.
To be honest, he had also harbored unrealistic fantasies about the Captain, but alas, his strength didn't allow it.
"If that's truly the case... then the Captain and this Brando must be bitter enemies," Mithor speculated.
Just as he was lost in thought, the bar owner, "Strongman" Ozil, walked over with a drink and sat beside him.
Ozil didn't speak, he just leaned close to Mithor's ear and quickly whispered something in a very low voice.
"Really?!" Mithor's pupils suddenly constricted, his face filled with incredulous surprise.
"Absolutely true." Ozil nodded, took out a somewhat worn satchel from under the bar, and pushed it over. "These are Monchi Brando's personal belongings. The corpse is currently with the delivery person."
Mithor immediately took the satchel and examined it carefully, finding some personal clothing inside.
"Were there any other items with Monchi Brando?" He asked, recalling a detail the Captain had told him.
"Hmm, yes," Ozil nodded.
"That person said that this Brando had a cat with him, but due to carelessness, he let the cat escape."
"Good." With the details matching, Mithor suppressed his excitement and said in a deep voice, "But I must report this to the Captain first. After all, the bounty specifies a live capture. Now that the person is dead, the price needs to be renegotiated."
"Understood." Ozil agreed to his request, making a gesture of "please proceed."
Looking at the physical evidence before him, Mithor took a deep breath.
He finally... finally had a reason to contact the Captain proactively!
The Captain would surely be very pleased when she heard this news!