Although he'd just gone through a battle, Silas was still relatively clear-headed.
Because just moments ago, both the Shadow Ascetic and Rose Bishop potions within him had provided feedback on digestion.
Among them, the Shadow Ascetic potion had digested a significant portion. In other words, his "Shadow Ascetic" acting had been extremely successful.
After all, he had spiritually destroyed a Sequence 6 Beyonder, causing them to become immersed in faith toward the True Creator until they completely fell.
This extreme and insane "missionary work" could be considered perfect acting.
And with the potion's digestion, his mental state had also improved. He should be able to maintain a normal state for much longer now.
That's why Silas had the confidence to continue participating in tonight's chaos.
After thinking briefly, he approached the corpse.
He needed to dispose of it.
Silas thought to himself.
Actually, the best disposal method would be to directly devour the corpse and transform it into his own flesh and blood.
Most insane Shepherds would definitely take this approach. But Silas didn't really want to do that, because he wasn't a lunatic.
Eating people was somewhat disgusting. Fresh fish or fresh beef would do just fine for replenishing flesh and blood.
Just get rid of it.
So he lightly touched the corpse and activated flesh magic, causing the scattered flesh and blood to gather, condense, and adhere back to the original skeleton, forming something roughly humanoid.
The ground was left without any traces.
Silas cut his finger with his nail and sprinkled the fresh blood over the horrific corpse.
"Whoosh!"
The blood dispersed into mist, shrouding the corpse above, faintly emanating a pitch-black, sinister aura.
He was using this to interfere with divination, preventing anyone from later tracing clues back to him from the corpse.
"Have your guys throw this thing away. You're a gang, you should have experience dealing with bodies, right?"
After finishing all this, Silas said to Charles.
The latter immediately nodded, turned around, and ordered his subordinates to handle the aftermath.
Although these guys were afraid of the corpse, they were even more afraid of Silas, who had created it.
With bitter expressions, they wrapped up the body and carried it away.
"Mr. Anderson, did you get anything from him?"
After sending his subordinates away, Charles asked tentatively.
"There's good news and bad news."
Silas looked at Charles. "The good news is that manuscript is very valuable. The bad news is that manuscript is too valuable. You possessing it would only bring danger."
He explained briefly.
Charles didn't understand what a "difference engine" was, but he understood the weight of Intis spies and "Military Intelligence Nine."
Hearing that both organizations were pursuing this thing simultaneously, he was immediately frightened.
"I have to tell our boss right away!"
He said uneasily. "We can't keep that thing!"
Considering that Intis spies had already infiltrated their gang members, their gang's situation was already very bad.
"Mr. Anderson, can you come with me?"
Charles asked.
"Sure."
Silas had been planning to go to the center of the chaos anyway, so he naturally agreed with a nod.
"Silas..."
"It's fine, my condition's better now."
Noticing his sister's somewhat worried gaze, he smiled reassuringly at her, then headed with Charles toward the Remann Gang's headquarters.
The Remann Gang's headquarters was located in a large building, quite luxurious by Eastern District standards.
If it hadn't been destroyed and riddled with holes, it might have been even more impressive.
"Boss!"
"Brothers!"
Charles cried out as he rushed into the headquarters.
The interior of the building was in ruins, with numerous dead.
Silas followed behind him, examining the bodies along the way until they entered the gang leader's office.
There, the Remann Gang's boss was slumped over the desk, already dead for a while.
A hidden compartment was exposed in the wall behind him, the safe inside standing open.
"The boss is dead. The manuscript... has been taken."
Charles's face showed both panic and bewilderment as he spoke to Silas.
"Judging from the signs of struggle at the scene, both sides were present. I don't know which side took it."
Silas said.
Charles opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.
The shock he'd received was too great.
Just because of one strange manuscript, in the blink of an eye, the boss was gone and headquarters destroyed. He couldn't accept it and didn't know what to do.
"The manuscript being stolen isn't necessarily a bad thing. At least the rest of your people won't be hunted down."
Silas said. "But you'd better hide for now and return when things are over and no one's paying attention to you."
He couldn't be bothered to care about a gang's survival and turned to walk out of the office.
The hall was littered with corpses. He randomly grabbed one and used a ritual to channel the deceased, asking who took the manuscript and where they went.
The dead man, in a daze, pointed in a direction for him.
This place had just been attacked. They hadn't left long ago. He should be able to catch up.
Silas thought, walking straight out the door.
Using flesh magic, he lightly brushed his face, altering his features to take on a completely different appearance.
In the darkness, his body rapidly collapsed, like a drop of thick ink merging into the night's shadows.
The Shadow Ascetic's signature ability, "Shadow Stealth"!
After digesting some of the potion, Silas had gained further mastery of this ability.
Hidden in the shadows, his field of vision became very broad, clearly seeing everything in the surrounding darkness.
I'll go there concealed in the shadows.
Silas thought, beginning to move in the direction the deceased had indicated. His speed wasn't very fast, but it was extremely stealthy and undetectable.
He moved along the shadows of buildings. Since it was nighttime, shadows were everywhere, and his movements were unobstructed.
He could even pass directly through obstacles, taking a straight line to his target location.
He stealthily advanced, and before long, he faintly heard sounds of fighting ahead.
This is it!
Silas continued forward, slipping into the shadows beneath a building's roof, peering down below.
In the street below, two teams of Beyonders were fighting each other over a dark-colored package.
"Thud thud thud!"
A burly man wearing a black iron mask seized the package and, with others covering him, turned to retreat from the battle with alarming momentum.
But before he could run a few steps, his movements suddenly became incredibly stiff, moving sluggishly like rusted machinery.
Several figures rapidly closed in on the black iron mask, like crows swooping toward rotting food, revealing sharp daggers to him.
"Exile!"
A majestic voice proclaimed, and the swooping figures were immediately slapped away by powerful force.
However, those figures quickly became flat and shrunken until they transformed into paper dolls and shattered.
"Rosago, we've already destroyed several of your marionettes. Do you still want to continue?"
A Beyonder wearing a golden mask stood at the center of the street and asked.
His voice was utterly cold, as if carrying irresistible authority.