Chapter 192

Chapter 192

Evan had no idea that Sara was stirring up a storm within the power vortex of the Sala Empire. The bloodshed and scheming within that crimson castle, separated by the vast ocean, became a distant past he could never know.

He rested at the inn on the Twelfth Island for three days. Under the effects of the antidote potion and herbal remedies, the wounds on his back and legs gradually scabbed over. That afternoon, leaning against the wrought-iron balcony railing of his room, he held a fallen palm leaf between his fingers, gazing at the torrential rain outside, slowly slipping into deep thought.

New Nigeria was inherently a typical tropical rainforest climate—perennially hot and rainy, like a steamer trapped by an invisible hand, stifling and oppressive.

The rain here was notoriously regular. Every midday, it would fall without fail—a half-hour-long downpour, clattering against the tin roofs, splashing onto the asphalt streets, spreading dark patches of water. Yet the rain never brought any relief to this land; instead, it thickened the humidity in the air. The sticky moisture clung to the skin with its warmth, making even breathing feel damp and cloyingly sweet. The entire Twelfth Island was steeped in this irritating, muggy heat.

Evan stood on the balcony watching the rain, but not merely to observe this uniquely tropical spectacle.

Just moments before, he had instinctively activated his Spirit Vision—the core supernatural ability of Sequence 9 "Cartographer." His four-color vision allowed him to perceive colors and energy fluctuations invisible to ordinary people and even common supernaturals.

The rain slanted across his view. Within his Spirit Vision, transparent raindrops were entwined with subtle, hair-thin traces of pale purple, so diluted they resembled ink stains washed away by water. If his perception of color hadn’t far surpassed that of ordinary people, even a slight distraction would have let this abnormality blend completely into the rain curtain, unnoticed by him.

Even a Sequence 8 supernatural, unless possessing vision-related special abilities, would be utterly incapable of detecting such faint energy traces.

This seemingly ordinary afternoon downpour had been infused with a supernatural's ability.

Evan's brows furrowed slightly. His fingers unconsciously traced the wood grain of the balcony railing, his expression turning somewhat peculiar.

He lifted his gaze toward the rain-shrouded distance—from the bustling docks to the remote indigenous settlements, to the street where the Palm Leaf Club stood. This rain fell across the entire Twelfth Island.

To integrate one's supernatural ability into such a vast rain curtain, achieving such stealth, the opponent's strength certainly exceeded Sequence 8, possibly even touching the threshold of Sequence 7. And the purpose behind such an act lay like a heavy fog over his thoughts.

The colony's waters ran deep.

Sequence 8 Puppeteer Potion Recipe (Shadow Parasite): Shadow Thread 30g, Rainmist Grass Dry Leaves 20g, Spirit Medium Spider Silk Sac one, Sea Heart Stone Fragment Powder 100g, Moonlight Distillate ×30ml

The promotion ritual must be performed in a sealed space at midnight (isolated from external spiritual interference), following these steps: 1. Pour the Moonlight Distillate into a silver crucible and preheat it to a gentle boil using one's own spirituality as the ignition source; 2. Add the auxiliary materials in sequence, stirring until fully dissolved; 3. Finally, add the Shadow Silk while simultaneously controlling three simple cloth dolls to complete the "synchronized arm-raising, bowing, and stillness" actions; 4. Once the potion turns a translucent lavender, drink it directly (maintain the dolls' synchronized state until the potion takes effect).

Evan now possessed the Sea Heart Stone, but many of the other potion ingredients were materials from supernatural creatures native to the colonies, which was one of the reasons he had come to New Nigeria.

Evan intended to visit the club to see if he could purchase these supernatural materials.

Continuing from the above text, Evan attended an internal trading session held by the club and successfully exchanged one thousand Gold Sala and two Sequence 9 potion formulas for "Shadow Silk, Rainmist Grass Dried Leaves, Spirit Medium Spider Silk Sac, and Moonlight Distillate."

The rain curtain withdrew abruptly. The last few scalding droplets struck the asphalt, splashing up fine white mist that evaporated instantly in the afternoon heat.

Evan pushed open the wooden door of the inn. His heels made sticky, soft sounds on the damp cobblestones—Twelfth Island's streets felt like a wrung-out sponge, damp and clinging with heat. Indigenous vendors squatted at street corners, hawking roasted insect skewers coated in coconut shreds; the oil glistening in their copper pans, mingling with the scent of evaporating rainwater, wove a stifling net in the air.

A Colonial Force patrol team passed by, swinging brass lanterns, the sound of their boots slogging through puddles particularly grating. The feather curtain of the Palm Leaf Club still bore raindrops. The bartender saw Evan enter and paused his glass-polishing motion, then tilted his chin, gesturing for him to head behind the bar: "The internal trading session is in the wine cellar downstairs. Bring your identity token—the crowd's a mixed bag today, don't reveal your real name, and don't touch the 'red bottled wine' in the corner; that's a troublemaker's mark." Evan nodded, pulled out the "Thornbird" identity token he had obtained earlier, and followed the bartender through the hidden door behind the bar.

The stone steps exuded a damp, cold moisture. After descending about ten steps, the space suddenly brightened—the underground wine cellar had been converted into a temporary trading venue. Several animal-oil lamps were embedded in the stone walls, their dim yellow light—suffused with the aroma of aged wine—fell upon the various masked traders.

Some wore fur cloaks, fingertips pinching strings of faintly glowing insect molts; others sat on wooden crates, with several yellowed formula papers spread before them, their corners stained with dark blood. Faint spiritual fluctuations drifted in the air, like countless fine needles pricking the skin.

Evan's Spirit Vision instinctively opened halfway. In his tetrachromatic vision, the spiritual traces of different traders spread out like a palette: the person wearing a silver anchor mask carried the salty blue of sea breeze; the one wrapped in a black cloak emanated a pale purple of the undead; and in the corner, a figure draped in a dark gray cloak with a skull mask had spiritual fluctuations like cotton soaked in ink—the aura of a Sequence 8 "Spirit Binder." Such Supernaturals were most skilled in handling undead-related materials, precisely the holder of the Shadow Silk he sought.

Evan moved along the damp stone wall to the skull-masked vendor's stall, set in the darkest corner of the cellar, illuminated only by a bean-sized oil lamp, around whose wick a few strands of pale purple silk were coiled—exactly the Shadow Silk from the Shadow Parasite he needed.

"30 grams, harvested from the Midnight Blue Light Zone of First Island." The skull mask's voice was like sandpaper scraping bone, carrying the unique chill of the undead. "Colonial team scouts were searching for Sea Heart Stones there. I slipped in by leveraging the undead fluctuations within the blue light. The material is slightly tainted with 'Resentment Manifestation' and requires Moonlight Distillate to neutralize."

Evan's fingertips brushed the silk. In his Spirit Vision, pale purple spiritual fluctuations were wrapped in faint gray mist—traces of Resentment Manifestation. The vendor wasn't lying.

He touched his money pouch: "What's your asking price?"

"800 Gold Sala." The skull mask's fingertip lightly traced the silk, causing the pale purple spirituality to contract sharply. "This has been processed by a 'Spirit Binder'—without the Resentment Manifestation removed, you'd be haunted by undead consciousness when drinking the potion."

Evan's pouch held only 1000 Gold. This price was clearly over budget.