Chapter 576: Heavy

"Aren't the movements and expressions different when being intimate?"

Although Jianna had seen it before, she had never carefully studied how others were intimate. After hearing Anthony's words, she immediately chose to trust the "Audience."

Anthony continued:

"Lu Jianuo's body language shows obvious resistance; his current state is very abnormal."

Resistance but unable to break free, not even making any relatively intense movements... Lu Jianuo was a Sequence 8 Beyonder, and one who belonged to the type that had strengthened his physical fitness. The current situation was absolutely abnormal... What kind of Beyonder ability could accomplish something similar? Jianna quickly went through the information on the enemies they might encounter this time in her mind.

Most of them came from Seeing Fu Lan Ka's compilation, and a small portion were supplements made by Lady "Magician" and "Justice."

As thoughts raced through her mind, Jianna quickly thought of a possibility:

"Marionettist"!

The "Reader" pathway Sequence 5 "Marionettist"!

According to Seeing Fu Lan Ka's description of a "Marionettist," this type of Beyonder could hide in the shadows and, from a certain distance, silently turn a target into a puppet without a self.

And in the content supplemented by Lady "Magician," there was this line:

"'Marionettists' manipulate the 'Spirit Body Threads' of living beings. A veteran 'Marionettist' can initially control a target's 'Spirit Body Threads' within 5 to 10 seconds, making their thinking sluggish, their movements start to become stagnant, and their body gradually stiffen."

Lu Jianuo's current state perfectly matched the various characteristics of having his "Spirit Body Threads" initially controlled by a "Marionettist"!

Jianna immediately lowered her voice and said to Anthony:

"'Loki'..."

That enemy codenamed "Loki" was precisely a "Marionettist"!

Anthony instantly understood Jianna's speculation and nodded gently:

"Don't be anxious. A 'Marionettist' needs to spend several minutes to completely turn a target into a puppet. We have a chance to rescue Lu Jianuo."

According to the information's hints, whether it was forcibly taking Lu Jianuo away or pushing and stimulating him beyond his limits, both could make him break free from the "Spirit Body Threads" or enhance his resistance against this kind of manipulation.

Of course, the most direct way was to find "Loki's" true body and attack this enemy directly, making him unable to be distracted to manipulate Lu Jianuo's "Spirit Body Threads."

Jianna heard the implication in Anthony's words.

That was not to rush to save Lu Jianuo, but to find his true body while the two of them had not yet been discovered by "Loki"!

—The two of them had changed their appearances and figures last night, pretending to be a couple to check into this suite at the Suolu Hotel.

Once they found "Loki," the two of them might not be able to deal with a target that was eerie, hard to kill, and possessed terrifying abilities, but they could create a big commotion to "call the police" to the Bountiful Society, which was responsible for local Beyonder affairs, and Lu Mian had already communicated with Noelia about this aspect in advance.

Jianna said "Mm," took out powder that shimmered with fluorescence, and prepared to hide her figure.

The next second, she abandoned this plan.

She remembered the reminder in the information:

"Marionettists" can directly see the "Spirit Body Threads" of different living beings; the vast majority of invisibility effects will not work in front of them.

Moreover, "Loki" was currently in a state of manipulating "Spirit Body Threads."

How should she act, and how could she find "Loki"? Jianna fell into thought with a strong sense of urgency.

Inside the sealed sea area, on the Colorful Flower Ceremony Ship.

Lu Mian first saw azure giant waves like mountain peaks rise up, then discovered that they had solidified in mid-air, as if they had encountered a rapid freeze, while a tyrannical aura that would destroy everything here permeated the surroundings.

The ocean's fury? Lu Mian was startled.

He also didn't understand where the problem lay. This looked like the "Sea Queen's Ring" had only exerted the first half of its effect of opening the seal and failed to display the effect brought by the second half of the theft.

But after completing the ring-making ritual, that ring was indeed placed on the dilapidated stone platform, and it was Lu Mian himself and Juan Oro who took it out together.

In the previous stage, Lu Mian wasn't sure if the "Sea Queen's Ring" had been swapped, but now, he was very certain it hadn't been, because the "Sea Queen's Ring" had further opened the seal here; a fake ring that hadn't gone through the previous ritual couldn't exert a similar effect.

Was it that someone had moved the "Sea Queen's Ring" during the hour it was placed in the basement, causing it to not satisfy the time for eroding power, or had someone destroyed the key part of the dilapidated stone platform in the basement in advance, causing the "Paying Respects to Ancestors" link to be impossible to complete? These were all unlikely. How could the first situation bypass the gaze of himself and Juan Oro, as well as the surveillance of those ocean kin? The second situation should have caused quite a commotion and would definitely have been discovered by the ocean kin... As thoughts raced through Lu Mian's mind, he suddenly felt that he had been slightly eroded by the destructive aura permeating the surroundings.

His spirit was instantly connected to something.

Vaguely, Lu Mian "saw" the deep blue, near-black seabed and "saw" a strange object with a small part inserted into stones and gravel.

That object was unusually massive, larger than the Bountiful Society's monastery and the "Sea Viceroy's" mansion combined. It was silver-gray all over, with smooth lines, like a giant spindle that had lost its front section. At this moment, brilliant light like starlight lit up on the side of this thing, and they connected together, seemingly forming a circular, transparent gate.

Through that gate, Lu Mian "saw" a certain scene inside:

On the silver-gray metal walls were densely packed special holes, like the individual cells of a honeycomb.

In some cells, black foam bubbled, and Bating's black worms covered in long, thin bristles crawled out. Some cells were composed of a dozen or twenty grids, and inside lay shriveled "Little Devils." It seemed to have died and was being decomposed into different things...

After this eerie and horrifying scene was imprinted into Lu Mian's mind, he suddenly woke up. He couldn't care about considering what kind of tricks "April Fool's" was playing and quickly thought about what to do to stop the sealed object from becoming completely enraged and breaking free from its restraints.

"The extracted power hasn't caused harm yet...

"This seems to have been suppressed by the power Juan Oro used by overdrawing his life...

"If, if I can seize this window of opportunity to steal the vented power and 'distribute' it to everyone with ocean bloodlines, it's possible to complete the sea sacrifice link and make the Sea Prayer Ritual successful...

"Steal..."

In a flash, Lu Mian thought of two methods:

One was to immediately pray to Mr. "Fool" for help; he was an expert in this aspect, and Termiboros was a precedent. The second was to use the "Lying" earring; this magical artifact had gained the ability to steal others' power on the "Paying Respects to Ancestors" stone platform.

Lu Mian quickly ruled out the first method because this matter was stirred up by "April Fool's," and behind them was that "Fusheng Xuanhuang Tianzun." Praying to Mr. "Fool" might not get a response and would instead waste time.

As for the second method, Lu Mian felt a strong sense of fate and a coincidence that could not be ignored:

"Lying" had just gained the ability to steal others' power not long ago, and it could come in handy at a critical moment!

There was no time to analyze and weigh; Lu Mian made a prompt decision.

Forget about coincidences and fate; solving the current predicament was the most practical thing!

He immediately took out the silver-white "Lying" earring from his pocket.

Normally, this kind of item couldn't be brought onto the Colorful Flower Ceremony Ship and would definitely be discovered by the ocean kin, but this time, Juan Oro had communicated with the ocean kin in advance that he and his helpers would disguise themselves as assistant priests to board the ship and guard against accidents.

—To this president of the Fishery Guild, in a situation where the mole hadn't been found, the ocean kin were more trustworthy than anyone else. Their intelligence wasn't too high, and they were the most protective of the Sea Prayer Ritual.

Holding the "Lying" earring, Lu Mian extended his spirituality toward it.

He instantly saw the starlight permeating the surroundings and felt their existence.

Lu Mian subconsciously reached out his hand, and his wrist turned slightly.

A large amount of starlight poured down, rushing toward the "Lying" earring and toward him.

Just at this moment, a person appeared abruptly in front of him, a woman wearing a black nun's habit with a sorrowful face.

She was like a giant whale suddenly leaping out of the sea without any warning.

Her? The source of the madness? Lu Mian finally remembered what he had forgotten just now.

There was still such a character on the ship!

The next second, he felt that humanoid sealed object become unusually heavy, heavy enough to bend the surrounding void slightly, heavy enough that all the starlight rushed toward the sea in front of her, heavy enough that the Colorful Flower Ceremony Ship began to sink and the nearby seawater was displaced.

Silently, Lu Mian saw the surrounding seawater turn into translucent azure mountain peaks, looking down at himself and the others falling toward the seabed. This was like the walls of a deep well, and the well mouth formed by these walls was getting further and further away.

Four hours ago, at the edge of the sea where mist was permeating.

Noerfei said to Chaneimu:

"Next, you must listen to me completely, otherwise it will be very dangerous."

"Can do." Chaneimu nodded, "But before that, we need to have a frank communication."

A smile gradually appeared on his face.

"What communication?" asked Batner, who was next to Noerfei, curiously.

Chaneimu took out a small metal bottle and looked at Noerfei, saying:

"This is a potion that can make people tell the truth. I want to know if you have any secret collaborators, and if so, who they are.

"Don't worry, it's not poison."

Chaneimu unscrewed the cap and took a sip himself to show sincerity.

Noerfei fell silent for a moment.

"If I don't figure out the corresponding details, it's hard for me to listen to your commands." Chaneimu began to "instigate," "We've already reached here and could enter that sea area at any time. Are you really willing to give up on destroying the palace on the seabed before the Sea Prayer Ritual?"

Noerfei was silent for another while, took the small metal bottle, and gulped down a large mouthful.

Chaneimu took back the bottle with a pained heart and waited patiently for the potion to take effect.

(End of chapter)