Chapter 851: Intercontinental Travel

Ludwig had finished the red fish hot beef patty in his hand. He squatted down in front of the park bench, took a fountain pen and a notebook out of his red, hard-shell schoolbag, and began to write his review of the food with focus and seriousness.

Lu Mian, watching from the shadows, curled his lips:

"He says he's afraid, yet his body instinctively repeats the habits he cultivated at the Church of Knowledge...

"If it weren't for so many exams and so much studying, he might have become a qualified believer of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom..."

While mocking Ludwig, Lu Mian scanned the surrounding citizens.

His gaze passed over the young man quietly reading a book in the coffee shop across the street, passed over the middle-aged scholar standing at the intersection who never crossed but only observed the passing pedestrians and carriages, and landed on the painter who had set up an easel under an Intis plane tree, applying paint to the street scene with a vacant expression.

Lu Mian left the shadows, walked a few steps, and came up behind the painter, peering at the artwork just as several other passersby had done.

The painting was ordinary; he detected no supernatural power within it.

Lu Mian continued walking, silently lamenting:

"For now, he really is just a normal painter, it's just that his mental state is a bit off...

"Is this what painters in Trier are like? Sometimes they're more like heretic believers than actual heretic believers...

"Sigh, in Trier, trying to identify heretic believers based on behavioral abnormalities is truly too difficult. To use Franca's words, many citizens have quite 'beautiful' mental states... The overall seal and the Fourth Epoch Trier are half to blame for this, and they themselves are responsible for the other half..."

As Lu Mian thought, he saw a completely naked man walking toward him. The only fabric on his body was a black top hat, held in front of his lower abdomen.

The man walked with his head held high and a proud look on his face, not feeling the slightest bit embarrassed by his current image, as if he had done something very worthy of pride.

Seven or eight meters after passing Lu Mian, his hand was suddenly burned.

He instinctively pulled his hand back and saw his black top hat burst into crimson flames, slowly falling to the ground.

He had lost his final covering.

Lu Mian, continuing to walk with his back to him, moved his lips silently:

"No need to thank me, I'm just letting you show off more thoroughly.

"With so little to show, you dare to streak? Next time, I'll send you to the New Silver City for a free tour."

Lu Mian shoved his hands into his pockets, stepped into the shadows, and shifted his focus back to Ludwig.

He had been following for a long time and still hadn't discovered anyone suspected of being a believer of the "Devouring Vortex."

However, thinking back to when he first met Ludwig, this little boy had never attracted believers of the same pathway, so Lu Mian suspected that the seal on him must have some restrictions. Otherwise, with such a heretic god angel running around everywhere, who knows how many supernatural disasters would have been triggered.

"There might be another reason. Even if many heretic god blessed ones gain divinity, as long as they aren't out of control or semi-mad, they can usually disguise themselves as normal humans. But the 'Devouring Vortex' ones might not be able to. Even before Ludwig recovered to 'Depriver,' he could eat so much in one meal; the corresponding Sequence 4 demigods, even without letting go of their appetites, would surely have appetites that could alarm members of the 'Punishers' and 'Machine Hivemind'..."

"Forget it, anyway, 'taming' Ludwig is the main goal; fishing out other believers of the 'Devouring Vortex' is just a secondary thought. If there aren't any, it doesn't matter..." Lu Mian had watched for so long along the way and hadn't found any citizen whose state of eating was problematic.

…………

Lu Mian, having received Franca's second letter, arrived at Apartment 702, 9 Orosay Street, after dinner.

Jenna had arrived two or three minutes before him, still wearing vampire makeup and a conservative, old-fashioned black dress.

Lu Mian glanced at Jenna, opened his mouth, and then closed it again.

Seeing this, Jenna immediately lifted her chin slightly and asked:

"Are you thinking of mocking how I look now?"

Lu Mian laughed "Heh":

"I was just reminded of a joke. A duke once, in order to make his skin whiter, followed a quack doctor's advice and took pills containing arsenic for a long time. He did succeed in improving his skin tone, but he also gained a side effect: he died."

"Where did you read that joke?" Jenna asked curiously.

"In 'Ghost Face' magazine. And not long before I saw that joke, a guest at the Golden Rooster Hotel told me that you can make your complexion look rosy and healthy by slapping your face, which makes it easier to find a job." Lu Mian laughed. "You two should read more books and magazines instead of being illiterate, otherwise you'll be looked down upon by the clergy of the Church of Knowledge."

I just let you act normally and wait for the opportunity to speak, not for you to keep mocking... Jenna suddenly felt her teeth itch:

"Do you think I'm you, who didn't even finish compulsory education before..."

Jenna paused there.

At this moment, Franca, who had been hiding what she was writing at the coffee table, stood up and said:

"You two, don't delay the important business."

Lu Mian, having learned from the second letter that the visitor from Resurrection Island, Harrison, had appeared again, and that Franca wanted to take Amandina to the edge of the "Samaritan Woman's Spring" as soon as possible, nodded lightly:

"My state has basically recovered."

"That's fast..." Franca was a bit surprised.

Jenna's gaze shifted away briefly before returning to Lu Mian, and she nodded lightly:

"Yeah, faster than I expected."

Lu Mian "Tsked":

"Isn't that a good thing?

"We can ask Amandina for her thoughts now."

"Mm-hmm." Franca excitedly reached for the "Ice Amulet."

Lu Mian, having burned the independent space where "Black Tears" was located for over half an hour before coming over, took out this Grade 1 Sealed Artifact:

"Use this, it won't consume the number of uses."

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the full-length mirror in the living room, the glass windows revealing the night, and the decorative items with metallic surfaces.

Relying on the mirror magic of "Black Tears," he detected no abnormalities in these mirror surfaces and felt no gaze directed at them from within.

He then tossed "Black Tears" to Franca and nodded slightly, meaning "Black Witch" should not be watching them right now.

"I've already written down everything I need to tell Amandina to avoid being overheard..." Franca put on "Black Tears," held the letter in her hand, covered it with black flames, and pressed it onto the glass surface of the full-length mirror in the living room.

She had to be quick and finish this before the negative effects of "Black Tears" took hold!

…………

Southern Continent, Matani State, Pylos Port.

Amandina lit the gas wall lamp, sat at the desk, and looked at the occult information provided by Ms. Franca once again.

Every time she read this knowledge, she felt genuine surprise, respect, yearning, and fear.

Over the past two or three weeks, she had met with several acquaintances from the patrol team multiple times and attended two occult gatherings, only to discover that the occult knowledge recorded in this document was unknown to the vast majority of Beyonders, regardless of whether they were official or not.

"This is truly a gift..." Amandina had just had this thought when she saw the dressing mirror, which she had specially placed nearby, gift from Ms. Franca, turn dark and ripple with water.

Within the water, Intis characters began to outline themselves:

"I am Franca. Lu Mian has returned.

"He asked me to ask you when you plan to come to Trier; he will take you to the area where that figure might appear..."

Louis Berry has returned to Trier... Amandina thought for a few seconds and said to the mirror:

"Tonight is fine."

She had originally planned not to see anyone tonight and to study the remaining occult knowledge properly.

—She had already specifically instructed her maid and locked the bedroom door from the inside.

Amandina had just finished her reply when Franca's voice, sounding slightly urgent, came from the mirror:

"Press your hand against the mirror."

Amandina, feeling a bit apprehensive yet quite expectant and curious, reached her palm toward the surface of the dressing mirror.

She felt the hard, cold glass lose its physical substance, like a layer of water without temperature.

Amandina's right palm passed completely through the mirror surface, and a terrifying suction force erupted from within.

Her entire body was suddenly dragged in, falling into a dark, void tunnel, falling toward the end of the vortex.

Amandina hadn't even had time to react before she felt dizzy.

When she regained her thoughts, she found herself standing in a small living room, facing Ms. Franca, whom she had met before.

This lady was just as beautiful as last time, and because the distance had closed and there was no mirror blocking them, her charm was clearly stronger, making Amandina, a woman, feel a bit embarrassed to look too much, yet unable to resist looking.

As Amandina's gaze shifted, she saw a beautiful woman with a pale face and bright red lips who looked more like a young girl, and saw Lu Mian Lee, who was sitting on a single-seat sofa, wearing a shirt and jacket, with his right foot crossed over his left leg.

Are all the women around this guy so beautiful? He seems to have become even more handsome... Amandina suddenly felt a bit inferior about her own appearance.

She then scanned the room, examining this strange place.

Franca quickly took off "Black Tears" and tossed it back to Lu Mian.

"So magical..." Amandina finally regained her senses, her eyes bright as she asked, "Did I come here through a mirror? Is this Trier?"

Lu Mian, having stuffed "Black Tears" back into the independent space in his Traveler's Bag, laughed and corrected her:

"It's through the Mirror World."

"Mirror World..." Amandina chewed on the term. "Then, is there any way for me to go to different places through the Mirror World like you?"

Lu Mian laughed mockingly:

"Don't you know that non-adjacent pathways cannot be swapped? Don't you know about the existence of magical artifacts?"

As he spoke, Lu Mian stood up and walked toward the door:

"We're leaving now."

"Are, are they not coming?" Amandina pointed at Franca and Jenna.

She hadn't even had time to exchange pleasantries!

"No need." Lu Mian pulled open the door.

PS: Requesting monthly votes at the end of the month~

(End of chapter)