The atmosphere of the gathering remained somewhat quiet until the plump potion maker began selling the potions he had brought.
He then placed his bottles on the table one by one. Through experiments in the previous few gatherings, he had already gained several regular customers.
So the transactions didn't take long. In less than three minutes, he had sold almost all the bottles and collected more than fifty pounds in cash.
After everything was finished, the Eye of Wisdom looked at the wall clock and said in a calm but firm voice,"Today's gathering ends here."
Then, just as before, he announced the rules—each participant would leave through different routes, at different intervals, and in different orders, so that no one could easily determine another person's identity or destination.
One by one, people began to stand up and disappear through the designated door into the dark corridor.
Miao Miao had been sitting in the far corner of the gathering room. Naturally, she had to leave last.
She remained seated calmly and watched the others slowly leave. Klein, however, had already left much earlier.
Soon, most of the people were gone, and the room gradually became quiet again. The candles were extinguished one by one, and the night outside grew even deeper.
After waiting for a while, Miao Miao slowly stood up. She made sure that no one else was around. Then she quietly left the room and headed toward the dark alley.
The air outside was cold. She glanced around—the street was almost empty.
After walking some distance, she returned toward the building again.
Making herself invisible, she climbed across several buildings and, within a short time, arrived at the courtyard of her home. The back window of her room was slightly open. She gently pushed it wider and slipped inside without making a sound.
The room was shrouded in darkness, with only faint light from outside falling onto the floor. She stood still for a few moments, as if confirming whether anyone else was truly inside the dark room.
Miao Miao remained motionless in the darkness for a few seconds before making herself visible again. The surroundings were silent—only the distant street lamps outside cast faint light through the window onto the floor.
She slowly walked toward the table and reached out to light the room's lamp.
Tick—there was a small sound, and then a yellowish glow gradually illuminated the room.
As the light spread, the familiar furniture became clear—the table, the bookshelf, and the chair beside the window.
"Fifteen hundred pounds…" she calculated silently.
Then she neatly organized the notes again and stored them inside her space ring.
After standing quietly for a moment, she slowly let out a sigh.
"Today's gathering wasn't bad," she thought. "At least I managed to sell an important ingredient."
"However… at the end, it felt like Klein was looking at me with a rather strange gaze."
Miao Miao lay down on the bed. After staring at the ceiling for a while, she slowly extended her right hand upward.
"Now… let's buy the potion formulas and ingredients from the Beyonder store," she thought to herself.
As if on cue, the familiar system interface appeared before her eyes, like an invisible panel unfolding right in front of her. Miao Miao focused on the lists carefully.
"Alright… why can't I purchase Beyonder Characteristics?" she wondered, furrowing her brows. She scrolled through the options but found no such selection anywhere.
"There's no option for this here…" she muttered, glancing at the list again.
"Besides, the system currently only allows access to options from Sequence 9 down to Sequence 5. Options for Sequences 4 through 0 are still locked."
Miao Miao paused for a moment, as if analyzing the situation. "It seems the system is deliberately restricted… probably because of my current level."
A slight smile appeared at the corner of her lips. "Well… Sequence 5 is enough for now."
She carefully scrolled through the system interface. After a short while, she entered the "Error Pathway" option.
Her eyes quickly scanned the list, and before long, she found exactly what she was looking for.
"Sequence 9: Marauder — 50 pounds."
Without hesitation, Miao Miao clicked on the option.
In the next instant, a flash of light appeared, and a clear writing panel floated before her.
Potion Formula:
★ Main Ingredients:
1 Blood-Speckled Black Mosquito
1 Core of a Candle Devourer
Or
A Marauder Beyonder Characteristic
★ Supplementary Ingredients:
100 milliliters of Another's Blood
Nail fragments from Nine Different Individuals
1 Sapphire
10 grams of Verbena Powder
Miao Miao read the formula carefully—twice.
A flicker of thought appeared in her eyes. "Hmm… this really is the Marauder pathway formula," she thought.
Her gaze lingered on the first part.
"Blood-Speckled Black Mosquito… and the Core of a Candle Devourer…"
She furrowed her brows. "These two ingredients won't be easy to obtain."
Then her eyes moved down to the next line:
Or: A Marauder Beyonder Characteristic.
Miao Miao exhaled slowly. "If I can obtain the Beyonder Characteristic directly… the whole process would be much easier. But it has to come from a future parasitic Beyonder."
Yet after a few seconds, she shook her head. "Still, that would be even harder to get."
She stared at the formula for a while longer. Then another set of options caught her attention:
Abilities
Acting Method
She first clicked on "Abilities."
Immediately, a new information panel appeared before her.
---
★ Attributes:
Physical Enhancement: After progression, strength and endurance increase slightly.
Combat Skill: Proficiency in using small weapons like knives or short swords.
Dexterous Hands: Stability and flexibility of the wrists and fingers improve, making movements faster, precise, and highly agile.
---
★ New Skills:
Heightened Observation: Can sense the presence of valuable items within roughly ten meters, though precise location cannot be determined.
Stealing: Can easily pick items from pockets or bodies, mostly without being detected.
---
Miao Miao read these abilities quietly for a few seconds.
Then she clicked on the second option, "Acting Method."
A short sentence appeared:
> "Stealing physical items, acting as a thief, exploiting, and acting hidden."
Miao Miao remained silent for a moment.
"Stealing…" she whispered to herself, her brows slightly furrowing.
"This… conflicts with my morality," she sighed.
"Of course… I was once an Assassin," she reminded herself.
"But I didn't choose that work… I carried it out under someone else's orders."
She stared silently at the ceiling for a few moments, waves of doubt and thought washing over her.
"But… if I have to return to the real world…" she slowly exhaled.
Gradually, a firm resolve returned to her eyes. "…then I must do this."
Taking a deep breath, Miao Miao steadied her mind. She turned her attention back to the system interface.
Without hesitation, she purchased the necessary ingredients. A faint sparkle appeared on the system panel, and the items were automatically transferred into her space ring.
A few seconds later, she checked her remaining funds.
"1,492 pounds… 12 shillings," she calculated silently.
Most of the money she had earned from today's gathering remained intact. Miao Miao slowly lowered her hands and gazed calmly at the ceiling.
"Now… it's time to make the potion."
Rising from the bed, she placed the soft yellow light of the lamp over the table. One by one, she took the ingredients out of her space ring and arranged them neatly on the table.
She poured the base liquid into a glass container. Following the proper steps, she began adding the supplementary ingredients.
The blood of others mixed slowly into the liquid, then the small fragments of nails from nine different individuals were carefully added. Next, she broke the sapphire and incorporated the pieces, and finally sprinkled in the verbena powder.
The liquid in the glass gradually changed color.
Finally, she added the main ingredients—the Blood-Speckled Black Mosquito and the Core of a Candle Devourer.
Within moments, the liquid settled into a deep blue-black color, with faint waves of darkness swirling within.
Miao Miao stared at it for a few moments.
"This… is the Marauder potion."
She stood for a moment, took a deep breath, and drank the potion. As the dark blue-black liquid went down her throat, a slightly bitter taste spread across her mouth.
Yet, surprisingly, no warmth, strange sensation, or mysterious effect coursed through her body or mind. Nothing happened.
"It's just like drinking a bitter syrup," she thought.
Her body and mind remained completely normal. No unusual energy, no physical or mental reaction—nothing. She placed the cup down with slight disappointment, thinking that perhaps the real effect would take some time to ap
r.
32 Verdi Street, located south of the bridge.
Klein, wearing black gloves, reached the stairs without any success.
He took two steps forward, and suddenly, a figure appeared before him!
The figure was pressed against the corner wall of the staircase, its back turned toward Klein. Its black hair was so thick that it almost covered its shoulders.
Klein, who had long activated his Spirit Vision, didn't even get a chance to observe, because the figure suddenly moved!
Turning its back toward the second floor and twisting its head, Klein's own neck stiffened!
Amid faint, indistinct, and mystical crimson light, the figure's eyes emerged from the coat in terror.
Thud! Thud!
The eyes fell to the floor.
Bang!
The figure's head detached from its neck and struck the wooden stairs.
It had long been dead; there was no spiritual aura within it… Klein watched calmly and judged, as if what had just happened were nothing more than a farce.
From the description of the old black clothing and the number of open rooms on the second floor, he inferred and concluded that this was another thief who had entered the house after the previous one.
Unfortunately, he wasn't quite as lucky.
Could it be that the Master Key had actually been restraining the "danger" here, and once it was removed, utter chaos ensued? Klein drew his revolver, brought the chamber into firing position, and cocked it. He stepped down toward the corpse on the stairs.
He crouched and briefly examined the body but found nothing besides the twisted neck.
After a few seconds of thought, Klein straightened himself and descended the stairs carefully. Despite standing on the wooden stairs, there was no creaking sound.
One step, two steps, three steps. He reached the floor.
In front of him was a corridor connecting both sides. The crimson moonlight entered, outlining the balcony. The doors on both sides of the corridor were wide open, revealing a chaotic scattering of items inside. There were no living rooms, dining rooms, or kitchens here.
This was the second floor!
Klein descended from the second floor but returned again to the same level!
...
Miao Miao lay quietly on the bed for a moment, a faint trace of confusion on her face.
At that moment—a faint glimmer of light appeared before her.
In an instant, Miss Assistant appeared there.
She looked at Miao Miao calmly and asked,
"You drank the potion… do you feel any mysterious power?"
Miao Miao furrowed her brows slightly, then shook her head and said,
"No… not as described in the novel. I don't feel any mysterious power."
She paused for a moment, as if rechecking her own sensations.
"To me, it felt like… I just drank a bitter syrup."
"That's exactly how it should be," Miss Assistant said calmly.
Miao Miao furrowed her brows and looked at her.
"Meaning… you knew beforehand that after drinking the potion, there would be no reaction in my body?" she asked directly.
Miss Assistant smiled lightly, but there was depth in her eyes.
"But you are bound by a system… and moreover, your body was not that of an ordinary human."
Miao Miao was stunned.
"So the body I transmigrated into… it wasn't actually human?"
Her voice grew firmer.
"Tell me clearly."
Miss Assistant remained silent, staring at her for a moment.
"You… will actually know in time," she said softly.
After a brief silence, Miss Assistant suddenly spoke dramatically—
"You didn't feel any unusual reaction… but that doesn't matter," she said with a light laugh.
"You will be able to use the potion's powers." Miao Miao listened attentively.
The wom leaned slightly forward, as if revealing a secret, and said,
"Another thing… no Beyonder's mental attack will easily work on you."
She paused for a moment, then added in a lower voice,
"You won't lose control because of the potion."
Miao Miao's eyes widened in surprise.
Miss Assistant straightened again and, in a lightly dramatic tone, said,
"And what else… ohhh—"
She raised a finger and gestured,
"Beyonder Convergence… that won't happen to you either."
A mysterious smile appeared on her lips as she spoke the last words.
Then—suddenly, her body vanished.
After Miss Assistant disappeared, the room became silent again. Miao Miao remained seated, her eyes slightly narrowed.
Slowly, the words began to echo in her mind—
"I will be able to use the potion's power…"
"No Beyonder's power will affect me…"
"I won't lose control…"
"Beyonder Convergence won't occur…"
She thought deeply.
"Are these… advantages of the system?" Miao Miao wondered silently.
Then suddenly, one thought caught her attention—
'This body isn't human's body. …'
A faint trace of discomfort appeared in her eyes.
"So… then what exactly is it?"
( Note : My exams are starting in a few days, so I need to study hard. I will start again after my exams are over. Add to library to see what happens later.)