When they returned to Luokou Station from Grossi Station, which was far away from Midnight City's main station, they were no longer attacked by forces coveting crystal currency.
Maybe it's because the eldest sister's mother frightened them, maybe it's because the steam contours held them back, or both. It's also because the worms gave them enough help.
If there is camp favorability, Lu Li should be friendly to the beholder worms because there will no longer be corrosive, slimy, face-melting gastric juices that can digest them through the worm passages.
Ophelia guessed that there was some kind of strange hive-like swarm consciousness among the worms, like the elm forest at Wanghai Cliff.
Returning to Luokou Town from the branch line, under the vigilant and strange gaze of the local religious group, the team, missing half of its members, retreated to the beach, boarded Andrea and waited.
If the enemy is chasing from the old sewer, the magic circle on the coast will delay for a period of time, allowing Andrea to leave calmly.
The Tentacle Cultists were furious because Lu Li returned empty-handed, but that was all. The commission had not failed, and Lu Li was not its subordinate.
During the long waiting time, Lu Li and the others discussed the arrangements for the only additional merchant.
Another spider guide who joined timidly sneaked away when the believers went to the Spiral Hall to support them, and also took away the hundreds of shillings they had paid to the hotel.
Even though they had no time to retrieve it.
Ophelia believes that this merchant should be sent to Midnight City to correspond with the merchants in the ice-free port of Verna. Pusius hopes that the merchant can walk the earth and answer people's calls like in the old days.
Lu Li and Lu Li did not adopt either suggestion. The former was because they were not closely related to Midnight City. The latter was because there were no merchants walking around the land in the weird era and Weird would not condone it.
The most important thing is that the businessman has arranged a place for himself.
Go back and clean up the merchant's inner world.
In any case, finding a third merchant means that they are no longer so short of manpower.
Then there are the followers of the Church of Shadow.
Because of Anna, Lu Li trusted them and allowed him to follow them, but he also kept a distance. For example, he would not inquire about their structure and duties.
However, during the operation to retrieve the Eye of the Ancient God, Lu Li realized that these believers were more loyal than imagined.
Believers regard Lu Li as their god, as evidenced by the power of faith that surrounds them. But Lu Li knows too little about them, and even Pusius is better than him.
At least Pusius remembered the names of each believer and gave new names to several believers who only had Christian names.
It's just that communicating with them is a complicated and cumbersome matter. When facing Lu Li, they will use a method that is not human, complex, lengthy, cumbersome, and whisper in a prayer-like language.
The life and death of Jon, the only bishop who can communicate fluently, is uncertain.
Lu Li found a believer who was smart enough and could barely understand the words, and asked him to temporarily lead the believers until Bishop Jon returned.
On the third day of waiting, no surviving believers returned, but there was new progress in the purpose of the trip: the businessman Anthony was called by the eyes of the steam silhouette.
It's just that it didn't want to exchange with the merchant, but came to Lu Li to trade face to face.
They agreed on the location on the coast where the magic circle was drawn, but there were some disputes when discussing the details.
Ophelia didn't want Lu Li to go to trade, and Lu Li knew that the reason why Steam Silhouette insisted on meeting for trade was that it wanted to see her.
It would show a seemingly familiar attitude towards Lu Li.
"No, I'm coming too."
…
In the evening when the tide rises, steam outlines appear in front of the coast.
The hot dark red steam burned the gravel along the way into crystals, but when it was about to step into the magic circle drawn by the tentacle cultists, it felt something and dissipated the terrifying aura, only to cover its outline and enter the magic circle.
"What you did was not like an exorcist at all, but more like a degenerate."
The steam silhouette looked at Andrea near the sea and the believers not far away. The first sentence had nothing to do with the transaction.
"I was an investigator before the three major organizations merged." The sea breeze blew his black hair, and Lu Li answered, confirming his suspicion.
"Did you recognize me?" The cold tone of the steam silhouette revealed emotions.
"No. It's just that you show emotion towards the existence of the Exorcist."
Ophelia beside her was surprised: "Were you... once... a human?"
"Human... I just accidentally ate a monster that had the soul of an exorcist. It was extremely delicious and impressive, and it made me think about it for a long time... Unfortunately, the side effects have haunted me since then, and I will never have peace."
The tone of the steam outline reveals the complexity of human nature. It is a chaotic combination of longing, joy, resentment, and anger.
Perhaps these mixed emotions are what Vapor Contour calls a “side effect”?
"Did you bring the weird crystal?" The steam silhouette stopped probing the topic of inner secrets.
"Ophelia." Lu Li said calmly.
Ophelia took out the wooden box that climbed onto the new crystal and asked Steam Silhouette: "Where is the thing?"
The blurred outline of the steam moved, and a faded, turbid eyeball flew out of the steam and landed in Lu Li's hand.
The sensation in the palm of the bandaged right hand suddenly spread outward along the eyeballs, becoming an invisible organ that could interact with matter.
At this moment, Lu Li realized that he could control water, and when he did so, the moist water vapor condensed into a water ball in front of him, and the power dissipated and smashed onto the beach.
"Did you kill that devil?" Lu Li asked after confirming the authenticity of the eyeballs.
"The devil is good at escaping, that's just a clone."
In other words, they are cunning and never show their true nature to others.
Fortunately the stuff is real.
"Before she left, she said she would come find you." The steam silhouette added maliciously, and asked Lu Li for a few more eyeballs.
"If you have any trouble, you can come to me, but it's expensive."
Watching the outline of steam disappearing at the end of the horizon, Lu Li thought quietly.
Obviously, the steam silhouette has no ill intentions towards Lu Li. Just eating the exorcist will not release these good intentions... It at least has the memory of the exorcist, or it may have been an exorcist.
Ophelia, who also thought of this, looked at Lu Li's profile. She hoped it was the latter, which meant that Lu Li was no longer lonely.
Lu Li returned to the shallows and returned the Eye of the Ancient God to the Tentacle Cultists.
The Tentacle Cultists became weird, a mixture of fear and excitement, two completely opposite contradictory emotions. They didn't even say anything, and hurriedly dived into the deep sea, blending into the leaden waves.
Lu Li waited briefly on the beach for their return. However, after more than ten minutes, they still did not surface. When he was about to return to the ship and wait, the silhouettes wrapped in a gauze-like damp clothes emerged from the sea.
The outline steps on the sea, and it is small and insignificant, but in perception it is vaster than the ocean, filling the entire space, like a god covering the sky.
Its silhouette spreads its arms and declares its identity slowly.
"I am the lord who controls the ocean, the god of the deep sea."
