Chaotic thoughts erupted in Luo Lin's mind at this moment. Luo Lin felt as if he were immersed in a starry sky, or perhaps banished to the ends of Chaos and the Abyss.
An ordinary person in this situation might have descended into chaos, but Luo Lin was exceedingly calm. He skillfully began to rein in his thoughts, using rationality to suppress the madness and chaos within him.
Thus, all chaos, all darkness, vanished in an instant. Luolin opened his eyes, understanding that he had become a Sequence 9 "Mischief-maker."
"The core ability of the Mischief-maker Potion is emotion manipulation, allowing me to perceive and, to a certain extent, temporarily control the emotions of others. It also enhanced my spiritual perception, enabling me to perform divination like a Seer, and to learn and use various ritual magic. It strengthened my learning ability, as well as my mental and observational skills. My words are now more persuasive, and I can distort others' thoughts to some degree. Additionally, my speed and strength have also been somewhat enhanced."
Luolin summarized while perceiving the changes in his body:
"At the same time, because I used a Worm of Time as an auxiliary ingredient, I've gained the Marauder's ability to steal the Beyonder powers of others. Furthermore, due to the special nature of Amon's Worm of Time, I can retain the stolen abilities for a considerable period. However, currently, the success rate of theft is relatively high only against fellow Sequence 9 Beyonders. The greater the difference in Sequence against higher-level Beyonders, the lower the success rate."
"In other words, besides the core abilities of a Mischief-maker, I now also possess the core abilities of a Seer and a Spectator, some Beyonder powers of a Lawyer, speed and strength equivalent to a Warrior, and the core ability of an Marauder." Even Luolin couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and smile as he reached this conclusion.
Indeed, apart from the ability-stealing skill brought by the Worm of Time, the other abilities of the Mischief-maker Potion did not exceed the scope of Sequence 9. But one couldn't deny the sheer number of abilities!
It was like others getting only one skill upon advancing to Sequence 9, while Luo Lin, after advancing, directly had several more skills than others.
"Let me think, it's actually quite reasonable. After all, I'm a Mischief-maker. Emotion manipulation facilitates creating mischief, divination helps find mischief, keen observation is an essential trait for watching mischief unfold, and enhanced speed and strength are convenient for fighting and escaping after finding mischief." Luolin said, nodding sagely, "Reasonable, very reasonable!"
As for Naiya possessing these Beyonder abilities, it was even more reasonable.
"However, digesting the Mischief-maker Potion will likely be more difficult for me than for an ordinary Sequence 9. It's probably equivalent to digesting three or four standard Sequence 9 potions." Luo Lin perceived a bit more and came to a conclusion, "Indeed, power doesn't come without a price. Fortunately, it's still within an acceptable range."
"So, what should I do next? Let me think..."
Luolin's fingertips gently tapped the tabletop, an unconscious habit when he was thinking.
"I definitely need to go to Tingen. Pallez Zoroast and Azik Eggers are readily available high-level combatants on my side. Although both powerhouses are in a weakened state, as long as I can raise their favorability towards me, I can borrow their past strength. For me, this is almost like a ready-made cheat. With this cheat, my safety will be somewhat guaranteed no matter what I do."
If he hadn't encountered Amon, Luo Lin might have waited, approaching Pallez only after the Tingen incident concluded. But since Amon already knew of his existence, even if all the clones in that area were eliminated previously, there was no guarantee Amon wouldn't guess something.
Not to mention, after he summoned the Shadow of Time and contacted the past Ancient Sun God, the current True Creator and Adam must have obtained memories related to him. They would one hundred percent pay attention to him. Therefore, Luo Lin had to acquire some self-preservation capabilities as soon as possible.
"'Perhaps someone is already lurking in a corner right now...' Luolin grumbled, but he wasn't too concerned about it.
After all, if Adam, with His abilities, really wanted to do something to Luo Lin, panicking would be useless. In that case, it was better to just do what needed to be done.
"The only problem is that the Tingen incident is not easy to get involved in. Let's not even talk about whether there's a confrontation between the Evernight Goddess and a certain Son of God behind it. Even just looking at Ince Zangwill and 0-08 on the surface, it's not easy to resolve." Luolin narrowed his eyes slightly. He didn't consider himself particularly intelligent, nor did he think he could outsmart 0-08. After all, the opponent was practically a cheater.
0-08 could interfere with thoughts, manipulate fate, and even summon meteorites. It also had the characteristic of "All that is spoken shall be known." Luo Lin himself was currently just a weak Sequence 9 "small fry," and he hadn't gained the favor of any powerful figures. He really didn't think he could beat that quill.
This wasn't about boosting others' morale while diminishing his own, but rather having self-awareness.
"'But I don't need to go head-to-head with 0-08...' Luolin gently tapped the tabletop, a slight smile playing on his lips. 'I don't intend to get too involved in the Tingen incident.'"
Luo Lin's goal in going to Tingen was clear: to gain favor with Pallez and Azik, and if circumstances allowed, to befriend Klein Moretti. These goals themselves didn't require Luo Lin to get involved in the Tingen incident.
Luo Lin could perfectly well be an invisible man in Ince and 0-08's schemes, and then...
...depending on the situation, decide whether to make a dazzling appearance at a critical moment.
This was better than blindly getting involved. After all, Luo Lin knew his limits. With his intellect, the more he interfered, the messier things would likely become, and he might end up making a complete mess of it. It would be better to focus on the key point—Ince Zangwill was definitely going to target the Tingen Nighthawks. Instead of engaging in a battle of wits with him, it would be better to lie in wait and strike him at a critical moment.
As for whether 0-08 had already perceived his thoughts... Luolin suddenly smiled, his eyes crinkling, and chuckled softly, "I have no interest in messing with you, and I hope you won't come bother me. Otherwise, let's all die together!"
After saying this, Luolin didn't care who might have heard it. He then turned his thoughts to how he would approach Azik and Pallez once he got to Tingen.
The former was easier. Azik, in his amnesiac state, had a gentle personality. As long as he found the right entry point, it wouldn't be difficult to get familiar with him.
The latter, however, was a pure old fox.
"'Let me think. Pretending to be a Zoroast descendant who knows nothing and trying to 'leech off' Pallez probably won't work. Although Pallez dotes on his juniors, He's not a fool. I don't have the confidence to flawlessly play an innocent and naive 'sweet young thing' in front of Pallez. Taking this path would likely backfire.' Luolin simulated various scenarios in his mind and gradually formed some ideas:
'It would be better to directly reveal my own uniqueness, approaching Pallez with the persona of a Zoroast descendant who has had fortuitous encounters and possesses some minor cleverness, to seek His patronage. Although He would certainly be wary of me this way, at least it's less likely to go disastrously wrong.'
'Although this would make it harder to gain His favor, it's not unacceptable given that I have Azik as a baseline guarantee.' Luo Lin made a decision in his heart. Thinking of the Amon-brand Worm of Time he had carefully preserved, he couldn't help but smile.
'Besides, it's not necessarily impossible to quickly increase His favor.'
Pallez's greatest enemy was Amon, and His greatest desire was also to deal with Amon. Starting from this point, he could definitely gain some favor.
(End of Chapter)
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Translator's Note: "Naiya" (奈亚) is likely a reference to Nyarlathotep, implying the MC's nature or an entity connected to him.
Translator's Note: 0-08 refers to Sealed Artifact 0-08, the quill.