Mystery: Emerging From Knowledge Moor

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After being helped up, Leyton staggered, his steps weak and unsteady. He took several steps before finally regaining his balance. Only then did he have the energy to look at the Church of the Earth Mother transformer who had finally dealt with the clown.

The person appeared to be in his thirties, with a square face, and hair that was dark, shiny, and stiff. Its texture looked more like pine needles than hair. He had thick, wide eyebrows, brown eyes with a gentle look, some crow's feet at the corners of his eyes, a slightly collapsed nose, thick lips, and wheat-colored skin.

He wore a simple, ash-gray linen robe, with the Church of the Earth Mother's emblem embroidered on the left breast, dressed as a clergyman, giving people a warm and dignified feeling.

"Hello, I am Uther, a Harvest Priest of the Church of the Earth Mother. Thank you very much for your help, otherwise, I would have returned to the embrace of the Mother Goddess tonight." Uther bowed to Leyton, thanking him sincerely.

"Hello, I am Leyton, an Executor of the Church of the God of Knowledge of Wisdom. Helping you is also helping myself. Relying on just me and a cat, we wouldn't have been able to escape. Besides, Uther, you saved my life too, didn't you? However, I still need to trouble you to help me save my companion. It was seriously injured in the previous battle," Leyton said, shifting his gaze to the black cat Paz, who was lying motionless on the ground.

"No problem," Uther nodded. He had originally intended to save this extraordinary cat, but seeing that Leyton's injuries were more serious, he had treated Leyton first.

Supported by Uther, Leyton managed to avoid falling halfway. While Uther went to treat Paz, Leyton leaned against a nearby gas lamp post, recalling the details of the battle, repeatedly thinking about what problems there were in his handling of the battle.

Leyton pondered for a moment and realized that he actually had a chance to kill the clown from the very beginning, even though the opponent had both the abilities of a Sequence 8 Trickmaster from the Apprentice pathway and a Sequence 8 Clown from the Seer pathway.

But he had Dispel Charms that could dispel the effects of the clown's tricks, as well as Imprison Charms, and Paz, who possessed the ability to intimidate. In addition, he had a gun and a dagger, so he could have relied on continuous control methods to directly attack the clown at close range the moment the clown approached.

Even if the clown managed to survive, he would have been seriously injured. Then, with the help of the Bronze Phosphorus, Leyton could have directly fought the clown with a dagger, assisted by Paz.

"Unfortunately, I wasn't calm enough at the time, and I was misled by the clown. Only after being attacked by the clown did I realize that the opponent didn't have the strength of Sequence 5 at all, but was just a Sequence 8 with some ridiculously powerful abilities. Moreover, there was no coordination between me and Paz." Leyton thought of Paz's first intimidation, which was simply a painful blow to his teammate.

"Meow~ I'm alive again, meow!" Paz quickly stood up under Uther's treatment.

Leyton looked over and saw that the wounds on Paz's body, where it had been electrocuted by the clown, had healed. However, the fur in that area would need some time to grow back. Paz's amber eyes were also covered with a layer of gray, indicating that the flash had caused great damage to it, and it would probably need to rest for a while to recover.

"My treatment only temporarily brought your injuries to a safe range. You will still need follow-up treatment and recuperation in the next few days," Uther explained.

"This is already amazing," Leyton nodded, indicating that he understood.

"It's okay, meow. I'll just ask Eliza to concoct two bottles of potion for me when I get back, meow! Leyton, do you need any, meow?" Paz was very optimistic at the moment, seemingly because the clown it had always feared was dead.

Leyton looked at Paz's excited appearance and shook his head, deciding to deflate its ego a little.

"The clown who was killed may not be the one we saw last night. This clown was just a supernatural being stitched together with the characteristics of two Sequence 8 pathways, but the one we encountered last night should have been the Sequence 5 one, and that clown wasn't from the Apprentice or Seer pathway," Leyton stated his analysis.

"How is that possible, meow! They smell exactly the same, meow~" Paz was unwilling to believe Leyton's conjecture.

"Gentlemen, I may be able to answer your doubts," Uther said at this moment.

"Why, meow?" Paz asked directly.

"This clown was split from the Sequence 5 clown you mentioned. At the time, I and others from the church were investigating the clown's affairs. Unexpectedly, we encountered him outside the hospital. According to our previous understanding, he shouldn't be able to leave that hospital. In this regard, I think Leyton, you might know something," Uther narrated.

"I don't know," Leyton shook his head.

"Because this is a secret. I thought from your conversation just now that you already understood the relevant information, but now it's no longer a secret. Our investigation also included your Executor Captain and a team member," Uther explained.

Then, he continued without concealment, "After we encountered that clown, we suffered great damage due to the opponent's use of deception and traps. Later, when one of my companions delivered the final blow to that clown, the opponent directly split into three identical clowns. Although their strength was slightly different, and none of them were as strong as the original clown, our condition was also not good at the time. In the end, the battlefield was stretched further and further, and we were even defeated by the clowns one by one."

"Are the captain and the others in danger?" Leyton asked immediately.

"I'm not sure. I'm going to follow their previous direction to look for them," Uther shook his head and said.

"I'll go too," Leyton said.

As a result, he staggered as soon as he left the lamp post he was leaning on.

"No need. You are too weak. Once a battle occurs, your condition will make it difficult for you to protect yourselves, and my spirituality has not yet recovered, so I can no longer continue to treat you," Uther shook his head.

"Yeah, yeah, you can't even stand steady, meow—" Paz agreed.

"Alright, Paz and I will rest here for a while. If you need anything or have information, you can come back here to find us," Leyton said, nodding, knowing that his current physical state would only be a hindrance.

"No problem," Uther nodded, then turned and left in the direction of the hospital.

"I have to say, the recovery ability of the 'Gardener' pathway is too strong. I gave Uther half a dose of the potion, and he was able to recover a certain amount of stamina, injuries, and spirituality in such a short time. Perhaps it's also because he's a cyborg," Leyton thought to himself.

"Why do we have to stay here? Isn't it dangerous, meow? Maybe a new clown will come!" Paz became agitated and uneasy after hearing that the clown had split himself into three.

"Of course, it's to pick up equipment. The most important thing after killing a boss is to pick up equipment!" Leyton said earnestly to the cat, speaking words that the cat couldn't understand.

"Meow—" Paz gave him face and meowed. The expression on the cat's face seemed to be a silent complaint, that the clown clearly didn't carry any equipment or items.

Ignoring Paz's 'are you kidding me?' expression, Leyton steadied himself by leaning on a lamppost and slowly approached the clown's corpse.

After a period of delay, some fluorescent light had already begun to leach out from the clown's body, gathering around the clown's corpse.

"What is this? Meow—" Paz limped closer and curiously asked when he saw the Beyonder characteristics leaching out from the clown's body.

"The equipment we get from killing monsters. It might be a Beyonder characteristic of Sequence 8, or it might be a sealed artifact, but the latter is more likely. The Beyonder characteristics on him have traces of being stitched together, so it's estimated that it will be difficult to extract pure Beyonder characteristics," Leyton explained, pondering.

"Beyonder characteristic? Is that the kind that can replace the main ingredient of the corresponding potion, meow?" Paz asked in shock, his amber eyes wide.

Leyton nodded in response: "Yes, it's just that the Beyonder characteristics consumed through the potion are being extracted again. It's still different from directly eating people."

"But I'm a cat!" Paz said.

"Then what are you so shocked about?" Leyton was speechless.

"Isn't this something that should shock a cat, meow?" Paz said matter-of-factly.

During the time Leyton and Paz were talking, the Beyonder characteristics on the clown's corpse had completely leached out. These characteristics slowly flowed, gathered, and then, as if attracted, all merged into the tall red top hat on the clown's head.

The original red top hat began to twist and deform. In the end, these characteristics formed a sealed artifact, just as Leyton had guessed: a tall black top hat with a red silk scarf wrapped around it, and the brim slightly curled on both the front and back sides.

Leyton picked up the black top hat from the ground and used divination to learn the approximate effect of this seal:

As long as you wear this hat, you will have super-strong body coordination and balance, precise body control, and at the same time, your lies will be easier to believe.

You can also actively use a few simple tricks, including fog creation, flash, burning, freezing, and wind manipulation, but each trick can only be used three times a day, and the intensity is not high, not as outrageous as the clown used before, and has little practical significance.

At the same time, the hat itself can also be used as a magic prop and weapon. The moment the hat is thrown out, it will stab the enemy like a flying knife, and you can also pull out pre-prepared props from the hat.

However, the side effects of this hat are equally serious. The hat itself has a strong desire to perform. As long as you use this hat, the user will uncontrollably perform magic tricks during the process. Even in ordinary times, you need to perform magic tricks and illusions with the hat every day, and there must be an audience.

This hat also has certain living characteristics and will constantly bewitch the user, magnifying various desires and emotions in the user's heart. This seems to be the source of the ability to make people believe in their lies after wearing the hat. The bewitching effect varies from person to person. Leyton felt that he could not use it for more than a minute.

"The effect is very strong. It has some of the abilities of both the 'Trickmaster' and the 'Clown', and it can also be used as a weapon, but the side effects are a bit too troublesome and strange," Leyton said with emotion about the effect of this sealed artifact.

Then, he thought about how to use this sealed artifact: "The negative effect of bewitching the user is difficult to guard against. When it comes to fighting, it is difficult to accurately control the time, and you will uncontrollably perform magic tricks. This is especially unfriendly to Beyonders outside the 'Gourmand' family, and it's almost like sending people to their deaths."

Then, he told Paz about the effect of this hat. After listening to Leyton's description, Paz retreated repeatedly.

"Stay away from me, stay away, meow—! It's too dangerous, meow!" Paz directly distanced himself from Leyton by two or three meters.

The corners of Leyton's mouth twitched slightly. This cat's clown-related sequelae were a bit serious.

Holding the hat in his hand, he turned it around and said: "Since that's the case, I'll convert your share into equivalent high-end cat food or special dried fish and give it to you in a few days. I'll take this top hat. Hmm... I have to give it a name. Let's call it... 'The Great Magician's Top Hat'!"

"High-end cat food! Special dried fish! Meow meow—! That's great, meow!" Paz was also very satisfied with Leyton converting his share into high-end cat food and special dried fish.

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