108: You will bear the consequences.

It had the exact same aura as the secret codex he had obtained earlier; it was as if they were works by the same hand.

Locke's eyes lit up.

Although he didn't know why the person behind the scenes had suddenly done a 180-degree turn in attitude, he knew just by looking at the exterior that this thing was definitely a good one.

Its material was almost identical to the secret codex that recorded the Vampire Sequence 9 ritual; it couldn't be bad.

To prevent the other party from going back on their word, Locke flipped through it casually, confirmed there were no issues, and immediately put the booklet away.

Although the puppet wasn't looking at him, it was well aware of his every move. Seeing his stingy behavior, it closed its eyes again in annoyance.

However, out of some good intentions, it still offered a reminder:

"If you use the prayer rituals recorded in the booklet to perform sacrifices in the future, please make sure to recite the incantations correctly."

"What happens if I recite them incorrectly?"

"Hmph!" The puppet sneered, staring straight at Locke:

"Even a single wrong word could invite the prying eyes of an unknown existence. I can't guarantee what you'll turn into then, but I believe you wouldn't want to experience that feeling."

The puppet explained so clearly simply because it didn't want to watch someone who might be favored by the Goddess of the Night die so inexplicably.

Locke swallowed hard.

From the puppet's lifeless eyes, he saw what the outcome of provoking an unknown existence would be: he would likely suffer some unspeakable aberration. His expression returned to seriousness, and he nodded solemnly: "I understand. Thank you for the warning."

This was similar to Cthulhu Mythos, where if your ritual went wrong, it was very likely to invite the prying of an Evil God, and you could turn into any kind of monster afterward.

Similar accounts existed in the famous work 'Lord of the Mysteries'.

There were even similar customs in the East, where parents wouldn't allow children to sing at night because it would attract unclean things.

And in a Western cultural context, lyrics were often used as prayers.

Having played many horror games, Locke understood these world rules quickly and took this advice to heart.

"Do you have any other questions? If not, let's start discussing the cooperation."

The puppet urged, not wanting to stay here any longer.

Because although it didn't want to watch Locke die, that didn't mean it wanted to see him right now.

In short, its feelings toward Locke were very contradictory right now.

And all of this stemmed from what might have been a gaze from the Goddess of the Night just moments ago.

"Yes, yes, I have one last question regarding the Extraordinary."

Recalling the technique Marcus had used when facing him today, Locke hurriedly asked:

"I want to know if there's any way to condense the Extraordinary Factor onto one's arms or weapons to increase one's attack or defense?"

"This... you don't know this?"

The puppet couldn't be bothered to maintain its wooden persona anymore; it frowned upon hearing this, feeling somewhat surprised.

"Uh, is this some kind of widely known common knowledge?"

Locke scratched his head, feeling a bit awkward.

The puppet sighed, then shook its head: "Sigh, this isn't even common knowledge. Generally, once you step into an Extraordinary Sequence, you instinctively learn this technique."

"It really surprises me that you haven't learned it."

"Huh? Are you sure you aren't joking? Then why didn't I know it after becoming an Extraordinary?"

Locke thought it was his own issue and immediately tried again, confirming that he really couldn't do it.

He immediately looked at the puppet with suspicious eyes, suspecting that the other party was intentionally mocking him.

"Sigh..."

The puppet sighed again, looking somewhat sorrowful, but there was a hint of mockery in its eyes as it looked at Locke.

Finally, it said in a leisurely tone:

"But I don't think this can be blamed on you, because there are some exceptions. That is, some people have innately low mental strength, and even after joining an Extraordinary Sequence, it remains far below the average level."

While saying this, the puppet was clearly smiling, but Locke didn't care at all and continued to press:

"You mean this technique is related to one's own mental strength?"

"What else?"

The puppet turned its head and stared at him like that. Locke felt as if he saw a look of disdain for the ignorant in its eyes, but he couldn't find a way to refute it at the moment, so he could only keep a cold expression and say nothing more about it.

Seeing this, the puppet chuckled and raised a finger to point at its own head:

"Kid, let me ask you, what do you use to mobilize the Extraordinary Factor normally? Isn't it your mental strength?"

"If your mental strength is weak, the Extraordinary Factor naturally won't fully obey your commands, and so you naturally can't perform such a simple technique."

After saying this, Time, who was controlling the puppet from far away in a secret room, also inexplicably wore a smile on his lips.

After all, it was rare to see this kid Locke get thwarted.

"I see, I understand."

Locke, of course, didn't know what was going on in his mind, but hearing the puppet's explanation, he could roughly understand why he couldn't do it.

This was all caused by his mental strength, which was only at 6 points.

He had checked:

Even when he transformed into a Sequence 9 Night Demon, while his other attributes improved significantly and the numbers on his panel mostly stayed around 20, his mental strength alone was stuck firmly at 6 points and wouldn't budge.

And the reason his mental strength remained stuck at 6 points without increasing was due to the "death shadow" mark left by the mastermind behind his predecessor's death.

After witnessing the scene of the sacrifice to the Goddess of the Night today, he no longer doubted whether there was a mastermind behind the "suicide."

He could now be 100% sure that his predecessor's death was definitely related to someone from the Extraordinary world, and that person's strength was probably far beyond Sequence 9, not something he could handle right now.

Although Locke couldn't understand why an imposter exorcist like his predecessor would provoke someone from the Extraordinary world, that didn't matter.

What mattered was that the other party's grudge had now extended to him, and he had to plan ahead.

"It seems that only when I completely get rid of the death shadow, perhaps... can I go toe-to-toe with that mastermind."

After all, if he couldn't even completely erase the influence brought by the other party, how could he face them head-on?

The puppet opposite him, seeing him silent for a long Time, thought he had been discouraged by what had been said earlier, so it curled its lips and said indirectly:

"Ahem... although innate mental strength is weak and there's no great way to improve it, as long as you practice diligently and use your meager mental strength to fully master your Extraordinary Factor, you can eventually achieve the same effect."

Old Man Time's words contained a bit of consolation, because ordinary Sequence 9s simply couldn't learn this technique; it was something only stronger individuals of higher sequences would attempt to learn.

It was an advanced method among Extraordinary techniques; Marcus's version could only be considered introductory.

"Thank you, I think I understand."

Locke knew the other party was comforting him, but he didn't really care.

After all, it wasn't like his mental strength was truly innately weak; one day he would be able to erase that "death shadow," and then his mental strength would return to a normal level.

Seeing that he seemed somewhat uninterested, the puppet flicked its hand and threw out another book:

"Take it. This book records what I just mentioned—the methods for using a small amount of mental strength to increase control over your own Extraordinary Factor. If you practice it more, one day you will be able to reach the same level as an ordinary Sequence 9."

"Hehe, how can I accept this?"