Part 1 THE JOKER CHAPTER XXXI THE MAGIC POTION

　　DUNN SMITH’S gray eyes looked straight into Crane’s for a full minute without speaking.

　　Under such silence such pressure of his gaze, Klein did not flinch, did not remove his eyes, and looked firmly back at the other party.

　　”You should understand that once you take the magic potion, there is no chance of regret.” Finally, Dunn spoke once again, his voice low and devoid of emotion.

　　Klein smiled and said:

　　”I know, but I respect my inner voice.”

　　First of all, the Sleepless Ones did not fit his needs, nor did the description of the audience at the Tarot Gathering, and there was no telling when the other extraordinary avenues would be accessible, so there was no point in waiting. Therefore, there is no need to wait. By the same token, the “corpse collector” was ruled out, leaving only the “secret snooper” and “soothsayer” as options.

　　On the premise that the sequence of magic potions is equally dangerous, in the case of not being able to obtain more information, before the fact that the “snooper” and the “soothsayer” are very consistent with the requirements, then no matter whether or not Rossel the Great is just a random writing, whether or not he really regretted not choosing the Whether or not Rossel the Great was just writing, whether or not he really regretted not choosing one of the “apprentice”, “thief”, or “soothsayer”, it was enough to tip the scales in his own favor.

　　Moreover, from his notes, it can be seen that as long as one can figure out the true meaning of “digesting” and “playing”, one can avoid the negative effects of magic potions to the greatest extent possible, and as for the murmurs and illusory temptations that lead to corruption and drive people crazy, even if one does not become an extraordinary person, one has come into contact with them! , also came into contact with it!

　　”Okay.” Dunn-Smith stood up and took his half-height black bowler hat, saying as he put it on, “Come with me to the underground.”

　　Klein nodded and gratefully performed the gentleman’s salute.

　　Da, da, da, the two men descended, their footsteps echoing far down the silent, empty stairs and aisles.

　　Klein, who had a touch of nerves in his hallowed voice, said without words:

　　”Captain, when you say that taking a magic potion doesn’t give you direct access to the corresponding occult knowledge, but merely qualifies you to learn and master them, where did the original occult knowledge come from? Did the sages risk their lives to figure it out little by little, or did it come from something else?”

　　Every time he came underground, he could feel that the air here was quite fresh, apparently the ventilation was very good, it was just that in this kind of environment, the occasional wind blowing through the wind was really trembling.

　　Dunn gave him a sideways glance, his gray eyes unusually dark in the dimness.

　　He replied flatly:

　　”One is what you call exploration, summarization and improvement, the second is the gift of the gods, and the third, well, those dangerous ‘whispers’ that no one else hears are not always mad and dreamy and meaningless, and once in a while, once in a while, they still tell something about the mysteries, but as far as I can tell, the ones who do listen to them and do so for long periods of time have, without exception, gone mad. people, without exception, went mad or degenerated into monsters, and of course, we have them to thank for the notes they left behind, which are a valuable asset in the field of occultism.”

　　Humanoid mice? …… The coldness of the ground invaded, and Klein shivered suddenly:

　　My “transfer ceremony”, which turned into “friendship magic”, will always be followed by those crazy and scary “whispers”, and will they have the same effect?

　　When he reached the crossroads, Dunn did not go forward to the “Charnis Gate”, nor did he turn to the “Weapons, Materials, and Documents Depository”, but instead, he took Crane with him, and chose to approach the Church of St. Selene on the left.

　　Halfway there, he paused and touched something, opening a secret door.

　　”This is the ‘Alchemy Room’ of our Night Watchman Squad, I’ll have Old Neil go inside the Channis Gate to collect the formula and corresponding materials for the ‘Diviner’ magic potion… Heh, you’re lucky… The Goddess has blessed you… There should still be two copies of the ‘Diviner’ related materials left, otherwise you will have to wait for a long time.” Dunn pointed to the room inside the door and said, “You wait here and then spectate the entire process of Old Neil’s preparation of the magic potion, it’s the most basic of the occult, well, don’t mess with the items in there, they’re either dangerous, expensive, or both dangerous and expensive.”

　　With that said, Dunn added as he had before:

　　”Right, I forgot one more thing, you became an extraordinary based on the need to deal with dangers and find notes, the credit only accounts for a part of it, so, you can’t be converted to a full-fledged squad member for the time being, you’ll still be a civilian, you’ll still be paid its corresponding salary, you’ll still be doing the things that I’ve arranged before, you just have to additionally learn a lot of occult knowledge under the old Neil, you guys can arrange your own Time.”

　　”Okay.” Klein raised his hands and feet in favor of it, except for some grudges about not getting a raise in salary.

　　According to Dunn, taking the potion, and the process of learning and mastering it, and going straight to being a full member of the team and participating in missions concerning paranormal events, really didn’t know how to spell the word death.

　　Dunn turned his body and took two steps towards the intersection, then suddenly turned back:

　　”There’s one more thing.”

　　I knew …… Klein was used to a similar “style” from the captain.

　　”Our previous operation against the Mithraic Order has yielded some results.” Dunn said with a normal expression, “In a short period of time, they should not dare to provoke us anymore, but you should not be careless, because for the time being, it is impossible to confirm the importance of that Antigonus Family Notebook to them, and from what we have found out, they do retain certain ancient customs, which can be confirmed to be related to Solomon’s Empire, and the fallen nobles of that time. ”

　　”I see, thank you Captain.” Klein exhaled.

　　This was one of the reasons why he didn’t want to wait, and couldn’t wait to grab the opportunity to become an extraordinary person when he had it!

　　After watching Dunn walk away and making sure he wouldn’t look back to add more, Klein walked slowly into the alchemy room.

　　Here was a long table with test tubes, droppers, scales and beakers, partly like the chemistry labs he had seen in his last life, only more rudimentary and older.

　　In addition, there were also items such as large iron pots, dark wooden spoons, crystal balls and strange symbols such as the Dark Sacred Emblem everywhere, which rendered a somewhat mysterious color out of thin air.

　　Klein looked around with considerable interest, but didn’t touch and move with his hands.

　　After a while, the sound of footsteps came, and Old Neil walked in carrying a small silver chest with intricate patterns, still wearing classical black robes that did not fit the era and a round-brimmed felt hat of the same color.

　　”Little one, I didn’t expect you to choose ‘Diviner’.” Old Neil set down the small silver case while sweeping Klein with his slightly cloudy dark red eyes, “Simply as much character as I had back then, not following the crowd, not bad, you light these gas lamps and close the dark door.”

　　”Okay.” Klein stifled a shudder and lit the gas lamps in the alchemy chamber one by one, letting the light that had clouded the gloom rule the place again.

　　Zap, zap, zap, the dark door closed, and he turned back to the old Niall with his gray hair and deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and mouth, and saw the other man brushing the large black iron cauldron with a couple of strange twigs tied to it.

　　”Sequence magic potions are all very simple to prepare, at least up to Sequence 7, no special flames, no extra rituals, not even incantations, no need for the involvement of your own spirituality, just add the ingredients in exact portions in order according to the order on the recipe, stir it, and you’re done.” Old Neil smiled so much that his wrinkles seemed to bloom.

　　”Really?” Klein asked back, rather surprised.

　　This sounds as simple as his own “transit ceremony”……

　　Sigh, it’s a bit scary to think about ……

　　”Perhaps this is a gift from the gods, praise the goddess.” Old Neil drew a circle on his chest in a highly irregular manner.

　　Then, he opened the small silver chest and took out a roll of parchment that had an antique feel to it.

　　The tawny parchment unfolded inch by inch, revealing the words on it, and Klein, with extreme eyes, realized that they were in his familiar Hermetic script.

　　They were written in blood-like ink, and seemed to retain the feeling of flow, but otherwise there was nothing else remarkable about them.

　　”‘Diviner’: 100 ml of pure water + 13 drops of nightshade juice + 7 gold mint leaves ……” Klein mumbled the contents of the recipe, but the subsequent portion was just out of reach of the old Niall’s elbow blocking it from view.

　　”Pure water is water that has been repeatedly distilled, it just so happens that I have made it before, so no need to waste time.” As Old Neil introduced, he familiarly took a large sealed glass bottle with a graduated scale on the long table.

　　He opened the lid and casually poured about 100 milliliters of pure water into the large iron pot.

　　Klein didn’t dare to ask questions for fear of influencing the other party’s preparation, after all, the magic potion he got out had to be drunk by himself.

　　”13 drops of Night Vanilla Juice, this can be extracted first to make an essential oil for preservation.” Old Neil took out a small brown bottle from the silver case, and with the help of a dropper, moved easily to drop 13 drops into the large iron pot.

　　A light and calming aroma filled the air, and Klein’s mood unconsciously became calm.

　　”7 gold mint leaves ……” Old Neil picked up the tin can with the silver pattern, uncovered the lid, and with his bare hands he twisted out a few pieces and sprinkled them into the large iron pot, the fresh and stimulating flavor faintly audible.

　　”Four, five, six, seven, just right.” Old Neil laughed, looked at the magic potion recipe on the parchment and said, “3 drops of poisonous cordial juice, you can’t drink this stuff indiscriminately, it will paralyze your body and stiffen up and die, in ancient times, it was the best choice for suicide.”

　　I’m not stupid …… Klein ventriloquized.

　　Old Neil changed the dropper and dripped the poisonous cordial juice into the large iron pot, mixing up the odd flavor that cleared the mind.

　　”9 grams of powdered dragon’s blood herb.” Unperturbed, Old Neil dug his hand deep into the small silver case and lifted a clear test tube containing a powder as deep black as iron.

　　He weighed 9 grams of powder with beakers, scales and other items, casually poured it into a large iron pot and stirred it twice with a black wooden spoon, looking at Klein for a moment with a shiver in his liver, always feeling that it was not quite reliable.

　　”In fact, these materials in front are all auxiliary, adding more or less does not affect the final effect, should I put some more?” Old Neil joked, “The remaining two are the key, the portion can be slightly less, but it can’t be too far off, otherwise your ‘promotion’ will fail, well, their portion can’t be too much, even if it’s just a little bit, otherwise you’ll have to go to treatment for mental problems after taking them, and directly die Not for nothing.”

　　Klein immediately tensed his spirit and watched as Old Neil took out a black glass bottle from the silver case.

　　”Blood of Lava Octopus, 10 ml, this octopus belongs to a transcendental species with obvious mutations, its body is covered with mysterious symbols, its blood will rapidly decompose under sunlight and lose its special characteristics, it must be preserved with impervious materials.” Old Neil’s tone was no longer relaxed, his movements were fast and careful as he took 10 milliliters of blood in a test tube.

　　That blood had a sky-like azure color, and from time to time it gurgled with illusory bubbles, as if it was connected to a spiritual world.

　　”Pour the blood inside the test tube, leave the bit left on the walls alone, it’s a precaution against overdose.” Old Neil whispered.

　　As soon as the azure blood entered the iron pot and came into contact with the previous liquid, a clattering sound resounded inside, and the surrounding light was then tinted with a light blue color, giving Klein a strange feeling of being distant yet familiar.

　　It seemed to be an experience within the Matrix, one that made the soul climb higher as it were.

　　”Last thing, star crystal, 50 grams.” Old Neil’s voice rang in Klein’s ears, bringing him back to his senses and back to looking at the long table.

　　In this old gentleman’s hand, there was an additional crystal that was pure to the core, and it was gelatinous in appearance, as if it were jelly from Earth and lacked sufficient hardness.

　　It was illuminated by a light blue light, reflecting points of radiance, as if a bright starry sky was hidden inside.

　　”This is an excellent material for making divination crystals …… slightly less, consider the error.” Old Neil weighed it as he sliced it with a patterned silver knife.

　　”Pure Water + Night Vanilla + Gold Mint Leaf + Poisonous Cordial Juice + Dragon’s Blood Grass + Lava Octopus Blood + Star Crystal = Diviner ……” At this time, Klein couldn’t help but think back to the recipe.

　　After the preparation, Neil threw a few small pieces of “Star Crystal” into the large iron pot.

　　Zi!

　　An illusory mist instantly emerged, causing the alchemy room to become misty.

　　In this mist, Klein seemed to see the starry sky, and also seemed to feel the gaze of some invisible existence.

　　After a few seconds, the mist subsided, and Old Neil used a black wooden spoon to scoop out the viscous dark blue liquid from within the large iron pot, which had the strange characteristic of being connected to each other and never separating, so much so that there was no half remaining in the black iron pot.

　　The dark blue liquid was poured into an opaque cup, and old Neil pointed to it:

　　”There, your ‘Diviner’ magic potion.”