One of the Tarot Club members, [Magician] Fors's companion, was a Sequence 9 of the Arbiter pathway.
She had clearly already digested her potion but was stuck, unable to advance, because she lacked the main ingredients for Sequence 8.
So when Klein heard that Silas's haul included Beyonder characteristics of the related sequence, his mind began turning.
"I haven't sold them yet."
Silas shook his head.
Recently, because of MI9's investigation, all Beyonder gatherings had been suspended, so naturally he had no way to sell them.
Moreover, the Queen had also warned him that MI9 was likely lurking at gatherings, waiting for people selling related characteristics to appear so they could be captured.
Therefore, although Silas now had a pile of expensive characteristics, he could only keep them on hand, unable to convert them into pounds.
"I have channels. I can help you sell them."
Klein said quietly. "I guarantee complete confidentiality. No one will be able to trace it back."
He was quite confident.
Even if MI9's intelligence personnel were extremely capable, they couldn't infiltrate the Beyonder gathering above the gray fog, much less trace it back to him.
"Just..."
As he said this, Klein's face showed a hint of embarrassment.
"I might need to charge you a small handling fee or something."
His Clown potion had already been fully digested, and now he was seeking further advancement, which required money to buy the main potion ingredients.
And our Mr. Fool was currently a bit short on cash.
That night, after killing Rosago, Klein had obtained all the potion formulas from Sequence 7 to Sequence 5 of the Seer pathway, as well as contaminated Sequence 5 main ingredients.
One Sequence 7 potion main ingredient cost between 500 and 700 pounds, meaning he needed at least 1,000 pounds in cash. So Klein could only work hard to make money.
It just felt a bit awkward to earn money from his former colleague.
"A handling fee? No problem."
Silas nodded indifferently. "As long as you can guarantee absolute confidentiality. After selling them, I'll give you ten percent."
Klein was helping him sell materials and saving him a lot of trouble, so charging a handling fee was perfectly reasonable.
Ten percent? That's ten percent. Sequence 8 potion main ingredients are about 600 pounds.
If I sell them, I'll get 60 pounds... Klein quickly calculated, then nodded. "Alright, no problem."
After the two finished discussing this matter, they caught up with reporter Mike again.
The three toured the industrial area, then headed toward the poor residential district.
"It's outright murder!"
As they left the industrial area, Mike was visibly agitated.
"Making female workers brush paint all day in highly toxic ceramic workshops without protection, letting workers who don't understand safety regulations directly operate powerful machinery.
They're so careless, don't they know their arms and fingers could be cut off at any moment?!"
"Workers getting fingers cut off or legs crushed is completely normal."
Silas said calmly. "When I was providing free treatment, the worst case I saw was a worker burned all over by high-temperature steam.
When they carried him over, his whole body gave off the aroma of cooked meat... The people carrying him vomited badly."
Mike imagined that scene, his face turning pale. But soon, he caught the key information in Silas's words.
"Mr. Anderson, you've provided free treatment in the East Borough?"
He asked in surprise.
This underground gang doctor had more humanity than he'd imagined.
"Yeah, when I have nothing else to do."
"For free?"
"I don't charge money. Just occasionally need them to offer up their souls."
"Haha, I appreciate your humor."
Mike thought Silas was joking, but he was completely not in the mood right now and could only give a bitter laugh.
They walked to the residential area, where foot traffic began to increase. Street vendors set up their stalls, loudly hawking their wares.
The reporter, reminded by Klein, covered his wallet and carefully made his way through the crowd.
Silas's gaze swept around casually, his eyes stopping at a certain vendor.
"Freshly baked Garibaldi biscuits, 2 pence per pound!"
He saw that the young man who had previously gone bankrupt and tried to drown himself in the river was shouting loudly, soliciting customers, with his elderly mother beside him.
The two were selling freshly baked golden biscuits. Combined with their previous identity as grain merchants, they had essentially moved into downstream retail.
Their clothes were worn, but they looked to be in good spirits, skillfully haggling with East Borough residents.
Sensing the gaze, the young man looked up at him. Since Silas had changed his appearance, he naturally didn't recognize Silas as the person who had nearly drowned him.
He quickly looked away and continued shouting.
---
At the same time, in Backlund, Queens Borough.
"Audrey, as of today, your house arrest is over."
The beautiful Countess Hall said to her daughter.
This lady was over fifty years old, but looked to be in her thirties at most.
Like her daughter, she had blonde hair and blue eyes. Compared to her young daughter, her temperament was more mature and dignified.
Wonderful!
Finally free!
Hearing this news, Audrey almost couldn't help but shout out loud.
Fortunately, she still remembered her etiquette and forcibly controlled her facial expression. She lifted her skirt and curtsied to her mother with the utmost grace:
"Thank you very much, respected Countess."
"Alright, stop pretending. You've been stuck at home this whole time. You must be going stir-crazy, right?"
The Countess reached out and pulled her daughter over, her eyes filled with indulgence and helplessness.
"Hehe, it's been okay."
Audrey said with a smile, snuggling against her mother. "I know you did it for me, Mom."
"Good that you know."
The Countess looked lovingly at her only daughter and sighed.
Her daughter was good in every way, except she was too obsessed with that world and had actually taken the initiative to take risks, nearly encountering danger.
She continued:
"Although your house arrest is over, I still need to remind you that Backlund hasn't been very peaceful lately. For your safety, from today on, whenever you go out, you must have bodyguard protection."
"A bodyguard?"
Audrey was slightly taken aback. She felt somewhat dissatisfied, because the family's bodyguards all answered to her parents and would definitely monitor her closely without covering for her.
When the time came, if she wanted to do anything, it would be inconvenient.
Through "mind reading," she discovered that her mother's goal was firm, but her attitude was relatively accommodating.
In other words, she had to ensure Audrey's safety, but how to ensure it wasn't particularly important.
"Mom, aren't the family's bodyguards still needed to protect you and Dad? I can hire a bodyguard on my own outside."
"Hire from outside? Will they be reliable?"
The Countess asked somewhat uncertainly.
"Of course they'll be reliable. I can ask trustworthy friends, you know, people from that world, to provide sufficiently powerful and reliable bodyguards.
Plus, the hired person can first be brought home for an interview, so you can feel at ease. Would that work?"
"In that case, yes. But the hired person must first pass our assessment..."
Relying on "mind reading," Audrey quickly persuaded her mother.
I wonder if Xio or Fors can find me a powerful Beyonder, or they could take the job themselves. She thought, Anyone will do, as long as they can satisfy Mom.