Sitting down in a randomly chosen spot, Samuel Gavris began observing each person present with considerable interest.
His gaze swept over the heads and backs of the attendees, sliding across their masks and cloaks, trying to spot horns, wings, or tails.
He didn't care in the slightest whether his behavior might provoke unnecessary vigilance or hostility from others.
In fact, his thod of observation was frank to the point of rudeness—no furtive peeking, no cautious glances from the corner of his eye, but a direct, unwavering stare filled with pure curiosity.
The smile at the corner of his mouth remained constant, giving the impression he was admiring an exhibition of rare animals.
Several people who had been stared at for a while seed to sense it, slightly adjusting their posture, sinking deeper into their chair backs or turning to one side, but Samuel's gaze simply glided past them lightly, continuing to search for the next target.
At the sa ti, a part of his consciousness began to detach from this body.
The feeling was strange. It wasn't a complete separation like a soul leaving the body, but more like tendrils of thought stretching toward a higher dinsion.
His consciousness rose upward, piercing through the rough rock ceiling of the underground hall, through the wooden floorboards and dilapidated beams of the tavern, ascending into Reins' afternoon sky.
This was like a relay station, allowing him to connect with that other independent consciousness of his that was drifting outside.
"What's up?" Celt's voice sounded within the "Internal Communication" Samuel had established. "Oh, I get it."
Because they were essentially the sa person, even if their personalities differed slightly, after briefly understanding the situation and putting himself in Samuel's shoes, Celt still imdiately grasped what Samuel wanted to share.
An aberrant species, a new species never seen before.
That was indeed worth a good look.
His gaze continued searching, and suddenly, Samuel's eyes lit up.
He saw an old man hunched over, leaning on a cane.
The old man sat alone on a hard wooden armchair far from the crowd. The chair had no cushion and looked very uncomfortable, but he seed not to mind at all.
He was almost completely wrapped in a large, old, black robe with frayed, pilling edges. The robe's fabric was heavy, like so kind of coarse woolen material, its color appearing sowhat grimy from age and lack of washing, almost a dirty dark gray.
The hood was pulled down deeply, covering most of his face, revealing only a chin covered in wrinkles with skin as dark and rough as tree bark, and similarly withered lips. Wide sleeves covered his hands. From the left sleeve, a bone cane extended, propped against the ground.
His back was hunched terribly, almost bent at a right angle, making him look exceptionally short and fragile, as if a gust of wind could blow him over. His right hand hung naturally at his side, hidden within the wide sleeve, not clearly visible.
His left hand was the sa, the sleeve obviously too long, the cuff drooping almost to the ground. From the overly wide end of that cuff, a bone cane extended, its lower end pressed against the rough stone floor, supporting most of his body weight.
That cane looked sowhat special. Its color was an uneven grayish-white, the surface not smooth but covered in fine, spiral, natural patterns, like the state of so large animal's long bone after years of weathering.
Being able to use such a bone to make a cane, it seed the old man's status wasn't low either.
The cane's overall length was about 1.2 ters, which seed just right for supporting the walking of a hunched old man.
But Samuel still saw clearly: that wasn't a cane.
That was the other party's "finger." Specifically, his left ring finger.
In his vision, that large black robe lost its concealing significance.
In Samuel's eyes, this was no old man at all.
He "saw" that beneath the old man's hunched back, the curvature of his spine was indeed abnormal, but it wasn't entirely due to age or illness.
Below the shoulder blades, beneath the skin and muscles on either side of the spine, there were several irregular, hard protrusions. Their texture was dense, similar to bone, but their shape was closer to stalactites.
There were more on his back too, growing like stone bamboo shoots.
His leg bones and muscles were the sa. There was no serious damage. Although there were signs of age-related wear and arthritis, it was far from the point of needing to rely completely on a cane to walk.
Beneath the wide black robe, there was also a tail covered in scales. The tail was wrapped around his body like a belt, concealed by the robe, not exposed.
Samuel's eyes widened, growing brighter and brighter, literally brighter and brighter.
He activated Visual Perception, carefully examining this never-before-seen special species from top to bottom, bottom to top, his eyes filled with unstoppable curiosity.
The world in his eyes instantly lost its colors and concrete forms, transforming into a landscape of abstract lines and color blocks, closer to the essence of things.
The crowd in the hall beca clusters of light and shadow aggregates of varying colors and tangled lines. The vast majority showed warm tones of varying brightness, so simple and clear, others complex and chaotic.
He was very curious: what was the essence of this creature? How was it different from humans? Was it so product of the Law?
Soon, the look in his eyes shifted from hopeful to bewildered, from sudden understanding to clarity, and finally, losing interest, he looked away.
A human?
This was a human, that was beyond doubt.
His Visual Perception easily parsed the other's race. It was indeed human.
What the heck?
It's still a human?
Not cool, man. You have a carapace, a tail, and a finger long enough to use as a cane.
And then you tell
you're human.
It gave a sense of redemption akin to spending a fortune on local specialties in a foreign country, only to flip them over and see "Made In China" written on the back.
Samuel withdrew his gaze and let out a sigh, seeming sowhat disappointed.
Shaking his head, he turned to look at another sofa not far away.
Since he first entered, the person sitting on this sofa had been staring at him.
That was a person sitting in the corner. Like most people here, the source of the gaze was also soone who had wrapped themselves up tightly. A black cloak covered their body, and their face was wrapped in several layers of cloth.
This seed to be the free assistance provided by this secret gathering. Anyone who ca to this gathering but didn't want to reveal their true appearance could go to the corner to get a set of such robes and face coverings.
However, the black-cloaked person's black cloak seed sowhat different, looking of better quality, probably brought by themselves.
People like Samuel, who stroll into secret gatherings without any disguise at all, were ultimately a minority.
"Hi~." The corner of Samuel's mouth lifted as he greeted in the direction the gaze ca from.
But the person in the chair didn't respond, still staring motionlessly at Samuel.
Feeling a bit strange, Samuel t her gaze, looked down at himself, then glanced at the side.
Confirming that the other person was indeed staring at him, Samuel looked back at that corner.
"Friend, what are you looking at so intently? Tell
about it, let
see too."
After pausing for two seconds, Samuel raised his hand and touched his neck, adding, "Why do I feel like you're trying to glare
to death with your eyes? Do we know each other?"
That person still didn't speak, still staring at Samuel.
No hostility, no curiosity, no scrutiny, no interest.
But just staring.
This, however, piqued Samuel's interest a bit.
Thinking for a mont, Samuel stood up from the single sofa.
However, he wasn't trying to distance himself from this strange individual.
On the contrary, he dragged the single soft sofa over to the black-cloaked person, placed it down, and sat back down.
The sofa had a solid wood fra covered in velvet and was not light, but for Samuel, it was nothing.
The two were very close, almost face to face.
He was genuinely a bit curious about what exactly the other person was looking at, so he decided to try a different perspective, to put himself in the other's shoes.
Samuel leaned his face closer, getting close to look into the other's eyes, seeing his own face reflected in them.
"Buddy, what exactly are you looking at? Let
see too."
Those eyes were black, very beautiful, like black gemstones, but without sparkle. Up close, he realized there was no white of the eye at all, only a not-so-deep black and an even deeper black. There were no pupils either, seemingly because the center of the eye was simply too black, making the pupil invisible.
"I still don't get it," Samuel said in a voice that was almost a whisper, his eyes unblinking as he stared at the other, "What exactly are you looking at?"
"There's nothing here either." He touched his own face.
Wasn't it pretty normal? Not glowing, not growing flowers, not secretly lting.
After doing this, he withdrew his hand and leaned back against the sofa back.
Trying a different perspective didn't seem to work.
Samuel's patience was surprisingly good. He stopped talking and stopped making exaggerated movents, just maintaining his current posture, trying to see sothing in the mutual staring.
The two remained motionless, feeling a bit like playing a "don't laugh" challenge.
The atmosphere in the hall didn't change much because of this small incident in the corner.
The Whispers continued intermittently, so people adjusted their sitting postures, soone coughed lightly, the steady crackling of the fireplace flas and the hiss of air from the vents still served as background noise.
A few people who noticed the situation here, after their initial surprise, also quickly lost interest and looked away.
In this kind of secret gathering, strange people and strange things erged endlessly. As long as it didn't affect transactions and safety, no one would probe too deeply.
Ti passed minute by minute, until the ti officially reached 12 o'clock.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound of shoes stepping on the floor rang out, crisp, echoing throughout the hall.
A gentleman in a tailcoat erged from behind a wooden door not far from the blackboard.
Samuel's attention was diverted. He turned his head to look at the person who had walked out from behind the wooden door.
He wore a very neat formal tailcoat, gloves, and a hat. On the index finger of his left hand was a ring with an amber-colored gemstone. In his right hand, he held a cane. He was spotless from head to toe.
He wore no makeup, and his face had no coverings. His attire seed sowhat out of place compared to the current scene.
Too clean, too neat, and too open.
He ca before the blackboard, facing the attendees.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlen." The tailcoated gentleman elegantly placed a hand over his chest and bowed forward, his posture humble and courteous.
His voice was neither overly fawning and enthusiastic, nor cold and arrogant.
"Most of those who remain here are old friends. Even if there are newcors, I believe you have received sufficiently detailed introductions. In that case, there's no need for us to say much more." He straightened up and looked at the attendees below.
"Everyone's ti is precious, so let the gathering begin now." He turned sideways, indicating the blackboard behind him. "Those with needs, please raise your hand. The attendants will notice and collect your requests, transcribing them onto the blackboard. Rest assured, we will guarantee your life and safety, as long as you do not violate the rules here."
Following the man's gesture, Samuel looked toward the blackboard at the front.
On it were lines of clearly priced demands.
So were hiring bodyguards, so were buying firearms and ammunition, so were purchasing materials Samuel wasn't very familiar with.
There were even requests for extraordinary items and Law Marks.
Of course, Samuel guessed that most people here probably didn't possess the ability to directly implant Law Marks into soone's body like he did, so they were likely buying a pattern to take back for ditation.
Those were the individual needs of the gathering mbers. Many people didn't want others to know what they possessed, lest they attract the greedy. So, they would anonymously write on the blackboard what they wanted, or what they hoped to sell, along with approximate prices and item requirents.
The transaction process was like this: attendees wrote their requests on paper. Special attendants would collect the request slips. Then the attendants would stagger the tis, shuffle the order of the request slips, and finally transcribe them onto the blackboard.
"Rare chance to co to a secret gathering... well, okay, maybe not that rare. Anyway, first ti at the black market, is there anything you want to buy?" Samuel asked Celt, who was currently peeking at the screen.
"I need a sufficiently detailed map of the Royal District of Odius, but I highly doubt they'd have one here." Celt's voice ca through the Internal Communication. "Probably not, so I'd rather have a pillow that lets
sleep comfortably."
"Okay." Samuel nodded, opened the Travel Guide, tore off a piece of paper, intending to write down the request.
Then his finger tapped on the tank's cover, letting the paper rustle back into place, closing together again.
"Hmm?" His tone suddenly rose, emitting a questioning "hmm."
After pausing for half a second, he opened the Travel Guide again, but not to a blank page, but to the first page.
【Madman's World Travel Guide:】
【1、Please accept others' kindness and say thank you. This is polite.】
【2、When soone asks if you want to go to "Heaven," please refuse. No matter how friendly they seem.】
【4、Please do not mock others' hobbies and interests. This is not polite.】
Samuel looked at the updated Travel Guide. He just glanced at the newly appeared content before focusing his attention on another matter.
"Are you bugging out?" Samuel asked. "Where's the third rule?"
"No Bug." The Travel Guide's reply was swift. "And it's normal for the fourth rule to co after the second."
"Ah, normal, huh..." Samuel drew out his tone. "Is your math that good? Even Gauss couldn't figure out that 2 1=4, but you calculated it?"
"Impressive, right?"
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