The Old Witch had always guarded the severed finger tied to her braid very strictly and almost never chatted with them about this finger.

However, since the Old Witch didn’t say what use this severed finger had, everyone couldn’t very well ask.

Saul then said to the Hope, “Is Brando still outside?”

Hope nodded. “I asked him to wait briefly at the door. He’s been waiting for…”

Hope looked at the watch in his arms. “Seventeen hours now.”

There was no choice—before Saul returned, he couldn’t make the decision on his own to invite outsiders, especially outsiders who had previously attacked the tower master, onto the island.

“However, I did ask Mr. Marsh to keep him company.”

“Marsh probably doesn’t like him either,” Saul thought to himself. “Fortunately, seventeen hours is just one deep meditation session for a wizard.”

Saul stood up. “Since Mr. Brando came to our aid when the Purity Wizard Tower was in danger, we shouldn’t keep dwelling on past misunderstandings. I happen to want to cooperate with Wizard Brando now. If the cooperation goes smoothly, I can let him enter my consciousness platform once more.”

Through several encounters, Saul had discovered that while Brando appeared to follow a physical route on the surface, he was actually a pure mental power-type wizard.

Perhaps due to some reason, he had lost his own body and thus always used mental power to control other people’s bodies as his puppets.

At the same time, because puppets’ magical power reserves were inferior to living wizards, Brando’s puppets focused mainly on physical attacks. Without considering damage to bodily functions, they could unleash extremely powerful force.

Naturally, such a Brando placed great importance on improving mental power.

Saul walked out of the wizard tower with the Old Witch and saw Brando squatting nearby, studying mushroom cultivation with Marsh.

Marsh seemed to have completely forgotten that Brando had once destroyed a patch of his mushroom forest, speaking enthusiastically with animated gestures.

As Saul approached, he happened to hear Marsh saying, “…this type of mushroom is also edible, but it’s quite troublesome to digest. Sometimes it might form gangs and fight in your stomach…”

Saul: “…”

There aren’t any of these belligerent mushrooms in my meals, right?

Brando had long noticed Saul’s approach but only after saying a few more words to Marsh did he pretend to just notice Saul, supporting his knees to stand up.

“Wizard Saul, you’ve finally returned.”

For the first time, Saul showed Brando a normal smile. “This time when my wizard tower was attacked, I must thank you for your assistance.”

A muffled voice immediately came from under Brando’s helmet. “No need to thank me. Actually, I also wanted to resolve misunderstandings with Wizard Saul and rebuild friendly relations, seeking your guidance on strengthening consciousness space, which is why I took action.”

This was quite a straightforward statement.

Saul smiled and pointed toward the wizard tower behind him. “Would you like to go inside to talk?”

Brando was still somewhat wary. “No need. My flying beast becomes irritable when separated from me. If you don’t mind, let’s talk here.”

“Fine then.” Saul directly began discussing cooperation proposals with him outside. “You helped me but also killed one of Wind Sprite’s subordinates. Are you worried about Wind Sprite’s future retaliation?”

Brando said composedly, “Wind Sprite has the smallest sphere of influence among the three third-ranks. I just need to hide in Dreammaker’s or Firefly Lord’s territory, and she can’t do anything to me.”

“Besides, compared to my possibility of advancing to third-rank, offending a third-rank is nothing.”

Saul nodded in understanding, then asked in return, “Then… would you dare join me in striking back?”

Brando frowned slightly. Striking back would mean attacking Wind Sprite’s lair, which was completely different in nature from killing one of Wind Sprite’s subordinates outside.

The danger level was like heaven and earth.

Seeing Brando hesitate somewhat, Saul added another chip. “If you help me this time, I’ll let you enter the consciousness space once.”

Brando suddenly looked up sharply, his gaze fierce as an eagle’s. “Three times.”

Saul shrugged. “It’s not that I won’t let you bargain, but I’m afraid you won’t survive the second time.”

Saul wasn’t lying. Those eyes in his consciousness space weren’t magnanimous masters. Except for Saul and entities affiliated with him, frequent entry into his consciousness platform by others was no good thing.

He still remembered when in Caugust City, Kent had directly jumped into the starry sky to avoid him in the consciousness space.

The result was death within seconds, with his soul also decomposed.

What was even more terrifying was that Kent’s corpse in the real world had also undergone mutation.

The eyeballs that emerged from his body had nearly mutated Agu as well.

Sometimes Saul even worried whether these stars might one day mutate him too.

What was comforting was that the Dead Wizard’s Diary had never issued death warnings about the starry sky within his consciousness.

Saul could only hope this wasn’t because the diary also couldn’t see through the stars’ movements.

Brando had been observing Saul’s expression changes and found that his casual tone carried a hint of “believe it or not” certainty, making him even more convinced of his guess.

‘This Saul definitely has something more terrifying than pollution in his body. The death threat I felt in his consciousness space last time wasn’t an illusion. I might have even underestimated the danger level of his consciousness space.’

However, though Brando was somewhat fearful, for the sake of advancement, he was also willing to take risks.

Since Saul had already given a solemn warning, he would still heed the advice—go once first, see the situation, then decide whether to go a second or third time.

Brando exhaled, the breath hitting his stuffy helmet. “Huff, alright then, as you said, I’ll go once first.”

Saul raised one eyebrow. It seemed Brando hadn’t completely given up yet.

But that was fine. If he was proactive, Saul didn’t mind having another test subject for gauging the stars’ danger level.

After settling the conditions, Brando proactively asked, “How do you plan to strike back? Not to mention she’s a third-rank, just the densely packed caves on that cliff where she’s located would leave you helpless. You simply don’t know which cave you could find her in…”

“I know.”

“What?”

“One of my patients once visited Wind Sprite at the cliff and helped me determine her location.” Only then did Saul notice another suspicious point. “Speaking of which, Wind Sprite didn’t discover the little thing I hid on my friend at the time. It was only later that something suddenly happened, causing my surveillance to be cut off.”

Saul half-closed his eyes. “Regardless of what happened then, the mere fact that she didn’t discover my tracking in the first place is abnormal enough.”

Saul opened his eyes wide, his tone implicitly excited but very certain. “Wind Sprite no longer has third-rank strength!”

Saul looked at Brando, his eyes full of fervor. “A third-rank who has lost third-rank strength might not even be as powerful as a formidable second-rank. Are you still afraid to oppose such a person?”

Brando’s breathing became somewhat rapid. He had always thought himself quite mad, but how did this young wizard before him seem even madder than himself?

Could it be the influence of those stars in his consciousness space?

(End of Chapter)

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