"I’ve been reviewed several times and am considered a quite trustworthy person..."
"And being able to enter the club means I’ve already eluded the outermost security personnel... The prince intends to discuss secrets with only a few accompanying him."
"The structure of the club, hmm, he wants to go to the Golden Crown Room? It’s impossible for me to sneak in there, but beneath it, there seems to be a restroom..."
"I’ve learned quite a few useful tricks from that organization recently..."
Kerry pretended to be drunk and went to look for the restroom.
He walked into a stall with a toilet, closed the door, and then pulled out a bottle of potion from his pocket.
"Using any reconnaissance skills to spy on that room is a death wish, extremely likely to be discovered..."
"Now, I can only gamble that in such a secure environment, the prince won’t be too cautious and will use a spiritually sealed space..."
"Now, it all depends on the effectiveness of this ’Listener’ potion."
Kerry popped the cork and evenly applied the liquid from the small metal bottle to his right ear.
A burning sensation arrived, and his right ear reddened and heated up as if it was feverish, turning bright red and scalding... The slightest breeze made even the whisper of air currents distinctly louder.
His earlobe swelled, and the entire ear expanded disproportionally to his head.
"This potion drastically enhances my hearing... It’s very unsafe to explore rashly, but I’m targeting it at myself..."
Kerry’s expression became calm, sensing the consumption of his spiritual energy.
The next moment, an abundance of noisy sounds continuously flooded his ears.
A few meters away, the sound of a mosquito flapping its wings was as loud as the roar of a steam engine.
The climbing noises of rats, the footsteps of pedestrians outside, the sound of flowing water...
And the panting and thumping sounds from the adjacent women’s restroom...
All sorts of sounds poured into Kerry’s ears, making his head feel like it was about to explode.
He barely massaged the blood vessels around his ear, picking out the part belonging to Prince Kerry from the myriad sounds.
Moreover, using spiritual techniques and meditation skills, he eliminated other interferences and locked onto that particular source of sound.
"Agreement... ceding Sirik Island..."
"The interest of the Bauhinia..."
"Western Court Empire..."
He continuously captured bits of conversation, though the voices were too low, only catching a few words sporadically.
"Damn it, to drag those two empires into it, the upper echelons of the kingdom have given away too many interests..."
Though Kerry had heard only a bit, his brain had filled in a lot of the content.
Minutes later, he heard some strange words.
"Moist Bone Forest"... "Cursed Object"... "Compensation"...
"Moist Bone Forest? From the ancient legends, where the lion and the twin butterflies competed... It still exists, no, it has evolved into a ’Cursed Object’, how terrifying must that be?"
At that moment, Kerry seemed to see a Black Fog appear before his eyes.
Within the Black Fog, there was a moist, dark forest composed of white bones, with spikes laden with various skins, flesh, and organic tissues...
He snapped back to reality and slapped himself: "I’ve been in the restroom too long, people will start to notice something..."
Although somewhat regretful, Kerry had no choice but to deactivate the potion’s effects, walked out of the stall, washed his hands at the sink, and returned to the booth he was initially in.
"Kerry, where did you go? We are all about to leave..."
A companion asked with a smile.
"I went to use the restroom..."
Kerry showed a slightly awkward smile.
"Ha ha... I understand, I understand, after all, I am the ’Table Devourer’... it’s normal to have a stomach upset..."
A few seniors exchanged glances and suddenly burst into laughter.
But Kerry couldn’t laugh.
Ever since he had eavesdropped on the conversation and made some associations, the phantom image of a bone forest appeared and disappeared before his eyes, and some faint murmurs constantly hovered around his ears, trending louder and louder.
"Terrible... It seems I’ve heard something high-level that I shouldn’t have... and it has tainted me a bit..."
"Just hearing that little bit could do this?"
Kerry felt himself gradually sinking into an abyss, unnoticed by the people around him.
He responded briefly and walked out of the club, splurging on hiring a carriage.
Once he sat in the carriage and closed the door, he couldn’t hold on any longer; large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
"It’s not good... I must... save myself..."
As the carriage moved, the hairs on Kerry’s hands thickened and stiffened as though transforming into a wild man, or a gorilla.
"The contamination from something high-level can only be resolved with another high-level solution..."
Relying on his solid foundation in the mystical arts, Kerry had already thought of a solution.
"Terrible... I can’t pray to the Master of the Door... Not only does that being seldom respond to the faithful, but given the church’s relationship with the royal family, such an action by me would be utter betrayal. Even if He listened, not striking me down with divine fury would be a mercy..."
"I am too weak, so weak that just hearing those things can affect me... Prince Emmel’s level seems to exceed my imagination... and that envoy, too... No, perhaps they possess some other protective power..."
"Now, I also need to seek the protection of another power."
Kerry’s expression suddenly became resolute, and he started chanting a revered name in a very low ancient grace language:
"Great existence in the boundless mystery..."
"I pray for your gaze, I pray for your care, I pray for you to remove my abnormal state..."
This was a revered name obtained from an anti-war organization.
They claimed, in times of danger, one could try praying for assistance.
Kerry had never taken it seriously.
After all, he knew well the terror of petitioning such covert beings.
Without facing a life or death crisis, no sane person would do such a thing.
But now the situation was different!
A few more minutes, and he felt he was going to turn into a monster.
"The covert being might not respond 100%, just hope that my luck is good enough."
As Kerry pondered, a surreal light door suddenly materialized in front of him.
An invisible radiance fell upon him, scattering across his body.
The black hairs on his skin rapidly transformed into wisps of black mist, vanishing into nothingness, while strands of radiance continuously penetrated his body.
When everything vanished, Kerry had returned to normal.
He strictly adhered to the ritual, concluding his prayer, and even considered himself a follower since he could no longer escape the Demon Palm!
Meanwhile, Kerry rubbed his eyebrows: "I forgot the last part of what I heard. I clearly remember that part existed, but now the content is vague. Did my Lord’s power seal this memory because its mere existence might endanger me?"