Katyusha is a very common name. In the northern part of the Lu Empire, many young girls are nicknamed this.

Suren didn't sense any malice from her, so he patiently bargained.

However, this girl didn't seem to lack money; instead, she was more interested in the two rings.

"I can pay you more ransom to redeem these two rings..."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Nicholas, it's not about the money. I am an 'Astrologer,' although still an apprentice. But I need to learn a lot of boring knowledge, and these rings can bring me a lot of help. Losing them would be very distressing... You know, I found these things in the black market... so I'm not sure who the rings belong to. Sorry, I don't mean to question you. It's just... just like this, it would be very difficult for me."

"Can I exchange them for something else? I have some manuscripts by Master Arnold here, about astrology, you should have heard of him..."

"Is it the *Star Chart*? I also have a set of printed copies at home, sorry..."

"..."

Suren himself also felt that what this girl said made sense.

The goblin communicator was fine; it had a blood pact. If Suren didn't die, others wouldn't be able to use it even if they took it.

But the [Blessing of Serreia] was very useful for alchemists, especially for professionals who needed a lot of study and reading. It could be considered a "minor artifact."

Although it was the first time they met, Suren could see from their simple conversation that this freckled girl had a broad knowledge base. She had obviously received a good education, and her upbringing was also very good, making her seem very polite.

Moreover, she was an "Astrologer," and indeed had a very high demand for knowledge, so it was reasonable that she was unwilling to part with the rings.

Moreover, exchanging things was not feasible either; this girl's family was very wealthy, and it sounded like she had many good things in her collection.

Could she be a high-ranking noble in disguise?

But Suren was also very surprised to see a noble so polite and willing to patiently bargain with a strange commoner.

Apart from those forbidden items that he couldn't take out, he felt like he couldn't come up with anything that would interest her.

This was very embarrassing.

However, Suren had the patience to talk slowly, but he didn't have those negative emotions in his heart.

.......

Just as they were talking and talking, suddenly, Suren heard a whisper in his ear!

A red light flashed in his eyes for a moment, and an uncontrollable frenzy welled up from the bottom of his heart.

It was as if a demon was constantly urging him in his ear: Kill her! Kill her and you can get the things back!

Suren realized something, and suddenly closed his eyes, wanting to rely on his will to forcibly suppress the desire that was like a bursting dam.

The moment he closed his eyes, he seemed to see a monstrous sea of blood in front of him, wanting to devour his entire inner world.

Others saw him still sitting there, but they didn't know that Suren's clown mask was already full of ferocity.

He would never become a slave to his emotions.

He took out a tranquilizer and injected himself with it.

In fact, everyone has some evil demons hidden in their hearts, which are almost beastly instincts: killing, possessing, mating, greed, jealousy... It's just that reason has suppressed them, and that is humanity.

Suren's mental power was now distorted, and those primitive desires had become unusually strong, far exceeding reason.

After the potion was injected, he felt a trace of clarity. Forcibly suppressing those negative emotions was like locking a beast in an iron cage. He exerted all his strength, and his whole body trembled slightly.

With a "crack," a corner of the wooden chair was crushed by him.

Forcibly enduring the killing intent, Suren spat out a word from his throat with gritted teeth, "Get out!"

This was a roar of rejection of desire.

........

This strange scene, like an addict having a drug fit, clearly frightened the little girl opposite him named Katyusha, causing her body to tremble.

She looked at Suren, seeming to see something, and instead of running away, she asked with slight concern, "Mr. Nicholas, you... don't look too good?"

Suren heard the outside voice, and the inner restlessness was gradually suppressed, and then he came back to his senses that he was still negotiating.

It was as if he had experienced a fierce battle, and he unknowingly had a cold sweat on his back.

He also roughly guessed that this was a sequela of using the Reaper's phantom when he killed the "Poison Frog" Boone before.

Letting out a big sigh of relief, Suren finally recovered, and said with an apologetic tone: "Sorry, did I scare you?"

After a pause, he added, "As you can see, there is indeed something wrong with my body, so I must take back my two rings."

Hearing this, a hint of hesitation immediately appeared on Katyusha's face, "Oh..."

Thinking about it, she took out a silver ball and placed it on the table, saying: "I know some healing arts. I can see that you, sir... seem to have some minor problems with your mental state. This [Star Amulet] is something I made, which can calm the mind and soothe the nerves. You can keep it by your side, maybe it can bring some insignificant help."

The other party's words were very modest and full of kindness.

Suren glanced at it and identified the attributes.

[Star Amulet]

Details: Made of cold star meteorite iron, an amulet that can calm people down; although the rune inscription technique is a bit rough, it is undeniable that this is a very scarce material that can carry energy.

He looked at the amulet, and his expression instantly became a little complicated.

The runes were very rough, and it was obvious that they were inscribed by an apprentice.

However, this material was really rare.

Meteorite-like metals are extremely scarce resources, usually used to forge high-level weapons and some special alchemy, and the price has always been high.

It was really hard to say the price of such a large piece of [Cold Star Meteorite Iron] that could carry mental power.

This thing would be very valuable to those who need it!

Like Suren himself.

With a slight modification of the runes, the effect of suppressing mental distortion would not be worse than the clown mask on his face.

He glanced at the amulet, then looked at the freckled girl in front of him, and without concealing his thoughts, he asked directly: "Miss Katyusha, this amulet is indeed very useful to me. May I ask, what price do I have to pay to buy it?"

Just having this thing on the table made him feel that his restless emotions were being soothed.

Keeping it by his side, it might have a miraculous "life-saving" effect in an emergency.

"If you need it, I'll give it to you."

Katyusha shook her head and showed an innocent smile, "The teacher taught us that stars are gifts from nature to mankind, even for us astrologers, we are only temporarily keeping them. It will meet the person who needs it."

"Give it to me?"

Upon hearing this, Suren felt that he shouldn't take this amulet.

He didn't expect that he wouldn't get his things back, but the other party gave him something instead?

Was this a trade?

If it were someone else, Suren would still think that the other party had ulterior motives.

But he couldn't bring himself to harbor any malice towards this girl with bright stars in her eyes.

"Yes."

Katyusha, as if she had no defenses, told a stranger the purpose of this trip, "This time I came to the far north ice plains to train, but also to find meteorites on the ice plains. Only in the vast white snow will they be easily discovered."

"..."

The other party's attitude made Suren not know how to speak.

The goblin communicator must be taken back, and if the [Blessing of Serreia] wasn't a gift from his teacher, he would have really wanted to exchange it for the amulet.

Suren also expressed his attitude, saying: "No, in the eyes of alchemists, everything is equal. I'm sorry, Miss Katyusha, we don't know each other, please give me a price. Otherwise, I will not accept your gift."

"Really, there's no need... Look, I have many more."

Katyusha didn't seem to care.

As she spoke, she took out a box like a silly daughter of a landlord.

When she opened it, there were at least a dozen or so meteorites of various sizes and colors inside, blue, purple, fluorescent, pitch-black...

If this box of stones were to be put up for auction, it would be more valuable than a box of top-quality gemstones!

Suren looked at it, his eyes didn't fluctuate much.

But he also saw that this girl really didn't lack money.

Katyusha saw that he didn't seem to be wavering, and thought for a while and said, "Well... if you really want to pay, give me a gold coin."

As she spoke, she took out the two rings again.

Although the freckled girl looked a little reluctant, she also said generously: "Sir, you need these two rings more, so I'll return them to their owner."

"..."

Suren didn't expect to get the things so easily.

He felt that there was no point in talking about money now, so he thought for a while, took out a gold coin, put it on the table, and said solemnly: "I owe you a favor, Miss Katyusha."

The things were valuable, and his favor was also worth it.

Hearing this, Katyusha happily agreed: "Okay!"

She picked up the gold coin, and a naive smile appeared on her face.

.......

Suren left the coffee shop.

He felt very happy that he met this girl named Katyusha and got his things back.

However, there was more confusion.

No one is good to you for no reason in this world.

Especially strangers.

This Katyusha is either a greenhouse flower from a large family, well-mannered, innocent and innocent;

Or...

This is a very clever social skill.

Suren was proficient in many strange knowledges, and he preferred the latter.

The biggest reason was the erratic fire of her soul in his perception.

But no matter how he suspected, the fact was that Suren got the things in his hands, and also got an extra amulet.

This favor was worth it anyway.

He also suspected that the other party had ulterior motives.

But no matter how he thought about it, he felt that this was unlikely.

The rings flowing into the black market was an accident, and Katyusha buying them should also be a coincidence.

Besides, Suren felt that he was not worthy of being plotted against now.

If they were enemies... apart from Duke Raphael, it would be the Regea family.

But no matter how he thought about it, they shouldn't be enemies.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have sat down and negotiated properly, and even given him a gift.

He also guessed that the other party might have seen that he had some special abilities, or that magical "astrology," or the "teacher" she had been mentioning...

Astrologers have some abilities similar to predicting and avoiding disadvantages. Perhaps she wanted to form a good relationship?

.......

Suren didn't think too much about it. He had the All-Seeing Eye and wasn't afraid of being tampered with on the things.

After getting the communicator, he walked on the street and immediately dialed Mr. Mirror's number, "Senior sister, I have a question I want to ask you."

Soon, the communicator responded: "You want to ask about the problem of mental distortion?"

"Yes."

Suren wasn't surprised that Mr. Mirror had guessed everything.

He had the [Thanatos' Substitute Puppet], and his senior sister was the only one who knew about it.

Besides, with the communicator, she could sense the location and life and death of everyone in the Mirror Organization.

This also saved a lot of explanation.

The communicator was silent for a moment, then replied: "I've seen someone use the 'Substitute Puppet' twice, but the end result wasn't good. Mental distortion is irreversible, and it's very troublesome to solve..."

That's the benefit of having someone behind you, they know everything you ask.

Since this thing appeared in the Dawn Ruins, then someone must have used it before.

Very troublesome, but not unsolvable.

Suren listened patiently.

Mr. Mirror continued: "If you want to solve it, first, you can come to me and I'll help you suppress it, but that's only a temporary solution, and the problem will eventually get bigger; second, find a higher-level mental power secret technique; third, find some special soul cursed objects to forcibly suppress it, but that kind of thing is hard to come by. I'll notify other members of the Mirror Organization to help you pay attention; there are also some special things, such as the 'Fountain of Youth' that can cure all diseases, or my father's notes seem to have similar research... You can look at your situation and consider which one to choose."

"Fountain of Youth?"

"On a very dangerous island in the West Sea. My father went there once. A thousand years have passed, and I'm not sure if it's still there. Moreover, I'm not sure I can go, so I don't recommend you go now..."

"..."

As expected of a demigod's daughter, this is the foundation.

What she hasn't seen, her father has seen.

What her father hasn't seen, she's heard of.

When Suren heard the first point, he breathed a sigh of relief, at least there was a "backup" plan.

But the following points were indeed not reliable.

He was currently learning the [Starry Sky Visualization Technique], which was already the top mental power secret technique in the world. The only thing higher would be "divine magic," which was unrealistic.

And those special cursed objects, they were definitely not easy to find.

Just when Suren was still thinking about which plan was more reliable, suddenly, Mr. Mirror asked again: "Oh... right. Are you in the north now? Then there's another way. The Archdruids in the Drow tribe are good at healing, and they may have a way to solve mental distortion. However, there may be no Archdruids now. You can ask them and help me bring a few words."

Suren: "What does Archdruid mean?"

Mr. Mirror: "Druids above the seventh rank."

"..."

Suren thought, probably not.

If the Drow tribe had seventh-rank powerhouses, it would be impossible for this tribe to be caught by slave hunters every day.

But suddenly, Suren thought of the situation where he suddenly heard whispers during the negotiation and almost lost his mind, and asked: "Oh, right! Senior sister, I have another doubt I want to ask you..."

He explained his situation in a few words.

Obviously, Mr. Mirror also seemed very surprised, "Your Reaper talent has awakened a second time?"

"Yes."

"Very good. After all, it's very difficult for an S-level talent to awaken a second time..."

Mr. Mirror praised him, and then explained: "That kind of whisper is different from the situation of using the 'Substitute Doll'. This is the death law communicating with the heavens and the earth, listening to the whispers of the dead. It's normal. Before you solve the problem of your mental distortion, it's best to use that ability less."

"Oh."

Suren breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this situation.

........

After hanging up the communication, Suren had a general understanding of his current situation.

Now that he had the [Star Amulet], he estimated that as long as he didn't use the Reaper's phantom casually, he could last for at least a few months.

Thinking, he planned to find a Drow tribe member to ask first.

After all, it was very convenient, and many Drow tribe members could be found in the slave market.

If there was really an Archdruid, or if they had left some solutions, it would be even better to completely solve his mental distortion problem.