The Professional

Jiang Lin condemned her in his heart.

"This is Aliya, one of the youngest certified masters of the Royal Capital's Alchemy and Rune Association. She is proficient in ancient ritual arrays and energy vein tracking."

The Big Guy introduced her briefly, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness.

"Her mentor is the 'Star-track Witch,' a 9th-rank powerhouse named Mavis. However... as you’ve heard, we currently can't get in touch with her."

Aliya’s eyes were currently brimming with tears.

"I'm really going to die. Telling me in the middle of the night that there's an emergency mission and I'm needed for support... I never expected it to be such a dangerous task."

The Big Guy looked at her state, silenced for a moment before continuing the introduction:

"Well, like us, she is an apostle of god."

"Hmm? He's an apostle of god too?"

Aliya looked at Jiang Lin, who was wearing the face of a purple-robed mage, and suddenly leaned in close to inspect him carefully.

"You... you've aged quite rapidly, haven't you?

"How can you look like this at fifteen?"

At those words, both Jiang Lin and the Big Guy fell into a long silence.

"This is a disguise," the Big Guy explained.

"A disguise?!"

Aliya’s eyes widened.

"A disguise even I can't see through?!"

At that moment, Jiang Lin noticed a strange silver glow flickering deep within Aliya’s teary, large eyes.

It was as if star-tracks were flowing, dismantling, and reorganizing within her pupils.

There were no magic essence fluctuations or a magical aura...

So, it wasn't a skill.

Was this her natural talent?

Was it similar to his 【Chronowalker's Evil Eye】?

Jiang Lin was somewhat surprised.

This was the first time he had encountered another person with a pupil-based talent.

She leaned in even closer, almost pressing against Jiang Lin’s face.

"It’s not a magical illusion... no magic essence residue... and it’s not a temporary transformation caused by an alchemy potion..."

She muttered to herself, the silver glow growing more intense.

"The muscle texture, the bone structure, the subtle direction of the skin pores... they’ve all changed?

"How is this possible?

"Even with top-tier transformation magic, the core characteristics of the caster's 'life field' remain unchanged. It's like no matter how you mold clay, the nature of the clay itself doesn't change... but you...

"You... your 'life field'... its core characteristics have completely become another person's!

"No, that’s not right. It’s not 'become,' it’s 'overlaid'? 'Replaced'? No... it’s more like... 'woven'?

"Using something... I can't understand, you re-wove a life field shell that perfectly matches the target, and then you stepped into it yourself?!"

When Jiang Lin heard this, his own eyes widened.

Holy crap, is this girl that strong?!

How did she analyze the process of 【Slaughter Disguise】 just by looking at it for a second??!!

He didn't even understand the principles behind 【Slaughter Disguise】 himself.

Yet she figured it out with one glance??

Is this person really human?

"I've never seen this kind of disguise method in any book before!

"Could it be that this is a disguise technique you created yourself?!"

Aliya stared at Jiang Lin with burning eyes, waiting for his response.

Jiang Lin hesitated for a moment.

"Uh... I guess so. Anyway, you can't use it. It’s not something that can be generalized..."

Aliya marveled, "Are you even human? To have created your own disguise technique at such a young age!!"

Jiang Lin remained silent.

The Big Guy was completely confused by what he heard, but judging by Aliya’s reaction, he knew Jiang Lin’s disguise method was likely even more ridiculous than he had imagined.

Though, he had felt similarly before.

Little brother Matthew’s disguise technique was simply off the charts.

It made him feel a bit hurt.

He had practiced his disguise technique for so long, yet it was seen through by Aliya’s special eyes in a single glance.

Meanwhile, this kid could directly bypass her gaze.

"Aliya, didn't your master tell you not to reveal your eye talent so casually in the outside world?

"Even though little brother Matthew is very trustworthy, I haven't told you that yet, have I?"

The Big Guy reminded her, telling Aliya to show more restraint in the future.

"Fine, fine, you're getting naggy. My judgment of people is never wrong."

Aliya waved her hand dismissively.

"But you didn't realize I was wearing a disguise just now," Jiang Lin reminded her at the right moment.

Aliya fell silent for a long time.

Jiang Lin asked in confusion, "Why are you suddenly quiet?"

"Let's stop chatting about pointless things and study the array first," the Big Guy guided them back to the main topic.

Aliya stopped dwelling on the disguise issue.

She turned around, her gaze falling on the complex, dark red array runes on the secret room's walls and floor.

She crouched down, her fingertips hovering about an inch above the surface of the runes, not touching them directly.

In her silver-glowing eyes, the phantom of the star-tracks appeared again, spinning and dismantling more clearly and rapidly than before.

"Hmm... the surface layer is indeed a variant of the standard 'Pleasure Sacrifice' basic array runes. The energy direction is 'life siphon' and 'soul stripping,' and the node distribution matches the characteristics of the secondary energy nodes in Emerald City's ley lines... wait.

"However... the energy flow here isn't right."

Aliya’s finger traced the air, moving along a seemingly continuous dark red line.

"Look at this 'spirit vein guidance line.' Its arc between the third and fourth nodes deviates by about 1.3 degrees from the 'optimal energy transmission arc' recorded in the standard array design specifications.

"This kind of deviation might be negligible in a small array, but in a large-scale ritual array like this that needs to link dozens of array cores across the city, the cumulative error could cause the core energy convergence efficiency to drop by at least 30%."

Jiang Lin and the Big Guy looked at each other, both seeing the same message in the other's eyes:

Blah blah blah...

"So, what's the situation?" Jiang Lin asked.

"This is the seam where the 'disguise layer' and the 'real layer' connect. Look..."

Her finger tapped near the deviation point at several seemingly messy auxiliary lines.

"These 'redundant runes' look like buffer structures added to stabilize energy fluctuations, but in reality... they form a very sophisticated 'visual masking circuit' and 'energy splitter.'

"When the energy of the surface array runes flows through here, the vast majority is quietly diverted into another system of lines deeper underground."

She stood up and patted the dust off her hands, her tone certain.

"So the opponent has set up two sets of arrays, and the inner and outer layers can act as each other's fronts.

"I suspect the two arrays had to overlap at certain energy nodes, so they simply designed them as a double-layered system.

"This way, if the first layer of the array is destroyed, the second layer can still function. If the second layer is destroyed, the first can still work.

"Furthermore, if both layers are intact, they can maximize the array's efficiency."

The Big Guy’s expression turned solemn.

"Can you find the locations of the other array cores for the second set? Or deduce where the core array core might be?"

Aliya didn't answer immediately. Instead, the silver glow flashed in her eyes again as she slowly pressed her hands against the floor.

A faint silver-white light seeped from her palms, spreading like mercury along the grooves of the floor runes.

Wherever the silver light passed, those dark red runes seemed to be 'activated' for a brief moment, glowing with a deeper blood-red luster before returning to their original state.

"I can deduce the approximate directions, but it will take some time."

The Big Guy nodded, "No problem, we'll try to buy you as much time as possible!"

"Whoa, Little Black, she looks so professional," Jiang Lin marveled.

Little Black replied listlessly, "I made the same judgment, I just didn't read it out loud..."

"Yeah, she's professional, but she's still far from our Little Black."

Jiang Lin patted the cat's butt.

Hearing this, Little Black smugly decided to overlook the slight from before.

Aliya’s brow furrowed slightly, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

Clearly, analyzing the energy veins of a double-layered array was a massive burden for her as well.

"Found them..."

She closed her eyes, and the silver glow dimmed slightly.

"As for the other array cores of the second set, I can sense seven approximate directions.

"The exact locations can only be determined once we get there.

"To find more array cores, I’ll have to sense them from a different array core.

"As for the core array core... I can only pinpoint it accurately after getting a hold of enough array cores.

"But logically speaking, it should be in the central area of the city..."

The Big Guy immediately pulled out a map of Emerald City and spread it on the floor.

"Mark them."

Aliya’s fingertip lit up with a dot of silver light, quickly marking seven locations on the map.

Jiang Lin cross-referenced them with the array cores he had found earlier. He found that one overlapped with the 'decoy array core' location provided by the purple-robed mage Morris, while the other six were completely new—located on the outskirts of the noble estates in the east, deep within the slums in the west, and so on.

"What do we do now? Investigate separately or move together?"

The three discussed for a moment and decided to move together.

Soon, the trio began sweeping through Emerald City.

If they encountered an array core hidden inside a cultist stronghold, they simply marked the approximate location and left.

But if they found an unguarded array core, they would locate it directly and mark the exact position.

One night passed quickly.

The sky grew pale, and Emerald City was shrouded in a gray-blue morning mist.

Jiang Lin, the Big Guy, and Aliya finished their investigation of the final array core and hurried back to their temporary base—that secret room located beneath the shantytown.

Aliya slumped on the ground, her face pale and the silver glow in her eyes dim.

The high-intensity array analysis that lasted all night had nearly exhausted her mental energy.

She downed a mental restoration potion.

"The locations of twenty-six array cores have been confirmed, and the energy flow is basically understood...

"But the core array core can only be narrowed down to a general area; it can't be pinpointed."

She pointed to the map of Emerald City on the floor, her finger tracing over the marked points.

"These array cores form a 'nested star' structure. The core of the second set of arrays must be in the area of the city where the ley line nodes are most densely concentrated.

"It’s likely the City Lord's Mansion or near the Temple.

"But the opponent used multiple layers of shielding. Unless I enter the potential area and conduct close-range detection, I have no way of narrowing the range further."

The Big Guy’s brows were tightly knit.

"The City Lord's Mansion and the Temple... these two places are heavily guarded, and it's very likely they've already been infiltrated by the cult. Approaching them recklessly is too dangerous, and it might alert the enemy."

"So what do we do now?" Aliya asked, still slumped on the floor.

The Big Guy said, "Let's stay put for now. The more array cores we can dig out, the better.

"Wait for more reinforcements to arrive, then occupy all the array cores and destroy them simultaneously.

"But it has to be fast. As things stand, we could be exposed at any time."

At this point, the Big Guy looked at Jiang Lin.

"By the way, little brother Matthew, didn't you say you had a rather risky plan?"

Jiang Lin nodded.

"I have a title. Its effect is to disguise itself as another title, and I can define the name and rank of that title myself."

Hearing this, the Big Guy and Aliya were completely lost.

Jiang Lin continued, "However, the effect of this title can only be used once. A long time ago, in order to root out some cultists, I used it and obtained a title that looks a lot like a cult member's."

"What title is it?" the Big Guy asked.

Then, they saw a title named 【Pope of One of the Four Great Secret Cults】 pop up above Jiang Lin’s head.

At the same time, an evil aura emanated from his body.

This was the inherent effect of the title.

"Pfft!"

The moment Aliya saw the characters in that title, she sprayed the magic potion right out of her mouth.

Then, she began to cough violently, clearly having choked on it.

The Big Guy’s eyes also widened as he saw it, unable to believe his eyes.

You call this 'looking like' a cult member?

You're just talking absolute nonsense, aren't you?

The Big Guy felt that if it were him, no matter the circumstances, he would never have thought to create a title like this.

He was already imagining Jiang Lin wearing this title and acting like a big shot in front of a bunch of cultists.

Wait, why does the word order feel a bit weird?

Shouldn't it be 'One of the Popes of the Four Great Secret Cults'?

But since it’s a disguise title, not being perfect was no big deal...

After all, this was the first time they’d heard of a title that could disguise itself as other titles.

"Where did you get that title? I want to get one too!" Aliya asked.

Jiang Lin shook his head.

"It won't work. My method isn't repeatable; you can't get it anymore."

Hearing this, Aliya was quite disappointed.

The Big Guy spoke up, "So... your plan is to pretend to be their cult's Pope to find out who the Holy Son is?"

Jiang Lin nodded, "Exactly."

He paused before adding, "But this method is a bit too risky. If the other side doesn't care who I am and just attacks on sight, I'll basically be dead. Plus, it might trigger a stress response, causing them to activate the sacrificial array immediately.

"Ahem, it depends on whether you have any life-saving items or if the Temple can send over some powerful thugs."

The Big Guy was silent for a moment before saying, "Actually, this is an option."

He turned to look at Aliya, "Aliya, do you have any life-saving items?"

At that, Aliya clutched her pockets tightly.

"Hey, I'm here on a mission, not here to drop loot!"

The Big Guy comforted her, "Oh, come on. At worst, we'll just get you reimbursed when we get back."

Aliya felt like crying. "But the reimbursement process is long and annoying!"

However, despite her verbal reluctance, she still took a ring off her hand and pulled a scroll out of her spatial ring, handing them to Jiang Lin.