"You remember Pearney, don''t you?" the little green winged snake asked without waiting for his reply.


    Ivan nodded slightly, feeling an ominous premonition stirring in his heart.


    "She had been in contact with others through the Secret Method Seal. Could it be you?"


    The following words confirmed Ivan''s guess; his movements had indeed been noticed. No wonder he hadn''t been able to contact Pearney in the past few days.


    In a rush, he exined, "Lahr, after you captured Pearney and brought her back, I identally found a Secret Method Seal Bead in the dormitory and was able to contact her. I just wanted to glean some information from her. I hadn''t intended to do anything else, and I didn''t do anything excessive."


    If he didn''t rify the situationpletely, the risk of being mistaken as Billerie''s aplice would mean big trouble for him.


    The little green winged snake didn''t make things difficult: "I know, otherwise you wouldn''t be standing here unharmed."


    Relieved at its words, Ivan passed over the Secret Method Seal Bead he used for contact.


    The little green winged snake declined to take it: "Keep this thing safe yourself. Pearney wille out and be your neighbor. Continue to maintain contact with her. If someone contacts you through Pearney, you can give them the Token and the password."


    Ivan was stunned. Was he being turned into a spy?


    Did Sorcerer Toyennes need a spy? The Curse of Demon''s Resentment consisted of a primary curse and secondary curses. The secondary curse was originally part of the primary curse, and one could easily locate the secondary curse through the primary curse. Why didn''t Toyennes directly seek out Billerie? Could it be that the information recorded was false?


    Seeing that he remained silent, the little green winged snake emphasized its point: "Ivan, you are a smart man. You know who you should rely on and what you should do, right?"


    "Right."


    Ivan nodded again.


    In times like these, if he were to consider others, who would consider him? No one. Just as Billerie, knowing the implications, had still attacked Toyennes, Ivan needed to live for himself.


    "Very well," said the little green winged snake, pleased with his response. It arrogantly added, "You needn''t worry about the safety of the castle. If they dare show themselves, next time Sorcerer Toyennes won''t need to lift a finger. I will personally snap their dog heads off."


    Ivan could feel the confidence in its words. It seemed Sorcerer Toyennes intended to lure people out, then capture them all in one go. Toyennes'' confidence wasn''t surprising, given Billerie was merely an apprentice and couldn''t possibly stand up to an official sorcerer more than once or twice.


    His face showed no emotion, but a torrent of thoughts whirled through his mind, hoping to find a breakthrough amid them.


    "Is this a Physical Strength Potion?"


    The little green winged snake spotted the potion on the table, fluttered its wings lightly in that direction, and a gust of wind carried the small ss bottle floating towards it. Its slender tongue darted in and out of the bottle, the potion swiftly diminishing, and it licked its serpent lips with relish:


    "Not bad on taste, only a little worse than Sorcerer Toyennes'', no, at least three to five points less."


    Ivan couldn''t deny it; potions were never judged by their taste: "This one counts towards the seventy percent owed to you."


    "Stingy humans," muttered the little green winged snake as it flew out of theboratory, taking Ivan''s Crystal Ball with it.


    Soon after, it delivered its payment: a book of magic titled ''Insect Control Skill,'' a lesson on ''Basic Study of Common Energy Particles'' added to the Crystal Ball, and a jar of insect eggs.


    The Insect Control Skill was a special spell to control insects, which could be used to collect grown insects,rvae, or eggs. Controlling them with the Insect Control Skill served the purpose of directing, and using eggs was the most effective.


    After collecting the eggs, hatching them with one''s own blood and Mana would make thervae easily imprinted with a magic contract, achieving the goal of controlling swarms.


    Prerequisites for this spell''s study were: Basic Study of Common Energy Particles, Basic Energy Shaping Course.


    One limitation of Insect Control Skill was that it could onlymand one type of insect at a time.


    "It only states that you can onlymand one type of insect individually, not that you can''t control multiple types. Keeping them separate should be fine," Ivan thought, eyeing the ss jar filled with insect eggs suspended in a sticky liquid—hundreds of eggs sheltering tiny wriggling silhouettes.


    Whether good or bad, one couldn''t tell. Considering Toyennes'' character, they were probably not anything pleasant.


    That evening, Ivan received a message from Pearney, the meaning clear.


    ''You''ve struck a big advantage. The oath is void. I''ming out, remember to act like we aren''t acquainted.''


    The next day, Ivan saw Pearney again, and just as the little green winged snake had said, Pearney had be his neighbor, moving into the dwelling to his right.


    He now had two neighbors, Eckerz on the left and Pearney on the right.


    "What, don''t recognize me?"


    Pearney, standing before him, had transformedpletely. She exuded a sense of nobility, or rather, daintiness. Her figure was curvy but not exaggerated, and her newly sprouted green hair made her seem like an elf out of a storybook.


    Her left arm appeared to have grown as well, albeit seeming a bit out of proportion.


    Ivan withdrew his gaze, "I remember someone specifically reminding me that we aren''t close."


    "If we''re not close, why were you staring at me? You nearly had your eyeballs popping out just now," Pearney pouted, her thoughts changing after seeing Ivan as her neighborpared to the night before, "You''ve been spotted, haven''t you?"


    Ivan responded vaguely, "Whatever you say."


    It seemed she wasn''t foolish and knew that there was a reason for her release, a reason not hard to guess. Sorcerer Toyennes''s intentions were all too clear.


    "Being under surveince is actually good – we can y their game and wait for them to reveal their weaknesses. Then we''ll seize the chance to escape from the ind, and we won''t have to endure being oppressed here anymore. I''m sick of this life. I should have listened to my uncle''s advice and never insisted oning here to learn the Meditation Method; I fell right into Toyennes''s trap."


    Perhaps Pearney had gone a long time without talking to anyone, and she was bursting with grievances when she saw him, spilling words more than usual.


    Ivan nced around and motioned her to talk inside his quarters, "If you don''t mind,e and sit in my dorm; let''s sit down and talk."


    "I''ll give you that much face then."


    Pearney dly agreed and after sitting down inside, she began to talk about the precautions needed for escaping.


    "The Cloud Fog servants'' strength is on par with that of a 2nd ss apprentice; however, their existence and the ind''s sorcery array are closely linked. They are controlled by runes sorcery array and cannot stray far from the ind.


    The most important thing to watch out for are the two puppets onboard the ship. Theirbat ability isparable to that of a formidable 3rd ss apprentice, and if we want to hijack the ship, we must first deal with the puppets.


    As for the Iron Ridge Giant Turtle in the water, it''s a byproduct ofboratory bloodline synthesis. It may look huge but it''s actually not very smart, just hardbor. It''s afraid of people wearing sorcerer robes, so with some tricks, we should be able to make it obey quietly."


    In order to seize the ship and escape, Pearney had been observing for a long time and had some preparations.


    However, are you sure no one is spying or eavesdropping?


    Watching the green-haired youngdy go on non-stop, Ivan wanted to say something but hesitated, trying several times to remind her.


    When there was a pause, Ivan asked, "What''s the deal with the ind''s runes sorcery array? I remember Sorcerer Toyennes didn''t appear that long ago." The clouds and fog enveloping the entire ind were likely caused by the sorcery array, which logically would have taken quite some time to set up.


    "You''ve seen the ruins behind the castle, right? That was originally a relic. The runes sorcery array that covers the ind is part of that relic. Toyennes is just a neer; he found the ind and modified the runes sorcery array, making it his own."


    "Can you defeat Lahr?"


    "I might have a fighting chance."


    After serious consideration, Pearney gave an uncertain answer and waved her hand, "We don''t need to worry about Lahr; he''ll definitely help Toyennes. We''ll leave him to Billerie. What we need to do is wait for Billerie to make his move, then we''ll take the opportunity to escape the castle and the ind."


    Ivan sighed, "In the end, we will have to act ording to the situation and see if Billerie can hold up against Toyennes."


    He didn''t like the feeling of cing hope on others, but there was no choice when others held more power.


    Hearing this, Pearney''s face also fell somberly, and she reluctantly nodded.


    In the talking hall, both fell into silence.


    Suddenly, a dull rumbling sound came from outside, followed by screams.


    The two exchanged looks and quickly walked outside.


    Ivan saw Justine running towards him, the sheer panic written all over her face.