"You created such chaos at the scene, just to make yourself more conspicuous and increase the success rate of your assassination?"

"To kill one person, why go to such great lengths—even a Peerage Noble wouldn't go this far."

Sleepless Sky Huole said in a low voice, her tone extremely unfriendly.

Lin Yu spread his hands. "Of course they would, because the target is more than just a Peerage Noble... But, I won't tell you any more than that!"

"Still trying to fish for information from me at this point, Your Excellency Sleepless Sky Huole?"

"Do you think you can still turn this around?"

Sleepless Sky Huole fell silent for a long while before speaking. "I must stop you, Furbollo... You have already killed over ten innocent people. I personally brought you to the Sleepless Night Family, to the Inner City. No matter what your goal is, I cannot let you continue to create chaos and death!"

As she spoke, Lin Yu laughed.

"How naive, Your Excellency Sleepless Sky Huole. How can you utter the word 'innocent'?"

"In this man-eating city, do you truly believe the powerful and nobles here have innocents among them?" Lin Yu retorted. "Even if the people here haven't personally killed, even if their hands are clean and untainted by blood, every bite of food they eat, every cup of water they drink, their very flesh, blood, and marrow are forged from human lives—the lives of those who could truly be called 'innocent'."

"Of course, perhaps some nobles and the powerful acted unintentionally. But everyone attending tonight's banquet, everyone trying to curry favor with the Sleepless Night Family, recognizes and actively strives within this cannibalistic system... Their deaths at any time can hardly be called undeserved."

"The powerful of Sleepless City collectively built the rule of the strong preying on the weak. Now that they've been devoured by me, a stronger one, what innocence do they have?"

"There's no logic in only allowing oneself to eat others while forbidding being eaten oneself."

As Lin Yu spoke, Sleepless Sky Huole let out a breath.

These words even sounded somewhat reasonable—of course, if anyone else had said them to Sleepless Sky Huole, she would have dismissed them as madness.

But coming from Furbollo's mouth before her, Sleepless Sky Huole couldn't help but ponder their meaning.

However, she quickly shook her head, forcibly cutting off her own train of thought.

"Discussing this now is meaningless. I don't have time to debate these 'fundamental' issues with you."

"Furbollo... I will stop you!"

As she spoke, she reached into her bosom and pulled out a thick, heavy book.

This was the "Celestial Register" bestowed upon her by the Sleepless Night Family Head—this thing was no mere "alchemical creation." Even with the hall filled with unstable phlogiston gas, it could still be used normally.

But...

"Whoosh!"

This was the very moment Lin Yu had been guarding against all along. He had been coveting this miraculous "Celestial Register" from the very beginning!

Fortunately, no matter how magical its functions, in form it was still a "book"!

To use it, one had to "open" it.

The instant Sleepless Sky Huole produced the Celestial Register, the long blade in Lin Yu's hand shot forth with terrifying force!

The bone knife pierced through Sleepless Sky Huole's wrist, the force penetrating bone and muscle. Blood gushed wildly, pinning her entire hand to the ground.

Then, Lin Yu stepped on Sleepless Sky Huole's hand, picked up the Celestial Register, and tucked it into his own robes.

"Your Excellency Sleepless Sky Huole, your mother's assessment of you was indeed correct—your greatest flaw as a 'noble' is being too kind-hearted."

"You waited until I was close to use the 'Celestial Register,' afraid its more powerful techniques would harm those you consider 'innocent.' Naturally, that gave me an opening."

As a Peerage Noble, where had Sleepless Sky Huole ever suffered such a severe injury? Blood continuously welled from her palm, the pain nearly making her faint.

Yet, Sleepless Sky Huole restrained herself from crying out, only drawing in sharp, cold breaths as she looked up and spoke.

"Furbollo, I truly underestimated you, and I misjudged you..."

"You lurked by my side for so long, was it all for this moment?"

Lin Yu looked at Sleepless Sky Huole, then laughed.

"No, Sleepless Sky Huole, you didn't misjudge Furbollo at all..."

"He approached you with no ulterior motive—I am not Furbollo. I am merely someone who 'stole' his identity."

As he spoke, Lin Yu removed his hat—on top of his head, a glowing brain appeared, as if rooted there.

Sleepless Sky Huole was stunned once more.

"Who are you? Did you control Furbollo?!"

"Me... Well, if you must give me a name, you can call me 'Freud'."

The glowing brain spoke.

Then, Lin Yu put his hat back on and let out a breath.

The final groundwork was complete.

Now then...

"Time to let you witness methods that don't belong to Furbollo, but to 'Freud'—Gentlemen, did you know that every generation of 'Freud' has been a master at manipulating the mind and soul?"

The final activation of the [Teeth of Prophecy]. An irrefutable truth gained a massive amount of 『Belief』, making the originally false fact real.

The nobles who had heard the entire conversation between Lin Yu and Sleepless Sky Huole and were misled naturally didn't know that Freud was not Lin Yu—anyone would mistakenly think "Furbollo" was "Freud."

Feeling the power of that belief, Lin Yu spoke again.

"What I possess now is precisely all the abilities and power over soul and mind manipulation that the First Generation Freud had at his peak."

The final activation of the [Tongue of Deceit] followed, making the 『Realization』 already supported by a large amount of 『Belief』 align more closely with Lin Yu's desires.

A normal 『Deception』 would have been absolutely impossible for Lin Yu to achieve.

But he used the last of the [Teeth of Prophecy] and [Tongue of Deceit]. The gifts from the gods were now exerting their maximum effect!

"Come on, kid, witness my peak—let you see just how strong I was back in the day."

Old Zheng's voice rang out. Lin Yu felt a powerful mental force appear in his mind—he had indeed suddenly gained the abilities Old Zheng once possessed.

However, even with the power, Lin Yu couldn't wield it freely—it was like suddenly being handed a gun; he couldn't instantly learn how to fire it.

Fortunately, while Lin Yu wasn't Old Zheng, Old Zheng was right there in his hat.

"Old Zheng, you take over!"

"Ha, such nostalgia..."

Old Zheng murmured, feeling the open mental link Lin Yu provided.

While other summoned beings couldn't do this, Old Zheng, as a master of the mental realm, could naturally communicate directly with Lin Yu's consciousness and perform one-to-one manual control.

For a fleeting moment, Old Zheng felt as if he had become that 『Third Tier』 Player once more.

But the sentiment lasted only an instant. Old Zheng quickly got down to business.

"Now, everyone, fall asleep!"