Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1700 Gluttony Disciple Candidate

Sylasʼ eyes narrowed.

”Put it back on!” Faneleiʼs voice came out almost too high-pitched. It was as though she was trying to strain against herself and speak out in a tone that sounded a lot calmer than she was, but the result was instead her voice coming out in a thin line that pitched it up.

Sylas didnʼt react to her words immediately, but Fanelei seemed far too shaken to actually touch the Madness Key herself. In fact, ever since it landed on the ground, she hadnʼt moved a single inch other than to speak. However, her feet, her arms, and even her strands of hair were deathly still.

Of course, Sylas had noticed this already, and he had a few guesses as to why that might be the case. But seeing her reaction now, he wondered if he was only seeing half of the picture.

He raised a hand, and the Madness Key shot back up to his palm.

”Put it on. Put it on,” she repeated.

”Why?” Sylas asked.

”The effects of the Madness Key are suppressed by your Scorned Wraps. Theyʼre chains, but they also protect you. Without them, the Madness Key doesnʼt have its normal limits. The range it can sense others from is extremely large now, and it wonʼt limit the level of Disciple either.”

”I see.”

Sylas didnʼt rush to put it back on. He could make a few guesses about this.

Namely, this was something that the little girl—or Fanelei—should have told him long ago. She barely mentioned it just now, but she said something about ”limiting levels.”

If Sylas was correct, this likely meant that the Madness Key would only ping at you for Madness Disciples that were at your tier level. Otherwise, it would remain dormant. Maybe it would even ping you about Disciples at or higher than you in tier, but it wouldnʼt do the reverse.

Second, considering how Fanelei was reacting now, this was likely a matter that was more involved than it seemed. The Madness Key had its own system, which meant that theoretically, there was nothing stopping it from issuing its own Quicktime Events.

If Sylas had to make a guess, the Madness Keyʼs range was probably rapidly increasing right now the longer it spent separated from the suppression of the Scorned Wraps. If the range went wide enough, it would consider whatever Madness Disciple it was sensing right now to be close enough that it might trigger such an Event- whereas usually, they would be separated by too far of a distance or too much of a tier gap for the Madness Key to do such a thing.

And what would happen to Fanelei if the Madness System suddenly awakened?

Well, it would probably notice that the spirit that was supposed to be overseeing one of its Disciples was gone, and it would certainly try to figure out why that was.

As limited as the Madness System was, there were quite good odds that when it chose to do something, it was no less violent than the impotent system. In fact, it might be even more forceful.

The Path of Madness wasnʼt exactly one of roses and sunshine. If their failures were doomed to become the treasure spirits of their items like this, sent to raise and even target the new potential sprouting seeds of their order, then it was also quite obvious they wouldnʼt let Fanelei cheat death like she had.

In fact, there was no way that Fanelei had escaped with the usual Analei reincarnation. She had almost certainly made a very detailed and complex contingency plan-one that she needed Sylas to complete, whether that be because it was her only method of survival or because it was her only chance at ever reaching the S-tier.

Just like that, Sylas had gained another trump card. If he had known this before, rather than 70%, he would have probably given himself over 80% odds.

He snapped his fingers, and the Gluttony Madness Key slid back onto his neck. It seemed there was another reason he wouldnʼt be able to so easily take off the Scorned Wraps.

If he sought an A-tier as a pawn, he would need to make his own sacrifices. But as far as sacrifices versus rewards went, he figured he was getting quite the deal.

Fanelei only now managed to breathe a little easier, but her eyes still flickered with worry that seemed to have less to do with Sylas than before.

According to her calculations, for the Gluttony Madness Key to ping the existence of another Gluttony Disciple Candidate so quickly, this person had to be within their Sector, and certainly within their Horizon.

What was a Gluttony Disciple Candidate doing here?

This spelled trouble. Madness Disciples normally made their livelihoods in far weaker Sectors and Horizons. That was because, unlike in those places, territories like ones controlled by the Weaver Guild or their rivals were aware of the existence of Madness Disciples and would kill them on sight.

She was already taking a large risk by bringing Sylas here, but now he had gone and done something like this. If a Legend had been paying attention just now, they might have sensed what happened.

But the frustrating part was that she couldnʼt even confidently call Sylas stupid.

For one, because he was a Virtue Disciple now, it would be basically impossible to prove that he was a Madness Disciple even if someone wanted to cross a line and investigate him thoroughly.

Second, she knew quite well that he had thrown the Madness Key like that to: one, gain a psychological edge against her; and two, because it would be invisible so long as he didnʼt take it off. Plus... the fact he could take it off in the first place proved he was, indeed, a Virtue Madness Disciple.

No matter how she looked at it, she couldnʼt find fault, and she was painted into a corner.

”...What do you want?” she lastly asked coldly.