Chapter 613 - Thief Monkey (Patreon)

Leyvi had already expected that his Universal Language benefit would be in high demand, but the intensity of the reactions still exceeded what he had imagined. He had underestimated its allure. He could clearly feel several people’s strong desire to take him away right then and there.

“Ohom!” Gandolf cleared his throat loudly, deliberately interrupting their thoughts.

“Don’t bother piling your hopes and expectations on him. Have you forgotten something important? We are facing an unprecedented crisis that might wipe out every human on this continent. This is not the time for other agendas,” he reminded them firmly.

His words pulled everyone back to the issue at hand.

“Also, keep this in mind. Leyvi may have the ability to contribute greatly to the continent, but no one has the right to force him to do anything he does not want. If anyone ever tries such a thing, this old man will be the first to oppose it,” Gandolf warned in a stern tone.

They might have been his long-time comrades who had gone through life-and-death ordeals together in the past.

But a thousand years had passed, and people could change. No matter how righteous they had been before, it was not impossible for them to become caught up in personal interests now.

Once they heard Gandolf’s words, the several who had been excited just moments earlier reined in their emotions and sighed inwardly.

“Right. It seems you can think properly again,” Gandolf continued.

“I already told you that this kid rejected me previously. He has no interest in becoming a Protector. That also includes whatever hopes and dreams you were trying to place on his shoulders just now.” His gaze moved slowly from one person to another.

“However, he was willing to expose his secret knowing that he would be powerless if we decided to exploit his ability. He did this to warn us about a potential calamity that even he himself is not completely certain will happen. He gambled his life for the sake of our Cloud Continent,” Gandolf said, then paused.

Uh, I’m not really gambling my life. If you guys tried anything like that, Anda would gladly use the Universe Airship to smash all of you and save me.

Leyvi argued against Gandolf’s speech inwardly.

“Don’t forget why we chose to call ourselves Protectors instead of any other fancy or majestic title. It is to remind ourselves that fundamentally, beyond everything else, our first and foremost duty is to protect the people of this continent.”

“Our young Leyvi here may not want to become a Protector, but based on his actions alone, trying everything he can to protect the people and the continent, at the fundamental level he is already a Protector,” Gandolf continued.

Uh. No, no. Don’t misunderstand. I was only going to tell you about the danger and leave all the problem-solving to you. I never planned on getting involved this far. Don’t lump me together with righteous people like you. My sex fiend reputation would only bring shame to the title.

Leyvi argued inwardly once more.

“Haaa… You’re right, Gandolf. Maybe I got too absorbed in my current pursuits and put my priorities in the wrong order. I’m ashamed to admit that my mind was more excited about his ability than concerned about our continent’s safety,” Alchemy Emperor Edward openly admitted his mistake.

“I’m equally guilty. You did the right thing by reprimanding us,” Newton also admitted.

Another person who had harbored similar designs toward Leyvi said nothing, but the flush on her face made it obvious that she felt ashamed as well.

It was Protector Daryamaya, who patrolled the seas. She needed Leyvi’s translation ability to communicate with a particular marine demonic plant she had encountered in the depths of the ocean.

“Ahem. Well… we are all humans after all. We are bound to get distracted sometimes,” Jade said.

Gandolf nodded. “Good. If everyone has recalled their primary duty and priorities once more, then we can finally focus on this matter.”

The meeting continued.

Although Gandolf had already vouched for Leyvi’s ability, he still asked him to demonstrate it in front of everyone. He had Leyvi translate several relics containing ancient texts whose context and origin they already knew.

Without any difficulty, Leyvi translated them accurately.

Next, they brought out a few spirit beasts and had them speak to Leyvi in their animal languages. Once again, Leyvi proved that his ability was genuine.

At this point, no one doubted his translation ability any longer. In fact, it was even more impressive than they had expected.

After that, Sherlock suggested that Leyvi help him break through the repelling force so that he could enter the inner consciousness and locate the foreign memory himself.

Leyvi’s spiritual sense might be incredibly powerful, but from the earlier account it was clear that he had not yet learned many other soul-searching techniques beyond simply finding a specific memory.

Sherlock, on the other hand, had performed soul searches on criminals for many years and was extremely familiar with a wide range of techniques that served different purposes.

He planned to attempt to prevent the foreign memory from self-destructing, isolate it, and bring it out for further investigation.

“Can their sea of consciousness withstand both of our spiritual senses at the same time?” Leyvi asked. He was not sure if that was possible.

“Don’t worry. I’m already a specialist in this area. I know a technique that can stabilize their sea of consciousness so it will not collapse easily. Our spiritual senses will not place too much burden on it,” Sherlock replied.

The people he soul-searched were sometimes innocent individuals who had been manipulated by true criminal masterminds, so he always had to be careful not to harm them accidentally.

Sometimes their memories had been altered. Sometimes their sea of consciousness had been turned into traps. Sometimes prohibition spiritual imprints had been implanted to protect sensitive information.

Over the years, he had developed many different soul-searching techniques to circumvent or solve these problems. Stabilizing an invaded sea of consciousness was simply one of them.

Leyvi turned toward Gandolf, as if seeking confirmation. It was clear that Gandolf was the only person in the room he fully trusted.

“You can trust Sherlock. He is incredibly proficient at this. You might even learn something from him. Alright, wait here. Let me go catch a few crazed demonic beasts first,” Gandolf said before leaving the hall.

“Gulala! Wait for me, Gandolf! I’ll join you too!” Sugaro called out and hurried after him.

Once Gandolf was gone, Sherlock took the opportunity to invite Leyvi.

“If you join the Bureau of Investigation, I’ll teach you all of my soul-searching techniques. How does that sound?”

Although he wanted to reform the way the Bureau conducted investigations, he still hoped his techniques would be properly inherited. Leyvi was clearly an excellent candidate.

“Not interested,” Leyvi rejected bluntly.

Sherlock smiled wryly. This kid really doesn’t care about our status at all. Aren’t we supposed to be revered?

“My younger brother already joined the Bureau of Investigation. You don’t need me, Senior Sherlock,” Leyvi added.

“Your younger brother? Who?” Sherlock asked, blinking in surprise.

“Tal Leyan,” Leyvi replied, already expecting that Sherlock would recognize the name.

“Tal? The kid with the scholar vibes and a thief monkey with him?” Sherlock was surprised to learn that Tal was Leyvi’s younger brother.

Leyvi blinked. Thief monkey? Did Stripey start stealing or something?

“Yes. I took him in as a disciple when he was twelve. But he’s no different from a younger brother to me,” Leyvi said.

“I see, I see. No wonder you seemed particularly interested in me earlier. Tal must have told you that I was interested in him,” Sherlock said, putting the pieces together.

“Correct,” Leyvi replied.

The two continued chatting about Tal while waiting for Gandolf to return.

Through the conversation, Leyvi also got to know Sherlock on a more personal level. He had expected the leader of the Bureau of Investigation to be colder and more calculating, but Sherlock turned out to be quite talkative and friendly.

Afterward, Leyvi also spoke with several of the other Protectors. They wanted more details about the memory he had seen.

During the entire time Gandolf was gone, none of them tried to bring up his translation ability again.

Leyvi was genuinely impressed. They truly could set aside their personal interests and focus on what mattered most. As expected of the Protectors.

An hour later, Gandolf and Sugaro finally returned with three restrained crazed demonic beasts.

Leyvi’s eyes widened when he saw them.

Even though their bloodline power had been completely suppressed, he could still tell that all three were General Level Demonic Beasts.

Where had they found three crazed General Level Demonic Beasts so quickly? Were they that easy to locate?

“Hohoho. Are you wondering where we got them?” Gandolf asked.

Leyvi nodded.

“You can find them in places that are truly far from any human settlements. They rule those humanless regions. As long as they don’t encounter humans, they continue living their lives as usual even while affected by the phenomenon. So I simply need to show up in those areas and they will reveal themselves,” Gandolf explained.

“Alright, get ready, Leyvi. We will begin soon,” Sherlock said, giving Leyvi’s shoulder a light pat.