Audrey's right hand paused for a moment before returning to normal. She picked up the mask known as Pride.
"A 50% chance isn't low," she replied to Pauli Derlau simply.
This was to say that picking the mask that Hvin Rambis had worn before wasn't a surprising coincidence.
With that said, Audrey wore the cold gray mask on her face.
Almost instantly, she felt that she had an additional Virtual Persona that had appeared in her mind island.
This didn't stem from the outside world, but rather, a magnification of what she knew to the extremes.
"They received very little education. They have to make the right choice under my guidance.
"Not everyone has enough intelligence. On the contrary, most people are very stupid.
"Those workers are impulsive and irrational. They are easily enticed by tiny perks and have no foresight. Only with me thinking for them, guiding them, and making decisions for them can they be saved.
"They are worthy of pity, but they aren't worth communicating with.
"..."
These thoughts echoed in Audrey's mind, almost making her believe that this was the truth. After all, this was partial feedback she had received from her previous observation and experience. It wasn't something that had been fabricated out of thin air.
With a sweep of her gaze, Audrey saw herself from the smooth surface of the long table.
On the cold gray mask, her eyes moved upwards, fixing it to her forehead as though she could only see things high above without a care about anything else. It was funny, strange, and secretly horrifying.
Audrey fell silent. A few seconds later, she said in a deep voice, "Is this Pride?"
If it wasn't for the fact that she had long escaped her misconceptions through the exchange between Mr. World, Mr. Hanged Man, and Ma'am Hermit, she might've been truly affected by Pride's persona.
As for what would happen after being affected, she couldn't tell.
"You recovered much faster than I expected. It looks like you haven't lost yourself in the experience of manipulating others," Derlau said approvingly.
Audrey replied thoughtfully, "Mr. Hvin Rambis has always appeared a little proud..."
Derlau clasped his hands at his chest and said, "You could tell?"
"Only occasionally. Some details," Audrey replied in two short sentences.
Derlaua sighed and shook his head with a smile.
"This mask's influence on Hvin Rambis was worse than I expected. Besides, he usually put on a very good disguise.
"Under this premise, I don't find it strange that he has gone missing. His arrogance will make it impossible for him to see the path beneath his feet. It will make him look down on Beyonders who are weaker than him, and this will often bring great danger."
Audrey resisted the urge to recall Hvin Rambis's death, and asked in deliberation, "These seven personalities can amplify the corresponding knowledge and emotions to help us realize our own problems, so that we can deal with them directly. At the same time, they will also bring some negative effects, and unknowingly change its wearer's personality?"
Derlau nodded slightly.
"In the mind domain, it's very difficult to obtain external help that's pure and without danger. One has to have enough internal strength to avoid the corresponding negative effects.
"You have walked the right path for you to realize this."
Audrey was just about to take the opportunity to discuss some questions about the mind domain when she suddenly saw a mask on the table disappear.
She subconsciously turned her head and looked at the entrance of the cathedral. She saw a figure walk in through the door.
This figure was wearing a three-piece formal wear suit, and he had a half top hat in his hand. He wore the mask that had disappeared earlier on.
The mouth on the mask was opened wide until it reached close to the ears. Its mouth remained open, as if it wanted to swallow everything that its eyes could see.
"This is one of the councilors of the Psychology Alchemists, Mr. Gluttony." Derlau did the introductions.
Following that, the remaining councilors of the Psychology Alchemists arrived one after another. They were Mr. Lust, Ma'am Greed, Miss Sloth, and Mr. Envy.
As a senior Spectator, Audrey was the first to notice the difference in their masks:
Greed was similar to a Gluttony. His mouth reached his earlobes, but it wasn't open. Furthermore, his eyes were closed.
Lust was similar to Pride, but its eyes were different from ordinary people. They had sunk to the middle of their noses, as though they were looking at people from the bottom.
Envy's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth were slightly slanted, and had a gloomy temperament.
Sloth's eyes were tightly shut, and its mouth naturally drooped, giving off the feeling that the wearer was sleeping.
Seeing all the councilors present, Derlau smiled and said, "Let's wait for another friend. He will be the seventh councilor. Heh, eighth, I forgot to count myself."
Just as he said that, a figure entered the cathedral's main door.
This figure wore a shirt, vest, a black trench coat, and a half top hat. At a glance, he was a rather fashionable gentleman.
However, after some observations, Audrey realized that there was a huge rabbit under the human clothes. Its eyes were bright red and its fur was snow-white.
The rabbit walked inside, one step at a time, and stopped at the side of the long table. It happened to be beside Audrey.
"Unfortunately, you only have one choice." Derlau smiled as he pointed at the Wrath mask on the table.
The rabbit let out a male human voice:
"I've always been very gentle. It's a good opportunity for me to experience wrath."
As it spoke, it picked up the persona mask and wore it on its face.
The mask's eyes were wide and its mouth was wide open, as though an angry roar would shout out at any moment.
After Mr. Wrath sat down beside Audrey, Derlau clapped his hands and said, "I formally introduce the two councilors who will be joining our council.
"This is Miss Pride. This is Mr. Wrath. They are both demigods and have deep attainments in the domain of the mind.
"In addition, Miss Pride will be in charge of the greater Backlund area of the Loen Kingdom."
Upon saying that, Derlau looked at Audrey and said, "You might not be aware, but we are rooted in the masses of psychologists, psychiatrists, and the corresponding aficionados. Our strength is mainly concentrated in large cities and not small cities and villages. Therefore, every councilor is responsible for a city and the surrounding area."
Then, Derlau continued, "Mr. Wrath is in charge of the Lenburg capital, Azshara;
"Mr. Lust is in charge of the Intis capital, Trier;
"Ma'am Greed is in charge of the Feysac capital, St. Millom;
"Miss Sloth is in charge of the Feynapotter capital, Feynapotter City.
"Mr. Envy is in charge of the Intis Republic's Tilisi City;
"Mr. Gluttony is in charge of the Loen Kingdom's Constant City."
After the introduction, Derlau added, "Our Psychology Alchemists' mission is exploration, discovery, and research. We do not care about affecting the scope, member numbers, resources, etc. Therefore, we do not have any councilors in the Fog Sea, the Berserk Sea, the Sonia Sea, and the Southern Continent. Of course, there will often be members who go out to the sea to explore the ruins of the Southern Continent in search of ancient history. Heh heh, I forgot that I'm the King of the Black Throne on the Five Seas."
St. Millom, Constant, Tilisi... Nearly half of the councilors of the Psychology Alchemists are in the Midseashire region... Audrey acutely sensed a problem.
She came from a noble family, and had received good education since she was young. She was no stranger to the geographical location of every city in the Northern Continent. She knew that Feysac's St. Millom, Loen's Constant, and Intis's Tilisi were big coastal cities of Midseashire.
Although they couldn't compare to the three major cities of Backlund, Trier, and Feynapotter City, each of them was quite large. Furthermore, there were many medium-sized cities around them. This made the Midseashire coast become the most vibrant economic zone in the Northern Continent, an area with the biggest population.
Under such circumstances, it wasn't too surprising that the focus of the Psychology Alchemists was placed on Midseashire. Audrey generally didn't think that the Psychology Alchemists weren't too interested in expansion.
After the councilors got to know each other, Derlau turned his head and said to Audrey, "Miss Pride, due to the war, Backlund's Psychology Alchemists suffered great losses. We have lost contact with many of the members. I will give you a specific list in the future. You will be in charge of confirming the whereabouts of the members and then organize them again.
"In this process, I suggest that you don't use your real image and name to finish the tasks. Create a virtual identity to complete them. Hvin Rambis didn't do well in this aspect. I think he's a little too proud."
Audrey nodded slightly and agreed.
Derlau retracted his gaze and said, "The second thing to discuss today is the whereabouts of the mind dragon in East Chester County of the Loen Kingdom.
"The dragon worshiping customs of the Hartlarkh village haven't been weakened in the past two years. I suspect that the mind dragon is still influencing it in some way. Perhaps we can use it to find its whereabouts.
"Who is willing to handle this matter?"
After raising the question, he recalled that the newly joined Miss Pride and Mr. Wrath didn't have enough knowledge of the corresponding situation. He simply explained the explorations the Psychology Alchemists had previously done, as well as the problems that his entire archaeological team members encountered.
Audrey had actually participated in some matters in the early stages. Now that she had a suitable reason to intervene, she couldn't help but feel her heart palpitate.
It wasn't that she really wanted to hunt the mind dragon, but rather, she wanted to communicate with it and grasp more knowledge and secrets of the mind domain.
However, she wasn't in a hurry to raise her hand. As a councilor participating in the council for the first time, she would rather miss an opportunity than be eager to showcase herself.
"This is Loen's matter. It's not suitable for us to interfere." Mr. Lust surveyed the area and said, "Unless Miss Pride and Mr. Gluttony don't have the time for it."
Audrey waited for a few more seconds. Seeing that the Gluttony didn't say anything, she looked at Derlau and said, "I will try to investigate, but I need more detailed information."
