Raphael was slightly taken aback when he heard Susie's words, "Miss Sharron?"
"Mm," Susie hummed in affirmation, "Miss Audrey said that after you eliminate Baven, I could reveal more information to you." She paused for a moment, then said, "Miss Sharron might be unfamiliar to you, but Maric, whom you mentioned earlier, shouldn't be, right?"
Raphael was momentarily stunned. He took a cigarette from his metal case before suddenly realizing, "The Temperance Faction!"
"Correct." Susie confirmed, "This time, Miss Audrey's friend has invited members of the Temperance Faction to assist. Both Miss Sharron and Maric will participate in the operation. According to that friend of Miss Audrey's, with Miss Sharron taking action, matters will certainly be resolved smoothly."
Raphael nodded, guessing this Sharron was likely a Sequence 5.
After a few more exchanges, Susie bid farewell and left...
Alone in the carriage, Raphael smoked while considering the upcoming operation.
Though there were risks, they were acceptable. Especially after witnessing Susie's abilities, he felt more confident about the impending battle.
Thinking this, Raphael decided to advance to 'Werewolf' tonight. The coming fight would involve at least Sequence 6 Beyonders. Advancing to Sequence 7 would at least grant him some self-preservation capability.
Since he already had the 'Werewolf' characteristic, he planned to simply observe from the sidelines once the Temperance Faction members took action.
Finishing his cigarette, Raphael patted the gun in his hand. He could prepare several extra magazines. A round from the submachine gun could have some effect even against a Sequence 6 'Zombie', at least temporarily slowing it down.
Lost in thought, he returned to the Mafia headquarters. He changed out of his bloodstained clothes and immediately burned them. Then, under the watchful eyes of his subordinates, he left for his own residence.
His home wasn't far from the headquartersk. It was a relatively clean apartment with one bedroom, a living room, and a private bathroom.
Raphael casually tossed his coat onto the sofa and poured a glass of wine, "A toast to me for obtaining the Werewolf characteristic. Cheers~"
Then he smiled and switched his tone, "Cheers, my friend!"
He downed the glass of wine in one go. He sat on the sofa for a while, smiling one moment and expressionless the next.
Since becoming a 'Lunatic', he found he actually enjoyed this slightly insane feeling. He believed that even after advancing, he could use this somewhat mad state to conceal his true thoughts and intentions.
After another glass of wine, he stood up, opened the wardrobe, and pulled out a drawer.
Inside were the supplementary materials for the 'Werewolf' potion. Speaking of which, the 'Werewolf' potion formula had been obtained from Baven as a reward for Raphael's expansion of the Mafia's influence.
He hadn't expected that the 'Werewolf' Beyonder characteristic would also come from Baven...
The supplementary materials for Sequence 7 were relatively easy to obtain. Three could be bought at occult shops for reasonable prices. The fourth he had traded for at a Beyonder gathering, costing 60 pounds.
After calming his emotions, Raphael carefully measured and added the supplementary materials to a beaker successively; 100 milliliters of Werewolf blood, 10 strands of a Werewolf's black hair, 1 portion of a human's internal organs, and 1 cursed item.
Then he took out the blackish-green characteristic. Its appearance was that of a weird fang, not sharp, but the entire characteristic exuded a somewhat dangerous aura.
Finally, he dropped the characteristic into the beaker. The supplementary materials inside immediately began to churn, quickly forming a lump of viscous dark green liquid with short hairs and a blood-red hue floating on it.
Holding the beaker, Raphael frowned, "Why are the potions in this Pathway all so disgusting? It's like those dark concoctions they call food made by the old women in East Borough."
Many elderly in the East Borough ate whatever they could scavenge or steal, boiling it all together. Raphael had seen it a few times. It left a deep impression on him.
Holding his breath, Raphael tilted his head back and drank the potion in one go.
*Clang!*
The beaker fell and shattered on the floor. A vicious curse seemed to echo in Raphael's ears. He clutched his head in agony, his pupils instantly turning brown, with a small circle of black in the center!
Those were wolf eyes!
Then he felt his mouth elongate, fangs sprouting one by one. As a layer of short gray fur covered his body, his stature also grew taller, and his nails rapidly lengthened.
Within seconds, Raphael had completely transformed into a werewolf.
At this moment, his eyes were filled with madness and bloodlust, his mouth emitting beastly growls, having completely lost his rationality.
Raphael struggled against the predatory, murderous instincts of the beast appearing in his mind. Thanks to his excellent digestion of previous potions, however, his rationality soon gained the upper hand.
After intense struggle lasting over half a minute, he gasped as he regained his senses. He saw that the sofa and coffee table before him were severely damaged, with deep claw marks covering the walls.
Clearly, the furniture in the living room had suffered during his momentary loss of reason.
Fortunately, Raphael had regained rationality quickly and hadn't broken through the door to be seen by others.
As for the neighbors, they all knew that the Mafia boss lived here, so they wouldn't dare come out to inquire even if they heard sounds of fighting...
Taking a deep breath, Raphael closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, his pupils had returned to those of a normal human. Immediately after, his facial features gradually returned to normal, his stature shrunk back, and the short gray fur disappeared.
In a few breaths, only a completely naked Raphael remained standing in the living room. He smiled wryly, "Need to wear looser clothes."
Otherwise, he'd end up stark naked every time after transforming.
Just as he was about to get a robe from the wardrobe, a voice sounded in his mind: "Not bad. Advancing to Sequence 7 so quickly..."
The voice came from that white jade pearl, and at this moment, the pearl's image naturally manifested in Raphael's mind.
Raphael wasn't particularly surprised by this. During previous advancements, he had been able to hold brief conversations with this jade pearl.
He grinned, "What surprise will you bring me this time?"
"Sequence 7 is a qualitative change, so the assistance I provide will naturally differ from before," the pearl said, "From now on, you won't need to worry about potion formulas for advancement."
Raphael was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "Now that's a real damn surprise! You have the complete potion formulas for the entire Pathway?"