Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 460 - Two Hundred and Eleven: Star Observer

Chapter 460: Chapter Two Hundred and Eleven: Star Observer

Malin was a natural pragmatist, just like a pair of chopsticks, whether they were gold chopsticks inlaid with broken diamonds or disposable ones, they looked the same to him.

Thus, he chose the Detective sequence because, according to the known intelligence, rising to the top of the Detective sequence could provide at least 3 intelligence and 1 inspiration, along with various kinds of knowledge; Malin, with an inspiration of 12, could basically ignore any disguise spell formations.

Even a rank 0 hero god couldn’t deceive Malin’s eyes.

Unless it was a True God or a powerful Evil God.

But if it were beings of such a rank, there was no need to look; even if they disguised themselves, Malin could smell them from almost ten meters away.

And the 3 intelligence, for Malin, was an important attribute to support his role as a Mage.

Although his intelligence was already very high, this kind of attribute was still better in abundance.

So when there was a problem with the Detective sequence, Malin eagerly wanted to find a quiet room to peer into his own Sequence Tree.

Given that the City Hall was the daily working place for Chaotic Infiltrators, it was impossible to use it before a full Purification had been performed; fortunately, the Church of the Lord of Justice provided Malin with convenience, saving him the trouble of finding a restroom to manage.

Entering the quiet room, Malin approached the mirror and knelt on the cushion, then closed his eyes.

......

"I feel that child’s soul has entered Subspace, even though he is just a novice who has just lit the candle of a new sequence, he can use Spiritual Energy so smoothly... Truly, a child worth looking forward to," said the high-seated tyrant sensing the distant speck of light. Leaning on the armrest with a cup in his idle hand, he mused, "Is this what he calls... the brilliance of Mortals."

At that moment, he noticed the disturbances coming from the other end of Subspace.

A new Chaotic Evil God was ascending the throne.

Subspace was unique, transcending time and space; it was a carrier of Chaos, filled with uncertainty.

Yet, witnessing the throne of a new god was a first for him.

The tyrant instinctively wanted to offer a greeting between peers, but as the throne was elevated, the Chaotic Evil God sensed a familiar fluctuation, which made him turn his head and glance at the location where Malin had been.

His soul had already returned.

The tyrant fell silent for a while, and then he saw the new Chaotic God begin his expedition.

Not toward his side.

Hmm, the child Malin had a good saying.

Rather than a destitute path, one with companions is more to be appreciated in both highbrow and lowbrow culture.

Indeed, a good phrase.

......

Malin opened his eyes, and in that moment, he stood amidst a star chart, surrounded by stars as if he were in the universe. In front of him, the evolutionary changes in the Detective’s Sequence Ladder Tree were apparent; the previously singular path to the top had morphed into a densely branched tree structure, with every step having different diversions, and even more branches above.

Most of the branches were blurred, indicating Malin could not discern their existence, and proving that many were previously unseen sequences or those not suitable for Malin—for instance, taking a Ghoul potion would most likely result in either diarrhea or poisoning for him.

Because his alignment and stance made him incompatible with the Ghoul sequence.

Malin searched and eventually found that special Sequence Ladder Tree on the trunk close to the edge on the left side.

Apprentice was at the base step ten with no changes.

Author was at the base step nine, also unchanged.

But moving up, changes occurred; it was supposed to become Artifact Researcher of step eight. According to Malin’s plan, he was ready to join an archaeological team for a while, and maybe with some luck, he would make a breakthrough.

But now, the Detective sequence tree had twisted to one side, a brand new, extremely long Sequence Tree had replaced the previous Detective Sequence Tree, and Malin estimated that it was likely a T1-level tree. At the very top of the tree were two dim stars, indicating that the highest steps had a strength beyond Malin’s capability to confirm.

This was good news; the bad news was that he couldn’t see clearly, suggesting that the sequence might never have been discovered or had been lost to time.

Malin looked up along the tree, and at the eighth level, he noticed a book and a feather pen.

Cartographer, step eight.

Cartographer? Mapping? Malin was familiar with that; frankly, he had done mapping before, and the Dwarves’ Great Craftsmen were probably still waiting for his new maps, so this step, he felt, was not challenging.

With that in mind, Malin looked upward with curiosity easing his tense mood.

On its seventh layer, Malin saw a spyglass.

Navigator, step seven.

Navigator? Was the gap between steps eight and seven too big?

Malin pondered for quite a while, feeling unclear on how step seven was connected to step eight.

Cartographer... Navigator... was it a nautical tendency?

But if it wasn’t nautical, wouldn’t it make more sense for Cartographer to lead to Guide?

With no clear connection, Malin could only continue to look upwards, where he saw a wand and traveler’s boots at step six. Explorer... step six?

No one likely knows the true history of this tree.

However, the traveler can indeed be related to a nautical inclination, which seems to be a sequence of sailing tendencies. How troublesome—an act of faith might be required here, but Malin had no desire to entangle with the Lord of the Storm.

With such surprise and bewilderment, Malin continued to look up.

A pickaxe, a backpack.

Explorer, ladder five.

Following the traveler is the explorer—it seems as though this tree is dedicated to those who traverse the wilderness.

Moreover, the Explorer, which should be a land-based tier, implies venturing to new continents for adventure, doesn’t it?

Then this sequence becomes somewhat headache-inducing.

A completely new sequence ladder with no mature Magic Potion theory means no shortcut aside from perfect ascension.

With this thought in mind, Malin continued to look up. After the Explorer, he saw a magnifying glass and a Revolver. When he touched them, Malin perceived the name of this tier.

Agent of Bygone Days, ladder four.

This seems to be a sequence never heard of before, but judging by its name, it should be like the Historian of the old era, probably a profession that delves into different timelines or parallel worlds for investigation.

If the previous tiers were nautical and terrestrial, they’re now joined by timelines – how troublesome indeed.

Malin sighed and proceeded upward. This time, what appeared before him was a heavy tome, with wide-open pages.

It looked very old.

Upon contact, Malin confirmed its name: Scholar of the Bygone Era.

Finally, something Malin could understand. It seemed from the present that this sequence inclined toward exploration, adventure, and collection of antiques.

Whether it’s sailing, land, or timelines, they are merely standard fixtures of the mystical side.

Oriented more towards intellect and mystery, not a sequence to enhance the body.

This reassured Malin somewhat—his strength and physique, as far as he could see, were already capable of standing against the Chaotic Chosen of the Gods, and some intellectual powers would effectively compensate for his weaknesses in this area.

Really, Malin himself felt he preferred to talk with his fists, but in reality, Spell Formations were so inconvenient. His original profession, Mage, was exactly this: past the fifth circle, one transcends the ordinary, and Flame Burst was notorious for making entire families soar with a mere flick of the hand. Malin felt his penchant for fisticuffs was because fists were just too convenient.

A bit more intellect should balance things out.

Furthermore, this sequence seemed capable of reaching ladder one, which should indeed be much better than the Detective on ladder three.

With this thought, Malin’s spirits lifted, and he casually touched the two grey ladder stars above.

Next, the grey constellations lit up before him—a bookshelf, Ancient Book Collector, ladder two.

Setting aside how exactly he had unfurled this, perhaps the uplift of inspiration allowed Malin to part the fog. To be frank, this ladder two seemed quite simple—ancient books were not an issue as long as one had the money. Maybe he could fish out some more ancient books from the world of Ails.

This ladder seemed like a free gift.

Very delighted, Malin continued to swipe up.

Eventually, a small star map appeared before his eyes, Cartographer, ladder one.

Malin was taken aback and then immediately reviewed the previous ladders.

Cartographer (8) — Navigator (7) — Traveler (6) — Explorer (5) — Agent of Bygone Days (4) — Scholar of the Bygone Era (3) — Ancient Book Collector (2) — Star Observer (1)

This sequence was built around the ladder one’s Star Observer from the beginning. Cartographer is the foundation, Navigator is the foundation, Traveler, and Explorer both require stardust to determine their own locations. Agent of Bygone Days, Scholar of the Bygone Era, and Ancient Book Collector all exist as tiers for seeking out star maps.

Star Observer... probably a mystical side sequence.

This seems much more powerful than the supportive Detective sequence. Judging by the name of the ladder, Malin was confident that he could ascend without the need for a Magic Potion—and truth be told, this sequence likely had no Magic Potion to consume.

After all, it was a long ladder sequence of ladder one.

With some joy, Malin tapped on the star map pattern of the Star Observer.

Then he saw the dashed lines of the Sequence Tree still ascending.

... After a moment of silence, Malin felt something was amiss—yes, as the endpoint of a long sequence, Star Observer seemed a bit... anticlimactic.

Others at ladder one are Transcendent beings, half-gods who, though they cannot beat the hero gods, can already come and go in fights with the Legendary.

Star Observer... what’s above that?

With this thought, Malin reached out, and as his hand rose to the scarcely populated pinnacle of ladder zero.

Malin sensed a subtle difference.

The entire sequence tree was dissipating, and Malin saw the Starry Sea beneath his feet, as if standing atop a planar expanse.

Ladder zero... Star Observer.

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