Among the remaining two types of alcohol, Ming Po discovered another peculiar phenonon. Any drink mixed with "Frankenstein" would be completely nullified.
Its description rely read "Mixed Drink," and it lost the "Treasure" attribute under its type. It was just an ordinary cocktail. Ming Po even tried drinking one—to be honest, it tasted fine, but it yielded absolutely no effect.
Even the original effects of switching to "Frankenstein" were entirely nullified.
'Why is this?'
'Why is only this Title special? Is it because it was obtained from a Paradox, making it an inherited Title incapable of gaining affixes?' From the remaining combinations, Ming Po managed to produce a few usable drinks.
When combining "Detective" with "Madman's Silver Crown," Ming Po obtained a new drink.
—[Silence of the Lambs]
Unlike the previous drink, this one possessed a prefix.
Naturally, it still did not display any specific equip effects. And when Ming Po attempted to mix "Madman's Silver Crown" with "Werewolf," he similarly received a new drink with a prefix: [Beast of Gévaudan].
These three drinks were the three new Titles Ming Po had acquired.
Although they were all temporary Titles that only lasted for a single ga... and Ming Po didn't even know their specific effects, he felt he had finally grasped the underlying rules governing Titles.
It appeared that all Titles originated from so form of literature, legend, or myth. Even the artificial Titles he fused together followed this rule.
This also ant... if Ming Po obtained any new Title, he could potentially create a massive variety of new drinks!
The only regret was that, for so unknown reason, these drinks were in a bizarrely unstable state.
No matter how Ming Po adjusted the ratios—from one-to-nine to fifty-fifty—they remained unstable. Adding ice or heating them was useless; they would all automatically disperse after lasting only a single ga. As for whether they would turn into an empty Title or sothing else after dispersing, Ming Po had no idea... This all required experintation. The Bacchus Shrine was far too dangerous and entirely unsuitable for public knowledge... Every additional person who knew about it or tested it would increase the risk of exposure. Therefore, until the information completely leaked, Ming Po had to maintain total silence.
However, this Title... could definitely be tested.
[Werewolf Detective] wasn't quite suitable for going out, so Ming Po switched to [Silence of the Lambs].
"Madman" and "Detective"—this was a fusion of Ming Po's two most comfortable Titles right now.
When Ming Po readjusted himself, he discovered that his mind was incredibly clear, his spirit remarkably free.
He had never felt so good... The only problem was that he still wasn't entirely sure what he could do right now, and in this mixed drink state, the "Silver Crown" suffix seed to have been swallowed up.
Ming Po elegantly and slowly opened his eyes. He had completely reverted to his normal human appearance. It seed that transforming into a werewolf was the specific effect of [Werewolf Detective].
—Of course, his pupils were still a dim yellow.
Furthermore, even without activating the active effect to resonate with the Title, they remained a stable, dim yellow. It was as if he were wearing colored contacts. '...Could it be that mixing any Title with a Domain of Slaughter Title will result in a Domain of Slaughter Title?'
A thought popped into Ming Po's mind.
His Thought Speed seed to have been accelerated.
Because imdiately after, another idea surfaced in his heart:
'From this perspective, the news about the Bacchus Shrine was probably leaked on purpose. They deliberately leaked half of the Bacchus Shrine's effects, but completely omitted its true function of bartending!'
'It's as if this item is only useful to Divine Cody. Its value seems to be purely sentintal. After all, if an organization isn't large enough, the ability to store and grant Titles to others isn't actually that aningful.'
'But if it can mix Titles through bartending to obtain new Titles... even if they are just temporary Titles, the significance is completely different. They are spreading incomplete information to contaminate others' perception of the Bacchus Shrine, preventing them from knowing its correct usage. If Heavenly Query couldn't locate the Bacchus Shrine either, then it was better to just spread the news.'
'Deceivers basically all have to join an organization. Deceivers without an organization can easily be forced into an Adventure due to insufficient resources, or offend people they shouldn't due to an information gap... or be hunted down by packs of Domain of Slaughter Deceivers.'
'Then as long as the news is spread, so organization might recruit a newcor holding the Bacchus Shrine. And if a Treasure is held, it has to be used eventually—and as long as it's used, it leaves traces.'
'With Heavenly Query in hand, it is much easier for a slightly larger organization to monitor the situation than finding a needle in a haystack.'
As the owner of the Bacchus Shrine, Ming Po knew... the traces of using the Bacchus Shrine would be extrely obvious.
The most typical sign was Titles jumping back and forth.
A Deceiver's Title would suffer a Skew based on their behavior within the ga.
Generally speaking, when Deceivers were dissatisfied with their Titles, they would constantly change their behavioral patterns. Once they acquired a Title they were satisfied with, they would begin to solidify their behavioral patterns to prevent their Title from being contaminated again.
And the detail here was...
Even if a Deceiver perfectly rembered their previous behavioral pattern and, after obtaining a new Title, attempted to replicate their past behavior to retrieve their old Title, it was almost impossible to get that Title back.
Because this was essentially equivalent to the state of returning to simplicity, seeing a mountain as a mountain again.
It was like an actor who beca famous for playing a first love. After acting in various other roles and returning to play a first love again, although their acting skills had improved, it obviously wouldn't have the sa authentic feel. Naturally, they wouldn't receive the exact sa evaluation.
In other words, if a Deceiver's Title constantly changed and kept reverting back to a previously used Title—it ant they were highly suspicious!
It was impossible to monitor Titles in the Material Realm. After all, Deceivers didn't walk around with an ID floating above their heads. But as long as they participated in the Ga of Deception, people would learn each other's Titles. By carefully investigating the tiline, they could pretty much figure it out.
Currently, there weren't actually many people who knew Ming Po's Titles.
Counting them carefully, excluding the old man Ink, Ai Shiping, and Gao Fan...
There were only Naless, Lawyer Chen, and those two survivors from Passing the Flower Drum who knew Ming Po had used the "Frankenstein" Title. Plus, Twenty Faces knew Ming Po had used the "Madman" Title.
However, Twenty Faces could be temporarily ignored.
If she were interested in the Bacchus Shrine, she could have already deduced it was in Ming Po's hands just through the Twenty Questions of Death; she didn't need to investigate through such convoluted thods... Moreover, the High Mountain Association was likely at odds with Divine Cody and would never hand over intel to them. As for them cooperating with the Chinese Chamber of Comrce, that was possible, but the Chinese Chamber of Comrce side was safe for now—after all, Ming Po was nominally considered a mber of the Chinese Chamber of Comrce and even had so connections with the higher-ups.
The only problem was that Ming Po absolutely did not want to hand over the Bacchus Shrine.
If the Chinese Chamber of Comrce learned of this and demanded he surrender it, he would have no choice but to go on the run.
The best-case scenario was that the High Mountain Association intended to swallow the Bacchus Shrine all for themselves... This was also the most likely scenario. After all, the High Mountain Association clearly did not belong to the Chinese Chamber of Comrce. Based on Ming Po's understanding of capitalists, as long as there was a benefit that could be monopolized and kept to themselves, capital would absolutely never willingly share it with others—especially with a capital force larger than their own.
Furthermore, the High Mountain Association's dostic influence wasn't strong. Their ho turf was actually in Italy... Ming Po, being backed by both the Chinese Chamber of Comrce and Divine Cody, instead had a considerable amount of room to operate.
There was one more detail here.
The High Mountain Association didn't know the Bacchus Shrine had the bartending function.
That ant the High Mountain Association would very likely underestimate the value of the Bacchus Shrine.
Therefore, the guys coming to cause trouble for Ming Po... had a high probability of not being particularly strong.
These thoughts flashed through Ming Po's mind in an instant.
He clutched his head, feeling slightly unwell. It was like the sense of imbalance one got from running too fast.
"...This feeling, is it the buff from the Title?"
Ming Po held his head, experiencing this sowhat unfamiliar sensation.
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly. "It feels... pretty good, actually."
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