The eccentric doctor never makes a misdiagnosis!

"Sister Haida, do I need to go in alone again?" she asked timidly.

"Need not."

As she spoke, Haida extended her hand to Vivian.

"I have some news for you. You've been assigned to my task force long-term, and I hope we get along well. Also... Agent Vivian, welcome to Funeral Parlor."

"what?"

Vivian's expression instantly became complex. It was a mixture of bewilderment, struggle, confusion, and even a look that seemed to be on the verge of tears.

However, the General Affairs Department's order came from the consensus of most of the supervisors, and given her position, she naturally could not refuse.

“Okay, alright. It’s been a pleasure working with you, Miss Haida…”

She took Haida's hand and held it with trembling hands.

The bad news is that she's now forced to join the Funeral Court's fanatics, dealing with extremely dangerous evil heirs and heretics every day...

Good news, Sister Heda is really amazing.

Chapter Sixteen Essentialism

Far Caress

[Source: Abyss Relic (created by Fran Hesser)]

[Effect: Releases a spiderweb-like, tentacle-like, tough biomass with moderate controllability. Due to processing and modification by a certain doctor, this relic has gained reusability and can automatically return to its initial state after release.]

[Note: "This is... absolutely fantastic!"]

-

Fran admired his fair wrist with considerable satisfaction, on which hung a delicate woven bracelet.

The black, tentacle-like substances were intertwined and twisted together, looking like ordinary nylon ornaments from a distance. Apart from moving, everything else seemed normal.

In addition to obtaining an Abyss Relic, this monthly house call also brought Fran an improvement in resolution.

After all, the opportunity to split the two bodies into nine and open the red cup priest's quarters is not common... If San's situation at the time was not obviously not suitable, she would have actually wanted to try to put the things that were peeled off from Sains back together.

She could have obtained a high priest-level living collection simply by reassembling it using the skills of the Blood Actors.

Oh, what a pity.

Fran's Anatomy resolution increased by 0.5%, reaching 79.5%. Clinical Psychology increased by 1%, reaching 20%. Abyss Applied Science improved by 2%, entirely thanks to the creation of relics.

She was fairly satisfied with the figure.

After all, the resolution of anatomy is about to break through the 80% mark. The closer the value is to the peak, the more difficult it is to improve. Even the forbidden knowledge of the Red Cup High Priest's body structure can only provide her with 0.5 resolution.

But it doesn't matter, having it is a win.

The accumulation of technology is never something that can be rushed; Fran has plenty of time and has always been at ease about it.

"Speaking of which, the 'secret techniques' of various sects seem to have undergone a certain degree of replacement and iteration. The [Redundant Consciousness Intrusion] technique used to require chanting prayers, but now it can be directly solidified on a gun... It's truly a victory of technology."

Fran was lying on the sofa in the living room of the Fog Street Clinic in a very ungraceful posture, his body resting on a plush cushion.

Her long legs were draped over the coffee table, swinging lightly every now and then, her thick-soled leather shoes tapping softly on the table.

"The time was too short back then, and we only managed to steal a small amount of esoteric information from Professor Terence's mind... Never mind, let's compare it with the Enlightenment Codex of the White Cup. It'll also be a good opportunity to see how the White Cup has developed over the years."

Although Fran had said he hadn't stolen any information from Terence's mind, ... well, since he was already here, it would feel strange not to peek at something.

So she still glanced at those white cup secrets out of courtesy.

Lefran lazily stretched his waist, pushing his abdominal and arm muscles to their limit before gradually relaxing.

While Si enters a lazy, power-saving mode when there are no patients or house calls, he's not completely idle. At least he maintains a strong interest in reading all sorts of profound or obscure classics.

8. "Reach out and touch the moon."

Erfan remained in her original posture, reaching out towards the tall bookshelf. The chains on her wrists shot out, their black tentacles striking the entire bookshelf and spreading out like a spider web.

Soon, one of the tentacles found the target book, stuck it firmly, and then suddenly pulled it back.

In an instant, the spiderweb-like tentacles carried the thick Enlightenment Codex back to Fran's hand, transforming back into a delicate little bracelet.

"The accuracy is a bit lacking, after all, it only has moderate controllability... but it's still much better than the 'original' that has to be manually retrieved and reloaded after launch."

Fran stroked the constantly twisting black bracelet on his wrist, conceiving a new improvement plan.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, then put those thoughts aside and refocused her attention on the Enlightenment Codex of the White Cup Order.

-

There are four volumes of the Crimson Cup's Skin Codex, three volumes of the Hunter's Ash Codex, two volumes of the Lantern Moth's Twin Codex, and only one volume of the White Cup's Enlightenment Codex.

Its name is Essentialism.

The title of this book is the kind that makes you feel unapproachable at first glance, and that's certainly true. Its content spans mysticism, philosophy, and mathematics…

Fran spent a very long time on this book and poured countless efforts into it... She even started losing her hair in the first few days after she got her hands on it.

So much so that when she later actually saw the "Enlightenment Canon" published by the White Cup Order, she couldn't help but frown with suspicion.

The theories in this thing are so simplistic! They're completely different from what I read before. Have the White Cup Cult's books been pirated too?

After comparing, she noticed that the copy of "Essentialism" she received from the "consultation fee" was handwritten and had many revisions, erasures, and traces of negation of the original theory... it seemed to be the original manuscript.

The compiler of this original manuscript was an obscure, nameless man named Chernes. No surname was given, so his full name is unknown.

Fran greatly admired his talent, and if there was a category of people in this world that could be called "geniuses," then Cherns would certainly have a place in that group.

Strangely, the person who compiled the White Cup Order's canon was neither a former president of the Central Academy nor a renowned sage. His existence cannot be found in any historical records.

Is it academic plagiarism, or... some other unspeakable reason?

The first volume of Essentialism provides a very brief overview of the mystical principles of various cults' secret arts and rituals, as well as the basis for their classification.

Rituals that generally only have auxiliary effects, regardless of their scale, are classified as "Category III" because they do not have any specific lethality or harm.

Rituals that are harmful and have a certain research threshold fall into the "second category," such as the "Summoning Blood Offspring" ritual set up by the Red Cup Cult in the Hunger Club.

The criteria for determining "Category One" rituals are extremely simple: any ritual involving divine taboos is categorized into this group.

Mystic arts and rituals are similar, but within each category, mystic arts are further divided into hierarchical levels to distinguish certain techniques that, while belonging to the same category, have vastly different levels of power.

……seven

"Ah, it's dawn? Is it already the second day?" Lu

Fran set aside the Enlightenment Bible that had been covering his face, rubbing his amber eyes sleepily, his long, pale eyelashes fluttering slightly. (Nine)

She hadn't slept for several days and nights in a row while working on creating the Abyss Relic, and the book she had chosen to read was the extremely profound Enlightenment Canon... so much so that she fell into a baby-like sleep halfway through reading it.

"I actually slept until noon, what a sin..."

Fran took out the pendulum clock from his pocket and started checking the time like an ordinary pocket watch.

Her biological clock is usually very well-regulated, but she also enjoys indulging herself occasionally. Lu

Sleeping until noon has two advantages for her: firstly, she can skip cooking one meal; secondly, she can skip eating one meal... (Collect)

Fran sat up from the sofa and placed the book he was holding back onto the tall wooden bookshelf.

She slowly walked to the door, hung up the "Open for Business" sign for the clinic, and then gazed absently at the warm sunlight piercing through the thin mist on the street.

"The weather is nice; winter is officially over." U

"Speaking of which, the Central Museum in Norlington is preparing for its spring exhibition. Since my April house calls are finished, why don't I go there..."

Chapter Seventeen Spring Exhibition. Mental Disturbance:

March in Norrington is still deep winter. Just like the day Fran treated Heda, heavy snow always arrives unexpectedly, accompanied by a biting cold wind.

But by April, the temperature will rise at a visible rate.

This change is obvious, because the breeze that brushes past your ears carries a long-lost warmth, like the lingering warmth deep in your palms, making you feel intoxicated and slightly tipsy.

It signifies that the long, cold, and vast winter has passed and is now in hibernation, and a brand new cycle is beginning...

This is why many religious sects have the custom of holding a Plum Blossom Festival.

They hold a festival-like ceremony sometime in April to celebrate the New Year. The spring exhibition at Norlington Central Museum is, in a sense, the White Cup Order's "Plum Blossom Festival".

These professors, who originate from the towering academy, will present the occult to the public to a limited extent, while devoting the most space to promoting the latest scientific and academic achievements.

The ritual of the white cup requires no ceremony or sacrifice, for He who is asleep does not care.

Since the beginning of this era, the only decree bestowed by the white cup has been to do everything in its power to allow more humanity to glimpse enlightenment and to liberate more independent thought from the shackles of ignorance.

Besides this, He gave no further divine pronouncements. Even His apostles, who were close to God, could only hear meaningless murmurs like those in a dream.

-

Norlington Central Museum, Mysticism Section.

Although the White Cup Order had little interest in showcasing the occult to the public, it was, after all, their annual spring festival. Therefore, they had made considerable preparations for this exhibition area, showing no signs of perfunctoriness.

Disrespect for knowledge is tantamount to desecrating a white cup.

Most of the exhibits are auxiliary third-category ritual models, with the core prayer texts abridged. Visitors can only vaguely understand their general effects from the descriptions below.

In addition, there are some completely harmless "relics" among the exhibits.

Because they have passed rigorous stability tests, visitors can even directly touch and interact with these artifacts, and the museum does not object to this.

Beside the booth, a young girl dressed in a funeral maid's fitted robe was fiddling with a strange device that resembled a vending machine.

She inserted two standard silver coins into the machine's slot, and soon it emitted a faint mechanical noise. After a vibration, a paper plate popped out from the food dispenser below.

A steaming hot pizza sits on the plate, its cheese plentiful and slightly browned, looking quite appealing.

The girl stretched out her hand, covered in stitches, picked up the pizza, and took a bite.

"It's pineapple flavored...?"

Fran narrowed his eyes slightly, seemingly in a bit of a headache.

But out of the most basic respect for food, she still finished the entire pizza. After all, it was decent in terms of preparation and seasoning, and not bad at all.

This mechanical device, named the "Fully Automatic Meal Dispenser," is an artifact confirmed harmless by the White Cup Order and is one of the exhibits. Detailed information is provided below.

Fully automatic food dispensing machine

[Quality: Ordinary]

[Effect: Insert two standard silver coins, and the machine will serve you a meal. The dishes it provides are non-toxic, indistinguishable from real food, and prepared with a slightly above-average level of skill. However, most of these dishes have strange flavors. Including, but not limited to, 'Strawberry Mapo Tofu,' 'Stinky Tofu Sweet Rice Dumplings,' and 'Milk Tea Filled Soup Dumplings'...]

[Note: "You might not be able to please everyone, but you can make everyone unhappy, hehe."]

"Of the dishes mentioned above, the pineapple pizza was fairly standard; you could say we were lucky..."

Fran extended her pink tongue and lightly licked her fingertips, licking away the remaining traces of sweetness.

Most of the artifacts in the occult exhibition area are very similar to this machine, with effects that fall somewhere between useful and useless.

Neurotic, nonsensical, and inexplicable... but that's normal, most of the things that can be safely exhibited are like that.

"Miss Hunter, are you also attending the Central Museum's spring exhibition?"

An elderly man in a faded dark green military uniform approached Fran and asked him a question with some curiosity.

"Actually, we were hired by the White Cup Order to be responsible for the security of the various exhibition areas. During our break, we saw an interesting exhibit and decided to give it a try."

Fran scratched his cheek, his eyebrows lowered, and smiled somewhat awkwardly, like a young nun caught slacking off.

"Haha, thank you all for your contributions to the security of Norrington. Without you, this huge city would probably have been hollowed out by the heretics in no time..."

“You flatter me. Hunting evil creatures and protecting the living are ancient laws followed by the Mysterious Hunters.”

Fran nodded slightly in greeting.

The old man clearly noticed the other person's shyness. He smiled kindly and then slowly walked towards another exhibition area, leaning on his cane.

"The young people of the Hunters Order are really dedicated. This funeral maid is only this young, yet she has stitches on her hands and neck... But the battles with heretics are so cruel and bloody; to be alive is a blessing."

He sighed with a hint of pity, and his aged but not hunched figure gradually disappeared into the bustling crowd.

Fran quickly shed his youthful shyness when facing the elderly and regained his original relaxed and leisurely demeanor.

She was all too familiar with the image of a young nun who was not good with words, so the short performance was a piece of cake for her. She could flawlessly portray both her words and expressions.

Fran continued her solo tour of the exhibition, finding the strange relics quite interesting.

She can glean insights into the actual effects of artifacts through the system's tool descriptions, and if an exhibit has enough value to pique her interest... then she wouldn't mind sending a phantom thief's name card to the Norlington Central Museum. Then she'd choose a dark and stormy night to strike.