Yes, Squealer was clearly influenced by a powerful spell of confusion to adore the Elder Hermes so much—an extreme emotion that doesn't normally exist with any psychic mancer. He has typical symptoms of confusion, the most obvious of which is that he is unaware of the fact that he is being confused.

The Psychic Enchantment system has two of the most prestigious sub-energy systems, namely Confusion Control and Compulsion. The distinction between them is very simple and clear, what you can perceive is compulsion, what you can't perceive is confusion, and both have their advantages and disadvantages. The Compulsion is fast and efficient, often serving tactical purposes, while the Confusing Sub is much more ambiguous, you can't even command your servants with precision, but it is almost undetectable by any means, and is often used to carry out long-term tasks.

Therefore, Faust is not surprised that Squealer is confused, and mutual confusion is part of the life of a psychic man, and any organization with a large number of psykers will acquiesce in this situation - especially Squealer, who wants to be a high-level spy, whether he wants to be a high-level spy or not, he must accept the control of the organization.

In other organizations that don't have as many psychic magicians, the Spy's loyalty may be secured by other means. Such as feelings, beliefs, and even interests, but the Immortal Brotherhood, as a psionic organization, obviously doesn't need to be moved multiple times - they can directly control the spies.

Originally, they had planned to do the same to John, but Squealer took the risk of using something as experimental as a soul substitute in order to start the plan in advance.

"Brother Squealer, Elder Hermes is great, but we should now focus on the problem at hand. Faust casually dealt with Squealer.

"Indeed, I have lost some of my temper, Brother Faustus. Squealer quickly returned to normal at Faust's reminder. Elder Hermes' confusion ability was cleverly controlled, allowing him to maximize Squealer's ability to think for himself in order to execute his plan.

"We've got John, I'll settle the opinion on the city lord's side, you just need to convince the mayor here, and the town can be disposed of according to your plan, Brother Faustus. "Squealer has reverted to the qualities of a senior staff member – analysing the situation, solving problems, but not making decisions.

"Well, let's talk about the other issues, I've got that sorted out with the mayor. Faust smiled, Squealer hadn't been a spectator all the time during the ceremony.

Rewind a few hours, and when Faust opens the door to greet John and Squealer, he makes a small gesture.

The huge crystal that had been hanging from his waist quietly fell off, growing arthropod-like legs, silently moving through the shadows of the room.

This time, instead of growing spider legs at one end of his slender body and making his crystal body stand up high, he put down the crystal and grew a row of short, thick and powerful arthropods on both sides of his body, densely packed with dozens of them.

It followed the mayor's departure, and soon caught up with the mayor—much faster than the old mayor. The location chosen by the mayor is the basement, which is his carpentry workshop and his office.

Fosse took advantage of the mayor's opening of the door and slipped in, his large size was not easy to hide, but the dim lighting, the dim eyes of the mayor, and its natural protective color allowed him to succeed.

The mayor closed the door, let out a long breath, and bent his back, which had been straight. He was neither a soldier nor a nobleman, and had not been trained in any manners, and this slightly hunched posture was the most relaxed posture of a carpenter—besides, he was old enough that it was not so easy to straighten his back.

He took off his glasses and leaned back in his chair. This is the chair he has made with his own hands, from logging to painting, it is all by himself, and only by leaning on this chair can he really relax for a while—sniffing familiar smells, feeling the touch that has been felt a thousand times, and recalling countless relived memories, this is the old mayor's means of relaxation, and it is also the source of his strength.

His hand unconsciously caressed the arm of the chair, and over the years he knew every line and every crack on it—just like this town, he knew every inhabitant, every alley.

The town had become a part of his life, and at the same time, he was a part of it.

Marula was the closest tribe to them, meaning outsider, and the original carpenters gladly accepted the title and called themselves by it.

The mayor was just one of these carpenters, but the people who worked with him to pioneer the land had long since withered, and later people thought that the town was named after the mayor.

In fact, the opposite is true, the mayor of the town is named after this town.

He loved the town that gave him a surname, a place where he belonged, and so he swore to defend it—his land.

Therefore, in order to fight against the city lord, he secretly took refuge in the Greenwood family, the city lord's sworn enemy. His calculations were loud - the Greenwood family was too far away to touch the town, and they would never let the lord take Marula.

For many years, the mayor of the town has relied on the fragile political balance between the two to ensure the town's independence. But now, the trick doesn't seem to work, and the mayor smells something unusual—a never-before-seen alien merchant, a special messenger from the city lord, a silent Greenwood family......

The mayor wasn't much educated, but he could still see part of the truth - the lord seemed to have resisted Greenwood's pressure for the time being, and now he was free to deal with the town of Marula under his nose. He must have paid a lot of money for it, but it didn't matter.

The mayor didn't care how much the lord had paid, he didn't even care what the lord wanted of the town, he only cared about how to get through this - it seemed like it was too hard to get through now.

"You're not thinking at all. A hallucinatory voice said to him, "So you don't have a countermeasure, so you can't fight anyone's plans." ”

"I thought about it, but it didn't work. The city lord subconsciously defended, "The gap is too big, we can't resist at all—yes, I have two leather workshops, and some supplies from Greenwood, but if I go to war with the city lord, even if I can win once or twice, I can't win all the time." ”

"The reckless man would think of going to war, and you have another way. The voice said, "If you can't solve the problem yourself, why don't you ask someone else for help?"

The mayor replied to the voice in a cathartic manner - he thought it was his hallucination, a thought of his own, but the hallucinations were not so organized.

The mayor even suspected that it was the voice of the devil, "Who are you? am I on the verge of madness, or am I the devil in hell?"

"No, no, no, I'm neither, I'm your savior, I'm a servant of His Excellency Faustus. This time the voice was no longer ethereal, and the mayor could hear it coming directly above him.

He looked up and saw a black crystal with spider legs, falling on a piece of spider silk and slowly descending, "First meeting, Mr. Marula, you can call me Fosse. ”