Chapter 1022 - 187 LOTM

Upon hearing The World Gehrman Sparrow's question, the other members of the Tarot Club had three reactions:

"Who is that? I seem to have heard of him... He's one of the Four Kings?"

"Who is that? Why haven't I heard of him before..."

"Oh, I forgot to ask about the Psychology Alchemists. I was planning on using a more tactful method to seek some suggestions..."

The first reaction came from Alger, Cattleya, and Fors, who had lived at sea for a period of time. The second reaction came from Leonard, Emlyn, Xio, and Derrick. The third reaction belonged to Audrey alone.

Getting no answers, The World Gehrman Sparrow didn't ask further. His main goal was to use this as a reminder for Miss Justice to bring up the matter for discussion in a way that could bypass the promise she made.

Of course, if Miss Justice were to seek help from Mr. Fool, Klein would also use "Grafting" to temporarily connect the bindings formed from her subconscious to a paper figurine, providing her with a period of time that she could freely recount things.

This was also a high-level application of Paper Figurine Substitutes. With Klein's current level, he could easily do it within Sefirah Castle. If he were in the real world, he would have to rely on the Worms of Spirit above the gray fog to control the "curtain" and provide responses.

At that moment, Audrey thought for a moment and said, "Do you still remember that I once pursued the whereabouts of a mind dragon and went to a place where they had customs of worshiping dragons?"

Alger, Cattleya, and company nodded. Only Leonard and Xio expressed their lack of knowledge of this matter.

As this wasn't an important matter, Fors didn't mention it when she first briefed Xio of the "general knowledge." After that, she was frightened by Angel of Imagination Adam, and rarely talked about the secrets shared by the Tarot Club in the real world.

Audrey deliberated for a moment before continuing, "It's been almost two years. A secret organization that doesn't trust me too much suddenly mentioned this matter and has entrusted me with further investigations. They said it's a form of observation. What motives do they have?"

She didn't think it was a coincidence.

Emlyn recovered and laughed.

"This should be a test."

To him, he was still very far from reaching Sequence 1 Beauty Goddess, and he had no intention of transferring to the Planter pathway. Therefore, he didn't need to worry about the corresponding problems for a long period of time. There was no need to worry too much about it.

Emlyn's ability to say the word "test" shows how much he has improved... Of course, this is also because the Sanguine has done too many similar things to him, having to trouble Mr. Hanged Man into telling him that "this is a test"... The Fool Klein was very satisfied with Emlyn's answer.

Of course, he didn't believe that the answer was correct. He only felt that Emlyn's ability to think up to this level was already pretty remarkable.

Audrey said disapprovingly, "I suspect that they already know that I'm problematic. They even know where my problem is and which faction is involved. There's no need to test me further."

After leaving the Garden of Eden, she had been thinking a lot. She remembered that Mr. World had once said that the Twilight Hermit Order wanted a war that would sweep the entire world.

Based on the current situation, this goal has been achieved in the past year.

In other words, the Twilight Hermit Order or Angel of Imagination Adam must've used this opportunity to gain quite a number of benefits and experience the corresponding growth.

And before that, Mr. Fool informed them that Adam was ever closer to the level of a deity.

Combining all this information, Audrey had a preliminary judgment that Angel of Imagination Adam had a high chance of already reaching the divine throne and becoming a Sequence 0 Visionary.

Even if "He" wasn't there yet, "He" wasn't too far!

If such a deity who wielded the mind domain cast "His" gaze over, Audrey didn't believe that her secret could be hidden.

At present, she could only console herself that the leader of the Twilight Hermit Order, the mastermind behind the Psychology Alchemists wouldn't place too much importance on a Sequence 4 Manipulator. On the one hand, she had made all sorts of preparations to deal with the possible "accidents."

"Perhaps that organization is trying to figure how many members we have in the Tarot Club and what their identities are," Emlyn replied with a smile as he continued on his train of thought.

Audrey thought for a moment and nodded.

"That possibility can't be ruled out."

As she said this, she shot a glance at the end of the long, mottled table and realized that Mr. Fool was only listening to her leisurely without giving her the correct answer.

This made her feel a lot more at ease. At the same time, she silently decided that she had to be more careful. She had to be able to resolve problems herself, having already reached Sequence 4.

In any Orthodox Church or secret organization, Sequence 4 was the strongest person in control of an area.

At this moment, Alger, who had heard their conversation, proposed a brand new possibility:

"If that secret organization really doesn't trust you, then it might be an excuse for them to do an observation. Their main goal is to cooperate with us, the Tarot Club, and Mr. Fool."

He didn't know why Miss Justice didn't mention the Psychology Alchemists directly. All he could do was carefully go along with her.

Hmm... This is equivalent to me becoming an ambassador of the Tarot Club to the Psychology Alchemists? Audrey nodded slightly and said, "That's also possible.

"Then what should I do next?"

Alger thought for a moment and said, "Stall for time."

Good idea... Fors and Emlyn both expressed their agreement.

After Alger gave the overall strategy, he added in detail, "Try to stall for time and find excuses not to go until the final moment.

"When you arrive there, start investigating from the periphery and use caution as an excuse to slow down your investigation.

"If you really can't delay any further, you can deliberately make mistakes in certain matters and create some commotion so that the mind dragon can detect it early and eliminate any traces.

"If that secret organization really has any additional motives, the longer you delay, the more they won't be able to sit still. If they get impatient, they will expose the problem."

Cattleya nodded.

"This is the most suitable response for now."

"I understand. Thank you, everyone." Audrey also felt that Mr. Hanged Man's suggestion suited her thoughts.

However, she didn't delay a certain matter. She immediately turned her head and looked at the end of the long, mottled table. She bowed and said, "Honorable Mr. Fool, has Angel of Imagination Adam advanced to Sequence 0?"

Not bad. To be able to be aware of this point... The Fool Klein leaned back in his chair and chuckled.

"Only with the apocalypse approaching did 'He' finally take that step."

The level of the Garden of Eden had virtually confirmed that Adam was definitely a Visionary.

Angel of Imagination Adam has become a god? This news immediately reverberated in Derrick and company's minds, leaving their minds in upheavals for a long time.

Indeed... Audrey pursed her lips and expressed her gratitude before asking, "What kind of payment do I need to make for this answer?"

The Fool Klein surveyed the area and said with a smile,

"There's no need.

"It's a reminder."

After this topic ended, because most of the Tarot Club members were still immersed in the impact of Adam becoming a true god, no one spoke for a moment.

After a few seconds, Derrick looked around and probed, "The City of Silver has already plowed the surrounding fields and planted wheat and other crops, but the harvest will still take some time. I wish to know what we can do to earn gold pounds and purchase resources?"

After the initial aid, the Church of the Sea God and the government of the Rorsted Archipelago stopped providing free aid. After all, their financial strength was rather limited. In this situation, the City of Silver and Moon City each sold a batch of Beyonder characteristics and monster hides in exchange for a large amount of funds that could be used to purchase various resources.

However, with the entrance to the Forsaken Land of the Gods closed, they were unable to replenish Beyonder characteristics and monster hides. It was also impossible for the City of Silver and Moon City to give up their military strength either, selling large amounts of combat resources and wasting the opportunity of nurturing their descendants. Therefore, once all the gold pounds, gold, and jewelry were used up, they would undoubtedly fall into a predicament.

For this reason, the six-member council had been troubled over how to earn gold pounds from the outside world and how to establish a stable financial system. This was a little beyond their capabilities.

The Beyonder characteristics that the City of Silver and Moon City had previously sold were mainly purchased by the Church of the Sea God and the Rorsted Archipelago government. They were used to establish official Beyonder factions under them. After all, the number of Beyonders needed to cause damage, and the number of Beyonders needed to stabilize an area was on completely different levels.

In addition, the entire Rorsted Archipelago only had Sea God Kalvetua and the demigod cardinal of the Church of the Lord of Storms. This was slightly insufficient for a new government, especially since the Church of Storms and the Church of Sea God weren't allies.

After hearing Little Sun's plea for help, the other members of the Tarot Club began to seriously consider what the City of Silver and Moon City residents could do.

Audrey thought for a moment and asked, "What are you best at?"

"Combat," Derrick replied without any hesitation.

Alger nodded slightly when he heard that.

"Although the world war has ended, law and order hasn't been restored in the colonies of the Southern Continent. It's still very chaotic there, and small-scale wars occur from time to time. You can try to form two to three mercenary teams and be hired by any faction."

Private military contractors... Klein gave an even more modern name to the suggestion.

"This is a good idea." Derrick's eyes lit up when he heard that.

Alger asked again, "Combat is a survival instinct. Other than this, do you still have anything you want to do?"

Derrick replied in embarrassment, "Many people wish to be chefs and brewers, as well as hope to work at candy factories..."

-x-X-x-

After hearing the City of Silver citizens' wishes, a thought suddenly surfaced in Klein's mind:

Why is everything related to food...

Alger thought for a moment and said to Derrick, "You can make people with such thoughts join the industry association in Bayam. Seek out suitable teachers through the association, and directly invite people with specialties in such fields to teach in the new City of Silver and provide generous salaries.

"Of course, the prerequisite is that you have to get the residents to grasp the language of the Rorsted Archipelago as soon as possible. On this basis, Loenese, ancient Feysac, and Dutanese have to be taught too."

After The Hanged Man finished speaking, The Hermit Cattleya gave her suggestion:

"Other than organizing the mercenary teams, you can also try to apply for civil jobs in the various cities of the Rorsted Archipelago to handle supernatural matters."

Although the Rorsted Archipelago government and the Church of the Sea God had obtained a batch of Beyonder characteristics and the corresponding potion formulas from the City of Silver and Moon City, they were unable to nurture enough Beyonders in a short period of time. Sequence 9 was relatively still alright. The chances of someone being selected for their good mental strength and physique to lose control from consuming the potion were actually very small. If one were to further advance, acting might not necessarily be successful, and it also required time.

Under such circumstances, as long as the residents of the City of Silver became members of the official faction, they wouldn't be worried about losing their jobs in the future.

Of course, the Rorsted Archipelago's government would definitely control the number of applicants. The City of Silver wouldn't be able to completely resolve everyone's employment problems using this route.

Klein agreed with Ma'am Hermit's suggestion. Furthermore, he believed that there was a need for him to give a revelation to Danitz, allowing the Rorsted Archipelago government and the Church of Sea God to increase the number of official Beyonders to a certain range.

This wasn't to help the City of Silver's residents and the majority of the deformed people in Moon City find jobs, but to deal with the impending apocalypse, the deeper corruption of the Outer Deities, and the gradually increasing frequency of supernatural incidents.

At that moment, Cattleya glanced at Miss Justice and continued speaking to Derrick.

"You should now have a large amount of liquid funds. You can try to invest in the mines, spice plantations, farms, and purchase fertile land and forests with rich produce. They're all very cheap now. Yes, although the Church of the Lord of Storms can still influence the archipelago, and although the new government promises to protect the local businesses, there are still a large number of people from Loen, Feysac, and Intis who lack confidence. They wish to cash out and return to their countries as soon as possible."

That Oracle named Danitz recently bought a spice plantation... Derrick recalled what he had heard before and immediately felt enlightened.

Cattleya's suggestion gave others inspiration. Audrey immediately added, "When negotiating, it's best if you invite some professional lawyers. If not, you'll be fooled easily. Well, if you think there's a need, you can bring along a Psyche Analyst from the city.

"Also, you have a medium-sized port that can develop the corresponding economy...

"While the official Beyonders of the Rorsted Archipelago's government and the Church of the Sea God are lacking in generation knowledge, you can set paid classes designed for outsiders in the New City of Silver's Savant schools. Well, remove the knowledge that will easily clash with the orthodox Church...

"The railway connecting the new City of Silver and other cities must be built as soon as possible..."

Derrick was taken aback when he heard that. He hurriedly raised his hand and said, "Sorry, I need to memorize what was just said."

I forgot that he has no foundation in economics... Audrey reflected on herself, closed her mouth, and smiled as she signaled for Little Sun to seek help from Mr. Fool.

After Derrick conjured a pen and paper and wrote down the previous suggestions, Audrey, Emlyn, The Star Leonard, and the other members of the Tarot Club offered their ideas one after another. They also rebutted the suggestions that weren't mature or pragmatic enough.

This intense scene lasted for nearly half an hour before ending. Derrick looked at the adequately thick pieces of paper in front of him and couldn't help but smile.

He seemed to have seen the beautiful future of the City of Silver.

Sitting at the end of the long, mottled table, The Fool Klein sighed for some baffling reason as his heart felt a lot heavier.

If one didn't consider how the apocalypse was about a decade away, the discussion would've been pleasing regarding the promising future that awaited the City of Silver.

However, the arrival of the apocalypse wouldn't change because of the will of humans. Even saints and angels couldn't do it.

Looking away from the paper in front of him, Derrick deliberated and said, "We have already built the temple and cathedral meant for Mr. Fool. We wish to proselytize to various cities in the archipelago. What do we need to pay attention to?"

Alger frowned slightly and said, "Have you written a Holy Bible? Have you designed the Order of Mass and prayer details?"

"Yes." Derrick nodded heavily.

That was based on his knowledge of the miracles Mr. Fool had shown, combined with the religious scriptures left behind by the Creator. Furthermore, the City of Silver had also prayed to The Fool seeking "His" thoughts on the matter, "His" attitude was a tacit agreement.

"Has the internal system of the Church been set up?" Alger continued asking.

Derrick subconsciously looked at Mr. Fool, who was shrouded in layers of grayish-white fog, and turned around.

"Currently, it's following the internal system of the other Churches. The Chief of our six-member council will hold the role of archbishop, and a number of enthusiastic citizens have been appointed as bishops and priests."

The City of Silver didn't set up an organization to deal with Beyonder matters within the Church, since most of them were Beyonders, and there were already the corresponding organizations in place previously.

Alger saw that Mr. Fool didn't object nor agree. He controlled his desire to teach and nodded slightly.

"You can try that out first."

He paused for a moment before saying, "However, there are two things to take note of. First, don't badmouth the other Churches, lest there be conflict. Second, it's to respect the current Oracle. In the absence of a leader appointed by Mr. Fool, the Oracle is the representative of a deity."

Third, don't engage in religious harassment during proselytizing... Besides, I have serious doubts about the eloquence of the bishops and priests of the City of Silver. I'll need to get Danitz to find professionals to train them... The Fool Klein, who was listening quietly, muttered inwardly.

He didn't express his opinion on the Holy Bible written by the City of Silver, because it was a little awkward, but if he objected to certain descriptions, it would also damage The Fool's image.

With this in mind, Klein couldn't help but lampoon.

Perhaps one day, when Will Auceptin reads the Holy Bible of the Church of The Fool, he would blurt out in surprise: When did I become an angel under The Fool?

Then, Leonard's grandpa, the awakened Mr. Azik, and Miss Messenger, who has been trying hard to recover, will add, "What? Me too?"

After the conversation regarding the City of Silver and Moon City came to an end, Cattleya looked around in anticipation and said, "Which of you has a Sequence 3 Beyonder characteristic of the Mystery Pryer pathway?"

She had already digested the Mysticologist potion for quite some time, but she had only obtained the potion formula from the Moses Ascetic Order. She was still far from obtaining the Beyonder characteristic or the main ingredients.

Although she was one of the ten key members of the Moses Ascetic Order, the corresponding resources became more valuable the higher the Sequence. Even an ancient organization wouldn't squander them freely. Furthermore, Cattleya came from the Dawn and was less affected by the Hidden Sage, so she wasn't that trusted in the Moses Ascetic Order.

To Cattleya, who had already digested the potion a long time ago using the Snake of Fate's blood to advance to a Mysticologist, Sequence 3 should've been a relatively easier stage. However, she was bottlenecked by the ingredients. It might not even be possible for her to obtain one for years or even more than a decade.

Hence, she had no choice but to seek help at the Tarot Club.

Derrick recalled the demigod characteristics that the City of Silver had and slowly shook his head.

At that moment, The World Gehrman Sparrow said with a hoarse chuckle, "I suggest you ask Queen Mystic directly."

Bernadette had already become a Sequence 2 angel. If she had an additional Clairvoyant Beyonder characteristic in her, she could attempt to separate it.

Of course, Klein couldn't be certain that the Sage potion that Queen Mystic consumed contained the previous Sequence 3 and Sequence 4 characteristics.

Ask the Queen? Cattleya got some clues from The World's answer and suspected that something had happened to the Queen.

"Okay." She controlled the urge to ask.

Klein continued controlling The World and said to Ma'am Hermit, "I have a long-term mission: Help me collect information regarding the Hidden Sage's sudden coming back to life.

"You can raise the corresponding remuneration now. Or you can wait until there's a need in the future."

Klein was still puzzled over this matter. Although it could be described as a Uniqueness suddenly coming to life, it should've happened a long time ago if it was possible.

Cattleya thought for a moment and said, "That wouldn't be an issue."

After another round of exchanges, the Tarot Gathering ended and the members returned to the real world.

In the captain's cabin of the Future, Cattleya nudged the heavy glasses on her nose bridge and thought about how to write the letter to the Queen.

During this process, she strolled to the window and saw Frank Lee promoting the alcohol-free volcano beer brewed by sea microorganisms to the crew.

He really has the drive... Just as Cattleya sighed, she suddenly frowned.

At the Tarot Club just now, Mr. Fool mentioned that the Planter and The Moon are two rather special pathways. They come from the cosmos, and they are prone to corruption. The divine epiphanies they receive are questionable.

Frank is a Beyonder of the Planter pathway...

Besides, he once complained that the Church of Earth Mother didn't understand the true will of the merciful mother... Cattleya's eyes that were blocked by the heavy lens narrowed slightly.

-x-X-x-

After staring at the deck below, Cattleya left the captain's cabin and walked to the cabin's entrance. She waited until Frank Lee carried a bucket of alcohol-free beer over.

"Captain, do you want a cup?" Frank raised the large bucket of beer with one hand.

Cattleya shook her head firmly and asked in a seemingly casual manner, "Is this the will of the benevolent mother?"

"No," Frank said rather seriously. "I just feel that drinking liquor that has been altered by a modified sedative isn't good for the body. I hope that they'll be able to accept this drink that has no alcohol inside, other than the smell of alcohol. Of course, this is only a preliminary result and it doesn't involve liquor. After all, it can't use distillation to enhance its taste."

Cattleya was momentarily at a loss for words as she nudged the heavy glasses on her nose bridge. After two seconds of silence, she said, "Do you hear the benevolent mother's voice or divine epiphanies?"

"No." Frank didn't think much of it as he shook his head.

Phew... Cattleya secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

At that moment, Frank casually added, "The benevolent mother's will is in the ears of the wheat, in the milk of cows, in the growth of mushrooms, and in every corner of nature. One can feel it without the need to experience the divine epiphany."

Cattleya's gaze immediately shot towards Frank's eyes. She didn't find any signs of madness, only pureness.

Without another word, she nodded slightly and walked forward. She crossed Frank Lee and arrived on the deck.

After taking in the sea's vista for a few minutes, Cattleya returned to the captain's cabin. She unfolded a letter and wrote:

"I wonder what's your take regarding Frank's actions? He claims that he doesn't obtain any divine epiphanies, and believes that the benevolent mother's will is hidden in every nook and cranny of nature."

This was a letter to Gehrman Sparrow. Cattleya believed that just by adding such a question, he would be able to understand what she was implying.

After folding the letter, she took out a gold coin and began to summon the terrifying messenger.

...

Ma'am Hermit wrote me a letter immediately after the Tarot Gathering ended... It shouldn't be related to the Hidden Sage. It can't be that fast... Klein was on a cruise ship, traveling on the Tussock River.

Wearing a black robe, he took the letter from Miss Messenger's mouth and opened it. He finished reading all the content with a glance.

This... Klein frowned slightly.

Perhaps it was because Frank had shown enough danger and "madness" in his usual behavior that he had actually neglected the possibility of this Druid being affected by the Mother Goddess of Depravity.

Frank had once been placed on trial by the Church of Earth Mother for a forbidden experiment, and then he was placed on a wanted list... If Earth Mother hadn't been corrupted, and the Church of Earth's operations were rather normal, then it means that they believe that Frank is problematic... However, if there's concrete evidence, Frank, who went to the court, probably wouldn't have lived... Klein's mind raced as he attempted to find clues based on his understanding of Frank.

There's no problem with the relevant actions. The prayer posture and his usual prayer gestures are different. It's just like how when the Beyonders of the Church of Evernight pray, they won't draw four stars on their chests at times. At most, they'll just go through the final motions...

Apart from this small problem, there's something wrong with Frank in every aspect. He's like a child raised by the Mother Goddess of Depravity... As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Klein had two contradictory guesses.

Either Frank's corruption was very hidden, making it impossible for the Church of Earth Mother's tribunal to be certain, or he wasn't affected by the Mother Goddess of Depravity at all. It was purely because he had a mental problem that made him look like a Blessed of an evil god.

Regardless of which guess it was, Klein believed that the subsequent development wouldn't be good.

He remembered very clearly that Frank's mushroom experiment had a breakthrough because he had been given an assistant who believed in the Primordial Moon. And the Primordial Moon was one of the manifestations of the Mother Goddess of Depravity.

That also meant that from that moment forth, regardless of whether Frank had any problems in the past, he could very well have entered the eyes of the Mother Goddess of Depravity.

This wasn't a good thing.

Of course, I can't eliminate the possibility that Frank is excessively crazy, causing the Mother Goddess of Depravity to just look away... Klein mumbled in amusement, hoping to make the best out of it.

This was nearly impossible. The horror and strength of a foreign god wasn't something a demigod could understand.

Klein even suspected that if it wasn't for the overly intense response that would destroy the anchors of the deities, allowing "Them" to attack each other in a frenzy, resulting in the Beyonder characteristics to gather and awaken the Oldest One, the Outer Deities might've already destroyed the sun and destroyed the ecosystem of the world. They weren't able to do anything to the Oldest One's barrier, but they were free to do anything to the star outside the barrier.

Sometimes, Klein wondered if the astronomically observed sun was real or not. Perhaps it was just the Eternal Blazing Sun that hung "Himself" there.

So far, there shouldn't be any major problems with the mushrooms that Frank invented. I've already dealt with them above the gray fog... Furthermore, the residents of the City of Silver and Moon City didn't show any abnormalities. Yes, after they left the Forsaken Land of the Gods, they abandoned farming mushrooms because they lacked monster corpses and had sufficient food... The more Klein thought about it, the more fearful he felt towards it.

If it wasn't for the fact that the Mother Goddess of Depravity's powers that could penetrate the original barrier was still extremely limited, Klein suspected that the Cards of Blasphemy and mushrooms would've left him corrupted. Sefirah Castle would have unknowingly changed owners.

These were things that had been placed above the gray fog for a long time and didn't undergo any special sealing.

Compared to the flamboyant Mother Tree of Desire, the usually low-key Mother Goddess of Depravity was far more terrifying!

Mr. Door and the Emperor were silently corrupted by "Her."

As expected of an existence that stands atop the Outer Deities despite losing two Beyonder pathways and a sefirah... Klein sighed inwardly. He took out a pen and paper and prepared to write a reply to Cattleya.

At that moment, he realized that Miss Messenger had been waiting by his side the entire time without returning to the spirit world. The eight eyes of the four heads stared at him unblinkingly.

"What do you think of Frank?" Klein hesitated before asking, "I mean, other than his nickname."

The four heads in Reinette Tinekerr's hand spoke one after another:

"He only..." "Appears like..." "An adopted son of..." "An Outer Deity..."

In other words, Frank wasn't affected by the Mother Goddess of Depravity previously. He was simply crazy... Klein heaved a long sigh of relief.

He then asked, "What about now?"

As Frank Lee summoned Reinette Tinekerr every time he wrote a letter to Gehrman Sparrow, Klein believed that Miss Messenger, who had a very high status, had a relatively clear and accurate grasp of the state of the Mushroom King.

"I..." "Don't..." "Know..." "Either..." Reinette Tinekerr's four heads answered one after another.

Following that, "She" added, "His body..." "Temporarily..." "Hasn't been..." "Corrupted..."

Does that mean that you can't tell if his psyche is affected? That's right, other than his low level, Frank's usual actions resemble more of an evil god than me... Klein lampooned as he took out a gold coin and flicked it.

With this medium, he quickly entered a dream divination state.

At the same time, he was prepared to activate Sefirah Castle to cut off the Outer Deities from watching.

Scenes flashed past as Klein saw several futures.

Yes, the greatest threat right now is that Primordial Moon believer. I have to separate him from Frank, or things will become extremely troublesome and dangerous... If Frank doesn't come into contact with anything related to the Mother Goddess of Depravity in the future and doesn't advance to a demigod, there shouldn't be any problems... If only one of these two conditions is satisfied, the chance of an accident happening will increase greatly. If both are satisfied at the same time, I can't see the developments at all... Klein snapped awake as he interpreted the results of the divination.

Perhaps because Frank's level was too low, and he wasn't too affected by it, Klein's divination happened smoothly without encountering any danger.

Phew... He silently exhaled and caught the gold coin.

Then, he realized that Miss Messenger's eight red eyes were focused on the gold coin in his palm.

Klein twitched his eyebrows, expressing his doubts.

"It..." "Has..." Sefirah Castle's..." "Aura..." Reinette Tinekerr's four blonde, red-eyed heads shook up and down.

This is one of the five gold coins I often use for divination. It has already been tainted by the aura of Sefirah Castle? This way, it can be considered a mystical item to a certain extent. However, the effect will be drained over time... Klein carefully looked at the gold coin in his hand and made a rough judgment based on his spiritual intuition.

This gold coin could increase the accuracy of divination and enhance a user's ability to resist any interference.

To Klein, this was a pleasant surprise. He decided to use the actual gold coin rather than its historical projection.

Retrieving the gold coin, Klein wrote a reply to Ma'am Hermit and handed it to her through Reinette Tinekerr.

...

After giving Gehrman Sparrow's messenger another gold coin, Cattleya unfolded the letter and quickly scanned it.

After reading it, she felt her shoulders weigh down a little.

Without any delay, Cattleya took out another piece of paper and wrote:

"Your Majesty,

"I dreamed of you finding that primitive island and successfully returning...

"The situation of that descendant of the Emperor is getting worse. If he continues staying on the Future, I suspect he'll go crazy. If you don't mind, I want to send him over to you."

"What we need to take note of is that, although he claims to no longer believe in the Primordial Moon, no one has ever confirmed that.

"...

"My greatest worry now is that it's difficult to obtain the main ingredient of a Clairvoyant... If you have returned, I wish to find a time to return the Magic Wishing Lamp to you..."

-x-X-x-

City of Generosity, Bayam, in a rented apartment lit up with gas lamps.

Verdu Abraham, who was wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, held a thick stack of information. He was reading seriously under the dim light, drawing a symbol and recording what he deemed useful information from time to time.

He left Loen and came to the Rorsted Archipelago mainly to avoid being watched by Dorian and his other family members, and focus on studying mysticism. He wanted to find an effective way to save Ancestor Bethel Abraham, or rather, reduce the difficulty of the known ritual.

However, he hadn't made any headway after half a year. It was as though he had no other choice other than hunting a Bizarro Sorcerer, a Parasite, and a Secrets Sorcerer.

This made Verdu rather depressed, but he was clear about how dangerous a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact was. Even if he was willing to sacrifice himself, he was unable to truly control it. He was unable to guarantee the final outcome.

And the most important thing was that he couldn't find any Bizarro Sorcerers or Parasites. They were all saints that were hard to track, with styles that were known for being strange and bizarre.

Phew... Verdu put down the stack of documents in his hand and muttered silently, Don't tell me I can only place my hopes on The Fool like Dorian and the others?

Upon thinking of The Fool, Verdu couldn't help but frown. This was because there were more and more half-giants promoting The Fool's faith in Bayam City, so much so that even he, who rarely went out, heard of it.

This made him suspect if he had arrived near the headquarters of the Church of The Fool.

If it wasn't for the mysterious knowledge that was spread in secret in the Rorsted Archipelago was far beyond Verdu's expectations—many of them were things that the Abraham family didn't know of, and were extremely useful—he would've left Bayam last month and headed for the Southern Continent.

I can't stay here any longer. I need to buy ship tickets to East Balam as soon as possible... Just as Verdu made a decision, he began to waver. Dorian and The Fool probably wouldn't expect me to hide in the area that's under their headquarters' jurisdiction. Emperor Roselle once said that the most dangerous place is the safest place...

After some hesitation, Verdu put down the documents and switched off the lights. With the moonlight from the window, he walked towards the bedroom.

At the corner of the balcony in his room, a figure suddenly jumped out of the darkness and jumped over the railings.

The figure was like a feather, light and weightless. It landed from a height ten meters above the ground, without making a single sound.

Right on the heels of that, the figure moved through the shadows to the vicinity of the Church of the Sea God and went up the bell tower.

Then, "he" took out a pen and paper and wrote the report on tonight's surveillance before stuffing it into a crack.

After the figure left, a howling wind suddenly sounded above the bell tower about fifteen minutes later.

The report was pulled out from the crack by an invisible hand. As it swept through the wind, it rose and fell into the distance like a bat spreading its wings in the dark night.

Not long after, the report plummeted like it had been bound to a rock, landing on a hand that extended out in a hidden corner of the garden.

This hand belonged to the cardinal of the Church of Storms, Alger Wilson.

He then unfolded the report and began to read it in the darkness. He was completely unaffected by the lack of light.

Even in the dark sea, Alger could see everything around him clearly.

Verdu is becoming more resolute in his intention of leaving Bayam... Alger nodded indiscernibly as he came to a conclusion.

Over the past half a year, he had been monitoring this member of the Abraham family according to Mr. Fool's instructions, but he hadn't noticed anything abnormal about him.

After Verdu left the Rorsted Archipelago, his mission would be completed.

However, Alger didn't wish for it to end just like that. He believed that he hadn't made enough contributions. All he did was simply monitor a Sequence 7 Beyonder without any special characteristics.

The Hermit had already obtained a Sequence 3 Beyonder characteristic from Queen Mystic, and had gathered the corresponding supplementary ingredients and was busy preparing the ritual. This made Alger deeply stressed. Of course, he had also done many things according to Mr. Fool's intentions, but even he felt that there was a huge difference from doing those tasks, with the identity, status, and strength of Sea God.

For a moment, Alger wanted to use all sorts of methods to force Verdu Abraham to expose himself, but in the end, he gave up on the idea. This was because he couldn't be sure of Mr. Fool's attitude towards the target.

Previously, when the City of Silver and Moon City sold Beyonder characteristics and potion formulas, Alger had purchased some from the Tarot Club. He had used it to secretly nurture a team of Beyonders who were loyal to him. This was how he had people monitoring Verdu.

Currently, this less-than-ten-member team was mostly at Sequence 9, while only a small number of them had been promoted to Sequence 8.

As for where Alger had obtained the money for purchasing Beyonder characteristics and potion formulas, the answer was very simple:

As a cardinal of the Church diocese, Alger could easily "save" a sum of money for himself. And during that period of time, the minerals, farms, spice plantations, and factories in the Rorsted Archipelago were sold at below intrinsic value. As long as one had the funds to buy them, they could earn a lot after a short period of time.

More importantly, the Church of Storms's headquarters was quite interested in the Beyonder characteristics and potion formulas sold by the City of Silver and Moon City. They provided a large sum of money for their purchase. The go-between was without a doubt the cardinal of the Rorsted diocese, Alger Wilson. It was understandable that some losses were inevitable during such situations.

Reining in his thoughts, Alger decided to sell some mysticism knowledge in Bayam's Beyonder circles through his Shadow Guards. He wanted to bait Verdu Abraham and keep him in the vicinity for as long as possible.

The main reason is that the City of Silver's preaching has frightened that gentleman... Alger shook his head and muttered inwardly.

He then destroyed the report in his hand and walked back into the cathedral.

...

The sky had just lit up, and a young man walked out of the hotel, leisurely enjoying the scenery of Bayam's morning.

He had just bought the "Teana" beverage that was packaged with the fruit's shell when he suddenly felt a huge shadow appear beside him.

The youth turned his head and looked up bit by bit only to find a 2.5-meter-tall half-giant walking over.

"Excuse me sir, do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior, Mr. Fool." The half-giant bent his back and tried his best to make his smile appear amiable.

The youth drank a mouthful of Teana and pointed to the side. He smiled and nodded.

"Sure, but not here."

He then walked to a place where they wouldn't be in the way. The seemingly oppressive half-giant followed warmly.

"Go ahead." The youth didn't hide his curiosity at all.

The muscular half-giant's expression turned solemn.

"My Lord claims to be The Fool. In the past, the present, and also in the future, 'He' is the great ruler who dominates the spirit world. 'He' is also the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck. 'He' is also the landmark when every living being seeks eternal life.

"My Lord lives above the real world and the spirit world. 'His' benevolence spreads across Heaven and the land. There are a total of six angels under 'Him'...

"The Angel of Mercury is the embodiment of fate, my Lord's most cherished angel. The Angel of Death has followed my Lord for the longest period of time and is the consul of the Underworld. The Angel of Redemption is my Lord's bugle, the messenger of 'His' revelations. The Angel of Life is the crystallization of wisdom itself. 'She' is the indestructible spirituality that resides in everyone's body."

Upon hearing that, the youth laughed.

"Your Lord is really impressive. He actually has so many angels to serve him."

"Not only that," the half-giant replied gently. "There's also the Angel of Retribution beside the Lord's throne. 'He' is the Lord's lightning, the Lord's rage, and the Lord's palm. It's all the judge of the fallen and the ones who aren't chaste.

"In contrast to the Angel of Retribution is the Angel of Time, "He" is a 'king' of ancient times. "He" eventually submitted to my Lord and now strikes the bell of Heaven."

"Impressive, impressive." The youth sincerely sighed.

Upon hearing such a response, the half-giant couldn't help but smile. Then, he described the various miracles that Mr. Fool had performed as succinctly as possible. Finally, he said, "It's already been fifteen minutes. I won't waste your time. If you're interested, you can go to The Fool's cathedral on 16th Phillips Street. This is the biggest cathedral in Bayam City. Heh heh, the rest are still in planning."

The young man nodded.

"I'll pay a visit if I'm free."

After watching the half-giant turn and leave, the youth took out a crystal monocle from his pocket and wore it on his right eye.

...

The half-giant walked straight back to a restaurant and changed into a chef's attire.

"Baldur, you went proselytizing again?" the restaurant owner asked with a smile.

When the industry association recommended this half-giant to learn culinary skills from his restaurant, he had been rather reluctant. He always felt that the other party could kill him with just a swing of his arm, and he didn't seem like someone with any culinary talent.

However, he was now very pleased with Baldur. Not only was he humble, obedient, and willing to take hardship, he had quite the intimidating demeanor. This scared off the gangsters who had placed their sights on the restaurant.

The only problem was that he would go out every morning to proselytize The Fool.

Of course, the restaurant owner couldn't say anything since it wasn't working hours, so he didn't mind.

Baldur smiled honestly and walked into the kitchen. He said to his good friend, Bonn, who had come from Moon City to seek refuge with him.

"I can teach you how to roast fish today."

Bonn looked rather normal, but his eyes appeared awkward with one looking up and the other looking down. He was one of the citizens from Moon City who wasn't very deformed, and he had the courage to interact with the people outside. He nodded.

"I have to pray in a moment. Mr. Fool sent a revelation to get all the residents of Moon City to pray to 'Him' at nine in the morning. We are to wish that we are no longer deformed."

-x-X-x-

Regarding the matter of praying to Mr. Fool, Baldur raised both hands and feet in agreement. He didn't have any intention of pressing Bonn.

He prayed for more than a minute after waking up in the morning and before sleeping at night. He would thank Mr. Fool for bringing the pure sunlight, delicious food, and a life of no despair.

"Alright, I'll prepare the ingredients for today first." Baldur smiled as he nodded at Bonn.

A few minutes later, he brought many bags of ingredients into the kitchen, as if he was carrying a few rolls of curtains.

At this moment, Bonn found a chair and sat down. He sincerely prayed to Mr. Fool.

"The great ruler who controls the spirit world, The Fool that doesn't belong to this era, I wish to be blessed by you. I hope that you can fulfill my wish of escaping from my deformity..."

In the cathedral on Philips Street, in several areas in Bayam, in the New City of Silver, and the New Moon City that was located in a forest, prayers echoed softly simultaneously.

The extremely self-conscious Xin, Rus, and company vaguely guessed that Mr. Fool was planning on granting such a wish. As they prayed, their bodies trembled, unable to control themselves.

They yearned to be like normal people.

They were also looking forward to the bustling and lively Bayam. They yearned for the grilled fish made from a secret recipe, the candy factories, and delicacies from all over the world. They yearned for a life to drink, chat, sing, and dance.

In the ancient palace above the gray fog, The Fool Klein, who was sitting at the end of the long bronze table, saw bits of pure light light up one after another, forming a majestic sea of stars in front of him.

The prayers overlapped and echoed inside Sefirah Castle as ripples appeared.

Klein closed his eyes and took it in for a few seconds. He raised his right hand and bent his middle finger, rapping the edge of the long mottled table.

An invisible force spread out like waves on the surface of water. It surged into every prayer point of light and landed on the residents of Moon City.

Xin suddenly felt something and raised her hand to touch the middle of her face.

The next second, she felt her nose.

Almost instinctively, Xin stroked that position several times from top to bottom before she believed she had grown a nose and was no longer deformed.

She instantly closed her eyes, bent down, and pressed her forehead to the ground. She couldn't help but praise Mr. Fool.

The praises around her grew louder and louder, becoming more and more uniform.

Rus's eyes separated; Bonn's eyes became symmetrical; and in Moon City, every deformed person, or those who were ugly because of the traits they inherited, had broken through their original restrictions and their bodies were transforming towards a state of normalcy.

At this moment, be it in New Moon City, the New City of Silver, or Bayam, they heard the bell of the cathedral ring.

Gong!

The ethereal gong of the bell reverberated in the hearts of everyone in Moon City. It rang in the ears of every person who heard it, as though it could cleanse their souls and bring them the most genuine feelings towards life.

The tears that Xin, Rus, and company held back finally flowed out. They felt their minds and bodies turn tranquil, no longer having a speck of dust tainting them.

They subconsciously raised their heads and cast their gaze towards the source of the gong. They discovered that it came from beyond New Moon City, an unknown distance away from where they were.

A miracle... A thought suddenly popped into the minds of the Moon City citizens.

In the new City of Silver that was connected to them, Waite Chirmont and company cast their gazes into the distance and cast their gaze towards Bayam.

The gong came from there.

"Praise Mr. Fool!" They mumbled at the same time as they pressed their right palm to their left chest.

In Bayam City, Bonn adjusted his postures with Baldur who had tears streaming down his face. They faced Philips Street and towards the cathedral that belonged to Mr. Fool. They listened attentively and gratefully to the holy chimes from Heaven.

However, above the gray fog, The Fool Klein was somewhat astonished and confused.

The sudden chiming of the bells wasn't within his plans.

He then turned his gaze to The Fool's cathedral at 16 Phillips Street.

Almost at the same time, he used the prayer lights to see the tall bell tower that was attached to the cathedral. He saw a young man wearing a pointed hat and a classic black robe standing at the top of the bell tower.

This youth was holding a black bell hammer and was striking the bell repeatedly.

As if sensing the gaze from above, the youth stopped. He lifted his head slightly and adjusted the crystal monocle on his right eye.

At the same time, his smile widened.

"..." Klein nearly cursed.

At this moment, his eyes glazed over almost in an unconcealed manner. He didn't understand why Angel of Time Amon would suddenly appear and seriously strike the bell of his cathedral.

Klein was actually mentally prepared for Amon's and Zaratul's possible arrival. This was because there were just too many people in the City of Silver and Moon City. There was no way they could secretly integrate with the outside world.

In other words, the City of Silver and Moon City would definitely be known to the various Churches and secret organizations. Under such circumstances, be it public or private proselytizing, it wouldn't affect any future development. Therefore, Klein silently agreed to the City of Silver's attempts to proselytize the faith of The Fool. This was preparation for him to have more anchors for his advancement to Sequence 1.

Due to this premise, he was prepared for Zaratul, Amon, and other hidden enemies to come to Bayam. He even hoped that they would do so.

Here, Klein, who had the status and level of a King of Angels in Sefirah Castle, was able to fully display his home ground advantage. As for the City of Silver, it also had Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts. It could completely resist Amon and take down Zaratul.

Compared to his main body suddenly encountering a prepared enemy elsewhere, or the discovery of his marionette city, this was undoubtedly a better choice.

However, Amon's current actions confused Klein. He didn't understand what the God of Deceit wanted to achieve.

...

16 Phillips Street, inside The Fool's cathedral.

The archbishop-on-duty, the City of Silver's six-member council's Elder, Derrick Berg, also looked up in astonishment at the stained glass.

Rays of sunlight shone inside, allowing Derrick to read one scene after another.

As the black bell hammer fell, the tremors of the bell gradually stopped.

I didn't arrange for someone to strike the bell... Derrick frowned.

As a member of the City of Silver, as a demigod in the Sun domain, he had a sharp intuition and knew that something must've gone wrong.

However, the strange ringing of the bell didn't bring any accidents. Besides the ringing, everything seemed normal.

As Derrick observed the surroundings with the help of his Unshadowed Beyonder powers, he quickly considered whether the bell had any symbolic significance in mysticism.

After eliminating the possibilities, he suddenly recalled the Holy Bible of The Fool made up by the City of Silver.

There was content related to the striking of bells!

It was used to describe the relationship between Angel of Time Amon and Mr. Fool to confirm "His" true status.

Towards that sentence, Derrick was still against it because he knew that Blasphemer Amon wasn't Mr. Fool's Blessed. Their relationship wasn't even harmonious, and was actually hostile.

However, the lies he made previously had convinced the other members of the City of Silver's six-member council. They believed that Angel of Time Amon was the first entity appointed by Mr. Fool to cast down the light for the people of the Forsaken Land of the Gods. It was because "He" had Parasitized Derrick, which had resulted in the subsequent changes, all the way until hope descended.

Derrick had wanted to explain, but he was embarrassed. That would only bring up too many lies, making him lose his image with the other Elders of the six-member council and citizens of the City of Silver. It was just like Miss Justice had said before, a social death.

Finally, he chose to delay any actions, hoping that Mr. Fool would take a look at the Holy Bible. If there was anything inappropriate with the descriptions, "He" would definitely send a divine revelation to change the views.

To his surprise, Mr. Fool didn't say anything and silently agreed with the contents of the Holy Bible.

Could it be that Amon is striking the bell? Derrick was momentarily dazed as he found it too unbelievable.

He hurriedly lowered his head and began praying, reporting this matter to Mr. Fool.

...

Above the gray fog, inside Sefirah Castle.

Before Klein could eliminate Amon, the other party suddenly turned transparent and transformed into a beam of light before vanishing from the bell tower.

What does this fellow want? If "His" father is the Emperor and not the ancient sun god, then I can reasonably suspect that "He" is striking a death knell for me... As Klein checked if there were any Amons lurking in the bodies of the City of Silver and Moon City citizens, he analyzed Amon's motives without any clue in mind.

Just as he was about to use divination to seek clues, Derrick completed his prayer.

...Holy Bible, Holy Bible? The corners of Klein's mouth twitched as he summoned from the junk pile the Holy Bible that the City of Silver had sacrificed to him.

Previously, he had only flipped through a few pages, but he was too embarrassed to continue reading it. He took on a position of burying his head in the sand.

Of course, he wasn't careless in this aspect. He was still extremely cautious. He used divination inside Sefirah Castle to confirm that the Holy Bible wouldn't bring him any harm.

With this premise, he allowed the City of Silver to use this Holy Bible.

He slowly took a deep breath and reached out his right hand. He flipped the scriptures page by page.

His facial muscles began to twitch, and the corner of his lips uncontrollably parted.

Klein flipped faster and faster. Finally, he saw the last page.

Pa!

Klein suddenly closed the book and threw it back onto the junk pile.

After this miracle in Moon City, yes, the potion has mostly been digested. The marionette city will have to step onto the stage of history... Klein observed his condition without expression and nodded indiscernibly.

Ever since he had gained preliminary control of Sefirah Castle, he could receive digestion feedback from the real world.

-x-X-x-

As for the marionette town, Klein had been thinking about how to build it a long time ago. He had already come up with three plans:

If he eliminated any interference from external factors, his best choice would be somewhere in a certain country of the Northern Continent. He would allow his marionette town to rise up overnight. Furthermore, he would connect it to the surrounding cities through railways, rivers, and roads.

This way, the marionette town would have large numbers of outsiders arriving on a daily basis, and it would create a very strong interaction with the surrounding areas. On the one hand, a town without a city nearby would definitely purchase grain, salt, cloth, ores, sugar, and other daily necessities. On the other hand, it would also produce its own products, which could be sold to neighboring cities, towns, and villages. Under such a situation, merchants, workers, tourists, and other groups would go back and forth frequently. At the same time, they would interact more with the marionette town's residents.

Under the influence of all kinds of interactions between the parties, it wouldn't be long before the town of marionettes could produce a corresponding region in the spirit world. Once the lives of the residents became more detailed and real, Klein could consume the potion to advance to Sequence 1 Attendant of Mysteries.

This would take less than three months.

But the problem was that this approach couldn't be kept confidential.

In the present era, to have a town suddenly pop up was something that couldn't be hidden from people. Soon, there would be civil servants, the police, and reporters coming to investigate. And after that, the interactions between the parties would also make more and more people know and understand the city. This was a problem that couldn't be resolved through illusions unless the town of marionettes didn't interact with the surrounding cities, towns, and villages and had relatively minor interactions. However, that wouldn't meet the requirements of the ritual.

When news of the marionette town spread, Klein would undoubtedly be targeted by Zaratul, Amon's true body, and his other enemies. When the time came, the destruction caused by others would definitely be easier than him protecting it. He could only migrate his marionette town elsewhere. This would cause the interactions generated in the early stages to be for naught, just like what the Dark Demonic Wolf had experienced.

Therefore, Klein had only listed down such a plan, so he basically wouldn't choose it. Unless a certain Visionary was willing to provide help, making all the living beings in the Northern and Southern Continents naturally believe that there was indeed a town there, one that hadn't suddenly appeared.

Considering the influence of various external factors and his Beyonder powers, Klein's best choice was to establish the town on an uninhabited island that deviated from the safe sea route and was sufficiently well-hidden. He would then use Sefirah Castle to give it anti-divination and anti-prophecy properties.

At the same time, Klein would use the "curtain" to "Graft" some roads, rivers, and railways to somewhere outside the marionette town, making it a stop for random groups of people during their journeys.

This couldn't be kept completely confidential, but once the "strange phenomenon" spread and attracted Zaratul's and Amon's attention, Klein could easily remove the original "Grafting" randomly and switch the "entrance."

Under such a strategy, the movement was limited to the entrance, not the marionette town itself. The effects of various interactions in the spirit world could be preserved without being interrupted. The ritual could steadily proceed as planned.

Of course, there was a big problem with this plan. It was that the interaction would be limited and couldn't influence matters at a daily level in all its aspects. In addition, the frequency and intensity of the interaction wouldn't be too high.

If he chose this plan, it meant that Klein had to spend more than half a year or even a year on the ritual.

If he wanted to be safe, forcing every marionette's fate to have a beginning and an end, the ritual would take at least fifty years. However, there was also a way to get around the limitations—once the rest of the ritual's requirements were met, he could deliver a meteorite strike, an earthquake, or a volcano eruption to the town, causing all the marionettes' fates to come to an end in the real world. It was something that happened in real life and was rather reasonable.

In this radical and conservative proposal, Klein had another solution.

It was to replicate a city and make the marionette correspond to the residents of the city and be mapped one-to-one. For evil Miracle Invokers, they could wipe out the original city and use their marionettes to replace its inhabitants. Those who had a kind heart would hide the city and ensure a supply of goods. The reason as to why one didn't convert the target city into marionettes was that it already had a corresponding region in the spirit world. Without being a newly born one, it didn't meet the requirements of the ritual.

With the "curtain" formed by the Attendant of Mysteries Beyonder characteristic, Klein could make a better choice: "Graft" a city at a particular stage to his marionette town.

This meant that his town of marionettes had become the dark side of the city. In the corresponding period of time, outsiders would encounter marionettes and not real people. Once that period of time passed, they would leave the town of marionettes and return to the real world to deal with real people.

During the process, Klein would send his marionettes to act as an outsider and maintain interactions with the corresponding real person, allowing the real outsiders to return to the real world without any gaps.

In other words, there were two different lives playing out in the same city at the same time, but no one could notice that. Occasionally, some people would think that some details weren't right, but would find it inexplicable and might just ignore it.

This was rather in line with the characteristic of an Attendant of Mysteries, and it had a certain level of concealment.

Of course, this plan also had its problem. It was to simulate the fate of a marionette to a very high level—almost as similar as a human's. Without its own independence, it would cause the ritual's effects to fail.

Klein tapped the edge of the long mottled table with his fingers and was in a dilemma over the second and third plan.

After a few minutes, he did as his heart willed—cowardice—and chose the second plan. He would rather spend more time than affect the fates of the innocent.

Back then, Zaratul and Antigonus likely chose the third plan... Klein sighed and prepared to return to the real world.

At this moment, he looked at the junk pile and considered whether he should send a revelation to change the descriptions in the City of Silver's Holy Bible.

To a deity, the Holy Bible wasn't anything too important. Its best use was for its convenience to spread its teachings and increase the number of anchors.

Klein had long come to a conclusion from The Revelation of Evernight, The Book of Storms, and the contents of the various orthodox Churches' Holy Bibles.

Most of the content elevated the orthodox deity, making random claims of grandeur and expressed mercy and pity.

In ancient times, the impression the believers had of the deities would indeed have a negative impact on the deities. But now, with the use of symbols instead of statues, this latent problem no longer existed. At the very least, the Evernight Goddess, the Lord of Storms, and other deities openly declared that they were parts of the Creator's original body. They weren't worried that it would exacerbate the awakening of the Oldest One.

In other words, if there really was a problem with this aspect, Klein believed that the Evernight Goddess would definitely have changed the corresponding description. "She" would've changed the description of being one of the eyes of the Creator to a child spawned by "Him." It too enjoyed a very high status.

At the same time, the believers' acknowledgment of certain matters wouldn't have any burden on the deities themselves in a mysticism sense. Otherwise, Amon would've secretly helped Klein, or rather, prepare a batch of believers for the former Sefirah Castle to lure them into forming the belief that the Angel of Time was the manifestation of the Lord of the Mysteries. With the aid of an instinctual response that met the requirements, "He" could establish enough connections with Sefirah Castle and open a "back door."

To a deity, the Holy Bible only had two important components other than for spreading the faith:

Firstly, it was a description of the authority and honorific name of the deities themselves. If there were any mistakes, it would lead to the prayers of the believers pointing to an unknown target. Not only would it be dangerous to the believers, but it would also cause the deities to lose their anchors. Secondly, any descriptions that involved the other Churches would easily attract conflict.

As for the angels and saints, the deities actually didn't pay them too much mind. The ones that cared were the angels and saints themselves because they needed to obtain a certain level of anchors through this.

Therefore, the Holy Bibles' descriptions of angels and saints were detailed enough. They had authority and honorific names, making it easier for different believers to choose and be immersed. In addition, this wasn't enough to form a stable anchor, because it was under the faith of a deity.

In order to resolve this problem, the orthodox Churches would define certain cathedrals to different guardian angels and guardian saints and clearly differentiate them.

Due to this knowledge, Klein didn't pay much attention to the Holy Bible. After he finished reading the description about his authority and honorific name, he stopped continuing out of embarrassment. He only used divination to confirm that the contents wouldn't result in a conflict with the orthodox Churches.

After some thought, he gave up the idea of directly sending the revelation to change the Holy Bible and decided to use a gentler method.

During the Tarot Club's exchange, he could use The World Gehrman Sparrow to guide The Sun into adjusting his understanding of the situation, turning the parts involving the Angel of Time to Pallez Zoroast, allowing the corresponding content to be fixed without causing any suspicion in the City of Silver.

...

Bayam, Verdu Abraham had obtained quite a bit of mysticism knowledge in a few Beyonder circles.

He lit up the gas wall lamp and carefully read it in the night.

Towards the end, he suddenly read a piece of news that he had never understood before:

Bansy Harbor is a place filled with mysticism powers. Its connection with the spirit world and the astral world is beyond imagination... Even with the Church of Storms directly destroying the harbor, it still can't completely eliminate the abnormality of its existence...

Many mysticism researchers are purchasing items related to Bansy at a high price...

Bansy... Verdu muttered to himself silently, suddenly having a strong interest in the harbor.

He began considering if he should buy some items from Bansy and do a thorough study of them. After all, the spirit world was related to "Teleportation." The astral world and the cosmos involved "Wandering," and might involve Mr. Door Bethel Abraham's method of escaping.

Perhaps, if I have the chance, I could go to Bansy to take a look... Verdu nodded indiscernibly.

-x-X-x-

The initial preparations for building a marionette town were rather boring and tedious. At the very least, Klein believed so.

In the ancient palace, Klein sat on the high-back chair belonging to The Fool, holding a fountain pen. There were ordinary pieces of paper with the name, age, and the fate of every marionette. As he made the Worms of Spirit emerge from his body, they formed avatars beside him.

Some Kleins sat on the ground, while others occupied the twenty-one seats other than The Fool's. Some conjured beds and lay on them...

Then, they summoned different books from the junk pile and started reading them seriously.

The books included but were not limited to:

"How to Brew Wine"

"Train Dispatching"

"Desert Making Compendium"

"A Clergyman Prepares"

"Gas Wall Lamps, Gas Meters, and All Kinds of Family Machinery Repair"

"DESI-licacy"

"Harbor Management"

"Foundations of Law"

"Ladies Aesthetic" magazines...

These were specialist knowledge that different marionettes needed to grasp. Only by doing so would they be able to act their roles well, allowing him to be realistic in every aspect. Even if they were to engage in a deep conversation with outsiders, they wouldn't expose any problems.

It wouldn't be difficult for Klein if he just needed to simply memorize the knowledge, but he had to truly grasp and apply it. Furthermore, he couldn't confuse his characters. He couldn't let a burly and strong switchman with a low income be talking about the wonders of a particular particular skincare product, or which silk cloth was flawed.

If such a situation were to happen in novels, plays, and operas, it might create a strange attraction, but putting it in the real world was clearly uncanny and not beneficial to the advancement of the ritual.

To avoid such a problem, Klein could only work harder in the early stages. He hoped that every character in a marionette town would be real, whole, and appropriate.

Fortunately, there weren't many people in a city who needed to deeply understand the corresponding specialist knowledge. Most of the residents were half-illiterate, or really illiterate. They relied on experience to live their lives that they repeated via motions. For these characters, the knowledge that Klein needed to grasp was relatively little, just like workers who had gone through simple training—or even without any training—to be sent to the assembly line.

After an unknown period of time, Klein put down his fountain pen and rubbed his temples, letting out a long sigh of relief.

He had finally written down the information about nearly five thousand residents in the marionette town, and his corresponding knowledge preparation was almost complete.

This is like a super large-scale movie directed by a director, and with me being the scriptwriter. Same for the lighting engineer, the makeup artist, and all the actors... For this ritual, I'm really on the verge of losing control. If I'm not careful, my personality will dissociate and I'll fall into the abyss of madness... Luckily, I have a professional psychologist...

Yes, I have to pay attention to a problem in the town's operations. Although I'm a gentleman with manners, most of the residents in town have low socioeconomic status. Be it speaking or acting, they're more inclined towards being vulgar... I can't make a mistake during the acting and become set back by my psychological barriers... Klein sighed silently as the avatars around him disintegrated into Worms of Spirit before he got them to burrow into his body.

Of course, this wasn't all. There was also one "Klein," who maintained his previous state, preparing to be on Sefirah Castle duty.

In the next second, Klein returned to the real world and took out Creeping Hunger from the Historical Void.

Then, he "Teleported" to an island that was located in the Berserk Sea but one that clearly deviated from the safe sea route.

This was the "stage" he had chosen before.

This place was isolated from the storms all year round. There were no signs of human activity, only a large forest and animals that lived off the forest.

Klein looked around and chose an open area. He pressed his right hand to his left chest and prayed sincerely, "I wish that there's a city suitable for five thousand people here."

Just as he said that, Klein raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, this open area became extremely flat. The surrounding forest also "receded" greatly, providing large amounts of wood, stones, and soil.

Almost at the same time, buildings rose up from the ground. They took form with stone and wood. The highest wasn't more than four stories high. The style was closer to the Loen Kingdom's Desi Bay.

In just the blink of an eye, residential buildings, a library, a police station, a telegraph office, a city hall, a small hospital, a candy factory, a water plant, a gas company, a steam locomotive station, parallel train tracks, and plantations outside the city took form. The streets were also paved with cement or stone bricks.

Towards the end, on the square in the middle of the town, a pointed-tip cathedral emerged from the ground and stood proudly.

This was a cathedral belonging to the Evernight Goddess, as it was in line with the background setting of the city.

"I hope this island has a deep-sea harbor." Klein didn't stop as he made a second wish.

Pa!

He snapped his fingers again, fulfilling his wish.

About three kilometers away from the town, a small-scale harbor quickly took shape. There were two docks, five warehouses, a port hotel, a simple restaurant, a police station branch, a bar, a lighthouse, and a naval base...

"I wish for the harbor and town to have convenient transportation." Klein made a third wish.

He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

A concrete road and a cargo rail instantly appeared between the town and the harbor.

According to Klein's plan, a portion of the harbor was prepared for visitors by sea. The town was mainly for outsiders from the Northern and Southern Continent.

As he looked at the empty city with admiration, Klein pressed his top hat and "Teleported" to the municipal square. He walked step by step into the cathedral named Saint Arianna Cathedral.

The cathedral's door was open, and it was dark inside.

After an unknown period of time, three figures appeared at the door. They were a 30-year-old gentleman in a formal suit with a tie, an ordinary-looking and gentle-looking woman, and a child who was dressed like an adult.

The woman took a few steps with difficulty before stretching her neck. Then, she smiled and reached out her hands to hold the gentleman's arm.

The gentleman had a faint smile on his face. As he allowed the lady to lean on him, he reached out his right hand and held the boy.

The little boy was skipping about, appearing very lively.

Their actions were a little rough at first, but the more they walked, the smoother they became as they walked through the square.

After they left, more and more people walked out of Saint Arianna Cathedral. They consisted of the police, repair workers, gas company employees, restaurant chefs, white-haired old men, and simply-dressed farmers...

In the next hour, people constantly came out of the Evernight cathedral. They either turned to different streets and went to different places, entering different houses, stopping at the square, or enjoying the pigeon-less scenery.

During this process, the number of people that came out had exceeded the limits of the cathedral's capacity, but there seemed to be no end to the people, as though the interior was connected to another city.

After another fifteen minutes, the entrance of Saint Arianna Cathedral finally fell silent. However, there were rats, cockroaches, moths, ants, flies, and mosquitoes creeping outwards.

Finally, a colorful window at the top of the cathedral opened. White pigeons flew out and landed in the middle of the square.

The people who had stayed there came to life completely. Some teased the pigeons, others looked for hawkers, while some played a seven-string guitar, and others smiled as they conversed with their friends.

A man wearing a top hat and a trench coat and carrying a cane left the municipal square. He came to the other side of the town and stopped in front of a wooden board.

He took out his tools and wrote the name of the town on the wooden board:

"Yharnam."

After some thought, the man "wiped" away "Yharnam" and wrote another name:

"Utopia."

...

Backlund, inside the Hall family's luxurious villa.

"Alfred has already boarded the cruise ship back to the Northern Continent?" Audrey didn't hide her surprise.

It was September 1352.

In the past half a year, Audrey didn't spend too much effort to make her father give up the thought of returning to East Chester County for the first half of the year. This was because there was a pressing need to rebuild Backlund and Constant City. The kingdom's political scene also needed a new balance. Earl Hall had too many things to handle and wasn't in the mood for a vacation.

Therefore, whenever Earl Hall was put in a difficult spot, she just needed to take the initiative to say that she was willing to remain in Backlund and return to East Chester County in the next six months to have things develop as she wanted and receive praise for.

As for the Psychology Alchemists, they didn't rush her either. Up to now, the Psychology Alchemists' council meeting had been held three times. It was mainly to communicate their research results and the various information of the areas under their jurisdiction. Only Ma'am Greed had asked about the clues to the mind dragon twice.

To be frank, if Mr. Fool hadn't reminded Audrey to take note of the rabbit, Wrath, and the easily forgettable president, she would definitely find the conference interesting. Mr. Rabbit had plenty of ideas, but she remained as vigilant as ever.

"Yes, the liner has already left the harbor." Earl Hall smiled and nodded. "When Alfred arrives in Backlund and completes the necessary social intercourse, we will return to East Chester County for fox-hunting."

Autumn was the best time to hunt foxes.

Audrey tersely acknowledged.

"Alright."

...

As a major general in the army, Alfred didn't follow the naval fleet to Desi Bay. Instead, he led his adjutants and squires and boarded a steam-powered sailboat hybrid for Pritz Harbor.

After traveling for nearly two days, they encountered a storm in the Berserk Sea.

As the ship shook violently, the sailors on the observatory saw some light through their telescopes.

It came from a lighthouse.

Author's Note: I wrote in detail three plans in the previous chapter because I felt that the third plan was most impactful, but it's impossible for Klein to undertake it with his character, so I had to unfortunately give it up. I specially wrote it out for all of you to have a sense of what's the most bizarre and mysterious method.

-x-X-x-

The liner passed through the storm and approached the lighthouse.

A small-scale harbor entered the sights of the captain, sailors, and passengers through the gloomy rain.

A short while later, a man in his thirties, who was wearing a blue uniform and holding onto a black umbrella and a glass lantern, appeared at the dock. He used rather uncommon actions to guide the liner to moor.

As the man watched the gangway lower, he opened his mouth and shouted, "Hey matey, where d'ya come from?"

After most of his voice was swallowed by the wind, his voice successfully reached the liner's interior and entered Alfred's ears.

"Do you know what this place is?" Alfred looked carefully at his adjutant and squire.

He wasn't wearing a general's ceremonial attire. Wearing a black trench coat that was commonly seen in Backlund, his dazzling blond hair drooped down casually, and his blue eyes looked like a deep lake in a forest.

The adjutant, who had neatly combed his hair to the back, first shook his head to indicate his uncertainty before he explained, "The storm from before made me lose my bearings."

At this moment, the captain held an umbrella and came to the shipboard. He answered the man, "We left East Balam two days ago and unfortunately encountered a storm.

"What harbor is this?"

The man's eyes darted around for a moment. Without giving a direct answer, he shouted, "Wait a moment, will ya?"

He then turned around, holding the umbrella and the lantern as he ran towards the buildings near the dock.

This reaction was beyond the expectations of Alfred and the other passengers, but it wasn't strange for the experienced ship captain, first mate, and others—they had encountered many abnormalities at the ports along the Berserk Sea. This made them patiently wait for subsequent developments.

Five to six minutes later, the man led a lady over.

The woman didn't have an umbrella and was wearing a hooded raincoat smeared with Donningsman Tree Sap.

As the two of them approached the liner, under the watch of the armed sailors, they climbed up the gangway to the deck.

At such a distance, most of the passengers finally saw what the two of them looked like.

The man had brown hair and brown eyes. His skin was rough, and it was obvious that he was of a lower socioeconomic status and had suffered the elements. The woman was in her twenties, and her eyes were limpid green. She had long, flaxen hair. A few wet strands clung to her face, making her appear pure and charming.

This was a rather pretty lady with a wild temperament.

"Hi there, this is Utopia Harbor," the man impatiently introduced, "I'm Theodore, the interim port cap'n."

As he spoke, he laughed, as though he was happy that he had invented such an amazing position.

Of course, the ship captain knew what a so-called "interim port captain" meant. He didn't take it to heart about this sudden happiness of a small fry.

He frowned slightly and said, "Utopia Harbor? Why haven't I heard of it?"

Theodore looked at him and said, "What ye said is quite common.

"Heh, if it weren't for that landlubber hurricane, ye might never come here!"

Without waiting for him to say anything else, the lady rushed forward and said, "Utopia isn't on the safe sea route. Usually, only people who understand these waters and know of this place will come here for supplies."

So the main clientèle of this harbor are pirates? How could the ship captain not be able to tell what she meant? And in times like this, tacitly acknowledging things without exposing them provided protection to both sides.

He tersely acknowledged and said, "And you are?"

"My name is Tracey." The lady smiled. "I'm the owner of the harbor hotel, and also its receptionist and attendant."

She surveyed the area and said, "It's quite a heavy storm, and the ship will be bumpy. It's not a wise choice to stay in there to rest. The hotel will provide you with stable beds, warm water, clean food, warm blankets, and an environment that will remind you of home. It's only ten pence a night. I'm referring to the price of a single room.

"Other than that, you guys can still drink at the nearby bar and enjoy our warm hospitality."

Clearly, this lady was here to solicit for business.

The captain was rather alert and didn't respond directly. He nodded and said, "I can't decide on behalf of the passengers. They are free to choose for themselves. Of course, as captain, I will stay here with my crew."

Tracey maintained her smile and said, "I'll wait at the hotel for guests who are willing to disembark."

She seemed to have received a certain amount of education. She wasn't as hot and spirited as the women at other ports who spewed vulgarities with every sentence.

Tracey turned around and was about to return when Theodore approached her and said with a sullen expression, "You have to thank me for telling you the news immediately."

As he spoke, his right hand pressed against Tracey's butt before he pinched hard.

Pa!

Tracey swatted away his hand and chided, "You're a jerk who should be f*cked by a donkey!"

She took a few steps forward and left the liner by the gangway.

Theodore shook his hands and cursed with a smile, "B*tch!"

This scene suddenly moved many passengers on board.

To them, the biggest flaw on the ship was that it was boring, and there was a bar at the harbor.

This meant that they could meet cheap street girls who were unlike those from the Northern or Southern Continent. There were local street girls with their unique local charm.

If one was lucky or willing to spend a lot of money, one of them might even be able to sleep with that spirited beauty with an attitude!

Instantly, many passengers packed their luggage and prepared to head to the harbor hotel.

Upon seeing this, Alfred's adjutant asked, "General, are we getting off the ship?"

Alfred shook his head slowly.

"We don't know anything about this place. We have to be careful. Staying on the ship is the best choice."

The adjutant had no objections to this. He asked worriedly, "What about those who have already alighted?"

"That's their choice." Alfred looked out of the window expressionlessly. "If an accident happens, we can only keep more people safe. If it's not serious, then we will be able to resolve it easily."

With that said, he turned to look at his adjutant and squire.

"We'll take turns to keep watch tonight to prevent any accidents."

Alfred, who had interacted with the Numinous Episcopate, the Rose School of Thought, and other organizations in the Southern Continent, had an instinctive sense of vigilance towards unfamiliar places.

After he exchanged his opinion with the ship captain, Alfred got into bed, listening to the strong winds hitting the glass windows and the torrential rain pattering the deck. He was about to doze off.

At this moment, he heard a tender and sad melody coming from the direction of the harbor.

It seemed to come from a flute, intermittent like a human whimpering through the storm.

Alfred was instantly immersed in the music. It was as though he had returned to Backlund, which always appeared in his dreams. He returned to a state that was a mixture of his happy childhood days, the vexing times of his youth, and other emotions.

He shook his head violently and shook off the feeling. He realized that it wasn't a psychological effect, but a normal person's reaction.

Alfred rolled out of bed and walked to the window. Using his Sheriff Beyonder powers, he confirmed that the music he had heard had come from the cheap hotel.

It's not from the guests onboard the ship. Their goal is very clear. They wouldn't be in the mood to play such a melody... There are tourists in Utopia to begin with, or could it be that owner and part-time attendant named Tracey? If it were her, she would be a lady with a story... Alfred sighed and retracted his gaze. He stopped pondering over the matter.

Although he was curious, he had no intention of getting off the ship.

Soon, the sound of the flute stopped. The harbor hotel regained its silence and nothing unexpected happened.

Just like that, time passed, and as the storm stopped, the sky gradually brightened.

At eight in the morning, the liner passengers returned one after another. Every one of them had weak steps and looked haggard.

Upon seeing this, the sailors immediately laughed and said, "The chicks here seem pretty good!"

The passengers shook their heads at the same time and looked regretful.

One of them rubbed his temples and said, "The Lanti Proof here isn't bad. It's cheaper than other places. I wasn't careful and had a little too much to drink and ended up falling asleep. I don't even know if anything happened with that babe. Sigh, I woke up to realize that the ship was about to leave, and I don't even remember what I did after getting drunk. Praise the Lady. 'She' let me lie in bed and not sleep in the rain."

The other passengers chimed in to express their similar experiences.

Of course, everyone had different details. For example, some passengers praised the breakfast dessert in the cheap hotel.

The sailors were regretful that they didn't manage to drink the cheap and good Lanti Proof. They started teasing the passengers.

"Perhaps the one who spent the night with you wasn't the chicks here but the burly man like Theodore. Since all of you were drunk, there's no way to know what happened!"

"Haha, try touching your assholes!"

Amidst the lively atmosphere, the sailors withdrew the gangway and raised the sails, allowing the liner to set off slowly.

Alfred finally relaxed after they passed through a dark sea and returned to the familiar safe sea route. He smiled at his adjutant and squire and said, "You can mark this place on our map, mentioning that the liquor and desserts here aren't too bad. Yes, the girls have their own traits."

After a few more days of traveling, the passenger finally arrived at Desi Bay's Eskelson Harbor, after traveling along a winding safe sea route.

Alfred, who had the demeanor of a noble, and his socialite instincts, paid a visit to the brass of a nearby military base and shared a good dinner with them.

When he returned to one of his father's vacation villas, he was surprised to find the squire whom he had sent away to gather for information.

"What's wrong?" Alfred put away his disorganized thoughts.

The squire lowered his voice and said, "General, all the official maps in the kingdom have no indication of Utopia Harbor."