Chapter 13: Newcomers Aren’t All the Same

Chapter 13: Newcomers Aren’t All the Same

The Hermit, Cattleya, turned slightly and directed her gaze toward The Magician.

“This matter is somewhat complicated. I suggest you wait another one to two weeks. I cannot promise anything. I can only say that, by then, someone should be able to help you craft the mystical item.”

Someone should be able to… In other words, it might not necessarily be the original Craftsman… Is she planning to cultivate a Craftsman herself? Or is she thinking of turning the original Craftsman into a Sealed Artifact and using a machine to make machines? Mm, Madam Hermit truly is an experienced Beyonder, without any fear of killing. That means she doesn’t belong to an official force… Star Leonard listened quietly at the side, analyzing inwardly. It was his first time being so serious in a meeting.

“No problem.” Magician Fors had sufficient confidence in Madam Hermit. After all, the other party had already gathered the blood of a mythical creature. Perhaps a qualitative change would soon follow.

Just then, she heard The World, Gehrman Sparrow, speak in his hoarse voice:

“If help is needed in this matter, you can look for me.”

To Klein, the Mother Tree of Desire’s extraordinary interest in the gray fog, combined with the warning in Emperor Roselle’s diary to “be careful of the moon,” made him pay more attention than before to matters involving the Rose School of Thought and believers of the Primordial Moon, now that he was determined to seek the secret of transmigration and the essence of that door of light. Moreover, the current Craftsman matter involved the intersection of both sides.

The Hermit, Cattleya, had not expected The World to actively offer assistance. After a moment of silence, she gave a slight nod.

“All right. If I am unable to handle it, I will request your help through Mr. Fool.”

She deliberately mentioned going through Mr. Fool in order to tell the two newly joined members that the Tarot Gathering possessed miraculous means of communication. There was no need for them to feel surprised or awkward about such things; they would naturally understand in time.

As the pirate admiral with the highest bounty across the Five Seas at present, and as the leader of a pirate crew numbering in the hundreds, she did this not out of pure kindness, nor because she feared the two new members would ask too many questions and slow down the gathering. It was more a kind of habit: the habit of establishing authority before newcomers.

Of course, in reality, unless time was truly pressing and there was no chance to set up a ritual, Cattleya would rather summon Gehrman Sparrow’s messenger than trouble Mr. Fool.

Request help through Mr. Fool… Judgement Xio faintly understood something more and resisted the impulse to look at Fors.

You can even request help through Mr. Fool? Leonard’s thoughts flew, and he formed a few guesses of his own.

Seeing that someone had already started, he relaxed slightly. After considering for several seconds, he took the initiative to say,

“I need a mystical item.”

“What type?” Justice Audrey responded at the right time to keep the atmosphere from freezing.

Leonard gave an “uh” and instinctively replied,

“I don’t know…”

He had only had this general intention and had yet to think through the specific details. As a result, he had been pulled into this gathering and discovered the possibility.

You don’t know… Is this guy an idiot… The Fool, Klein, who was very familiar with Leonard’s laziness and casualness, resisted the urge to laugh and silently slandered him inwardly.

Seeing everyone’s gazes turn toward him with unclear meaning, Star Leonard immediately felt a little embarrassed and hurriedly added,

“What I mean is, the type is not limited. As long as it leans more toward offense, is relatively concealed in use, and has smaller negative effects, I can accept it.”

This was meant to make full use of a Nightmare’s strong control abilities. When the time came, Leonard himself could control the target while Pallez Zoroast manipulated the mystical item to deliver a fatal blow against the frozen opponent. Once he became a Spirit Warlock and had natural spirits, wraiths, or shadows sealed in his teeth to help him, he himself could complete this kind of dual-tasking, even triple-tasking, coordination.

After Mr. Star finished explaining, The Hanged Man, Alger, did not dwell on the details. He asked,

“What approximate level?”

“One of the stronger Grade 2 Sealed Artifacts. Uh, corresponding to Sequence 6 or Sequence 5.” Leonard first described it in the habitual tone of an official Beyonder, then switched to a more common expression.

At that moment, Justice Audrey, The Hermit Cattleya, The Hanged Man Alger, and Judgement Xio all keenly had the same thought flash through their minds:

Mr. Star is an official Beyonder, or at least once was!

In their view, Beyonders who did not belong to formal organizations might also use the concept of Sealed Artifact grades at times, but when they needed to accurately express their meaning or requirements, they would undoubtedly avoid such vague descriptions and instead choose a more direct and easier-to-understand type.

Therefore, the conclusion was quite easy to reach.

And that made another matter even more interesting.

Mm, Mr. World is actually quite familiar with an official Beyonder… How did they meet? And how did he pull an official Beyonder into the gathering? Justice Audrey said nothing and maintained the posture of a Spectator, enjoying herself.

At that moment, The Hanged Man Alger gave a soft “mm.”

“A Sequence 5 level mystical item costs at least 9,000 pounds. If it meets your requirements, it may normally exceed 12,000 pounds.”

Very straightforward… Star Leonard nodded.

“I understand.”

Hearing his answer, The Fool, Klein, nearly covered his face, then let out a long sigh inwardly.

“This… Isn’t this just showing Mr. Hanged Man his bottom line?

“I dare bet that if he has a suitable item, his price will definitely be above 12,000 pounds!

“Other than the 7,000 pounds from Tinder, Leonard still has more money… With a Marauder pathway old grandpa guiding him, he should have saved up quite a bit. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to afford the Tinder glove back then…

“I understand. He isn’t afraid of being fleeced because he can still seek to purchase from the Hermits of Fate and compare performance and price between both sides… But the problem is, that gathering happens roughly once every half year. It can’t keep up with the rhythm of the Tarot Club at all…”

At this moment, Klein could not help considering whether he should sell a suitable item to his poet classmate, one whose function overlapped with others and which he rarely used after becoming a demigod.

He then heard Mr. Hanged Man respond in a calm, steady tone:

“All right. I will help you keep an eye out.”

“Mm.” The Hermit Cattleya and the other members also expressed their stance.

No other transactions followed, and the gathering entered the free exchange segment.

Before Mr. Hanged Man could ask, Sun Derrick raised his hand and said,

“I have returned to the City of Silver. The Chief told me that after some more time, they will begin a preliminary exploration of the Giant King’s Court.

“Does he mean I should hurry and advance to Priest of Light?”

Giant King’s Court? Exploring the Giant King’s Court? Star Leonard stared in astonishment at the youth in his voice-changing period, separated from him by one seat.

According to his common sense, the Giant King’s Court had been destroyed as early as the Second Epoch. Pallez Zoroast, an angel, had also said that it had already disappeared into the long river of history.

Who would have thought that The Sun of the Tarot Gathering was actually going to explore it—and that not a single other member was surprised!

Yes, not a single one was surprised. When Leonard subconsciously looked across the table toward the other new member, Miss Judgement, he found that she seemed to have known already and was quite calm.

This… Miss Magician privately gave Miss Judgement lessons, while only Leonard knows nothing and understands nothing… The Fool, Klein, leaned back in his chair and seriously reflected upon himself inwardly:

After pulling Leonard above the gray fog and assigning him the Star card, he had not managed him further or written a letter introducing the general situation of the Tarot Club!

Compared to women, men really were careless about such detailed matters… Klein was just about to manipulate The World, Gehrman, to explain to Star Leonard when he saw Moon Emlyn glance at the poet beside him and heard him say with the faintest trace of a smile,

“The Giant King’s Court is in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.”

After saying this, he ignored Leonard’s reaction and turned to The Sun on the other side.

“You’ve already obtained the Priest of Light materials?”

He knew that a certain Sun had obtained the formula only one or two weeks ago.

“Mm, I exchanged for them with Mr. World,” Sun Derrick answered honestly, though he did not say what exactly he had used in exchange.

At that moment, Leonard’s mind was filled with the terms Forsaken Land of the Gods and Giant King’s Court. He felt as though fantasies and myths had walked into reality.

Instinctively, he began adjusting his understanding of the Tarot Club, truly grasping the weight behind the very ordinary phrase: members come from different places.

Even the Churches of the seven gods cannot find the Forsaken Land of the Gods, yet the Tarot Club can—and it even developed a member there… Right, I previously believed that Azik Eggers, who holds the Death card, was not present at this gathering… Does that mean that outside the members here, there are also some directly subordinate to Mr. Fool? Just as I first thought, this is a secret organization that may very well develop into the Church of a true god. It is not much weaker than the Aurora Order or the Rose School of Thought. In some sense, it may even be stronger… This is the true meaning of a gathering before a god… As Leonard’s thoughts rose one after another, The Hanged Man, Alger, agreed with Derrick’s conjecture.

“That is the case.

“Exploring the Giant King’s Court is a dangerous matter. He hopes you can grow as quickly as possible to the point where you can contend with that Shepherd Elder.”

Sun Derrick nodded, seeming to partly understand.

“I understand. Thank you, Mr. Hanged Man.”

He then spoke briefly of what he had seen in the ancient city of Nois. Star Leonard, Judgement Xio, and the others were left stunned and confused, unable to understand how that eerie state and atmosphere had come to be.

The Fool, Klein, however, smelled something familiar. He felt that the ancient city of Nois shared a certain similarity with the foggy town:

Those numerous pedestrians were suspected to be lifeless marionettes!

Could there be an item or monster from a higher Sequence of the Seer pathway there? Klein said nothing, silently noting the corresponding word for Nois City in his mind.

At this moment, Judgement Xio looked at The World and took the initiative to speak, releasing goodwill:

“MI9 has recently been investigating Gehrman Sparrow’s origins.”