Chapter 128: A Private Exchange

Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Eight
A Private Exchange

Before her eyes, stone pillars rose, supporting a high dome. The mottled, ancient long table seemed as though it had been placed there hundreds or even thousands of years ago…

Although Audrey Hall had already seen this scene many times, whenever she came above the gray fog, a feeling of heartfelt awe still slowly echoed within her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she swept the area, saw no new members, then looked toward the seat of honor. She curtsied to the convener shrouded in dense gray fog and said, “Good afternoon, Mr. Fool~”

As she spoke, she suddenly noticed that on the tabletop to The Fool’s right, a card lay face down. The pattern on its back was intricate and ornate.

It lay there quietly, casually, like an ordinary object.

Th-this is that Card of Blasphemy? The Card of Blasphemy that hides a pathway to godhood!

Audrey instantly understood. After The Fool nodded in response, she instinctively glanced at The Hanged Man, The Sun, and The Magician, discovering that they had likewise noticed the card that had never before existed.

However, their eyes and movements revealed their doubt, astonishment, and inevitable speculation. After all, a card placed by the hand of the mysterious, unfathomable, lofty Mr. Fool could not possibly be ordinary… Mm, Mr. World’s reaction is a little strange. He did not even look over there… Is he hiding it too well? Is he truly the nemesis of Spectators and Telepathists?

Audrey quickly judged that among those present, aside from Mr. Fool, she alone knew what that Card of Blasphemy was.

That made her quite proud, giving her the feeling of having shared a secret with her parents as a child while her two elder brothers knew nothing.

That was a Card of Blasphemy created by Emperor Roselle—a treasure countless Beyonders in the mysticism world fantasized about!

After The Magician, The Sun, and the others gave their greetings, Audrey took the initiative to raise her hand.

“Honorable Mr. Fool, I have something I wish to report to you privately.”

A private report?

The Hanged Man, Alger, furrowed his brows slightly, instinctively guessing at the contents but finding no clue at all.

The Sun, Derrick, and the others were also curious, though not especially concerned.

Klein lightly nodded.

“Very well.”

To be honest, he also had no idea what Miss Justice intended to report.

After waiting for two seconds, he blocked the senses of the other members and gave Justice a signal.

Audrey sat with dignified posture and said sincerely, “Mr. Fool, because I sought to purchase the Spectator formula at a Beyonder gathering, recently two people suspected of being members of the Psychology Alchemists have been making contact with me through certain nobles.

“I am inclined to join them, but only if I can guarantee my own safety.

“What is your opinion on this matter? I value it very much.”

The Psychology Alchemists… Judging from various materials, they count as an organization that is not especially evil. At present, they may not have a deity they believe in, and their main purpose is the exploration and study of the mind, consciousness, spirit, and spirituality. They are closer to an academic mutual-aid society. Of course, in the eyes of the orthodox Churches, this also qualifies as blasphemy, since they believe everyone’s spirit should belong to a god. In addition, according to Daxter Guderian, certain tendencies exist among the Psychology Alchemists’ higher-ups: a degree of worship toward the Primordial Creator, the God who created everything—a relatively primitive form of worship…

Many thoughts flashed through Klein’s mind in an instant. In the end, he merely smiled and said, “If you feel it is appropriate, then you may do it.

“If you encounter difficulties, you may seek assistance at the Tarot Gathering.”

“Thank you for your suggestion.”

Audrey immediately felt much lighter.

Klein thought for a moment, then added in a flat, leisurely tone, “Inside the Psychology Alchemists, there are some people planted there by the Churches—for instance, informants of the Mandated Punishers and informants of the Nighthawks. You must know how to hide and disguise yourself.”

Mr. Fool is so kind. He even specifically reminds me to be careful…

Audrey’s eyes curved faintly. With a shallow smile, she answered, “In the future, there will also be an informant of the Tarot Club inside the Psychology Alchemists.”

…Miss Justice, you have not even joined, and you are already thinking about how to betray them…

Klein silently drew an invisible crimson moon for the Psychology Alchemists.

After reporting the matter concerning the Psychology Alchemists, Audrey was not in a hurry to end the private exchange. Instead, she said, “Mr. Fool, I have memorized two more pages of Roselle’s diary.”

This was also one of the reasons she had requested a private exchange. If she manifested Roselle’s diary before The Magician Fors and gave it to Mr. Fool, she could imagine that after they returned, the other woman would immediately come to borrow the “Roselle notes” she had bought before. And the Goddess could testify that Mr. Fool had already read all of those!

I forgot about it before. In these next two days, I must find a chance to tell Fors that the “Roselle notes” I bought were bitten apart by Susie. Mm, bitten to pieces—turned into fragments and impossible to restore! I am sorry, Susie…

Audrey repented inwardly.

“Very good.”

Klein knocked with satisfaction at the edge of the bronze long table, helping Miss Justice manifest the diary.

Once the two sheets of paper appeared and his gaze landed on them, his smile gradually froze.

The first line of the diary read:

“March 6th. Damn it, the food here is making me so constipated I could die!”

…

This is the one I saw at the Roselle Memorial Exhibition…

Klein concealed his expression and turned to the second page, finding that its contents were still various complaints and fresh experiences from Roselle’s early transmigration days. There was no practical value.

He controlled his expression, showed a smile, and said, “Do you wish the payment to be deducted from your unpaid gold pounds, or would you like something else?”

Without the slightest hesitation, Audrey directly said, “Mr. Fool, I would like to know which pathway to godhood that Card of Blasphemy contains.”

She truly regards money as dirt…

Klein sighed soundlessly. Without hiding anything, he said with a smile, “It is a Black Emperor card.

“The corresponding Sequence 9 is Lawyer.”

So that is how it is…

Having obtained the answer, Audrey felt extraordinarily satisfied.

The private exchange ended there. The Magician, Fors, impatiently looked toward The World at the lowest end.

“Mr. World, I will collect a mystical item or powerful Beyonder weapon of the Sun domain for you as soon as possible.”

“You two privately reached some transaction?” Justice Audrey, who felt she was quite familiar with Fors yet knew absolutely nothing of this, could not help asking.

Fors exhaled.

“Mr. World helped me find the Trickmaster formula.”

Mr. World is very good at finding formulas… Does he possess broad, reliable resources and connections in that field?

Audrey felt astonished upon hearing this.

The Hanged Man, Alger, concealed his solemn expression and once more examined The World, raising his assessment of him.

The Sun, Derrick, meanwhile, felt quite expectant. He hoped that after he digested the Light Suppliant potion, Mr. World would also be able to easily find the Sequence 7 Solar High Priest formula.

The World, as though completely unaware of the gazes falling on him, gave two hoarse chuckles.

“Miss Magician, before you purchase anything, it would be best to recite Mr. Fool’s honorific name and ask Him to relay the corresponding information to me. Mm, I have already requested this of Mr. Fool, and He agreed to help us.

“If the item you take interest in does not satisfy me, perhaps I will consider changing to another request.”

Regarding Sun-domain items, Klein currently had three backup plans, so he intended to compare them before making a final decision.

Among them, the one already known was the brooch old Mr. Eye of Wisdom had mentioned. It possessed purification and exorcism effects and allowed the wearer to use part of the Sun domain’s spells. Its negative effect was that it made the wearer unable to feel coolness, leaving them always in a hot, irritated state.

Klein felt only passable about that mystical item. Added to that, its price might approach two thousand pounds. Back then, even if he had sold the Briber formula, he would not have been able to gather enough money. Therefore, he planned to observe for a few days first. If neither The Magician nor the lady with the Artisan behind her could find something better, then he would liquidate the formula and buy the brooch.

“All right. I will give you information no later than tomorrow,” Fors said.

She had already confirmed that Mr. A would convene a gathering tonight, but she still left an additional day in case of accidents.

Once their conversation ended, The Hanged Man, Alger, looked around and spoke as though he had already prepared his words.

“I recently accepted an investigation task. I wonder whether any of you have corresponding clues.

“Over the past two or three years, on the Southern Continent, many indigenous tribes have been plundered clean, and every person was abducted. On various plantations and on the islands at sea, some slaves have also strangely escaped.

“After the Northern Continent’s countries abolished the slave trade, such things had not happened for a very long time. Have any of you heard related rumors?”

His gaze swept across Justice, Magician, and The World, but did not look at The Sun.

A young man trapped in the City of Silver, within the Forsaken Land of the Gods, could not possibly know anything about the outside world!

Justice Audrey carefully recalled the fragments of information she had usually heard during noble gatherings. After a while, she said, “No. I have not even heard of anything similar.”

The Magician Fors and The World shook their heads as well.

A sign that the black-market slave trade is flourishing again? Where now needs large numbers of slaves?

Sitting at the highest end of the bronze long table, Klein thought about the matter in puzzlement.

Seeing that no one could provide clues, and that Mr. Fool seemed utterly uninterested and did not speak, The Hanged Man, Alger, kept his expression unchanged and turned to another matter.

“You can begin trying to collect the Wind-blessed formula.

“I will give you compensation that will absolutely satisfy you.”

Wind-blessed formula? That means he is about to finish digesting the Seafarer potion…

Klein activated spirit vision and glanced at The Hanged Man. Sure enough, he discovered that the color on the surface layer of the other party’s Astral Body was not only pure like the azure sea, but also bore faint ripples, as though slowly rising and falling.

…Calculating it, Mr. Hanged Man spent nearly four months digesting the Seafarer potion, and he is often at sea…

Audrey, too, judged the situation from what she observed.

Fors paid more attention to another point: Mr. Hanged Man should currently be Sequence 7!

A mid-Sequence Beyonder…

She nodded to herself almost imperceptibly.

Once The Hanged Man finished issuing his commission, The Sun, Derrick, raised his hand and spoke somewhat uneasily.

“I have been assigned a mission. In the near future, I will explore the half-destroyed temple I mentioned before. Mm, the one belonging to the Fallen Creator.

“The leader responsible for this operation is Elder Lovia, the Shepherd.

“Do you have any suggestions?”