Chapter 198: A Former Organization

Chapter 198: A Former Organization

“Ince Zangwill.”

Upon hearing that name, every Red Glove present fell silent. For a moment, no one spoke.

Ever since that former archbishop’s defection, the Church of Evernight had never relaxed its pursuit of him. The archbishops and high-ranking deacons at the very top had taken turns assuming responsibility, assisting one another and often traveling with the corresponding Sealed Artifacts to search for clues. Yet they had never been able to lock onto Ince Zangwill. Again and again, all sorts of coincidences caused them to miss him. Not only had they failed to see even his shadow, he had also carried out several major incidents and killed multiple Nighthawks.

To the entire Church of Evernight, and especially to the ranks of the Nighthawks, this was both hatred and humiliation.

Leonard Mitchell’s lowered hands clenched of their own accord, and his breathing grew a little heavier.

He quickly forced himself free of the emotions that had suddenly surged up and shifted his attention elsewhere.

No wonder Dwayne Dantès met Ince Zangwill on an island midway through the Berserk Sea. Ince’s destination was also the Southern Continent—also East Balam!

Amid the silence, Daly Simone spoke again in that hollow, drifting voice as though issued directly from a spirit body. Its tone showed no obvious change, but it carried a trace of coldness, and her pace of speech quickened slightly.

“Where are they meeting?”

The Numinous Episcopate member shook his head blankly.

“I don’t know.”

Daly asked several more questions in succession, but none produced the answer she wanted.

In the end, she took a step back and turned her gaze toward the captain of this Red Gloves team, Soest.

Soest sighed, considered his words, and said,

“First, report this intelligence to Her Excellency Eye of the Goddess and let her contact the Holy Cathedral. Ince Zangwill, who carries 0-08, is not someone a single Red Gloves team can deal with.

“Second, continue investigating along the trail of Palenque Tacibli. We must hope to clarify Ince Zangwill’s purpose. Under circumstances where we cannot track him or lock onto him, grasping his goal is more important than grasping his whereabouts. It may allow us to set a trap he has no choice but to enter.

“Finally, from now on, pay close attention to every coincidence that happens around you. No matter what the cause seems to be, report it to me!”

“Yes, Captain!” the Red Gloves answered in unison.

Leonard remained silent. He turned his head slightly to glance at Daly Simone and found that this “Gatekeeper,” who called herself a Spirit Medium, likewise had not spoken. Her gaze was deep.

At the same time, Pallez Zoroast’s slightly aged voice echoed in Leonard’s mind:

“Heh. It seems I’m about to witness a drama of pursuit and escape.”

What does the old man mean? What is he hinting at? We’ve only just decided to investigate Ince Zangwill’s purpose, and 0-08 already knows? Leonard withdrew his gaze as a thought suddenly came to him.

If someone who was supposedly already dead secretly carried out the corresponding investigation, would that allow them to avoid 0-08’s perception?

…

After sleeping for two hours, Klein rubbed his still-swollen, aching head and slowly sat up in bed.

Then he pulled the bellcord by the door and waited for an attendant to come upstairs.

Before long, a local indigenous man wearing a white shirt and red vest, deliberately dressed in the Loen style, came to the door and knocked.

Klein turned the handle, pulled the outer door open a crack, and instructed in a low, hoarse voice,

“Send another lunch to the room. I ate too early earlier.”

At that moment, his appearance had already changed into that of his tanned marionette, Enzo. As a gentleman with two servants living in a luxurious room, he could not possibly go to the door personally to give instructions to an attendant.

“One lunch. Any special requests?” The indigenous attendant took out paper and pen, recording as he asked in Loenese with a rather strange accent.

Klein replied in the same awkward Loenese,

“Mainly red meat, paired with a glass of sparkling sweet wine with ice and lemon.”

“Should it include two servant meals?” the attendant asked according to procedure.

Klein was silent for one second.

“Include them.”

After ending the conversation, he shut the door and hurriedly arranged a ritual, bringing Winner Enzo and Hell Admiral Ludwell back from above the gray fog into the real world. As for Creeping Hunger and the Sea’s Word cane, both were temporarily left in the junk pile—one because it was hungry, and the other because it was having some difficulty suppressing its urge to sing.

After Klein manipulated the marionettes into tidying up the room, several attendants came one after another and delivered lunch. Soon, the only sounds left in the entire room were the light clinks of knives and forks against plates and faint chewing.

At some unknown point, Klein set down his knife and fork, picked up the napkin, wiped his mouth, and leaned back against the chair in satisfaction. He shook his head helplessly.

“If this keeps going, I really will get fat…”

The two marionettes had already lost the ability to eat, but to maintain the disguise, Klein had no choice but to order servant meals as well. As someone who could not bear to see food wasted, he could only choose to eat as much as possible himself.

“…Good thing I’m a Faceless.” Klein covered his mouth and burped, then drank the last mouthful of sparkling sweet wine.

Only then did he feel that he had recovered and finally had the energy to think through the details of this trip to Calderón.

“The Marauder pathway really is terrifying. Just a charm made from a single Worm of Time can achieve something so unbelievable. One can imagine how frightening Amon, the Blasphemer and a King of Angels, truly is. Even an avatar of His wouldn’t be easy to deal with… Thankfully, I didn’t try to be stubborn before. I knew to imitate the methods of the experienced and fled straight to the Southern Continent…

“The True Creator really does value me highly. He sent Tail Devourer Ouroboros over directly…

“It really did feel like crossing through time. An angel from an ancient mural just walked out and came before me. Fortunately, I could directly end the summoning.”

As Klein’s thoughts reached this point, his expression suddenly tensed. He realized a serious problem.

“Ouroboros is a King of Angels of the Monster pathway!”

That meant He could directly see what was special about Klein: the grayish-white fog, the illusory door formed from balls of light, and the transparent and semi-transparent worms that composed those balls of light!

“What exactly does this represent? The Angel of Fate, who survived from the Second Epoch, very likely knows something. And the True Creator may understand even more… Will They see through the fact that I am the master of the mysterious space above the gray fog? No matter what, Their level of attention will definitely rise!” Klein curled his right hand into a fist and pressed it against his mouth, considering what actions the Aurora Order or Rose Redemption might take.

What made him feel fortunate was that neither Rose Redemption nor the Aurora Order had currently locked onto any believer of The Fool.

However, during that chaotic battle outside Bayam, while acting under the identity of Gehrman Sparrow, he had thrown out the Tinder glove polluted by the True Creator, attempting to attract an Aurora Order saint. That might very well cause the mad adventurer to enter their list of suspects.

“Extending from the point of Gehrman Sparrow, Star Admiral, Vice Admiral Iceberg, Danitz, and Anderson could all be ‘investigated’ by the Aurora Order. I need to warn them.” Klein slowly exhaled, stood up, and prepared to go above the gray fog.

In his view, the pursuit of Gehrman Sparrow by the military, the Church of Storms, the Rose School of Thought, and the Numinous Episcopate was different from that of the True Creator’s believers. The latter were all rather insane, and their leader—a King of Angels skilled at peering into fate—was active in the real world. Under such circumstances, no matter whether Cattleya and the others were drifting on the sea, or how difficult they were to lock onto, there remained a risk that they would be found.

Among them, Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina and the strongest hunter of the Misty Sea, Anderson, were not people Klein worried about too much. They did not know much, and nothing they knew involved the core issue, so nothing too serious should happen. The only thing to worry about was that those lunatics of the Aurora Order might use extreme methods during what should have been ordinary questioning.

…

West Balam, in Kukwa City of the Northern State governed by Mesanyes.

Danitz, who had been gnawing at roasted meat, suddenly froze. He heard the warning Mr. Fool relayed from Gehrman Sparrow:

“Beware of people from the Numinous Episcopate. Beware of people from the Aurora Order. Pay special attention to the latter, and remind Anderson Hood beside you, as well as Edwina Edwards.”

Beware of the Numinous Episcopate… Beware of the Aurora Order… How many is that now…? The military, the Church of Storms, the Church of Evernight, the Rose School of Thought… What exactly has Gehrman Sparrow done? Why has he offended so many factions? Shit! Danitz’s expression first stiffened, then twisted.

He still did not know that the leader of the seven pirate admirals had already been replaced.

“Remembered something?” Anderson, sitting opposite him, set down the small knife he had been using to cut meat, raised an eyebrow, and asked curiously.

Danitz quietly took a deep breath. After considering his words, he asked in reply,

“Have you heard of the Aurora Order?”

He was not certain Anderson would know. After all, the Aurora Order had originally been an extremely secretive organization, and its later infamy had mostly been concentrated in the Loen Kingdom.

Anderson chuckled.

“I’m more surprised that you know about them. Did your captain tell you?”

Without waiting for Danitz to answer, he combed his fingers through his short hair and continued on his own:

“They believe the Creator is everywhere, that divinity exists in all things, and that life is nothing but a spiritual journey. As long as one is willing to listen to the teachings, one can understand divinity, discover divinity, gather divinity, and ultimately become an angel, transcending reality.

“That idea actually sounds pretty decent, but that’s not the important part. The important part is that they believe in the True Creator…”

Hearing this, Danitz could not resist mocking him:

“You know a lot. Only a tiny bit less than me.”

The corners of Anderson’s mouth immediately lifted, his smile brilliant.

“Of course.

“I once joined an organization in Intis. They hoped to change society and the world, to make the supernatural no longer hidden, to reveal it before everyone’s eyes and let it become the true ruler.

“They were called the Iron and Blood Cross Order, and they also believed in the True Creator.”

Danitz’s expression froze at once. Cold sweat instantly broke out across his forehead.