Chapter 84: Completing the Transaction

Chapter 84: Completing the Transaction

Looking at the sheet of paper that listed point after point, Klein lightly tapped the edge of the mottled long table with his finger and silently muttered to himself:

“The one who sighed in the depths of the church—is that a member of the Twilight Hermit Order?

“Was Qilangos valued by the Twilight Hermit Order precisely because of that deep exploration, allowing him to later advance, obtain Creeping Hunger, and become a pirate admiral?

“If that is true, it would explain why, after he possessed Sequence 5 strength, he did not return to that primitive island and find a way to take the Tyrant card… What is given to you, you may take. What is not given to you, you must not touch?

“Of course, it is also possible that Qilangos established contact with that member of the Twilight Hermit Order during his second exploration into the depths of the church, after he had gained enough combat power…

“In any case, the possibility that the primitive island is connected to the Twilight Hermit Order is not small.

“The reason we were able to pass through different regions relatively smoothly, enter the burial hall, and see that painting of the Kings of Angels devouring the Creator was because that Twilight Hermit Order member deep inside the church deliberately allowed it? To them, given the chance, they would definitely be more than happy to publicize that erased stretch of history… However, the explanation they give from their own perspective may not necessarily be the truth…

“Afterward, that Twilight Hermit Order member probably did not expect us to resolve the awakened dead and the six-winged gargoyle so quickly, obtain the Tyrant card, and that is why He sighed?

“According to the normal script, we should have fallen into a dangerous situation, and He would step in to calm everything, communicate with us from afar, and make us peripheral members of the Twilight Hermit Order?”

Klein cautiously used “He” to refer to the existence in the depths of the abandoned church.

He even suspected that the other party might be a former King of Angels—the Son of God, Adam!

Of course, he was not completely certain that the primitive island belonged to the Twilight Hermit Order. He believed even divination would fail to produce a definite answer, because there were still too many possibilities. Other hidden existences might be involved, and the related information in the spirit world must have already been erased or concealed.

If things really are as I guessed, does that mean I missed an opportunity to join the Twilight Hermit Order? As long as I passed their test, perhaps I could have looked at the second Blasphemy Slate and obtained the high-Sequence potion formulas of the Seer pathway… What a pity… However, Gehrman Sparrow’s origins are mysterious, and it is known among the upper ranks of every faction at sea that there is a hidden existence behind him. It would be impossible for the oldest and most secretive organization, the Twilight Hermit Order, not to possess the corresponding information. Gehrman Sparrow’s fate would most likely be to be eliminated on the spot and then have his spirit channeled for answers…

Klein first felt a wave of regret, then a surge of lingering fear.

As his thoughts raced, he even wanted to send the Hanged Man back to that primitive island to find an opportunity to become a peripheral member of the Twilight Hermit Order, step by step infiltrating its core.

Sigh. The problem is, that primitive island has already vanished… Otherwise, Mr. Hanged Man truly would have had a chance to become a triple—no, quadruple—agent…

Klein flicked a finger, making the paper before him disappear, and temporarily cast aside tonight’s exploration.

However, he warned himself that during this period, he absolutely had to pay attention to whether any abnormal situations appeared in his life.

He feared that the hidden existence in the depths of the church had not failed to stop him and the Hanged Man from escaping, but had simply possessed some deeper purpose.

If he had not passed through the gray fog and received its “antivirus” effect, Klein would even suspect that the other party had left some hidden mark on him.

Glancing at the items on the table, Klein first flipped the Tyrant card over and placed it beside the Black Emperor card. Then he considered how to handle the remaining spoils.

He already had a preliminary idea for the Beyonder characteristic belonging to Sequence 5 Druid of the Planter pathway: sell it to Frank Lee through the Hermit, Cattleya.

“The problem is, could this be a step accelerating the end of the world…”

Klein laughed self-deprecatingly, hesitating slightly.

Letting a dangerous fellow like Frank Lee advance to Sequence 5 would make cows, fish, the ocean, and Rose Bishops all very afraid. No one knew what kind of experiments this man, who was not much better than a lunatic, could complete once he possessed stronger abilities—or what bizarre species he might create.

If he plants himself and harvests a bunch of Franks, then this world will truly be in danger…

Klein breathed out soundlessly and ultimately decided to hand this problem to Admiral of Stars to worry about.

In any case, I am merely selling a normal Druid Beyonder characteristic. Whether Miss Hermit wants to buy it is her problem… Besides, it is only Sequence 5. I believe that with the backing of the Queen of Mysteries and the Moses Ascetic Order, she can certainly keep him under control. And besides, the Church of Mother Earth still has a group of saints, angels, Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts, and a true god. They won’t be unable to handle the relevant matters…

While comforting himself, Klein turned his attention to the Chaos Mentor and Ocean Songster Beyonder characteristics.

For the latter, his preliminary idea was to make it into a mystical item, though he did not know whether the Artisan the Hanged Man knew had that ability. As for the former, he planned to sell it.

Although it could likewise be turned into an item, it overlapped somewhat with the Baron of Corruption inside his glove. Moreover, Klein had begun to realize that carrying more mystical items was not necessarily better. When certain negative effects stacked together, they truly could kill. With Creeping Hunger, and with Leymano’s Travels available for rent, he believed that keeping things simpler was better most of the time.

Under normal circumstances, Creeping Hunger paired with the Death Knell revolver, plus plenty of purification bullets prepared in advance, was enough to handle most situations!

When encountering naval battles or aerial battles, he could add a mystical item made from Ocean Songster. When the situation and circumstances became complicated, he would rent Leymano’s Travels if there was a chance. If there was no chance, he would use Groselle’s Travels as a hard shield and throw out the Fate Stealer charm.

And this did not even take into account his own Beyonder powers, his Wraith marionette, or the inconvenient-to-use Sea God Scepter!

Speaking of fixed assets, I can already count as a truly rich man…

Klein sighed inwardly and made all the Beyonder characteristics fly over to the pile of miscellaneous items.

As for the six-winged gargoyle’s eyes, those were highly spiritual materials and carried a bit of innate mysticism. They could be used for rituals or to make charms. Klein had not yet decided what to do with them and had no specific need for them, so he had already thrown them into the junk pile.

After finishing everything, he made his figure disappear from above the gray fog and returned to the real world.

…

Saturday morning. Fors had originally wanted to sleep until she woke naturally, only to be roused by the World’s message, transmitted through Mr. Fool.

The other party was going to return Leymano’s Travels to her!

Fors rubbed her eyes and originally planned to prepare the ritual directly. But after looking in the mirror and seeing her messy hair and swollen eye bags, she decided to first go to the bathroom and tidy up her appearance.

Yesterday, she had finally sold the two properties. The price was higher than she had expected. Even after deducting the corresponding taxes and fees, she still had 6,550 pounds.

What she found unfortunate was that gold coins, which usually seemed common enough in circulation, proved to be few in number once she actually needed to collect a large quantity. After working busily for a long time, she had only managed to exchange for 600 coins.

“Whew. At last, I can make up the debt and complete the transaction.”

Fors finished combing her hair and began setting up the ritual.

Last night, to celebrate receiving the most cash she had ever had in her life, she had secretly drunk half a bottle of Gold Lanci and a barrel of Southville beer. That was why she looked so terrible this morning.

During the ritual, after communication through the intermediary, Fors paid 5,200 pounds in cash plus 600 gold coins, completing the previous murder commission and obtaining a copy of the Interrogator Beyonder characteristic.

In this way, she still had 2,530 pounds in cash remaining. Meanwhile, royalties from her two novels were still entering her account bit by bit—not much individually, but fortunately persistent.

After waiting briefly, Fors saw the Door of Sacrifice and Bestowal erupt with radiance, sending out two items.

One was Leymano’s Travels. The other was a light-blue, semi-transparent hexagonal prism, inside which threads of lightning-like radiance flashed past.

Mr. World really has so many Beyonder characteristics…

Fors sighed inwardly. First, she thanked Mr. Fool, ended the ritual, and then put away the Interrogator Beyonder characteristic.

Finally, she picked up Leymano’s Travels and flipped through it, checking which Beyonder abilities had been added.

Amid the rustling of pages, her gaze suddenly froze, because two scorched-yellow pages were no longer blank. They were filled with mysterious, unusual patterns and symbols.

This represented demigod-level Beyonder abilities!

A full two pages!

“How extravagant…”

Fors could not control herself and murmured aloud.

This was the first time she had ever seen demigod-level Beyonder abilities that she herself could use!

As a bestselling novelist whose core genre was romance, her first reaction was whether the World, Gehrman Sparrow, was pursuing her.

But considering that the two of them had never even met, and that gentleman was a cold, powerful killer, she quickly rejected the guess. She believed that the World, Gehrman Sparrow, probably had access to demigod-level help at any time, so he simply did not care about such things.

Whew. I should avoid using them as much as possible and leave them for Mr. World to rent again. If I use them myself…

Fors let out a slightly timid breath, not daring to take advantage of that frightening killer at all.

After composing herself, she used her crystal ball to identify each newly added Beyonder ability and felt that they would all be very useful—except Full Moon.

“If used for suicide, it would be a divine skill…”

She muttered, closed Leymano’s Travels, and waited for Xio to return that evening so she could give her the Interrogator Beyonder characteristic.

…

A little after seven in the evening, Klein, dressed impeccably, led his butler Walter and personal valet Richardson as they waited in the entrance hall, greeting the guests attending the ball.

Very soon, he saw a familiar face enter.

Alan Kress!

This renowned surgeon walked through the main door arm in arm with his heavily pregnant wife.

A pregnant woman…

Klein’s heart stirred. With a smile covering his face, he went forward to greet them.