Chapter 180: Smart People Always Overthink

Chapter One Hundred Eighty
Smart People Always Overthink

The moment Audrey heard the Fool’s question, she quietly pricked up her ears and entered her Spectator state, waiting for the Sun’s answer.

She had always been extremely curious about where the City of Silver was and what made it so special, but she had felt too embarrassed to ask. After all, such a thing involved the other party’s privacy.

Now, Mr. Fool was personally asking. To Audrey, it felt like finally having the chance to buy the second volume of an excellent detective novel after waiting for ages since finishing the first!

And the Sun’s answer did not disappoint her. What the people there believed in was neither one of the seven mainstream orthodox deities, nor the Death worshiped on the Southern Continent, nor any of the secret existences, evil gods, and demons the Hanged Man had told her about—the Primordial Demoness, the Hidden Sage, the Dark Side of the Universe, the Chained God, the True Creator, and so on.

The City of Silver really is special! They actually believe directly in the “Creator” Himself! Does that count as the kind of primitive worship Mr. Hanged Man described? Hm, the description of “omniscient and omnipotent” is a little strange…

Audrey instinctively tilted her head and glanced at the Hanged Man, discovering that he was indeed nodding slightly.

Klein, however, showed not the slightest surprise. He deliberately chuckled and asked in return, “Even though He abandoned you?”

Abandoned? The Creator abandoned the City of Silver?

The Hanged Man, Alger, shuddered. A specific term instantly appeared in his mind:

“The Forsaken Land of the Gods!”

In the internal materials of the Church of the Lord of Storms, and among the secrets someone like Alger—a “captain” at bishop level—could access, the Forsaken Land of the Gods had always been only a name. There was no concrete description attached to it. But it clearly pointed toward the end of the Sonia Sea. As far as he knew, even the Cardinals who belonged to the Church’s core did not understand what the Forsaken Land of the Gods truly represented. Only the leader of the Church, the Lord of Storms’ “Proxy,” knew a little. And apparently, that person was secretly presiding over covert operations to find the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

Alger had once made a bold conjecture, equating the True Creator’s “Sanctuary” preached by the Aurora Order with the Forsaken Land of the Gods. Unfortunately, the Fool had given him no answer, leaving him unable to confirm it.

And now, he was shocked and stunned to discover that the member of the Tarot Club codenamed the Sun very likely came from the Forsaken Land of the Gods!

Mr. Fool has known all along where the Forsaken Land of the Gods is, and He can even pull members in from there? That is the secret place the Church of the Lord of Storms has always wanted to find, yet has never found!

Terrified, Alger looked toward the Fool seated at the very head of the ancient long table. He saw only that the other party leaned back in His chair, shrouded in dense fog, seemingly saying nothing at all.

Audrey did not feel much about this matter. The only time she had heard of the Forsaken Land of the Gods had been when the Hanged Man asked about it, and she had not taken the matter to heart. Thus, she could not make any associations from what Mr. Fool had just said.

The City of Silver has a legend of being abandoned by the Creator… Hm? Mr. Hanged Man’s emotions are fluctuating a great deal… What is he astonished and afraid about?

Audrey nodded thoughtfully, committing that detail to memory.

“Yes. We all believe that we will eventually regain the Lord’s blessing. Perhaps it will be on the day when the Sun rises again,” Derrick Berg answered, his tone not especially firm. “We were once ruled by the Giant King’s Court and believed in the Giant King, Aurmir. Later, we received the Lord’s salvation. We will not turn our backs on Him again.”

Ruled by the Giant King’s Court… That is indeed ancient… But the dates seem difficult to match…

Alger, who already had a guess, instantly thought of the secret chapters in the Book of Storms regarding the Second Epoch.

The Second Epoch was also called humanity’s Dark Epoch. In that era, the protagonists of the skies, seas, and lands were dragons, giants, elves, mutants, demons, phoenixes, demonic wolves, and undead. In the end, the Lord of Storms, the Eternal Blazing Sun, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom led humanity to defeat these extraordinary creatures one by one, ushering in the Radiant Era at the beginning of the Third Epoch. Only after that had come the so-called Cataclysm.

Giant King Aurmir…

Klein silently repeated the name.

In many myths and legends, this was a powerful existence comparable to a deity. Even today, worship of him still lingered in certain places. For example, the most famous and expensive wine in the Intis Republic was named “Aurmir.” It was said that the Giant King had dearly loved wine as red as blood.

Considering that the complete pathway controlled by the Church of the God of Combat—the Warrior pathway—once belonged to the Giant King’s Court, could it be said that Aurmir was the ancient God of Combat?

Klein made that conjecture.

He deliberately nodded once and did not dig deeper into the matter. Instead, he spoke in a slow, low tone.

“Do you still ‘sacrifice’ to that omniscient and omnipotent God?”

“Yes, we still do. But from the day we were abandoned onward, we have never again received a response,” the Sun, Derrick, said, unable to hide the pain in his voice.

Klein leaned back even more leisurely and half closed his eyes.

“Describe the process of your sacrifice in detail.”

Mr. Fool wants to understand the truth behind the City of Silver’s abandonment? Or rather, He wants to confirm whether that Creator still “exists”?

The Hanged Man, Alger, suddenly felt as though an electric current had passed through his entire body, causing him to tremble.

He was not only terrified. He was excited as well, because he believed he was coming into contact with secrets between deities!

That made him feel as though his own level had been elevated!

Is this not the very feeling I pursue authority and power for?

Alger leaned back slightly, lifted his chin a little, and thought almost in intoxication.

Mr. Hanged Man’s mental state is rather abnormal…

Justice, Audrey, looked at him with pity.

She finally understood that the exchange between Mr. Fool and the Sun probably concealed some astonishing secret—so astonishing that even the Hanged Man lost composure.

After the Qilangos commission ends, I will pay a reward and exchange with Mr. Hanged Man for what he understood today… I wonder whether he will be willing…

Audrey thought with both anticipation and worry.

The Sun, Derrick, however, felt nothing improper. He answered honestly, “We built a magnificent altar carved all over with the Lord’s symbols. Whenever the black-faced grass is harvested, we hold one sacrificial ritual.”

“We capture monsters from the depths of darkness as offerings. After reciting the Lord’s honorific name and the corresponding prayer, and after dancing to please Him, we kill those monsters and let their spirituality or tainted blood cover the entire altar. If we fail to capture any monsters, then we use ‘sinners’ from the lowest level of the City of Silver’s prison instead.”

“Then we take the first harvested stalks of black-faced grass, turn them into food, and offer them before the Lord.”

“Finally, amid our collective praise, the ritual ends.”

Because what I intend to attempt is “sacrificing” to myself, I do not need to choose the time, and the altar can be simple… The most important step is using the spirituality of those monsters, or blood containing extraordinary power, to open a channel and complete the sacrifice. Of course, the premise is that a response can be obtained. How extravagant…

Klein analyzed every step of the City of Silver’s sacrificial ritual using the mysticism knowledge he possessed. At last, he asked, “What is the corresponding prayer? What language do you use to recite it?”

Derrick likewise hoped to obtain guidance from Mr. Fool on breaking free from the curse. He carefully recalled and said, “We use Giant. It is also our common language.”

“The corresponding prayer is:

“Your faithful believers pray for Your gaze;

“They pray that You accept their offering;

“They pray that You open the gates of Your kingdom.”

…

Klein listened silently. He deliberately allowed the gray fog around him to slowly coil and drift, then nodded as if deep in thought and said nothing.

As for what he had understood from it, of course he would not say…

The Hanged Man, Alger, found this completely normal. How could the secrets of deities be directly told to mortals? The Sun, Derrick, meanwhile, made up his mind to grow quickly and obtain something that interested Mr. Fool as soon as possible, so that he could exchange for guidance.

After a while longer of conversation, Klein ended that day’s gathering and watched as the figures of Justice, the Hanged Man, and the Sun vanished before him.

He gazed downward. The boundless gray fog and crimson stars seemed as though they would remain unchanged forever.

However, after advancing to Sequence 8, he had discovered that he could connect to even more stars. In other words, he could bring in more members.

At least two more…

Klein nodded almost imperceptibly.

He was in no hurry to increase their numbers. As before, he planned to wait and observe first. If Justice or the Hanged Man had any recommendations, he would examine the candidates first.

“Several times before, when the Sun prayed, I saw a pure crystal ball before him. But after I pulled him above the gray fog, that crystal ball never appeared again… Could the prerequisite for pulling people in through crimson stars be that the other party has a special item beside them? Or perhaps every crimson star corresponds to one item in the real world, and once a connection is completed, the item returns to the gray fog?”

“I wonder whether Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man are the same… Suppose this guess is true. Then if a person without such a special item recites ‘The Fool that does not belong to this era, the mysterious ruler above the gray fog, the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck,’ and I hear their prayer, can I still pull them here?”

“I can try it in the future…”

Klein did not linger. He wrapped himself in spirituality and simulated the sensation of falling sharply downward, leaving only the towering palace, the ancient long table, and the twenty-two high-backed chairs standing silently and unchanging above the gray fog.

He had already mastered the overflowing power of the Clown potion and eliminated its corresponding negative effects. Now, he would attempt the ritual of summoning himself!

I wonder what kind of thing this will produce…

Passing through the mad ravings, Klein thought with both anticipation and fear.