Chapter 157: List

Chapter 157: List

Regarding Admiral of Stars’ request, Klein had no reason to refuse. After thinking for two seconds, he said, “Seven hundred pounds.”

“Very fair.” Cattleya did not bargain.

Under ordinary circumstances, a Sequence 8 Beyonder characteristic was worth six or seven hundred pounds. But if someone urgently needed it, a premium was common. After all, at a single Beyonder gathering, such an item might not appear even once over a long period of time.

Klein did not complete the transaction immediately. His expression unchanged, he lifted his suitcase slightly and said, “I’ll give it to you tomorrow.”

He was not carrying the Pugilist Beyonder characteristic with him. Most of his valuable items had been left above the gray fog.

Admiral of Stars Cattleya was not surprised by Gehrman Sparrow’s answer. She gave a small nod.

“No problem.”

She had encountered similar situations many times. It usually meant that, together with the Pugilist Beyonder characteristic, there were other items that could not be shown to outsiders. Therefore, Gehrman Sparrow would not possibly open his suitcase in front of her and complete the transaction on the spot.

A crazy adventurer always had a few secrets.

After a pause of one second, Cattleya added, “There will be no arrangements for spying in your room.”

What she needed to see, she had already seen directly.

“It doesn’t matter.” Klein drew the corner of his mouth into a faint, indifferent smile.

His original plan had been to take out items such as Azik’s copper whistle and Will Auceptin’s paper crane whenever he held a ritual or went above the gray fog, using them to counter any mystical surveillance. As for physical monitoring, he could avoid it by using the same method he used when going to the washroom.

Of course, he was not worried that Admiral of Stars would overdo things. It was not because he believed she would fear the crazy adventurer Gehrman Sparrow, but because he felt Cattleya had no need to act so crudely. She should have more gentle and concealed ways to observe him.

For example, inviting a Beyonder of the Spectator pathway… Klein removed his hat, gave a bow, and followed Toxin Expert Frank Lee toward his room.

Watching him leave at an unhurried pace, Cattleya turned and entered the captain’s cabin. She picked up a heavy pair of glasses and placed them on the bridge of her nose.

…

Backlund, South Bridge Borough, Harvest Church.

In the eyes of ordinary people, Bishop Utravsky was already nearly half-giant in height. He put down the scripture in his hand, swept his gaze across the prayer hall, and smiled with satisfaction.

“There are more and more believers.”

“Is that so?” Emlyn White, wearing a brown clerical robe, wiped a candlestick without even lifting his eyelids.

He knew that after the Great Smog of Backlund, believers of the Mother had indeed increased significantly. Previously, during ordinary hours that were neither weekends nor evenings, it was already a miracle if three to five people came to pray. Now the number often approached ten.

Father Utravsky lowered his head and glanced at the busy vampire clergyman, then chuckled.

“So long as one isn’t blind, one can see it.

“And among them, your contribution has been considerable. If you had not prepared medicine back then, treated the plague, and later sincerely taught medicinal knowledge to those willing to learn, it would have been very difficult for our faith to be accepted by the people of this district.”

Holding the rag, Emlyn straightened his back, slightly lifted his chin, and said, “I was merely acting.”

Wait. What do you mean, our faith? Who is “our”? The skin at his cheek twitched faintly before he turned and said with a smile, “Speaking of blind people, I remember a joke I once saw. It said that blind people in Backlund are in short supply, because they are widely believed to be the best candidates for referees.”

Father Utravsky skipped over the joke and said gently, “No matter what your purpose was, you made an outstanding contribution to spreading the Mother’s faith.

“And that also proves that you possess a kind heart.”

Bah! That’s exactly what I said back then, so why didn’t you believe me? Emlyn raised his head to look at the Father’s enormous build, then silently lowered his gaze again.

After finishing the work at the church, he changed back into normal clothing, put on his silk hat that blocked the sunlight, and walked out onto Rose Street.

He discreetly looked left and right but found no signs of surveillance.

“That Red Glove called Leonard really never appeared again… I thought that after I exposed his secret and bought the Fire Seed glove, he would investigate me in secret the entire time…” Emlyn White shook his head almost imperceptibly, filled with puzzlement.

At first, he had even considered combining Mr. Hanged Man’s theory with the Red Gloves’ investigation, using it to interfere with the higher-ups of the Sanguine who were monitoring him. Meanwhile, with the help of the Church of the Earth Mother and the Blessed Father Utravsky, he could achieve a perfect balance.

But matters had not developed the way he expected. Leonard Mitchell seemed to have left Backlund very quickly.

In late February, during one of his outings, Emlyn had deliberately taken a detour to 7 Pinster Street and found that no one lived there anymore.

No longer thinking about the matter, he walked to the end of the street, boarded a rental carriage, and headed straight for the Odora family’s villa.

After being led by an attendant into the study on the first floor, Emlyn saw several Sanguine who had only recently reached adulthood. Among them was even one of his kin who had already become a baron.

It isn’t a private meeting with me? After a moment of thought, he stood by the closed door and addressed the owner of the place, Cosmi Odora.

“Lord Baron, wasn’t it Lord Nibes who summoned me?”

His “Lord Baron” was spoken in a flat tone, almost as if he were simply calling the other party by name. After all, he was also a Sanguine baron now; it simply had not been announced.

Cosmi was a middle-aged gentleman with considerable bearing. Hearing this, he smiled and said, “All of you are outstanding members of the younger generation of the Sanguine. My grandfather has entrusted me with giving you a few tests.”

“What tests?” asked the other Sanguine baron, Rus Bathory, who had luckily inherited a legacy.

Cosmi took a sip of dark-red blood mixed with wine, looked around, and said, “Perhaps you do not yet know, but the Snake of Fate of the School of Life has been missing for some time.”

In the midst of the surprise and confusion of Emlyn White and the other Sanguine, who looked at one another in bewilderment, Cosmi continued, “But I believe you should understand very clearly that the School of Life is an organization only barely stitched together. Beyonders who believe in fate and consider themselves detached, absolutely rational beings formed an alliance at the beginning of the Fifth Epoch with believers who worship the Primordial Moon and seek the essence of life and spirituality, all under the enormous pressure exerted by the seven great Churches.

“Because of the existence of that Snake of Fate, no major internal problems had ever appeared. Worship of the Primordial Moon was always limited and fixed to symbolic significance, and through master-apprentice transmission and formula exchange, the two sides were slowly, genuinely merging.

“Unfortunately—heh—with the disappearance of that Snake of Fate, this process was interrupted. The worshipers of the Primordial Moon quickly became fanatical, split with the faction representing fate, and erupted into fierce conflict.

“The Rose School of Thought took advantage of this matter, inflicting considerable damage upon them.”

Seeing that Emlyn White, Rus Bathory, and the other Sanguine still looked somewhat puzzled, Cosmi, having finished explaining the background, turned to the main point.

“Worshipers of the Primordial Moon are our eternal enemies. They have always hunted us, using us to concoct potions and obtain power.

“Now we cannot let this opportunity pass.

“Here is a list. It records the situations of several believers of the Primordial Moon. Whoever can find their whereabouts and kill them will be the winner of this test. My grandfather and the other elders will not be stingy with rewards.

“If all of you complete only a portion, the result will be calculated by number.

“Of course, these targets were selected carefully and are within your range of strength. The rest are being tracked by the elders.”

When Emlyn heard the earlier portion, although he was filled with contempt and hatred toward those “artificial” vampires, he had no intention of getting involved. He felt this sort of matter was far too troublesome, exhausting, and noisy. It would be better to stay quietly at home and converse with his dolls.

But when he discovered that this was a contest between them, and faintly sensed the gazes of Rus Bathory and the other Sanguine turning toward him, Emlyn abruptly straightened his back, raised his chin, and said, “No problem.”

His scarlet eyes slowly swept over the other creatures in the room.

…

Aboard the Future, inside a spacious room with an attached washroom.

Klein stood by the window, gazing at the endlessly undulating blue sea outside, breathing in the cold wind blowing from the north in a fairly good mood.

The flagship of Admiral of Stars had already separated from the other ships and begun sailing alone.

After an unknown amount of time, two whaling ships appeared ahead. The moment they noticed the star-and-eye flag flying from the Future, they immediately reacted with nervous caution.

They swiftly adjusted their positions, turning their sides toward the Future. One cannon after another stood ready to fire.

At the same time, the whaling cannons that used explosives to launch spears and harpoons were also turned in the same direction. The tall, pale-blond fishermen of the Gargas Islands either held forks or gripped guns, some standing and some crouching, all exceptionally alert.

Klein noticed that among them were women whose figures were almost comparable to the green-skinned giants of fiction. One look was enough to tell that they were especially heavy and especially capable of fighting.

The Future ignored their “welcome,” passing by on its own and continuing deeper along the whaling route.

After sailing for a while longer, Klein saw several pirate ships ahead. They were gathered at the edge of the route, doing something unknown.

The Future approached without the slightest courtesy. Those pirate ships immediately scattered like birds that had been shot at, fleeing rapidly into the distance.

Sensing that the Future was slowing down more and more, Klein left his room in mild confusion.

Just as he neared the captain’s cabin, he saw Admiral of Stars Cattleya step out. The lady wore thick glasses on the bridge of her nose, concealing her mysterious, deep-purple eyes.

She glanced at Klein and said succinctly, “Someone discovered what is said to be a Fourth Epoch ruin beneath the sea here.

“We intend to take a look while passing by.”

Beneath the sea? A Fourth Epoch ruin? Klein immediately recalled the rumor he had heard in Lodar Bar.

So this news has already spread? I knew it shouldn’t have been that easy to overhear… He muttered inwardly in realization.