Chapter 72: Playing God

Chapter 72: Playing God

Above the gray fog, inside the palace that resembled the home of giants.

Klein sat upright in The Fool’s seat. With a lift of his right hand, he made the Sea God Scepter hidden in the pile of miscellaneous items fly out and land in his palm.

At first, he had actually intended to place this Grade 1-equivalent Sealed Artifact beside his seat as a show of respect to a demigod-level item. But after careful consideration, he believed the Sea God Scepter was still not quite worthy of matching The Fool’s mysterious strength—a being capable of opposing evil gods such as the True Creator and the Primordial Demoness. Only an item on the level of a Card of Blasphemy was barely suitable. Therefore, he had still thrown the Sea God Scepter into the pile of junk.

Looking at the blue-green specks of light surrounding the white-bone short scepter, Klein’s thoughts stirred, and he formed the intention of performing a preliminary classification.

As he had expected, those blue-green points of light separated on their own according to his will. Those that merely praised Sea God or prayed casually sank downward, their speed of disappearance increasing. Those involving confession or requests floated upward instead, drawing closer to Klein’s palm.

Following his spiritual intuition, he “tapped” one of the latter.

Abruptly, he saw high-rising waves and heard the violent howling of wind.

A coastal fishing boat bobbed and pitched within the unstable dark-blue sea, rising and falling, thrown about and lifted again, as if it might capsize at any moment.

On the fishing boat, those who were clearly local natives either hugged the mast tightly or pulled ropes, making their final efforts. Many among them recited Sea God’s honorific name in fear and panic.

Klein sensed that this was an ongoing prayer, so he raised the milky-white scepter.

At the top of the scepter, the blue-green “gemstones” bloomed with halos one after another, connecting into a single sheet that illuminated the scene.

Just as the fishermen were gradually falling into despair, they suddenly felt the ship that had been thrown up again and again stabilize beneath them.

They looked around in astonishment and saw that the mountain-like layers of huge waves had, at some unknown point, become calm. The wind that had raged across the sea grew weaker and weaker, becoming as gentle as the taste of Zarhar beer.

The dark clouds stacked across the sky dispersed. Before the storm could fully display itself, it was forcibly pressed back down by a mysterious power.

The fishermen soon woke from their daze and understood what had happened:

Sea God had protected them. Sea God had displayed His majesty!

Thud, thud, thud!

They all prostrated themselves on the deck, spreading their hands and pressing them to their lips, reciting Sea God’s honorific name with uneven voices:

“Thank You. Praise You, Blessed of the sea and the spirit world, Protector of the Rorsted Archipelago, Ruler of undersea creatures, Master of tsunamis and storms, great Kalvetua!”

Above the gray fog, Klein inexplicably felt a little gloomy.

It was clearly me who saved you. Why are you thanking Kalvetua?

That sea serpent only knew how to deliberately create hurricanes, raise waves, and frighten you so that you had no choice but to believe in it devoutly…

Klein was silent for two seconds, then suddenly laughed.

“Kalvetua is already dead. The current Kalvetua is another one of my identities.

“Why should I feel unhappy because someone is thanking another identity of mine?

“Is this precisely the problem one must pay attention to when a Faceless carries out real acting? Truly integrate into the identity, treating his joys, anger, sorrow, and happiness as one’s own, yet never forget who one originally was… This really is difficult. One careless mistake and the result will be mental disorder. And once a Beyonder’s mind becomes unstable, losing control is not far away…”

After carefully thinking for a while, Klein exhaled and chuckled to himself.

“Playing the role of Sea God is quite rewarding after all.

“Although with the gray fog’s shielding and isolation, this acting may not necessarily receive feedback and directly promote the digestion of my Faceless potion, it can still provide experience and lessons, helping me work out safer and more effective acting methods.”

Restraining his thoughts, Klein extended his spirituality toward another point of light.

This prayer came from beneath a bridge. A woman in ragged clothes, her body already rotting and oozing pus, leaned into a corner, murmuring Sea God’s honorific name and making her final confession.

Through her account, Klein seemed to witness her short life with his own eyes.

She was a local native woman. Her parents both believed in Sea God, so she also believed in Sea God. For the first decade or more of her life, her father had worked as a miner, repaired roads, and laid railways, while her mother mainly took various temporary jobs—sewing, washing clothes, helping at the docks, and intermittently working as a streetwalker. Their family had been extremely poor, but they had still been able to get by.

The turning point came two years ago. Her father unfortunately died in a road-building accident, but the Rorsted Railway Company gave only a very meager compensation. The family gradually walked toward ruin.

Afterward, the girl was sold by her mother to the Red Theater and became a legal prostitute.

Although Emperor Roselle had long since invented condoms, many pirates and adventurers, pursuing momentary pleasure, were unwilling to use them. The Red Theater itself did not enforce their use either. The girl’s resistance was ineffective. She could only submit, and in the end, no one knew who infected her with disease.

The managers of the Red Theater tried giving her simple treatment. Seeing no great improvement, they drove her out, because compared with the cost of later treatment, buying another girl was obviously much cheaper.

The sick girl not only could not find new work, she did not even have the money to rent a room. Her mother, younger siblings, and the rest of her family had long since vanished. Perhaps they had already died. Perhaps they had been seized and become slaves.

The girl became a vagrant and lived beneath a bridge, relying on food from charitable organizations and some free medicine to struggle for a while.

But that could only last briefly. Her illness grew heavier and heavier. Her body grew weaker and weaker. Soon, she reached the end of her life.

At that moment, she recalled the period when she had eaten the most and dressed the warmest. She remembered certain words that pirates and adventurers had occasionally said, and she whispered a prayer to Sea God:

“I want to live like a person…”

Klein slightly raised the scepter again, only to discover that this Sealed Artifact had no ability to treat disease.

He wondered whether he should, in The World’s name, purchase a batch of medicine from Emlyn White. Then he realized that the scene of prayer came from noon. The girl had already passed away—in that muddy, filthy bridge hole, amid pain throughout her body and intense hunger.

Klein remained silent for a while. He let the perspective of the prayer scene rise, revealing the location of that bridge.

After memorizing the nearby streets and surrounding area, Klein leaned against the back of the chair, sighed, and smiled without the slightest trace of mirth.

“What a humble wish.

“There is nothing here suitable for acting… I will at least try to let you be buried like a person…”

He withdrew his attention and browsed the other points of light, searching for targets suitable for real acting, but for the moment, he gained nothing.

During that process, Klein noticed Kalat, Edmonton, and the other rebels performing a ritual. They placed a batch of items on the altar and prayed for Sea God to bestow them with power.

So this is how the Beyonder “things” they bring out for exchange are made… At the demigod level, things really are different… And they are all used to not receiving an immediate response. They seem to intend for those items to stay on the altar overnight… It seems Kalvetua, that sea serpent, did not respond instantly either. It depended on its mood and whether it was sleeping. Otherwise, it could only make some instinctive responses and could not produce Beyonder “things” in batches… Klein picked up the Sea God Scepter, once again making those blue-green “gemstones” glow brightly.

Vast spirituality combined in a wondrous fashion, carrying a transcendent sensation as it poured into the prayer scene and into that altar, randomly fusing with the different items.

Some became Electric Shock Charms. Some allowed a person to swim in the sea like a fish. Some could raise powerful winds… Within three months, their spirituality would gradually fade away to nothing… Klein half closed his eyes, experiencing the changes in those items.

By this point, he was already quite tired. Although he had only responded twice, and had mainly relied on the Sea God Scepter’s power, one response had forcibly dispersed a storm and calmed waves, while the other had simultaneously “enchanted” dozens of items. Both were applications at the demigod level, and the consumption of his own spirituality was very large.

“Even if I can use this Sea God Scepter normally, I cannot maintain it for long… Its negative effects, on the other hand, do not burden me. Perhaps, in some circumstances, I can try to use them…

“Mm, the rebels’ matter reminds me that I should also pray to myself and make a batch of charms—primarily the kind suited for underwater activity. That way, even if I encounter a naval battle, I will not be completely helpless. Right, I still do not know how to make Lightning Charms. I need to gather mysticism information in that area. With those, I can deal with enemies who possess air superiority…”

Klein muttered soundlessly, tossed the Sea God Scepter back into the pile of miscellaneous items, and swiftly returned to the real world.

…

East Chester County, in the broad and beautiful countryside, by the side gate of a sprawling manor.

Audrey Hall wore a black riding outfit that cinched at the waist, with a simply decorated lady’s blouse underneath. She sat with great familiarity on a chestnut mare, not swaying in the slightest.

Her long black leather boots rested in the stirrups. Her legs, clad in white trousers, gently pressed the horse’s sides. Turning her head to the golden retriever Susie, who carried a small leather satchel, Audrey smiled and said, “I will wait for you at the edge of the woods!”

With that, she gripped the riding crop, lowered her waist, and let the chestnut mare move from a slow trot into a run across the fields.

Compared with the gorgeous and expensive yet gloomy family castle, Audrey preferred beautiful manors and rural scenery.

One fine horse after another followed at a run. Their riders were attendants and maids, and they had only one duty: protect Miss Audrey well.

Susie also ran wildly with joy, a feeling that could never be experienced in Backlund.

Moreover, she and Audrey were going on a small adventure today: exploring an ancient tower deep in the woods that had collapsed long ago. Everything valuable inside had long since been taken away, and no accidents had ever occurred there. It was very suitable for inexperienced people to practice various skills.

The only problem was that there were still two hours before dusk, and time might not be enough.