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…