Chapter 87: Inferring the Whole from Details

Chapter 87: Inferring the Whole from Details

After a brief moment of thought, The Hermit Cattleya made the choice most advantageous to herself. Without showing any emotion, she said, “I will first look over what common monsters exist around the City of Silver before deciding.”

Another one freeloading information… Do people who spend too long at sea all become so skilled at taking advantage of others? Or perhaps Little Sun’s posture is just too perfect, making people unable to resist fleecing him… The Fool Klein instinctively excluded himself from the ranks of those freeloading without paying.

“Alright.” Under the gazes of Justice and the others, The Sun Derrick agreed to Madam Hermit’s request without the slightest hesitation.

He recalled the information and materialized it, listing the common monsters in the regions surrounding the City of Silver. It was not as detailed as the previous time and had quite a few omissions. After all, the Sun pathway’s enhancement of memory was fairly limited, and many days had already passed.

The Hermit Cattleya accepted the document and began reading it seriously.

The more she read, the more alarmed she became, because the number of monster species far exceeded her imagination—dozens, perhaps even hundreds of times more than she had expected!

Most of the names used were ancient terms. If she had not been a member of the Moses Ascetic Order, pursued by knowledge, and if she had not already reached Sequence 5, with broad experience and extensive learning, she would have had no way of knowing what many of those names truly referred to.

Even so, quite a few of the monsters remained ones she had never heard of, like things from dreams or imagination—“shadows” hiding deep within the darkness, never truly revealing themselves.

Where exactly is the City of Silver? How can so many monsters exist there? After ten-odd seconds, Cattleya raised her head. Her expression remained unchanged, and her tone was steady as she said, “Use the history of the City of Silver in exchange.”

“Alright.” The Sun Derrick’s eyes brightened, as though he had seen the dawn of his advancement.

With Mr. Fool’s help, he soon materialized the outline of the City of Silver’s history textbook. Having accumulated a fair amount of experience, he knew that more complete and detailed content was worth far more than the fruit of a Radiant Pact Spirit Tree, so he held some information back.

The Hermit Cattleya knew that she was not Mr. Fool, and it was impossible to make the other members wait patiently while she read. Therefore, after casually flipping through it and confirming its value, she considered her words and asked, “How should I give you the fruit of the Radiant Pact Spirit Tree?”

The moment she finished speaking, she suddenly thought of several things and formed a guess. She turned her head toward the seat at the head of the bronze long table and asked, “Mr. Fool, is it by means of sacrifice?”

Justice Audrey, who had already prepared the answer on the same side, was visibly stunned for a moment, swallowing back the words that had reached her lips.

Madam Hermit is really knowledgeable and impressive. She immediately guessed the use of sacrifice and bestowment! Audrey controlled the tiny movements of her face and inwardly clicked her tongue in admiration.

“Mm.” Klein nodded lightly, offering no further explanation.

He believed that a pirate admiral, a Sequence 5 powerhouse of the Mystery Pryer pathway, could not possibly be ignorant of how to perform a sacrifice. This was even one of their specialties. Moreover, the other party already knew The Fool’s honorific name, so there was no lack of any necessary condition.

As expected, with a true deity present and witnessing the gathering, sacrifice and bestowment are the most convenient and safest transaction method… And communication at the spiritual-body level can directly solve the exchange of knowledge… The Hermit Cattleya gave thanks, then turned to The Sun and said, “I will complete it as soon as possible.”

Although she appeared outwardly calm, her heart was far from peaceful. Just now, even from casually glancing through the materials The Sun had provided, she had discovered that the City of Silver was truly filled with abnormalities.

The Lord had abandoned them. There was no sun, only eternal night and lightning that alternated between high and low frequencies. In the lightless darkness lurked strange and terrifying monsters. They had relied on black-faced grass to finally survive. They had persisted in the Age of Deep Darkness for more than two thousand years. All of this lay beyond The Hermit Cattleya’s imagination.

As a knowledgeable powerhouse upon the sea who understood many secrets, she instantly connected the time period and events described to one of the most famous concepts in history:

The Cataclysm!

Immediately, following that line of thought, she formed an even deeper conjecture:

The Forsaken Land of the Gods!

In an instant, The Hermit Cattleya’s mind once again surfaced with that figure that made people want to look up, and with a sentence spoken in a slightly sighing tone:

“Before his death, he had always been searching for the Forsaken Land of the Gods. He said that all final answers were hidden there.”

The Sun comes from the Forsaken Land of the Gods that Emperor Roselle searched for but never found? Mr. Fool can connect to that place? No, perhaps He awakened from there… The Hermit Cattleya thought in shock and gravity.

Just earlier, because The Moon, Justice, The Sun, and the others were not high in Sequence, she had looked down slightly on the Tarot Club, believing that Mr. Fool had not awakened long ago and that the members He could pull in were clearly insufficient in level. Now, she had no choice but to adjust her understanding.

It involves the Forsaken Land of the Gods, the Church of Storms, the Church of the Earth Mother, and the noble class of Loen… Perhaps it is precisely because they must begin from lower Sequences that these members can rise to high positions within their respective circles without drawing suspicion and play more important roles… As for me, is it because of the Moses Ascetic Order, or because of Her Majesty the Queen? Cattleya seriously analyzed Mr. Fool’s intentions.

By then, the trading segment was nearing its end. The Moon, The Sun, and Justice had each settled their respective transactions. The Hermit Cattleya, still observing and prioritizing caution, did not speak rashly and expose her own information.

The Hanged Man Alger had originally intended to seek the Sequence 5 Ocean Songster potion formula in advance, preparing for the future. However, The Hermit’s arrival made him especially guarded, and he temporarily abandoned the plan. He decided to wait until he truly advanced to Wind-blessed, when he would be stronger and have more room to maneuver.

The Magician Fors, meanwhile, would soon receive the Astrologer potion formula and some materials from her teacher. Before that, she did not know what to buy in advance and could only quietly watch.

Deep inside, she actually did have a little impulse. She wanted to buy a mystical item to compensate for the relatively showy but not sufficiently powerful abilities of Trickmaster, while Apprentice was merely good at passing through walls and opening doors. But the realities of her situation constrained her desire.

At present, her savings exceeded four hundred pounds. For the middle class, that was already quite decent. But she clearly remembered that Miss Justice had spent a full 5,500 pounds last time buying a mystical item.

Even if it is only average, as long as its negative effects are not too severe, a mystical item should still cost one or two thousand pounds… The Magician Fors sat there lazily, unable to bring herself to make a purchase request.

Klein controlled The World, made him look around, and said in a deep, hoarse voice, “I need the eye of a six-winged gargoyle.”

Among the supplementary materials for the Marionettist potion, water from Sonia’s Golden Spring and bark from the dragon-patterned tree were both common and frequently used materials in the mysterious world. As long as he purchased them separately, it would not arouse suspicion. Therefore, Klein mentioned only the six-winged gargoyle’s eye.

The Hermit Cattleya glanced at The World and said in an unhurried tone, “Three hundred pounds, or gold coins of equivalent value.”

She had noticed that previous transactions had used Loen gold pounds.

As expected of Admiral of Stars, someone who commands a pirate crew and has an ancient force backing her. Her resources are truly abundant, and the price is cheaper than normal… If Little Sun were not close to advancing and soon able to obtain the method for removing mental pollution from Beyonder characteristics, I would want to consult her about that matter… Klein’s thoughts shifted, and The World gave a low laugh.

“Deal.”

As that transaction was completed, the palace like a giant’s residence grew quiet for more than ten seconds.

Without any reminder from Mr. Fool, Justice, The Sun, and the others all knew that they had entered the free exchange segment.

The Hanged Man Alger deliberately avoided looking at Madam Hermit. Turning toward Miss Justice and Miss Magician, he said, “A major event recently occurred in the Rorsted Archipelago.”

He did not intend to reveal that The World had been deeply involved, nor that Mr. Fool might now possess a Sea God incarnation. Rashly seeking confirmation might disrupt Mr. Fool’s plans, and that would make things extremely dangerous for him.

He planned only to mention the surface events in a normal tone, focusing on the member of the Moses Ascetic Order, the archaeologist and adventurer Leticia. He wanted to use this to probe The Hermit and see whether she was Admiral of Stars Cattleya, because rumor had it that this pirate admiral was also a member of the Moses Ascetic Order.

“What happened?” Justice Audrey asked with great interest.

The Hanged Man Alger said evenly, “The disguised archaeologist Leticia discovered an ancient elven ruin on Simim Island and took an item from within it. This indirectly caused the local deity worshiped there, Sea God Kalvetua, to approach collapse.

“This false god attempted to create a tsunami, flood the islands, and make everyone accompany him in death, but he was stopped by the Sea King of the Church of Storms.

“In the end, Leticia was found, Kalvetua died, and the threat of the tsunami was completely resolved. Yet strangely, Sea God’s devout believers can still occasionally receive responses.”

Leticia is dead? For an ancient elven ruin… The Hermit Cattleya had heard of this archaeologist belonging to the same organization, but she was not familiar with her. Moreover, formal members of the Moses Ascetic Order all underwent periods of silent ascetic practice. In terms of concentration and control over themselves, they surpassed ordinary people by far. Therefore, she was only slightly affected. She listened to The Hanged Man’s account more carefully, showing no obvious abnormality.

When The Hanged Man finished mentioning that Kalvetua had died yet Sea God still responded to believers, Cattleya first frowned in confusion. Then, relying on spiritual intuition, she recalled a certain image.

Yesterday, when Mr. Fool had pulled her here, she had seen Him holding a milky-white scepter.

The top of that scepter was embedded with blue-green “gemstones,” and countless sacred points of light surrounded it.

Most importantly, it radiated an aura of divinity, and an almost tangible aura of the sea and storms!

This… The Hermit Cattleya instinctively turned her head and looked toward the head of the bronze long table, toward Mr. Fool, who was shrouded in grayish-white fog.