Chapter 59: More Than Half a Year Later

Chapter 59: More Than Half a Year Later

Bayam, the City of Generosity. Inside a rented room lit by a gas wall lamp.

Verdu Abraham, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, held a thick stack of materials. By the not especially bright light, he read them seriously, occasionally using a pen to mark a symbol and record content he felt might prove useful.

His main reason for leaving Loen and coming to the Rorsted Archipelago was to escape the attention of Dorian and the other family members, so he could study mysticism in peace and search for an effective method to rescue the ancestor Bethel Abraham—or, to be more precise, reliable knowledge that could reduce the difficulty of that ritual.

Yet more than half a year had passed, and he still had no clues whatsoever. It seemed that apart from hunting a Bizarro Sorcerer, a Parasite, and a Secrets Sorcerer, there was no other choice.

This left Verdu quite dispirited. However, he also clearly understood how dangerous Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts were. Even if he was willing to sacrifice himself, he would still be unable to truly control one, and there would be no guarantee as to what the final result would be.

More importantly, he could not find a Bizarro Sorcerer or a Parasite at all. They were both Saints famed for secretive movements and bizarre methods.

Phew… Verdu put down the stack of materials in his hand and muttered almost soundlessly,

“Can I only be like Dorian and the others, placing hope in that Fool?”

At the thought of The Fool, Verdu could not help frowning, because more and more half-giants were preaching the faith of The Fool inside Bayam. Even he, who rarely went out, had heard about it.

This made him wonder whether he had arrived near the headquarters of The Fool’s Church.

If the Rorsted Archipelago did not secretly circulate far more mysticism knowledge than Verdu had expected, and if much of it were not extremely useful knowledge even the Abraham family did not possess, he would have left Bayam a month ago and gone to the Southern Continent.

“I cannot stay here any longer. I need to book a ship ticket to East Balam as soon as possible…” Verdu had just made that decision inwardly when he wavered slightly. “Dorian and The Fool’s Church probably would never imagine that I’m hiding in the area radiated by their headquarters. Emperor Roselle once said that the most dangerous place is also the safest place…”

While hesitating, Verdu put away the materials, extinguished the wall lamp, and walked toward the bedroom by the moonlight outside the window.

At one corner of the room’s balcony, a figure suddenly darted out of the darkness and leapt over the railing.

The figure was like a feather, light and weightless. When it landed from a height of over ten meters, it did not make the slightest sound.

Immediately afterward, the figure moved along the dark parts of the street, sneaking all the way to the vicinity of the Church of the Sea God, then climbed to the bell tower.

Then “he” took out paper and a pen, swiftly wrote tonight’s surveillance situation into a report, and stuffed it into a certain crack.

About a quarter of an hour after that figure left, the sound of wind suddenly rose atop the bell tower.

The report was drawn out from the crack by an invisible hand. Amid the gale passing through this place, it flew into the distance, rising and falling like a bat spreading its wings in the night.

Before long, the report abruptly dropped as if bound to a stone, landing in a palm that stretched out from the dark corner of a garden.

That hand belonged to Cardinal Alger Wilson of the Church of Storms.

He immediately unfolded the report and read it seriously in the night, completely untroubled by the lack of light.

Even in the lightless deep sea, Alger could still see the things around him clearly.

“Verdu’s intention to leave Bayam is becoming increasingly obvious…” Alger nodded almost imperceptibly and made a summary inwardly.

For more than half a year, he had been following Mr. Fool’s instructions and monitoring that member of the Abraham family. Yet he had never discovered that Verdu was making any especially abnormal moves.

Once Verdu left the Rorsted Archipelago, Alger’s mission would be considered complete.

However, Alger did not want it to end just like that. He believed he had not made enough of a contribution. All he had done was very simply monitor an unremarkable Sequence 7.

The Hermit had already obtained a Sequence 3 Beyonder characteristic from the Queen of Mysteries and had gathered all the corresponding supplementary ingredients. She was busy preparing the ritual. This gave Alger a great deal of psychological pressure. Of course, outside monitoring Verdu, he had also done many things following Mr. Fool’s intent. Yet even he himself felt there was still no small gap between that and the identity, status, and power of Sea God.

For one instant, Alger wanted to indirectly pressure Verdu Abraham through various means, forcing him to reveal his own problems voluntarily. But he ultimately gave up on that thought, because he could not determine whether Mr. Fool held goodwill or malice toward that target.

Previously, when the City of Silver and Moon City sold Beyonder characteristics and potion formulas, Alger had purchased some at the Tarot Gathering. He used them to cultivate a team of Beyonders independent from the Church of Storms, loyal only to him, and hidden in the darkness. The people monitoring Verdu came from this group.

At present, this team of fewer than ten members was mostly Sequence 9, with only a small number having advanced to Sequence 8.

As for where Alger got the money to buy Beyonder characteristics and potion formulas, the answer was very simple.

As the cardinal leading an entire diocese, Alger could very easily “save” a sum of money for his own use. During the earlier period, the mines, plantations, spice manors, and factories across the Rorsted Archipelago had all been sold below their actual value. As long as one had the strength to buy them, one could make a huge profit after a while.

More importantly, the headquarters of the Church of Storms also had considerable interest in the Beyonder characteristics and potion formulas sold by the City of Silver and Moon City, and had provided a large sum of money for the purchases. As for the person handling the funds, there was no doubt it was the Rorsted Diocese’s Cardinal Alger Wilson. And in such processes, some losses were inevitable and understandable.

Withdrawing his thoughts, Alger decided to have his shadow guards sell some mysticism knowledge in certain Beyonder circles of Bayam, using that to hook Verdu Abraham and delay him as long as possible.

“The main reason is that the City of Silver’s preaching frightened that gentleman…” Alger shook his head and muttered inwardly.

He then destroyed the report in his hand and walked back into the church.

…

At daybreak, a young man walked out of an inn, leisurely admiring the morning scenery of Bayam.

He had just bought a Teana drink in a fruit shell from a peddler when he suddenly sensed a large shadow appearing beside him.

The young man turned his head and looked upward bit by bit, discovering a half-giant nearly two and a half meters tall walking over.

“Sir, may I take a moment of your time? I would like to tell you about our beacon and savior, Mr. Fool.” The half-giant bent his back, trying hard to make his smile appear kind.

The young man took a sip of Teana, pointed to the side, and nodded with a smile.

“All right, but not here.”

He then walked to a place that would not block others. The seemingly extremely oppressive half-giant gently followed.

“You may begin,” the young man said, not hiding his curiosity at all.

The tall, sturdy half-giant’s expression instantly turned solemn.

“My Lord calls Himself The Fool. In the past, present, and future, He is the Great Ruler who dominates the spirit world. He is also the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck, and He is the beacon by which every living being pursues eternity.

“My Lord dwells above reality and the spirit world. His mercy fills the kingdom of heaven and the earth. Beside His seat, six angels stand in attendance…

“The Mercury Angel is the incarnation of fate and my Lord’s most beloved angel. The Angel of Death is the existence who has followed my Lord the longest and is the consul of the Underworld. The Angel of Redemption is my Lord’s horn and the transmitter of His divine revelations. The Angel of Life is the crystallization of wisdom and the indelible spirituality within every person.”

At this point, the young man laughed.

“Your Lord is truly formidable. He actually has so many titled angels serving Him.”

“There are more.” The half-giant responded gently. “Beside the Lord’s divine seat is also the Angel of Punishment. He is the Lord’s thunder, the Lord’s wrath, the Lord’s palm, and the judge and executioner of all fallen and unclean ones.

“Opposite the Angel of Punishment is the Angel of Time. He was a King in ancient times, and in the end submitted to my Lord, striking the bell of heaven for Him.”

“Impressive. Truly impressive.” The young man praised sincerely.

Hearing such a response, the half-giant could not help showing a smile. Then he used words as concise as possible to describe the various miracles Mr. Fool had bestowed. At the end, he said,

“A quarter of an hour has already passed, so I will not waste more of your time. If you are interested, you can go to The Fool’s Church at 16 Phillips Street and learn more. This is our largest church in Bayam. Heh, the others are still being planned.”

The young man nodded.

“If I have free time, I will go take a look.”

After watching the half-giant turn and leave, the young man smiled and took a monocle ground from crystal out of his pocket, placing it over his right eye.

…

The half-giant returned all the way to the restaurant and changed into a chef’s uniform.

“Bader, did you go preaching again?” the restaurant owner asked with a smile.

When the trade association had first recommended this half-giant to learn cooking, he had been rather resistant, always feeling the other party could kill him with a casual swing of his arm, and that he did not look like someone with culinary talent.

Now, however, he was extremely satisfied with Bader. This half-giant was not only honest, obedient, and hard-working, but also had a strong deterrent effect, leaving the street thugs afraid to target the restaurant again.

The only problem was that Bader went out every morning to preach the faith of The Fool.

Of course, since that was outside working hours, the restaurant owner could not say anything, nor did he mind.

Bader smiled simple-mindedly, walked into the kitchen, and said to his friend from Moon City, Bourne, who had come to seek refuge with him,

“Today, I can teach you how to make grilled fish.”

Bourne looked comparatively normal, except that his two eyes sat one higher and one lower, making his face somewhat awkward. He belonged to the Moon City residents whose deformities were not too severe and who had the courage to communicate with outsiders. Hearing this, he nodded.

“I need to pray first in a while. Mr. Fool has issued a divine revelation, asking all Moon City residents to make a wish to Him at nine o’clock this morning, hoping they will no longer have deformities.”