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  Chapter 471: Secret Shelter

  Triss frowned slightly. As a former instigator, she was very perceptive in language and could sense that Renekton was more inclined to let her choose the "Knowledgeable One".

  A secret existence that had never been heard of, was it an identity created by a certain good or evil god to erode the authority of the secrets? The God of Knowledge and Wisdom? Or a hidden sage?

  After pondering for a moment, she gathered her thoughts and asked curiously:

  "Isn't the highest position in the Secret Peepers' Path the hidden sage believed in by the Moss Ascetic Order? Or, is the 'Knowledgeable One' His incarnation?"

  "Should we say that He is the incarnation of the 'Knowledgeable One' and needs to listen to the sermons of my Lord?"

  Renekton smiled and shook his head, and corrected Triss's words in a calm tone.

  Triss stared at Renekton in a daze, and stepped back a little. A hint of vigilance rose in her eyes and she said,

  "Aren't you from the Church of Knowledge?"

  "The two identities are not contradictory." Renekton responded with a chuckle.

  As he spoke, the starlight outside the French window suddenly became brighter, and the stars scattered into the room, reflecting a gorgeous galaxy.

  The crystal ball supported by his left hand also instantly became glittering, and the gravity in the room became abnormal and began to move closer to the starry sky.

  "Trouble."

  Renekton murmured in a low voice, gently rubbed his right hand, summoned an invisible servant, and took the colorful and distorted oil painting from its hand.

  With the continuous infusion of spirituality, the vortex-like light balls on the oil painting seemed to suddenly come alive, constantly enlarged, and overlapped with the surrounding space.

  The galaxy originally reflected in the room suddenly became distorted, pulled into azure lines, twisted and shrunk into balls of different sizes, and the surrounding space was rapidly thinning, gradually losing its "height", and becoming a flat watercolor painting without thickness. The

  bright and distorted starry sky and Red Rose Manor disappeared in an instant, and the hotel room became dim again. Only some dim light was transmitted from the painted oriel window, so that the room was not completely dark.

  "The impact at night is greater than I expected. Is it accidental or because of something special about me?"

  Renekton looked at the crystal ball in his hand that had lost its luster and become hazy, and then handed it to the invisible servant behind him.

  Snap! The crisp sound of finger snaps echoed in the room, and a bright, brilliant and pure light emerged from the nothingness, illuminating the room of the cheap hotel.

  The sudden light made Triss squint her eyes uncomfortably. When she calmed down a little, her eyes subconsciously fell on the abstract and distorted starry sky painting held by Renekton. She felt some obscure and strong danger from the painting.

  Sensing Triss's gaze, Renekton smiled and raised the painting in his hand and said,

  "Sorry, the magical item was out of control just now, but it has been resolved."

  "It's called 'Van Gogh's Starry Sky', a somewhat special magical item with extraordinary abilities different from the twenty-two divine paths. According to the sequence path classification, it is almost equivalent to a sequence four magical item."

  "Who is Van Gogh?" Triss nodded slightly and asked a question casually.

  "Uh, a painter. A long, long time ago, he was a famous painter."

  Renekton was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that Triss's focus was on Van Gogh, not the painting itself.

  Triss nodded slightly and looked around the old room. The only wooden chair was already occupied by Renekton. She didn't care about her image as a lady at all and sat carelessly on the simple dressing table with only a mirror and a double-layer wooden box.

  She didn't have any jewelry or makeup on her body. She wore a loose men's shirt on her upper body, and a pair of slightly pale brown linen trousers, which brought some indescribable visual impact and temptation.

  Renekton suddenly felt his throat dry. He tilted his head slightly and shifted his gaze to the painted oriel window. He reminded himself again and again in his heart: the other party is a man, you can't go straight to him.

  "Haha," Triss chuckled with an ambiguous meaning. She just glanced at Renekton and retracted the thread. She leaned back slightly against the wall, pulled the corners of her mouth and smiled:

  "Before you are interrupted, what did you want to say?"

  Renekton sat lazily on the wooden chair, rolled up the oil painting in his hand and said:

  "Which existence do you plan to seek secret protection from? None of them will help for free."

  "The original witch wants your body, your mind, and your soul. The goddess of night may not care about you. It is more likely that she will throw you directly into Charles Gate. Mr. Gate has only one condition, which is to help Him return to this world. The Fool follows the principle of equal exchange, but what you did in the past is not among the people He redeemed."

  Triss listened to Renekton's narration calmly, and said without any expression on her face: "What about the knowledgeable person? What price will he have to pay?"

  Turning the rolled-up oil painting in his hand a few times, Renekton stood up from the wooden chair and said with the appearance of a devout and fanatical believer:

  "Spread knowledge to the creatures of this world, guide them on the road of exploring mysteries, and secretly promote His name."

  "This is what you are doing, but the degree is different. You will need to do these things more in the future, and the secret shelter is to pay you in advance."

  Triss hesitated for a moment, and quickly thought of the things that Renekton asked her to do in Backlund. She looked at Renekton inexplicably and said:

  "Find, attract and invest in inventors?"

  "You don't have to give so many options just now. The only option I can really choose is this one."

  "It's basic courtesy to list all the options and let people choose for themselves."     Renekton calmly defended his behavior.

  "Heh," Triss chuckled with a hint of sarcasm, then jumped off the dressing table, walked to the bay window, and pushed open the tightly closed window.

  The cold wind instantly poured into the room, blowing her hair and the men's shirt on her body. There was a trace of sadness on her calm face.

  After standing in silence in front of the window for a long time, she spoke in a hoarse voice:

  "What is the name of the 'knowledgeable one'? Also, how should I pray to Him and spread His name?"

  "The essence of knowledge, the root of mystery, the brilliance of civilization, and the persistence of truth."

  "Just pick three sentences from them. As for praying and spreading His name, it's up to you. He doesn't care much about these."

  As he spoke, bright starlight kept flashing on Renekton's body. When he finished speaking, he had turned into a statue composed of countless starlight. The statue shattered in an instant, turning into bright starlight that surged and dispersed, drilling into the tiny gaps in the walls and floor and quickly disappeared.

  Standing in front of the open window, Triss tilted her head slightly to look at the starlight that was surging away. She closed the window again until there was no more starlight in the room. She leaned against the window frame and sighed in a low and deep voice:

  "The witch is the best at observing people's hearts. He has undergone a lot of changes. Relying on reason to balance his own humanity and divinity? People walking on a tightrope will fall into the abyss if they are not careful."

  "It seems that the moment you drink the potion, the fate of the extraordinary no longer belongs to yourself."

  On the sea in the north of the Sonia Sea, a huge sailing ship just turned around and sailed towards the "White City" Nass, the capital of the Gargas Islands.

  On the dark sea, the faint crimson moonlight illuminated the sails on the sailboat, which were erected high. There were ten white stars of the same size on it, surrounding a cold and indifferent eye without eyelashes.

  On the deck of the "Future", Frank, wearing dungarees and a white shirt, was pouring bucket after bucket of a viscous substance mixed with black liquid onto the sea.

  A black cat wearing a tricorn pirate hat and an eye patch on his right eye was squatting in the upwind position far away from here. It looked at the unknown substance that Frank was pouring into the sea bucket after bucket and asked in confusion:

  "Frank, has your experiment failed again?"

  "Yes, but I have found a new direction. I will write to Al later and ask for a new batch of monster corpses. Soon I will be able to cultivate plants that grow with monster corpses as nutrients."

  Frank nodded gently, and his tone was not discouraged, but rather excited.

  The black cat Pas held up the tricorn hat on his head that was about to cover his eyes, and jumped lightly to the side of the ship, looking at the dark sea, trying to find some traces of fresh dried fish.

  After watching for a long time on the side of the ship, it did not see a fish jumping out of the sea. It jumped off the side of the ship with some disappointment. After landing on the deck, it turned to Frank and asked:

  "Frank, why didn't the dried fish come out to eat the experimental residues you poured this time?"

  "This is different from the previous experimental residues. Although I have dealt with these experimental residues, they are still toxic and polluted. Those marine creatures will instinctively stay away from these things and of course they will not gather around."

  Frank tried to explain to the black cat Pas in simple words.

  Pas's cat showed a humanized look of shock on his face, and his expression was stiff to confirm to Frank:

  "That means not only will there be no dried fish, but they will also stay away from the surrounding seas because of these weird things you poured down?"

  "That's right." Frank nodded gently.

  "Meow~ My poor dried fish!"

  Pas was like a child who had lost his favorite toy. He lay on the deck and rolled over several times, mumbling in despair.

  Cattleya came out of the captain's room wearing a black classical robe. She heard Pas's sad voice in the captain's room.

  After getting closer and hearing the words that Paz was crying out, she sighed helplessly, walked quickly to Paz, and asked with some doubts:

  "Didn't Nina say that she prepared special smoked fish for you? Why do you still want to go fishing in the sea by yourself? You are just a cat, and you are far less flexible than those fish in the sea."

  Paz stopped rolling on the deck and looked at the captain who had walked to his side at some point. He lowered his head like a child who had made a mistake, and explained in a low voice:

  "Smoked fish is so disgusting, it feels like chewing wood when you bite it."

  "Smoking fish is disrespectful to fish! I think the fish died unjustly."

  Cattleya was silent for a moment, but still warned:

  "You must be accompanied by Nina when you go to the sea. The ocean is not the territory of you cats. With her, you won't drown."  Chapter 472 Arrodes

  In the Sonia Sea, east of Oravi Island, amid the undulating waves, a passenger ship sailed from the safe channel in the direction of the Rorsted Islands. Rows of cannons were installed on both sides of the passenger ship.

  In front of one of the glass windows on the left side of the passenger ship, Klein maintained the image of Gehrman Sparrow and stood quietly by the window, staring quietly at the undulating sea outside.

  "A little further ahead belongs to the sea controlled by the Feysac Empire. I can finally go abroad."

  Klein sighed softly, then reached out to pull up the roller curtains, turned around and walked towards the simple single bed on the other side.

  As soon as he lay on the bed, his inspiration was suddenly touched, and he turned his head to look in the direction of the window.

  Dots of blue flashed from the gaps in the curtains and poured into the cabin, gathering into pieces of substantial starlight in the air, and quickly reunited the figure of Renekton.

  After his figure solidified, Renekton walked forward and greeted,

  "Good evening, Mr. Great Adventurer~"

  Klein sat up from the bed helplessly, looking at Renekton who had sat down in the armchair beside him in a familiar manner. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly and said,

  "Why are you here? I am not a great adventurer yet, but you, now not only the Storm Church is offering a reward for you, but Loen and Intis officials have also increased the reward for you, and the reward is not low."

  "I also want to go to the God War Ruins. I was going to wait for you on the 'Future', but when I thought about the fact that you haven't asked Arrodes my questions yet, I had to change my mind temporarily and come here to find you first."

  Renekton half-lying back in the armchair, speaking leisurely.

  Klein was stunned for a moment. Because the other party had not been in a hurry to ask for the result, he had forgotten about it. After thinking about it, he coughed twice in embarrassment before saying,

  "Do we need to find Arrodes now? The radio receiver has been placed above the gray fog for a while, which is enough for it to locate for a while."

  Fortunately, I am still maintaining the character of Gehrman Sparrow, otherwise this embarrassing scene will really make people tap their toes.

  "Okay, do you need me to step aside?" Renekton nodded lightly and pondered.

  "No." Klein shook his head lightly.

  Then he got out of bed neatly, found the materials needed for the ritual of praying for the blessing, quickly arranged a ritual, and directly began to pray to the "Fool".

  Then he responded to himself and threw the radio receiver through the door formed by the blessing ritual. The

  radio receiver had just been placed on the table on the side, and Klein had not had time to clean up the remnants of the ritual in the room, when a somewhat ethereal and illusory sound of "da da da" appeared in his ears.

  A piece of illusory white paper was spat out, with silver-white Rune words on it:

  "My respected great supreme master, I feel your call. May I ask, am I here in time?"

  Klein used the faceless man's ability to control his expression and nodded gently in response:

  "In time."

  Dadada, another piece of illusory white paper was spat out, and the silver-white Rune words were followed by a smiley face emoticon:

  "Okay, my respected master, based on the principle of equivalent exchange, you can ask me a question."

  Klein looked back at Renekton who was still half-lying in the armchair. After seeing the other party nod slightly, he looked back at the radio receiver in front of him and said:

  "I want to know the sequence one of the Secret Peeper's Path, where are the characteristics of the Knowledge Emperor?"

  Dadada~~

  The illusory white paper on the radio receiver kept popping out, and some words seemed stiff and rigid, as if Arrodes had copied and pasted the answer directly from the spirit world:

  "Dear master, there are only three copies of the extraordinary characteristics of each path sequence one. The three extraordinary characteristics of the Emperor of Knowledge are respectively in the Moss Ascetic Order and the Trier Diocese of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery. The whereabouts of one copy is unknown."

  "The Emperor of Knowledge characteristic at the headquarters of the Church of Steam comes from Roselle's legacy. It is a sealed object, numbered 0-45, also known as the Throne of Knowledge. It looks like a strange and gorgeous throne made of gold."

  "Any creature that sits on it will gain endless knowledge, master the information of all things in this world, and have the ability to modify them to a certain extent, becoming an almost omniscient and omnipotent existence."

  "Experiment 1: The vast knowledge will directly explode the brain of any creature without divinity;

  Experiment 2: Ordinary saints will lose the ability to think under the infusion of complex knowledge, and the saints of the paths of peepers, readers, generalists and spectators who are good at wisdom can retain a certain degree of rationality for a short time;

  Experiment 3: It will make people become cold and indifferent, gradually lose their humanity and rationality, and become part of knowledge;

  Experiment 4: It is ominous (erased)"

  "Sealing method: Place it in a magnificent palace, with Sealed Item 1-113 recording and scrambling the knowledge it spreads nearby; there must be intelligent creatures around it 24 hours a day, they must be good-looking, there must be women, and every two hours, it must be fully praised (Note: No pregnant creature can get close to it, nor can they have overly intimate sexual behavior near it)."

  "Warning: 0-55 carries a hidden and terrible contamination. Any creature that has come into contact with it may become different from its original self. This change is difficult to detect and identify."

  "Confidentiality level: Pope, first group of researchers, only God's messengers can use it in a limited way."

  "There is very little information I can see about the characteristics of the Knowledge Emperor of the Moss Ascetic Order. There are only some records from Roselle's past: it is likely to be accommodated by the existence that the Moss Ascetic Order believes in."

  "I didn't find any records of the characteristics of the third Knowledge Emperor in the spiritual world. It may have never appeared, or it may have been hidden artificially. Roselle once guessed that this is also the reason why the one believed in by the Steam Church would jump to another path."

  "Dear master, are you satisfied with this answer?"

  Klein continued to maintain Gehrman Sparrow's character, nodded slightly and replied, "Satisfied."

  The things left by Emperor Roselle were even sealed in such a unique way, and there had to be a beautiful lady to give it all-round praise. Isn't this a bit too outrageous? Even if it is a sealed object, it is just a chair! Even if a beautiful woman stood in front of it, it couldn't do anything.     The God of Steam and Machinery has changed paths. Was He a Beyonder of the Secret Peeping Path?

  This is indeed possible. The diary submitted by Ms. Hermit mentioned that the former God of Craftsmen, now the God of Steam and Machinery, had a close relationship with the Moss Ascetic Order.

  After thinking for a while, Klein turned his head and looked at Renekton who was sitting in the armchair behind him and said,

  "What do you think?"

  Renekton leaned against the back of the armchair, rubbing his chin lightly with his right thumb, and said in a thoughtful tone:

  "There is no record. It is unlikely that it has never appeared. After all, a long time has passed since the First Age. The extraordinary characteristics should have been gathered together long ago, either activated or turned into potions and taken by people."

  "It should have been hidden. The ability to manipulate information at the information level allows it to easily erase the information it left behind. This is also a manifestation of the secret authority of the Secret Peeper."

  "Achieving secrecy by modifying and hiding information? I thought authority was a very abstract thing."

  Talking about the topic of authority, Klein couldn't help but ask curiously, and even forgot to maintain the image of German Sparrow.

  The sound of typing continued, and a new piece of illusory white paper appeared on the radio receiver on the small round table in the cabin:

  "Dear master, I know the answer to this question. Do you need me to help you recall it?"

  Help me recall the details of the wording. It would be a pity not to be a civil servant. Klein complained in his heart expressionlessly, then nodded slightly and said:

  "Go ahead."

  The sound of typing continued, and soon, new illusory white paper appeared:

  "Okay, dear master."

  "Authority is exclusive to gods and is closer to a concept. It is the highest embodiment of divine power. Its existence itself transcends the rules and natural order of the world."

  "Authority itself is reasonable. The reason why it is abstract is only because of insufficient understanding of relevant knowledge and information."

  "Just like the concept of 'death', most people and extraordinary people will feel that it exists objectively, but it is difficult to understand deeply. But for corpse collectors and sleepless people, it is not just like this."

  "In the path of potions, starting from Sequence 2, you will come into contact with authority. However, those who are at the angel level only master part of the authority of this path. Only when you reach Sequence 0 can you truly master all the authority covered by this path."

  The reason why it is abstract is because I don't understand it enough. Why does this mirror speak like a reader?

  Klein glanced at the receiver with some suspicion, and nodding slightly in response,

  "Well done."

  "It's my honor, great supreme master."

  "Great master, I have a presumptuous question. I wonder if I can ask you?"

  The sound of "da da" rang out one after another. This time, Runewen's words were followed by an expression of aggrieved finger poking.

  It's evolving so fast that its emoticons are about to become emojis. Klein sighed in his heart. Although he wanted to say that if he felt it was presumptuous, then he shouldn't ask, but considering the attitude of this dog-licking mirror, no, magic mirror, he nodded gently:

  "Okay."

  The sound of typing seemed to become much lighter. After a while, another piece of illusory white paper appeared:

  "Great and kind master, I wonder if I am qualified to follow in your footsteps and become your most loyal servant."

  "."

  Klein was speechless for a moment. He relied on the faceless man's ability to control his facial muscles to prevent his mouth from twitching.

  Is this a little too humble? It should be able to see some traces of my source castle, but just a little trace or breath made this "magic mirror" Arrodes, which is comparable to a level 1 seal, slide to his knees?

  Although somewhat speechless, Klein still maintained his current persona and gave an ambiguous answer:

  "It depends on your performance."

  The sound of "da da da" sounded without any hesitation, and a new "white paper" emerged from the telegraph machine, with a stick figure at the end making an oath gesture:

  "Thank you for your generosity, great master, I will definitely follow your steps, always follow you, and be your most loyal servant."

  I seemed to be ignored by the two of them. Renekton looked at the master and servant in front of him who were immersively communicating, and for a moment he didn't know whether he should speak up to prove that there was a third person here.

  While Renekton was still hesitating whether to speak up, the receiver sounded again, and a new section of the illusory white paper emerged:

  "Great master, the people of the Steam Church have lifted the restrictions on my body, and they should have questions to ask me again."

  Klein nodded gently and said, "You leave first."

  "Great master, I wish you a pleasant journey and a speedy return to your supreme throne. Your loyal servant Arrodes is leaving."

  At the bottom of the words there was a little figure waving his hand with tears in his eyes.

  The illusory white paper only lasted for a moment before it suddenly disappeared. The light in the cabin suddenly became brighter, and the radio receiver was quietly placed on the table. The eerie and cold feeling on it completely disappeared.  Chapter 473: White City

  In the basement of Backlund's Steam Church, several members of the Mechanical Heart team sat around a round wooden table.

  Sitting at the top was Ikanser Bernard, the captain of the Mechanical Heart team of Backlund, whose brown hair was always fluffy and messy, stubbornly stretching out. His face had hard and clear lines, and his expression seemed a little complicated.

  He held an ancient silver mirror with strange patterns in his hand, and black gems were decorated as "eyes" on both sides of the mirror.

  Ikanser's palm gently stroked the surface of the silver mirror. After a slight delay, the surface of the silver mirror began to ripple, and then bloody Rune words appeared on the surface of the silver mirror:

  "What's your problem?"

  "Captain, Arrodes seems a little slow today?"

  A member of the Mechanical Heart wearing gold-rimmed glasses sitting on Ikanser's right hand pondered and asked.

  After a wave of water swayed on the surface of the silver mirror, new words emerged:

  "Do you want to play a quiz game with me too?"

  The member of the Mechanical Heart team who originally raised the question shrank back and stopped talking.

  Ikanser stretched out his hand in the air and pressed it, signaling the surrounding team members to keep quiet. Then he lowered his eyes to look at the magic mirror in his hand, took a deep breath and said:

  "Great Arrodes, I want to ask about the 'deceiver' who appeared in Backlund. Who is it? Where is it now?"

  After a wave of water film swayed on the surface of the silver mirror, several bloody words emerged: "These are two questions."

  Ikanser nodded gently and said in a low voice:

  "I understand, please tell me the answer."

  As he finished speaking, the surface of the silver mirror instantly became dark and deep, as if it was in a dark place. After a long time, dim spots of light began to emerge.

  The picture in the mirror gradually became clear, showing a dimly lit basement, where several boys and girls dressed more delicately gathered together and were holding a ceremony.

  In the dense shadows that they could not notice, a somewhat dazed translucent rabbit emerged from the spirit world and threw the gray-brown book in its hand into the ceremony. The book turned into a pale light and quickly disappeared.

  The picture shook quickly, as if it was accelerated. When the picture in the mirror became clear again, the ceremony held by the group of boys and girls had received a response. A trace of pale fire spread on the ground, outlining one word after another in Rune.

  "Who is praying to me?"

  "You have disturbed a lonely soul"

  "What do you want to get by waking me up from my sleep? Following the principle of equivalent exchange, you need to pay a corresponding price for every piece you pray for."

  On the ground in front of the ceremony, there were some scattered jewelry and banknotes ranging from a few pounds to a few soles, which seemed to be the most valuable things that the group of boys and girls had put together temporarily.

  The picture quickly floated and came to the colorful and layered spirit world. A somewhat dazed, translucent rabbit was wandering in a certain direction.

  In its hand, there was a folded gray-brown book. On the cover of the book was an old, mottled clock with twelve sections. Around the clock were many mysterious symbols that symbolized the mind, time, and deception.

  The gray-brown book quickly flipped through a few pages in the hand of the rabbit-shaped spiritual creature, revealing the deep red, twisted Hermetic words on it:

  "Those little guys are so easy to deceive, don't you think? Through the peepers who cast their gazes through the spiritual world, I smell some omniscience in you, which is really disgusting to the book."

  The image on the surface of the silver mirror shook a few times, and then it quickly dimmed as if the signal was bad. After a short silence, silver-white water waves swayed on the mirror, outlining a few silver-white Rune words:

  "That book is a little strange in some aspects. It has some characteristics of the high-sequence audience path, and can sense my gaze."

  "Okay, it's my turn to ask questions."

  Ikanser took a deep breath, staring at the magic mirror in his hand with a fearless attitude, waiting for the other party's almost sentence question.

  Although the members of the Mechanical Heart team around were somewhat curious about the characteristics of the high-sequence audience path and what the rabbit-like spiritual creature was, no one asked questions at this time. Everyone looked at the surface of the silver mirror with some curiosity, but did not dare to show their gaze too obviously.

  The water light on the surface of the silver mirror swayed for a long time before scarlet words began to take shape:

  "First question: How often do you release in that aspect of life?"

  All the members of the Mechanical Heart team around tacitly lowered their heads, like quails playing dead, and only Ikanser's face turned red and white.

  Gritting his teeth, he stared at the silver mirror in his hand expressionlessly, and answered in a low voice:

  "Once every three days. If the mission is busy, it may be once every four or five days."

  The surface of the silver mirror rippled, and soon new scarlet words emerged, like blood still flowing, dripping down:

  "Correct answer."

  "Now for the second question:

  Excuse me, when you are released, are the people you usually think of in your mind people you know and can usually contact?"

  Arrodes seemed to have a bad taste and specially magnified the words "know" and "contact".

  The members of the Mechanical Heart team around them buried their heads even lower, and their eyes all looked at their toes. As the spectators on the side, they were somewhat looking forward to their captain's answer, and some were worried about the other party's answer.

  Ikanser's face flushed for a while, and then he lowered his head as if accepting his fate, and said in a low voice:

  "I choose to accept the punishment."

  Boom!

  A silver-white lightning appeared out of thin air and struck Ikanser directly.     After the dazzling silver-white light faded, Ikanser, who was sitting in his seat, had a layer of burnt black on his body, his hair stood up, and wisps of white smoke rose from his body, with a smell of burning.

  On the table in front of him, a silver mirror with ancient patterns had scarlet blood flowing on its surface, outlining words:

  "The quiz game is over!"

  It only lasted for less than half a minute, and the words on the mirror surface gradually dimmed, turning into an ordinary silver mirror with a dark surface.

  Across the round table, a young member of the Mechanical Heart tried to restrain his thoughts and expressions, and talked seriously about what the "magic mirror" Arrodes had just shown:

  "Captain, that rabbit-like spiritual creature does not look powerful. There is a high probability that there are other extraordinary people behind them."

  Ikanser took a long breath, blew out a gray-black smoke ring from his mouth, stretched out his hand and rubbed his somewhat charred face and said:

  "That spiritual creature can bring that magical item that likes to defraud through the spiritual world to appear anywhere. The area involved is too wide. This incident needs to be handed over to the Mechanical Heart team that specializes in handling mobile incidents."

  "Rip, you organize the information we collected into a file. I will report it to the church headquarters tomorrow. I need to deal with the marks on my body first."

  "Okay, Captain." The team member wearing gold-rimmed glasses sitting on Ikanser's right nodded seriously.

  The capital of the Gargas Islands, Nas, is known as the "White City".

  The houses built here are all made of a local white rock as the main material. From a distance, the whole city looks gray and white, which is why it is called the "White City".

  As the easternmost colony of the Feysac Empire, the Feysac military and the Church of the God of War can only deploy very limited garrison forces here. The bishop of the Church of the God of War in the Gargas Islands is only a Sequence 5 guardian, plus an executioner from the Inquisition, a brigadier general of the Feysac military and a baron of the royal family, but no saint is in charge.

  The weakness of official power has also led to this place becoming a paradise for pirates. As long as the pirates don't make trouble here too much and affect the most important whaling industry and "gray amber" trade industry here, the official will turn a blind eye to them.

  In the dock area, in a relatively popular local restaurant, Renekton sat quietly by the window, enjoying the whale meat and roasted whale oil with skin that belong to the "White City" characteristics.

  He quickly finished most of the food on the plate, then picked up a towel beside him and wiped the corners of his mouth that were stained with oil.

  A figure wearing a double-breasted long frock coat and a half-high silk hat walked over and sat on the chair opposite the dining table.

  Renekton chuckled without raising his head and said,

  "You came quite quickly. I thought you would arrive at the port here at least in the afternoon."

  "Would you like to try the special whale meat here? The people here are quite skilled in handling whales and will not waste any part."

  Klein, who maintained the image of Gehrman Sparrow, nodded slightly, then picked up a piece of roasted whale oil with skin and put it in his mouth. He chewed it a few times and swallowed it directly.

  It was not particularly greasy, but rather had a fragrance. The skin was also handled very well and was not too difficult to chew. The people here are really good at handling whales. No wonder some people just marched against whaling and advocated sustainable development. With the development of the shipbuilding industry, the whales in the White Whale Sea are indeed in danger.

  After evaluating the whale oil he had just taken in his mind, he calmly said,

  "We'll leave at 8 o'clock tonight."

  Renekton looked at the expressionless Gehrman Sparrow with some surprise, and chuckled,

  "You've already contacted Cattleya? It seems you've already been around here."

  Klein nodded without any expression, and replied in a flat tone,

  "The voyage was relatively smooth."

  As a result, the passenger ship arrived at the "White City" Nas several hours earlier than expected.

  After adding a sentence in his mind, Klein began to enjoy the food that was still half left on the table.

  When he was almost done eating, he asked with some doubt,

  "You foresaw when I would come, so you ordered a double lunch?"

  "No, it's just because I'm very curious about every food here, so I ordered a little more. The inspiration of the prophet will not be triggered unless he takes the initiative to see it and does not involve himself."

  Renekton leaned lazily against the back of the chair, shook his head slightly and explained.

  Klein was silent for a moment, and he held back his words of rebuking the other party for wastefulness, which was not in line with the character of Gehrman Sparrow.

  After taking a sip of the Southwell beer that the waiter had just brought to him, the greasy feeling in his mouth instantly subsided a lot, and he continued:

  "Well, at least it seems that I am lucky. I had a fairly sumptuous meal for free when I first arrived in Nass."

  "I just went to the bar, where I met the captain of the 'Black Octopus', Basil the 'Bonebreaker', who has a bounty of 150,000 pounds."

  "Why? You want to hunt him?"

  Renekton looked at Klein, who was sitting opposite him and said the bounty amount expressionlessly, with a little curiosity. This posture really has the style of a crazy adventurer. Chapter 474: The Hermit Card

  Klein suddenly paused. He felt as if something strange in his body had broken at this moment, and it quickly dissipated. Many illusory stars appeared in his sight, and those dazzling stars seemed to have a very weak attraction to each other.

  At this moment, his Faceless Man's potion was completely digested.

  Taking a deep breath, Klein closed his eyes slightly and carefully felt the changes in himself. His spirituality increased a little, and at the same time, the magic ability of the Faceless Man was strengthened again.

  Why did the Faceless Man's potion suddenly digest? After Klein opened his eyes, his gaze fell on Renekton opposite him, and suddenly a kind of enlightenment came to his mind.

  Al recognized my identity as Gehrman Sparrow. As a master of prophecy at Sequence 3, the feedback from him directly allowed me to digest the last bit of the Faceless Man's potion!

  I originally planned to perform in-depth role-playing on the "Future" of Admiral Xing for a period of time to digest the last bit of the Faceless Man's potion, but I didn't expect it to be completed so suddenly today.

  After sighing in his heart for a while, Klein curled the corners of his lips slightly, and answered the previous question in a good mood:

  "Basil was once a subordinate of Vice Admiral Deep Sea. He became independent after Vice Admiral Deep Sea disappeared. He incorporated many of the former Vice Admiral Deep Sea's fleets, and seems to have the intention of becoming the next pirate general."

  "If possible, I certainly don't mind gaining a trait, but I'm more curious about the disappearance of 'Vice Admiral Deep Sea'."

  "Rumors among pirates say that he was trapped on the seabed because he was exploring an ancient underwater relic. There are also rumors that he is dead and died from the betrayal of his subordinates. There are even rumors that he has been secretly captured by the Church of Storms."

  Renekton lowered his eyes slightly and squinted his eyes to hide the deep blue brilliance that flashed across his eyes for a moment. At that moment just now, the feeling that Klein gave him had changed a little. Has he completely digested the Faceless Man potion?

  The thought flashed through his mind for a moment, and he chuckled and said,

  "If you want to hunt the 'Bone Crusher' Basil, I can make a simple prophecy for you and point out the right time."

  "As for the missing 'Deep Sea Vice Admiral', he and his 'News' have become one of the many treasures in this vast ocean."

  Klein looked at Renekton with deep eyes, and did not continue the topic. Instead, he said,

  "What are your plans for the afternoon? I plan to find a hotel to rest and wait for the arrival of Admiral Xing and her 'Future' in the evening."

  Renekton lazily leaned back in the chair, his eyes fell on the street outside the window, and responded softly,

  "I'm waiting for an opportunity."

  "Opportunity?" Klein pondered for a moment, and seeing that Renekton had no intention of explaining, he got up and left the restaurant.

  After watching Klein leave, Renekton sat for a while before calling the waiter in the restaurant to settle the bill and leave.

  How will the Hermit Card appear? If I boarded the Future tonight, it would most likely have appeared in Nass by now.

  While he was thinking, he had already walked to the street near the port. A group of local gangsters were clashing with a group of suspected pirates. Both sides drew their weapons and fought loudly.

  As expected of a place colonized by the Feysac Empire, the people were indeed tough. Such open fights between local gangsters and pirates were not seen at all in the Rorsted Islands.

  Renekton curiously watched the conflict between the local gangsters and pirates from the side, and sighed in his heart.

  At this moment, he saw two tall guys with obvious giant bloodlines took out several cans from their pockets, opened the can lids quickly, and threw them in the middle of the road.

  An indescribable stench instantly filled the entire street. Whether it was the curious passers-by hiding in the distance, or the pirates and local gangsters who were fighting, they all covered their mouths and noses and fled from the street.

  Canned herring? Who on earth is eating this food that is comparable to biological weapons!

  As soon as the thought came to mind, Renekton's body instantly became transparent, turning into dots of bright starlight and surging away from the street.

  On a reef-covered beach behind Nas, dense and bright starlight surged out of the void, quickly gathered on a reef, and re-condensed Renekton's figure.

  The moment the salty and humid sea breeze blew into his mouth and nose, Renekton felt his whole body shaken. Those canned herrings are special biological weapons. I held my breath at the first time and still felt nauseous.

  "Great unknown god! You are the essence of knowledge, you are the root of mystery, you are the glory of civilization"

  "Your faithful servant prays to you;

  pray that you open the door to the kingdom;

  pray that you accept his offering."

  Some intermittent and overlapping prayers suddenly echoed in Renekton's ears, repeating over and over again, from blurry to clear.

  Renekton looked around and confirmed that there was no one else around. He reached forward, took out an illusory hat from the void, and put it on his head.

  His figure disappeared, hiding all traces.

  After hiding himself, Renekton immediately communicated with the sage's characteristics in his body through meditation, so as to establish a connection with the prayers echoing in his ears.

  The next moment, he felt that his will was infinitely elevated, crossing the reality and the spiritual world, looking down at the whole world, and everything he saw became complex and profound information, as if the essence of the world was the accumulation of countless information.

  Is this the origin of the idea of ​​the Moss Ascetic Order that everything is a number?

  As soon as the idea emerged in his mind, Renekton felt a bright blue star suddenly burst out in front of his eyes, drowning everything around.

  The light lasted only for a moment before it began to shrink, revealing a dark and deep picture.

  In the picture, Ethan, wearing a black wizard robe, knelt on the ground in a pious posture. In front of him were three candles swaying with dim flames. On the ground was an eye drawn with herbal powder, and around the eye were twelve stars. The pupil of the eye was a complex gear and an inverted triangle.

  The moment he saw the mysterious symbol drawn on the ground, Renekton felt that it had a mystical connection with himself, as if it could represent himself to a certain extent.

  Before Renekton could see more, the picture in front of him suddenly shattered, turning into an illusory, hazy, and difficult-to-see light.     These lights quickly gathered and solidified into a card in front of Renekton. On the front of the card was a man with snow-white hair and beard, wearing a tattered robe and a pair of brand new red shoes. He held a cane in his left hand and a lantern in his right hand.

  In the upper left corner of the card was a line of words written in ancient Fusac: Sequence 0: Hermit.

  The moment the Hermit card appeared in front of him, Renekton subconsciously wanted to reach out and touch it. As he thought, he suddenly felt a sharp fall, and everything around him, including his own consciousness, became blurred.

  When he came to his senses, Renekton realized that his consciousness had returned to his body. He subconsciously looked down at his right hand.

  A card was being tightly held in his hand. The pattern on it was an old man named Russell wearing tattered clothes, holding a lantern and a cane.

  "It came into my hands so easily?"

  Renekton whispered in disbelief. He had thought that this blasphemous card might come by coincidence and easily, but he didn't expect it to appear in his hands in such a strange way.

  It was with Ethan before? No wonder at that time. Was it also because of this blasphemous card that he was noticed by the Hidden Sage and secretly developed into a believer of the Wilderness of Knowledge?

  Ethan's sudden sacrifice of this card should also be due to the instructions of the Hidden Sage, and it was the Hidden Sage who responded to the ceremony. The voice I heard and the picture I saw just now should be some information attached by the Hidden Sage when he gave me the Hermit Card.

  Mr. Huang just told me that the Hermit Card would come to me at the right time. The Hidden Sage sent it to me today. Do they have such a good relationship? I even have some doubts whether the third copy of the characteristics of the Knowledge Emperor is in the Church of Knowledge.

  Huh~ He let out a long breath and suppressed all the thoughts surging in his mind. Renekton rubbed the Hermit Card twice with his right hand, creating pieces of brilliant starlight, which quickly covered and concealed its specialness.

  After doing all this, he turned and stepped forward. With the movement, his body instantly became transparent and turned into a statue composed of countless starlights, and then shattered. The bright starlight surged into the depths of the spirit world.

  Ding! Ding! Ding!

  In the evening, the Church of the God of War sounded a melodious and ethereal bell in the Dawn Church of Nass, and the time on the huge bell tower just reached eight o'clock.

  The melodious bell sounded throughout the city and reached the docks in the port area.

  A huge sailing ship slowly entered the dock at this time. Under the crimson moonlight, the huge logo on the sail was clearly visible.

  It was a pair of cold and indifferent eyes without eyelashes, surrounded by ten white stars of the same size.

  "Future!"

  "The Stars Above is coming!"

  The pirates and sailors who were responsible for guarding the ships nearby burst into astonishment at the same time, and all the docks in the entire port were instantly filled with restless emotions.

  As the Future approached, all the coastal defense guns set up by the Feysac military here were mobilized and aimed at the huge sailing ship that was not disguised.

  As the Future approached, the atmosphere in the entire port became tense, like a taut string.

  On the Future, the black cat Pass, wearing an ill-fitting pirate tricorne hat, lay on the side of the ship and looked curiously at the dock area and said,

  "Heath, do you know who we are going to pick up?"

  "I don't know."

  Next to the black cat Pass, the tall and thin Heath Doyle with almost transparent cheek skin shook his head slightly. His nose was uncoordinated and high, and he looked sick.

  The tricorne hat on the head of the black cat Pass was suddenly slapped down hard, directly covering half of its face.

  Paz shook his head twice, put his cocked hat back on, and said angrily:

  "Ugh Heath! I told you not to touch my hat. I had a hard time putting it on."

  Heath, with a pale face, looked at Paz in confusion, reached out to help him adjust the cocked hat on his head, and explained:

  "I didn't touch you."

  Paz stared at Heath suspiciously, and seeing that his expression was very serious, Paz nodded doubtfully and said:

  "Yes, only Nina and Ottolov would do such a boring thing."

  While speaking, it turned its eyes back to the restless and nervous pirates and sailors on the dock. Looking at their nervous appearance, it once again sighed in its heart that it was the right decision to stay on the Future.

  It watched the dock getting closer and closer to it, and the sailors and pirates became shorter and shorter!

  Pas looked down at his feet in surprise and found that he had floated in the air without knowing when. He waved his four paws in the air in a panic, but he could not control the direction and strength, just like he was drowning. (  Chapter 475 Boarding the Future

  "Woo~ Help!"

  "Heath, help me, I can't control myself!"

  Hearing Paz's cry for help, Heath on the side noticed the sudden situation on him and wanted to reach out to pull Paz down from the air. He and Paz were like two magnets that repel each other. As soon as he got close, Paz's body floating in the air was strangely pushed away.

  Seeing that Heath had no way to save himself, Paz began to loudly call for help from Cattleya who was standing in front of the captain's room:

  "Captain, help! The cat is dying!"

  Cattleya, dressed in a black classical wizard robe, was like a powerful wizard in ancient legends. Under the crimson moonlight, bright stars flashed in her eyes.

  She glanced at the direction of Paz and said with some helplessness in her tone:

  "Don't tease them anymore. Paz is almost scared by you."

  "It just drowned the day before yesterday because it secretly went to the sea to catch fish. Now it is a little afraid of this environment where it cannot control itself."

  "Going to the sea to catch fish? Is this something a cat can do?"

  Renekton appeared in the shadows beside him and sighed in silence.

  He looked at the black cat still floating in the air with a complicated expression. The translucent crystal ball in his left hand flashed a blue color, and then quickly became hazy and blurred.

  The distorted gravity on Paz's body also quickly recovered, and its body fell stiffly to the deck.

  Cattleya retracted her sight. Suddenly, there was light in front of her. A little bit of bright starlight quickly emerged and fell in the air, forming a transparent and bright starlight bridge, extending all the way to the dock where Klein was.

  Very impressive! As expected, he is the Admiral of the Stars who ranks among the top seven pirate generals. In the crowd at the dock, Klein sighed silently in his heart. At this moment, he had the urge to brush his face with his hand.

  If the identity of "World" was not bound to Gehrman Sparrow, I would definitely have to change my identity to board the ship. Although I am not a social phobic, I still feel uncomfortable being watched by so many people.

  Klein sighed slightly, pressed the half-high silk hat on his head, and then walked out of the shadows, walking steadily on the long bridge of starlight.

  The touch of stepping on the starlight bridge was unexpectedly solid, as solid as iron. Except that it was too transparent, you could clearly see the deep blue and almost black water under your feet, which always gave people a feeling of stepping on air.

  As Klein walked on the starlight bridge with his back straight, awe and curiosity fell on him around the dock, which made him feel that he was now the center of attention and was very suitable for a gorgeous performance.

  Amidst the ambiguous gazes, Kraai walked the last section of the long bridge of starlight and stepped onto the deck of the Future.

  He looked at the front of the deck with curiosity and inquiry. The "Admiral of the Stars" Cattleya, who was wearing a classical wizard robe, with a simple black hair and dark purple eyes, was standing quietly in front, looking at him with deep eyes and some curiosity.

  Behind Cattleya stood a man dressed in simple sailor clothes, tall and thin, and looked sick.

  To the back, Renekton, who was wearing a dark brown long windbreaker, with light golden hair parted on the side, and holding a fist-sized crystal ball in his right hand, was half squatting on the deck, talking to a listless black cat, but the black cat obviously didn't want to pay attention to him, and even seemed to want to scratch him on the face.

  After taking a quick look at the situation on the Future, Klein retracted his gaze, took off the half-high silk hat on his head, and bowed slightly to Cattleya, saying,

  "Good evening, ma'am."

  As Klein bowed and greeted her, a hint of deep blue and purple brilliance flashed across Cattleya's eyes, making her already mysterious dark purple eyes even more profound and mysterious.

  She saw the azure, blood-red, silver-white, green, gray-white, and golden brilliance on Gehrman Sparrow's body, which was bright and dazzling, making her a little dazzled. She didn't even observe the other party's spirit body too much and turned her head slightly to retract her gaze.

  Five magical items, dozens of spiritual artifacts or spells. After briefly summarizing Klein's situation, Cattleya didn't know whether to sigh that the other party was timid and cautious or bold and reckless.

  As a famous pirate admiral in the five seas, she had seen more exaggerated magical items than this, but any magical item has negative effects. Even if they are all the ones with the lowest side effects, they will become terrifying when the number accumulates. In this case, the existence of magical items is a burden.

  If he is not too stupid, it means that he has a way to deal with this situation, just like the extraordinary people of the path of the generalist, who can intuitively grasp the abilities and problems of most extraordinary items and try to avoid using them in a dangerous way.

  His spirit body is covered with a layer of pure darkness without light, as if the whole person is hidden in a heavy shadow curtain. Is this why he gave me the feeling of a non-living person at the Tarot Club?

  Cattleya quickly gathered her thoughts and greeted with a smile:

  "Good evening, Mr. Sparrow."

  Then she looked sideways at Heath who was following behind her and introduced him:

  "This is the second mate of the Future, Heath Doyle."

  "Bloodless" Heath Doyle, a pirate with a bounty of 7,600 pounds. Klein recalled the information about this pirate, then nodded slightly to him and said: "German Sparrow." After

  introducing Heath, Cattleya took Klein to Renekton who was comforting Paz and continued to introduce:

  "This cat is called Paz, and it is a crew member of the Future."

  Can a cat also be a crew member? Klein silently opened his spiritual vision and observed the cat named Paz. He saw a more spiritual color in it than ordinary people.

  This cat is also a Beyonder. It has a strange sense of majesty that comes from itself, which is very similar to the characteristics of the Arbitrator's path.

  Cattleya didn't pay attention to Klein's subtle movements. She continued to introduce Renekton to him, saying,

  "He is Al Tynes. Like you, he traveled to that sea area on the Future."

  Klein maintained the persona of Gehrman Sparrow and simply nodded and greeted him,

  "Well, good evening, White Tower."

  Cattleya's expression didn't change much. Some of her performances at the Tarot Club made her judge that Renekton and Klein knew each other and were very familiar with each other.     Renekton nodded gently at Klein and responded,

  "Good evening. I still have to comfort this frightened cat. You should follow the captain to familiarize yourself with the Future."

  He must have run a pet shop before. Why does he like small animals so much and like to feed them potions? You should be a trainer, not a secret peeper. The captain called him too skillfully. Is he going back to the Future to be a pirate again?

  Klein complained a few words in his heart, nodded gently, and followed Cattleya to the cabin.

  The Future, which was parked near the dock, also set sail again at this time. The huge sailboat drew a large arc on the sea and headed east along the whaling route.

  With the departure of the Future, the tense atmosphere in the port of Nas gradually dissipated, and the pirates, sailors and Feysac military who were curiously watching and alert around began to disperse.

  Following Cattleya, Klein silently observed the surroundings. He found that the deck and mast of the "Future" were covered with mysterious and strange symbols, intertwined and overlapped into a huge whole, like a strange ritual magic.

  A mysterious sailing ship, but not yet at the level of a ghost ship, but the layout of the "Future" seemed to be more mysterious and complicated than the "Golden Dream".

  While Klein looked around curiously, Cattleya spoke up and gave him a brief introduction:

  "The magic signs and symbols on the ship together constitute a huge and complex ritual magic. It is integrated with the "Future" and transformed into a huge magical object with no less mystery than the ghost ship."

  "When necessary, it can also rely on the power of a great being."

  "This is a ritual magic designed by Al. I just recently completed the transformation of the "Future."

  Great being? Klein withdrew his gaze from the surroundings and murmured with a sigh:

  "This complex and unique ritual magic is specially designed for the 'Future'? This requires a very rich knowledge of mysticism."

  Cattleya nodded in agreement and said with a sigh:

  "The Beyonders of the Reader Path are all experts in ritual magic, and they also like to understand and master different mystical knowledge. After reaching a certain sequence, they can even develop all kinds of strange and effective spells." "

  On the sea, the most representative one is the 'Admiral Iceberg'. There are many messages on the sea about the magical spells she mastered. Although there is a suspicion of exaggeration, the fact that the messages can be spread itself explains something." During

  the conversation, Klein followed Cattleya to the cabin. A man in overalls and a white shirt was walking out from the bottom of the cabin with his hands holding a wooden barrel full of strange mushrooms.

  He was sturdy and had thick sweat hair on his body. It seemed that he was wearing a dark brown sweater on his exposed forearms.

  He looked at Klein who was following behind Cattleya and showed a hearty smile. Then he bent his right leg, propped up the wooden barrel in his arms, supported the barrel with his right hand, and stretched out his free left hand and said:

  "Good evening, Mr. Sparrow."

  "I'm the first mate of the 'Future', Frank Lee."

  Frank Lee, a "toxin expert" with a bounty of 7,000 pounds. His bounty is actually less than that of the second mate Heath Doyle. Is it because he is less dangerous, or because he rarely takes direct action in battle?

  With his thoughts floating around, Klein slightly bent over and said,

  "Good evening!"

  Frank took back his left hand nonchalantly, and said with a smile on his face,

  "You seem to know me? Yes, my photo has been listed on the Navy's wanted list."

  "'Toxin Expert' is just a nickname given to me by those people. In fact, I am a very friendly person with my own lofty pursuits and ideals."

  "Al has already boarded the ship. Didn't you need to find him for some experimental matters before?"

  Cattleya interrupted Frank's narration in time. The latter's eyes sparkled, and he spoke impatiently,

  "He is finally back. I still have a lot of experimental ideas that need his help and advice."

  "Haha~ Captain, I'll go deal with these failed experiments first. I already have a new idea in my mind. I have a hunch that this time it will be successful."

  Before Frank finished speaking, he quickly walked to the deck with a full barrel in his arms.

  "Experiment?" Klein maintained Gehrman's usual cold expression and asked calmly.

  Cattleya nodded helplessly and said,

  "He is researching a kind of mushroom that does not need sunlight, but can reproduce automatically with the flesh and blood of monsters. It can also purify pollution, squeeze out milk, and grow beef and fish." "

  ." Klein didn't know what words to use to express his sigh, so he had to remain silent.

  This kind of thing with so many buffs has nothing to do with mushrooms, but these conditions seem to just fit the environment in Silver City. Is this food prepared for Little Sun and the others?

  Cattleya didn't explain too much about Frank. She took Klein to a room diagonally opposite the captain's room and said,

  "This is your room. Al's room is next to it. If you have any questions, you can ask him, or come to the captain's room to find me directly."

  "There will always be people in the restaurant on the ship. You can go there to eat at any time, or ask Frank to send someone to deliver food to your room."