Chapter 265: A Great Proposal

The Tower: "It's been handled."

The Magician: "What's the result?"

The moment Lan Qingyou appeared, the long-waiting Magician immediately jumped out to ask.

The Tower: "It's not the type you drew, but the base is undoubtedly from the batch we brought out of the dungeon."

The Magician: "I see. That's good then, at least it didn't leak from my end."

The Sun: "Good my ass! Damn it, they actually dared to touch my stuff."

The High Priestess: "@Judgement, give us an explanation."

The Hierophant: "Nothing else matters, but this batch of goods represents the trust everyone in Tarot Manor has in the Supreme Council. Pulling this kind of stunt right at the start of our cooperation is unacceptable. We need you to convey our dissatisfaction to the Supreme Council regarding this matter."

The Emperor: "Indeed."

Let's set aside Lan Qingyou's prior cooperation with the Supreme Council for a moment.

After all, that was her own personal affair.

But this time, not only was a good portion of the manor directly cooperating with the Supreme Council, but almost everyone in the chat group had participated in the preliminary preparations before departure.

So treating this as an issue involving the entire Tarot Manor was perfectly justified.

...

Seeing the righteous indignation in the group, Chu Yuan felt a headache coming on.

Although he knew the Supreme Council was full of people who couldn't let go of their former authority, he never expected them to make a move this early.

From the looks of it, he needed to be far more cautious around those old foxes, lest he end up getting sold out without even realizing it.

Fortunately, Lan Qingyou had discovered it early this time.

Otherwise, this single act of reselling would have been enough to completely ruin Chu Yuan's reputation both inside and outside the manor.

'What a bunch of parasites,' he thought. 'Looks like I need to find something to occupy those bastards so they stop causing trouble for me all day.'

Judgement: "@Everyone, I apologize for this incident. However, I will launch an investigation and give everyone a satisfactory explanation within three days."

Having figured things out, Chu Yuan humbled himself, apologized to everyone, and promised to track down the culprits, even setting a strict deadline. He showed utmost sincerity.

Since the incident occurred within the Supreme Council, the members of Tarot Manor could only rely on Chu Yuan to sort out the details.

Of course, they could naturally bypass Chu Yuan entirely.

For example, The Wheel of Fortune's Divination was an excellent ability for tracking down targets. But resorting to that would be tantamount to publicly embarrassing Chu Yuan.

The world wasn't just about fighting and killing. Since they were all in the same group, there was no need to burn bridges completely.

'Let Chu Yuan handle it first; if he fails, we will do it ourselves.' This mindset had basically become the consensus among the members of Tarot Manor.

The Fool: "Since Judgement has already spoken, let's leave it at that for now."

Although some people in the group hadn't reaped the dividends from that dungeon, many were still cooperating with the Supreme Council.

Therefore, everyone took this matter very seriously.

Truthfully, someone had previously suggested giving a portion of the dividends to the non-participating members as a token of gratitude, but the non-participants vehemently rejected the offer.

Who were they looking down on? Even though the dividends were substantial, they weren't desperate enough to accept charity.

Furthermore, if anyone truly fell on hard times, the group members wouldn't just watch them die without helping.

Of course, in this world, as long as one possessed knowledge, the only real way to end up utterly destitute was to die.

The High Priestess: "I have no objections."

The Hierophant: "I think that's fine. Anyway, let Judgement look into it first."

"+1" "+1" "+1"

The ensuing string of "+1"s clearly demonstrated everyone's stance, which finally allowed Chu Yuan to breathe a sigh of relief.

This matter was finally settled within the group.

Judgement: "@The Tower, sorry for the trouble."

The Tower: "It's nothing. But I can confiscate this Teleportation Array as my spoils of war, right?"

Judgement: "Of course. You captured it."

Chu Yuan smiled.

If it were an outsider, there might have been a problem. But since it was a group member making the request, no one else would object.

Especially since it was Lan Qingyou, the Witch. Absolutely no one would raise a fuss.

Who could blame them? Lan Qingyou was essentially the unspoken darling of the manor.

The beneficiaries simply showed their favoritism in subtle ways like this.

The Tower: "That's wonderful. @The Chariot, give me another set of energy conversion devices."

The Chariot: "Sent."

The Tower: "Thanks. @The Magician, do you want me to send you an image of how the Teleportation Array is drawn on this iron plate?"

The Magician: "Please do. It's a great chance for me to see the differences in how various inscriptionists handle the exact same object."

When it came to academic matters, The Magician naturally wouldn't pass up a learning opportunity.

After all, everyone had different ideas, so the things they created would naturally vary, much like the stark contrast between himself and Lan Qingyou.

The Tower: "Hey, you never said anything like that about the Teleportation Arrays I draw."

And so, Lan Qingyou voiced her protest.

The Magician: "Nonsense! Who would want to compare and study those cryptic scribbles of yours? Is that even something a normal person can learn? I haven't lived long enough to throw my life away yet!"

Seeing Lan Qingyou's protest, David, The Magician, couldn't help but curse out loud.

Privacy, protection, energy efficiency, stable teleportation—these were all just excuses fabricated by the Witch.

While the Witch had indeed achieved all those things with her Teleportation Arrays, she had also turned the entire structural framework she built into an absolute mess.

It was so messy that even he—the very person who had finalized the foundational theories and drafted the basic structures—sometimes couldn't understand a damn thing.

However, as a magical scholar, there was one point he was crystal clear on.

That was the fact that the arrays drawn by the Witch were less like Teleportation Arrays and far closer to actual Magic Arrays.

Moreover, they were the complex, composite magic arrays detailed in the foundational knowledge of "Basic Magic Arrays."

They were high-end creations capable of operating autonomously, even without The Chariot's energy conversion devices.

Although, due to their size, this self-operation could only be sustained for a brief period—akin to an emergency backup generator after a power outage—it was still insanely impressive.

The only caveat was that a single misstep could easily trigger an explosion, subjecting anyone mid-teleportation to a catastrophic fatal crash.

Yet, even with this minor flaw, her creations were in a league of their own. Even he couldn't replicate them.

That was exactly why he had jumped up in furious exasperation upon seeing Lan Qingyou's protest.

The Tower: "I can't help it. My comprehension of magic arrays is just too profound. I'm so terribly sorry."

Seeing The Magician throwing a tantrum, Lan Qingyou casually twisted the knife.

Justice: "The Tower's tone is kind of asking for a beating. Get her, Magician! Take out the Witch, and you'll officially be the foremost expert on Teleportation Arrays. I'll sponsor you with a bottle of fruit juice!"

The Star: "Then I'll sponsor a pair of deerskin shoes."

The Empress: "An amusing proposal. I will sponsor half a kilogram of crystal rice then."

Faced with everyone's teasing banter, The Magician sneered: "A great proposal. It almost makes me want to start researching toxic defoliants."

Justice: "I'm out of here."

The Empress: "He's triggered. Can't even take a joke."

The Star: "Boring."

The Tower: "@The Magician, speaking of which, is it possible to open channels on the Cards, just like on the Magic Desk?"