Chapter 162

Su Lin never expected Ke Ke Ke Laien, this honest-looking man with thick eyebrows, had secretly pulled off all these shenanigans.

When did this happen? How come you didn't call me for something this fun?

"Impressive." Su Lin glanced at Lu Mingfei nearby and sincerely remarked.

"Impressive." Ye Fan nodded in agreement.

"Oh, nowhere near. " Lu Mingfei twirled a strand of hair around his fingertip and said humbly: "I still have no idea how to digest the Potion of the Instigator."

No. I'm saying Ke Ke Ke Laien is impressive.

"I'm curious." Su Lin thought for a moment and said: "All this time, haven't you read The Secret Master?"

Lu Mingfei smiled awkwardly and said: "Due to various irresistible factors…"

Like cultivation, online games, dating… Real-life people have it so good.

Lu Mingfei assumed Su Lin meant the book contained information on how to digest the potion.

Senior Zhongli first frowned, his expression slightly odd, then shook his head, a faint smile on his lips.

"By the way," Lu Mingfei said to Su Lin, "Old Zhou said you have a Sequence Seven potion. After I digest the Sequence Eight potion, can you trade it to me?"

You're truly brave.

Su Lin's eye twitched. He glanced at the serious-looking Ke Ke Ke Laien and forced out: "I'll give it to you."

"Yay!" Lu Mingfei raised his right hand above his head. "So that's how it is—everyone's actually so nice."

Ke Ke Ke Laien thought for a moment and said to Old Lu: "Alright, just be careful."

With this old dragon around, he wasn't worried about Lu Mingfei—so long as he didn't get too reckless, nothing serious would happen. Besides, based on what Ke Ke Ke Laien had seen before, ordinary contamination sources had no effect on him; he might even contaminate them in return.

The only problem: if he got caught, it wouldn't be fun anymore.

Ke Ke Ke Laien suddenly felt something was off—he found his own previous thought strange.

'Do I really want to turn Lu Mingfei into a Witch? Doesn't matter now—I'll let him figure out the weirdness himself once he gets there.'

'I don't need Lu Mingfei to do anything for me. Old Lu's power is unstable. In fact, I don't want to start a god war in Beckland—three god-level forces are too conspicuous, and uncontrollable factors will multiply…'

Still, I might entrust him with other tasks later.

Dispelling distractions, Ke Ke Ke Laien looked at Old Lu and said: "Hmm, regarding the payment…"

Old Lu, without waiting for Ke Ke Ke Laien to finish:

"No need to say more. Payment?"

"This."

Old Lu pulled out Gungnir from nowhere and handed it to Ke Ke Ke Laien.

"?" Ke Ke Ke Laien looked puzzled.

"Not enough?" Old Lu stroked the curved black spear and said: "I made this myself. It's not as good as the one I gave Senior Zhongli, but it's not a Consumable. Even if you flee to a Parallel World, its trait of guaranteed hit remains."

"Should be enough as a ticket—or name your price."

"."

Ke Ke Ke Laien silently took the spear, then after a long pause, said: "Enough."

Do college students paying the director when they're extras?

"Good." Old Lu nodded and dissolved into particles, merging into Lu Mingfei's body.

Su Lin took a golden branch from his system space and tossed it toward Han Li's side.

In that instant, Black Emperor's eyes widened like copper bells, tracking the golden branch's parabolic arc.

"What's this?" Han Li frowned, feeling the branch's extraordinary divine aura.

"A sprout from the Golden Apple Tree," Su Lin explained. "It takes six hundred sixty-six thousand six hundred years to bear fruit. Find a spot on Water Mirror Peak to plant it."

"Golden Apple Tree?" Ke Ke Ke Laien, having stowed Old Lu's spear, asked: "Which Golden Apple Tree?"

"The one from Greek mythology," Su Lin replied.

"Where did you even get this?" Ye Fan stared at the golden sprout in Han Li's hand. "Golden Apples hold the same status in Western myth as the Peaches of Immortality do in Eastern myth."

"Guess." Su Lin smiled.

"I won't guess!" Ye Fan picked up Xiao Nannan and walked away. "Come on, brother's taking you to eat something delicious."

Black Emperor cast a lingering look at the branch in Han Li's hand, then met Su Lin's gaze—his whole body shuddered, and he snapped back to awareness.

That aura…

"Your… Majesty, I—I take my leave!"

He immediately chased after Ye Fan, full of questions and panic.

"Remember what I said," Su Lin whispered into Black Emperor's ear. "If anything goes missing when I return here…"

"Rest assured, Your Majesty!"

Su Lin smiled. This maneuver left him refreshed and invigorated—he thanked Ye Fan for providing this opportunity.

"Let's go, Old Zhou." Su Lin turned to Ke Ke Ke Laien, but found him standing still, head slightly tilted upward, gaze deep.

"What are you thinking?"

Ke Ke Ke Laien stared at the Golden Apple sprout in Han Li's hand and said: "Before I crossed over, I was quite interested in those myths. Su Lin, have you ever considered what effect the Golden Apple in mythology actually has?"

Su Lin didn't understand why Ke Ke Ke Laien suddenly brought this up. He thought back to descriptions he'd read—Golden Apples, he'd seen them often in Olympus Star Chronicles and various books.

"."

Su Lin spent time recalling, but realized he only remembered the Golden Apple appearing as a plot device—no detailed records of its effects existed in his memory.

Yes, the item only appeared in certain mythological events; he had never heard of any specific function tied to the Golden Apple.

Ke Ke Ke Laien slowly spoke:

"The earliest recorded mention of an apple in the West comes from the Greek myth of the Golden Apple. In legend, the Earth Goddess Gaia gifted Zeus and Hera a golden apple tree as a wedding present."

"Afterward, myths only mention the Golden Apple being guarded by heavy forces. It appeared three times: in Heracles' Twelve Labors, the Judgement of the Three Goddesses, and Atalanta's fatal footrace."

As Kleine said, Su Lin only knew these details—the catalyst of the Trojan War: the golden apple of Greek mythology.

"The golden apple in Norse mythology has a more concrete function than the one in Greek myth—it's a divine object that sustains the gods' immortality," Lu Mingfei said. "Of course, the golden apple in our world is actually an alchemical product."

"There's another mythic association with apples: the forbidden fruit of wisdom in the Bible. But doesn't that strike you as odd?" Kleine frowned slightly. "If the Greek golden apple were useless to gods, why would the gods send deities and dragons to guard it?"

"Yet in this version, the golden apple has no recorded function in myth, and anyone who obtains it thereafter suffers constant turmoil in life."

Stop talking—unless you want the story to start unfolding like one from *The Secrets*.

"Are you certain this is a sprout from the Greek golden apple?" Kleine asked.

"Certain," Su Lin nodded. "We'll know what it is once it grows."

Su Lin looked up at Han Li and said: "Could you please help? See if your little green bottle can accelerate its ripening."

Han Li nodded. From the fragments of conversation, he had learned this sprout was no ordinary thing—a tree requiring sixty-six thousand years to bear fruit must be a heavenly treasure.

Kleine temporarily set aside his curiosity and turned his attention to the matter at hand.

"Let's go."

He split off a Spirit Worm, separating the dangerous knowledge from his mind and hurling it toward the portal leading to his rented apartment.

Having done this, Kleine stepped forward, leading the others into the portal to his world.

To the world veiled in historical and dark mist, where steam and mechanical tides dominated, and humanity and divinity danced amid chaotic madness—the *Secrets* world.

————————

Beckland, North District, 160 Berkend Street.

The residence of Dorn. Tanges.

As a member of Beckland's upper class, a successful investor and arms smuggler, Kleine's substantial funds allowed him to occasionally enjoy aristocratic life under Dorn. Tanges's alias.

The large house featured a spacious master bedroom, wool carpets laid over oak floors, and a faint incense scent lingering inside.

Even the bathroom—no, the washroom—was ten square meters in size, with a glass mirror mounted on expensive tiles, faint steam clinging to its surface, a bathtub filled with hot water, and a puppet lying inside.

"Praise you, Great Lord of the Washroom," Su Lin placed his right palm over his left chest and bowed deeply to Kleine in reverence.

"Great Lord of the Washroom, we walk through your washroom as if walking through your kingdom; the sink is your holy table, the bathtub your holy pool, and the toilet beneath my feet is your throne."

"Ah~! What glory! Praise you!"

Kleine strained every effort to maintain his impassive expression with the Faceless One, yet internally he had dredged up memories of having beaten Su Lin before, and said:

"This toilet is expensive—about one Suler. Gods shouldn't defecate. If the Great God of Light wishes to avoid using it, please step down from the toilet."

"Your will is my will," Su Lin leapt off the toilet and glanced curiously around. The washroom was lavishly Western-style, with a ceiling-mounted incandescent bulb casting a white glow through the hazy steam.

"My advice: don't attempt cultivation in this world," Kleine said, glancing at the space beside Su Lin, where a historical rift lay open—Su Lin's true body hid within it, clad in purple robes, reclining on a rocking chair, covered by a blanket.

"Mm," Senior Senior Zhongli agreed with Kleine, pushed open the fogged glass window, and looked up at the sky. "I can sense the laws of this world impose many restrictions."

"Do not attempt cultivation methods involving solar or lunar essences—dangerous."

"The danger has already arrived," Su Lin said. A force was attempting to enter his body through the knowledge he possessed. Naturally, this force affected neither his Divine Light avatar nor his true body—it was simply repelled.

"Merely knowing it causes contamination," Senior Senior Zhongli sensed the force. "A disaster for beings of insufficient level."

"Enough, everyone," Kleine clapped his hands and addressed the three. "Could we step outside to talk?"

"Let my butler prepare a lavish Ruin feast as a welcoming ceremony. Perhaps we could go to the Meige Manor on the outskirts—it's my property. There, we can enjoy an outdoor candlelit dinner."

"I want tender pea-stewed lamb and Dixi pies," Su Lin told Kleine. "And a glass of sweet iced tea."

"And tomato oxtail soup, pan-seared fish fillets, roasted squab, and some black bread—I'd like to try it."

Black bread.

If others found out, they'd think Dorn. Tanges was mistreating his guests.

"You won't like eating that," Kleine said seriously. "It's bitter, hard, and tastes sour, salty, and foul."

"Fengge ate that when he had no money," Lu Mingfei recalled Fengge's description. "Unless you're a half-blood, your teeth would shatter."

"No problem. One must try new things," Su Lin didn't care about Kleine's warning—he knew black bread was terrible.

"Alright, gentlemen," Kleine commanded the puppet in the bathtub to dress, transforming it into Dorn. Tanges's appearance as it stepped out of the washroom. The moment the door opened, the first thing visible was an antique grandfather clock standing in the corner, its glass face reflecting the firelight from the hearth, the second hand ticking steadily with the pendulum.

"Four hours until dinner. You may roam freely, but disguise your appearances." Kleine pulled out a purse, hesitated, then withdrew three gold pounds, ignoring Su Lin's scornful look, and handed one to each of them.

In this world, East Asian features—black hair and black eyes—are traits inherited from the Elf race of the Second Era. These ancient remnants, whose ancestral homeland was the Western Continent, preserved recipes for cooking animal organs and excelled in using spices.

"I'll arrange a guide for you."

Kleine looked at Senior Senior Zhongli with sincerity. "You can charge it to Dorn. Tanges."

"Excellent," Senior Senior Zhongli nodded, smiling.

"What day is it today?" Su Lin asked Kleine.

In this world, the year still had thirty-six days, the week seven days, and the day twenty-four hours. Kleine had once believed he had been transported—only later realizing he had arrived in an era far after countless epochs.

"Monday." Kleine answered automatically.

"Is the Tarot Meeting held this afternoon?" Su Lin's eyes sparkled, a smile on his lips as he stepped closer to Kleine.

"Turn off that holy light in your eyes," Kleine instantly understood what Su Lin intended.

The holy light flickering in Su Lin's eyes was blinding.

"I'm curious!" Su Lin grabbed Kleine's shoulder. "Old Zhou! We've known each other so long—you and I spend the most time gaming together. You've never taken me to meet your startup team!"

"It's not impossible," Kleine hesitated. Others were fine, but Su Lin…

"You won't cause trouble, will you?"

Su Lin froze. "Am I that kind of person?"

Kleine subtly glanced at the previous victim: Lu Mingfei was crouched before the hearth, warming himself.

Senior Senior Zhongli, who had been admiring the antique porcelain displays, turned his head upon hearing their conversation and said: "If convenient, please bring me along too."

Kleine fell silent for a moment, then said: "Alright."

Upon hearing Kleine's reply, Su Lin placed his right palm over his left chest, smiling, and said: "Praise the Fool!"

End of this chapter.