Chapter 646: The Arbiter's Codename

Due to Guanghui's exclamation, the gazes of everyone on the Command Ship turned toward him.

That doubtful gaze was clearly asking what had just happened.

Qin Ge smiled and said, 'First finish what you're doing; after you're done, I'll explain it in detail.'

Although they were doubtful, they soon turned their attention to the immediate task, and only after the Command Ship had completely left the shore did they gather around Qin Ge.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Qin Ge smiled at his shipgirls and said, 'Just now, after we parted in the Zhi hui bu communications room, I ran into someone on the second-floor stairs; that person is a shipgirl from another world, Hai Lun Na.'

'What!' All the shipgirls were greatly surprised, and then they were filled with self-reproach.

After all, Qin Ge is their commander; when encountering strangers, they actually knew nothing, fortunately it was a shipgirl they met; if it had been a Siren or something like that, everything would have been too late.

It seemed as if he sensed something; Qin Ge waved his hand at his shipgirls and said, 'It's not your fault; after all, shipgirls like Gneisenau, Hai Lun Na, and Enterprise are not detected by radar.'

'From now on, we must not let this happen again, my lord; regardless of whether you agree, I will stay by your side without leaving for this period.' Belfast gave a salute and spoke firmly.

Qin Ge stared for a moment, then smiled and said, 'Alright, as you wish.'

'Thank you, my lord,' Belfast replied.

Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, then strangely glanced at Hai Lun Na beside them; King George V asked Qin Ge, 'Commander, it seems your meeting with her wasn't just a casual encounter, was it?'

Qin Ge nodded and said, 'That's right; she told me that our trip to Donghuang might be fatal, because there is an Arbiter named Suterenkus there.'

'What!' Everyone exclaimed, their faces full of disbelief.

'Donghuang actually has an Arbiter? Impossible; if there were an Arbiter, Donghuang's strength would pose no threat to her—she could even wipe out the entire Donghuang faction, making any talk of rescue with us pointless.' Enterprise spoke up.

'She said she was stationed there, meaning it's highly likely that Arbiter does not act on her own.' Qin Ge told Enterprise, 'And she precisely named the two Arbiters we encountered: Arbiter Hermes and Arbiter Tianpenglans.'

'Hermes, Tianpenglans?' Guanghui wondered, 'Why do I feel their names are so similar to those of the Major Arcana cards in the tarot?'

'Tarot? Major Arcana?' This time Qin Ge felt a bit confused; his knowledge was limited to military and everyday life, and as for cards he had only touched playing cards and mahjong, knowing nothing about tarot.

King George V explained, 'The Major Arcana cards are used to interpret general fortune and destiny; they are part of the tarot. Each card reflects different life opportunities and is used for divination.'

The Major Arcana cards imply a secret room; there are twenty-two of them, and to use the tarot to open the mysterious gate of destiny, one must first enter the room to explore.

The commander only needs to know that, in legend, each Major Arcana card represents a deity.

'That's right; if the people of the Arbitration Agency really are called by that name, then Hermes represents the Hermit, thehermit, number nine of the Major Arcana.'

'Suterenkus represents Strength, strength, number eight of the Major Arcana.'

'Tianpenglans represents Temperance, temperance, number fourteen of the Major Arcana.' Guanghui said to Qin Ge.

'I see.' Qin Ge nodded, 'Although I'm not entirely clear on what you mean by Major Arcana, it's indeed true that the two sides can be linked in some way.'

Guanghui and King George V smiled and said nothing more; after all, the Major Arcana is indeed somewhat obscure for ordinary people, let alone for Qin Ge, who has little interest in it.

'Then, Commander, if Donghuang truly has an Arbiter stationed there, our strength is indeed insufficient to oppose it, yet we must still rescue—what should we do?' Weineituo asked.

Qin Ge took out the badge Helena had given him from his pocket and said, 'She also asked me this question back then; I told her that if one fears death, what's the point of persisting in battle? So she gave me this, saying it could save our lives at a critical moment.'

Enterprise reached out and took the badge; in the instant of touching it, she sensed its specific ability: 'This is a Beacon Mark!'

'Beacon Mark? It seems you know how to use it, Enterprise.' Qin Ge smiled.

Enterprise nodded, 'This Beacon Mark only needs to be charged, and it will release a unique signal that can be transmitted far away.'

Qin Ge nodded, 'So, having this means we essentially have reinforcements?'

'If she really comes.' Enterprise said.

'I believe she won't deceive me; otherwise she wouldn't have gone to all this trouble. So keep this Beacon Mark safe and release it when necessary.' Qin Ge said.

'Understood, commander.' Enterprise said, and then she put away the badge.

'Furthermore, she said your current Awakening is not a true Awakening, merely a memetic change, a deception by Anticxes. Moreover, she said you are still far from true Awakening and your potential remains great.' Qin Ge continued.

'I remember, when we fought the Arbiter at the outpost earlier, she told Xin ze xi that it had shed its false identity and become a true warship.'

'Is that consistent with the memetic change you just mentioned, Commander?' King George V said.

'I'd say it's about ninety percent.' Enterprise said, 'But there is currently no concrete evidence to prove it; also, what does Anticxes and the meaning represented by warship signify? Why would they say that? And what is a meme?'

Qin Ge sighed, 'Suddenly I feel that since the world changed, the number of unsolved mysteries we face has multiplied; we must quickly end this war, properly integrate and study the existing data, otherwise we won't even know the enemy's identity or purpose, which would be like blind men feeling an elephant.'

'That's right,' Zhenhai smiled, 'the data we currently hold is truly too little; previously we thought it was remarkably special that the commander came from another world, but now, under the influence of those few individuals, it has ceased to be so unique.'

Qin Ge smiled and said, 'I am still different from them, because my world has no shipgirls and no Sirens.'

'That's right,' Guanghui smiled.