Chapter 190: Where Did You Just Go?

Lei Ke Dun wanted to tease with a line "I'll just sit and watch," but considering Ke Lai En's current mood and location, he suppressed the joke and, with a light laugh, said:

"Don't worry about Him; Mr. Sun's place is certainly safe enough."

"That former exploration squad captain is merely a fragment of A Meng; his strength won't be great, and even with an angelic‑level stature, he won't be hard to eliminate."

"At most he'll expose some information; without sufficient certainty, A Meng won't act lightly."

"I understand," Ke Lai En, manipulating the little Mr. World, replied, then fell silent again.

Shrouded in gray mist, Ke Lai En silently pondered the meaning of the other's words, feeling that the remark "A Meng won't act lightly" was directed at him.

Little Sun Dai Lik glanced at the silent Mr. World, then at the now‑speechless Lei Ke Dun, wanting to continue asking about A Meng, but couldn't think of what to ask.

Justice Ao Dai Li's curiosity was satisfied; seeing no one else inclined to speak, she turned her head toward the head of the bronze long table and smiled lightly:

"Mr. Fool, I request a private conversation."

Ke Lai En could guess Miss Justice's reason; the figure shrouded in gray mist gave a slight nod and said:

"Allowed."

Immediately, Lei Ke Dun felt his senses toward Miss Justice and Mr. Fool were blocked.

"Tsk~ quite cautious," Lei Ke Dun thought to himself.

He could fully guess that Ke Lai En did this to prevent him and others from communicating outside as before, avoiding the possible exposure of the fake‑world identities.

Bored, he leaned on the high‑back chair for a while until two light taps on the table signaled that Miss Justice's private conversation had ended.

"You may trade among yourselves," Ke Lai En reclined against the chair back, smiling as he said.

Lei Ke Dun maintained his previous posture, his gaze casually scanning everyone present.

He had nothing to trade or any task, and the matter he needed Justice Ao Dai Li's help with had already been settled at the noon banquet.

Hangman A'erjie fixed his gaze on the magician Fo Ersi ahead to the side and said:

"I've got a lead on deep‑sea swordfish blood; I can get it within two days. You can start preparing gold pounds."

"Alright, no problem."

Magician Fo Ersi replied immediately, saying that the master ingredient for the illusionist's magic elixir she had been searching for everywhere, and this was the first concrete news.

I still have a deposit of 430 pounds, enough to buy one ingredient. The Food Spirit's stomach can only be obtained after Mr. Sun is released from the bottom of the Round Tower. I hope Mr. Sun can be released soon—no, later—otherwise I won't have enough funds.

Realizing her deposit wasn't enough to buy two magic elixir ingredients, Fo Ersi's head swelled with anxiety.

She touched her cheek, looked around, and asked in an unusually sincere tone:

"Everyone, do you have any good ways to make money?"

The moment her words fell, everyone fell into silence simultaneously.

Lei Ke Dun's gaze swept the crowd: the Silver City that needs no money, the aristocratic lady who lacks no money, and himself who can claim reimbursement from the church; the rest were all short of funds.

Thinking of that, Lei Ke Dun's mouth involuntarily curved into a smile. Indeed, poverty is contagious, and the source is the headmost Fool.

Lei Ke Dun shifted his posture, leaning on the opposite side of the seat, raised his hand slightly and said:

"If you have sufficient strength, you could peruse the kingdom's bounty notices, or find a lucky gang to collect protection fees."

Magician Fo Ersi fell silent for two seconds, then involuntarily lowered her head and said:

"My strength is probably insufficient for me to do those things."

The scene fell silent again; no one spoke. After a few seconds, Ke Lai En manipulated the little Mr. World.

Mr. World raised his hand slightly, his voice hoarse and deep, saying:

"Help me keep an eye on the Thousand‑Faced Hunter's blood and the Deep Sea Naga's hair."

Having successfully advanced to magician, Ke Lai En began preparing for the next sequence of Faceless Ones; fortunately, he only needed auxiliary materials, and the corresponding extraordinary traits had already been extracted step by step from the properties contained in the all‑black eye.

"Alright," Little Sun Dai Lik replied first, though without making a commitment; he was still confined at the bottom of the Round Tower, unsure when he could be released.

"The Thousand‑Faced Hunter? I think I've seen its fossil."

"Hmm, I need to go back and verify first."

Justice Ao Dai Li thought and replied.

Ke Lai En, manipulating Mr. World, gave a non‑committal nod. However, regarding the Thousand‑Faced Hunter that had already become a fossil, he held little expectation.

"I'll keep an eye out for you."

Lei Ke Dun also responded similarly, though he had no intention of seeking those materials; Ke Lai En had only just become a magician, and possessing the materials wouldn't make him a Faceless One.

After a quiet moment, Hangman A'erjie spoke:

"Watch out for a person for me, related to the previously mentioned colonial slave disappearance case."

"He calls himself Baren, skin brown‑red, with obvious South‑continent racial features, but someone once heard him speak with a Beckland‑accented tone; his third tooth on the left is missing, though it has probably been replaced."

"If you can locate him, the reward is no issue—at least 100 pounds or items of equivalent value."

Hangman A'erjie's commission was issued, but no one directly accepted it; the useful information was scant. Apart from Lei Ke Dun, who knew the plot, no one knew how to find such a person in the vast Beckland.

The headmost Fool Ke Lai En surveyed the room and said:

"Free exchange, then."

After the tarot session ended, Little Sun Dai Lik returned to the real world, finding himself again in a dark room.

He sat cautiously on the edge of the bed, noticing no abnormal changes around him, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Recalling the information White Tower gave at the earlier tarot, and that the one who had spoken with him was no longer the former exploration squad captain but a fragment of the self‑proclaimed A Meng, Dai Lik felt a chill of dread.

Dai Lik stared fixedly at the metal wall he had previously communicated through, his breathing becoming painstakingly careful; he feared that A Meng's fragment might suddenly breach the wall and appear before him.

"Are you imagining that scene?"

From the right side of Dai Lik came an aged, wavering voice.

The moment the voice reached his ears, Dai Lik froze, his skin tightening and every hair standing on end.

How did it get here? A seal? The effect of that magical item? What should I do?

Cold sweat continuously seeped from Dai Lik's forehead; instinctively he wanted to turn his head, but his body's reflex stopped him.

This originates from the teaching in Silver City's "Monster Basics" course:

When someone speaks behind you, do not rush to turn around.

Dai Lik raised both hands, clasped them before his chest, and summoned a holy, descending, bright, brilliant, pure, warm light.

The summoned holy light illuminated the pitch‑black, cramped room.

With the aid of this light, Dai Lik also saw clearly the appearance of the person who had been communicating with him.

It was entirely a monster, its head split vertically, exposing a gray‑white brain in the middle that seemed to writhe as if alive.

On the cut surface of the brain, viscous fluid dripped into thin strands, with maggots writhing on them.

The eyes on each side were far apart, the nasal bridge split down the middle, the left half‑mouth was gaping, while the right half‑mouth remained shut.

The monster was naked, its body covered with criss‑crossing dark‑red wounds that all gaped ferociously, revealing rows of blood‑red teeth inside, which all uttered the same sentence at once:

"Where did you just go?"

Dai Lik's pupils contracted sharply, and instinctively he tried to summon another holy light.

Before Dai Lik could finish a single summoning, he was stunned to see the holy light he had previously invoked suddenly thicken, dazzling to the point that he could not help but want to close his eyes.

Suppressing the sour ache and tearing sensation in his eyes, Dai Lik strained to see clearly what was happening.

He could only glimpse, within the magnificent, radiant column of light, a purer, denser substance separating out, like a light person without facial features or clothing.

The "light person" suddenly flickered and leapt onto the monster.

All the monster's mouths opened simultaneously, as if emitting a mournful scream, yet strangely no sound came out.

The monster shuddered violently, rapidly disintegrating and melting away under the scorching and illumination of the "light person."

When the monster became almost transparent, a strange phantom appeared where it had been, dressed in a classical long robe and wearing a pointed soft hat!

The moment that figure appeared, Xiao Taiyang recalled A Meng, whom Mr. White Tower had mentioned at the Tarot Society, and realized this was A Meng's true form!

As soon as A Meng's silhouette materialized, the "light person" suddenly exploded, and Dai Lik's vision turned into a blinding white flash.

When his sight returned, he found himself, at some unknown moment, standing outside the room, in a corridor lined with metal lamp stands, bathed in a dim yellow glow.

Dai Lik turned his head blankly, looking toward the direction of the room he had been in, and saw a towering figure.

In front of that figure, on Dai Lik's former bed, a speck of dawn‑like light swiftly coalesced onto a white femur, turning it into a pure‑white, sharp straight sword.

Beside the sword lay a thumb‑long, semi‑transparent odd little creature whose body consisted of one completely transparent segment after another.

The towering figure, back to Dai Lik, bent down, picked up the strange semi‑transparent creature, turned, and looked toward the Dai Lik who was watching.

He sighed, "Almost."

(End of chapter)