Chapter 227: Harvest

"I thought you weren't interested in this topic."

"They are indeed related—interchangeable adjacent pathways, different manifestations of a systematic authority."

Beiernadai listened quietly to the end, neither expressing a view nor pressing further. The scene fell silent for a moment; after several seconds of silence, she said thoughtfully:

"You know a lot. Aren't you worried I might suspect your identity because of that?"

"I was going to tell you all of this anyway—after becoming an angel."

Rekton waved his hand dismissively, not caring in the least.

At this time, the Invisible Servants Beiernadai had sent out all returned, each one carrying multiple Beyonder characteristics and mystical items, as well as quite a lot of materials.

With just a cursory glance, Rekton already spotted three cursed objects of ancient wraiths, two portions of Human-Skin Shadow characteristics, two portions of ancient wraith dust, quite a number of meteorite crystals, and fruits of the hallucinatory wind-chime tree.

There was even a lost Worm of Time. There were also quite a few Beyonder characteristics and mystical items, totaling more than ten portions.

"Let's leave."

Beiernadai made a beckoning gesture, and a pumpkin carriage drove out from the illusory.

The Invisible Servants loaded the harvested items onto it one by one, and after Rekton and Beiernadai both stepped onto the carriage in turn, the pumpkin carriage swiftly drove into the spirit world and headed into the distance.

Joywood District, Mingsike Jie.

A pumpkin drove out from the spirit world and came to a stop in Rekton's living room.

"What a huge pumpkin! I want to grow a pumpkin this big too!"

In the living room, Tu Ba Ge looked at the pumpkin carriage with an excited face and said.

"You're a rabbit; you should grow carrots," the Crow's somewhat shrill voice chimed in.

"Only children make choices. I'm already a mature rabbit—I can grow both."

Rekton stepped down from the carriage and patted the Crow's head beside him, saying:

"Call your nature spirits and bring the things down from the carriage."

"Sure thing, boss."

A faint glow reflected in the Crow's pitch-black eyes. Throughout the house, formless nature spirits emerged from every corner.

They swarmed into the carriage, took out the items one by one, and arranged them neatly on the coffee table.

The few nature spirits holding ancient wraith dust and cursed objects set down their items very reluctantly, as if these things originating from ancient wraiths held an instinctive attraction for them.

Knock knock! Two short, abrupt knocks came from the door.

Tu Ba Ge hopped over to open the door.

Klein removed the half-height silk top hat he was wearing, politely greeted Tu Ba Ge, and then walked into the living room.

The first thing to catch his eye was the pile of Beyonder materials and characteristics placed on the coffee table, along with quite a few mystical items.

The light visible through Spirit Vision was almost dazzling. Klein paused briefly, quietly deactivated his Spirit Vision, and clicked his tongue softly:

"... This much?"

"The Beyonder characteristics and mystical items came from those Beyonders who entered to explore before us. None of them managed to successfully leave that tomb."

Rekton said, his tone carrying a hint of emotion.

He then turned his gaze toward Beiernadai, pointed at her, then pointed at himself and Klein, and asked tentatively:

"How about we split it fifty-fifty? You take half, and the two of us take the other half."

"Fine." Beiernadai gave a slight nod.

Phew~ Breathing a sigh of relief, Rekton pointed at the harvest laid out on the table and said with a light laugh:

"Ladies first."

Beiernadai didn't stand on ceremony. She walked straight over to the Gray-white Amber that wrapped the Ghost Painting Frame, slowly picked it up, and handed it to an Invisible Servant following behind her.

Sure enough, compared to A Meng's portrait, the Ghost Painting Frame was her first choice.

Sighing inwardly, Rekton also stepped forward and picked up the portrait painting that had been sealed by a pitch-black, viscous liquid-like curtain.

Having obtained what he wanted most, Rekton relaxed considerably and turned to Klein beside him:

"You pick next."

"No problem," Klein replied with a gentle nod.

After picking and choosing, the three of them quickly divided up all the harvest.

Beiernadai summoned several Invisible Servants and loaded her share of the harvest onto the pumpkin carriage.

Before leaving, she didn't forget to say: "You can call me again next time."

"Definitely. The time for the Aurora Order to summon the True Creator's descent is approaching soon. You'd best not leave Backlund recently."

Rekton gave a slight nod and casually reminded her—the cooperation the two sides had agreed upon was about to begin soon.

As Beiernadai's pumpkin carriage departed, the pressure in the living room dropped sharply.

Tu Ba Ge swiftly pounced on a cluster of pale green, plant-root-like matter in front of Klein:

"I want this one! This one!"

"That's a Biologist's Beyonder characteristic. I'll trade with you for it."

Rekton turned to Klein, explained the reason for Tu Ba Ge's excitement, and proposed exchanging this characteristic.

"No problem."

Klein gave a slight nod. He had already noticed Tu Ba Ge's excited expression earlier and, worried that Beiernadai might also need this characteristic, had secured it in advance—anyway, there was nothing among the harvest that he urgently needed.

After all the exchanges, Rekton ended up with three mystical items and one Biologist's Beyonder characteristic, while the remaining Beyonder materials and characteristics went to Klein.

Klein pointed to a mystical item casually placed on the coffee table and asked:

"What's the effect of that half-mechanical glove? You seemed very eager to get it earlier."

"I don't know the effect yet—haven't had time to check. But it corresponds to the Machinery Specialist's characteristic, what people commonly call an Artisan."

What kind of decent person sends an Artisan to explore a tomb that's obviously going to be dangerous!

Klein couldn't help but grumble inwardly, then speculated with some puzzlement:

"The Steam Church? Not very likely. If someone from the Steam Church had explored that tomb and died inside, the Church would have discovered it long ago."

"This should be a mystical item that was brought inside. One of the previous explorers of the tomb was an Appraiser of that pathway, and that characteristic was taken away by Beiernadai."

Having explained his speculation, Lakdon reached out and picked up the semi-mechanical glove from the coffee table, closed his eyes slightly, and performed a simple divination.

The glove's effect was very simple: it could create mechanical curiosities and not-particularly-powerful extraordinary items.

There were two negative effects:

One was that the user's body would gradually become stiff and sluggish, like a rusting machine, worsening with prolonged use until body parts fell apart and dropped off like decayed mechanical components.

The other was that the user would develop narcolepsy—every hour of use required two hours of deep sleep.

Opening his eyes, he tossed the semi-mechanical glove he was holding back onto the coffee table, then picked up the other two mystical items and performed divinations on them separately.

A gray-brown leather glove, corresponding to the characteristic of the Warrior pathway's Weaponmaster:

It could grant the user superhuman strength, superhuman constitution, superhuman agility, and proficiency with weapons, including extraordinary weapons.

The negative effect was that it made one reckless and impulsive, unwilling to actively think through problems.

The other mystical item was a whistle with a somewhat exaggerated, twisted shape, bearing a grin as exaggerated as a clown's, corresponding to the characteristic of the Briber:

Its method of use was to give the target a certain item in advance, then blow forcefully at it, which would randomly inflict one of several effects on the target—weakening, charm, arrogance, or association—the specific effect being entirely random, and its intensity determined by how valuable the item given to the target was.

Its influence was bidirectional: if one had also received something gifted by another before blowing it, one would likewise fall under its negative effects.

Having obtained the information on the remaining two mystical items, Lakdon sighed helplessly:

"These mystical items are each more outrageous than the last. One turns a person into a numb narcoleptic, one is a brainless brute's glove, and the last one doesn't distinguish friend from foe."

Good thing I didn't choose a mystical item. I don't have the ability to craft mystical items, and it would be terrible if I couldn't even sell it when the time comes.

Secretly rejoicing in his heart, Klein gave a light cough and offered a feasible plan:

"You could find someone to pulverize them and recover the characteristics, then use that Artisan glove to reforge them."

"That's the only way."

"If only there were a mechanical puppet—it could perfectly avoid that glove's negative effects."

Lakdon shook his head helplessly and shifted the topic to the Time Worm that Beiernadai had taken away:

"What a pity about that Time Worm. That's a rare, high-grade talisman material!"

Klein also felt it was somewhat a pity, but didn't care too much. He wasn't clear on what kind of effect a talisman crafted from a Time Worm would have. A high-grade talisman would certainly be either powerful or bizarre, or both.

"Obviously, Beiernadai couldn't possibly not recognize a Time Worm. It's just unknown how she'll make use of that Time Worm's corpse."

"How was your process of exploring that tomb?"

Klein asked with great curiosity.

"Wait a moment."

Lakdon stood up, went to the kitchen, and fetched a metal basin, filling it with water.

After placing the basin on the coffee table, he pulled a handful of colorful powder from a hidden pocket inside his jacket as if by magic. The powder drifted down into the water, and as the ripples spread, a scene appeared.

The scene showed Lakdon and Beiernadai beginning their exploration of that tomb, all the way to the final Main Burial Chamber.

Klein's gaze was fixed on the mural in the scene, and he said in a puzzled voice:

"He is the Ancient Sun God? The Creator of all worshiped by the Silver City, the omniscient and omnipotent God?"

"The bound giant dragon and giant—He was reclaiming authority? Which pathway did the former Giant King still possess?"

"... It should be the Warrior and Farmer pathways."

(End of this chapter)