Chapter 444: Missionary

Lei Kedun lightly tapped his coffee cup with his right index finger, and said calmly:

"They still exploit the impoverished masses infected by those mushrooms, spreading the Great Mother's faith to them, but his actions seem to have quickened a bit."

"As expected, with the power of my Lord, we eradicated many mushrooms growing along the riverbanks; perhaps he sensed some issues, so he chose to speed up his actions."

Li Aomaste gave a slight nod, his expression showing he had long anticipated, and said.

After a brief silence, Lei Kedun changed the subject and said:

"The weapons purchased from Fusake will need a few more days to reach Xibailang; the Golden Dream, being outside the safe lanes of the Furious Sea, will have its sailing speed somewhat affected."

"Once the weapons arrive here, we can act."

Li Aomaste's face rarely showed a smile, and it made his already deep wrinkles appear even more pronounced.

He lowered his gaze to the holy emblem on the table, belonging to the True Creator, composed of a scarlet cross and a blooming rose, whispered a brief prayer, then smiled lightly and replied:

"Myself and the Secret Saint Assembly will lead a group of church members to hold back the Steam Church and the Indis Military's exceptional beings, but to end the battle quickly we still need some extra support."

"Along with the Golden Dream arrived a saint who follows the Sage; it will assist you in ending the battle as soon as possible."

"Moreover, we have the favor of destiny!"

Lei Kedun leisurely leaned back in the wooden chair, smiled lightly, and replied.

He lifted his coffee and took a sip, then Li Aomaste suggested gathering those willing to learn about the Sage, so Lei Kedun could preach to them.

Behind the factory, under a stretch of shade, Lei Kedun, lacking any particular image, reclined under a massive tree that required two people to embrace, taking a nap.

Around his shade or on the placed benches, workers in uniform gathered in small groups, whispering about something.

While napping, Lei Kedun listened to the surrounding chatter and mused, "I'm really unskilled at preaching; it'd be great if Ethan were here—he seems very adept at this."

His thoughts swirling, Lei Kedun sensed someone approaching, slowly opened his eyes, and turned his head toward the person.

It was a man in a mysteriously dark robe, about thirty years old, with slightly wavy brown hair, each strand firm, eyes deep as if containing countless stars.

He held a dark brown staff in his right hand, a faint smile at his lips, curiosity unmistakable in his eyes; upon seeing Lei Kedun notice him, he gave a slight bow and said:

"Good noon, Your Excellency the Divine Envoy; I didn't expect that besides being my Lord's envoy, you are also the Sage's envoy."

"When out in the world, one's identity is self‑assigned."

Lei Kedun lazily replied, paying no mind to the other's startled gaze, and showing no intention of rising from the ground.

A faint deep‑blue radiance spilled from his eyes; the other's figure turned in his sight into a tangled mass of information, which he parsed piece by piece, discerning the other's peculiarities.

Lei Kedun saw the layers of illusory doors on the other's body, and an invisible, vast shadow veil that completely enveloped him.

Amid the tangled data, he glimpsed a silver‑black three‑tiered jewelry box of high stature; even his Secret‑Viewing Eye could not fully discern the information it contained, for seeing it directly would confront the terrifying contamination sealed inside.

Is it contamination from the starry sky? The Old Box once held by the Abraham family? Is he the defected to the Aurora Assembly's Secret Saint Butis?

The Seeker of Secrets is truly hard to deal with; the Secret‑Viewing Eye, after finally becoming controllable upon attaining demigod status, grew even stronger, allowing glimpses of more and more terrifying things through faint connections. Dangers from other paths either stem from adjacent routes or from the top of the sequence; only the Seeker of Secrets can handle them, many of which they doom themselves with.

Lei Kedun's gaze made Butis pause uncomfortably; he felt the divine envoy's eyes saw him with extraordinary clarity, leaving no secret hidden under that stare.

Lei Kedun quickly restrained his gaze, looked up at Butis, smiled lightly and said:

"Secret Saint Butis? Appearing here at this time, are you also curious about the Sage?"

Feeling that all‑seeing gaze fade, Butis forced a stiff smile and managed to say:

"It is I; regarding a hidden existence never heard of before, anyone can't help but want to know, and I'm also very curious about the Unnamed God's doctrine."

Noticing Butis's expression, Lei Kedun gave a detached smile and said:

"Apologies, observing surroundings is the Seeker's instinct; if my gaze made you uncomfortable, please forgive me, I will try to restrain myself."

"The Seeker's Secret‑Viewing Eye? I've always known the Secret‑Viewing Eye can see more than most exceptional beings, but I didn't expect yours to be so powerful; under that stare, nothing seems to hide."

Butis quickly steadied his emotions, and, with a look full of curiosity and surprise, spoke in a casual tone.

Lei Kedun gave a noncommittal nod and sighed softly:

"In the realm of exceptional beings, seeing too much and knowing too much is often not a good thing; half of the Seeker's loss of control and death stems from their eyes."

While Lei Kedun and Butis chatted, workers in the factory and some nearby residents gathered; guided by the factory supervisors, they formed a semicircle, placing leaves or wooden planks beneath them to sit.

Butis glanced around, then reached his right hand into the void; the surrounding space instantly warped, shrouded in shadow.

He combined the Mystic's secret‑keeping and spatial concealment abilities, applying a hidden effect to that area, blocking any possible spying or probing.

Having finished, he gave Lei Kedun a slight nod, then stepped aside, quietly standing beside a brown palm tree, waiting with the workers and nearby residents for Lei Kedun's forthcoming sermon.

Taking a deep breath, Lei Kedun braced one hand on a protruding tree root and rose; his figure instantly became transparent, turning into a cascade of sparkling starlight, then quickly coalesced at the center of the nearby semicircle formed by the crowd.

He emerged from the glittering starlight, a faint smile at his lips, his gaze sweeping the circle, taking in the surrounding looks of surprise, curiosity, and yearning.

He lowered his voice slightly, giving his words a solemn, steady tone as he said:

"Everyone, good noon."

"I am the Sage's envoy, spreading the seeds of knowledge, the brilliance of civilization, and guiding every seeker of mysteries."

"You may call me: Al Thains."

After a brief self‑introduction, he glanced at the quiet crowd, smiled lightly, and deep‑blue pure radiance flowed from his eyes, giving an exceptionally holy, wise impression, yet his excessive rationality made him seem rather aloof.

In this state, he resembled a sagacious sage, his words and actions exuding an indescribable persuasiveness:

"My Lord is the Unnamed God; He never existed, because no one truly knows Him, yet He eternally exists, for He manifests within all things, in every tiny thing around us, in each of our thoughts."

"The Sage is my Lord's humility; He believes that as long as one keeps exploring, knowledge is infinite, so He simply regards Himself as the Sage."

"He is the essence of knowledge, the brilliance of civilization, and the ultimate answer to all mysteries; everything we know and everything we do not know, all knowledge stems from Him."

"We birthed civilization through knowledge, so He is also the brilliance of civilization; we explore mysteries out of our thirst for knowledge, and my Lord is the source of all mysteries."

As everyone absorbed Lei Kedun's words, he flicked his wrist like a magician, producing a burning match; the dim yellow flame quivered lightly, as if it could extinguish at any moment.

"I think the things I wish to see with my own eyes should be deeper and more credible than my narration."

"Then, please join me in witnessing the knowledge and brilliance of civilization!"

Lei Kedun's voice, calm and low, narrated, his words seemingly magnetic, causing the crowd to instinctively fix their gaze on the burning match in his hand.

The flickering flame grew enormous and hazy in their gaze, as countless scenes rose before them, so many their brains could not process, only ever‑changing light and shadow could be seen.

The blurry, hazy image gradually became clear, and they saw many figures appearing one after another and then disappearing.

Among them were giants as tall as small mountains, with gray-blue skin; there were those spreading huge membranous wings, perched in the sky, giant dragons; there were those covered in pale flames and mysterious patterns woven into feathers, like messengers of death, phoenixes; the most conspicuous were demons entwined with crimson and blue-white flames, and still subordinate to these races were humans.

"In the unknowable ancient ages, this world was ruled by legendary creatures such as giant dragons, giants, and phoenixes, while we humans, as their vassal race, barely scraped by."

Rekton's voice sounded low and hoarse, as if carrying a sense of weathered history.

The surrounding hazy and blurry image changed again, as if spanning a long period of time; at this time, humans had become relatively independent, they had different beliefs, developed a perfected extraordinary system, and became the true ruling race of the world.

The image continued to change; humans appeared with the first empire, the First Solomon Empire ruling the entire northern continent, followed by continual strife, with kingdoms constantly arising and falling

All the way up to the Fifth Era, until the person named RosseL appeared, the image suddenly became much clearer; under the leadership of 'Child of Steam' RosseL, the world's technological level surged upward in a wellspring-like fashion.

They saw the emergence of various machines, saw the social progress brought by the Industrial Revolution, and saw all kinds of changes in life.

The definition of civilization appeared clearly and heavily in everyone's mind around them; they had never seen so clearly, so intuitively, the development of society and the progress of the times.

"We have given birth to civilization through the inheritance of knowledge, and through the thirst for knowledge we explore mysteries, stirring the tide of the age and driving social development."

"Rosel is the one who did best and was most successful; he was once a favorite of knowledge and civilization, and now He has come to stand beside my Lord, becoming a true great one!"

Rekton spoke in a calm tone, as if recounting a legend, a story.

(End of chapter)