Chapter 529: Monday

Klein fell silent after listening, recalling his previous encounter with the King of the Five Seas, Naste.

He was indeed chasing the Black Emperor, chasing the chance of promotion; the rules he set at sea had basically met the requirements of the Duke of Entropy's promotion ceremony, so under these circumstances his own promotion was inevitably more important, unless the Luen Royal Family or the Witch Sect could directly produce the Duke of Entropy's trait, which was clearly unlikely.

After a moment of silence, he continued to ask:

"Who do you think the collaborators of the Luen Kingdom and the Witch Sect are?"

Leikton kept fiddling with the Strange Crown in his hand, and spoke calmly:

"It cannot be determined; those who possess the complete Black Emperor path alchemical formula are neither few nor many—besides the descendants of Solomon and the Terunsost family, there are the Blood Clan, and those old fellows who survived from the Third and Fourth Eras."

"For example, that Prime Witch—he has once seen the defiled stone tablet, has lived so long, surely has killed some saints and angels of the Black Emperor path, so it is not surprising that he holds a high‑order formula of that path."

"Anyone who can cooperate with the Luen Kingdom and the Witch Sect must have a fairly high status; no one can be ruled out."

Klein nodded in understanding, temporarily set aside the topic, and continued:

"The pirates don't know much, and what impressed them most were all the R‑rated scenes out at sea."

"They only follow the orders of that Mad Captain Kangnas Victor; aside from knowing their boss is trafficking people, they know nothing else, not the slightest about a demigod hidden on the ship."

Leikton was not surprised; with a group of spectators' help, it would be odd if clues were found so easily.

Putting the Strange Crown down, he mused and said:

"The Mad Captain most likely fell into the hands of the Storm Church; the effect is about the same, and anyway, aren't you going to report the information to the Church?"

Klein's mouth twitched slightly, then he gave his final summary:

"This trip yielded essentially no new useful intel, except that a third‑party force exists that holds a high‑order Black Emperor path alchemical formula."

He sighed lightly and added, "What do you intend to do with the remaining extraordinary traits and magical items? They correspond respectively to the Storm path's 'Furious Folk', 'Sailor', and one is 'Hunter'."

"The Mad Captain's subordinates aren't many in the extraordinary; you let that Sea Demon snatch people, and it already targeted their traits, right?"

Leikton spread his hands and defended himself: "It has nothing to do with me; perhaps it thought those three extraordinary bodies were sturdier and could better satisfy its needs."

He paused, then continued:

"I have already taken the Fallen Count's trait; the rest is yours. You can forge a few magical items with them or sell them outright; conveniently, this afternoon is this week's Tarot Meeting."

"The Luen military demigod is somewhat poor, having just been promoted; his relic is a single magical item corresponding to a 'Wind Kin', with strong negative effects, unusable."

"I suggest crushing it into traits, then feeding it to a fish in the sea; that way you can herd a 'Wind Kin'. At sea, a Wind Kin's ability is still very practical."

Klein listened in silence, then quipped, "Your idea is novel; no wonder you can be friends with Frank."

Finally, he added:

"How should I crush the magical item? Mr. Azk hasn't fully recovered yet, so he likely can't exert angelic‑level power."

Leikton leaned back against the chair, his voice leisurely, and said:

"Hold a ceremony to petition the Hidden Sage or the Goddess of the Night for some power; for them it's a very simple matter."

"Or you could find Bernade; she is already a Sage."

"By the way, I'm running low on food; I need you to prepare some fresh food later, and also two brass lanterns."

"Sure." Klein gave a slight nod.

After receiving the ceremony's details from Leikton, he concluded the brief meeting.

In the God‑Abandoned Land, Leikton repaired himself for a while among the ruined city walls, until Klein sent word that everything he needed was ready.

He then used the remaining materials to set up a simple ceremony, extracting the Fallen Count's extraordinary trait, the crystal sphere he had used as a light source, the food for the next few days, and the two brass lanterns.

After the prayer‑granting ceremony ended, the shadows beneath his feet writhed, surged like water, swallowing everything placed on the ground and transporting them into the Shadow Realm.

Having done all this, Leikton held a lantern in one hand and the Fallen Count's extraordinary trait in the other; a deep‑blue‑purple glow streamed from his eyes, tracing one mysterious sigil after another.

Behind him, a somewhat broken circular ring made of gears and chains materialized.

The ring turned slowly; at its center, a pair of eyelash‑less, cold, indifferent eyes filled with countless brilliant stars suddenly opened.

Carrying an all‑seeing, all‑ignoring chill and a suppressed madness, the eyes' appearance caused Leikton's aura to surge abruptly, his eyes' coldness and madness deepening.

During this, he sensed a faint, vague summons from the East—more like an intuition than a concrete sound or feeling.

He quickly steadied his mind, and while still able to resist the divine corruption within the Sage trait, he clenched the Fallen Count's trait in his left hand; specks of brilliant starlight spilled from his hand, accompanied by a crisp crystal‑shattering sound.

The previously coalesced extraordinary trait fragmented into black and dark‑red specks, merging with the surrounding brilliant starlight, slowly and rhythmically blending into the brass lantern he held in his right hand.

The ordinary lantern was stretched and deformed, gradually becoming exquisite yet heavy; its brass surface dulled, and the transparent glass shade revealed vague, highly asymmetrical, irregular patterns, within which a sinister eye stared.

In less than half a minute, the Fallen Count's trait fully merged into the lantern.

The rotating ring behind Leikton quickly became transparent until it vanished.

He looked at the dramatically altered lantern in his hand, exhaled slightly, but his body instinctively stepped back a few paces, unable to resist moving away from the crackling fire before him.

"Is the negative effect a fear of fire?" he murmured softly, holding back his gaze back onto the dark‑copper lantern in his right hand.

Fortunately, it only required merging the already extracted trait into another item; no angelic‑level power was needed—just deliberate guidance to steer the resulting magical item toward the desired direction. With prior experience forging magical items, this wasn't too hard for me.

As he sighed inwardly, his eyes suddenly deepened, clearly losing focus, appearing blank.

He quickly understood the lantern's magical effects and drawbacks. It wasn't outrageous, but not great either; indeed, crafting magical items still required a Craftsman.

"An ever‑burning lantern, whether its effects are positive or negative, are confined to the area illuminated by its light."

"It retains the Fallen Count's core 'Chaos' and 'Distortion' abilities; 'Amplify' and 'Utilize' are more restricted, only affecting effects generated by one's own extraordinary abilities, and it fails to retain the 'Bestow' extraordinary ability."

"There are three negative effects: first, as usage time increases, the user's spirit gradually darkens, becoming greedy and prone to irrational choices; if they employ its extraordinary ability, this process accelerates. Second, the user develops a fear of fire, except for the lantern's own flame. Third, within the lantern's illumination, any act of giving or taking inflicts a negative effect on the user—be it lethargy, greedy urgency, loss of fighting spirit, or fixation on money."

Leikton held the lantern aloft in his right hand, silent for a moment, feeling no obvious change in his spirit; after a pause, he gazed at a nearby half‑collapsed, blue‑stone structure resembling a temple.

Boom! The building that had stood quietly there suddenly seemed fragile, its structure collapsing with a thunderous crash.

During this period, lightning streaked across the sky frequently, and Leikton could clearly see several meters of dust rising from the ruins ahead.

Feeling a faint greed rise within, Leikton estimated that at high‑intensity combat, after at most a minute his inner darkness would severely impair judgment and fighting; even with reduced usage, he could only sustain three minutes.

"The most compatible ability is the Black Knight's 'Fallen Shadow'—once a dark thought reaches a threshold, it separates the inner fallen intent, merges with a shadow, forming an uncontrolled independent creature that can then be eliminated."

"The Manipulator's 'Virtual Persona' should also work, but it's prone to breaking, causing mental split or loss of control."

"Still, a Prophet's avatar stationed on the Southern Continent must be sent to the Aurora Assembly's saints to analyze the 'Fallen Shadow' ability and develop a practical secret technique."

After making his plans, Leikedun suppressed his fear of fire and approached the bonfire, placing the lantern in his hand to one side.

After feeling the deep fear of the bonfire before him fade, he let out a somewhat relaxed sigh and exclaimed:

"Could this negative effect of fear of fire not come from the strong will of that Chaersi before his death?"

After thinking it over carefully, Leikedun felt that this guess was quite plausible.

After a pause, he turned and sat on the large stone moved to one side, began to close his eyes and pray to Kelaien, asking him to help convey a message to the Prophet's Avatar.

Above the Grey Fog, Kelaien sat in the high-backed chair belonging to the Fool, his complex expression sighing: "I am probably the most unimpressive great existence, even if it's just an act."

"Normally I have to work part-time as a courier, delivering trade items for Tarot Club members, but now I also have to act as a messenger and procurement officer for people."

"Should I charge a fee for the one-on-one service from Mr. Fool?"

While complaining inwardly, Kelaien had already turned the content of Leikedun's prayer into a point of light, casting it into the crimson star representing the Prophet's Avatar.

After finishing all this, he did not rush to leave Above the Grey Fog, but instead pulled out a pocket watch from the inner pocket of his coat to check the time, then sent a reminder to Dalike, the Sun who was also in the God-forsaken Land, that the Tarot Club was about to begin.

Kelaien leaned back slightly in the high-backed chair, closed his eyes to rest for a moment, then he reached out and lightly tapped the edge of the table twice, and a somewhat gloomy, introverted figure abruptly appeared at the head of the mottled long table.

At the moment the time reached three in the afternoon, he slightly straightened his body, extending a spiritual link that connected the crimson stars representing the Tarot Club members, pulling them into this space above the Grey Fog.

Illusory crimson light surged like a tide, quickly flooding the entire hall, then swiftly receded, condensing into blurred figures on both sides of the mottled long table.

(End of Chapter)