Chapter 571: Lamp God

Leonard glanced at Lei Kedun, his voice cold as he said:

"The 'Insomniac' is only more energetic at night, but that doesn't mean our daily routine is like those vampires."

"No, they're the blood clan! I'll speak for Mr. Moon. (He mutters something in his heart.) Lei Kedun sat on the single sofa to his left and said at the same time:"

"I've already found where the needed item is; I need the old man and I to steal it out together."

"Ha, Moon, so you're also," Leonard's mouth produced an unexpectedly hoarse voice, with a hint of sarcasm.

He paused, then continued:

"Which church's seal do you want to steal? 'Eternal Blazing Sun'? Or 'Steam'?"

Pa Li Si's voice fell away, and Leonard's voice followed up: "What is that as well?"

"You don't need to know," Pa Lie Si replied irritably.

Lei Kedun leaned back on the single sofa, watching Leonard speak two voices by himself, as if talking to himself, and couldn't help feeling a little amused.

When Leonard finally fell silent, he began to explain in detail:

"Below the Steel Cathedral of the Triel Parish of the God of Steam and Machinery Church lies a sealed item numbered 0‑45 called the Throne of Knowledge, shaped as an exotic, splendid throne forged from gold."

"It is a miraculous artifact formed from the extraordinary traits of the former Emperor Luo Sai Er after he was slain by the Eternal Blazing Sun, containing angelic‑level traits of the 'Perfect One' and the 'Hermit' paths."

"You want to steal a level‑0 seal from the Steam Church? Are you sure you're not turning yourself into a seal and placing it there?" Pa Lie Si hadn't spoken yet when Leonard already mocked.

The living room fell silent for a while, then Leonard's body emitted Pa Lie Si's voice:

"The issue isn't how to steal it, but how we get out after succeeding; this face‑sticking provocation could cause Steam to directly divine‑intervene."

"The current Steam is not the same as the 'God of Craftsmen' before Luo Sai Er appeared; it now has surplus energy to act from afar, even directly divine‑intervening."

"Moreover, the Steel Cathedral of Triel also houses an angel, Luo Sai Er's second son Bo Nuo Wa·Gu Si Ta Fu."

Lei Kedun nodded calmly, having long anticipated these and already thought of a solution; when Pa Lie Si fell silent, he finally spoke:

"Bo Nuo Wa·Gu Si Ta Fu, I'll find someone to hold him back; we only need to weather the first wave of attacks from Steam, after which other beings will block its advance."

"'Hidden Sage'?" Pa Li Si murmured, then fell silent, directly reading Lei Kedun's plan by stealing his thoughts.

Five or six minutes later, a leisurely Leonard spoke again, projecting Pa Li Si's hoarse voice: "Your plan is already very refined, you don't even need me to act; you could find an angel in better condition than me to cooperate with you."

Lei Kedun raised his hand, rubbed his face, and forced a smile, saying:

"For theft, of course it's better to find a 'Thief', and the only 'Thieves' I know are you and A Meng."

Leonard sighed as he said:

"Hmph, the only ones alive are me and A Meng, I guess."

"Although you concealed something, I won't renege on what I've promised; don't forget your own pledge either."

"Of course, if you don't believe, I can swear to the Hidden Sage or the Wilderness of Knowledge."

Pa Li Si gave no reply to Lei Kedun, and said in a flat tone:

"I need to sleep for a while to restore my condition; once I reach Sequence Two, I can begin moving."

He paused a second, then said to Leonard: "During this period, if nothing's wrong, don't look for me; if something is, don't trouble me; if you encounter an unsolvable problem, go find that impolite kid."

When the words fell, Pa Lie Si fell silent, Leonard regained control of his body, and he leaned toward Lei Kedun, asking with a gulp:

"Hey, impolite kid, is the Wilderness of Knowledge also a hidden entity? It sounds more like a location."

Lei Kedun raised his hand, touched his nose, ignored Leonard's question, and said: "I previously, in the Divine Abandoned Land, harvested a few Spirit Worms from a Dark Demon Wolf, still have some left; I can forge them into talismans to borrow power from my past self in history."

"The borrowed power is ultimately false," the silent Pa Li Si suddenly sighed.

"You don't need it?" Lei Kedun raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Need it!"

"Don't casually joke with an old man, impolite brat."

Pa Lie Si complained twice through Leonard's body, then fell silent again; no matter what Lei Kedun and Leonard said, he said nothing further.

Leonard and Lei Kedun stared at each other in wordless silence for a while; Leonard suddenly sat upright on the sofa, his dark‑green eyes bright as he asked Lei Kedun: "If the old man goes with you to Triel, will he depart from me?"

Lei Kedun was silent for a moment, recalling that in the original work Pa Li Si never left Leonard's body, and said uncertainly: "Perhaps, but I think he might also take you along." "Then I'd bear the name of betrayer of the church, while being hunted by the goddess and the Steam God's church?" Leonard's tone was flat, as if he already saw his bleak future.

"It's just a matter of covering identity; there are many ways to achieve this, especially the 'Thief' and the 'Diviner', who are experts in this field."

"During the old man's slumber, you can write me a letter if anything arises, though I may not be able to arrive in time."

After comforting Leonard twice, Lei Kedun rose from the single sofa; his body became ethereal, rapidly disintegrating into clusters of massive information that surged outward beyond the room.

Leonard watched Lei Kedun vanish, opened his mouth, but swallowed the words he intended to ask about En·Tang Tai Si's identity.

Deep in the spirit realm, Lei Kedun, still surging as an information torrent, suddenly changed direction; the mark he left on Jia De Li Ya was triggered, and the other party seemed to try to trace themselves through that imprint, but failed.

"Interesting, you can trigger the mark I left with my original self, that unlucky Lamp God?"

Muttering to himself, he arrived at the Mist Sea, where the rolling waves bore the lone 'Future' drifting with the wind.

The next second, his body dematerialized again, breaking into massive strands of knowledge, becoming a pure information‑flow entity that approached the 'Future'.

On the aft deck of the 'Future', several teal vines dangled from mid‑air, then vanished quickly.

Frank, who was nearby processing experimental waste, glanced here puzzledly, saw nothing, then looked away, scratching his head while muttering:

"Strange, I think I just saw some unprocessed vines—maybe I'm hallucinating from fatigue?"

"After I finish processing the last batch of experimental material, I need to take two days off."

In the captain's cabin of the upper deck, a rectangular metal box engraved with layered intricate patterns held a uniquely shaped lamp, resembling a miniature kettle with its wick extending from the mouth.

Suddenly, the lamp's golden surface emitted a bright yet gentle light, which lasted only a moment before fading into nothingness.

At the captain's desk, Jia De Li Ya, deep in thought, suddenly turned her head behind her, a faint violet glimmer passing through her eyes as she surveyed everything in the cabin, then furrowed her brows and looked away.

Amid a layered forest of countless teal vines intertwined, Lei Kedun, seated on a vine‑woven chair, stared straight ahead.

In front of him, a twisted, hazy silhouette formed by a viscous pale‑golden stream of water.

After a long silent stare, Lei Kedun lifted his hand to rub his forehead, chuckling: "Nice to meet you; should I call you 'Child of Chaos' or 'Lamp God'?"

The pale‑gold figure replied evenly, with an indescribable authority: "To me, the name matters not; whether 'Child of Chaos' or 'Lamp God', I am the same."

How should I address you—'Knowledge Wilderness', or 'Hidden Sage'—or have you fabricated another identity for yourself?

Leighton leaned back in his chair and spoke leisurely: "You can call me the Lamp-lighter; I am merely a guide for wise beings seeking truth and mysteries, and I am not entirely equivalent to the Knowledge Wilderness."

"Liar!" the pale golden figure's voice suddenly turned shrill and stern.

"As the embodiment of order and rules, any lie is ineffective before me."

Leighton chuckled with a slightly provocative tone: "Really ineffective? Then how were you locked inside the lamp by the Heavenly Venerable?"

As his words faded, Leighton felt as if he could see an expression of anger and fear on the twisted, blurry pale golden figure before him.

The distortion on the blurry pale golden figure's body became somewhat more chaotic, and his voice came with heavy mockery:

"Hmph, how are you any better than me? You're just locked in a slightly bigger cage, going from a single room to a communal dormitory."

Leighton raised his eyebrows slightly and said:

"Even the communal dormitory knows—looks like you've exchanged quite a bit with Rosel."

"But we're still a bit better off than you—although we're sealed, we've also been given a chance, a chance to come back to life, and we haven't been torn into several pieces."

He paused, then added: "Do you want to know the situation in the Land of Disorder on the Western Continent?"

The chaos and distortion on the pale golden figure's body gradually subsided, and he spoke in an indifferent yet extremely imposing tone:

"What do you want to gain from me? I am now merely a helpless, isolated lamp deity, unless you are willing to send me into the starry sky."

"But given your status, the moment you leave the primordial barrier left behind, you will be instantly discovered by the Super Star Sovereign and the High-Dimensional Overlooker, and then devoured."

Leighton gave a noncommittal laugh: "They want to take from me the authority of civilization and knowledge; why wouldn't I want to tear something from them? High risk, high reward."

(End of chapter)