Chapter 581: Commission

Lei Kedun watched the skillful Tu Ba Ge adjusting his bones, and the corner of his mouth that had just been pressed twitched twice again.

He looked at the Tu Ba Ge who was seriously checking his equipment, let out a speechless sigh, and specks of starlight spread from his hand, forming a broad palm of shimmering, hazy starlight that easily twisted the Tu Ba Ge to stand before him.

Caught in mid‑air, the Tu Ba Ge twisted his body twice, realized he could not break free from the starlight‑formed palm, and then fixed his gaze on Lei Kedun: "Boss, wait a moment, I need to check whether this mechanical battle armor has any issues; if a malfunction occurs, it will explode."

Lei Kedun gave a quick glance at the mechanical devices Tu Ba Ge was wearing and said in an even tone:

"Don't worry, it won't explode. Even if it does, with your current body strength nothing serious will happen—at most a brief pain and some fur falling off."

"It's not like that; last time it blew my rear clean bald!" Tu Ba Ge retorted vigorously.

Lei Kedun shrugged, turned and walked into the house behind him, while simultaneously controlling the starlight‑formed palm to keep the Tu Ba Ge by his side.

As he walked, he asked curiously, "Did those two cats trick you into becoming their invention test officer?"

Tu Ba Ge shook his head, "No, they're building a robot for me."

As soon as the words finished, the sleek black‑feathered Wu Ya Anu flew out of the room, saying with contempt:

"It's not that; the foolish rabbit was deceived by those two cats."

"Hmph! You stinky bird, getting ruder by the minute."

Tu Ba Ge glared angrily at the hovering Wu Ya Anu, as if any drop in altitude would make him leap up and bite the bird down.

Lei Kedun reached out, patted Tu Ba Ge on the head, lowered him from the air, and said:

"Stop messing around, first each of you report how the tasks I gave you are progressing."

"I've already advanced to Sequence Six," Wu Ya Anu replied promptly.

In Bei Ke Lan De's Brave One Bar, Ke Lai En, who had taken on the guise of Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty, appeared in the bar.

He held a glass of South Wales beer, followed the bartender's directions to the outside of Billiard Room No. 3 behind the bar, and knocked on the door with a finger.

Dong~ Dong~, the rhythmic knocking echoed as the door creaked open, and the crimson‑eyed Yi En stuck his head out; upon seeing the Ke Lai En bearing the Sherlock Holmes‑Moriarty image, a smile instantly spread across his face:

"Sir, please come in."

Inside the room, the disheveled‑haired Ma Li Qi sat at the pool table, while Sharon, dressed in an elaborate black court gown, appeared on the opposite side, quietly seated on a high stool.

"Good evening, both of you," Ke Lai En greeted proactively.

On the Southern Continent, in a manor outside Pa Si He Gu, Lei Kedun sat at the desk in the second‑floor study, flipping through the Southern Continent Observation Notes written by Tu Ba Ge.

Amid the rustling of pages, Tu Ba Ge buried his head lower and lower, wishing he could curl his whole head into a shell like a turtle.

After a while, Lei Kedun sighed, set the observation notes aside, reached out and pulled Tu Ba Ge onto his lap, kneading the soft big ears while saying, "You only focused on the fruit flavors of different regions and the local species richness?"

"I also studied how to improve them," Tu Ba Ge raised his hand, paused, watching Lei Kedun's expression, then added, "After all, I'm just a rabbit; writing is already hard enough for me."

Lei Kedun squeezed its ears hard twice, then turned his gaze to the Wu Ya Anu perched on the bookshelf and asked, "How are things on your side?"

Wu Ya Anu tapped his wings against his chest and said in a sharp, earnest voice:

"The wandering souls and nature spirits under my command have found many people secretly worshipping the 'Mother Tree.' Following Mr Pu La Ke's instructions, we have only recorded them and done nothing extra."

"Besides the Rose School, there are many people from the Fusa Ke Empire here; members of the War God Church are trying to contact Mr Pu La Ke, Mei Sang Ye Si, and others."

"Also, Mr Pu La Ke said the Fusa Ke military seems inclined to ally with Yin Ti Si."

Lei Kedun gave Wu Ya Anu a slight nod and said, "Well done."

After tossing Tu Ba Ge onto the desk in front and indicating they could move freely, Lei Kedun rose, walked to the study's window, and sighed at the scattered lights outside:

"It seems the major churches and kingdom militaries subconsciously overlook the new sect led by Sasilier; are they waiting to see the state of the True Creator first?"

"Aside from 'Storm' and 'Sun', there's the ambiguously‑aligned 'Knowledge'; the other four won't mind letting the deranged True Creator return to the Southern and Northern Continents."

He let out a long sigh; Lei Kedun's eyes flashed, becoming profoundly deep, like the sea before a storm, losing focus entirely, a vague emptiness.

In this state, his gaze pierced the material dimension, seeing the long river that represents fate; drawing on his connection to the Pa Si He Gu region, he projected his sight into the future, trying to discern the destiny of a certain moment. A red light tinged with iron rust and blood gradually appeared in his eyes; under that iron‑and‑blood glow he saw a gray‑white skeletal cathedral, a towering angel with blurred form and layered wings, and a battlefield of guns and gunpowder. After a moment, his eyes cleared again, and the scattered flames outside the window returned to view.

"With iron and blood clashing, the victor gains everything, the loser—."

"Ha, the unlucky Medici, again used by Adam, trying to spark war through his special status."

"The Medici's trinity of evil spirits couldn't wield such influence; having been to Bansi Port, has he unknowingly already fallen under the control of the 'City of Calamity'?"

Muttering to himself, a dense gray mist surged in his eyes, and deep red light rose and churned like a tide.

Ke Lai En's voice echoed in his ears:

"Do you have time to take a commission? The location is Bei Ke Lan De, two days from now, and it involves the Rose School."

Lei Kedun raised an eyebrow, recalled the reports Wu Ya Anu had given him, and chuckled, "Involving the Rose School? No wonder they've been less active on the Southern Continent lately."

"What exactly is it? If the payoff's good, I wouldn't mind returning to Bei Ke Lan De."

Returning to the Southern Continent so soon? Above the gray mist, Ke Lai En sighed inwardly, gathered his thoughts, and began describing the commission he mentioned:

"The commission comes from Miss Sha Lun. In two days, a ship from the Southern Continent will arrive at Pu Li Zi Gang, carrying wealth that the Lu En military previously looted from the Southern Continent; due to recent shifts, Lu En has sent that wealth back first."

"Among it is a mummy, the nineteenth king of the ancient Highland Kingdom, Tutansisi II."

"The mummy seems crucial to the extraordinary 'Other‑Species' path; Miss Sha Lun's group wants to seize it, and members of the Rose School, also on the 'Other‑Species' path, likewise aim to reclaim it."

"Dao En · Tang Tai Si's identity happens to involve some business; I'll leave Bei Ke Lan De tomorrow, boarding a sky‑ship to West Bairang."

Lei Kedun squinted, his tone calm, "Understood."

He paused a second, then continued:

"Remember to find time to go to Ka Er De Long Cheng, and obtain the true soul of the Ling Jie Lue Duo Zhe as soon as possible; dragging it out too long will be too late."

"What will be too late?" Ke Lai En asked, puzzled.

"You'll know when the time comes."

"Tell Miss Sha Lun I accept the commission; as for payment, after she advances to 'Puppet', I'll need help clearing Rose School members outside the Southern Continent."

"I'm clearly the 'Diviner'; why does this guy seem more like a charlatan than I am?"

"Miss Sha Lun is seizing that mummy to advance to 'Puppet'? So the mummy is part of the material? Or part of a ritual? It must be the latter; a mummy that has lost its properties can't be the main material, and the auxiliary material isn't that important, it won't make Sha Lun and the Rose School members risk a raid."

Gathering his thoughts, Ke Lai En inhaled deeply, restrained the urge to ask further, and replied in a low voice:

"I'll tell Miss Sha Lun; we should be able to give you an answer soon."

As his words fell, he directly cut off the connection between the two, quickly leaving the gray mist above, then in the room he rummaged out banknotes and began writing a letter to Sharon.

By playing the harmonica to summon the Messenger Miss, Klein handed the just-written letter to her and asked:

"Can you still locate Miss Sharon's position? It's the lady who previously summoned you to send me a letter."

Renee Tinicor, holding four golden-haired, red-eyed heads, had one head bite the letter, another head bite the coin, and the third head said:

"Yes."

Klein nodded, saw the Messenger Miss off, then turned to the storage cabinet in the room and brewed himself a cup of black tea.

Just as the brewed tea touched his lips and he took a sip, his inspiration was triggered; seeing the bay window, he spotted the Messenger Miss, wearing an elaborate court dress and holding four golden-haired, red-eyed heads, with a slip of paper in her mouth, appear in the room.

"So fast!" Klein exclaimed in surprise.

While sighing, he set down the black tea in his hand, took out a gilded edge from his pocket and handed it over, while reaching to receive that slip of paper.

He unfolded the slip of paper before him, the paper mostly blank except for the center, where an elegant rune word read: "Can!" (End of chapter).