Chapter 596: A Meng Also Arrives

Mr. Huang's hand held the book about dragons, paused on the page depicting a city floating in the sky; as his fingertips brushed it, he said in a slightly nostalgic tone:

"He is the only ancient god who, after dying, returned again; although most of his traits perished, he has also, in the true sense, shed his madness."

"In this era, he has few allies to find, and most likely will resort to exchanging some aid for a remote strike from the 'Demon King'."

He paused, then added: "Adam is the same; aside from A Meng, he has no other reliable allies, but when confronting him, one must watch out for people who, for various reasons, become overtly or covertly entangled in the conflict."

"Regarding Adam's pursuit of 0-08, you can at the crucial moment draw on the power of the storm and the sun."

"Night and Oumeibela, each for their own reasons, lack the energy to meddle in reality; Bade Hai'er and Steam's stance is unclear, and they may not be willing to aid Adam—most likely they will only test the waters from the side."

Leiketon mused, nodded, and said calmly:

"Therefore, in the contest for 0-08, the only forces actually present on the field are the angels who have already chosen their camps."

Mr. Huang lowered his gaze slightly, glanced at the glass bottle in Leiketon's hand containing water from the River of Eternal Darkness, and said evenly, "Aren't you already prepared? Even the Angel King dares not confront the influence from the River of Eternal Darkness directly."

"You should depart; Insi Zanggeweier, the eye of the storm, is already nearing Beren Si Gang."

"That fast?"

Leiketon asked with slight surprise; according to his earlier forecast, Insi Zanggeweier would still need several days to flee to Beren Si Gang while being pursued by the half‑gods of the Ironblood Knights' Order.

Mr. Huang's gaze deepened for a moment, then quickly returned to normal; he smiled calmly, "A high‑tier trait with the Hunter path has emerged there, passively accelerating the draw of the malicious spirits of Medici, Soren, and Einhorn toward it."

Leiketon gave a slight nod, said nothing more, and his body instantly dematerialized, breaking into streams of pure knowledge that surged out of the library like an information torrent toward Beren Si Gang.

During this process, he triggered the aura left by his own "Source Fortress", transmitting information about Insi Zanggeweier to Klein.

Above the gray mist, within a grand ancient palace, Klein sat, looking somewhat weary, on the high‑backed chair belonging to the Fool.

"Just left, and already something's looking for me."

He complained while extending his spirit to touch the deep red star that was abnormally expanding and contracting.

The deep red light rippled outward in concentric waves, forming a string of Hermes words in midair: "Insi Zanggeweier is nearing Beren Si Gang; A Meng will likely appear there as well; you can observe Anderson from above the gray mist."

A Meng! Isn't he in Beckland? How does he have a duplicate coming to the southern continent? Klein's expression darkened instantly; whether A Meng's target is him or the Parasite attached to Leonard, it's bad news.

"Should I give up this chance for revenge? What trouble could Anderson face—could he also be parasitized by A Meng?"

He took a deep breath, steadied his emotions, then manifested a dummy called "World", using it to fabricate a reason to contact Anderson and request some information on the Mist Sea.

Such transmission must pass through the Fool; Anderson will inevitably pray to him, allowing him to glimpse Anderson's condition via the prayer's light points.

After trimming the "World" request into a light video segment, he tossed it toward the deep red star representing Anderson.

At Beren Si Gang, on the open plaza by the dock, Anderson continued his street‑art performance, while Daniz mocked him and gave him support.

With a tink—tink—crisp sound, several patterned gold coins were tossed into the triangular hat lying upside down on the ground.

Anderson kept playing his harmonica while giving the generous patron a thumbs‑up.

Opposite him, a young gentleman in a crisp black tailcoat, a matching high top hat, and a jet‑black gold‑inlaid staff smiled faintly.

The young gentleman withdrew his right hand that had just tossed the coins, adjusted the monocle over his right eye, and said cheerfully:

"I didn't expect to hear an Indis‑style tune in Xibailang; seems my paranoid older brother wasn't lying—there are unexpected gains here."

Anderson maintained his playing, smiled, and bowed to the generous gentleman, pondering whether to pause his act and chat, perhaps prompting the man to toss a few more patterned gold coins his way.

At that moment, a dense gray mist surged in his view, the deep red light rolling like a tide, swiftly coalescing into the grim, restrained image of "World"—Ge Erman Si Pa Luo—and the other's voice echoed in his ear.

In front of him, A Meng, dressed as a young gentleman, curled a smile at the corner of his mouth; he lifted his right hand holding the monocle, then restrained it. He tilted his head upward, murmuring to somewhere in the sky, "How amusing, I've found you again."

Regaining his composure, Anderson slipped the harmonica into his pocket, stepped forward, bent down to retrieve the upside‑down triangular hat, and gave it a gentle shake.

Listening to the clink of the gold coins colliding, he drew a pleased smile and said to the generous gentleman:

"Sorry, my friend, that's all for today's performance; I've earned enough for drinks at the nearby tavern."

Only after Anderson stuffed all the hat's money into his pocket and hurried toward the tavern behind him did Daniz snap back, hurrying after him and asking puzzled:

"Aren't you going to play two more pieces? If the crowd is pleased, they might reward you with a few more patterned gold coins."

Behind them, A Meng removed his black top hat, strolled to an empty bench nearby, stood for a moment, apparently waiting for someone on the bench to make room.

Two seconds later, he perched on the right side of the bench, legs crossed, a hint of a smile, patting the non‑existent dust off his hat, and said, "There aren't many things that make you reach out to me; are you planning to kill Medici's malicious spirit as well?"

"Or perhaps your deal with Night has gone awry, and an unforeseen accident in the retrieval of 0-08 has left you unable to resolve it?"

After sitting quietly for a few seconds, he glanced at the empty right side of the bench, boredly smirking:

"You're really boring."

As the words faded, his body vanished, reappearing at the street's end, then disappearing again.

In an unnoticed spot, a few leaves were blown onto the empty bench, then swept away by an invisible hand.

After entering the tavern, Anderson suddenly turned, stared at Daniz for a while, then, with a mysterious tone, asked, "Do you know what the biggest taboo in our line of work is?"

"Is it fearing bad luck?" Daniz paused, sounding a bit confused.

Anderson raised his index finger, waved it before Daniz, and said calmly, "No, it's fearing not leaving any leeway for oneself; someone has already been generous once, why don't we give it to the target?"

Daniz stared at Anderson with a 'are you sick?' expression and said:

"Are you stupid? Since generosity has already occurred once, why can't we be generous twice more?"

Anderson ignored the topic, turned toward the bar, and casually asked, "Didn't you say yesterday that your captain wanted you to go to Dongbailang? It's already late afternoon and you haven't left?"

"Go to Dongbailang? When did I say that? You must have misremembered," Daniz scratched his head, looking puzzled at Anderson.

Above the gray mist, Klein held the Sea God's scepter in one hand and pressed the Tyrant card with the other, his expression solemn as he stared at the deep red star representing Anderson, which continuously sent out crimson ripples.

He inhaled deeply, then extended his spirit to touch the deep red star; the crimson light surged like a tide, quickly gathering before the grand hall into a scene of Anderson praying.

Klein examined Anderson, who was praying to him, confirming there were no signs of A Meng's parasitism on him, nor any A Meng‑possessed objects nearby.

"Aside from an unusually active spirit, Anderson shows no obvious abnormalities."

"No, that's a clear abnormality; he should have passed the digestion stage long ago, his spirit is restrained, not like someone who just drank a demonic potion."

Muttering to himself, Klein zoomed out the view, revealing more of what he had just seen.

Then, in the room next to Anderson's, he saw Daniz and a priest in a simple white robe sitting with him.

He sported a light‑golden beard covering the lower half of his face, baby‑clear pure eyes, a cross pendant at his chest, and a perpetually warm smile.

He was locking eyes with Daniz; to be precise, he was locking eyes with A Meng, who was entwined around Daniz's spirit body.

Noticing Klein's gaze, A Meng, which was coiled around Daniz's spirit body like a long snake, suddenly lifted its head, making eye contact with Klein together, the corner of his mouth slightly rose, and he spoke politely: "Long time no see, this time I didn't parasitize the little guy you chose."

Boom! Boom! A tremendous thunderclap exploded out of nowhere, as if it would shatter a person's eardrums; the silver-white electric serpent vanished without a trace the instant it appeared.

(End of chapter)