Chapter 701: Gathering Begins

Seeing Azke turn his body sideways, his gaze assessing, in a listening posture, Leiketon said in detail: "Because of the death of George III, the upper echelons of Luen fell into chaos; under the war's influence, Luen's colonial rule over Dong Bailing is no longer firm. The delicate balance among the various forces has been broken, warlords are carving up territories and fighting, and now the whole Southern Continent is in turmoil."

"The Rose School and the followers of the 'Primal Moon' are now especially active, and with the constraints of Dithis and the two great churches, we cannot spare much force to quell the chaos."

"I would like to ask you to help watch over the cities around Pas River Valley and the Northern State, to prevent them from taking too heavy a blow."

Azke nodded lightly, his expression gentle, but his tone remained steady as he said: "Sure."

Kelein thought of something and asked curiously:

"When I previously summoned your historical projection, it failed several times in a row, and even after success it took a while before you projected your consciousness here—was that because you were dealing with the war on the Southern Continent?"

"No, I was simply sealed by 'Steam' for a period."

Leiketon shook his head, gave no further explanation, and turned to ask:

"When you summoned my historical projection, how was it different from others?"

"Different?" Kelein hesitated, thought for a moment, then said uncertainly: "Probably nothing special, except your projection always gives me a sense of incompleteness."

"But that should be due to my own condition; when summoning beings or objects of a higher rank than myself, the projection only carries part of their power and traits, and your rank and strength are the highest among the historical projections I have summoned, so the limitations on that side are naturally greater."

Leiketon nodded lightly, not lingering on the topic.

After a brief silence, Kelein spoke again:

"Thanks to the information A Meng provided, I have digested the 'Ancient Scholar' elixir and plan to ascend to the next sequence as soon as possible, to escape the Divine Abandoned Land."

He paused, then added: "What aspects can the 'Miracle Master' trait be obtained from?"

After viewing the 'Fool' card, he already mastered the 'Miracle Master' elixir formula and ritual; although the current situation is troublesome, it is also a good opportunity to complete the ritual.

What better way to return a lost history to the present age than Silver City, more fitting than the Divine Abandoned Land; I only need to help the Little Sun group escape the Divine Abandoned Land, let Silver City be known to most people outside the Divine Abandoned Land, and the ritual can be completed.

Whether it is my own desire to leave the Divine Abandoned Land or to help the people of Silver City escape it, all of this depends on the Giant King's Court, and I have already obtained the key to its gates from General Edwenna Edwards, the 'General of the Ice Mountain.' Ha, it's hard not to suspect that all this was arranged in advance.

In many matters, one can actually see the silhouette of the 'All‑Knowing One,' though its existence is unobtrusive and lacks the eerie stillness of an 'Audience,' yet it is still terrifying!

While pondering, he looked at Leiketon; among those present, he is undoubtedly the one who knows the 'God of Knowledge and Wisdom' best. Perhaps he also played a part in that deity's schemes.

As he considered the question of the 'God of Knowledge and Wisdom' and Leiketon, Azke leaned back in his chair, recalling and saying:

"The quantity of Sequence Two traits varies by path; if I remember correctly, when the 'Mysterious Secret Attendant' quota is full, only six 'Miracle Masters' can exist."

"There are currently two 'Mysterious Secret Attendants,' Chara Tu and Antigonus; I'm not sure if they can accommodate additional traits, but I suspect they can."

"The 'Miracle Master' traits left outside are few; during the Four Emperors War, I helped kill a 'Miracle Master' from the Antigonus family, but its remnants were snatched away by an angel of the Storm Church at that time."

"Besides that, I recall the 'Eternal Blazing Sun Church' has a related Level‑0 sealed item."

Leiketon nodded lightly, then added: "There is also a wishing lamp, but it is sealed in a layer and cannot be used or taken out now."

"Your best option is in the Divine Abandoned Land; the 'Obsidian Demon Wolf' Kotar has a Sequence Two trait you can seize, or you could eliminate that wolf altogether; its trait is relatively safer on its body."

"'Obsidian Demon Wolf'?" Kelein murmured, nodded, then shook his head with a wry smile: "A Meng should have guessed my thoughts; even the bulk of the knowledge I digested from the 'Ancient Scholar' elixir came from it."

"So after resurrection you must move, cannot linger in one place too long; the battle with the 'Obsidian Demon Wolf' must be swift, leave before A Meng arrives, otherwise you and Kotar will become its spoils."

Leiketon casually mentioned, not particularly worried about Kelein's safety; at least before exploring the Giant King's Court, he is relatively safe.

Kelein solemnly nodded, then manifested his golden‑cased pocket watch, checked the time, and said offhand:

"It's almost time for the gathering."

As he spoke, he raised his right hand, and at the far end of the mottled long table manifested his little avatar "World." "World" Gerlman Sparro bowed skillfully: "Good afternoon, gentlemen."

Watching "World," Kelein sighed thoughtfully: "Good thing I'm already dead; otherwise the spirit I borrowed from my past self would have been enough to make me collapse."

"Those false spirits, once depleted, would instantly plunge me into spiritual exhaustion; combined with the fact that I had already lost many spirit insects, I would likely collapse outright, even die."

"Although that would also achieve suicide, it's the worst case; even if I survived, my mind would be polluted and I might resurrect as a monster."

Azke said in a deep voice: "You have temporarily escaped A Meng."

Kelein smiled, did not continue the topic; the time quickly reached three in the afternoon, and Kelein promptly summoned the members of the Tarot Society.

Crimson light surged rapidly from the gray‑white mist, contracting quickly, and on both sides of the mottled long table formed vague silhouettes.

In the instant they recovered, the members of the Tarot Society almost instinctively looked toward the "Fool" gentleman at the far end of the table.

Seeing the "Fool" gentleman still sitting there leisurely, they visibly relaxed; at that moment Star Leonard and Hermit Gardelia turned their heads toward the "World" at the near end.

Confirming that no extra monocle appeared at the "Fool" gentleman's right eye and that "World" remained seated properly, Leonard finally exhaled a sigh of relief.

At the same time, Justice Odile withdrew her gaze, lifted her skirt slightly, and bowed toward the far end of the mottled long table, saying:

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."

Seeing that "World" Gerlman Sparro was intact and seated without abnormality, the rest of the Tarot Society members also participated properly in this session, which gave her a hint of comfort and improved her mood considerably.

When all members had finished bowing, exchanged nods, and sat down, Kelein scanned the crowd casually, chuckling: "You all seem curious about whether today's Tarot meeting can proceed as usual."

Before anyone could react, he continued:

"During this period I used 'World's' body to play a game with A Meng; fortunately, it didn't waste much time."

There are two roles in the game: the player and the one being played; Leiketon suppressed his upturned mouth corner, completing Kelein's words in his mind.

He turned his head toward Azke, clearly seeing the other's shoulder trembling slightly, as if straining to endure something.

Leaning leisurely in his high‑back chair, Kelein glanced sideways at the two, his expression almost unable to hide a laugh: "Great, another day of social death."

Feeling as if spirit insects were crawling on his face, Kelein took a deep breath, repeatedly reassuring himself internally to restrain, not to think about these things, not to scan the hall with his gaze; seeing no one speak, he leaned back against the chair, smiled and said: "You may begin."

The Tarot Society members, each with their own purpose, exchanged glances and decided to postpone their questions until the free‑discussion segment.

Seeing no one speak, Kelein commanded his little avatar "World" to ask "Star" Leonard: "Ask him what price I must pay if I want two Time Worms."

He paused, let "World" look up at the far end of the mottled long table, then continued:

"This concerns whether I can get out of my predicament."

Leonard immediately followed up: "Get out of a predicament? What have you encountered?"

"World" Gerlman Sparro gave a bitter smile from deep within:

"I am dead."

In the shocked eyes of Justice, Magician, Moon and others, he continued: "'Fool' gentleman prepaid me the miracle of resurrection, so death is not too frightening for me."

"But the place where I resurrect cannot be far from the corpse, and A Meng will inevitably leave some avatars to lurk there; I need something that can alter my resurrection point, to get rid of A Meng."

"This is my own predicament, so I hope to solve it by myself."

"When Ke Lai En's words ended, the Tarot Hall fell into a death‑like silence, and even the sound of breathing could be heard clearly."

"(End of Chapter)"