Chapter 723: Monday

In the silent, unnoticed moment, a rust‑stained face reflected on the surface of the mirror.

On that face, the features were all abnormally tilted and twisted, stained with a layer of dark‑red rust like dried blood, one eye bulged out while the other shrank unnaturally.

The face lacked expression, resembling a cheap puppet crudely assembled from flesh and discarded, rusted material.

It had no body to support it, only a floating head missing its rear half, its crooked mouth opening and closing, emitting a low hoarse voice:

"Who are you communicating with?"

On the mirror it stared at, a ring of ripples swayed outward, and one after another, Lu En script words flowing with bright red blood appeared:

"Aside from you, there is no second person here."

"Who are you communicating with? Who? Who!!"

The strange floating head paid no heed to the answer on the mirror, kept asking, its tone growing more frantic until it turned into a roar.

The silver mirror on the table surface rippled again in concentric circles, the bright red words shifting: "This is the second question; according to the principle of equivalent exchange, you must first answer me a question."

"You, in fact aren't Huo La Mi Ke Hai Dun, are you?"

The roaring head suddenly halted, staring unusually calmly at the words appearing on the silver mirror, motionless, its face expressionless, as if frozen in place.

After an indeterminate time, the head suddenly grew ferocious; black hair strands tangled and elongated into countless jet‑black cables, like flexible tentacles, winding the silver mirror and bringing it before the mouth, where black oil‑like liquid constantly dripped.

Boom!

A silvery flash of electricity materialized in the carriage, striking the floating head sprouting cables.

The crackling arcs leapt continuously, shards of iron‑black debris fell from the head, its flesh turning charred and flaking away, revealing mechanical components beneath.

On either side of the silver mirror tangled in black cables, a pair of illusory tiny hands coalesced and vanished, and scarlet words rose again on the surface:

"Punishment over, second question."

"You are not a being of this world; you are a stowaway, a stowaway parasitizing Huo La Mi Ke Hai Dun, aren't you?"

"Hehe~"

As the outer layer peeled away, the head became a mechanical sphere sprouting black cables, emitting a few hoarse chuckles, pulling the tangled silver mirror closer as if staring into it.

After a while, the mechanical sphere seemed to regain some sense, setting the silver mirror down and whispering like an aging elder:

"No, I am Huo La Mi Ke Hai Dun, an honorary professor of physics at Bei Ke Lan De University, the archbishop of the Steam Church's Bei Ke Lan De Diocese, and a member of the former council of My Lord God."

As it spoke, its tone gradually turned frantic:

"Do you know what a wave is? The world we see is merely a surface; the variations of waves are received by our bodies and fed back to the brain. The essence of reality is countless waves of differing frequencies and amplitudes intermingling."

"Information is also a kind of wave, so your communication with the outside cannot hide from me."

The carriage suddenly fell into deep silence, so quiet that even breathing was unheard.

On the surface of the silver magical mirror, silvery white words appeared one after another:

"The Great A Luo De Si knows everything."

"Your question has been answered; any other questions?"

Lu En, a coast of Di Xi Bay, saw the bright scorching afternoon sun suddenly dim, strands of starlight falling from nowhere, turning into dazzling stellar glows that rippled and swirled across the sea surface.

The starlight flickered for a moment, then coalesced into shards of stellar rays that reassembled, revealing Lei Ke Dun's figure.

Watching the waves beating the beach, he lowered his head and sighed, "It escaped again. Though it keeps circling, we can roughly calculate its destination—southwest of Fei Nei Bo Te. I wonder what there is that draws it."

He glanced up at the sun overhead, estimating that it was nearing three o'clock afternoon, close to this week's Tarot Assembly.

He shook his head, letting emerald pea vines cascade down, swiftly engulfing his figure, vanishing on the real beach.

Above the gray mist, within an ancient palace resembling a giant's dwelling, deep red lights rose punctually, forming vague silhouettes on either side of the mottled long table.

Ke Lai En scanned the crowd, silently exclaiming to himself: War truly is the best catalyst for growth, though it's terribly cruel; even the weakest at this Tarot Assembly are already Sequence‑5 extraordinary beings, most having passed the half‑human half‑god threshold. As he pondered, Justice Ao Dai Li rose, bowed toward the figure at the head of the mottled long table and said:

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."

Ao Dai Li's tone had lost its usual lightness; although the war was over and the North Continent, South Continent, and even the Five Seas had settled into a rare calm and stability, her mood remained heavy, and like most, she had not fully recovered from the war.

After everyone bowed and exchanged nods, Ke Lai En leaned back in his chair and gently nodded:

"You may begin."

The first to speak was Star Lun Na De, who looked around, cleared his throat and said, "According to the information I've gathered, there have been multiple Divine Wars. Among them, on the battlefields of Bei Ke Lan De, Lu En, Fu Sa Ke, and Fei Nei Bo Te, appeared the 'Goddess of Night', the 'God of War', and the 'Great Mother Emperor'. As for the outcomes, I think everyone knows."

The Hanged Man Jia De Li Ya gave Leonard a meaningfully lingering glance, then continued, "On the raging seas, the 'Eternal Blazing Sun', the 'Lord of the Storm', and the True Creator also clashed; the process is unknown, but the result is evident."

"Furthermore, I've learned that a Divine War also occurred in the astral realm, where the 'Hidden Sage' allied with the returning Emperor Luo Sai Er defeated the God of Steam and Machinery, becoming the true god of Sequence 0 who masters two paths, calling himself the 'Erudite'."

After a brief silence, The Hanged Man A'erjie raised his hand, straightened his posture, and said in a slightly heavy tone, "Lately the upper echelons of the Storm Church have been heavy, even strange; the Lord of the Storm issued a divine decree, altering the honorific used when praying and sacrificing to Him, and His response frequency to prayers has also decreased."

"What did the Lord of the Storm change His honorific to?" "Chariot" Anderson asked curiously.

The Hanged Man A'erjie turned his head toward Anderson, about to answer, when a corner of his eye caught the movement of Mr. Fool at the head; he immediately reined in his thoughts and looked toward the head.

Shrouded in gray mist, Ke Lai En leaned back, smiling leisurely, "He has lost the status of Sequence 0."

As his words fell, the Tarot Assembly fell into an eerie silence; no one spoke.

Since the Fifth Era, this is the first Divine War to erupt, and it has become this intense; of the original seven true gods, two fell, one lost his status. As thoughts drifted, The Hanged Man Jia De Li Ya subtly turned his head toward the opposite side to glance at Lei Ke Dun.

The latter leaned back leisurely, appearing indifferent to their discussion, as if already aware of everything.

Noticing Jia De Li Ya's gaze, Lei Ke Dun glanced back, guessed her thoughts, and chuckled low, saying:

"Although many things happened at once, chaotic and fierce, everything still follows a trace; this multi‑faction war was driven by the symbolic, mental, and real realms, and ending it so quickly is already the best outcome."

"The key to this war is the Earth Mother Goddess, involving a conspiracy that has been laid out for two or three thousand years."

"Why?" Jia De Li Ya asked instinctively.

"Sun" Dai Li Ke lifted his hand and said, "I think I know why."

"You?" "Moon" Ai Mu Lin retorted with slight sarcasm.

Everyone turned their gaze there, with doubt and questioning.

Seeing the discussion reach this point, Ke Lai En manipulated the trump "World" and said, "He indeed knows."

With "World"'s assurance, the Tarot Assembly grew more curious about the information Sun Dai Li Ke possessed; the Magician Fo Er Si couldn't help asking, "Why?"

"Sun" Dai Likesi Xian looked around the crowd, then said: "'Great Mother Earth' is not the Giant Queen Ou Mi Bei La; the real Ou Mi Bei La has long been dead, and its remains are in Bai Yin Cheng."

Gulu~ The sound of swallowing was unusually distinct in the quiet hall.

After a long silence, "War Chariot" Anderson muttered as if having trouble accepting the news: "How could this be? If the Great Mother Earth is not Ou Mi Bei La, how did she hide it from the Seven Gods? Especially the War God—they are mother and child."

Leikdun chuckled low and said: "Nothing is impossible."

"Among the known great existences there is a 'Hidden Mother' and an 'Ancient Sun God' who once wielded the authority of 'Error'."

"Magician" Foersi inhaled lightly, sighing: "What a terrifying conspiracy."

"War Chariot" Anderson leaned his head back against the chair, looking as if he no longer wanted to think, and whispered:

"No wonder the Earth Church on the Southern Continent has been ambiguous toward the new regime; the True Creator who inherited the Ancient Sun God's legacy surely knows this secret as well."

"Ha, I suddenly feel that the War God and the Storm Lord didn't lose unfairly, or rather, the Storm Lord who survived the Divine War is already impressive."

(End of Chapter)