Chapter 1064

As soon as Lu Mian shouted the corresponding name, the image reflected on the surface of the mirror shattered, as if a stone had been thrown into a lake.

"Zarathul? No, in the real world, it should be called Zarath," Furanka also identified the owner of those eyes.

Jenna followed up by saying:

"The Celestial Worthy's subordinates are collaborating with the 'Disease God's' gifted ones?

"What is the purpose of this Tudor gold coin?"

Lu Mian first shook his head, then continued:

"Mokosidos only received the Sequence 3 gift and possessed that palm after the Maelstrom incident. I suspect the collaboration between the Celestial Worthy's subordinates and the 'Disease God's' gifted ones is an aftershock of the Maelstrom incident, or the result of a certain branch of it.

"Such a massive event, involving so many Great Ones, absolutely did not end just because the one worshipped by the Aurora Order said it was over.

"This might be the reason why He changed His stance, hoping to let Mr. Fool wake up in the near future."

Furanka and the others all nodded—Ludwig had been taken care of by Jenna while Lu Mian was performing the "Mirror Divination," and he was now a clean and refreshed little boy again.

"The Tudor gold coin's function involves the schemes of Great Ones; it might be impossible to divine the result," Lu Mian continued to ponder. "But we can divine the coin's previous owner; perhaps we'll gain something."

He did as he thought, once again praying for Mr. Fool's gaze and assistance to exclude certain dangers and corresponding interference.

"Who was the owner before this coin's previous owner...

"Who was the owner before this coin's previous owner...

"..."

Lu Mian held the dark gold coin and recited the question several times.

The mirror placed before him suddenly became bright, as if a light source were erupting from within.

No, it was an invisible, colorless flame burning; the entire mirror was ablaze.

A thin gray fog descended, preventing the flames from spreading, though the mirror and the desk quickly turned to ash.

Seeing this scene, the first two thoughts that occurred to Furanka were:

"There is indeed great danger; fortunately, we were cautious enough, and fortunately, Mr. Fool is high and mighty!"

"Scared me to death; luckily I took all the gold coins out of the drawer beforehand..."

Once the invisible, colorless flames extinguished, Lu Mian, as an agent of "0-01," laughed in a slightly deep voice:

"I know where this Tudor gold coin came from:

"The Trier of the Fourth Epoch!"

Everyone present, except for Ludwig, had entered the Trier of the Fourth Epoch, and upon hearing this, they all made certain associations.

"The collaboration between the 'Disease God's' gifted ones and the Celestial Worthy's subordinates points to the Trier of the Fourth Epoch?" Furanka said thoughtfully. "Will this Tudor gold coin serve as a medium to play some kind of role when the time comes?"

Lu Mian nodded and placed the Tudor gold coin into his "Traveler's Bag":

"What we need to do next is find clues to Zarath's whereabouts and dig out more of the Celestial Worthy's subordinates and members of the 'Rose Redemption' Order."

Then, he said to Anthony:

"We don't know how long we'll have to wait for Lady Justice's side. We can ask for the 'Manipulator' potion formula first and try to collect and prepare the materials ourselves; if we encounter difficulties, we can ask them for help."

"Manipulator" is the name of the Sequence 4 potion of the Spectator pathway, and also Anthony's next sequence.

"I have no objections," Anthony also felt that they couldn't place all their hopes on Lady Justice finding that ancient dragon.

Lu Mian looked at Jenna again:

"Julian will be back in two days. Have you thought of a way?"

Jenna was silent for a few seconds before saying:

"I will spend money and use 'Instigator' to create a decent job for him in large cities like Port Lesel, Suhit, or Newville, valid for three years.

"Then..."

Jenna paused and added:

"If Julian doesn't listen to my advice and insists on not leaving, I want to ask Anthony to 'persuade' him and perform a certain degree of hypnosis."

"This..." Furanka blurted out in surprise.

Wasn't this the method Jenna had been quite repulsed by and unwilling to adopt?

She didn't want to use Beyonder abilities to influence Julian or interfere with his personal choices!

Jenna smiled self-deprecatingly:

"If this were a choice that would last Julian's entire life, I certainly wouldn't do it, but if it's only for three years, I think I can accept it."

The smile on her face gradually faded, and she muttered to herself:

"Life is always about moving forward while constantly abandoning some persistence...

"At this point, some fastidiousness can be discarded. 'Witches' are meant to bear pain and torment anyway. Whether I've become ruthless and cold isn't important; what's important is whether Julian has escaped his dangerous situation."

Having said this, Jenna mocked herself again:

"Attribute the blame and guilt to divinity; just consider it the price I paid for gaining divinity."

"No, someone else will bear the sin of all this," Lu Mian responded in a teasing tone.

Then, he nodded:

"This is the best way to handle it. It's like moving house: if there's still plenty of time, many days left, then naturally you can pack and organize carefully, without abandoning or breaking anything. But if only a few minutes remain before the room explodes and it can't be stopped, you can only choose to take the most important and core things, and the rest, no matter how reluctant, must be left to be destroyed."

Furanka, Jenna, and Anthony listened, suddenly feeling that Lu Mian was actually talking about the confrontation between humanity and divinity, and how a Beyonder should act as their sequence gradually rises.

Lu Mian was also speaking from his own feelings; he thought of his previous conversation with Mr. Fool.

For the sake of more important things, this is the only way.

Is it worth it?

It is.

"Yeah," Furanka sighed, then turned to Jenna and said, "Actually, have you ever thought about teaching your brother mystical knowledge and collecting the corresponding potions for him so he becomes a Beyonder? That way, he could understand why he must leave Trier."

Jenna slowly shook her head:

"No, I know him very well. He is a very stubborn person. If he finds out the real reason, he won't leave if I don't leave, and I..."

Jenna's gaze swept over Lu Mian and Furanka.

Then, she thought for a moment and said:

"Hypnosis is still necessary. This doesn't contradict teaching Julian mystical knowledge and guiding him to become a Beyonder.

"Hmm, even if it's just a low sequence, it can improve his self-preservation ability. But absolutely do not tell him that the apocalypse is near and that Trier will undergo major changes within a year or two. That would make him anxious, and he's the type who easily goes to extremes and takes the wrong path when anxious."

"Then we have to pick a good pathway for him, at least not one with obvious pitfalls like 'Demon,' 'Prisoner,' 'Earth,' 'Moon,' or 'Assassin'." Furanka began to help think.

In the end, she still felt that for a Witch, flipping a coin to let spirituality choose the answer might have a higher accuracy rate.

In the afternoon.

Because Jenna took the slightly taller Ludwig out to buy new clothes, and Furanka chose to accompany them, while Anthony also went out to find his informants and contact members of the "Psychology Alchemists," Lu Mian was left all alone in the large villa.

He collapsed onto the sofa, wondering if he should contract a spirit world creature whose specialty was cleaning rooms.

After resting for a while, Lu Mian thought about the things he needed to do recently and the tasks he was responsible for as the Major Arcana card "The Chariot":

"First, consolidate and deepen the faith of the Disease Sect believers in me and Furanka.

"Second, I have to consider the Sequence 2 problem. I have the potion formula for 'Disaster Witch,' but as a 'Unaging Witch,' I don't know how hard they are to kill? And they have the 'Primordial Demoness's' protection, while Mr. Fool is only in a state of initial awakening... The best choice is the 'Hunter' pathway's Sequence 2 'Weather Warlock.' I saw the 'Red Priest' card during the God-level meeting, and I can exchange for the potion formula from him.

"Where else can I find the Beyonder characteristics of 'Weather Warlock' besides the Solomon and Einhorn families? A certain Grade 0 Sealed Artifact in the Church?

"If there's no other choice, I'd rather not face the Alista Tudor inside the mirror in the treasury of the 'Blue Avenger'...

"Heh, maybe I have no choice...

"In the Tarot Club's tasks, I don't need to be responsible for matters related to the 'Mother Tree of Desire' for now, but with my current condition, it's very, very hard to truly avoid it... For now, I just need to find Zarath's whereabouts and the members of the 'Rose Redemption' Order... The difficulty of the former task is not small; even Mr. Fool, as the pinnacle of the 'Seer' pathway, hasn't locked onto Zarath..." Thinking of this, Lu Mian suddenly sensed something and turned his gaze toward the edge of the living room.

His messenger, who looked like a charred corpse, "Penitent" Bainfer, appeared, holding a letter in his hand.

Lu Mian stared at Bainfer, whose eye sockets burned with dark flames, for a few seconds before finally speaking:

"Give me the letter."

He then took the letter, unfolded it, and found the content written on it was very simple:

"I would like to visit you this evening. Is that okay?

"'The Hermit'."

"What does Lady Hermit want? My previous speculation about the 'Hidden Sage's' state?" Lu Mian nodded thoughtfully and said to Bainfer:

"Please help me reply to the sender and tell her that it is okay."

Bainfer nodded and disappeared at the edge of the living room.

In the evening, just as night fell, Lu Mian, Furanka, and Jenna, who had been waiting, heard the doorbell ring.

Ding-dong, ding-dong.

"Lady Hermit is really polite..." After getting used to the style of Lady Magician, who appeared and disappeared suddenly and rarely used the door, Lu Mian felt a bit uncomfortable with the current situation.

He opened the door himself and found it was indeed Lady Hermit, wearing heavy glasses and a purple-patterned robe.

After exchanging greetings, he led this colleague, the queen of the seas, into the living room and invited her to sit on a single sofa.

Lu Mian sat next to Furanka and Jenna, and just after a few pleasantries, he heard Lady Hermit say straightforwardly:

"I have something I would like to ask for your help with."

"What is it?" Lu Mian asked thoughtfully.

Lady Hermit looked up at the ceiling and did not answer immediately.

The next second, a thin gray fog permeated the living room.

This... Lu Mian realized that the matter was not as simple as he had imagined.

After Furanka and the others all sat up straight, Lady Hermit said in a low voice:

"Mr. Fool is preparing to hunt the 'Hidden Sage'."

PS: Seeking monthly votes at the beginning of the month~

(End of chapter)