Chapter 1077: Persuasion

"This is?" "Professor" could feel that the eyeball-shaped illusory gemstone contained a terrifying aura and was attracting him to approach.

Franca laughed:

"This is the reward for you.

"We didn't tell you beforehand. Once the operation is successful, we will help you each increase by one sequence."

"Professor" was stunned for a moment, and instinctively looked at "Periodic Table" and "Prototype," finding them equally surprised.

After deliberation for a few seconds, "Professor" said sincerely:

"We don't need rewards. No longer being affected by the forced indoctrination of the 'Hidden Sage' is the best reward for us."

"Yes." "Periodic Table" and "Prototype" both expressed agreement.

Hearing "Professor's" words, Lu Mian suddenly remembered his thoughts and also remembered the sentence Mr. "Fool" said at the temporary gathering.

Uniqueness is not important, Grade "0" Sealed Artifacts are not important, Beyonder characteristics are not important. The fact that the "Hidden Sage" is dead is very important.

Thinking about it this way, the "Hidden Sage" didn't die unjustly. From gods to ordinary wizards, there were too many "volunteers" who brought their own dry food to kill him... Lu Mian, wearing a silver half-face mask, couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth.

Franca could understand the thoughts of "Professor" and the others. After all, there was a role model beside them.

She said with a smile:

"Even if you don't want it, we must give it. Otherwise, others will say we are stingy, miserly, mean, and ungrateful. Don't worry, all participants will get a share of the rich spoils of war. As a secret organization with more than two thousand years of history, the resources accumulated by the 'Rose Redemption Order' are rich enough."

"Professor" was confused for two seconds:

"You wiped out the 'Rose Redemption Order'?"

We wizards are also members of the "Rose Redemption Order"...

This operation was not only aimed at the "Hidden Sage," but also at encircling and suppressing the "Rose Redemption Order"?

Franca nodded:

"We destroyed 'Utopia.' You should all know that this is the headquarters of the 'Rose Redemption Order.'

"Toriopo, the President of the 'Rose Redemption Order,' fell on the spot. Sidis and Ohaiz among the 'Ten Pillars' died, Letitia fled in defeat, and the remaining 'Ten Pillars' were either rebellious or hidden because they were not at the headquarters. The 'Rose Redemption Order' has effectively been eliminated.

"You are no longer members of the 'Rose Redemption Order' because the 'Rose Redemption Order' no longer exists. From now on, you don't need to complete corresponding tasks, nor do you need to report to anyone. The only ones who can protect you are yourselves.

"And as I said at the gathering, the end is likely to come in a year or two.

"So, don't you want to take this opportunity to increase your sequence?"

"Professor," "Periodic Table," and "Prototype" were silent. They were all persuaded.

Franca smiled and said:

"Helping participants increase by one sequence is actually not very fair. Why can 'Professor' become a demigod, while we only reach Sequence 5, right?

"This requires you, Ms. 'Professor,' to take on greater responsibility. If you really become a 'Mystic' and a demigod, you must help 'Periodic Table' and 'Prototype' later, providing them with necessary protection.

"Also, before you leave Trier, if you encounter trouble that you cannot solve yourselves, you can chant my honorific name. As long as I am not caught in other accidents, I will definitely help.

"My honorific name is:

"The one who never grows old, the keeper of diseases and plagues, the witch followed by strife and disaster, the holy grail carrying joy and pain, the great Franca Roland."

Lu Mian could see that Franca wanted to develop "Professor" and the others who had lost the protection of the "Rose Redemption Order" into her anchors.

Anchors don't necessarily come only from faith. Solid and stable interpersonal relationships are also a kind of anchor, just not as inheritable as faith.

Now, "Professor" and the others were in a stage where their future was uncertain, no longer having an organization to rely on and provide resources, leaving only the "Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society," which was more like a trading platform, very suitable for extending an olive branch to them.

Even if "Professor" and the others left Trier later, Franca could give them mirrors that she could locate, so they could communicate remotely and spread the faith related to the Fool Church's patron saint Franca Roland through them.

However, Franca was still too face-conscious, thinking that "Professor" and the others were friends and fellow transmigrators, and didn't think about developing them into believers, let alone pulling them into the Disease Church to be archbishops or bishops... Lu Mian did not take the opportunity to reveal his honorific name.

"Honorific name... you are already a patron saint of Sequence 3?" "Professor" and the others had quite rich mystical knowledge.

Isn't this promotion too fast?

At the gathering before last, "Sleeve Sword" was still a Sequence 5 Witch!

—

Franca gave an "um":

"Due to a combination of coincidences and the uniqueness of being a transmigrator, actually, Muggle has also reached Sequence 3."

As she spoke, she glanced at Lu Mian.

She could roughly understand why Lu Mian did not take this opportunity to reveal his own honorific name and develop anchors derived from interpersonal relationships.

He hoped that Muggle would remain Aurora.

This... Professor, Periodic Table, and Prototype looked in astonishment at Muggle, who was standing quietly to the side.

She was also a Sequence 3 patron saint?

What on earth had happened to this world?

Lu Mian, wearing a hood and a silver half-face mask, laughed:

"Yes, I won't tell you my honorific name. Anyway, Sleeve Sword and I have been staying together recently. If you ask her for help, it's the same as asking me.

"The reason we can advance so quickly and remain normal is that transmigrators have something special. Professor, if you can become a Mysteryologist, you can try to draw power from the fairy tales, myths, and urban legends you heard before transmigrating to create spells. Some of them should be real."

Lu Mian's hint would lead to the secrets of transmigrators being exposed to a certain extent, but as long as Professor became a Mysteryologist and possessed the core ability of "Mystery Reenactment," he would discover the problem sooner or later.

Professor and the others looked at each other in confusion for a while, able to sense the awkwardness that Sleeve Sword and Muggle did not want to discuss in detail.

They turned to ask Franca instead:

"Where is the church you patronize?"

"At Lavigny Wharf in the Plaza District, the St. Franca Church of the Fool Church," Franca introduced simply.

Professor said with a sudden realization:

"You are people from the Fool Church?

"Was this operation against the Hidden Sage led by the Fool Church?"

Franca was suddenly a bit smug:

"Yes, Mr. Fool took action personally, and the God of Steam and Machinery provided the necessary help..."

Speaking of this, she looked at Lu Mian with a smile:

"Muggle assisted from the sidelines."

Huh? Professor and the others were shocked once again.

Can a Sequence 3 saint participate in a battle of gods?

Franca then added:

"Her task was to act as bait."

"..." Professor and the others were speechless for a moment.

"Alright, alright, keep these Beyonder characteristics, the corresponding materials, and potion formulas safe. They have all been sealed, so don't be in a hurry; adjust your state before holding the ritual." Franca distributed the spoils. "This is a drop of blood from a mythical creature; it's needed for the ritual."

Finally, she took out a drop of blood from her Traveler's Bag, locked inside a dim sphere and shimmering with brilliant starlight.

After celebrating the death of the Hidden Sage with Professor and the others by drinking champagne, Franca and Lu Mian returned to the luxury villa, with the former volunteering to pray to Mr. Fool.

That was a fellow countryman!

Franca set up the altar, held the ritual, and skillfully chanted the corresponding honorific name, with faint gray fog appearing before her eyes.

"Respected Mr. Fool, I would like to trade these mid-to-low sequence Beyonder characteristics and magical items placed before me for a Grade 1 sealed artifact. Do you think that as a Beyonder of the Witch pathway and a close friend of The Chariot, it is suitable for me to choose the sealed artifact corresponding to the Gravekeeper?" Franca said everything she wanted to express in one breath.

Soon, she heard Mr. Fool's gentle voice:

"There is a certain risk, but it is bearable."

Then forget it; it's not like it's urgently needed... Franca immediately said:

"Respected Mr. Fool, I will trade for the one corresponding to the Mysteryologist."

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the large pile of items she had placed on the altar disappear, vanishing into thin air.

Immediately after, an object flew out from the enlarged candlelight and landed on the altar.

It was a mask that was only half-complete, the left side.

It was composed of many gears, rivets, bearings, springs, small steel pipes, and other mechanical parts. The eye position was left empty, covered by a lens that looked like glass or crystal. The whole piece possessed a strange beauty due to its complexity.

At the same time, Franca received a pile of information:

"Name: Face of Mystery

"0: Originates from the death of a Mysteryologist during the Fourth Era.

"1: The appearance is a left-sided face mask crafted from machinery, possessing the characteristic of being alive.

"2: After wearing this mask, one can fire a beam of light from the eye protection, which can destroy the structure of most items, allowing the target to be completely decomposed;

"The person wearing this mask will possess extraordinary manufacturing abilities, can craft magical items, can also make complex mechanical devices, or combine the two. Please remember, when doing these things, the dominant party is the mask, not the wearer; it always makes its products have one or two negative effects that are comically terrifying;

"Wearing this mask, one can truly extract information from the surrounding environment and deduce what happened in the past from this information;

"The wearer of the mask can quickly grasp the corresponding information when using other magical items, effectively avoiding negative effects, but this does not include those brought by the mask itself;

"The wearer of the mask can inject souls into items they create, giving them a certain amount of vitality. Remember, these are not created out of thin air; they come from fragments of remnant souls from the Spirit Realm and from the extraction of surrounding life."

PS: Thanks to Planting Tomatoes for the Silver Alliance donation~

(End of chapter)