Chapter 443: Joint Action of the Founder and the Fool
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Around ten o'clock, Hobert, accompanied by Philip, Alan, and a red-faced Dennis, arrived at the pier to welcome the delegation sent by the Mother Earth Church.
The pier was once again crowded with people, many of whom were seeing people in church attire for the first time.
It had been over fifty years since a pastor had preached or a bishop had performed a ceremony here, but most people still believed in the Mother Earth, and for them, faith had become a habit.
Originally, they thought they would be excited to see the bishop and pastor, but when Hobert appeared with his butler and two male servants, their excitement gradually faded.
Because they finally realized that the Mother Earth Church sent pastors and bishops not because there were a large number of believers here, but because the Lord had defeated the monster in Moon Lake.
Without the Lord, they might never have seen clergy in their lifetime.
So when Bishop Dick and his party disembarked, they found that the atmosphere on the pier was not right. They had been warmly welcomed at every port along the way.
Arriving at the port of Jeffrey Town, it couldn't be said they weren't welcome, as so many people had turned out. But if they were welcome, why didn't their eyes and body language show any sign of welcome?
It had been so many years since anyone had come to spread the gospel of the Mother God, so they should have been excited, even tearful, right?
But they just watched quietly, more like they were watching a show than welcoming them.
Baron Hobert only offered a polite greeting before handing over the reception matters to his butler.
Butler Philip took them to visit the repaired church and promised some donations to the church, but he knew nothing about Moon Lake.
This made Bishop Dick feel depressed, as it was the first time he had encountered such a cold reception.
...
That night, the major newspapers in Feynapotter City rushed to report the news of the reopening of the Taz River.
With the radiation of the railway, the major cities of the Feynapotter Kingdom learned of this news in the following Saturday and Sunday.
The first to react were the cities along the Yawei River in the west. They asked reporters, reputable experts in the shipping industry, and others to publish reports, emphasizing that the Taz River waterway was very dangerous even if it reopened, and there were no supply ports along the way.
In short, the Taz River waterway was described as a very dangerous route, with less than one in ten ships reaching Feynapotter City.
These debates in the newspapers had almost no impact on Jeffrey Territory in the deep mountains, because there were no newspapers here.
The entire territory operated in an orderly manner for two or three days, and Hobert finally enjoyed a belated vacation.
He personally went to the kitchen to make dumplings, dipped them in vinegar and minced garlic, and ate more than fifty in one go.
Before, in the Common Era, he ate dumplings almost every festival and was completely tired of them. Now, being able to eat one, tears almost fell. This is the taste of the New Year!
Fors and Donna also thought the taste was very good, much better than meat buns and pies.
Hobert spent a whole morning making them, and the three of them quickly ate them all.
After lunch, Fors returned to Backlund early because she had to attend the Tarot Gathering.
Hobert asked Donna to draw on the tax laws of the Feynapotter Kingdom and the Loen Kingdom to draft a dozen "Tax Rules" applicable to Jeffrey Territory.
Theoretically, Hobert, as a baron, did not have the power to make and promulgate laws, so he found a loophole and promulgated some detailed rules.
Donna was also very busy now. After lunch, she returned to the house to continue reading the tax laws of the two countries.
Hobert basked in the sun in the yard for a while, then returned to his room to prepare for the Tarot Gathering.
At three o'clock, Hobert's vision was covered by gray fog, and he came to the Giant Palace above the gray fog again.
As soon as everyone's figures appeared, Hobert noticed that there was one more person in his row. Just by looking at the other person's figure, Hobert guessed that it was "The Moon" Emlyn White, the current servant of the Harvest Church and the witness of Hobert's baptism.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool." "Justice" Audrey's greeting always rang out first: "You have saved Backlund once again!"
"The Moon" Emlyn, who was attending the gathering for the first time, was stunned: Ah? What? When was I saved "again"?
Even though "The Hanged Man" Alger was drifting at sea, he had received news of the Backlund smog incident. He firmly believed that since this matter had attracted the attention of "The Fool," it definitely involved a struggle with the evil god. So he was not surprised to hear Audrey say that.
Fors was also concerned about this matter. She had been busy writing articles these days and rarely appeared in Backlund, but Xio was still in Backlund, and she seemed to be able to receive tasks every day, making it difficult for her to leave.
While thanking The Fool, Audrey was also observing the others.
She saw surprise in the body language of the new member and Fors, expectation in Mr. Hanged Man, and neither Mr. World nor Hobert seemed surprised by this.
Audrey was a little strange: Did Hobert also know some inside information?
Then she thanked "The World": "Mr. World, if it weren't for your advance warning, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people would have died in this smog in Backlund."
"In fact, I also saved myself," Klein manipulated "The World" and smiled.
Then, as "The Fool," he responded with a smile: "I just provided a little insignificant help."
"No, it was because of the reminder from your attendant that the Evernight Goddess Church was prepared, prevented the awakening of the 'Primordial Demoness,' and kept the corruption level of the smog within a controllable range," Audrey described the news that surprised the other members again:
"He also destroyed the Aurora Order's ritual and once again isolated the 'True Creator' who was trying to descend from the real world."
Emlyn almost jumped up: The "Primordial Demoness" wanted to wake up? The "True Creator" tried to descend? Why is this different from the information announced within the Sanguine? Wasn't it said that a disaster was caused by a "Demoness of Despair" trying to advance?
Alger leaned back in his chair: I said it, this must involve the struggle of the gods.
Fors was also surprised and scared: Wasn't it said that this was a disaster caused by a prince and a witch? How could it involve two evil gods? God, if any of them descended, the entire Backlund would be destroyed. Fortunately, "The Fool" prevented all of this.
Seeing that someone knew and remembered his contributions, Klein was relieved: "Unfortunately, he had to leave Backlund because of this."
Audrey stood up and gave a sincere salute: "Please convey my thanks to him."
Klein maintained his image and did not respond, just nodded: "In addition, the 'Emperor' made an outstanding contribution to preventing the 'Primordial Demoness'!"
Everyone turned their attention to "The Emperor." Hobert didn't want to mention this, but since "The Fool" said so, he couldn't help but respond.
And Hobert suddenly thought that he should describe this inhumane massacre to everyone and remind Audrey to pay attention to the movements of the royal family.
So Hobert said: "After the 'Creator' received the relevant news, he noticed the actions of the Demoness Sect, so he sent me and two saints to stop the 'Demoness of Despair' who was spreading the disaster."
Audrey was a little surprised. This was information she didn't know: Hobert also participated in this event! I didn't expect the 'Creator' to send saints! Why didn't the church make this information public?
Alger looked surprised: This, this is a joint action between the 'Creator' and 'The Fool'! Yes, they seem to be hostile to some evil gods, but it is not clear what they can get by doing this? At the last gathering, everyone just learned that "The Emperor" was an attendant of the "Creator." Only one day later, the two gods joined forces in an action. They...they had expected it!
As a relatively well-informed Sanguine, Emlyn had just heard about the relevant information about the "Creator" in the Southern Continent a few days ago. Every Sanguine was happy after hearing about that battle. It is said that many believers of the 'Original Moon' died in that battle.
He thought: This Tarot Gathering member codenamed "Emperor" knows some inside information about the "Creator." Could he be a believer of the "Creator"? Why does the "Creator" want to stop the descent of the evil god?
Fors was first surprised, then smiled helplessly: Before, I confidently told Hobert that the smog incident was caused by a prince and a witch. I didn't expect there to be so much information I didn't know! Fortunately, Hobert knows even less and won't think I'm deceiving him.
"The Sun" Derrick also had a similar guess as Alger, believing that this was a joint action between the 'Creator' and 'The Fool.' He, who had nothing to do with it, also began to pay attention to this event.
Even Klein was a little surprised: There were even 'saints' involved! When Hobert met me in the suburbs of Backlund, he said it so lightly. I thought he was the only one who came to Backlund!
Hobert continued: "But under the influence of '0-08,' two hostile saints 'happened' to appear."
Klein, Audrey, and Alger recalled the abilities of "0-08" and couldn't help but sweat for "The Emperor."
Especially Klein, who was almost killed by a meteorite this time, once again felt the power of a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact.
Fors and Emlyn didn't know the specific situation of "0-08." They only knew that a battle between saints also took place on the day of the smog incident!
Audrey asked curiously: "Mr. Emperor, what was the final outcome of the battle?"
Hobert asked instead: "How many people died in this smog?"
"According to statistics, there were more than 30,000 people!" Audrey got the internal statistics. The numbers published in the major newspapers were 3,000.
Hobert was slightly stunned before realizing that his actions were also effective. He remembered that about 60,000 to 70,000 people seemed to have died in the original book!
This made his mood less heavy: "We effectively stopped the 'Demoness of Despair' from spreading the disaster. Unfortunately, when the other party's two saints were in place, the 'Demoness of Despair' began to spread the disaster again."
Alger followed this topic and said: "If it weren't for your obstruction, I think the death toll would have increased by at least double!"
Audrey nodded, she thought so too.
And Klein finally understood Hobert's helplessness. If he was a demigod, he would indeed have a hope of stopping this disaster.
Derrick also discovered this: "Mr. Emperor, that is to say, the battle situation at that time developed into two saints plus a 'Demoness of Despair' against two saints plus you?"
Audrey finally realized this: "Oh my god, Mr. Emperor, that is to say, you had to deal with a demigod?"
Hobert smiled: "Yes, I almost died in Backlund."
Everyone was silent for a few seconds. Before, "The Emperor's" understatement made them think that the focus of the battle should be on those saints. At this moment, they finally understood the tragic degree of this battle!
Especially Alger, who had acted with Hobert, believed that he was the one among all the members who knew best how powerful "The Emperor" was, but even so, "The Emperor" almost died in this battle.
This made Alger sigh: If I encountered this level of battle, I might not be able to last three seconds.
Hobert said: "I think I should let you see the tragic situation in the East Borough at that time, so that you can have the most direct understanding and feeling of this disaster."
After obtaining The Fool's consent, Hobert presented the scene he saw at that time, the streets of the East Borough full of corpses.
Everyone saw that in the rolling thick fog, many parents and children died embracing each other. At the last moment of their lives, parents were still using their arms to shield their children from the thick fog.
They also knew that such shielding was useless, but what could they do? Only this one way to protect the lives they cherished most.
There were also young lovers who died embracing each other. Their lives had just become wonderful, but they fell on the cold streets.
More were the elderly, but it was not appropriate to call them elderly, after all, they were only about forty years old.
They may have once had happy families, or a small house that could shelter them from the wind and rain, a good, relatively decent job.
But because of such ridiculous and helpless reasons, they lost their good lives and could only live a hungry life, only to sleep on the streets.
No, sleeping on the streets is not allowed, because parks and streets are not for homeless people to sleep on.
The key is that once you fall into this situation, it is like falling into despair, and only a very few people regain their original lives.
In fact, the members present are not the bottom of this era. Even Audrey, who knows the most about this event, only knows some statistics.
Although Klein directly participated in this action, he did not know the situation in Backlund.
Although Fors and Emlyn were in Backlund at the time, they were not at the scene and only knew that many people died.
Alger was at sea and had no direct feelings.
Even Derrick, who was in the "Forsaken Land of the Gods," felt heavy after seeing so many people die, especially so many ordinary people.
The members of the Tarot Club were collectively silent after seeing these scenes. For the first time, they directly felt the sorrow of this era and the insignificance of life under extraordinary powers.
"Quickly improve your strength!" Hobert said, "When we become stronger, perhaps when we encounter similar things again, we can prevent such tragedies from happening."
Everyone looked at Hobert together. At this moment, everyone deeply agreed with his words.
Audrey breathed a sigh of relief, "Fortunately, this incident is finally over."
"It's not!" Hobert said, "The cooperation between the royal family and the Demoness Sect and the Aurora Order is still continuing. They need a large number of slaves and innocent girls. For ordinary people, this is a disaster in itself."
"The Backlund smog disaster may reappear, and may even trigger a greater disaster."
"The royal family?" Audrey was a little surprised, "Isn't the royal family also a victim?"
"No!" Hobert explained, "Because the cooperation between the royal family and the Demoness Sect may be leaked, the 'Demoness of Despair' used the Backlund smog incident and the arrival of the 'True Creator' to divert everyone's attention."
Audrey could no longer maintain her "Spectator" state. This was information she didn't know.
The others were also surprised that this incident was actually related to the royal family!
Fors directly asked, "Why is the royal family cooperating with these two evil religions?"
"Because the royal family's ongoing conspiracy may not be supported by the orthodox churches," Hobert replied.
"The World" suddenly said, "This reminds me of something!"
Then he said to "The Hanged Man", "I found the Ballem you mentioned!"
Previously, Alger had posted a task to find the slave trader Ballem during the "information exchange" stage of the Tarot Club, but there had been no results.
Alger asked in disbelief, "Ballem involved in multiple slave cases on colonial islands?"
"Yes, brownish-red skin, Southern Continent race, Backlund accent, the third tooth on the left is a false tooth," "The World" answered hoarsely.
"It's him!" Alger recalled for two seconds and asked, "Where is he? What is his current identity?"
"The World" replied, "Ballem is in Backlund. Someone saw him meeting with a member of Military Intelligence Section 9 who is loyal to the royal family. I don't know who it is because the other party was wearing a mask."
"The World's" words were equivalent to providing evidence for what "The Emperor" had just said. The royal family was indeed in contact with some slave traders.
Moreover, except for Emlyn, who had just joined the club, the other members all thought of the Capim incident, in which there was also a shadow of a member of the royal family.
Audrey asked Hobert, "Mr. Emperor, what conspiracy is the royal family brewing?"
Although she didn't like the members of the royal family who didn't respect women, she always felt that the royal family should be on the side of "justice".
But some of the information she had recently obtained had seriously shaken her idea.
Hobert did not hide anything, "George III is dreaming about becoming a god!"
Even Klein behind the gray fog was stunned: Becoming a god? I can guess that there must be a bigger conspiracy behind the Backlund smog incident, but I never thought that it would be related to becoming a god!
Alger was surprised at first, then a little excited: So that's it! The "Creator" and "The Fool" don't want George III to become a god, so they have repeatedly disrupted their actions! It must be like this! Haha! The other members must not have thought of this.
Audrey's surprise today has almost exceeded the surprise she has felt in the past week: Becoming a god? The king actually wants to become a god? This, how is this possible!
Fors: I didn't hear wrong, did I? The smog incident can actually be related to becoming a god. Fortunately, fortunately, Hobert doesn't know too much about the inside story, otherwise my previous explanation would be too embarrassing.
At this time, she suddenly thought: Hobert said that a friend asked him to help rescue people. Could he have learned more information from his friend?
Derrick was more excited: Before, we were discussing the gods in history, or the gods who had ascended to the throne before this. Today is the first time we have talked about a person who is becoming a god.
Emlyn smiled and leaned on the back of his chair: Nonsense, in our Sanguine's long records, the last time someone became a god seems to have been more than a thousand years ago! There has been no record of anyone becoming a god since the Fifth Epoch! "The Emperor" must be talking nonsense, but, but why do the other members believe it? Are they a bunch of fools? It must be like this, they were deceived by "The Emperor's" lies, only I saw through everything.
So Emlyn prepared to expose this lie. He asked with a somewhat arrogant smile, "Mr. Emperor, why are you so sure? I mean about George III becoming a god?"
Hobert glanced at him, "Because I am a Beyonder of the 'Lawyer' pathway."
This answer completely exceeded Emlyn's expectations. Originally, he wanted to tell everyone how difficult the process of becoming a god was: "This, what does this have to do with your pathway?"
Hobert asked with a smile, "Want to know the answer?"
Emlyn answered very honestly, "Yes!"
"2000 pounds!"
"Cough cough cough... I'll think about it."
Klein understood a lot of questions based on "The Emperor's" words: No wonder Hobert is so clear about the conspiracy behind the scenes. It turns out that "The Creator" and George III are on the same pathway or adjacent pathways. The possibility of adjacent pathways is greater. Hobert is a Beyonder of the "Lawyer" pathway, and the Augustus family is a Beyonder of the "Arbiter" pathway. George III wants to become a god, as a god of adjacent pathways, "The Creator" will definitely pay more attention to this matter, and as a devotee of "The Creator", he must know more.
Klein doesn't know that George III wants to become the "Black Emperor" at this time, so he has such a guess.
Alger, Audrey, and Derrick, members who know the law of Beyonder characteristics, have similar guesses.
Fors and Emlyn were confused and couldn't figure out what was going on.
Audrey asked again, "Mr. Emperor, why does the country... George III need a large number of slaves and innocent girls to become a god?"
"I don't know the specific situation." Hobert planned to stop there. If he explained the problem too clearly, it would also reveal some key information about himself.
Moreover, concerning "The Creator", if he knew too much detail, it would also seem a little disrespectful to "The Creator".
Klein, who learned the Sequence 5 potion formula, guessed: Could this involve a ritual? A ritual to become a god?
The others have not yet been exposed to the rituals required for advancement, so there are no related guesses.
After this topic ended, Klein pointed to Emlyn with a smile, "This is the new member, Mr. Moon!"
Audrey was stunned: Why would a gentleman choose the "Moon" card?
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