Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Chapter 52

146
“Is black tea the only option?”

"No."

"Then there's only green tea." The True Creator said casually, taking a sip with great satisfaction and deliberately adding fuel to the fire, "Why don't you drink it?"

The humanoid creature sitting on the other side of the table looked up at Him for two seconds: "Comparison, would you like to drink a cup of hot blood water made from the flesh and skin of an animal? You might as well give me a bottle of vodka."

"Trees can drink alcohol?" The True Creator was horrified. "If so, bring me two bottles!"

"Then I suggest you just go for industrial alcohol."

The decadent king picked up the enamel pot with the words "Labor is the Most Glorious" printed on it with one hand and blew on the boiling hot tea. His movements were skillful, and his posture and demeanor were very much like an old man strolling in the park and watching chess. He looked to be in his thirties, but he exuded an indelible aura of old age.

Under the shocked gaze of the True Creator, He calmly took a few gulps of "hot blood water soaked from the flesh and skin of animals" and smacked his lips, "Surprising? Plants also have a predator-prey relationship with each other. They are not my own kind, so I can eat them."

The True Creator showed a very interested look, and he was always very lively whenever he talked about his native civilization. But the Decayed King did not dwell on this topic for long. He held the enamel pot with both hands, absorbing the heat of the tea through his palms, and the roots under his cloak curled up comfortably.

"Some purple candy for afternoon tea? I also want cheesecake."

“Yes.” He took another sip of green tea. “I saw the bouquet that Medici gave you this morning. It was freshly dug from my garden.”

"Ah... then should I let Him plant it back?"

"I have planted Him, and I will not let Him out before the sun sets. Since you have plucked my flowers, then you can be my flower."

The Decayed King put down the enamel pot and counted Medici's sins: "The great Red Angel has added more than 500 pounds of glorious achievements to the Aurora Society. Specifically, he quarreled with me during an interview at the HR Department and then started fighting with me and damaged the facilities. When he participated in charity events, he was afraid that the world would not be in chaos and then damaged the facilities during the fighting. I said that if you really have nothing to do, go and watch the sewers. For some reason, there are always people walking there at night. Then, when he was fighting with me, he blew up at least 200 meters of the sewers. Fortunately, he blew up the gas pipeline and let all of Backlund ascend to heaven. The Steam Church is still looking for this terrorist."

"...As expected of my angel of war, when He comes, the war will come." The True Creator avoided the question, as if he was full of humanity but lacked martial virtue. "What do you think?"

"Apologize. Pay the money. Or have Fabuti or the Bound God appear on my table immediately." The Outer God said, "This manor is still mine. You must pay rent if you use it as your new base. Also, please don't do any extra meaningless actions before the result of our gamble comes out. I hate you, the earth, and all the gods. I don't want to be friends with you, so please don't break our current peace."

147
3000 pounds, it really hurts. I have saved for so long, but I still have less than 1000 pounds... However, the "Blasphemy Card" is a priceless treasure, which cannot be exchanged for money. Miss Justice's contribution in this matter is definitely worth this price...

Fortunately, all the money was deducted from what she owed me, which relieved some of the pressure. If I meet Mr. Azik in the future, I will use the high-sequence formula to pay the 15000 pounds that belongs to the "Favored One"... I don't know what the other "blasphemous cards" have been disguised as. According to the emperor's personality, they should all be quite unexpected... Klein finished his response and looked at the gray fog sea outside the palace, sighing silently.

Being cautious, he temporarily left the "Black Emperor" card above the gray fog, on the surface of the bronze table opposite the "Fool" chair, and the same with the Azik bronze whistle.

When he returned to the real world, he performed another ritual to summon himself, and threw the "Master Key", a combination of being lost and unlucky, a seal that seemed to have little negative impact but could be fatal in serious situations, onto the gray fog, intending not to use it.

The Master Key was just a relic of an unlucky guy who had just been promoted to Sequence 9, but it actually had this kind of negative effect that even a Mid-Sequence Beyonder couldn't weaken... Mr. Door's mumbling was really terrifying...

Klein took a shower with the much cooler water, walked out of the bathroom refreshed, and went downstairs to enjoy the corn tortillas he bought on the way. These are a specialty of the highlands of the Kingdom of Feynaport, and are crispy, fragrant, and sweet.

After eating and drinking, he thought about last night's experience again to see if there were any clues left for others: "Even if I had the 'Master Key', it would be impossible for me to escape from the hands of a demon if I were not a Beyonder. At that time, the mysterious and powerful Ms. Bernadette must have confirmed that I was not an ordinary private detective. I never thought that I could hide this."

"She didn't take me away, which means she is either an official who has a certain affinity for wild Beyonders, or she doesn't belong to the three major churches or the military. Well, I tend to believe the latter. The former is likely to confiscate the 'Master Key'. Oh, I was a little desperate at the time, and I thought I would be captured and disappear from the world. Who knew that she would leave like that. What's even better is that, thanks to the detailed disguise I made before I went out, which was different from the one I made this morning, she didn't notice that I was the inconspicuous person at the Roselle exhibition who made her dizzy and almost vomited after she glanced at me."

"I don't need to worry about that demon dog anymore. I've met Mr. Edward. It's like a little devil meeting a big devil."

“As for what happened in the museum, they are looking for special spirits and strange beings. What does that have to do with me, Sherlock Moriarty?” Klein joked to himself, feeling more at peace.

Of course, he dared to go home after divination in advance, just as he was not afraid of completely unsolvable traps in the museum.

Phew, this matter has come to an end... What should I do today? Practice extraordinary abilities and go to the Krag Club to get some food? Well, I wonder what happened to the demon dog later. Will the church and the authorities continue to investigate? Should I write another letter to Isengard Stanton to give him a hint?
As his thoughts raced, Klein heard someone approaching and then moving away from outside. Another letter? He opened the door in confusion and saw a letter in the mailbox.

The letter was from Isengard Stanton.

Back inside, Klein opened the envelope with a letter opener and read the letter from the great detective carefully. In the letter, Isengard first announced the good news, saying that with the help of Klein, he successfully found an important clue, but did not clearly state the suspect's information. Instead, he vaguely mentioned a vicious black dog whose owner died in a gang fight. It seemed that he suspected that Sherlock was also a Beyonder and had already seen the truth of the serial murder case in advance.

Klein felt relieved and replied to Isengard. It seemed that this matter had finally come to an end, and the next step was to wait for the money to be collected.

The bounty on the demon dog was two thousand pounds, so he would definitely get some of it. But if he guessed correctly, Edward Vaughn was the decisive force that led to the capture of the demon dog. He felt a little unworthy of the bounty. Perhaps he should notify the other party, or give him some of the bounty. Whether the angels valued such vulgar money was another matter. Klein chose to ignore the fact that Edward had the ability but did not take the initiative to capture the demon dog, but instead let it kill dozens of people in Backlund.

Klein had already thought of today's arrangements. With the Beyonder gathering unable to be held and unable to buy the corresponding items, he suddenly had some free time and didn't need to be busy for a short period of time. "In the morning, I'll go to the Krag Club to practice shooting and Beyonder abilities, and have lunch there. Then I'll find a better circus and watch the magician's performance to see if I can get some inspiration." He took out his gold-shell pocket watch and took a look at it, then boarded the public carriage in a good mood.

At the Krag Club, Klein met Dr. Allen, who complained to him about his recent bad luck and sought some occult help.

148
Maria stared at the man in front of her with a sad face.

Everyone in the office heard her speak without emotion: "You betrayed Dr. Black to the Church of Storms?"

"He saved your life! Your entire family's life!"

"You broke your leg and were lying at home, your wife and children were starving to death, and he treated you for free!"

"how dare you!"

Her questions were so sharp that they broke the man's psychological defenses in an instant. The last bit of pretentious guilt on the man's face disappeared without a trace. His legs were weak and he trembled as he tried to defend himself: "I, I had no choice! I am a believer of the great Lord of Storms, but the pastors of the church came to my house to check for abnormal elements! Someone must have reported me! Someone thought that my broken leg could not be cured, so they thought there was something wrong with me! Maybe, maybe it was someone in the other half of the house who reported it. They were jealous of how much I earned! This is not my fault, no, no, I was wrong, I was wrong, Miss Maria, my son is only five years old, I..."

"Shut up."

"Someone in the church told me that if the report is true, there will be a reward of 20 pounds. Do you think I don't know your little trick?"

Maria did not respond to his crying: "You betrayed your benefactor for your own benefit. You have no gratitude. You want to change your name and move away to evade responsibility. You have no morals... We will not give you any more assistance. Either leave the East End, or starve to death here after spending all your 20 pounds."

"No, Miss Maria! I really had no choice!"

The man was horrified and reached out to grab Maria's clothes: "My son is only five years old, and my wife just lost her job. I can't be without a job!"

"Poor Dr. Black, you saved a bastard like you." Maria dodged his hand in disgust, reluctant to give him another look. Seeing the end of the conversation, the other people walked forward in silence and carried the man who was still begging on the ground. Maria clenched her fists, suppressing the anger in her heart and the desire to smash something somewhere. After suppressing it for a moment, this intense emotion turned into helplessness. She looked away, knowing the answer but still couldn't help but say: "Is there really no way to save him..."

"He is the only doctor in our East District who is willing to treat the workers! He is the healing priest we found with great difficulty!"

"Ms. Maria, there is no other way." A man with dark blue hair standing by the door said sadly, "It's no use asking us for help. The current policy of the Aurora Society is to shrink its power and secretly expand the scope of charity activities. If it was the Little Storm Church, it would be fine, but he was captured in the Holy Wind Cathedral... No one has the power to mobilize so much power!"

"So, we have no choice but to give up on him, right?"

There was a long silence.

It took so long that the other people in the office opened the door and left one by one, leaving Maria alone. It took a long time, the sun gradually set, the sky darkened, and she remained silent in the increasingly dark room.

"Miss Maria." Admisol knocked on the door and came in, lighting a candle. His face looked a little unhappy. "Someone from Capin's side is here again."

Maria's arms trembled violently. She raised her head, her eyes full of bloodshot anger.

"Tell him to go back, or he can leave his finger behind." She slowly straightened her upper body, once again putting on the serious and cruel temperament she had cultivated over the years. Her voice was filled with an irresistible majesty, "I didn't establish a charity school to serve these disgusting maggots. I won't sell out any of my girls or children unless I die!"

Ademisol was not surprised by this answer. He nodded heavily and left the room, leaving the candle and candlestick behind.

Maria took a deep breath. Time and situation did not allow her to be sentimental. Since she decided to devote herself to charity activities and follow the leader's footsteps, she has encountered such helpless situations countless times. No money, no power, no connections to use, no right to speak... She could not let the children get a better education, and could only let the seriously ill patients in the charity hospital die in their sleep. The poorhouse could no longer add even one bed, and even if she knew the culprit of the trafficking of girls, she could not let them be punished... But she could never get used to this despair and frustration.

If I sell my soul to another leader, how much power can I gain? How many more people can I save?
I am too weak...

TBC
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*The bet between the two evil gods is known to heaven and earth, and to you and me. It is about the fate of this world and the choices of mankind.

*The doctrine of the Pilgrims is "Life is a pilgrimage of accumulated pain and happiness, and life is a journey from birth to death." Don't endure the pain of living, don't expect happiness after death, cherish the time of being alive, and bring beauty with your own hands. Life pain and happiness coexist, and the two leaders represent the most intuitive good and evil in the universal sense. Richard, the orderly good, and Edward, the chaotic evil, they also symbolize the current situation within the sect: bad money drives out good money, factories that care about workers are squeezed out, and kind people cannot survive because of their kindness. In order to do good, they must learn to become cruel, cold, and even evil.

This may seem like putting the cart before the horse, but it is sadly true.

Everyone was attracted by Richard's personal charm and came together, but when they encountered irresistible violence or were severely tortured by the secular world to the point of physical and mental exhaustion, the angels could not protect themselves, their beliefs were crushed by reality, and another leader (the devil) became their final destination.

(End of this chapter)