Secret: The years I served as a foreign aid for the Aurora Club

Chapter 237 The Road Ahead is Uncertain
497
After bidding farewell to Gehrman Sparrow, “Admiral of the Stars” Cattleya rubbed her temples, feeling that her nerves, which had been tense because of the God War Ruins and this “companion”, could finally relax.

Frank Lee was busy. Anderson's evaluation of the roast chicken and apple was very high, which made him very happy. He couldn't wait to continue his research.

After they left the ruins of the God War, another unremarkable small sailboat slowly followed behind them. Most of the people on it were wearing simple cloth robes, shawls that had been washed white, and barefoot. They looked like ascetics, but there was no sign of the Orthodox Church on the boat. Cattleya had already spotted it and had been on guard. Fortunately, the other party did not approach, and they were in peace until they left.

Heath Doyle the Bloodless stood in the shadows, silently watching the small sailboat until it disappeared from his sight.

After counting, it was found that the "Future" lost about a quarter of its crew members, most of whom were massacred when they encountered the "Undead King" before entering the ruins of the God War, and a small part was affected by the residual power of the gods inside the sea.

In any case, the "Star Pirates" need to recruit new members.

As for whether to recruit some ordinary people or low-sequence Beyonders with experience in sailing and Beyonder events from the Moss Ascetic Order, or directly recruit some sailors with legitimate purposes from channels that she was familiar with, this was not Cattleya's first time to venture out to sea, and she had drawn up a plan that night.

It was getting dark, and the pirates who had completed an adventure were happily drinking and making noise on the deck. Cattleya had no intention of joining them, but she also planned to walk over to say a few words symbolically and drink a few glasses of light beer.

"Thank you everyone."

Frank poured her a glass of beer. Cattleya said to Nina, who was the first to raise her glass to toast, "We will be docked at our port tonight. You can drink as much Nepos as you want. Of course, it must not affect the supply to Bayam tomorrow morning."

"Long live the captain!" The outgoing Nina cheered, drank a glass with Cattleya, then picked up a bottle of Nepos and ran to the corner to drink with her companions impatiently.

There was a lively and cheerful atmosphere on the deck. After having a few drinks with everyone, Cattleya quietly left. At this time, the navigator Ottolov followed carefully and followed Cattleya into the cabin in silence.

After arriving at the cabin corridor with dim yellow lamps, Cattleya turned around and asked, "What's the matter?"

The elderly "secret peeper" Ottolov opened his mouth and said with some complexity and fear: "After returning, I immediately collected some intelligence at sea during this period..."

"What happened?" Cattleya frowned, puzzled by the timid look of the navigation captain.

"Uh...you..." Ottolov stammered with a dry mouth, "Maybe, maybe you need to look at it yourself..."

Cattleya was getting more and more surprised. The captain's behavior was so different from usual that she realized that something unimaginable might have happened. But based on Cattleya's current understanding of her captain, it was hard for her to imagine what kind of thing would make her friend, a captain from the outer circle of "Elemental Dawn", so out of control and ambiguous.

Ottolov pulled a few pieces of paper stapled together from his jacket pocket and handed them over hesitantly.

Cattleya took the paper, pushed her glasses up out of habit, and glanced over the first line of words.

Her expression suddenly froze.

"The wreckage of the flagship 'Dawn' was found offshore the day before yesterday, with no survivors..."

"The 'Mysterious Queen' is confirmed dead. No one has come to claim the bounty for now. Only the 'Three Kings and Six Generals' are left in the Five Seas!"

The elderly captain looked around anxiously, and finally, he took off his hat and pressed it to his chest as a moment of silence.

"I don't believe it... I don't believe it, I don't believe it!" After a brief moment of unconsciousness and stiffness, Cattleya immediately showed fierce resistance, "How could Her Majesty the Queen be killed?! I want to go to Lasha! Let the 'Future' set sail immediately, I want to go to Lasha!"

She ran to the captain's cabin, and Ottolov quickly chased after her and tried to dissuade her:
"Captain, we just came back from the ruins of the God War. The crew needs to rest and cannot set sail immediately!"

"And Lasha is the organization's secret base! You can't just go there in such a high profile!"

Ottolov grabbed Cattleya's sleeve and pulled the young girl. He saw that the "Admiral of the Stars"'s shoulders twitched again and again, and the other hand kept shaking left and right in the direction of her face, but she never uttered a single cry.

It seemed like a century had passed before Cattleya's shoulders stopped shaking. She turned her back to Ottolov and spoke in a nasal voice:
"I see."

"Go and continue to collect intelligence. Collect...information about the 'Undying King'."

The navigator was slightly puzzled and nodded, "Yes."

Cattleya waved her hand and said, "You go first. I want to go back and calm down, and use mystical methods to confirm the authenticity of this matter."

Ottolov sighed in his heart, put on his hat again to cover his already graying hair, and slowly turned and left.

After walking a dozen steps, he looked back and saw the "Admiral of the Stars" in a purple wizard robe still standing alone beside the dim oil lamp.

……

Edward was a little bit incredulous: "So you just ran away?"

Agaritu and the "Death Announcement" in the small bottle both nodded honestly.

"..." Edward sighed, "That's right. Although I've dealt with Bernadette first, I didn't expect the Black Saint to escape at this time. Klein is with him, which means he has been taken under the protection of the True Creator. In this case, there is no point in taking action. If you are discovered, my dear ally will realize that I have secretly taken action against the mysterious candidate."

"It's impossible not to take action. Who can resist the idea of ​​nipping the future Lord of Mysteries in the bud? Those who can resist are not gods."

Edward was in a good mood, muttering: "Is there any new information at sea recently?"

"There are rumors that Admiral 'Iceberg' Edwina is missing."

Edward picked up a piece of butter cookie, opened the lid of the "Wishing Lamp" beside him and stuffed it in. He then picked up a cup of cold tea and poured it in. Then he asked, "Where did Klein go afterwards?"

He pressed the lid tightly, and Agaritu only saw the "Wishing Lamp" vibrate slightly twice.

He answered truthfully, "The seed of emotion in Klein's body has been cleared, and the last place he appeared was a city on the sea. Cattleya will also be cleared by Sefirah Castle soon at the Tarot Club. I can track down the others, but they are not important."

After listening to this, Edward said with emotion: "It's hard for you to remember so many people's names and faces."

"If you want to fight, then fight. Even if you don't, that little girl can't pose any threat to us. You can make your own arrangements."

Agaritu nodded, and then asked the question that concerned him most:
“Do I have Him on board?”

Edward took the ship in the bottle, "The Death Announcement", in his palm and swirled it for a few times. The blue water in the bottle swayed left and right, and the "The Death Announcement" was swaying in it. He could also see the crew members who had become smaller and were controlled by the "faceless puppets" cleaning the deck and sorting out the debris.

"Have."

The demon said as he studied the exquisite work of art, "Indeed, there was. But there was. At least when you were circling around the ruins of the God War, He was not there."

"After all, the writer is also a Sequence One. He should have come when you were wandering around in the God War Ruins. He was probably worried that you might find something in the God War Ruins. Your bad luck must have been caused by Adam. Besides that, He should have discovered your 'immortality'."

"But it doesn't matter. At most, I can regard you as a vessel for my advent, not a real life. At least when I met Bernadette, He should not have been there, otherwise I would have run into some trouble."

Edward finished playing with the Death Announcement, put it aside again, and asked, "I will take Bernadette's bounty. The power of a demigod is not enough. There is nothing else. By the way, do you like snacks and afternoon tea?"

Agaritu thought for a while and said, "There is no such column in the character settings. As for staple food, my preference is meat and offal, including human meat, medium rare."

"Then I won't continue to entertain you. I'm trying the special vegetable salad from the southern continent recently." Edward served tea and saw the guest off. "You can go now."

The "Undead King" stood up quietly, took the "Death Sign" and walked away quickly.

498
The last Monday in April.

In the quiet hotel room, the dark radio receiver instantly returned to normal, and the surrounding light was no longer gloomy.

Klein was busy preparing the ceremony and sacrificed it above the gray fog. Only then did he have the mood to think about the answer he had just obtained.

Based on the clues provided by "Magic Mirror" Arrodes, combined with the answers of Mr. Azik and "Snake of Fate" Will Auceptin, Klein had a preliminary plan for the next stage.

That was not just because he wanted to take a short break and return to Backlund, but he also considered this metropolis as his main activity location for a long time to see if he could steal the Antigonus family notebook from the Saint Samuel Church of the Church of the Evernight Goddess.

If you are sure that there is no other way, try to turn to a similar extraordinary path. If this does not work, you will have to take the last route to the main peak of the Honachis Mountains.

"Well... I definitely can't openly use the identity of Sherlock Moriarty when I return to Backlund, unless I want to hook out Ince Zangwill or a faction of the royal family hiding in the dark. However, when I contact acquaintances or use the resources of the Steam Church, I can change back to Sherlock Moriarty."

“Speaking of which, is Edward Vaughn still missing? It’s really hard to find the whereabouts of an angel. I hope he won’t appear in Backlund again.” Klein devoutly drew a crimson moon on his chest.

"Anyway, I have to use a new identity and be completely different from Gehrman Sparrow. Uh, this time I won't go directly back to Pritz Harbor. I'll take a detour through Disi Bay to make sure no one can find out where I am." Klein's thoughts raced, and he soon had a clear idea.

After initially determining the direction, he wanted to extract blood and use his spirit to explore Groselle's Travels above the gray fog, but considering that he had a tarot meeting in the afternoon, he lay back on the bed and rested and relaxed. …

Loen Kingdom, Disi County.

Amon was holding a newspaper and hot milk, dressed comfortably and casually, like an ordinary college student, standing on the street waiting in line for the Desi pie that was said to be the most delicious. The white steam floating in the air carried the sweet aroma of the pie.

Amon sniffed it and said, "It seems a bit too sweet... But it's worth a try."

He bought some milk to go with the drink and added a little sugar to it, but it was not as sweet as the drinks sold on the market.

The owner is an elderly woman, the waiters and chefs seem to be her grandchildren, and her family photos are hung on the wall.

Watching their busy scene, the guests unconsciously calmed down.

A child ran past with a whistle in his mouth to call carrier pigeons. A young girl bought a ditty pie and left with her companions expectantly and happily. A gentleman kept looking at his watch, then at the five people in front of him, stamping his feet anxiously, yet reluctant to leave. A "mandated punisher" hurried over and almost cursed when he saw so many people in front of him, but he still suppressed his impatience and arrogantly gave the second-to-last spot to a little girl and stood at the end of the line himself.

The crow stood on the tree by the river, the crow stood on the church spire, the crow watched everything before it.

He stood among the busy crowd in the early morning. He was not interested in anything, yet seemed to find everything new.

……

Southern Continent, Aldra.

On the site of the demolished old Governor's Mansion, the Spiritual Cult built the Queen's Palace at an incredibly fast speed. The streets were decorated with the characteristics of the Balam Empire again, and decorative paintings and notices declaring sovereignty were posted all over the streets. The branch of the Central Sonia Company here was destroyed, and foreigners who did not have time to escape were repatriated or killed according to their positions. All these actions declared that this place was no longer a colony of Loen.

Deep in the palace, before the Queen, Mirella knelt on the ground with her forehead pressed tightly against the wool carpet.

He reported in a steady tone:
"…The Artificial Death God Faction expressed support for us. High Priest Haitel showed goodwill and wanted to intensify cooperation."

"But at the same time, Haitel also responded that the progress of the 'artificial death god' will not stop. He, he said... Her Majesty's actions are desperate and cannot guarantee absolute victory. Therefore, he must leave other fire for the Church of the Death God and the Balam Empire."

——In order to expand their influence, both factions are fiercely discussing whether to change their name back to the "Church of Death". This is a rare consensus.

But after they reached a consensus, the "Pale Queen" rejected the proposal. She put pressure on the Artificial Death God faction, stating that if the two factions could not unite into one, abandon the stupid idea of ​​"artificial gods" and stop blaspheming the great Death God, then neither side would be allowed to change its name.

Behind the veil, Xia Eggers was silent. Mirella did not sense anger or a heavy atmosphere, so she continued:

"It is said that High Priest Haitel, who was severely damaged during a ceremony to worship the 'Artificial God of Death', is still in poor condition... Your Majesty, you..."

Xia Eggers was as silent as a statue, thinking. "Erosion" was an interesting word. High Priest Haitel was an angel, and his status in the Spiritual Cult was second only to himself. Why would organizing a sacrifice to a false god be eroded?

How can "uniqueness" erode others?

Uniqueness cannot possibly erode the extraordinary. The only difference is whether it can be accommodated smoothly or not!

Over the years, the Eggers royal family has determined that the other uniqueness and sequence one that the whole country has been unable to find must be hidden together with the "legacy of the god of death", but they lack the key to unlock this legacy.

This also directly led to the collapse of the godless Southern Continent in the war of aggression, and the continent became a pitiful people who were oppressed and humiliated. The Aiges royal family itself became an exiled government, and after struggling for a hundred years, it finally gained a place.

Even the lowest-ranking people in the Northern Continent have targets to oppress, and that is the lower-class people in the Southern Continent!

"It doesn't matter."

Xia Eggers said calmly: "Haitel didn't ask us for help. He must have made all preparations."

Heitel may not be the same Heitel anymore.

He used to be wise and rational, but now he seems to have been brainwashed, madly regarding false gods as the final salvation.

"Artificial Death God" - his true identity is the uniqueness and sequence one of the "Death God" path. He was activated through the long-term prayers and sacrifices of the Artificial Death God sect and became an existence equivalent to the "Angel King of the Death God Path". It is not surprising that he severely injured Haitel, who was a sequence two.

What is strange is why a consciousness that was activated by a "prayer for help" from an artificial death god would actually hurt the person asking for help!
Unless the "artificial god of death" believes that he is powerless to change, salvation means letting all believers die. However, after hurting Haitel, the "artificial god of death" strangely became well-behaved and responded to prayers normally, as if it was just an accident before.

"Haitel can no longer be trusted", "Artificial Death God may do more than simply revitalize uniqueness", "The entire artificial Death God faction can be abandoned when necessary". The "Pale Queen" did not say these words, and could not say them.

"It is very likely that the uniqueness has been controlled by an angel or even... " This is the worst possibility, and it is very likely to be true. This possibility means that Xia Eggers cannot fulfill his long-cherished wish. He is doomed to fail. It is impossible to drive the people of the Northern Continent out of the Southern Continent where people are suffering everywhere, and it is impossible to take back the land, the country, and the people!
So what is the point of all this struggle now?

Sia Eggers said calmly: "If I fail..."

Mirella was horrified and raised her head hurriedly: "Please don't say such things!"

"Mirela, you are the most loyal subject who has been with me the longest. When the Balam Empire was still around, you were already my guard officer. These words are only known to you and me. You must forget them after you leave this room."

The Pale Queen did not look at Mirella, who was hesitant to speak. She looked at a painting on the wall and said gently and steadily:

"After I take back Aldra, I still have some strength left. Soon, I will announce the restoration of the Balam Empire and the Aegis royal family."

He was silent for two seconds. "Sua is also preparing to seize the city and restore the country. He is willing to establish the first diplomatic relationship with our regime. I will promote you to Sequence 3 and become the spokesperson for the royal family. You will manage internal and external affairs, amend the bills, and let the people support us."

"Your adopted son has studied at Feysac's military academy. He is an outstanding person. Find a way to bring him back." Xia Eggers said, "Tell him that if he is not satisfied with the policies of the Balam Empire, then he can change them."

Mirella hesitated: "Yes."

"Shea said that if we follow the trend of the times, we will not be able to make any profit, because there is no place for us in the future predetermined by the gods. Therefore, I will take the initiative to declare war. The subsequent wars and victories will depend on how far we can go."

"Her Majesty the Queen..."

"Be careful of the artificial death god, and don't ask Azik Eggers for help."

Behind the veil, Xia Eggers' expression remained unchanged: "He is our ancestor in name only, but he has never loved us."

"When our country was destroyed and our families were ruined, we prayed to Him. When we were starving and cold, we prayed to Him. When I was young, I grew up listening to the myth of Him and the God of Death. The Aegis royal family waited for this ancestor for a thousand years, but what they got was His denial and disgust."

"I don't understand what we did wrong. Perhaps not growing up with Him was our original sin. But it doesn't matter. The royal family and the Spiritual Cult have survived for more than two hundred years without Him. I am no longer the princess who wants to hear stories."

“He will not help us, He will only ask why we do not surrender, or even help us surrender.”

Mirella was silent for a long time, and finally slowly lowered her head and pressed tightly against the carpet again.

"As you wish," he said.

Xia Eggers said in that beautiful but deadly calm voice: "If I die in battle..."

"...There is no need to be sad. I just returned to my father and God. I fought the best battle and did everything I should and could do. As the last emperor, I fought to the end."

"My country will collapse again, but this time, the countries in the northern continent may be afraid while oppressing and harming you, because there are still people in this land who will resist. At least in the period before the end of the world, you may live a better life."

They will be wiped out... Mirella couldn't help but think.

However, for believers in the god of death, death is not a scary thing.

"Get up."

The warm sunlight fell into the room, and Xia Eggers finally took her eyes off the painting.

"Go and think about the content of the declaration of war."

TBC
------

He briefly skipped over the Tarot Club, Groselle's Travels, and the orange light that appeared when he was trying to die at Klein's door while competing with his teammates for the manuscript of the second-generation differential machine.

(End of this chapter)