Secret: I can play two paths

Chapter 216: Abundance comes at a price
After a brief moment of surprise, it was time for the Tarot Club to start its transaction.

Logically speaking, Star should have explained to the Hanged Man Alger his pursuit of the pirate general Qi Lingos.

However, he had been very busy these past few days, and all the tasks had been outsourced to Fors and Xio, so he had not met with Miss Justice.

So if we talk about this matter, we can only postpone it for a while longer.

Fortunately, The Hanged Man did not get too anxious about Qilingos's matter. Instead, he looked at the new member, Derrick the Sun, and recalled the key words in the words of the young man from Silver City:

This guy is very strange. The term "Lord who created everything" is not unfamiliar to him. The Creator in "Book of Storms", "Apocalypse of Night" and folk legends has a similar title.

The "True Creator" believed in by secret organizations such as the Aurora Society is also given the same description.

Although Mr. Wheel of Fortune was very rational, Alger believed that Star might not believe in the "real creator" but other unknown high-level beings.

But Alger, the "Hanged Man", looked at the new member, Derrick, the "Sun", and couldn't help but feel puzzled:
"This Mr. 'Sun', could it be that he believes in that crazy evil god 'True Creator'?"

"That's why he was so surprised when he learned that the god would respond and have a follower."

But Little Sun quickly broke his guess.

Although Darry looks very silent, distressed and mature, he is still just a teenager.

So he seemed to be embarrassed about what he had just said, and he took the initiative to explain in a respectful tone:

"We in Silver City still believe in the 'omniscient and omnipotent God', the 'Lord who created everything', but we haven't received a response from Him for a long time."

“Omniscient and omnipotent God”?
This description shocked the other two people in the Tarot Club except Star and Klein. After all, this description cannot be added casually.

No matter which god it is, even those hidden beings classified as evil gods, none of them claim to be omniscient and omnipotent.

It was the first time they had heard such a description in the Extraordinary World.

Glancing at Klein and Star with shock and confusion, "The Hanged Man" Alger concluded that these two beings knew about this matter and was not surprised or puzzled at all.

He glanced at Star again, somewhat expecting that Mr. Wheel of Fortune might be able to shed some light on their confusion.

This was also what Klein was thinking. He was now ready to take advantage of the opportunity to get some benefits from Star.

Then, all the members of the Tarot Club turned their eyes to Star without saying a word, and he smiled and said leisurely:
"I know the reason, but I'm sorry."

"Just as this contains a very high-level secret, if I tell you about it, it is likely that only one situation will occur:"

"Saying anything will only hurt you."

After a pause, Star said with some comforting words:
"But I see that you and I are destined to be together. I have some Sequence 9 potion formulas here. You can make yourself stronger."

"If I remember correctly, your city-state has been trapped there for a long time."

"Perhaps you can listen to my plan first to become stronger, so that it will be easier to save your city-state later."

He knows... He knows everything!

For a moment, "Sun" Derrick, "Hanged Man" Alger, "Fool" Klein, and "Justice" Audrey all looked at Star and fell into deep thought.

Among them, the three people who were not in the "God-forsaken Land" had a very simple idea. They just thought that the "Wheel of Fortune" was worthy of being the most knowledgeable person in the Tarot Club, and could easily handle all kinds of mystical secrets.

But, “rescue”?
According to Mr. Wheel of Fortune, the environment this new member is in is not very good, and it is even very dangerous...

Is this new member in the southern continent? Or in some more mysterious and dangerous hidden place?
One "audience member" even thought of the somewhat unfamiliar place "Silver City" and became curious about this unknown area.

Derrick was suddenly moved:
For so many years, in this place abandoned by God, Derrick had never seen any other living people except the people of the City of Silver.

Now, not only can he attend a party organized by a being "close to a god", he also meets a person who is suspected to be a follower of the "Lord who created everything".

What is even more valuable is that the Lord's favored one was able to understand their situation and expressed deep concern.

Is this a lucky day for him, a citizen of the Silver City?
No matter what, as long as there is hope of saving the City of Silver, Derrick, who has obtained the "Protagonist Template's Parents Sacrifice to Heaven", will definitely not miss it.

He said without hesitation:

"'Sun', I choose 'Sun'."

Star nodded. He had no intention of taking Little Sun in another direction.

Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly remembered something and asked:

"Is this also the code name you chose in the Tarot Club?"

Since he missed the opening introduction, logically he should not know the name of the little sun. Now he has to make up for it, so as to avoid blurting out "classmate Sun" and having trouble explaining it.

When Derrick nodded in affirmation, Star opened his mouth, suddenly interested, and said in a charlatan tone:
“Remember your choice, it will stay with you for the rest of your life.”

Someone seemed to have said this?
Derrick felt a sense of déjà vu and looked towards Mr. Fool without disguising himself, but he just thought it was a similar sentence of encouragement and didn't think too much about it.

Klein was gossiping, but when he heard this, an idea suddenly came to his mind, and he could only hold it in his stomach and complain:

No, Star, you are the anti-Tian Gang, right?

Why do you speak in this tone?
Could it be that this kind of deception is like that of a charlatan... No, the ability to encourage... is a necessary skill for every time traveler?
However, next time I recruit new members, I must change my words to avoid Star repeating the same mistake again...

Fortunately, Xiao Yang is an honest child and doesn't think too much...

But no matter what Derrick and Klein thought, Star was happy anyway:
Reading Mr. Fool's lines in front of him is so exciting...

Star did not stay on this topic for too long. He saw the "little sun" take the initiative to speak: "Thank you, Mr. Wheel of Fortune."

"I don't know what kind of reward you need. We in Silver City often organize teams to go out and hunt monsters in the dark. I have a way to get some extraordinary materials that are not very rare."

"Do not."

Star shook his head to express his disapproval, and then said:

"What I mean is that since I have received the grace of that Lord, I must help his believers."

"So, I just want to trade with you the formula for the Sun Path Sequence 9 'Prayer for Light' potion. I want you to do something for me."

"whats the matter?"

Not only "Little Sun" had this question in his heart, but other members of the Tarot Club were also curious about what Star would let this new member do.

After so much preparation, except for Klein, they vaguely felt that the background of this new member was not simple.

However, without more information, one could only watch the conversation between "Little Sun" and Star in confusion - treating it as mutual care between believers of the same faith.

Especially Audrey, as a very curious girl, she still has some ideas to explore this unexplored place.

She even had the idea of ​​asking Star to tell her the story of the God-Forsaken Land after she logged off.

However, she did not really need to put this idea into action. As if to confirm, Sta asked:
"You can explain in detail how your city-state survived from that cursed land, so that I can help you."

As if touched by Star's kindness, Derrick recalled the contents of the book and the legends his parents had told him, and said simply:
"Since we were abandoned by the Lord and many monsters suddenly emerged from the darkness, we entered the 'Deep Dark Ages'. Relying on the strength of the remaining strong men and two magical items, we built a city-state in the Silver City that protects our survival."

"Initially, we were troubled by the problem of food. It was not until we found a kind of food called 'black-faced grass' that could survive tenaciously in this environment and was considered to be the last favor left by the great gods that we were able to persist there for 2,582 years."

"As for the issues that need to be resolved right now, I'm afraid only our six-member council of Silver City can know."

After a pause, Sun Derrick's tone suddenly became heavy and sad:
"However, I hope that some gods will come to our abandoned place."

"It seems that because we live here, we are cursed with fate. No matter if we are ordinary people or extraordinary people, we will become evil spirits after death. However, the evil spirits transformed by extraordinary people are more bizarre, terrifying, and difficult to deal with. In history, this curse has almost destroyed the Silver City several times. The only solution is for people with the same bloodline to personally end the life of the dying person."

"So, I want to be the sun, to be the sun... When the sun still shines on the earth, we are not cursed."

When Derrick said this, his voice sounded difficult and painful.

He thought again of his parents who had turned into evil spirits and could only be killed by his own hands.

At this moment, his sad narration also infected other members of the Tarot Club.

"The Hanged Man" Alger noticed the key word "a place abandoned by God" from the beginning, and thought of the "God-forsaken Land" that he had asked Mr. Fool about a few weeks ago - he didn't expect that Mr. Fool would recruit such a member not long after that.

Judging from what Mr. Wheel of Fortune said, he also knew about this special place? And was he favored by the gods believed in there?

"The Lord who created everything", this description can also point to the existence of the faith in the "Silver City"?

The "True Creator" also has this description, and His sanctuary is also suspected to be in the "God-forsaken Land". Is there any connection between the two...

However, as the bishop of the Church of the Storm, "Alger" knew that the "God-Forsaken Land" was a secret place that even the agents within the church did not know much about. It was a secret place that the Church of the Lord of the Storm wanted to find but could never find.

How did Mr. Wheel of Fortune know such confidential information? Could it be that he really received the favor of the high-ranking being called "Creator"?
So how will he save the believer who exists secretly?
To be honest, the "Hanged Man" had suffered many hardships since childhood and had long been more rational and calm, but as described by "The Sun", the curse of having to cruelly end the lives of his loved ones with his own hands made him feel a little sympathetic.

Although this would not affect Alger's future actions to fleece Derrick, he was currently very curious about what Mr. Wheel of Fortune could do.

Mr. Fool was also lamenting that Derrick brought up the matter again, but he did not stop Derrick's actions and was also eagerly waiting for Star's response.

If Star solved this matter, it would not affect the image of the god he played. On the contrary, even without talking about Derrick's simple character, the better Star performed, the more it would highlight his appreciation of Star's wisdom.

Or, as Star said, is he in friendly relationship with another being behind him who is suspected to be of god-level?

But this is a cursed place, and unless the gods themselves come, there is hardly any way to deal with it?
Therefore, the thoughtful Audrey saw the cruelty behind the curse, and was even able to analyze from the "audience"'s ability that "Little Sun" had once had to do such an unacceptable thing.

But she looked at Mr. Wheel of Fortune, hoping that he could have some good ideas, but she also felt that it would not be a good choice if Mr. Wheel of Fortune forced herself.

But, I felt like believing him… Audrey looked at Star with her bright eyes.

This was a sincere trust, perhaps because Audrey had not sensed a single falsehood from him since some time ago.

If I had to explain it, it's just an intuition?
Yes, intuition...

Audrey puffed up her cheeks imperceptibly... She suddenly looked forward to Mr. Wheel of Fortune's reply.

Without letting everyone wait too long, Star heard Little Sun smoothly tell Derrick about the "black-faced grass" and the curse in Silver City, and said to Derrick directly:
"I have heard about the disaster there... By the way, I and other members of the Tarot Club are not from other city-states in that area."

"But I have learned about the environment there from a place. Based on what I have learned, if there is really a curse against you in the 'Forsaken Land of Gods', you can directly drive the evil spirits of the dead to destroy your city-state. It will definitely not just leave behind an evil spirit that can be targeted and neutralized."

"According to what I know about mysticism, this seems to be the negative effect of some powerful seal, or in other words, a so-called 'price'."

"Besides, I also know the situation there. In fact, there is no plant that can grow safely and harmlessly in that environment. Why is there only a safe and harmless plant like 'Black Face Grass' that has become your reliable food source?"

"So, I suspect that the fateful curse is due to the food you rely on for survival."

After a pause, Sta finally gave the answer:
“In other words:”

"'Abundance' comes at a price."

(End of this chapter)