Storm of Gods

Chapter 138 Confusing the real with the fake
Lancer and the others were all shocked. What was a Primal Embryo? Only royalty and top nobles could obtain the opportunity to match a divine relic, and it depended on luck. In fact, even at this level, some people would choose Primal Embryos because they were gentler and provided steady improvement. Therefore, Primal Embryos were more valuable and circulated than divine relics among the ruling class of Dao Yuan.

Locke is not a nobleman, but a wealthy merchant from a new class. His family is extremely rich, and he is also very talented. He has mastered the Eye of Insight and a fire ability that is extremely suitable for combat. This is extremely valuable for a knight, but it is unlikely that he would come into contact with the original embryo.

“This embryo is not a true embryo, or rather, it is an embryo, but it is different from previous embryos and is unstable,” Simmons said.

"You mean there's someone or some organization selling something that's similar to the original embryo?" Li Xin asked.

“Yes, the scary thing is that this prototype is almost exactly the same as the real prototype, and the effects are also very similar. It just occasionally becomes unstable, like what Locke just did. In severe cases, it can cause serious injury or death. It was because of this situation that the Undertaker discovered it before.” Simmons explained. Seeing that everyone was a little worried, Simmons continued, “The Church has a way to solve this problem. Locke discovered it early and he is strong enough, so there won’t be any problems.”

The enforcers of the moon goddess are called night watchmen, and the enforcers of the earth goddess are called funeral attendants.

"A considerable number?" Li Xin asked.

“Yes.” Simmons nodded. Everyone realized the horror behind this, but they still couldn’t help feeling excited.

Even if there are some side effects, the chance to obtain a virgin embryo—tell me, do you want it?
The castle bestowed divine relics; is this organization selling high-end unfinished, counterfeit goods?
Are all the secret organizations on the Dao Yuan Continent so fond of doing charity?

"This matter has already attracted the attention of the Holy See. The Undertaker is investigating. It has appeared not only in Heldan, but also in the Li Dragon, and even earlier. It is said that it has also appeared in the Black Meteor Empire. The Night Watchers should also be investigating," Simmons said. "Don't overthink it. Locke should just be a recipient. As long as he explains the source clearly, there will be no problem."

This was confirmed through family connections; otherwise, it wouldn't have been handled this way.

“No wonder Locke has been so excited lately, and his strength has improved so rapidly. His Pale Eyes have even awakened fire abilities. Damn, I always thought he was just crushing me with pure talent,” Sarana said. He and Locke were good friends and had always trained together. Their levels were about the same before, but suddenly Locke started to make rapid progress and even awakened enviable fire power, which made him very happy.

Thinking back on how envious he was, this guy had been mysterious and hesitant to speak several times.

"Boss, is this embryo really usable?" Sarana asked. "Where in the world is there such a good thing? Could there be some ulterior motive?"

While stating their purpose, their eyes held anticipation. Although divine relics and prototypes were secrets, they weren't exactly secrets at the level of the Order Institute. Everyone knew how precious and difficult they were to obtain; if you were born with one, you were born with one, and if you weren't, you were likely to lose it. But now, suddenly, they learned that an organization was selling discounted prototypes. Who wouldn't be tempted?
Is it dangerous? What isn't dangerous? The side effects of divine relics are even greater.

For the sake of power, no one cares about such a risk.

"Don't get any funny ideas. What exactly is the other party's motive? The Vatican is still investigating whether there are any hidden dangers in this embryo. Use your brains. Can you buy something like this with money?" Simmons said.

That makes sense, but let alone this kind of embryo, even if the method of using the Abyss Worm were widely known, I'm afraid a considerable number of people would be unable to resist.

Could it be Zhao Xun's method?

According to Casey, the transformation of a modified Abyssal Worm into a divine relic is extremely difficult and dangerous. It can either be achieved through immense perseverance and determination, like Uncle Luo, or by raising a large number of Fallen Ones. The Fallen Ones kill and consume the Fallen Ones, and Casey absorbs their energy, effectively filtering it. However, in this case, it is even more difficult to transform into a Primal Embryo. In short, it only prolongs the time of loss of control and obtains relatively stable power, but whether or not it transforms into a Primal Embryo is no longer important.

How could anyone be willing to sell such a hard-won and dangerous raw material?

Even if they were to sell, why would they sell it to a wealthy businessman for a small amount of money? Could it be a few hundred million?

Moreover, it appeared in various places, and after a while, Li Xin felt a chill down his back.

Seeing that the others were still thinking about the original embryo, Simmons knew that saying more would be useless. After all, a well-fed man doesn't know the hunger of a starving man. He almost lost his life for the divine relic, so he couldn't say anything. But the purpose behind counterfeiting the original embryo was chilling to think about. Simmons was self-aware, so he immediately notified the Undertaker to handle the matter. Of course, he also knew that the key to this matter was to trace the channel. The Undertaker would observe and record those who had already used this original embryo, but wouldn't do anything about it.

Because this embryo is actually usable.

Honestly, if he hadn't suspected a possible conspiracy, he would have liked to get a few for his teammates who didn't have any prototypes.

There was silence for a moment, until a tall, aloof middle-aged man returned to the base with Celia, followed by two law enforcement officers in dark yellow uniforms.

The middle-aged man was Travis, the captain of the Undertaker Enforcement Team of the Earth Mother Goddess Church. He glanced at Locke on the ground but was not in a hurry. He took the initiative to bow and said, "Young Master Simmons, thank you for your support of the Undertaker's work."

“Captain Travis, you’re too kind. Cooperating with the Undertaker is our duty. We’re all family. Locke is my brother and an important member of our Saint Zeal. We’ll have to trouble you to take good care of him,” Simmons said.

Travis examined Locke, frowned slightly, but quickly relaxed.

“It has nothing to do with the Abyss, so it’s not a big problem. I’ll take him back to go through the procedures in a bit. He’s not an isolated case; several others have appeared recently, all buyers, and all of them are from Montcarette.” Because of the George family’s influence, Travis spoke very directly. He was also afraid that it might be something like the Abyss Worm, which would be troublesome if it were classified as a Fallen One or a Heretic, which would be a much bigger problem.

Then he looked at Li Xin, who was clearly not from Montaletta, and asked, "And who is this?" "Li Xin is a member of our Saint Ze team, and he is an immigrant from the Li Dragon," Simmons said.

Travis didn't ask any more questions and let the law enforcement officers take Locke away. He was very polite and gentle with Locke throughout the process. The fake embryo incident had already attracted great attention from the Vatican. The most controversial part was in the early days. Back then, being found to have used fake embryos was a serious matter. You might even be sent to the court for testing, and you basically wouldn't survive. But as fake embryos continued to spread, and various investigations did not find any obvious problems, they could only handle it gently. Of course, supervision was still necessary. If anything was discovered, it had to be reported to the Funeral Directors or the Church.

What's interesting is that those sellers really did sell and leave without a trace. In fact, even the funeral procession was amazed. Although the price was high, it was nothing compared to the true value of the original piece.

The other party's channels are very secretive. They actively seek out customers with purchasing power, and by the time the funeral procession discovers them, a long time has passed and they have long since disappeared without a trace.

On the way back in the carriage, Locke was still unconscious, but his body was unharmed. The instability of the pseudo-prototype was somewhat like that of a worm, but it was not a worm. It was indeed a prototype. Its body had a tendency to mutate, but it would return to normal as long as it was interrupted in time. Of course, this phenomenon itself was not normal. In severe cases, it could break through the body and die, but it would not actually turn into a monster.

Li Xin... Li Long?
The name sounded familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before. Suddenly, Travis's eyes lit up. He had seen a list not long ago that included members of the Hextech Bird Report, who were essentially Night Watchers. The Bird Report also faced secret incidents and needed some ability users to resolve them.

The two sides are cooperating, but since it is the territory of the Earth Church, the contract requires that members of the Bird Report who have the identity of Night Watchers must report when they arrive in Heldan, so that they have legal status. Otherwise, they will be treated as heretics, and Li Xin's name is on it.

He appeared at the Holy Zealot Academy?
Travis didn't want to cause any trouble, but he could remind Simmons that as the heir to the George family, it would be good to maintain good relations. They could discuss it further when Locke was brought back.

In reality, members of secret agencies in all countries are the same, teetering on the brink of death. Heldan is rich, but the secret agencies that breed from wealth are even more perverse and dangerous, no better than the Night Watchers in this respect. The only saving grace is that they are indeed better off than the Night Watchers in terms of treatment.

Inside the Holy Zeal Academy base, interrupted by this matter, everyone's feelings were somewhat complicated. Among the team members, there were still those who did not possess original embryos. Originally, it was fine if they didn't know, but upon hearing that there were such original embryos and that the risks were not great, they were clearly tempted, even if they didn't say it.

Human beings' desire for power is hard to suppress, and Simmons didn't say anything more.

Everyone recognized Li Xin and knew he was skilled, but they didn't really have any goodwill towards him. However, Lancer took the initiative to shake hands with Li Xin to welcome him. There was nothing he could do; after all, Simmons was his boss, someone he would follow for life, and he couldn't let him down.

Even if it's just a cook.

"A cook???" Celia was shocked.

"He cooks very well. I feel that the boss chose him half because of his ability and half because of his cooking skills."

"How come I didn't know Simmons had this kind of fetish?" Celia was genuinely surprised. The cook from Lilong and a former member of the Black Rose, she was a little bewildered by Simmons's obsequious manner. Of course, Simmons wasn't stupid; there must be some hidden story behind this. She would interrogate him properly tonight.

Simmons took Li Xin back. Today was just a brief greeting. The procedures for entering the Faith Council are still being processed. He also took the opportunity to get Li Xin's permanent residency in Heldan. Initially, Li Xin only had a temporary stay in Heldan, which was only arranged with the help of Daenerys Targaryen. She also had to act as a guarantor. Although Daenerys Targaryen is quite ruthless, she is genuinely helpful as long as it can make money.

"How long has the fake embryonic form been around?" Li Xin asked as he ate in the spacious and comfortable carriage, which was moving very smoothly and was even equipped with tea and snacks.

Simmons didn't seem that happy. After all, the problem stemmed from one of his own players, and he was still a little worried about Locke. After sending Li Xin back, he would have to go to the Funeral Home. It would be troublesome if the people there didn't know their own strength.

“I really don’t know, but even I know that it should have been some time. We don’t know how many people used fake embryos before,” Simmons said. “Brother Li, are you interested in this?”

“Yes, I previously found a job as a reporter at Hexbird News, and also worked part-time as a night patrolman,” Li Xin said.

Simmons was taken aback, but not surprised. After all, the situation in Tianjing was terrifying to think about, and Li Xin was no ordinary person to be able to enter the secret fortress. It seemed that he was a member of the Moon God lineage, probably a very secretive one. Fortunately, the Moon God Church and the Earth Church, as well as Li Long and Moncaleta, were all allies, so he probably wasn't playing with fire.

“These kinds of things can’t be reported out, but they’re good for mission intelligence,” Simmons said with a smile. He vaguely knew that there was some degree of intelligence sharing between the two sides, but he didn’t want to get too involved. Nobles needed to maintain good relations with secret organizations, but they had to find the right balance.

Simmons has one advantage: he never actively seeks out trouble for things he doesn't need to know or shouldn't know, which is something Li Xin likes about him.

"I heard something about this, and I'm very interested," Li Xin said. "What's the plan for tomorrow?"

“I’m giving the Command Institute base a day off tomorrow,” Simmons said.

After sending Li Xin back to the Carp Dragon Inn, Simmons immediately ordered the carriage to head quickly to the courtroom where the funeral procession was located. If Locke was alright, it would be a good thing for the Papal Court.

The existing divine relics and prototypes all have a provenance. As for these fake prototypes, well, they are both good and bad. The good thing is that their cost-effectiveness is simply incredible. The bad thing is that they are not under the control of the Holy See.

What worries the Vatican even more is what the organization behind it is up to. There's no such thing as a free lunch...

(End of this chapter)