Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 278 The Beginning of the Role

"However, this way you are actually safe."

Alger, the Hanged Man, looked at the Sun and said in a deep voice, “To your chief, you and Lovia now represent two different forces. Both are in danger, but both may bring new hope to Silver City.”

"I guess he will try his best to ensure your safety from now on, and he will ignore any abnormal behavior you exhibit."

"That's it"

[Sun] breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly felt a sense of helplessness. He wanted to do his best to save Silver City, but his sincerity was not being fully appreciated. After all, the Chief had to make the most reasonable decision.

After that, the Hanged Man shared some news from the sea, and the others taught the Sun some Hermes. Seeing that it was almost time, the Fool, who was at the head of the group, said, "Let's call it a day."

"Your will be obeyed."

Everyone immediately stood up and bowed.

"Your will be obeyed."

Lu Ze, the newcomer, was a second slower, only standing up after seeing what others were doing.

The next second, crimson light surged from the void, enveloping every member present and returning them to reality. Only Klein remained above the gray mist, along with the [World] puppet opposite him.

He stared for a long time at the strange pattern behind the high-backed chair where Lu Ze was, and fell silent.

9 St. Martin Street, East End, Luzer's current residence.

Lu Ze, who had been sitting idly waiting, suddenly felt a slight tremor in his body, and a deep red light seemed to appear before his eyes. Immediately afterwards, he seemed to see another illusory version of himself appear in the light.

Is the party over?
"Om-"

Before he could react, the illusory figure suddenly shattered, transforming into a pure stream of consciousness that flooded into his brain, displaying images and dialogues in his mind.

Is this what the virtual personality experienced in the gray fog?
The codenames and characteristics of the five members, the clues to the Black Knight formula, the Forsaken Land, and the extraordinary characteristics of Silver City have provided a way to make a move.
Lu Ze absorbed the memories, feeling as if he had personally experienced the gray fog. The virtual personality's decisions and actions on the gray fog were completely consistent with his own. If his real body had gone up there, he would have basically done the same thing.

However, why did this personality suddenly collapse the moment it returned to reality?

what happened?

Lu Ze subconsciously looked at the illusory figure beside him and found that the red-haired, golden-eyed woman was teasing a cat, waving her transparent finger in front of the little black cat.

"Mi"

After being well cared for for a few days, the little black cat's messy fur became much smoother. It held its tiny tail high, solemnly lying on the ground, its head turning incessantly as it followed the finger's movement.

"what happened?"

M felt his gaze and turned to ask.

squeak!
Seizing the opportunity, the little black cat kicked its hind legs hard on the floor, its claws scraping as it pounced on M's right hand.

"mum?"

It naturally missed, then raised its head in confusion.

"Why did my virtual personality collapse?"

Lu Ze asked.

“Because it lacks a physical entity to rely on, once its spirituality is exhausted in the gray fog, it naturally cannot be sustained upon returning to reality,” M replied matter-of-factly. “That’s how I originally designed it, to prevent conflicts between personalities that would cause you to become even more insane.”

Oh, I see. That saves me a lot of trouble.

Lu Ze nodded.

After confirming that Luze was alright, M turned back to play with the cat. She used her audience pathway ability to project her own image into the cat's mind, allowing the cat to see the image that originally only existed in Luze's hallucinations.

Seeing that she was engrossed in playing with the cat, Lu Ze ignored her and instead lowered his head to recall what had just happened on the gray fog.

First, Mr. Fool is indeed unfathomable, managing to draw the people of the Forsaken Land to the Gray Fog and establish a connection. Luze speculates that all the members of this gathering He presided over might possess something special, worthy of the attention of a deity. He might even be willing to offer assistance to the members of the Tarot Society, with the reward being merely some of Roselle's diaries!
Hmm, speaking of which, Mr. Fool once sent down three angels to help me dispel the will of the true creator. Shouldn't I reward him? Lu Ze suddenly thought.

Of course, we must give something. Although the other party didn't say it, we must be respectful to the gods. It was one thing if they didn't know about the need for payment before, but now that they know, pretending not to know is a matter of attitude.

"Anyway, I have a stack of Roselle's diaries that Klein gave me, which contain a lot of valuable information. I can just take a portion of them and give it to Mr. Fool."

he said to himself.

As for the Black Knight's potion recipe, that's even more troublesome. That Lovia clearly won't help the [Sun], who is her enemy, so obtaining the recipe will likely require a lot of effort.

However, my "Shepherd" potion hasn't even started to take effect yet, so this isn't urgent. I can take my time to think about these things. Lu Ze stood up from the sofa.

He's about to start playing the role of the "shepherd".

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

East End, Lehman Gang headquarters, in the office of gang leader Charles.

How many members does your gang have in total?

Lu Ze asked.

"Nominally there are 600 people, but only about 100 of them truly listen to me completely."

Charles answered honestly.

He felt a vague sense of unease, wondering why he had so readily revealed all the gang's secrets. But when he met Lu Ze's vertical pupils, which gleamed with golden light, that question was quickly forgotten.

"How much territory and population do you control?"

Lu Ze continued to ask.

“Our Lehman Gang mainly controls three docks and six or seven city blocks. Dockworkers, bar owners, thieves, and streetwalkers all have to pay the Lehman Gang to do business here,” Charles replied smugly. “I haven’t counted the permanent residents, but it’s at least a few thousand, right?”

Collecting protection money—that's classic.

Lu Ze glanced at Charles indifferently, offering no judgment.

"Have I found the person I'm looking for?"

he asked again.

"We've found him, bring him up!"

With Charles's shout, a man dressed in tattered worker's clothes was rudely pushed into the office. His face and hands were covered in dirt, his body was hunched, and he looked miserable.

"This is the guy. He used to work on a ranch in East Chestershire."

Charles said.

"Gentlemen."

The man said to them with a pained expression, took off his hat to bow, revealing his gray hair.

"You don't need to call me 'Master' anymore. What's your name?"

Lu Ze sized up the old man and asked...
“My name is Nick, sir.”

"Nick, were you a shepherd before?"

"what?"

Luzer's question made the old man named Nick look up in confusion.

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(End of this chapter)