Mystery: The Ultimate Tarot

Chapter 393 The potion to completely digest the "Apostle of Desire"

Raphael hadn't expected that the "Apostle of Desire" would be completely digested by the potion.

But thinking about it, it's actually quite normal. The so-called "apostles of desire" are those who reveal the desires in people's hearts, making them do things they wouldn't normally dare to do, and think things they wouldn't normally dare to think.

Using the ability to "control desires" is indeed very easy to do, but since Raphael started this deception, he has discovered that the process of making people reveal their desires through deception or seduction is better at digesting the magic potion of the "Apostle of Desire" than the process of making people reveal their desires through the ability to "control desires".

Therefore, from the moment this deception began, Raphael stopped actively consuming the "Apostle of Desire's" potion.

On the very last day before he was to extricate himself from the scam, he unexpectedly digested the potion completely, which was quite a pleasant surprise.

Thinking of this, Raphael's smile became exceptionally sincere. He looked at the nobles and wealthy people who were still indulging in their fantasies and felt that the feeling of deceiving others was quite enjoyable.

Raphael's vision of the future has swelled the desires and ambitions of the twelve partners to an unprecedented level. Even the most cultured nobles, upon seeing that nearly ten million pounds had been raised in such a short time, would have boundless expectations for the future and would begin to dream along with the others.

The banquet didn't end until after nine o'clock. The nobles and wealthy people took their leave one after another, but they left a few of their trusted people at 355 King's Road.

This was after Raphael became a partner, and he took the initiative to invite the people they sent.

The main role of these individuals is to take turns overseeing the massive amount of cash, while also checking and balancing each other to prevent any partner from trying to embezzle the money. The final objective is to deter those outside the foundation; after all, with so many nobles and wealthy individuals working together, anyone who wants to harm the "Buffett Foundation" will have to consider the consequences.

The twelve partners gladly accepted the invitation and sent their most elite subordinates, most of whom were extraordinary individuals.

The next morning, the twelve partners arrived again, planning to visit several nobles and wealthy people in the north with "Mr. Buffett." They had even changed into trench coats and trousers for easy movement and brought along several servants, looking ready to set off at any time.

Upon entering the living room, the butler greeted them as usual and said, "Please wait a moment, I will go and wake Mr. Buffett up."

Count Galley chuckled, "They're all getting ready to leave, and he can still sleep so soundly."

A wealthy man standing nearby remarked, "If there are two or three other women in his bed, it's understandable that he gets up so late."

Everyone chuckled lightly, preparing to crack a joke on Buffett when he came down.

After a dozen or so seconds of casual conversation, the butler returned anxiously: "Buffett—Mr. Buffett is missing—"

All twelve people were stunned.

Gone?

Viscount Hawthorne was the first to react and quickly went to Buffett's bedroom on the second floor.

The other "partners" seemed to understand what this meant and quickly followed.

Several men with weaker mental fortitude felt their legs go weak after just a few steps, but with the help of their subordinates, they quickly made their way to Buffett's bedroom.

Clang~

The bedroom door, which had been slightly ajar, was suddenly pushed open completely. The blankets and sheets on the bed were neatly arranged, as if no one had ever rested there.

"Oh no!" Count Galley was the first to rush to the room where the gold coins were kept.

The door was suddenly pushed open, and the three extraordinary individuals on duty were all taken aback. However, upon seeing that the person who came in was Count Gali, they quickly stood up and said, "Count."

At this time, the other eleven people also arrived. They saw that the neatly arranged boxes in the room were still there, but they were not relieved.

Count Galley, who was at the front, had completely abandoned his usual gentlemanly demeanor. Ignoring the greetings of the three men, he quickly stepped forward and opened a box.

empty.

He quickly opened another one.

It's empty again.

The three people on duty were also terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. How could it be empty?

One of the wealthy men said, "It's over," and plopped down on the ground.

The funds they used for investment were basically all the cash flow they could access; the wealth they had painstakingly accumulated over several years simply vanished.

They do have a lot of real estate, but it will take some time for these properties to generate value. During this period, they can only maintain a minimum level of expenditure. No matter what happens, even a minor one, they will have to sell the real estate immediately.

The key issue is that they've handled so many investments before, and now everyone's demanding repayment. That's ten million pounds! Even if they sell all their assets, they don't know if they can pay it all back.

Count Galley, still unwilling to give up, grabbed a guard by the collar and asked, "Who came in? Who came in last night?"

""

"No—" the guard said, somewhat flustered. "No one has come in—no, I mean, no one has come except for those of us who take turns on night watch."

Count Galley released his grip on the other man, took two steps back, and said with a mournful face, "It's over, it's all over."

One of the wealthy men asked, "What should we do now?"

"Call the police! This is a fraud case! A fraud case involving a huge sum of money!"

"No way!" Viscount Hawthorne suddenly said, "I brought in Duke Negan to invest. Do you want me to tell the Duke that his money has been swindled?"

"And you, Gray, you brought in Earl Savage for investment. If Earl Savage doesn't repay the money, do I need to remind you what will happen to you?"

These two nobles were people their group couldn't afford to offend.

They had originally thought that this investment would allow them to establish good relations with the truly elite nobles of Rune, but unexpectedly, they encountered such a situation.

The dozen or so people, some sitting and some standing, remained silent for a good half minute before Viscount Hawthorne suddenly said, "Let's continue!"

Everyone looked at the young viscount.

Viscount Hawthorne said, "Those who originally planned to go north should still go, and pretend that this investment is continuing."

"The rest of the people continued to run the financing business here. Although the peak of financing had passed, if handled properly, they could still raise hundreds of thousands of pounds a day."

"Then, after the people who went north returned in a pretentious manner, we immediately started a new round of financing."

"Let's make our money back first, and then make money back from those people we can't afford to mess with."

The wealthy man who had just been sitting on the ground also said, "That's all we can do now. Otherwise, even if we call the police, it's unlikely we'll get the money back."

"At that time, we will not only get nothing, but we may also be left with a lot of debt."

The eyes of the others finally regained their sparkle.

They got up from the ground, or straightened their backs, and came together to the meeting room to discuss the matter.

After discussing it, they realized that it wouldn't be difficult to continue the scam.

In the dark hut.

Raphael watched quietly as the twelve "partners" discussed how to continue the scam.

The whole process went even more smoothly than Raphael had imagined. He had thought he would need to use "Adam's Gift" to give them some guidance, but it turned out he didn't need to at all. They understood on their own, and continuing to deceive them and then shifting the blame to others was the best solution.

Seeing the "partners" getting more and more excited during their discussion, Raphael looked away.

He glanced at the large pile of gold pounds in the "Dark Hut," and his breathing became heavy.

Raphael had lived two lives, and this was the first time he had ever seen so much money!

Even though he was rarely interested in money, and even though he knew very well that this scam wasn't about money, he still couldn't help but take a few more glances.

Finally, Raphael remarked: No wonder so many people like to be swindlers. They don't produce anything, yet they can amass such wealth in a short time. Such an industry is indeed worth the risk.

Then, Raphael returned to the real world, and none of the people who invested in the "Buffett Foundation" ever doubted him—of course, no one doubted what relationship Mr. Buffett had with him, Raphael.

It was Monday. Raphael glanced at the clock; it was only a little past one. He lay on the sofa, pondering his communication with "The Sun," Derrick, later.

The ascension ceremony for "Devil" is complete; now it's time to prepare for the ascension ceremony for "Silent Disciple."

Next, we need to have the members of the Aurora Society purchase supplies in Backlund. After the war, the prices of everything have gone up, and only in Backlund can we buy bulk supplies at relatively low prices.

It will take about half a month for tens of thousands of people to walk, and they will need a lot of supplies, mainly tents, food, and water.

Since Raphael made contact with Klein and obtained edible mushrooms from the divine messenger, the situation in Sen'er City has improved somewhat, with clean food now available.

However, given the long journey ahead, there might not be enough time each day to capture monsters and cultivate mushrooms.

If they really tried to work that way, they definitely wouldn't be able to finish in half a month, so Raphael decided to fill his stomach with bread, jerky, and other foods, rather than wasting time searching for food.

As for water, that's even more important. Water sources are easy to find in the land abandoned by God, but those sources are not necessarily safe. They may have been contaminated in ways that are difficult to detect. If there are problems with the drinking water, it could easily lead to a large number of casualties.

If there aren't enough people to form a religious order, that will be a problem.

Therefore, Raphael decided to provide food and water himself, the divine messenger, so that the people of Sen'er City would only need to bring their extraordinary reserves, some essential items, and tents.

In that case, assuming most people are extraordinary, walking 80 kilometers a day is not a problem. If everything goes smoothly, they can walk out of the land abandoned by God in fifteen or sixteen days.

Another issue is that the advance team needs to hire enough ships to pick up people from the ruins of the God War. This will also involve hiring guides familiar with that sea area, which could be a huge expense, since it requires many extraordinary individuals to pilot the ships.

Previously, he would have had to raise this money from all over the place, but now he doesn't need to; he only needs to take out a small portion of the money he just swindled.

Even if we rebuild the city of Sen'er, it would only cost a few hundred thousand pounds at most.

Just as he thought of this, Raphael glanced at the clock; it was exactly three o'clock.

The next second, his vision was covered by gray mist, and in the blink of an eye, Raphael was sitting in a magnificent hall, on one side of a mottled bronze table.

As usual, Audrey, the "Justice," was the first to rise and say, "Good afternoon, Mr. 'Fool.'"

"The Fool" Klein nodded slightly.

The tarot session officially began, and as before, there was no transaction involved; we went straight to the information exchange session.

Just as "Devil" Raphael was about to look at "Sun" Derrick, "Star" Leonard, to his right, spoke first: "I heard your scam has already attracted millions of dollars?"

Raphael nodded: "More or less."

Leonard said seriously, "This matter is currently spiraling out of control. After all, it involves millions of dollars, and the official extraordinary individuals will definitely investigate it thoroughly."

Before Raphael could say anything, Audrey asked Leonard, "Why didn't the church give any warnings about this kind of investment? Or conduct any prior research?"

"I've already asked the bishops to remind the believers," Leonard said. "Many people do have the habit of praying, donating, and requesting the bishop to preach before investing."

"So after I learned it was a scam, I had the bishops warn the believers. But—"

However, the effect was very limited.

This is also what frustrates Leonard somewhat. Normally, these people are incredibly devout, but when faced with enormous temptations, they completely ignore the bishop's warnings. Some even went back and reinterpreted the bishop's advice, seeing it as a form of "alternative encouragement."

In short, when a person's heart is filled with greed and they have decided to invest, the bishop's advice is basically useless.

Leonard sighed and said, "On the other hand, there is a clear boundary between the church and secular power. If the church intervenes in a country's economic activities, it will be seen as wanting to move towards a theocracy. Therefore, the church generally tries to avoid such things."

Audrey frowned slightly: "Why is there such a boundary?"

Leonard did not elaborate further, because this boundary was not appropriate for a custodian of the church to address.

Raphael then explained: "If clergy were involved in economic activities, then the bishops and priests of a city would be the richest people."

"Weekly worship and prayer become a good opportunity for believers to sell all kinds of products, which will turn the church into a utilitarian institution. At that time, those who donate more will become the most devout believers of God, while those who donate less or have no money to donate may not even be paid attention to by the bishop and pastor."

"In addition, clergy can easily raise funds by leveraging the church's credibility, and they can also obtain business opportunities or government projects more easily than normal businessmen. Most importantly, wealthy people also need to pray, and clergy can gather them together in the name of church activities, thereby gaining access to the latest information, which will generate many monopolistic businesses."

Upon hearing this, Audrey paused for three seconds before saying, "You're right, letting the church do business does seem quite terrifying."

Leonard also said, "It's even scarier than I imagined."

Klein, sitting at the head of the table, thought to himself, "He hasn't even mentioned the 'indulgences' yet."

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