Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Chapter 139 Don't rush me, let me rush first.

Inside a two-bedroom safe house in the eastern part of Backlund.

Hugh sat in the chair by the window and whispered:

"Sorry, I didn't give you a chance to ask a question."

Yu Jin shook his head to indicate that he didn't care. He walked to the window and suddenly asked:

"Do you want to know what secret your father discovered?"

Hugh stared blankly at the embers, then a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes, and he nodded emphatically:

"I want to know, no matter the cost."

Ember thought for a moment, then slowly spoke:

"According to Viscount Stratford, your father was executed for discovering the King's secret. And according to the information I have, George III is now a Sequence 1 Angel. And seven years ago, when your father first discovered this secret, George III should have just been promoted to a Sequence 4 Demigod."

"And your father discovered this, and perhaps even went further. He discovered that the king was cooperating with certain secret organizations, which is why he was killed by the king before he could report it to the three major churches."

Hugh suddenly looked up and immediately grasped the entire sequence of events:

In ancient times, the seven major orthodox churches signed three covenants with the royal families of various countries. Every king was bound by these three covenants, and could only reach Sequence 5 at most. If George III had acted alone, he would never have been able to break free from the constraints of these three covenants. Therefore, it is only possible that some secret organizations that believed in evil gods supported him from behind, helping George III break free of these constraints and become a demigod.

George III, who collaborated with an evil god, was undoubtedly a huge threat to the three major churches. If this threat were to erupt, it could severely damage the strength of the three churches and shake their very foundations!

Her father was the chief of the royal guard, but also a devout follower of the Church of the Night. Ultimately, he chose his faith over loyalty to the king, which led to his death.

But learning the truth didn't make Hugh feel better; instead, it made her even more confused.

"What should I do?"

She had always believed that her father had been framed by a villain, and that the so-called rebellion was entirely fabricated. Therefore, for many years, she had dedicated herself to finding the truth and restoring her father's reputation. But now, even knowing the truth, Hugh knew it wouldn't restore her father's honor. From the King's perspective, such an act was indeed blatant betrayal.

But did her father do something wrong? He simply chose faith over loyalty to the royal family, and isn't that also a form of loyalty? Hugh believed that not only her father, but most people in Backlund and even the Kingdom of Loen, and even most nobles, would choose the three major churches without hesitation if faced with the same choice.

Knowing these things doesn't solve the problem.

If she wants to restore her father's reputation, she must get the royal family to change their tune—by demonstrating loyalty to the royal family through concrete actions and gaining their approval to exonerate her father. But this is impossible, because it would be tantamount to recognizing a traitor as one's father.

Hugh could not possibly serve the royal family that killed her father.

What about revenge?

That's even more difficult.

George III was a Sequence 1 angel, and in an era when gods could not walk on earth, he was the strongest being in this world! She was just a lowly Sequence 7, so what could she possibly change?

Looking at Hugh, who seemed lost and demoralized, Yu Jin said softly:

"Wait and hold onto hope."

Hearing this, Xiu seemed to regain some of her energy. She gazed at the embers and said:

"I've heard this quote before; it comes from Russell's masterpiece, The Count of Monte Cristo."

Looking at the girl's suspicious expression, Yu Jin hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back, and finally fell silent. "Truly, as expected of Roselle," he thought.

……

Sodrac Palace, Queens.

From a secluded secret chamber within the palace came the king's furious roar:

"Another one dead? Once again they killed someone and left unscathed, another fruitless mission?!"

"Bang!"

Prince Grove Gustav of Sonia was sent flying backward, crashing through the study wall and landing heavily in the courtyard outside. Although the blow did not cause him any serious injury, the humiliation was exceptionally intense.

Grove said nothing and showed no resentment. His magnificent clothes were covered in dust and dirt, but he didn't even dare to dust them off. He simply got up silently, walked through the wall he had broken through, and stood before the king again, waiting for the king to vent his anger once more.

Grove clenched his fists silently, a sense of embarrassment and shame creeping over him. Not because of the king's humiliation, but because of his own repeated failures!

From Kapin's death to the successive deaths of the royal demigods, and now even the king's chief of the royal guard has met with misfortune in his own home, right under the noses of many royal demigods! What does this mean?

Carpin's death could be described as an accident, as could the death of the demigod tormented by the curse and the disappearance of Chunus Colger at sea. But the death of Viscount Costford was a deliberate act of humiliation!

While Viscount Stratford wasn't particularly strong—merely a Sequence 5 Punishment Knight—he was nominally the Chief of the Royal Guard, the head of the royal protection team! His strength was limited, and his knowledge of classified information was extremely scarce. The only purpose of any attack on him was a blatant provocation against the royal family, like deliberately stepping on the king's face to say:

You could be next!

This kind of humiliation, though simple and crude, was extremely effective, even enraging the usually composed George III.

"Grove".

George III said in an icy tone, "You have disappointed me greatly."

Grove lowered his head silently, not daring to refute.

King George III gave him a cold glance, then looked at Grand Duchess Georgina beside him and said in a deep voice:

How many candidates do we have left?

Grand Duchess Georgina whispered:

"Including Viscount Stefford, we only had three candidates in total, and now there are only two left."

Grove lowered his head, his eyes darting around.

The royal family already had few demigods, and with Celt dying from the curse and Chunas Korg's "disappearance," the royal family lost two of its already limited demigods, undoubtedly making the royal family's manpower even more strained!

For George I to hold the ceremony, he needed to ensure the safety of the nine mausoleums during the ceremony. The royal family certainly couldn't afford the luxury of having an angel guard each mausoleum, even with the support of two other major powers. But even without angels, they needed to ensure that each mausoleum was protected by at least one, or even several, demigods.

Originally, the manpower was just enough, but the incidents involving Celt and Quenas caused a flaw in the otherwise perfect plan. To fill this gap, the royal family must cultivate two or more demigods to replace them in a short period of time; only in this way can the plan proceed smoothly.

When it comes to cultivating demigods, they all prefer to select from the royal bloodline. But the problem is that, in the royal family's long-term plan, the members of the royal bloodline who have the talent to become demigods have already advanced to Sequence 4—Selt is one of them.

The remaining people either lacked the talent to resist the loss of control brought about by the potion, even with the help of acting, or they were too young and had a long time to go before reaching Sequence 5.

Given the urgency of the situation, they could only choose candidates from among the "loyal subjects" who were devoted to the royal family. Viscount Stratford, who served as the chief of the royal guard and had proven his loyalty in the rebellion seven years prior, was one of them.

But with Viscount Stratford dead, only two candidates remained—and being a candidate did not guarantee that these two would become demigods; more likely, they would die from loss of control and contamination during their ascension.

This means they need more candidates!

"Not enough."

King George III said in a deep voice, "Expand the list of candidates; there should be at least ten!"

"His Majesty!"

Georgina's expression shifted slightly, and she said tactfully, "We don't have that many extraordinary materials needed to advance to Sequence 4, and if we do it too frequently, it could easily arouse the suspicion of the three major churches. If our plan is discovered in advance, it could very well be all for naught."

Although not explicitly stated, everyone understood her implication: she hoped George III would keep a low profile as much as possible. The royal family certainly couldn't find ten candidates for Sequence 5. Let alone ten, even twenty or fifty Sequence 5 Extraordinary individuals could be selected by the royal family.

However, cultivating extraordinary individuals takes time and cannot be achieved through a sudden enlightenment like in Russell's novels.

Secondly, who can guarantee that these candidates will prioritize loyalty to the royal family over their beliefs? The lesson of the former chief of the royal guard from seven years ago is still fresh in our minds; that incident almost caused the royal family's plan to fail before it even began! And that is precisely why the royal family has been so careful not to expose this for so many years.

"Do you think I don't want to?"

King George III sneered, "If it weren't for your repeated defeats, and if you hadn't still not even figured out who the enemy is, would I be in such a passive position? Ah!"

When confronted by King George III, Georgina and Grove both trembled and lowered their heads.

Seven years ago, His Majesty was merely a demigod who had just advanced to Sequence 4, and he treated the two royal guardian demigods with utmost respect. But now His Majesty has advanced to Sequence 1, and even the residual power of His Majesty's anger is something the two of them can hardly withstand.

If everything had gone according to plan, His Majesty might not have been angry and would have continued to keep a low profile. But the events of the past few months had been constantly testing and provoking George III's nerves—because if the plan failed, the most desperate person would not be these demigods, but George III himself!

Therefore, he is more eager than anyone else for the plan to proceed smoothly, which is why he hopes to cultivate more demigods to protect the plan, even if it gives the three major churches a handle to use against him.

"Do as I instruct."

King George III glanced coldly at the two men and said indifferently, "Aren't you afraid the three major churches will become suspicious? Then tell them directly that we are preparing for war! The Kingdom of Rune cannot lose Sunia Island, just as the Church of the Night cannot lose the Kingdom of the Deep, and the Church of Storms cannot lose the Abyss of Storms!"

"We must reclaim the island of Sunia and the territories north of the Amanda Mountains, otherwise the threat of the northern Fusak barbarians will forever be a Damocles' sword hanging over the kingdom! For this, the royal family is willing to pay any price!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Georgina responded tremblingly, and she soon heard Grove's voice behind her, also trembling.

They didn't dare linger in the study and backed out of the room. After walking quite a distance, they looked at each other and realized that the same fear was in each other's eyes.

His Majesty has gone mad!

……

117 Burningham Road, Hillston Borough.

After Hugh prayed to Mr. Fool for a blessing and confirmed that she had not been followed by anyone through divination or psychic means, Ember took her back home via spirit teleportation, where they met Fors, who had been waiting anxiously for a long time.

Fors breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that the two were safe and sound, but then asked somewhat impatiently:

"How is the situation?"

"It went very smoothly."

Yu Jin nodded slightly, glanced at Xiu beside him, and then said, "However, Xiu may need some time to digest this."

Hugh took a deep breath, handed the patina-green notebook to Fors, and said earnestly:

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger!"

"This is also what Emperor Rosell said."

Ember added.

"..."

Hugh, who had been full of energy, suddenly lost his breath and looked at Ember with resentment. This must be revenge! It must be!

Pretending not to see Hugh's gaze, Yu Jin instructed:

"I have to go out for a while, but remember to stay together at all times. Lemanor's travel notes have a Traveler's Gate. If you notice anything amiss, teleport away immediately. We'll contact you again on Monday!"

"good!"

Fors took Lemanor's travel notes from Hugh and nodded solemnly.

Although so much time has passed, the chances of the other party still being able to track them down are extremely slim. However, they cannot be careless because of this, nor does it mean that they are completely safe. Therefore, it is necessary to run away as soon as the situation turns bad.

As for how to contact them, it's very simple. There's a Tarot meeting every Monday. By communicating through the Tarot meeting, you can cut off all methods of divination and tracking. There's no safer or more efficient method than this.

As soon as he finished speaking, the ring on Yu Jin's hand emitted a faint, ethereal blue light, and his figure vanished.

It was only then that Fors had the opportunity to look through Lemano's travel notes.

"what!"

Startled by his friend's exclamation, Hugh, who had been deep in thought, looked at his friend, who was staring at the notebook in disbelief, and said somewhat guiltily, "What's wrong? I shouldn't have used more than a few pages of notes..."

She only used the door-opening ability twice, astrology three times, and mind-reading once. These were all low-sequence extraordinary abilities, which should have been easily re-recorded.

"That's not the reason."

Fors opened his mouth, unsure how to explain, so he asked, "How many times did you use the spirit realm teleportation?"

"4 times."

Hugh thought about it carefully, but became even more puzzled. He asked doubtfully, "Is there a problem?"

"..."

Fors silently handed over the notebook.

Hugh glanced at it and noticed that the notebook was open to the pages that looked like parchment—there were only ten pages of this parchment in total, which could record extraordinary abilities at the Sequence 5 and Sequence 6 levels. When Fors obtained the notebook, six of these pages recorded different extraordinary abilities.

Now, these ten pages of parchment record extraordinary abilities. And the four newly added pages are all about Traveler's Doors! Just now, they used Traveler's Doors four times in total!

"..."

Xiu opened his mouth, hesitated for a long time before finally asking, "What was the success rate of extraordinary abilities at Sequence 5 again?"

Fors silently held up five fingers, which meant a 50% success rate.

Although it's not low, Ember only used it four times in total, and all four times it was successfully recorded! Isn't that 100%?! Fifty percent and one hundred percent may seem like only a fifty percent difference, but in reality, they are worlds apart!

……

Inside an unassuming house in Queens.

Mr. A stood on the balcony of the living room, leisurely pouring himself a glass of red wine.

He swayed as he gazed at the distant horizon, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Just now, a villa in Queens emitted a powerful light, a power at least at the demigod level. The user must either be a demigod or possess a level 1 or higher sealed artifact.

Just then, Mr. A suddenly noticed that the surrounding light was a bit dim, and the light coming from inside the room seemed to be blocked by something.

Mr. A realized someone was behind him, but still leisurely turned around. After seeing who it was, he smiled and raised his glass in invitation:

"Would you like a drink?"

"No."

Ember glanced at him and cut straight to the point, "What progress have you made in your investigation of the ruins?"

"It went very smoothly."

Mr. A said with a serious expression, "The royal family seems to be short-staffed lately. Although they are still very wary of us, they have started to let us get involved in matters related to the ruins."

After a pause, Mr. A continued, "They gave me the coordinates of a ruin, but I can't be sure if it's the one you're looking for. After all, I've only been to the outer perimeter of the ruin, and I don't know its internal structure."

Since it was a task personally assigned by the Lord, Mr. A certainly dared not be negligent in the slightest and did his best.

Upon hearing Mr. A's answer, Yu Jin asked thoughtfully:

"Who else is in charge of this site besides you? Have you ever seen a royal demigod?"

"There are demigods, but they are not royalty."

Mr. A shrugged, swirled his wine glass, took a sip, and then continued, "That's Panatia, the Nightingale of Despair, who is in charge of the Witch Cult in Backlund."

After a pause, Mr. A said seriously, "That woman is a madwoman!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Jin gave Mr. A a deep look.

It's strange that a madman calls another madman.

Mr. A completely ignored Ember's gaze and continued:

"In addition, Mr. X will be coming to Backlund soon. Of course, I suspect he may have already arrived in Backlund secretly."

"Mr. X?"

"Yes."

Mr. A nodded, swirling his wine glass leisurely, and said, "The Aurora Society has five saints and twenty-two divine messengers. I belong to the Dark Saints and have always been responsible for spreading the Lord's glory in Backlund. Mr. X belongs to the Mysterious Saints. They were once apprentices of the Abraham family, but they wisely chose to embrace the Lord."

"Normally, the saints spread the Lord's light in their respective kingdoms and do not easily trespass into the missionary territories of other saints. But this time there is a reason, because Mr. X and the Mysterious Saint have never given up their pursuit of the members of the Abraham family. And they recently received intelligence that members of the Abraham family have gathered in large numbers near Backlund, which is why Mr. X came here."

"He is a Sequence 5 Traveler, and with the help of the Traveler's Gate, he can perform rapid 'teleportation.' Therefore, I have reason to suspect that he has secretly infiltrated Backlund."

Yu Jin looked at Mr. A and suddenly asked thoughtfully:

"I recall you seemed to have a Sequence 6 recorder tending your flock?"

"Yes."

Mr. A took a sip of his drink and smiled calmly, "This is what I gained while helping the Saint of Mystery to besiege the Abraham family."

(End of this chapter)