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

Chapter 179 Hot Potato

Although brief, it brought a sense of comfort to Klein, who had been lonely for a long time. The long-lost warmth of life even made him want to stay, as being with his family was more important than anything else.

Ultimately, however, his reason prevailed over this naive idea.

This world is far less safe than it seems, even with him by Benson's side. But what can he do? Can he truly protect them? The Sequence 6 Faceless Man is powerful; he even has a record of ambushing Sequence 5s. But before true high-sequence Beyonders, before those saints and angels, he is nothing at all!

Moreover, he faces a looming threat—Inszangwill and '0-08'. Without eliminating this threat, he will remain in constant danger. Staying with Benson and the others will only drag them into danger as well.

Moreover, there's also that mysterious gray fog above—

Although he didn't know the true nature of the gray fog, he knew that under the influence of the Law of Convergence of Extraordinary Characteristics, this gray fog would eventually bring him enormous trouble. Unless, like the embers, it didn't belong to this world and wasn't subject to the Law of Convergence of Extraordinary Characteristics, but that was unlikely.

For example, Amon's previous invasion might have been influenced by the law of extraordinary characteristics aggregation. Otherwise, there's no reason why the other party could so accurately reach into the gray fog, as if they knew about this place all along.

Moreover, the gray fog above was related to his transmigration, and there seemed to be a secret deep within that staircase of light that could lead him home! As a Sequence 6, he could ascend to the fourth level, so perhaps a Sequence 5 could directly reach the top and see what lay at the end of the staircase!

The night was so peaceful, the red moon so dreamlike. Klein walked alone, his thoughts wandering like a runaway horse, sometimes contemplating revenge, sometimes recalling the captain's unreliable memories, sometimes the tragedy hidden beneath old Neil's humor, sometimes the poet classmate who pretended to be a poet despite having no real talent, sometimes Benson's curly-haired baboon, sometimes Melissa's "stinginess"...

Unbeknownst to him, Klein wandered into the nearest street like a lost soul, turning one side street after another.

It was two hours later when he finally broke free from that state and regained full control of his attention.

He returned to the rented safe house in Zhou Mingrui's guise, stood by the window, gazed at the huge red moon in the sky, and suddenly gave a self-deprecating laugh:

"Klein, Klein, you really are selfish."

"You already have Benson and Melissa, yet you never think about going home. If you do eventually find your way home, what about Benson and Melissa? Are you just going to cruelly abandon them?"

"You knew this path was incredibly dangerous, you knew you could die at any moment, yet you still chose to meet Benson and the others. Why? Why couldn't you just watch from afar like before? What would meeting them bring them? Nothing but danger and despair?"

"Do you want them to receive news of Klein's death again? Or do you want to plunge them back into despair after they've finally emerged from their grief?"

Klein's expression grew increasingly mocking and bitter.

"I'm sorry, I'm just... too lonely."

In this era, in this world.

He was always alone.

He had once hoped that Ember was a kindred spirit, but Ember's experiences were far more bizarre and far more solitary than his own. Klein couldn't understand Ember, and Ember, who had lost his memory, understood him even less.

They were like two people walking alone in the dark, enveloped in coldness and despair, instinctively seeking the solace of fire.

That's it.

-

The Hall family's luxurious villa.

At Lord Hall's request, Ember has spent most of the last two days here protecting Audrey and her family.

Count Hall, as one of the most trusted nobles of the eldest prince, and Prime Minister Agohid have been busy assisting George IV recently, spending most of their time at Sodrak Palace.

Count Hall was only unable to return home, while Prime Minister Agushid didn't even have time to go to the Kingdom's Parliament or the Prime Minister's residence, and could only send the documents that needed approval to the palace through other nobles and ministers.

Fortunately, after two days of continuous work, they finally completed the preliminary statistics, and Earl Hall was finally able to get rid of the endless work and go home that night.

Lady Caitlin stood in the doorway, watching her husband alight from the carriage, and asked softly:

"You haven't been home for two days. Is the situation at the palace really that urgent?"

Earl Hall smiled wryly:

"It's more than just urgent; in fact, if I could, I really wouldn't want to get involved in these things."

Earl Hall shook his head helplessly and sighed, "Never mind that, at least there's some good news. Come down."

Earl Hall called out to the carriage behind him, and to the puzzled looks of Lady Caitlin and Audrey, another person stepped down from the carriage. It was a young man in his mid-twenties, wearing a black trench coat, with brilliant blond hair and lake-blue eyes; he was quite handsome.

He smiled and waved to the group.

"Mom, Audrey, and Hippo, it's been a long time, I'm back."

"Alfred!" Mrs. Caitlin covered her mouth, tears glistening in her eyes.

"You're finally back."

Hilbert stepped forward and gave his brother a hug, whispering, "We've been worried sick about you for so long. But thankfully you're back safe and sound."

"Feel sorry."

Alfred sighed helplessly, a hint of guilt in his eyes, "Actually, I didn't want to either."

Count Hall glanced at the two brothers embracing, coughed, and said:

"Let's go inside and talk about it."

At Earl Hall's command, the servants quietly withdrew, while the Earl and his family went to the small reception room on the second floor.

Before entering the room, Ember took the initiative to say:

"I'll wait for you outside."

"Need not."

Earl Hall shook his head and said with a smile, "Aish, you're no stranger here either, come in."

"Let's go." Audrey winked at him, pulled him into the house, and closed the door behind her.

Alfred's eyes held a hint of mockery as he teased:

"Audrey, aren't you going to introduce her to me?"

Although he was a soldier, he was quite perceptive and could tell that his family had a very good impression of this young man; otherwise, they wouldn't have allowed him to be present at this time. And judging from his close interaction with Audrey, their relationship was even more obvious.

Ash Black.

Yu Jin smiled and extended his hand.

"Alfred Hall."

Alfred also reached out and shook hands with him, smiling in return.

"Let's get down to business first."

Count Hall watched this scene with a smile in his eyes, but his expression quickly turned serious, and he solemnly said, "To be frank, the kingdom's current situation is not optimistic. If the Fussac Empire launches an attack on the kingdom at this time, the kingdom will absolutely not be able to withstand it!"

Hilbert, somewhat incredulous, couldn't help but ask:

"How could this be? Wasn't the situation so favorable before? The navy even launched an ironclad warship in June, a revolutionary product! Even if the army is slightly inferior to the Fussac Empire, we have the advantage in the navy!"

"An ironclad warship?"

Count Hall chuckled self-deprecatingly and sighed, "I used to think the same way you did, that with the revolutionary ironclad warships, the kingdom would be able to completely overwhelm the Fusak Empire in the navy, and even reclaiming Sonia Island would be no problem."

"But now it seems that the ironclad warships were just a decoy, used to cover up the problems plaguing the kingdom!"

Ember suddenly asked:

"Is there a problem with the finances?"

"right."

Earl Hall nodded solemnly, "Last year, one-fifth of the kingdom's fiscal expenditures went unaccounted for, while our original estimate was only one-tenth. Moreover, this isn't the first time this has happened; it's occurred frequently over the past decade. The accumulated deficit over these ten years has reached a point where we can no longer afford it!"

After holding it in for a long time, Hippel finally asked:

"Why is this happening? The kingdom's finances have always been the strongest among the four kingdoms, so why are there financial problems? Where has all the money gone?"

Earl Hall looked at his eldest son and sighed:

"This question will probably never have an answer, because only the king knows the answer."

Hibbert's expression changed slightly, and he immediately realized that this referred to George III.

After all, George IV had just ascended to the throne and had very limited information, even less than George IV himself.

The problem is, what exactly did the former king do to warrant spending so much money? And even if it was money, shouldn't there be some record of where it went? Can't they even find out where this money went? What is the royal family doing?

"Is that really how it is?"

Audrey sighed softly to herself, her gaze unconsciously drifting towards Ember.

She was one of the people who knew best what George III was doing.

Although most of it is just speculation, one thing is certain: George III wanted to become a god!

Both the 'extraordinary materials' he needed to become a god and the rituals required for his ascension required massive financial support. And this money was naturally provided by the finances of the Kingdom of Rune.

If George III succeeds in becoming a god, then all this effort will be completely worthwhile.

With the protection of a deity, the Fusak Empire would certainly not dare to invade the territory of the Kingdom of Rune, and would even have to take the initiative to return the island of Sonia.

The problem is that George III's plan to become a god has failed, and he himself has been killed on the throne. All the royal family's expenses on this project have been wasted, but the price to be paid is the entire Kingdom of Rune!

The consequence was that the Kingdom of Rune's finances were further strained, to the point that they were almost on the verge of collapse.

"If George III were to truly become a god, even the three major churches would not easily clash with the royal family."

"But since the plan has failed, the royal family is well aware that everything they've done might be discovered by the three major churches. And once they're caught red-handed, they'll inevitably face retribution. In other words, the royal family will definitely be eager to destroy the evidence. That's why Dad couldn't find any evidence, nor could he find out where the royal family's misappropriated funds went..."

Audrey quickly sorted out the whole story in her mind and immediately understood the cause of the matter.

Even if she knew the truth, she couldn't tell it.

After all, whether it was George III attempting to become a god or the royal family trying to create a god, saying it aloud was enough to put her family in danger.

Because those who know all these secrets will inevitably become one of the pieces of evidence that the royal family wants to destroy.

Lady Caitlin frowned and asked:

"Can't we just ask the royal family? The holy figures in the royal family must know the specifics of what the king did."

"cannot."

Earl Hall shook his head slightly and sighed, "Not only can we not ask, but we also have to find a way to help the royal family solve this problem. The royal family made His Majesty George IV ascend the throne for this very purpose."

Although the nobles and the royal family had conflicting interests, when facing the external enemy, the Fussac Empire, the nobles and the royal family shared a common destiny, rising and falling together. Even knowing that there were financial problems caused by the royal family, the nobles had no choice but to fill the gap.

At most, they can only pressure the royal family to do more; otherwise, even if they force the royal family to step down, it will not do them any good and will only make the financial situation worse.

Alfred hesitated for a moment, then slowly spoke:

"I might know some of where the money went."

Hilbert immediately turned his gaze towards him.

Alfred tapped the table and said in a deep voice:

"There's something you might not know: the kingdom has lost at least three demigods in the last few months!"

"Three demigods?"

Even Earl Hall's expression changed slightly; they all knew very well what a demigod meant to a country!

It should be noted that even the archbishops of the three major churches are only demigods, and the kingdom has lost three demigods at once. This loss is considerable!

Audrey glanced at the embers again, almost unconsciously:

"You killed those three demigods, didn't you?"

Ember understood Audrey's gaze and shook his head slightly to indicate that it was none of his business.

He killed at most two; the remaining one had nothing to do with him.

Alfred then added:

"Every demigod has their own responsibilities, and any vacancy will leave gaps in the kingdom's defenses. Therefore, the loss of any demigod is fatal to the kingdom, and the loss of these three demigods has forced the kingdom to find ways to cultivate several new demigods to fill the gaps."

He paused, then continued, "And I am one of the candidates."

"Demigod?"

Hilbert's eyes widened suddenly, and he asked incredulously, "Alfred, you're already Sequence 5?"

"Yes."

Alfred nodded slightly and said apologetically, "I was recalled to Backlund because of this matter, due to the level of secrecy. So I couldn't leave, nor could I inform you."

"Then why...?"

Hilbert was initially puzzled, but quickly realized what was happening and his expression changed slightly.

There's obviously something fishy going on here!

(End of this chapter)