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

Chapter 196 The Rich Woman Spends Money

The diary has six pages, two of which are duplicates of diary entries submitted by other people before.

This is unavoidable unless members of the Tarot Club actually learn simplified Chinese, but that's impossible.

Of the remaining four pages, three were worthless, mostly belonging to the period when Rosell lost his ideals and became obsessed with money. The entire diary was filled with sentences such as "What I invented today", "What I plan to invent tomorrow", "How many gold coins I sold", and "How much investment I received". Klein almost lost control of his expression and just wanted to slap these diaries in Rosell's face.

Great Emperor! How could you have fallen so low?

All they think about all day is money, how vulgar! So vulgar! Unbearably vulgar!

Can't you be a little more ambitious like me?

After giving Emperor Rosell a severe internal dressing-down, Klein turned his gaze to the last page of the diary:

"On November 11th, Singles' Day, I finally convinced the Eternal Sun Church to let me re-enter the world of painting."

"It's truly amazing! Every time I enter the world of painting, I'm awestruck. If the Church of the Eternal Sun hadn't told me, I would have thought this was the Kingdom of the Eternal Sun! Overall, this experience has been invaluable."

"Furthermore, I also obtained some information from Eve of the Eternal Sun Church: for extraordinary individuals from other churches and other channels, they are merely tourists, entering the world of paintings for amusement, and can only be considered a novel experience. But for the believers of the Eternal Sun, it is nothing short of a miracle!"

"Unfortunately, I'm not an extraordinary one through the 'Praiser' pathway; I'm just a tourist she mentioned. Damn it! Why doesn't the Steam Church have its own world of painting?"

"What a pity, what a real pity! If only I had chosen the Eternal Sun Church back then, why did I choose the Steam Church! I regret it so much! Is it too late for me to abstain from the church now?"

Klein's lips twitched. "Your Majesty, you are disloyal!"

As if anticipating the reader's reaction, the emperor offered a self-justifying explanation in his diary:

"Loyalty? Can loyalty put food on the table?"

"But actually joining the Church of the Eternal Sun isn't exactly betrayal, after all, the Emperor is the sun!"

"If it weren't for the fact that arbitrarily changing pathways could lead to loss of control, I'd really like to get myself a potion with the 'Singer' pathway and drink it right now!"

"It hurts, it hurts so much! The generalist route! Even a dog wouldn't choose that!!!"

Based on his reading of the previous diary entries, Klein could vaguely discern just how shameless Emperor Roselle truly was. Therefore, he wasn't surprised by Roselle's attitude in the diary. The only thing that piqued his curiosity was what wonderful uses the world of painting might hold.

Although the emperor was unscrupulous, he would not casually utter words like "betrayal of the religion."

What kind of benefits could make him consider betraying the Steam Church?

What does that painted world mean to the extraordinary ones who follow the "Singer" path?

Could it be like the blessed lands in fantasy novels, with more abundant spiritual energy than the outside world, which can accelerate cultivation?

But that doesn't make sense. Extraordinary beings advance by digesting and manipulating magical potions. I've never heard of anyone becoming stronger by 'absorbing' the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. After all, this world probably doesn't have the 'martial arts' mentioned in novels.

Even if such a person truly exists, they certainly cannot compare to the extraordinary ones.

If that's the case, what kind of wonderful uses does such a "paradise on earth" have?

Klein was somewhat helpless. In his diary, Rosell always only said half of what he wanted to say, and most of what he said had to be filled in by his imagination.

Of course, important information might be recorded on the next page of the diary, but unfortunately, members of the Tarot Club don't have any bound diaries. The submitted diaries are almost always fragmented, with very few adjacent pages appearing simultaneously.

Klein snapped out of his thoughts, made the paper in his hand disappear, and leaned back slightly, saying:

"You can begin now."

Alger, the "Hanged Man," glanced at the vampire and spoke first:

"Do you still want that vampire baron's inheritance? 4500 pounds, that's the best price I could get for you."

In fact, the pirate was willing to sell it for 3200 pounds.

However, the Hanged Man felt that newcomers should be given some special treatment. In addition, since Miss Justice no longer needed the fruits of the psychedelic bell tree, he lost an income source and would definitely have to find a way to make up for it elsewhere.

Emlyn's expression immediately became somewhat distorted.

Although his family are all quite good pharmacists and doctors with a decent annual income and have lived long enough to accumulate a considerable fortune, Emlyn has been unable to save money since becoming obsessed with dolls, and occasionally even commissions.

Excluding the value of the dolls, his savings were less than five hundred pounds. But if he were to sell those dolls…

"I... I'll think about it some more."

"The Moon," Emlyn began with difficulty.

Should I choose my wife or become stronger? This is a difficult choice.

"Miss Justice".

The Hanged Man looked at Audrey again and said, "The two magical items you commissioned to be made are now complete: a mask and a ring."

"The mask utilizes the extraordinary ability of the 'Faceless Man,' which allows you to truly change your appearance and master four extraordinary abilities: fire manipulation, fire leaping, damage transfer, and danger intuition, while also enhancing your balance and agility. Its form is a silver-white mask, which also serves as a hat and earrings. It can change its appearance, and you can name it."

"Of course, it also has its own minor drawbacks. When you wear it, your emotions will be amplified, and you must know how to control yourself, otherwise it is easy to run into problems."

"And that ring uses the extraordinary ability of a 'magician.' It possesses almost all of the extraordinary abilities of a 'magician,' including the ability to manipulate fire, leap through fire, transfer damage, and have a sense of danger, as well as the extraordinary abilities of 'paper doll substitution,' 'bone softening,' and 'air bullets'..."

The Hanged Man explained in detail the abilities and side effects of the two magical items, pausing briefly before slowly speaking:

"The total cost of making these two magical items was £1200."

Audrey nodded lightly and asked:

"Mr. 'The Hanged Man,' including the £200 fee, I'll give you a total of £1400, is that alright?"

"Can."

The Hanged Man nodded slightly, having no doubt about Miss Justice's credibility.

In fact, because he was an acquaintance, he could get a discounted price from the craftsman. So the craftsman's actual production cost was only 800 pounds, meaning he could net 600 pounds from it.

As for the extraordinary features required for its creation, they were all provided by "The World," for which Miss "Justice" paid a total of 6000 pounds.

The magical item created using the "Faceless Man" extraordinary ability was for Audrey's own use, while the "Magician" extraordinary ability was prepared for Hippet. This extraordinary ability was originally intended for Hippet's advancement, but given Hippet's progress in digesting it, it would take him at least another six months to advance to Sequence 7 Magician.

Rather than keeping it in the warehouse for a full six months, it's better to simply craft a magical item and give it to Hilbert. As for the extraordinary traits required for advancement, those can be collected separately during these six months. If all else fails, we can ask Ember for help to restore this magical item to its extraordinary traits.

The Hanged Man continued speaking:

"In addition, I have contacted some sellers who are willing to sell the extraordinary properties and materials they possess. The total value is approximately £20,000..."

Audrey immediately understood and smiled faintly:

"Mr. 'The Hanged Man,' I will transfer 22,000 gold pounds to you through Mr. 'The Fool' after the party. But please make sure these extraordinary materials are not overpriced; I trust Mr. 'The Hanged Man's' extensive experience can ensure that."

"Okay." The Hanged Man nodded without hesitation and said, "My demand is huge, so they usually give me the best price, and generally they will sell it at the lowest price."

Although he personally enjoyed profiting from price gouging, he didn't hesitate at all in fulfilling Miss "Justice's" request. Being overcharged was impossible, absolutely impossible! He was always the one overcharging others; it was never his turn to be overcharged.

As for whether he himself would profit from the middleman's markup, he certainly would in other areas, such as the creation of magical items. However, for a major client like Ms. Justice, to ensure sustainable development, the Hanged Man is not prepared to charge excessive premiums.

For example, the extraordinary trait of Sequence 8 normally costs only £600, and even if he bids extra, it won't exceed £630. After all, if the premium is too high, it will displease Miss Justice, and she won't let him have such good deals anymore, which would cut off his own source of income. In addition, it will leave him with the impression of being greedy in the eyes of other members of the Tarot Club.

Once labeled, he would inevitably be isolated by the other members. This would be unacceptable to the "Hanged Man," who would not give up his position and future in the Tarot Club for a little bit of petty gain.

Moreover, he claimed the materials were worth 20,000 pounds, but Miss Justice insisted on paying 22,000 pounds, making the remaining 2000 pounds undoubtedly his payment. This was different from the originally agreed-upon 5%; it was 10% of the total value!

Clearly, Miss Justice is proactively increasing her reward. This is very much in line with Miss Justice's character—she's not short of money. Last time, she only offered 5% of the reward, probably because the other party's actions hadn't received the family's permission or promise, so she didn't dare offer too much.

This proactive price increase clearly indicates that it has received strong support from the family, so there's no need to worry about money.

"Miss Justice".

Following the example of the Hanged Man, Fors said, "I have a batch of low-sequence extraordinary materials and extraordinary properties from the 'Apprentice' pathway, with a total value of around ten thousand pounds."

"Justice" quickly replied:

"I will transfer eleven thousand pounds to you through Mr. 'Fool,' is that alright?"

"Okay." Fors nodded gently, having no objection.

Little Sun also earnestly replied:

"Miss Justice, I've compiled a list of monsters in the area near Silver City. You can take a look and see if there's anything you need on it."

What a genuine kid... Almost all the members of the Tarot Club had this thought at the same time.

Despite having been a member of the Tarot Club for so long, Audrey felt she had matured considerably. Only Mr. "The Sun" remained naive, giving away the valuable list for free. More importantly, the Silver City region where "The Sun" resided was in the Forsaken Lands, where these gold pounds were completely useless!

Seeing that the time was almost right, Klein manipulated the 'world' and hoarsely said:

"Mr. 'Lover,' what did you find on the underground ruins I commissioned you to explore?"

"Underground ruins?"

The other members of the Tarot Club were immediately drawn to the scene, all of them filled with curiosity.

An underground ruin that a "lover" would personally explore must be very important. I wonder what secrets it holds?

Ember shook his head and said:

"When I arrived at the underground ruins last night, the evil spirit you mentioned had already broken free; someone was secretly helping him."

"last night?"

Audrey blinked. Wasn't Ember with her last night? They were clearly having dinner together at their luxurious villa. Did they teleport out halfway through? Hmm~, teleportation is so convenient~!

"really."

Klein frowned slightly, but he wasn't too surprised by what had happened.

Someone interfered with his memories of the underground ruins, clearly intending to do something to it. Even though he reacted in time, the other party had obviously already achieved their goal, and the escape of the evil spirit might just be the beginning.

Klein gathered his thoughts and, controlling the 'world,' said in a deep voice:

"I also ran into some trouble in Bansi last night."

"The ancient customs of Bansi Port have been revived, and some residents have become cultists. Even the bishop of the Storm Church has fallen. The Storm Church's scapegoats, priests, and servants in the local church have been skinned by the bishop. In some kind of evil ritual, their corpses and heads have been turned into undead monsters, and their skins have been sewn into a human skin robe. The bishop seems to be a member of the 'God Skin Messenger'."

"The bishop himself also benefited greatly from this ceremony. Although he was only a Sequence 6 rank, his strength was comparable to that of a Sequence 5 rank."

"The matter has been resolved, but it resulted in considerable casualties. Mr. 'Lover,' do you have any leads?"

"Mr. World on Bansi Island? The evil ritual of skinning?"

Audrey felt a chill run down her spine. The word "skinning" alone made her uncomfortable, let alone a cult ritual. And this "God Skin Messenger" was undoubtedly the evil organization that led the bishop to corruption; just hearing about it gave her a bad feeling...

(End of this chapter)