Goddess Kaleidoscope

Over the past thousands of years, many gods have been born in this world. Some have grown and prospered, some have fallen into obscurity, some have gone underground, and some have led their followers to hide in some secluded and remote places.

No one knows how many gods have been born in this world. Even the legendary Holy Church of Light has a book called "The Record of Gods" that is used to record the names of gods and demons, and it is not safe to say that it is completely complete.

So as long as no traitors are found among the insiders, outsiders may not be able to guess that the Medicine God Cult is just a newly established sect with only two and a half years of practice.

To be honest, Lud believes he's doing quite well so far. At least in the northern region of the Kingdom of Duran, he has established fairly good relationships with several sects, including the Cult of War and the Cult of Light. The ones he's at odds with are the Cult of Lake God and the Cult of the Four Seasons.

There's not much to say about the former. Lake God Bai Rong is just a lower-level god of the third rank, and his younger brother is known for being timid and cowardly. He is not worth mentioning at all.

The problem lies with the Four Seasons Goddess Cult, but Kumirard told Lud that there was no need to worry about the Four Seasons Goddess Hararea personally intervening in the short term, because all indications suggested that she was preparing to break through to the ninth rank, and her current state should be similar to that of Aina two weeks ago.

Unlike other gods, Hararea is a very special being. Before the war of the gods broke out, the goddesses of the four seasons were four sisters, and Hararea was the third sister, the goddess of autumn. However, after the war broke out, the four sisters fought each other, and Hararea ultimately won, and the four goddesses merged into one.

But after that, Hararea rarely appeared in public.

About a hundred years ago, Kumirard had once seen Hararea by chance in front of the Holy Peak where the Holy Lord of Light resided. At that time, she was wearing a veil, a dress that originally belonged to the Goddess of Spring and a cloak that belonged to the Goddess of Winter, and she exuded an aura that made Kumirard very uncomfortable.

Kumirard enjoyed discussing these "amusing tales" about the gods with Rudd, and Rudd didn't just listen for amusement; he was able to sift out a lot of valuable information from them.

"Speaking of which, what are your next steps? Judging from the current situation, the plague has been brought under control, and it's only a matter of time before it ends. That Evanlus doesn't seem like someone who would want to coexist peacefully with you. How do you plan to deal with him?"

"Deal with him? Why would someone as refined and easygoing as me make an enemy for no reason? Besides, this is Oyster Harbor, Viscount Maup's fiefdom. How could I, a lowly outsider, dare to act recklessly!"

"Fine! Then I'll pretend I didn't know you sent Hume out yesterday, didn't know you specifically asked her to disguise herself and meet certain people, and didn't know you had her deliver some instructions to them. Let's wait and see how it goes!"

"you……"

"I'm a viewer, and I agreed to this a long time ago."

Kumirard smiled, got up and left Lud's office, taking with him a half-finished play script and a box of pastries before leaving, acting as if he were at home.

After the other person left, another figure slipped in through the door. It was Aina, who had just broken through to the next level not long ago, but the little goddess's expression was obviously a bit nervous.

"Master, how long is that strange blue-haired traveler going to stay with us? I don't really like her!"

What did she do to you?

"No, but I just feel uncomfortable when she's around."

Reaching out, Lud poked his firm chest with his fingertip, staring at it for a full five seconds before realizing that Aina was referring to his heart, not the "frontal armor" blocking his way.

As for why she felt uncomfortable, Rude actually knew the main reason: it was Kumirard's "level suppression" of her. Even though Kumirard was actively hiding his Kamui, Aina would still instinctively feel afraid.

End of this chapter

On the vast ocean, the monsoon winds are blowing fiercely from south to north.

At this time of year, Oyster Harbour would be bustling with activity, as sailboats from the south and across the sea would come and go in an endless stream. Frequent trade had fueled the city's prosperity.

However, this year was different from the past. No one expected that a plague would suddenly strike Oyster Harbor. Well-informed merchants all changed their routes to other places, but some ships were still willing to risk coming over.

The three-masted sailing ship "Great Shark Eagle" was one of them.

Like many sailing ships that traded in the North Sea, the Great Shark Eagle mainly operated on a "triangular route," which involved circling between Oyster Harbor of the Duran Kingdom, Tek Harbor of the Canary Empire, and Gold Bay in the outer sea.

Of these three major trading hubs, Oyster Harbor and Tek Harbor are both located on the Eastern Continent, while Gold and Silver Bay is situated in the Siren Islands in the middle of the ocean, serving as a crucial transit point for maritime trade connecting the three continents. The port is named Gold and Silver Bay to signify the gathering of wealth there.

However, in the business world at sea, there are legitimate and illegitimate businesses. The Great Shark Eagle is one of those that constantly walks the line between good and evil. As long as it's a profitable business, whether it's legitimate or illegitimate doesn't matter.

A week ago, the Great Sand Eagle was docked at Silver Bay for a temporary rest when Captain Barry suddenly received an urgent letter from his old employer, giving him a long cargo list and instructing him to immediately purchase goods in Silver Bay and then send them to Oyster Harbor as quickly as possible. The buyer was their old customer, Bishop Evanrus.

When Barry first received the letter, he hesitated because news of the plague outbreak in Oyster Harbor had already reached Silver Bay. These old sea lions, who made their living at sea year-round, knew all too well the horror of the plague, so for the past few months, they had preferred to take a longer route to other places rather than approach Oyster Harbor.

But the employer told Barry in a letter that the plague in Oyster Harbor had been brought under control because a miraculous cure for the plague had appeared in the area.

The owner is very interested in this medicine, so he wants the Great Shark to go there to deliver goods to Evanrus and see if they can get some of the miracle drug. If they can get the formula for the drug, that would be even better.

If Barry can get this done for him, his employer promises to help him "come ashore" so he won't have to risk his life at sea for the rest of his life.

So after much deliberation, Barry gritted his teeth and decided to accept the order.

Barry quickly completed the procurement of the goods ordered by His Holiness the Bishop in Silver Bay, according to the list. The goods were mainly rare and precious treasures, clearly intended as gifts for important figures. However, in addition to these inanimate items, the list also specified twelve "baby birds."

The term "young bird" is a slang term among maritime merchants, referring to attractive underage slaves. There are generally two types of buyers: one is high-class brothels that buy them to raise from a young age, and the other is simply perverts who want to satisfy their own dark desires.

Barry wasn't surprised that the bishop wanted to buy baby birds; after all, the bishop was a regular customer, and Barry's Great Shark Eagle had always been responsible for delivering their goods. The items on the order weren't from their first purchase; they were practically "repeat customers"!

However, the slave trade is a shady business. Whether in a kingdom or an empire, even if the government repeatedly prohibits it, the law clearly states in black and white that the slave trade is prohibited and that human trafficking is a serious crime.

Therefore, when purchasing cargo, Barry deliberately bought a lot of general goods to fill his ship's hold as much as possible in order to conceal the contraband in the hold.

After setting sail, the sailboat traveled at high speed with the spring monsoon. The journey was smooth, without encountering bad weather or sea monsters, and the pirates they did encounter were all acquaintances. Because the owner of the Great Shark Eagle also privately took on some business of helping pirates sell stolen goods, Barry only needed to show the "token" to let the pirates know that it was his partner's ship.

In just six days, the Great Shark Eagle successfully entered the kingdom's outer waters. The sailors at the top of the mainmast could already see the outline of the coastline emerging at the horizon. At this speed, they estimated they would reach Oyster Harbor before nightfall.

Seeing this, Barry told his men to be alert and watch out for any underwater reefs they might encounter, then turned around and went to the bottom hold to check on the condition of the "critical cargoes".

Thanks to favorable sea conditions throughout the voyage, the twelve chicks were otherwise healthy, except for being a little listless.

These twelve children were bought by Barry from a slave trader he knew on Treasure Island. They were said to be natives of the mainland, but rather natives found on some island.

Barry remembered the slave traders boasting to him that their slave-hunting ships had encountered a storm in the Western Ocean and were blown to an unfamiliar sea area, where they unexpectedly discovered a small inhabited island.

The island's inhabitants were a tribe with a population of over a thousand. They were very simple and honest, and they warmly welcomed the slave traders who had come from afar, providing them with clean fresh water and delicious food.

In return, the slave traders unloaded spiked wine from the ships and gave it to the natives, then captured them all and enslaved them.

These twelve children were chosen from among the natives, considered the "most beautiful" offspring, and said to be the divine children of the tribe's gods. Each one was handsome, with delicate, fair skin unlike the island natives. The goddess worshipped by these island natives was said to be a hearth goddess.

Barry was cautiously skeptical of the slave traders' claims, as they frequently fabricated lies to inflate the price of their "goods." He had sold no fewer than ten "princess"—anyone who didn't know better would think he'd conquered a kingdom!

When Barry arrived at the lower deck, he found the children to be surprisingly quiet. It wasn't the kind of silence that comes from crying until they were exhausted, nor was it the repression of resignation. Rather, it was a simple calmness, a calmness that seemed to make them completely indifferent to their current situation and the tragic fate that might befall them in the future.

Holding his lantern, he looked around. All the children in the cages were sitting cross-legged, one hand on their chest and the other covering their faces. This strange posture resembled a religious prayer ritual. Following the direction of most of their faces, Barry noticed that one of the older girls was tightly clutching a wooden statue in her hand. Without saying a word, he reached out and snatched the statue away.

His snatching caused an uproar among the previously quiet children.

End of this chapter

As evening fell, the Great Shark finally entered the harbor. Captain Barry stood at the bow, his expression somewhat gloomy. He raised his right hand, looking at the bandage on the back of his hand that was still bleeding, and his mood couldn't help but feel worse.

Previously, when Barry was inspecting the cargo in the hold, he casually snatched an inconspicuous wooden carving from a little girl, which instantly turned the previously quiet slaves into a berserk state.

The girl whose wood carving he had stolen actually grabbed Barry's wrists with both hands, dragged him into the cage, and then bit him. If his men hadn't rushed to help, Barry would have had two fingers bitten off by this crazy girl.

Barry was furious, his hand bleeding from the bite. If it were any ordinary slave doing hard labor, he would definitely have made an example of her, tearing this crazy girl who dared to bite him to pieces, so that the other little brats could see how he could do it.

Unfortunately, these "young birds" were all high-end goods, and there were exactly twelve of them, so there was no extra to "waste." Therefore, despite their anger, they couldn't kill or beat them, for fear of ruining their appearance and displeasing the buyers.

So, out of desperation, in order to prevent these brats from causing a ruckus when the ship entered the port, Barry ordered his men to force-feed them anesthesia to knock them unconscious before handing them over to the buyer, thus relieving him of the headache.

"You bunch of damned little puppies, I hope you all end up in the hands of a pervert and suffer a fate worse than death!"

With a bitter "blessing" in his heart for the children in the hold, the Great Sand Eagle successfully docked. The first to greet it were the tax collectors on duty in the port. Whenever a merchant ship docked and wanted to do business in the area, it had to pay three kinds of taxes to the lord.

The first type was the anchorage tax, calculated based on the size of the ship and the number of days it intended to remain in port. The second was the poll tax, levied on each non-local sailor who wished to disembark for rest. The third was the entry tax, a 5% commission based on the total value of the cargo on board.

The first two taxes are nothing special; they're not much, and passing ships won't haggle over such a small amount. The truly crucial and potentially deadly tax is the third one. Port tax officials will board the ships to inspect the cargo, and if they find any contraband, they have the right to confiscate it directly.

Therefore, people like Barry who take on "illegal orders" usually have to prepare a "tribute" in advance to get the local tax officials to do them a favor and turn a blind eye to certain goods.

Barry and the Oyster Harbor tax officer were old acquaintances, good brothers who had frequented brothels together. Because they always managed to feed each other very well, the routine inspections were basically just a formality.

However, after nearly half a year, Barry was astonished to find that the port tax officer had been replaced. The greedy, fat man was gone, replaced by a cold-faced young man. Barry had traveled far and wide and met countless people; from a distance, he could tell this man was not someone to be trifled with.

"Good evening, sir. May I ask your name?"

“My name is Gek, and I am the new port tax officer of Oyster Harbor. Now state your ship’s name and have your crew gather on deck. We need to board the ship for a routine inspection.”

"Uh... no problem, sir. But I haven't been to Oyster Harbor for almost half a year. May I inquire a little about the original Lord Jess?"

“Former tax official Jess? He was executed by the lord last month for dereliction of duty. I’m in charge here now.”

Upon hearing that his "old friend" had been executed, Barry maintained his obsequious smile, but his heart couldn't help but skip a beat.

He and that fat guy weren't exactly close; their relationship was purely based on mutual benefit. When the guy died, Barry felt no sadness whatsoever, just a general sense of annoyance.

Because the tax officer had been replaced, he would have to cultivate new relationships. He was afraid that this arrogant young man might be just as incorruptible as his own icy demeanor. If he was truly unyielding, it would be much more difficult for them to transport contraband to Oyster Harbor in the future.

So Barry had an idea and decided to test the waters first.

At Barry's command, the fifty-odd crew members of the Great Shark quickly assembled on the deck, while Barry, with a fawning expression, invited the tax collectors and their entourage onto the ship, serving them at their beck and call. His dark, weathered old face, ravaged by the sea winds, was forced into a smile.

Barry secretly patted his pocket, where there were three small pouches, originally intended as little gifts for his former tax officer.

One bag contains fifty Imperial Gold Coins, which will be taken out first upon meeting. The other two bags contain black pearls and rubies; if the gold coins are not enough to satisfy the other party, these two more valuable small gifts will follow to ensure the target is won over.

Under normal circumstances, this three-piece bribery set is always effective; nine out of ten tax officials in various places are corrupt, the only difference being the size of their appetite. But occasionally, Barry will encounter some "oddballs" in his eyes, who cannot be bought off with money.

With so many people and eyes on deck, Barry wasn't in a hurry to act. The best time was in the middle cabin, away from the accompanying guards. In his experience, he could tell whether someone was genuinely greedy or just pretending by observing their first look when they saw the gold coins!

However, the young tax officer did not rush into the cabin. Instead, he stood on the deck, looked around, and then turned to Barry and asked.

"You just said your ship is called the Great Shark Eagle, is it the Great Shark Eagle from Golden Bay?"

"Uh...yes."

The tax officer's somewhat deliberate questioning made Barry increasingly uneasy, because being identified usually meant bad things. One possibility was that he had been taken advantage of, someone knew his ship was lucrative but shady, and was specifically targeting him to extort a large sum of money.

But the other scenario... Barry doesn't even want to think about it!

Before he could figure out how to respond, the tax collector ordered his guards to search the cabins. Barry tried to follow, but the tax collector suddenly stopped him, telling him to stay on deck and not move.

The Great Sand Eagle has two decks below deck. The first deck is the crew cabin and general cargo hold, which is fine. The problem is in the rear half of the lower deck.

Not long after, a guard hurried to the tax collector and reported that there was a partition in the middle of the hold, but the door to the compartment was locked, and asked if he could enter.

Upon hearing this, Barry's already anxious heart leaped into his throat. He knew better than anyone what was in the lower half of the hold. So, disregarding the inappropriateness of being on deck, he hurriedly stepped between the tax collector and the guards and, with lightning speed, pulled all three small bags from his pocket.

"Sir, let's... let's be friends!"

End of this chapter

Inside the temple of the Four Seasons Goddess, Evanrus was enjoying his extremely lavish dinner. His repeated setbacks in his battle of wits with Rudd had not affected his appetite much, and his appetite remained astonishing.

However, before he could even take a couple of bites of his food, a cultivator suddenly stumbled in from outside. He had seen far too many similar scenes lately, so without the man saying a word, he knew it couldn't be anything good.