Goddess Kaleidoscope

The success he gained with Servis and the Rainbow Dance Company had taught Ludwig that, compared to traditional missionaries who loudly preached obscure doctrines and tried to trick people into donating money, ordinary people preferred to watch some exotic and entertaining performances. Although it cost money, at least it was fun.

Therefore, Ludd's plan was to replace missionaries with actors and symbols with trademarks, expanding the source of faith by increasing brand awareness and the reach of his products. He didn't aim for everyone to convert, just for everyone to know about the faith!

This may sound like a simple "small goal," but currently, apart from the three founding families, there is only one other god who can achieve this goal: the Earth Mother Goddess, who is somewhere between the first and second tiers. The other gods are only regional in rank, and are only well-known in their own territories.

Time flies, and the premiere of "The King of the Cave" finally arrived.

Perhaps it was the intimidation Ludwig had inflicted on Katie that left an indelible psychological scar. During this time, he had been very well-behaved, seemingly having given up interfering with the Rainbow Choir.

But Lude knew this was only temporary. Elijah and Lacey, who had been secretly investigating, had already identified the mole and had been monitoring the target's movements for days. The transmission of information to the outside world had never stopped. In addition, Katie had gone to see Juan of the Navarro family again after that day, clearly still feeling resentful.

On the night of the new play's premiere, Jade arrived as scheduled, along with his "good brother" Jacob. And this fellow had even brought along an unexpected audience member: Duke Krud, the city lord of Flamewood, and his wife. The couple's arrival delighted Servis and Marilyn's mother-in-law.

It is worth mentioning that the arrival of the city lord and his wife was not a good deed that Jacob had intentionally arranged, but rather an "accident".

Jacob originally intended to come to the theater by himself and then "conveniently" visit the casino afterward, but unfortunately, during dinner with his family, he brought up his plan to go to the theater.

The old duke, who knew his son's nature well, naturally didn't believe it. His eyes, fixed on Jacob, seemed to see right through him. When his mother heard that her son was going to see a play that night, she thought to herself, "It's rare for this kid to come back from the border fortress, so let's all go together." And that's how the current scene came about.

The Duke's family's collective mobilization was like a signal. Upon learning this, other prominent figures in the city, unless they were currently occupied with other matters, also flocked to the Sky Opera House. Soon, the theater entrance was filled with carriages bearing various emblems and seals, much to the surprise of many ordinary audience members who were simply there to watch the play.

What's going on? Why are all the big shots in the city here?

With so many important figures arriving, the Sky Theatre, which wasn't exactly small to begin with, suddenly felt cramped. The forty private boxes were in high demand, leaving Grandma Marilyn racking her brains over how to allocate them, as there were just too many people she couldn't afford to offend.

Backstage, Servis learned that many big names were gathered in the audience, which made her a little nervous, but mostly excited.

"Finally, finally this day has come! Mom and Dad, today your daughter will definitely help you reclaim all the glory you've lost. Bless me!"

Backstage, the reorganized troupe operated with the efficiency of a machine. Actors preparing for their performances rested in the dressing room, the music team made final adjustments to their instruments, and other staff members performed their duties. Everything was so orderly that Lu De was very satisfied.

"That's more like it."

Just then, a stagehand rushed up to Lud and said to him in a hurry.

"Mr. Hugo, do you have a moment now?"

"what happened?"

"Yes, a few important people came to visit backstage, and Grandma Marilyn asked me to invite you over."

Lude nodded, then asked who the important figures who had come were. The stagehand said he didn't know them all, only that there was Bishop August of the local Church of Light and Priest Nomen of the Church of War. August had arrived first, surrounded by a group of noble believers, while Nomen came later. On the surface, the two sides seemed to be getting along well, but there was something not quite right in the atmosphere.

After listening, Lud thought to himself, "This is going to be quite interesting!"

Following the stagehand, Lude quickly arrived at the actors' rest area. From afar, he saw a group of people gathered there. The actors, who should have been resting and adjusting their mindset in the lounge, were being inspected by an old priest in a golden robe. This was Bishop August, the highest-ranking official of the Holy Church in Yanmu City.

According to the information Lude has, August is fifty-seven years old this year and has served as the bishop of Yanmu City for a full eleven years. It is said that he is expected to go further in the future and become the next Archbishop of Light of the Duran Diocese.

However, the seemingly virtuous and upright bishop not only secretly colluded with local gangs and even cults, engaging in dirty deals, but he was also a lecherous fiend who had harmed countless innocent women. Relying on his superior status, no one dared to interfere, and he did whatever he pleased.

Looking at this guy, Lude couldn't help but think of Evanrus from Oyster Harbor. The only difference between the two was their different religious affiliations and their physiques.

End of this chapter

Unlike the bloated and fleshy Evanrus, Bishop Augustus was a slightly thin middle-aged man with a pair of gold-rimmed crystal glasses. He had a gentle and warm smile, and his slender eyebrows and eyes were almost curved into crescent moons. He gave a good first impression and seemed to be a kind and gentle old man.

But the reality is quite the opposite. This deceptively charming man is treacherous and cunning, with virtually no moral compass. He colludes with numerous criminal gangs in Yanmu City, amassing fortunes without a care for whether innocent people's blood is stained on his wealth.

Ordinary people knew nothing about August; they only knew that this bishop was kind and approachable, and that he built many orphanages to take in children who had lost their parents, so they thought he was a great philanthropist. Those victims who had seen his true face, without exception, were no longer able to speak out and expose this scoundrel.

And this demon in human skin served as the bishop of Yanmu City for eleven years, and even had the potential to go further and become the archbishop of the Holy Light Church throughout the entire Duran Kingdom.

However, Lude also knew that a world-class religion with more than ten million followers, like the three major families, would inevitably be a mixed bag within its organization. Those who are capable may not necessarily be virtuous at the same time, and none of the three major families should laugh at others in this regard.

Even Lu De himself dared not guarantee that when he was gone one day, the Medicine God Cult he had created, and even the entire Pantheon, would degenerate into something even more despicable.

When Luther arrived, August was chatting with the actors, appearing very friendly and without any airs of a great man.

But seeing this guy's flawless acting skills, Lude suddenly had a very subtle sense of déjà vu, as if he himself had a similar kind and benevolent appearance when he was in Pine Town. No wonder he looked so familiar.

At this moment, Lude noticed that next to August, a man dressed in the robes of the Church of War stood there. Unlike August's cheerful demeanor, this man had a cold and unsmiling expression, and his burly figure could not be concealed even by the loose robes. His upright posture was completely like that of a soldier.

Lude felt he knew without asking that this person was the war priest Nomon that the stagehand had mentioned before. He was a priest who had served as a guardian knight, capable of fighting, healing, and supporting, with high attack, high health, and incredibly tough. Suddenly, he was strong and powerful!

It's worth mentioning that this guy's biological father is the Archbishop of the Duran Diocese of the Cult of War, who only took office two years ago, and his background is incredibly powerful.

Furthermore, according to the intelligence provided by Hume, this person was one of the very few in Yanmu City who remained untainted by the corrupt environment, possessing integrity, uprightness, and a strong sense of justice. Unfortunately, given the prevailing circumstances in Yanmu City, even a strong tiger like Nomen couldn't withstand a pack of wolves; besides upholding his principles, he could do little else.

Seeing two important figures, one in black and one in white, appear backstage at the same time, Lud, who had no idea what they were there for, could only go to greet them.

On the other side of the troupe's side, Servis was trying her best to express her gratitude for the bishop's presence. Given his status, Servis knew that even with Lude's protection, this was Flamewood City, and the bishop and priest before her were not powerful figures she could easily offend. Therefore, she could only deal with them cautiously.

With a woman's keen intuition, Servis felt uneasy about the seemingly kind-looking Bishop August. When he shook her hand, he seemed to give her a subtle squeeze. In contrast, the man next to her, who always had a cold expression, did not give her this uncomfortable feeling.

Just then, Lude finally arrived. Servis felt like she had been saved and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She then pulled him over to help her take the lead in the front line.

"Your Excellency, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Hugo, an outstanding playwright and artistic genius. Our troupe's previous main production, Romeo and Juliet, and the new play we're performing today, The King of the Cave, are both works by his mentor, Shakespeare. Thanks to his great assistance, we were able to bring these two excellent works to the stage."

"Oh! I've heard of the play 'Romeo and Juliet' before. I heard it's very popular in the capital. So it's the work of Mr. Hugo's mentor? To be honest, this is the first time I've ever heard of Shakespeare. I guess I'm just ignorant."

“Your Excellency, it’s normal that you haven’t heard of him. Although my mentor created many works in his lifetime, his personality… was quite eccentric. He once vowed that none of his works would be published before his death.”

"why?"

"Uh... he said he didn't want to listen to those so-called critics spouting nonsense, so he'd wait until he died to post it, out of sight, out of mind."

"..."xN

With just a few words, Lu De created the persona of an eccentric old man, serving as the "suit" for the fictional Shakespeare he spoke of. Everyone present was visibly taken aback, yet vaguely felt that this reclusive and eccentric character did indeed fit the common imagination of a "genius."

As they were talking, Aylvit came over. The Heroic Spirit had been acting as Hugo's bodyguard for some time, replacing Aina and Shanes, who couldn't appear in public, and serving under Ludwig.

After she came over, she immediately whispered a few words in Ludwig's ear, but her appearance instantly attracted August's attention.

Since it was backstage at the theater rather than on the street, Aylvit was not wearing the metal mask that she complained about as obstructing her vision on both sides, nor the cloak that could cover most of her body, leaving her pretty, flawless face and curvaceous figure completely exposed to August.

The old lecher secretly gave the spirited silver-haired girl in front of him a very high rating – top-notch!

Noticing the unusual expression on August's face and his gaze lingering on Alvit, and combining this with his assessment of her, Ludwig instantly understood what August was thinking.

So Ludger suppressed the urge to finish off his opponent with a combo and turned to ask Servis, who was standing to the side.

"Miss Servis, is the performance about to start?"

"Uh... Oh! I almost forgot if you hadn't reminded me. Time really flies, the performance is about to start!"

At Lude's "reminder," Servis understood immediately, had the actors take their places, and then asked Bishop August to return to the box as soon as possible.

August opened his mouth, but in the end, he left the backstage surrounded by the crowd. Before leaving, he glanced back at Lud again with a meaningful look... The presence of Alvit behind him made Lud, who had noticed his gaze, frown even more.

End of this chapter

After August left, the backstage area became much quieter. Norman, who had come with him, deliberately slowed down and distanced himself from the other man. Before leaving, he looked back at Lud, his expression suggesting he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"Lord Nomon, is there anything else?"

"It's nothing, I wish you a successful performance."

"Thank you."

Watching Nomen's departing figure, Lude seemed to vaguely guess why this guy had deliberately followed August backstage, and then stood by and watched without saying a word the whole time.

Because Nomen knew that as long as he was there to keep an eye on things, he might not be able to completely stop August from doing whatever he wanted, but at least he would make him restrain himself and become more restrained, which was exactly what he wanted to achieve.

"He seems to be a good person indeed."

After the troublesome guys left, the backstage area was in the final countdown to the opening ceremony, while the hall was packed with people. All one thousand seats after the expansion were occupied, and the forty private rooms were filled with big shots who were well-known in Yanmu City.

Such a grand occasion was something that Marilyn's mother-in-law admitted she had never seen before in her life.

"May the gods bless the performance and make it go smoothly."

Soon, the lights in the hall dimmed, and the thousands of audience members on stage fell silent, their eyes fixed expectantly on the stage curtain. Among the crowd, Katie, disguised, mingled with the others. The experience that day had left her with considerable psychological trauma; she had nightmares for many days, dreaming that she had been transformed into a emaciated old woman by the magical playwright named Hugo.

Intense fear made her temporarily abandon her harassment of the Rainbow Dance Troupe, but she was still unwilling to give up. With the intention of scouting the enemy, she disguised herself and went to see the premiere of "The Count of Monte Cristo". She wanted to know what made it different from others besides the script.

Meanwhile, in the second-floor box, Duke Crude was resting his chin on his hand, looking utterly bored. He wasn't a big fan of theater, especially the mainstream plays of the time, most of which were love stories and didn't really suit his taste. His wife, however, loved theater and would drag him to the Heavenly Opera House whenever she had free time.

This time, however, the Duke wasn't brought along by his wife, but by his troublesome son, Jacob.

To be fair, the Duke was quite satisfied with his son's overall performance. He was skilled in martial arts, brave and strong, and not unintelligent. He had been trained in the border fortress for many years and was deeply loved by the knights and soldiers. He could be considered a qualified successor.

The only problem lies in this gambling addiction!

Perhaps it was because he spent his days in the border fortress and among the rough-and-ready soldiers that Jacob developed a gambling habit about three years ago. Every time he returned from the border, he would go to the Gold and Silver Cave to relax.

The Duke always believed that it was no big deal for his heir to have a few minor flaws. He himself was not perfect either, but he still hoped that his son could quit gambling and find some other hobbies, even lust would be better than this.

Just as he was pondering how to help his son quit gambling, melodious music suddenly filled the theater lobby, followed by a deep male voice coming from all directions, startling the Duke, who was experiencing "stereo" for the first time.

"How was that sound created? Was it with a magical item?"

The Sky Opera House currently boasts the first stereo sound system in the entire Flamewood City, or rather, the world. Although it is far from comparable to IMAX on Earth, it is already quite impressive for the native inhabitants of this alien world.

For viewers who have watched the trailer multiple times, the opening narration and music are already very familiar to them, and they can even recite every word by heart. However, they will soon be pleasantly surprised to find that, unlike the trailer, the narration and background music in the main series are the full version. The background music, composed of multiple instruments, gradually becomes more exciting as the narrator's magnetic voice rises, making the audience's heart beat in sync with the drumbeats.

The narration of the main series first clarifies the worldview and background setting that were only mentioned briefly in the trailer. The story takes place in a fictional country called "Lofa Kingdom". When the protagonist Edmund first appears, he is not a ragged prisoner in a cage as shown in the trailer, but a young, handsome, and dignified acting captain, standing at the bow of the ship gazing into the distance. His first line is a very classic flag.

"After I finish this trade route, I'm going back to Paris to get married!"

As an extremely classic masterpiece of "feel-good" fiction, The Count of Monte Cristo has a top-notch story framework and pacing. It starts with a good person being wronged and humiliated, and then by chance, he turns misfortune into good fortune and begins to turn the tables and crush his enemies.

This trope of building suspense before revealing the truth might seem utterly cliché to Earthlings, as unoriginal as "treasure hunting by jumping off a cliff," but for audiences in the other world, it's a completely new and exciting experience!

The story is divided into five acts by Ludwig. The first two-thirds of the first act mainly tells the story of the protagonist Edmund's initial misfortunes. He is framed and imprisoned by a treacherous villain, and his beautiful fiancée is taken by his enemy. One tragedy after another pushes the protagonist into the abyss with lightning speed, and then, just when the audience's emotions are about to reach their breaking point, it rebounds by introducing the key figure who saves Edmund—the scholar Faria—in a highly comical way: "popping his head out of a toilet."

In the original novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, Faria is an Italian priest. However, in this alternate world, it is hard to imagine a priest being imprisoned. So Rudd changed him to a scholar, which, in a sense, is also a tribute to his cheap master.

The story then progresses steadily. Edmund spends fourteen years in a dark and hopeless prison learning martial arts and literature from the learned Faria, and learns about the treasure hidden in the caves of the nameless island.

During this time, the god of thieves, Hume, appeared in Edmund's dream. He first appeared as an old woman and told Edmund the truth about his wrongful imprisonment. The three villains who framed him had made a pact with Hume in exchange for the power they needed to deal with Edmund. However, after the pact was completed, the three tried to break the pact by being clever. Therefore, Hume decided to punish them with divine retribution.

The reason He approached Edmund was because He felt that simply striking those bastards to death with lightning was too lenient. Therefore, He decided to change tactics and help Edmund, whom they had framed, take revenge. The reason Faria's tunnel had veered off course and ended up on his side was due to Hume's secret influence through divine power.

End of this chapter