Goddess Kaleidoscope

Lud remembered Dick mentioning to him that collecting spirits was a difficult task; sometimes, a vast cemetery with thousands of graves would be devoid of any spirits. Rumors about spirits were mostly half-true and half-false, and would attract exorcists; a moment's hesitation could mean being too late.

Dick spent most of his life capturing only a dozen or so dead slaves, and rare creatures with special abilities could be counted on one hand.

Compared to Dick, Hu En's level is far superior!

After taking a quick look around the laboratory, Lude found that there were so many places worth investigating, but he had very limited time. So he took out a sack and took as much as he could. In addition to various research notes, he also took a few "Soul Beads" from the display shelf, whose colors were obviously different from the other beads, and then quickly returned to his study.

After rummaging around, the two filled a sack with all sorts of things. They planned to retreat to the next room and send the sack and Old Hu En, whose soul was still uncertain, away together using the three-dimensional recycling device. That thing had a maximum load capacity of 300 kilograms, so taking them all together wouldn't be a problem.

But just as they were preparing to retreat, the sound of the lock turning suddenly came from the study door. Then a middle-aged man came in from outside and was stunned to see three masked men in black standing in the study.

"You...guards!"

In less than a second, Juan, who was looking for documents in the study, realized what had happened and shouted to summon the guards on both sides.

Seeing this, Lude flung three flashbangs at the feet of the two fully armed guards, which immediately burst into a blinding light, blinding them on the spot.

Ludd then manipulated his clone, wielding the office chair behind the desk and charging forward in a suicidal attack, while he and Hume quickly ran next door, grabbed "Old Hun," and climbed out the window onto the roof.

The three of them went to the roof and, before any guards could catch up, put the 3D recycling device on old Hu En. Then they used ropes to securely tie the full sacks to him.

Old Hu En was completely bewildered, having no idea why these two men in black weren't hurrying to get away with him, but instead were still fussing over something. At that moment, Lu De, who had tied him up with ropes, shoved a soft ball into his mouth without saying a word, then patted him on the shoulder and said...

"This thing is to prevent you from biting your tongue, and it'll send you to heaven."

"Well?"

Before old Hu En could figure out what Lude meant by "going to heaven," Lude suddenly pulled the pull tab on his backpack, and the old man felt a tremendous force lift him up from behind. The rooftop and the two men in black rushed away before his eyes...

End of this chapter

Like the thugs who had previously experienced the 3D recycling system, "Old Huen," who had been lifted into the air, wanted to participate, but the ball stuffed in his mouth prevented him from making a sound. Ludwig and Hume watched him fly into the night sky, the sound of his wings flapping faintly audible above the clouds.

"It's all settled, let's head out."

"Ah, okay..."

"Hey! You can't be serious."

Hearing that Hume's voice sounded a little off, Ludd turned around in surprise and saw that the other man was swaying and unsteady on his feet. His illness had come on without warning and at a very inopportune time.

They were still in enemy territory, and the guards in the castle, alerted at any moment, could rush up and surround them. If Hume lost his ability to move at this time, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Left with no other choice, Ludwig had to take a risky gamble.

Soon, a group of guards rushed onto the roof of the main castle. As soon as they arrived, they saw the two men in black engaged in a fierce battle with two other guards who had arrived earlier. One of the guards was clearly outmatched; he was kicked away by the man in black in just a few shaky moves and tumbled off the sloping roof. The other guard was then attacked from both sides and quickly fell into a disadvantageous position.

Upon seeing this, the squad leader of the guards immediately ordered his men to rush forward to help. Using their numerical advantage, they forced the two men in black back and rescued the friendly guard who was almost killed.

"Brother, are you alright?!"

"Don't worry about me, catch the thief first!"

"Good brother, I will definitely speak to the family head on your behalf."

Seeing that the rescued guard was so "righteous", the squad leader, although he could not see the face under the helmet, still remembered that there was such a loyal and excellent guard. He patted him on the shoulder and told him to step back first, then turned around and joined the attack on the two men in black.

Surrounded by guards who outnumbered them several times over, the two men in black were forced to retreat and were soon cornered on the roof.

The captain of the guards hoped to capture the two thieves alive and hand them over to the acting head of the family for punishment. But the two men were incredibly fierce. Seeing that they had nowhere to retreat, they did not hesitate to leap off the roof, which was more than ten meters high.

The captain was startled by what he saw. He ran to the edge of the roof and looked down. He saw two men in black plunge into a haystack in the open space below and did not come out for a while. So he stood on the roof and shouted loudly to guide the guards who came downstairs to surround the haystack.

However, the guards who rushed over searched the entire haystack but couldn't find a single man in black inside. There was no hidden tunnel on the ground beneath the haystack either; it was as if the two living people had vanished into thin air.

While the guards were still confused, Ludwig, disguised as a wounded guard, had quietly circled around to the back of the main house, found Hume whom he had pushed off the building earlier, picked her up and sprinted away, taking advantage of the fact that most of the people in the castle were distracted, and quickly retreated back to the manor through the secret passage.

Previously, Hume had suddenly fallen ill and fallen into a weak state, and Ludd, in a moment of quick thinking, came up with a plan. He first used his divine power to conjure a set of guards' armor for himself and Hume, and then conjured two clones of men in black on the spot. Then, in front of the arriving guards, he fought himself.

The weakened Hume was the first to be kicked downstairs by the clone. Although the goddess's body had her divine power sealed, it was still very durable. Falling from the roof, which was more than ten meters high, would only cause some pain, and there wouldn't even be any scratches.

In this way, in front of the guards, Ludd successfully "sent" Hume downstairs first, and then staged a self-inflicted injury on the spot, so that the guards would surround and attack the clone, while he took the opportunity to quietly leave the scene.

Seeing that the plan was going so smoothly, even Lud couldn't help but praise himself in his heart for being such a clever little devil.

Carrying Hume, Lude returned to the guest room. As soon as he entered through the small door, he saw Captain Teddy Bear standing on the bed, making intimate contact with the pillow in a very lewd posture. The other three were standing under the bed waving glow sticks they had pulled out from somewhere, as if watching a performance.

Lude, who suddenly burst into the scene, and several dolls were all stunned for a moment.

EMMM... Sometimes I need to talk to the three sisters about the spiritual and cultural development of the divine messengers.

After Lude returned, the puppet gods immediately straightened their posture, took out their tools, and in just a few minutes repaired the small door that had been opened in the wall to its original state, and then retreated through the vent.

Luther then carried Hume to the bed, quickly stripping off their black bodysuits before crawling into bed.

At this moment, the two were still in their original forms. Hume was steadily recovering, while Rudd put on the mask that had not yet been activated, recalling the appearance of the old fat man Geralt in his mind, preparing for the transformation.

But at that moment, Hume suddenly rolled over and climbed on top of Ludd. Both of them were naked at this time, and feeling the delicate skin of the silk rubbing against their own and the "heavy pressure" on their chests, Ludd, who was actually only in his early twenties, immediately made a very straightforward reaction like most hot-blooded young men.

Looking at Hume, who appeared languid yet strangely alluring due to his lingering weakness, Ludwig swallowed unconsciously. Hume reached out and cupped Ludwig's head, whispering "Thank you," before kissing her through the mask.

Just then, a flurry of footsteps sounded outside, clearly indicating that the guards, having regained their senses, had come to the outer manor.

With a series of loud bangings on the door, the guards burst in before anyone could respond. Before them lay a man and a woman of vastly different ages, piled on top of each other on the bed. Upon seeing the guards' sudden intrusion, the woman screamed, her shrill voice piercing the guards' eardrums. The older man, startled and furious, sat up and shouted at the guards.

"What are you doing? Can't you see we're busy...? How barbaric! How rude! Is this how the Navarro family treats its guests? I'm going to complain to your head of the family!"

"..."xN

Faced with the old man who had taken the initiative and was now furious, the guards looked at each other in bewilderment, and their morale immediately plummeted.

The guards knew that the guests attending the gathering at the manor were all wealthy and influential figures in Yanmu City. If they were to blame the guests and go to the head of the family to complain, the guards and servants would be in deep trouble.

Seeing that the two men, one old and one young, didn't seem to match the size of the men in black, the squad leader had no choice but to apologize and lead his men out, closing the door behind him.

The two people inside the house finally breathed a sigh of relief after they left.

End of this chapter

After the brief commotion, the Navarro family, concerned about their own reputation, did not disclose the fact that the main castle had been broken into by thieves. Instead, they lied and said that the servants had seen a small monster leap over the courtyard wall, and the guards were so anxious to search around for fear of injuring the guests.

Most people were skeptical of this explanation, but wisely refrained from asking too many questions.

At the main castle, since the acting head of the family, Terlin, was temporarily absent, it was Grand Steward Juan who was in charge of the situation. Looking at the empty study safe and the invaded underground laboratory, Juan looked solemn and uneasy.

The Navarro family has been a powerful force in Yanmu City for nearly two hundred years, virtually untouchable by either the legitimate or underworld. Yet, after years of believing in the legendary thief, their headquarters were raided by two masked robbers today. If this news were to get out, it would surely become the laughingstock of everyone around them.

Juan couldn't even imagine what kind of ugly faces those bastards would have when they got along with them, especially those who didn't get along with them.

"Hey hey hey! Isn't this Navarro's guy? He's gotten so bloated after just a few days?"

The thought of such a scene made Juan so angry that his teeth itched. He wished he could capture those two damned thieves right now and skin them alive to offer as a sacrifice to Hume, the god of thieves.

"Find them! Dig three feet into the ground and bring them back... No! We can't make too much noise, what if the news leaks out... Damn it! Forget it, mobilize the entire family and get to the bottom of this. These two scoundrels only stole the account book, not the money, and they even kidnapped Brother Hu En. Someone must be behind this. Find out who's been trying to get us lately!"

After yelling at his men, Juan finished assigning tasks and dismissing everyone. He then slumped into a chair, feeling utterly exhausted. Although Trin had taken over the reins after his brother fell ill and had done a surprisingly good job, Juan dared not relax at all; in fact, he was extremely cautious.

The main reason was the resolute and ruthless way that Terlin showed when eliminating dissidents, and the fact that he didn't hesitate to kill his own half-brother. Juan felt as if he saw that person's figure in a daze.

"Damn it, how could this happen? How are we going to explain this?!"

At this time, the acting head of the family, Terin, was not at the castle, but was representing the Navarro family to attend the Black Hand Brotherhood's routine elders' meeting.

Within the Brotherhood, the number of elders is fixed at six. Whether to add new seats requires a divine decree from the God of Thieves.

Among these six elder seats, the one with the most seniority is "Snake Granny" Shirley, who has been the first elder and has been in the position ever since. The Navarro family, on the other hand, has a hereditary elder position, which is held by the head of the family in each generation, and this position has now fallen to Trin.

The regular meetings are held every three months, and occasionally there are emergency meetings convened by the chairman. These meetings usually involve divine decrees from the God of Thieves that need to be conveyed to the elders.

Normally, the six elders must be present, and some senior council members who have been notified will also come. The meeting place is located on Chicken Cry Mountain, east of Flamewood City. There is a natural cave halfway up the mountain, which is the Brotherhood's secret holy place... or rather, a den of demons.

Despite the fact that the elders don't get along and each has their own agenda, they can still sit down and have a proper talk at the regular elders' meetings.

This meeting was much quieter than usual because the former president had stepped down and the candidate for the new president was still being nominated. There were only five elders, the president's and Vernon's positions were vacant, and only about a third of the senior council members were present.

Inside the vast cave, several elders sat around a table, while the senior council members all stood. In the very center of the cave, a bronze statue of the god of thievery, over five meters tall, was enshrined. If Ludwig were here, he would have noticed that the statue bore at least a seven or eight-tenths resemblance to Hume, but there were also some obvious differences.

At the meeting, Shirley spoke first. She said that she had suddenly received a divine message from the God of Thieves yesterday. The deity said that recently, the number of offerings from the mortal world had increased by more than ten times compared to the past. He asked the elders if they had any clues.

Upon hearing Shirley's question, "Tear Demon" Massi shook his head, indicating that he was merely the leader of a mercenary group. Ostensibly employed by Duke Krud to serve the kingdom, he was secretly responsible for assigning his mercenaries to do dirty work such as murder and cover-ups. Missionary work was not his responsibility. With the number of believers increasing tenfold, how the hell would he know what was going on?!

Leopold, the "evil magician," also claimed to be unaware of the situation. He had been busy with his experiments for the past two months and only left the mage tower today after receiving a notice to attend a meeting. He didn't even know what day it was.

Today was his first time attending a meeting, and Terlin, who had maintained a cold and indifferent expression like his own father throughout, simply shook his head and continued to stare blankly with his head down.

Finally, Jade thoughtfully indicated that he might, possibly, or probably... have some clues.

"Hey... has anyone gone to the theater lately?"

"I've been busy killing those imperialists every day lately, I don't have time for that."

“Lately, I’ve been busy every day chopping up the imperialists he sent over, and then chopping them up again.”

"Lately, I've been getting messed with a lot by some rich imperialist."

"..."

"As the only imperialist here, I now seriously suspect that you guys are all doing this on purpose!"

"Alright, alright, everyone, stop joking around. Elder Jade, if you've discovered anything, just say so. It's true that only you, this imperial old man, would frequently go to watch the show here."

"I'm fucking..."

After taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, Jade told everyone about the recent hit play "The Cave King" in Yanmu City. Some of the senior directors present said that they had seen it and that it was indeed a great play, and that the God of Thieves, Hume, even made an appearance in the story.

As elders of the Brotherhood, they knew what "faith" was. This invisible and intangible thing was very important to the gods, making them more powerful. That's why they commanded their followers to form sects and try to recruit more people into the faith.

Therefore, Jade believes that the recent surge in faith is very likely related to the popularity of this play. As people discuss the plot, the name of the God of Thieves will spread rapidly and become known to more people.

If the facts are indeed as he guessed, then this is undoubtedly a new approach to missionary work, far more efficient than their current practice of producing that harmful "miracle wine."

End of this chapter

The elders present were somewhat skeptical of Jade's conjecture. After all, the idea that acting could spread religion seemed utterly absurd to them. If that were possible, what would be the point of sects and missionaries?

Limited by conventional wisdom, several elders and most council members did not agree with Jade's conjecture. After all, knowing something does not equate to understanding it, and the elders were unlikely to be like a certain priest surnamed Lu, coming up with a blasphemous little trick every day and constantly coming up with new tricks; their perspective was naturally limited.