After handing little "Sun" over to Miss "Justice," Ebner left Backlund University of Technology, got into a hired carriage, and casually bought a copy of the Daily Observer and Sea News.

A few months ago, through Vera’s connections, Ebner had acquired the shares of the Daily Observer that once belonged to Prince Edessak, making him one of the major shareholders of the newspaper. Therefore, it came as no surprise that on the front page of this paper—which had just barely squeezed into the top three in circulation—he saw news about his own territory, the city of Berdan.

Although the reporter who wrote the article did not know about the relationship between the newspaper and the Viscount of Berdan, it was obvious that during last weekend’s "trip," he had been treated extremely well. As a result, he lavished the city of Berdan with praise.

He even directly referred to it as the "City of Film and Television," the dream destination for all actors and those who wished to become famous through films.

He suggested that anyone with the means should visit at least once, or they would regret it for life.

Although this was just praise from his own newspaper, the popularity of Berdan City had indeed risen. It was expected that within the next one or two weeks, there would be a peak in visitors... and by that time, the number of people required for the "sacrifice" that the Demoness of Affliction anticipated should be sufficient... she would definitely come personally to preside over it!

Hmm, before that, her avatar named "Josena" could be "reasonably" captured without arousing her suspicion... forcing her main body to take action hastily in Berdan...

This would require the cooperation of the completely unaware Miss "Justice" and Mr. Fool.

It would also be a good opportunity to formally have "Pride" exit the stage.

Closing the Daily Observer, Ebner rubbed his chin and began planning the next week in his mind.

Speaking of which, just last weekend when Ebner organized people to visit Berdan under the pretense of "winning a prize," Klein had also hosted a banquet at his newly purchased "Morgue Manor," inviting many of Dwayne’s neighbors and "friends" he had met at the Officers’ Club.

Among them was Major General Qonas Kilgor of the military.

And that very night, with the help of the "Servant of Concealment" Arianna, Klein had turned Qonas into a marionette and learned the secret of the mausoleum in the northwest suburbs of Backlund.

But unfortunately, the subsequent "raid" carried out by the three major Churches yielded nothing and failed to uncover any key evidence.

However, since Qonas had exposed the royal advisor Hvin Rambis and the "Demoness" Josena, after receiving an urgent notice from the royal family, Ebner had them hide in the shadows together with the avatar of the Demoness of Affliction.

After calculating for a while, Ebner picked up Sea News and immediately saw a very eye-catching headline:

"A New Ruler of the Sonia Sea and the Raging Sea Is Born — ’Queen of Stars’..."

The rest of the article reported how the "Queen of Stars" fleet had encountered a Feysac fleet by chance and completely annihilated it.

As a newspaper of Loen, it was filled with mockery and disdain toward the Feysac fleet.

Didn’t expect Cattleya to move so quickly—directly using a Feysac fleet as a sacrifice to declare herself king... however, by doing this, she would surely make Loen look down on Feysac even more, and their surprise attack a month later might go even more smoothly...

I wonder if the Twilight Hermit Order had a hand in arranging this.

As his thoughts turned, Ebner flipped through the rest of the newspaper and noticed that "Vice Admiral Iceberg" Edwina had remained very low-key after becoming a Demigod. She had no intention of claiming the title of "king." Instead, because she only had a single ship, the Golden Dream, quite a few pirate crews had set their sights on her—but those people all disappeared mysteriously in the end.

Targeting a Prophet? They deserved to die. Ebner shook his head with a smile, then put down the newspaper, stepped out of the now-stationary carriage, and walked into a café by the street.

After waiting in a private room for about ten minutes, a sweet girl holding a parasol pushed the door open and walked in. She glanced at Ebner and curled her lips into a smile.

"As an ally, you’re a bit unqualified."

...

At 2:30 in the afternoon, Derrick followed Miss "Justice" through various shopping malls, purchasing many items he had never even seen before. As the Tarot Club gathering approached, they had no choice but to arrive at a building called the "Film and Television Charity Fund," each entering a separate lounge.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

As the bells of a nearby church echoed, a tide of deep crimson light surged before Audrey and Derrick’s eyes at the same time.

Inside the grand and magnificent palace, beside the ancient mottled long table, figures appeared one after another without distinction of order, condensing into form.

"Justice" Audrey happily stood up first, faced the head of the bronze long table, slightly lifted her skirt, and performed a curtsey.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."

Miss "Justice" seems to be in quite a good mood... did something nice happen? "The Fool" Klein nodded almost imperceptibly and responded to the greetings of the Tarot Club members.

Shopping with someone does tend to put one in a good mood... Ebner guessed what Klein was thinking and silently answered for him, though the latter could not hear it.

"Hermit" Cattleya did not sit down immediately after her salute. Instead, she respectfully said,

"Great Mr. Fool, this time I have one page of Emperor Roselle’s diary."

There’s a page of Emperor Roselle’s diary? Has the matter with the "Mystic Queen" been settled? But there haven’t been any unusual changes in Backlund... hmm, neither Amon nor Zaratul have made any moves, and no one discovered the Demigod battle at Morgue Manor... "The Fool" Klein nodded calmly.

"Very well, you may think of your question or request."

At this moment, "The Hanged Man" Alger spoke up as well. "Mr. Fool, I have brought three pages of Roselle’s diary this time."

Mr. Hanged Man has found another channel for Roselle’s diary? Not bad... although in terms of quality, it’s probably far inferior to what the "Mystic Queen" provides behind the Hermit.

As his thoughts turned, Klein smiled faintly and said, "Very good. You may also think about what you need."

After the manifested diaries appeared in his hands, "The Fool" Klein unhurriedly picked up the page submitted by "Hermit" Cattleya and began reading it carefully.

The content on this page was indeed quite valuable. Not only did it include Mr. Door’s discussion about the two Blasphemy Slates, but also warnings regarding the ritual for advancing to godhood in the Spectator pathway and the tides of the era.

If "Tower" hadn’t told me about these things in advance, this kind of "knowledge storm" would definitely have given me the feeling of facing a mythical creature directly!

Unfortunately, my mind is now as calm as still water...

After complaining a bit inwardly, Klein shifted his gaze to the three pages submitted by the Hanged Man.

As expected, the first two pages were entirely about Roselle’s "romantic conquests," and they were ones Klein had already read, so he flipped past them immediately.

However, part of the content on the third page did pique a bit of his interest:

"...The Church promised to provide the corresponding ritual when I advance to Knowledge Magister?

"Hah, as if I don’t know what the ritual for Knowledge Magister is? Not to mention that I’ve already had Yaldabaoth secretly select suitable candidates for soul modification—even if I hadn’t, I still wouldn’t accept the Church’s arrangements.

"’Soul modification’ must be completed personally for me to remain myself. Otherwise, it would be equivalent to joining the ’local network’ of the God of Steam, and at that point, I would truly become His ’Angel.’"

(End of Chapter)