As long as it's at sea, it cannot escape the gaze of the storm!
The middle-aged man in the priest's robe snorted lightly, then clasped his hands together, resting them before his mouth and nose, and began to pray in a low voice.
A moment later, he reopened his eyes, looking with some doubt and heaviness at the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery Archbishop behind him, and slowly exhaled, saying:
"The Specter Empire is no longer in the Fog Sea."
He paused, then added: "It appeared in the Berserk Sea, with Concealment, making it impossible to pinpoint its exact location."
Theodore Mormont was silent for two seconds, then suddenly whispered:
"There is only one Attendant of Mysteries active in this world recently: Zaratul, the leader of the Secret Order."
"Zaratul?" The middle-aged man murmured hesitantly, then pressed on: "Hasn't he not appeared for a long time?"
"Through our monitoring of the Secret Order, we found some traces of Zaratul's activity. According to the revelations given by the God of Machinery, he should have successfully advanced to Sequence 1."
"He had already left Intis before, and with the outbreak of war, the Church did not pursue him too much."
Theodore Mormont briefly explained, and the jet-powered flying device beneath his feet spewed out pale blue flames, rapidly flying away from this sea area.
The Berserk Sea, influenced by the residual power of the Death, is perpetually in violent storms, where the spirit world and reality largely overlap, making even Sights in the Spirit World dangerous.
Therefore, neither the True God Churches nor the hidden organizations rarely venture into the Berserk Sea areas outside of safe shipping lanes.
The Golden Dream silently emerged in a pitch-black storm, violently fluctuating with the exaggerated waves.
Salty sea air and rainwater, accompanied by strong winds, poured into the city, and silver-white lightning struck occasionally, the exaggerated commotion making one feel as if this city could sink into the seabed at any moment.
There's no way to properly explore this city under these conditions, unless I constantly use the sea god scepter above the Gray Fog to suppress the waves here.
As thoughts flickered, he saw Roselle walk directly to the magnificent, tall chair and then sit down.
At this instant, Roselle's image suddenly became grand and extremely oppressive, like a monarch looking down on all beings, making people instinctively avert their gaze, not daring to look directly.
Silently, the palace's swaying arc diminished, and the sounds of waves, strong winds, and lightning from outside gradually subsided.
Roselle waved his hand somewhat casually and said to Klein:
"I can temporarily take over this city as the 'Emperor' and use its special properties to suppress the waves. You can use this time to explore the city with that Blood Baron. If you find anything, remember to give me a share."
"Alright."
Klein nodded, picked up the palm-sized bronze door formed by the condensed Beyonder characteristic extracted from Ludwell, put it into the iron box he carried, and then walked directly out of the hall.
After Klein left, Roselle's face suddenly collapsed, and mechanical parts popped out one by one from his body, looking as if he would fall apart at any moment.
"Damn it, I almost lost face."
"Quick, give me that thing in your hand. This mechanical puppet's body can't withstand the residual aura's influence here."
Leyton then threw the golden crown, wrapped in transparent amber, that was in his hand, while also cautioning:
"There's still residual mental corruption on it. Use it carefully, don't get yourself killed again."
"What do you mean 'again'? Besides that one time with the Eternal Blazing Sun, I haven't died a second time."
Roselle retorted casually, and the transparent amber covering the golden crown was easily crushed by him, turning into specks of stardust that vanished into the air.
He swapped the decorative crown he was wearing for the new one, and his entire demeanor instantly changed. The dark Red Light flowing from his eyes turned into pale gold, losing the chaotic and distorted feeling, and gaining an air of majesty and solemnity.
Until he spoke, his majestic and solemn image instantly vanished:
"I suddenly realized that dying for a while isn't bad. Not only can I escape madness, but I can also go from being in the open to being Concealment, no longer attracting attention."
"Look at me now, developing in secret. I've quietly obtained a Hand of Order Beyonder characteristic. As long as I revive and get the Uniqueness of the Justiciar, my progress will directly surpass the Seven Deities, making me the closest existence to the Outer Deities."
Leyton calmly interrupted: "Unless the Western Continent is unsealed, none of us can become Great Old Ones."
Roselle leaned back in his chair with his legs crossed, speaking in a relaxed posture:
"Heh, so you simultaneously invested in 'God Almighty' and 'Lord of the Mysteries'? No matter who revives first, who succeeds first, you can demand that they lift the seal for you?"
"I knew it. When it comes to choosing sides and weaving conspiracies, you guys who wield knowledge and wisdom as your authorities are experts—absolutely rational, never letting yourselves return empty-handed."
"Speaking of a certain dragon without mentioning a certain dragon, every sentence is about a certain dragon. In this regard, you and Ankewelt might have common ground."
After a playful remark following Roselle's words, Leyton brought the topic back to the main track:
"My investment is not just for the Western Continent's seal. On the contrary, I'm not in a hurry about the seal. I hold an absolute advantage; as long as the seal is lifted before the barrier left by the Original Creator breaks, I can accept it."
"The real danger comes from the cosmos. If we don't want to become food for their expanding authority, we must find suitable allies and seize their authority ahead of them."
"Your ambition is quite grand!" Roselle exclaimed. He suddenly thought of something and curiously pressed on:
"Your cooperation with the God of Knowledge and Wisdom wasn't initially about helping him contend for the position of 'God', or rather, that wasn't your main point of cooperation."
"He is the Omniscient One, and you, to some extent, control all knowledge in the world. Could it be that you two have deduced a new authority combination that can achieve a Great Old One beyond what is known?"
"You can guess." Leyton smiled, not answering the question.
Roselle uncrossed his legs and leaned askew on the chair with an uncertain expression, falling into thought.
Backlund West Borough, Jodeson was in a good mood, standing on the second-floor balcony, breathing the not-so-fresh morning air of Backlund, and gazing at the bustling streets in the distance. He planned to bid farewell to Leonard today and return to the Golden Dream.
After more than two months of preparation, with the help of Danitz and others, he had finally completed the exploration of the Jacob Family's Concealment treasure and obtained the Parasite Beyonder characteristic from Pallez.
"After this period of tempering, my Dream Stealer potion has also digested quite a bit. Perhaps in another two or three months, I can start preparing to advance to a demigod?"
"I can first ask Bru to forge this Parasite characteristic into a Sealed Artifact for my use, just like the Captain… Hmm, Bru's skill level is limited. I can go back to the Southern Continent and find other Artisans; those two cats are good choices."
Planning his visible future, Jodeson felt very good today and decided to go out and find a high-end bar for a drink.
Perhaps, I can also have a wonderful encounter before leaving Backlund. No, no, my heart belongs to the Captain.
As Jodeson was pondering, his spiritual intuition was suddenly triggered. He instinctively turned his head to look at the sky. In the not-so-thin clouds, airships painted deep brown were densely approaching.
These airships bore the flag of Feysac, marked with diagonal red, white, and blue stripes!
Jodeson froze for a second, a string in his mind suddenly tightened, and his whole being seemed to be greatly stimulated—War! Feysac withdrew from the Southern Continent battlefield because they were going to declare war on Loen!
"Now, now I must leave Backlund, leave Loen. I don't have a formal identity here. Whether it's the Feysac army or the Loen authorities, I'll be considered a dangerous individual who needs to be dealt with."
"The Steam train will definitely be controlled. I need to contact the Captain and find someone who can roam the spirit world to pick me up."
As he muttered to himself, he saw visible wind blowing from the direction of Holy Wind Cathedral. The howling, swirling strong winds transformed into one green-black wind blades in mid-air, shooting towards the densely packed airships in the sky.
As soon as these huge, sharp wind blades approached the airships in the sky, they were blocked by a solidified barrier of morning light.
At the same time, the cannons, machine guns, and bomb bays on the airships opened one after another, all aiming downwards.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Violent collisions between wind and air produced explosive sounds. Terrifying, visible hurricanes swirled and coiled into an uncontrollable tornado!
The hurricane suddenly rose from the ground, intercepting and tearing apart all the tilted shells and bullets from the airships, exploding into a brilliant shower of sparks in mid-air.
The tornado did not last too long. In less than two seconds, it surged and blew in all directions, turning into a terrifying green-black storm, into mountain-like undulating waves, throwing the airships away.
In the green-black storm, a flash of light, like a fusion of blood and rust, instantly enveloped all the airships, connecting them into a single entity that stabilized in the hurricane.
On the ground, Jodeson kept swallowing his saliva. Having gone through the Cryptologist stage, visual obstructions could not hinder his sight. He could easily reconstruct the clearer battle scene in the sky in his mind.
"A battlefield with High-Sequence Beyonder participants is like a moving natural disaster. Is this the scene the Captain and his comrades experienced on the front lines?"
"Fortunately, the Captain has already advanced to Prophet and can avoid potential dangers relatively easily. Otherwise, even piloting the Golden Dream, it would be difficult to survive on the battlefield."