"O Fool who does not belong to this era, you are the mysterious ruler Above the Gray Fog, you are the King of Yellow and Black who holds good fortune in his grasp. Thank you for your grace, which has allowed me to have a wonderful morning..."
Early in the morning, Sno followed his usual routine and woke Mr. Fool, then rang for room service to bring breakfast.
Mr. A was staying next door now. Praying to another God almost face-to-face with him was quite thrilling.
However, in Mr. A's eyes, Sno was clearly pledging his loyalty to the True Creator. The more he looked at Sno, the more pleasing Sno seemed.
Unlike Sno, who was being watched by the police, Mr. A had arrived in secret. Thus, after praying to the rap master that morning, he hurriedly left the inn to search for that woman.
Sno had not concealed anything about Magaos. He had clearly explained her connections and why she had come to the Fortune Telling Club. Just as he had said before, if the Evil God Progeny was in Tingen, it would be a devastating disaster. But if it was in Backlund, it would not even make a ripple.
If Mr. A could take the Evil God Progeny and Magaos to Backlund, Sno would truly approve with both hands and both feet. However, he believed that Mr. A was more likely to return empty-handed this time...
Just as Sno finished praying to Mr. Fool, in a house with a Red Chimney on the outskirts of Tingen City, a Feather Quill was writing furiously across an open notebook without anyone holding it—
"What a surprise. Mr. A, who should have remained in Backlund, has actually come to Tingen. Without a doubt, he will take Magaos away. Although this has not received the True Creator's approval, as a mad yet devout believer, Mr. A clearly would not tolerate his Lord's progeny being left wandering outside. This is very logical."
"Oh, poor Ince Zangwill. A Sequence V Gatekeeper could never stop a Shepherd who had Shepherded seven Beyonders! His plans seemed to be inevitably sliding toward failure. Perhaps this was because he was not very good at writing stories? I have to admit, as a writer, he really was quite clums..."
Just as the Feather Quill danced wildly, a somewhat rough, pale hand suddenly reached out from the darkness and gripped it tightly. Then, its owner rudely started a new line and wrote new words in a different handwriting—
"As an Oracle of the Aurora Society, Mr. A's movements will always draw attention from all sides. His departure from Backlund undoubtedly attracted the attention of the Three Great Churches. Three elite Beyonder squads followed the traces he left behind to Tingen and intercepted him while he was searching for Magaos."
"As a Sequence V Beyonder, his appearance undoubtedly drew the attention of every official Beyonder in Tingen City. To prevent this Lunatic from causing an irreparable disaster, all official Beyonders stopped their current work and began investigating his whereabouts with all their strength. This is very reasonable."
"Red Gloves? Damn it!" After several divinations, Mr. A had finally located Magaos's residence. But just as he was about to reach his destination, a squad of Beyonders wearing red gloves intercepted him.
As a Shepherd who was nearly unbeatable in an encounter battle, he was not worried about his own safety. However, there was no doubt that taking the Divine Child away while being pursued by these hyena-like Heretics was no longer possible.
Mr. A activated his shadow-transformation ability and entered a hidden state as he pondered the reason for this failure.
Among the Beyonders he had Shepherded was a Devil, but his evil-intent perception had not activated. This meant that this was merely an "encounter."
But could it really be such a coincidence?
As an experienced Beyonder, Mr. A immediately connected this to the intelligence he had obtained from Sno last night. A savage expression appeared on his beautiful face—
"Sure enough, all of this is part of someone's scheme! They actually dared to use my Lord! Damn it!"
However, since the other party had chosen to use the Red Gloves to stop him, there was a high chance that they were not a Beyonder skilled in direct combat. At the very least, they were not someone capable of quickly defeating him.
Having figured everything out, Mr. A immediately gave up the idea of fighting the Red Gloves head-on and instead unleashed a wide-area Dream Invasion.
Even though he was Sequence V, such a crude Dream Invasion could not endanger the Red Gloves' elites. However, that brief moment of resistance was already enough for him to escape the battlefield.
"He got away!" one of the Beyonders wearing red gloves said resentfully. Yet an older Red Gloves member reached out and pressed a hand on his junior's shoulder.
"No. It would be more accurate to say that he spared us..."
With that, he sighed again.
"It seems this Lunatic does not want to make things worse. This undoubtedly means that his trip to Tingen was not a whim. We must send word back as soon as possible... Nothing good ever comes from getting involved with the Aurora Society!"
"Lord of the Mysteries is merely a novel..."
Layer upon layer of whispers echoed beside Sno's ears once more. He knew that 0-08 had begun searching again for the person disrupting the script.
Sno was both troubled and pleased by 0-08's frantic behavior. He was troubled because it made his head ache, but at the same time, if 0-08 had started going mad, that meant its—or rather, Ince Zangwill's—script had been torn apart once again.
"It looks like Mr. A's actions really gave Ince Zangwill a headache. What a pity. If Mr. A had gone while that guy was asleep, he might really have been able to take Magaos away."
Though Sno said that, everything happening now was entirely within his calculations.
It was practically inevitable that Ince Zangwill would interfere with Mr. A. However, as long as Mr. A drew the attention of the official Beyonders, half of Sno's plan had already succeeded. As for the other half...
The other half depended on Mr. Fool...
"Captain, what did you need me for?" On the other side, Mr. Fool, who had been forced to get up early because of Mr. Devil's prayers, arrived at Blackthorn Security Company. While he and Old Neil were having an occultism lesson, and he was also considering how to inform the captain about the Evil God Progeny without leaving any trace, he and Old Neil were summoned to the captain's office.
Then he discovered that Old Neil and he were not the only ones there. Frye, Kenley, Royale... even Seeka Tron, who was off duty today, had been called over.
Although he did not know what had happened, Klein knew that it had to be something major!
P.S. 1: Adam probably was not paying attention to the events in Tingen—
First, 0-08 was a backup plan left behind by the Dragon of Daydreams. If it sensed Adam's gaze, it should have immediately tried to flee instead of playing games with Ince Zangwill.
Second, Adam's main focus at this point should have been on how to guide the course of history, including killing Duke Negan. Judging from 0-08's range of influence, Adam's attention should also have been limited. Compared to 0-08, which had reached an understanding with the Goddess, the ritual was more important and could not afford the slightest carelessness.
Third, Adam and the True Creator were locked in a life-or-death rivalry. The True Creator could not possibly watch Adam obtain 0-08. The original work also clearly stated that the True Creator saw the traces of 0-08 on Lanevus but did nothing, which was enough to prove that Adam had not intervened at this time.
Fourth, although the Goddess had tacitly permitted Ince to steal 0-08, Adam should have had to wait until the Goddess achieved her objective before touching 0-08. Otherwise, it would mean the deal had fallen apart. Before becoming a God, Adam was not a match for the Goddess, so he should not have been paying attention to 0-08 in Tingen—or dared to. Of course, it was also possible that the Goddess had concealed 0-08.
P.S. 2: Klein was still quite immature at this point, and his vigilance was not particularly high. If he were Detective Charlotte from the second volume, he probably would not directly call Sno up to ask for the details. But at this point, he probably would do so.
Before you continue