Ende07 All Out of Luck

Foreword:

Lady Luck did not smile upon me.

--White Snake

[Part 1: Cleverness vs. Wisdom]

At 7:45 a. m., Lady Goelia, along with several officers from the Church of Dionysus, went to the Tequila Sunrise Hotel to prepare for the handover of goods. Jason planned to take advantage of the situation to not only retrieve Berloberg but also rescue the shipwrights of the Nostalgia and completely break the bet agreement between Flavia and Gloria.

He had no intention of making any promises to the devil; he wanted to lead his students into dangerous situations, to undertake high-risk operations like snatching food from a tiger's mouth.

The Spirit Cloud Squad once again infiltrated the central courtyard of the Church of Dionysus. The butler, Mr. Parker, had been knocked unconscious by Daniel and thrown into the kitchen trash can, where he wouldn't wake up for a while.

The battle-hardened Mr. Jason had extensive experience in urban warfare and began to command his young and inexperienced soldiers.

"Hao Bro and Kaycee, start searching from the dressing room and go all the way to the dormitory building. Retrieve General of Tears's guns, ammunition, and weapons."

"There are many servants in the dressing room. As long as you identify yourself, they won't stop you for now. Don't alert them."

"I saw two groups of carriages outside the church. One group carried the Governor's banners, probably civil officials from East Horse Port visiting Gloria. The other group had ordinary carriage decorations. My Inspiration tells me that there aren't many high-value targets here; they're probably all hidden in the Magpie Mountain Ruins. The Blood-giving Monster that fear sunlight are all hiding underground."

"The most dangerous place is the safest. Daniel and I are going to try our luck at Gloria's collection to get our hands on the former Hunter King's Life Box and bring this predecessor back to the Nine Realms."

"We'll meet at the stables in the courtyard, from here to here."

Jason drew a line from the cricket ground to the corridor connecting the interior to the courtyard, using the church's topographical map.

"Search for the crew members of the Nostalgia as much as possible and bring them out."

"Xiao Min and Katusha, you two are in charge of keeping watch. If Gloria returns early, ring the Summoning Bell. Everyone should leave the same way they came, understand?"

The students nodded and privately exchanged types of firearms and ammunition. Without Jason needing to remind them, these children, well-versed in the Six Arts, had already adjusted their equipment configurations on their own after just glancing at the rooms inside and outside the church.

Without any further verbal communication or tactical arrangements, they split into pairs and acted separately.

Kaycee and Hao Bro were the fastest to move, brazenly arriving at the cloakroom door right under the noses of the church volunteers—just as Mr. Jason had said, with so many worshippers at the church every day, apart from Butler Sirius, almost no servants would inquire about the guests' origins.

"What do we do now, A Hao?" Kaycee asked. "We don't know which cabinet Meteor Teacher's equipment is in. If we just ask directly, won't we give away our intentions?"

At this point, A Hao actually connected to the Moffett neural network and became smarter.

"It depends on Inspiration."

"Oh right!" Kaycee exclaimed, suddenly realizing, "Teacher Meteor left the Church of Dionysus last night. The Red Stone People's signature Inspiration Pressure signature is easy to spot—his personal items would also be tainted with this psychic energy residue. How come I didn't think of that!"

"You've been spending too much time in the arena," A Hao said with a grin as he pushed open the door. "During the competition, the Vanguard has to process so many spiritual pressure signals and do friend-or-foe identification. Their thinking patterns become rigid along with the competition process—you need to be flexible."

"It feels so weird to be lectured by someone as brainless as you," Kaycee pouted.

"Hehe!" When A Hao pushed the door open completely, he saw a dozen or so shirtless men sitting on the bench in the dressing room. They looked like they had just come out of the baths at the Church of Dionysus —all of them were officers and soldiers from the Governor's Mansion.

"What do we do now?" Kaycee asked in a low voice.

A Hao didn't know what to do either.

The two young men were fully armed, with carrying gear and combat knives on the outside, their waist belts brimming with guns, bullets, and explosives, and underneath they wore quick-drying camouflage uniforms and bulletproof chest braces. They also had night vision goggles and mountaineering equipment. If these soldiers had any eyesight, they would recognize this modern equipment and realize that the two men were up to no good and were acting suspiciously.

Seeing Hao Bro standing there stunned for a long time, Kaycee was getting anxious.

--She was completely at ease, immediately taking off her bulletproof helmet, tossing her long, wavy blonde hair around, and casually taking out perfume from a small pouch in her carry-on bag, spraying it on a few times in a free and easy manner.

Hao Bro was still planning the kill order in the front and rear reaction zones when he didn't expect that such a simple action by Kaycee would make the soldiers of the East Horse Port Governor's Office lower their guard.

These soldiers, raised with sexual repression in feudal times, had never seen anything like this before. As Kaycee prepared to remove her armor and change clothes, they all involuntarily turned their heads away, afraid of defiling the foreign woman's innocence, and voluntarily retreated from the public area to the curtained booths in the men's section.

"Wow, awesome!" Hao Bro exclaimed softly.

Kaycee hung her helmet back on her gear and urged impatiently, "Get moving! I can't get to the men's changing room. These guys are the Governor's personal guard—they didn't go out with Gloria, and they won't be leaving anytime soon. It's up to you now."

Hao Bro looked nervous, swallowed hard, and walked towards the men's area with a deliberately confident and natural gait.

He followed the spiritual pressure signature of his teacher, Meteor, all the way to the locker door. In the relatively independent and enclosed cubicles of the men's area, several Government Soldiers were sitting and chatting idly.

"Was that foreigner from Mitran?"

"The clerk of the Carriage Bureau recognizes him?"

"Where can I recognize it?" The clerk of the Carriage Office (an official in charge of the carriages and horses of princes and below, serving as a driver for officials) replied, "If you want me to recognize a carriage, I certainly can. Bring me a few more batches of imperial horses, and I'll recognize them too—where did this foreign woman come from? You'll have to ask the Imperial Clan Court and the Hongfa Temple."

The moment Hao Bro followed the remnants of spiritual pressure into the cubicle, the soldiers fell silent—all staring at this imposing, tall, and distinguished foreigner.

Although A Hao is of the same race as the Asians in Great Xia, with black hair and yellow skin, he is tall and has never lacked calcium nutrition since childhood. Among this Government Soldiers, he is as tall as a captain.

As soon as he entered, Hao Bro heard a questioning.

"Young master, are you also here at the Church of Dionysus to pray and ask for incense?" asked the clerk of the Carriage Office.

A Hao, lacking social experience, simply replied, "Oh, yes."

In less than a minute, Hao Bro went to check the lock on the cabinet door.

The clerk then asked, "Do the things in this cabinet belong to the young master? Why are the wristband and key missing?"

A layer of white sweat immediately appeared on A Hao's forehead.

My friend left something here, I'm helping him retrieve it.

At this point, several Government Soldiers instinctively reached for their weapons.

The librarian crossed his legs, his expression becoming ambiguous. "We have distinguished guests visiting the Church of Dionysus today. The Vice Minister and Priestess Gloria are out on business, so we brothers need to stay at the church to protect their safety."

"Young master, could you do me a favor and let me take a look at your travel documents or sea travel permits?"

Hao Bro didn't have any of these things on him. Knowing he was showing weakness, he finally managed to pry open the cabinet where Teacher Meteor kept his guns and ammunition, took out the Wild Wolf Ace and ammunition, and also stuffed the Berloberg and a series of multi-purpose shotgun shells into his pocket.

To be honest, he didn't want to fight to the death with these ordinary people, but without identification, these soldiers would definitely arrest him and send him to the governor's office for interrogation.

Having found Meteor Teacher's Universal Elixir reserves and Gloria's Holy Blood Potion, A Hao quickly packed them into a portable shoulder bag and walked out without saying a word.

"Where are you going?" the scribe shouted.

The shout attracted the other brothers outside the men's section. They lifted the curtain, and there were thirteen or fourteen shirtless, strong men standing outside the corridor.

Without a word, Hao Bro pulled out twelve flashbang grenades from his waist pouch, and casually fired Meteor Teacher's stockpile of flashbang shotguns at the ceiling using the Wild Wolf Ace.

--In the blink of an eye, these native soldiers who had never seen modern firearms, magic, or Daoist arts didn't even have time to draw their swords. The continuous loud noises and bright lights stunned them, and they covered their eyes but couldn't protect their ears, so they were all unable to move.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, A Hao made a quick escape. Instead of fleeing to the cloakroom, he headed straight for the front courtyard church, not wanting to bring his pursuers with him.

At that moment, Kaycee, who had heard the explosion, hurriedly followed.

"What's going on?!"

A Hao: "I've been exposed!"

Kaycee: "How were you exposed?"

A Hao: "I deliberately exposed myself!"

Kaycee rolled her eyes, then realized that this was indeed something Hao Bro was capable of doing, so she decided to stop pretending.

"It's a good thing."

A Hao: "How come it's still a good thing?"

"Let's run a few laps around the church and cricket field with these guards! That'll buy Mr. Jason some time!" Kaycee explained, "When it comes to running, we're not afraid of anyone!"

The vanguard sentinels and breakthrough players of the Fairy Tale Kingdom have always been among the fastest marchers in the entire league. Jason put Hao Bro and Kaycee in the same group for this reason—these two kids are the fastest runners at the slightest disturbance.

The twelve flashbangs delayed them for more than a minute. Hao Bro and Kaycee rushed through the main hall of the Church of Dionysus, and deliberately waited a while after rushing out of the side door.

The officers and soldiers of the Governor's Mansion pulled up their trousers, put on their coats, and, brandishing their swords and cannons, followed him out, creating a noisy and chaotic atmosphere of shouts and battle cries.

"Thieves are attacking! All soldiers, heed my command! Follow me immediately!"

"They're running this way! Brothers! Quick! Quick, quick, quick!"

As they followed, servants and parishioners guided the soldiers along the way. Hao Bro and Kaycee led the twenty-odd men in circles, playing hide-and-seek between the first and second floors of the church mansion.

Meanwhile, Xiao Min and Katusha also heard the unusual noises in the housing area, but they didn't make any rash moves—because the Summoning Bell didn't ring.

[Part 2: No dodging, no evasion, relying entirely on internal strength]

Arriving at the brewery in the back courtyard of the church district, from where they could sneak into the dormitory area, Jason and Daniel chose the route that looked the easiest but was actually the most difficult.

Why is it said to be difficult to travel?

Do you remember the drinks that Gloria prepared for the guests when Meteor and his group first arrived at the Church of Dionysus?

This is Judas's alchemy workshop, a crucial alchemical furnace for the Guiyi Sect the Immortals. The most important thing in the Church of Dionysus is wine, the essential substance needed for bloodletting, and also the incubator for nurturing the immortal embryo in the Dagda's Cauldron. Powerful and high-value targets are stationed here.

Jason Megan and Daniel Fragerak bypassed the central garden and climbed over the wall again to reach the back courtyard, preparing to pick the lock and enter the corridor staircase. At this crucial moment, a tall man emerged from the brewery.

The man was pale, wearing a wide felt hat and a thick gray woolen coat that covered every inch of his skin, so that even his fingers dared not be exposed to a ray of sunlight—a very obvious sign of blood transfusion.

He wore a golden mask, very similar to Judas's Soul Might, with green lipstick, except for two blood-red tears. The expression on the mask was one of deep sorrow and grief, as if he were being tortured and emitting a silent wail.

Beneath the raincoat, two indescribably distorted faces rose up, and beneath the fabric of the clothes on the shoulders, it seemed as if two other tormented souls were hiding, concealed within the man's body, radiating pure malice through the thick woolen fabric.

Like being pricked by needles, the vicious Inspiration Pressure made Jason's head spin and his fingers ache.

His lock-picking motion distorted, and he involuntarily turned back with Daniel to look at the iron gate of the brewery, at the tall, muscular masked man.

"Daniel!"

Daniel fired without Jason giving the shooting order!

In an instant, the eagle spat out twelve bullets, and the continuous gunfire scared away the swallows in the courtyard.

The scorching hot, copper-plated silver-core bullets bombarded the mask, but had no effect whatsoever.

"--Clean bullets are useless!"

Daniel's eyes were unfocused, as if he had witnessed something unbelievable.

"What kind of monster is this?!"

His dynamic vision is excellent; as an attacker, he has the eyes of an eagle.

The bullet struck the monster's mask squarely, and in an instant, the copper sheet and silver core separated and disintegrated, flowing over the mask like water! It turned into the soft, limp plaster on the iron gate!

"He's coming towards us! Professor Jason! That's a Soul Might attack!"

Just as Daniel guessed, the monster that emerged from the brewery was one of the incarnations of Judas, and was Gloria Sebastian's brewmaster.

[Turn It Midas Touch Gold] is the power of Judas's soul, activated through this golden mask. Its special ability is to decompose most of the substances on the periodic table, turning them into pure elemental substances.

In Judas' eyes, any life or matter can be calculated, valued, and reclassified into a pure "Midas Touch." All complex life forms or alloys can be transformed into categorized and quickly settled goods through a gentle kiss of [Turn It Into Gold].

The Buddha Sculptor once used the power of [Turn It Into Midas Touch] to instantly destroy half of the Hundred Eyes Great King's body, turning this mass of essence into a ball of flesh.

The two cups of human flesh wine that Gloria gave to the Feathered Serpent sisters were also brewed and purified using the Soul Power of [Turn It Into Midas Touch], and were human flesh soup with a water content of 67%.

The moment Daniel fired the bullet at the target and it struck the golden mask, the copper and silver bullet transformed into soft, limp molecular matter. This altered the material's structure, shattering the bullet into fragments that could no longer cause any harm.

"Your double-dealing doesn't surprise me at all, Jason Megan." A powerful, deep male voice came from beneath the golden mask. "You signed a bet with Gloria, and now you're going to back out halfway through, sneaking into the Church of Dionysus to try and cheat?"

Daniel changed his firing stance, switching to his rifle to stop the enemy from moving any further.

Explosive grenades and rifle bullets were thrown at the burly, tall, and eerie man. Most of the metal pellets and grenade fragments turned into shimmering silver streams of water, scattering and disintegrating from the man's body. Only the flames left charred burn marks, which were merely visible on the surface of his coat.

"Ridiculous modern weapons"

"You have no idea what divine power Judas bestowed upon me! What price we paid for our righteous cause! For the forging of the Holy Grail!"

"I am the winemaker of Gloria Sebastian! I am Anthony Franz Geitner Steven Jacob. I am us!"

"We are one trinity!"

A sharp, terrifying roar came from the golden mask's shoulders and neck, and two more masks emerged, with two hideous human heads standing upright on the raincoat on the shoulders.

Jason opened the door to the corridor staircase, finally having a chance to take a look at this deformed freak—enough to do a preliminary analysis of its psionic essence.

"This guy's a chimera! A monster that's like Flash Butterfly! Damn it!"

"Three distinct Inspiration Pressure are coupled and intertwined, like a Frankenstein's monster! What the hell did Gloria and Judas come up with? Did they use three Red Flash Butterfly to create such a deformed monstrosity?"

Daniel was sweating profusely. "Could it be like the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in Yu-Gi-Oh! merging to become the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon form?"

"Duo Hun! I don't want to admit it so easily, but your analogy is very apt! Take my advice! Even if it's the BOSS's enthusiastic invitation, you should play less cards in the future!" Jason shielded Daniel behind him, retreating as the enemy advanced. "This guy has the soul power of Judas! Ordinary people can't withstand that kind of evil and venomous superpower, so three powerful Wings of Light are needed as mediums to keep Judas's spirit here!"

The three-headed, six-eyed golden mask splicerus exuded an overwhelming Inspiration Pressure, instantly causing a layer of frost to form on the glass doors of the corridor staircase.

"We will never allow any scoundrels to set foot on the sacred grounds of Wine God! Not even a single step!"

The monster roared, more blood and tears streaming from its sorrowful face, while crimson, evil eyes shone from the joyful and angry expressions on its shoulders.

Sharp knuckles shot out from the leather gloves, these bone arrows flying straight for Daniel's head.

In that instant, Jason grabbed Daniel and quickly dodged. He staggered and staggered, sometimes hunching over and sometimes turning his body to the side. There was a loud bang as glass shattered and walls cracked.

Daniel looked on incredulously. He had no wounds on his body. Looking at the corridor behind him, he saw that the brick floor was full of fragments. Bone arrows had pierced through the murals, knocked wall nails into vases, and even pierced through the soot pan of the fireplace on the southwest side.

"Mr. Jason! You actually dodged it?!"

"No," Jason said with a troubled expression. His body had just completed its wolf transformation, and he wanted to completely protect Daniel from the enemy's line of fire.

"It looks like they managed to dodge it."

The bright red wolf blood flowed down the steps towards the flowerbed. The bone arrows were so fast that they pierced ten holes in Jason's body.

"In reality, it all comes down to sheer internal strength."