Making Arrangements

At this point, he looked at Mephistopheles with some curiosity. "Wait a minute, you seem so familiar with this kind of thing, could it be that you've already successfully achieved the Third Magic? Yes, if you've achieved the Third Magic, then your current strength can be completely explained."

Mephistopheles shook his head and said, "No, I'm not interested in the Third Magic. The path I'm taking has nothing to do with the Five Magics."

Andersen looked at Mephistopheles, remained silent for a moment, then reached out and patted him on the shoulder in an old-fashioned manner. "Alright then, young man, go your own way. Speaking of which, since the other party said he could see all the futures, all the parallel worlds, then you must be careful. I feel that what he said is probably true."

"Fake."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because he didn't see through me. If he had, he wouldn't have been so careless today." Mephistopheles laughed. "Not only the future, but even things that have already happened in the past, he didn't see clearly. In other words, his so-called understanding of everything is based on a certain premise."

"What foundation?"

"The Root —it can only see what the Root can record. If the Root doesn't record it, then it can't see it at all. Just like it said, Chaldea can't see clearly because it's detached from the timeline. Is the development of Human History recorded on the timeline or on the Root?"

"Timeline, perhaps?"

"It's the Root, because time itself is a definition created by humans themselves. At the same time, what he said also exposed a problem: Chaldea has not escaped the Root. The fact that he cannot see it clearly shows that even the records in the Root are not all visible to him due to his own limitations."

Andersen was still puzzled by Mephistopheles's words. "Why are you so sure?"

"Because I am the evidence. Let me tell you a secret." Mephistopheles looked at the other party with a grin, "I actually lived in the Age of Gods, Greece. I participated in the War of the Gods Against the Giants with Heracles and Medea. As a key player, I fought alongside Artemis and Medea to kill Typhon. I also participated in the Argo's voyage."

Andersen's eyes widened slightly as he stared intently at the other person. Seeing that the other person wasn't joking, he finally said after a long while, "So, the one whose name wasn't recorded, the one mentioned as a mysterious person, was actually you?"

It's me.

"But in the story, this character is merely someone who can be glossed over; he is never the protagonist."

"So I am the evidence. The Root cannot record my existence; it can only record a part of me, which is what you see. It's like a format incompatibility; there's nothing I can do about it."

"Oh, right, Apollo said that I am like that, so don't be surprised. Now do you understand why I said that I am the proof that that guy's Omniscience is not Omniscience?"

Andersen laughed heartily, then shook his head and said, "Alright, I'm relieved. I'll leave the rest to you. If you need any help, you can try summoning me, but I don't have much combat power; I can only serve as a support."

After saying that, he waved to the other group of people and then disappeared.

Mordred then approached, shook hands with Mephistopheles, and said, "I just asked, and the girl said that she attacked my father on your orders."

"Yes, it's mine."

"I didn't even have time to process it; my father is gone," Mordred said, her voice tinged with emotion. "I was even thinking of fighting her..."

"Back then, there wasn't much time to waste; being in a hurry was the only logical thing to do," Mephistopheles said, then thought for a moment and continued, "If you're so eager to fight, I'll see. Perhaps in the future I can summon both of you and let you fight. If you're willing, you can fight every day."

"Real?!"

"Of course it's true, but I don't have Arthur's relics, so it's a bit difficult to summon him accurately. As for you..." Mephistopheles stroked his chin, took out his camera, and started snapping photos of the other person.

What are you doing?

"Take photos, as relics to summon you, or rather, as items to increase the probability of summoning you. Since the quality isn't enough, just rely on quantity!"

So, after taking photos for several minutes, Mephistopheles put away his camera with satisfaction.

Seeing Mephistopheles's peculiar behavior, Romani and Olga Marie, whose video communication had been restored due to the disappearance of the Demon Fog, couldn't help but show expressions of shock.

"So, there's such a way?!"

What are artifacts?

Anything related to the person you are summoning, even ordinary clothes worn by that person in their lifetime, can be used as a relic!

So what if you don't have any artifacts? Craft them yourself!

A 1:1 replica of the clothes might not be perfect, but the photos will be flawless.

The video recordings and visual documents make it arguably one of the most closely related artifacts!

Aside from the drawback that you have to see the Servant before you can take a picture, there are practically no problems!

Olga Marie looked at Romani, her eyes gleaming with sudden realization. "Organize all the footage we took during our past missions, including the high-resolution images of the Servants, and print them out in batches!"

In past missions, there have been quite a few powerful Servants, even King Arthur. Since the enemy is so strong, it's only reasonable to summon a few more Servants to help them!

Meanwhile, Romani had also begun the teleportation, bringing back everyone from the London Singularity in 1888.

As a group of people climbed out of the cabin, Olga Marie said to Romani, "Let's have a meeting immediately. I still have many questions to ask about this operation!"

"Yes, Director." Romani nodded. This operation had yielded a large amount of intelligence, and as the director, Olga Marie would definitely hold a meeting to discuss the next steps.

"We just got back and we already have a meeting? As expected of the director." Mash Kyrielight remarked, then looked at Ritsuka Fujimaru, "Senpai, don't you feel tired?"

This time, Mephistopheles hardly participated in any actions; they handled all the preliminary exploration and intelligence gathering, making the operation much more productive than previous ones.

Moreover, this time they also proved their fighting ability, and the group all looked very excited.

When Mephistopheles heard that Olga Marie wanted to start the meeting immediately, he wasn't surprised. He simply told Black Jeanne, "Go and rest."

Black Jeanne was somewhat surprised. "I don't need to go over there?"

"No need, I'll go. After all, what you and I saw was the same thing, and there's a high chance she'll just ask me some questions directly."

Black Jeanne nodded, accepting her break, and happily left the scene, leaving Mash Kyrielight with a look of envy.

Although she is now a Servant, she obviously still needs to attend meetings as an employee of Chaldea.

Upon arriving at the conference room, where only Olga Marie, Romani Leonardo da Vinci, and Roman were present, Mephistopheles, Mash Kyrielight, and Ritsuka Fujimaru found a few seats and sat down. Olga Marie then spoke, "What are your thoughts on that King Solomon?"

"That person could absolutely not be King Solomon!" Romani immediately exclaimed.

Olga Marie glanced at Romani with some confusion, seemingly unsure why he was so certain.

Seeing that Romani seemed unsure how to explain, Olga Marie looked at Mephistopheles: "Why did you say the other person was an imposter? I remember your ring very clearly; you made it yourself. You can't say the other person's ring is fake, can you?"

"I did it on purpose to provoke him. And even if I made this ring myself, its appearance and the power attached to it are indeed related to Michael. Of course, this doesn't prove that he is a fake Solomon."

Olga Marie nodded and said, "That's right, it can't be proven, so why are you so sure the other person is fake?"

"Because I know where the real Solomon is." Mephistopheles smiled, and amidst Romani's terrified expression, he reached out and grabbed the other's shoulder. "Here he is. Weren't you curious about who Chaldea's number one Servant was? He is."

Romani stared at Mephistopheles, his face clearly saying, "You betrayed me."

Chapter 178 Arrangements

Upon hearing Mephistopheles's words, both Olga Marie and Mash Kyrielight gave him a "you're kidding" look.

Seeing Mephistopheles's calm demeanor and Romani's shocked expression as he looked at Mephistopheles, as if he didn't understand why Morpheus said those words but didn't refute them, they were at a loss for what to do.

Ritsuka Fujimaru, however, widened her eyes and looked at Romani, saying, "So Dr. Roman has such an impressive background?!"

It was clear that she had come to believe it.

Olga Marie opened her mouth, looked at Leonardo da Vinci, and saw that he was smiling at Romani Leonardo da Vinci saying a word, so she couldn't help but become suspicious.

Could it be that Mephistopheles was telling the truth? Is Romani really King Solomon?

But Romani is such an unreliable guy, and he's just an ordinary human being, how could he possibly be King Solomon?!

"What I'm about to say is rather confidential, and I hope everyone here will keep it a secret, is that alright?" Mephistopheles suddenly said at this moment.

Everyone looked at Mephistopheles, while Romani struggled to suppress the urge to roll his eyes.

So what could be more secret than the fact that he was King Solomon?

Seeing Mephistopheles's serious expression, Olga Marie temporarily suppressed her doubts and nodded, saying, "Alright, we can sign a contract and rely on its power to prevent anyone from leaking information."

Mephistopheles shook his head. "No need. Actually, I think this secret might be known to everyone in a while. I'm only revealing it now to avoid causing any unnecessary trouble."

The group exchanged glances, then nodded slightly.

Olga Marie said, "Tell me, what secret?"

Mephistopheles said, "You all already know about the First Holy Grail War, right? The First Singularity we went to, the Fuyuki Singularity, the starting point of everything."

Everyone nodded. Ritsuka Fujimaru thought for a moment about her experience there and asked, "Was there a problem there?"

"Why is that imposter King Solomon so obsessed with destroying that place? Although we refer to the other Singularity as important turning points in human history, the Fuyuki City Singularity is clearly also very important."

Everyone fell into deep thought upon hearing Mephistopheles's words.

After a while, Olga Marie said, "Are you saying that the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City is also a very important event in human history?"

Mephistopheles shook his head. "I would say, more important than all of history."

Then, amidst everyone's confusion and Romani's silence, Mephistopheles continued, "Who is the officially recorded victor of that Holy Grail War?"

In response, Mash Kyrielight replied, "The records show that the victors are Saber and her Master."

"Yes, that's right, that's how the record is, but in reality, the record is fake."

"What?!" Olga Marie's eyes widened, while Mash Kyrielight shook her head, saying, "This record is fake?!"

"Yes, it's fake. The victors tampered with it, using the Holy Grail to deceive everyone. Do you understand?" Mephistopheles said.

At this moment, everyone was shocked by the news: the information recorded in the Clock Tower was actually false!

"Director, your family has suddenly acquired a large amount of funds. Can you explain why?"

Olga Marie frowned. "It's because they acquired a large amount of resources, which they then exchanged for a large amount of money."

Mephistopheles continued, "Timing."

Olga Marie pondered for a moment, then suddenly her eyes widened.

"After 2004, but actually, the time difference from the end of the Holy Grail War wasn't that great!" She paused, her eyes flickering. After a long while, she looked at Mephistopheles again. "Are you saying that the victor of that Holy Grail War was my father?"

"That's what I mean. The Holy Grail granted his wish, so naturally it will also grant the wishes of his Servants. The Servant he summoned at that time was King Solomon, a Caster-class Servant. King Solomon's wish at that time was to become an ordinary human being."

Mephistopheles then looked at Romani and asked, "Am I right?"

All eyes turned to Romani once again.

Seeing this, Romani remained silent for a moment before slowly nodding. "That's right, that's exactly it. I wished to become an ordinary human being, removing myself from the Throne of Heroes, and the price was that I lost all the power given to me by the Lord. Of course, you can understand it as me voluntarily returning it."

Mash Kyrielight and Olga Marie both looked at Romani, still finding it hard to accept the outcome even now.

That otaku who loves to sneak food, idolizes, and dreads robots is actually the legendary King Solomon!

But the reality is, he really is King Solomon!

"By the way, he's just an ordinary person now, so all we need is for him to admit he's King Solomon. Nothing else matters. We can't send him to the battlefield anyway." Mephistopheles said, patting Romani on the shoulder. "You've successfully proven that guy isn't King Solomon. Your mission is complete!"

Meanwhile, Olga Marie was still thinking about other things.

"In other words, my father won the victory and obtained a large amount of funds, which he used to build Chaldea as it is today, based on the knowledge of the Holy Grail War?! Although Chaldea was established very early, it has only really developed in recent years..."

"That's right, I don't know what his purpose is, but one thing is certain: humanity's current crisis stems from King Solomon's self-exile." Mephistopheles said, glancing at Romani. "Don't worry, I'm not saying your choice was wrong; I'm just saying you lack security awareness, like forgetting to turn off the gas before leaving the house."

Romani sighed and nodded, saying, "It's my fault. You're absolutely right."

Olga Marie asked, "So, who exactly is that guy?!"

"The collective entity of the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars, Goetia, is actually a kind of relatively self-disciplined special Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars system created by King Solomon to guide humanity on the right path, but this system requires King Solomon to control it."

"After King Solomon chose to become an ordinary person and returned his power, the system went out of control. Now they intend to destroy human history and return to the time when the planet was first born, so that they can replace the original consciousness."

"In other words, Goetia wants to go back to the past and become the only god of this planet, whether it is a planetary god, a nature god, or an artificial god, because he has a powerful enough consciousness to possess the power of a god before life was born, and he can guide the development of everything on the planet."

Mephistopheles explained in great detail. After listening, Olga Marie pondered for a moment and said, "You just said that the purpose of the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars is to guide humanity's direction?"

"That's right."

"So that means Goetia's real goal is to destroy present-day human history, then go back in time to become the sole god, and in that capacity guide newly born humans, ensuring they walk the path he has chosen from the very beginning?"

"That's right, you could interpret it that way. He thinks this is a good thing for humanity, a way to save humanity's future. Well, after all, it's a system that guides humanity, and he thinks humanity is rotten to the core." Mephistopheles curled his lip. "I'm sure if Jesus came out, he'd beat him up."

Olga Marie dared not participate in the conversation about Jesus' battle with Goetia, so she kept quiet.

"So now, can we analyze the relevant intelligence about Goetia?"

"His most powerful Noble Phantasm, which is the Noble Phantasm he displayed this time, is indeed what he said—hundreds of millions of attacks similar to the power unleashed by Excalibur. However, since this power is the energy source that drives his own plans, we will not be facing that much energy at all."

"Romani and I have discussed this, and the plan we've come up with is quite simple: as long as we quickly eliminate the remaining Singularity, then storm his exposed base and destroy all the halos he's painstakingly built up, his plan will fail."

"Without the aura of power, Goetia is just a slightly more powerful Servant; there's no need to take him seriously."

Seeing how easily Mephistopheles spoke, Olga Marie looked at Romani, Romani nodded. "Mephistopheles and I did discuss this matter. The other side is definitely unwilling to use the power of the auras easily. Our only difficulty is how to destroy more auras as quickly as possible before the other side notices."

"However, Mephistopheles told me there's no problem; he can destroy most of the auras in an instant. I think I can trust him, after all, the Durandal he's holding right now contains terrifying power."

Olga Marie then remembered that Mephistopheles had created a Durandal, and Jeanne d'Arc wielding that sword displayed the power of a top-tier Heroic Spirit, rather than simply being a clone of a Servant.

Thinking of this, her eyes lit up. "How effective is it for Black Jeanne to use your Durandal?"