A special skull

Klein recalled the general's information in his mind; he appeared to be from Loen, Intis, Feysac, Feynapotter,

The various Resistance forces wavered between themselves, maintaining a balance, while secretly gaining support from the Imperial Family Numinous Episcopate.

At the same time, Klein suspected that the native general had also established a strong connection with the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.

As for Mesangers's own strength, it is marked as Sequence 5 in the data. It is impossible to determine which Pathway he belongs to, because most of the abilities this native general has shown are related to the spirit, but he carries Mystical Item from the "Death God" Pathway.

Perhaps I should call Neph to take a look—come to think of it, Skull doesn't necessarily have to be from someone who's been dead for a long time; if there's a suitable candidate, I'm willing to kill them on the spot—of course, he's not suitable, not suitable at all—

"Good afternoon, Your Excellency General." Klein removed his hat, placed his hand on his chest, and bowed.

At that moment, he felt gazes from unknown sources watching him. They were the light flashing from the golden Angel statue, the Yang Guang reflecting off the stained glass, and the gleam from the smooth marble.

"Hello, Mr. Dantes," Mesangers replied in Dutanese.

This determined the language Klein would use in their subsequent casual conversation. He chatted with Mesangers as if he hadn't noticed anything amiss, the topic unconsciously steer towards Skull. They exchanged a few words about the human bone customs of the Balam Empire, when Mesangers seemed to remember something and chuckled, "You know what? In faraway Lenburg, in Isar, although they don't have a similar custom, they did something quite similar."

"Hmm?" Klein showed an interested expression.

Mesangers replied with a smile, "I heard they preserved the Skull of a certain Pope, and when they were building a sculpture for that Pope, they had the Skull embedded in his head."

This—this sounds— Klein was instantly intrigued. It was undoubtedly a very special Skull, but Klein remained clear-headed. He knew perfectly well that if he were to steal the Skull of a Pope, he would probably be asking for death.

However, I can ask for more information, just in case it comes in handy— Klein thought to himself, and was about to continue the conversation on this topic when Mesangers suddenly spoke up, "How much stock do you have in total?"

Despite his anxiety, Klein had to suppress it for the time being and replied with a smile, "Equipping three or four thousand men is no problem, and we also have a few cannons."

Mesangers paused for a moment before saying, "Name your price."

After a moment's consideration, Klein said, "If you let me deliver the goods to Northern Province, the price is 50,000 pounds. If you send a team with me to pick up the goods, and you take care of the subsequent transportation and security yourself, it will only cost 40,000 pounds."

Mesangers thought for a moment and said, "The latter."

"Take the deposit and bring my men with you. Once you see the goods and load them onto the carriage, my men will pay the remaining balance."

He paused, then added, "However, I don't have that Loen Gold Pound."

This was to be expected. Klein glanced around and smiled nonchalantly, "You can pay me directly in Gold Coin, or even gold bars or gold bricks."

Mesangers was quite decisive, and without any hesitation, nodded and said, "Deal. I'll have Haggis bring the men and money to you tomorrow."

The deal was struck, but Klein didn't leave immediately, which seemed like a waste of his time. He and Mesangers quickly resumed their conversation. Klein subtly steered the conversation back to the statue and the Pope, trying to glean more information, but Mesangers shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"I only heard about it from someone by chance."

Klein realized that this was probably something the general had heard when he contacted the Church of Knowledge, but the two obviously hadn't discussed the topic in depth. So Klein had to give up on this approach, chatted casually with General Mesangers for a few more minutes, and then got up to take his leave.

"The Pope of the Church of Knowledge—?" Neph's expression froze slightly. "I can assure you, I didn't know about this when I made that request to you, otherwise I would have been more explicit—no, I wouldn't have asked you to bring back a Skull from Lenburg in the Southern Continent."

"So," Klein nodded, somewhat expectantly, not too surprised, "You probably don't know why, after I left there, someone was Divination my fortune and visiting my dreams, right?"

"Hmm?" Neph sat up slightly. "Wait a minute, I might know something about this—"

She paused, then said with a strange expression, "Those are Potion ingredients for Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man to advance to Sequence 4. Oh, and Mr. Sun can use them too."

"----?" Klein glanced at Neph hesitantly, trying to understand her words. "You—well, you mean, that's a Demigod of the Church of Knowledge?"

After much thought, he realized that the people Neph had mentioned all happened to be on adjacent Pathway, so Neph was probably referring to an Adjacent Pathways as well. Combining this with the information about General Mesangers, he easily came up with the Church of Knowledge.

"It should be him," Neph nodded. "It's alright, it'll be good to see him."

With Neph's words of comfort, Klein felt relieved. When he was told the next day at Mesangers's mansion that someone wanted to see him, he asked without changing his expression, "When?"

"Now," Klein heard an answer that brooked no refusal, "He's downstairs."

This clearly skipped the request step and went straight to the door. Klein was somewhat surprised; both direct Divination and this kind of in-person Visit seemed rather rash to him. He nodded slightly and said, "Please invite him up."

Not long after, Luca, wearing a plain white robe with brass thread trim, came up. His full head of silver hair was neatly combed.

As he approached Dwayne Dantès ' door, just as he was about to raise his hand, he heard a voice from inside say, "Come in."

This time, they used Ancient Feysac.

Luca showed no change in expression and naturally pushed open the door.

He immediately saw Dwayne Dantès, whom he had met yesterday, standing beside the Armchair, facing away from him. In the Armchair sat a young man with black hair, brown eyes, a thin face, sharp features, and a cold demeanor.

Luca paused for a moment, then stepped forward, entered the room, and closed the wooden door.

He calmly found a sofa and sat down, his gray-green eyes clearly reflecting the figure of the young man opposite him.

"Gehrman Sparrow?" Luca asked, sounding both inquiring and addressing him.

Gehrman Sparrow smirked and said, "It's not polite to call someone by their full name."

Luca nodded and said:

"I apologize for my rudeness. I remember you were promoted to Sequence 5 in less than half a year, maybe even only three months. I didn't expect you to have become Demigod. This made me a little flustered."

"I know someone," Gehrman Sparrow began, "who is less than a year old, yet already possesses the strength of Sequence 3."

"----?" Luca looked incredulous. "How could this be—wait, I think I know who you're talking about."

He cast his questioning gaze upon Gehrman Sparrow, Gehrman expression remained unchanged, seemingly uninterested Sparrow explaining.

Luca frowned slightly. During the time when Gehrman Sparrow was at the height of his fame on the the Sea, he had naturally obtained the relevant data and analysis reports. He knew that Gehrman Sparrow knew a mysterious girl, who was not yet Demigod when she first appeared.

However, as Demigod of the Church of Knowledge, he has higher Authority to archives and can see things that others cannot, such as the girl's unusually high level of secrecy— the Church forbids members who are not Angel from accessing relevant information, and only when she has clearly appeared in the parish under your responsibility can some information be accessed.

Luca had recently consulted the relevant materials. As the head of the Church of Knowledge in West Balam, he was not as concerned about the movements of the Numinous Episcopate as the Church of Evernight, but he would not let them go unnoticed. Naturally, he knew about the recent changes in the Artificial Death God Faction.

According to the intelligence Luca Rus obtained, one of the two Saint currently affiliated with the Artificial Death God Faction in the Southern Continent claimed to have seen a messenger of Death God, whom he referred to as the "Pure White Walker."

Such an act undoubtedly met with opposition from another Saint, but before the Angel Haiter, who was unable to leave the Mausoleum, was disturbed, that Saint's opposition dissipated and transformed into a longing, a longing to meet the Oracle.

Combining the mysterious "Pure White Walker" and the "Pure White" lady on the the Sea, along with the subsequent death of Tracy, which has been confirmed to be inextricably linked to the "Pure White" lady, Luca Rus once conceived an unverifiable and bold conjecture—he suspected that the "Pure White" lady and the person behind her had somehow stolen the response of the Artificial God of Death Reaper!

But now, Gehrman Sparrow's words suddenly reminded him of an unverified piece of information in that document—

It is said that the "Pure White" lady once claimed that it only took her half a year to go from an ordinary person to Demigod.

This should be incredible, but it makes perfect sense if she was only born six months ago.

Luca Rus felt a chill run down his spine. He possessed both an instinctive thirst for the unknown and a rational will to stop everything. He quickly changed the subject. "I don't think I've had a chance to explain why I'm here."

"Here's the thing, I made a Prophecy by chance before, in Prophecy I would find myself in a rather troublesome situation in the future, and someone I met here these past few days can help me deal with it."

"I'm not sure if it's you, but with the thought that it's better to admit I'm wrong than to miss you, I finally decided to come and meet you so we can get to know each other."

"My name is Luca Rus, a clergyman who serves the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, and currently in charge of the Church's affairs in West Balam."

Gehrman Sparrow nodded and said, "Yes, I already know you. I don't think I need to introduce myself again, do I?"

"Of course," Luca thought for a moment and said, "You should be a ' Bizarro Sorcerer '?"

This was not surprising. As Demigod- level clergyman of the Church of Knowledge, Klein was not surprised that Luca Rus could recognize his Sequence. He neither nodded nor shook his head, but instead asked in return, "I heard that you had a Pope's Skull encased in a statue in Isar?"

Luca paused slightly, then frowned and said, "You seemed quite interested in this before?"

Gehrman Sparrow nodded, readily admitting, "Before I came to the Southern Continent, I asked Miss Pure White for a small favor. You should know who I'm referring to."

"After I had done what I needed to do, she asked me for payment, requesting that I bring back a special Skull for her from the Southern Continent."

"So far, only the Pope's Skull sounds like the most suitable candidate—or are you willing to sacrifice yourself?"

Luca Rus clearly didn't have that ambition, but it would be unacceptable to remain silent when someone demanded the Pope's Skull. He said, "I don't mind using the channels of the Church of Knowledge to help you search for any special Skull that might exist, but if you continue to make such offensive remarks, I think my My Lord will surely punish you."

Hmm, it sounds like he's planning to report this to the "God of Knowledge and Wisdom"—frankly, that might actually be a good thing, because whatever the "God of Knowledge and Wisdom's " reply is, at least I'll have an answer, unless He thinks my thoughts are too offensive and strikes me dead with lightning—

Well, lightning isn't the Authority. Maybe I should consider another approach—like stuffing my head with knowledge? No, that won't do. That sounds too Affliction. It reminds me of when I first became Dwayne Dantès.

"You shouldn't have said that to me," Klein shook his head. "If you want a warning, you should go see Miss Pure White, because she only told me I needed a Skull that was special enough, but she didn't tell me what constituted special, or rather, I don't think that's an answer."

"That's what she said?" Luca Rus asked.

"She said I'd know it was special the moment I saw it," Klein replied truthfully.

This was indeed a difficult situation. Luca Rus frowned and pondered, "It sounds like some kind of revelation—like the revelation I received."

"I don't know," Gehrman Sparrow replied, "But I did initially mistake her for Soothsayer."

Luca Rus's expression shifted slightly, and he stood up, saying, "I'll go back and try to gather information; consider it a small gift."

"Do you need me to give you a ride?" Klein asked him.

"No need," Luca Rus declined the offer. "I only intended to get to know you anyway, to prepare for what might come."

He stood up, turned the Door Opening, and left the room. Gehrman Sparrow, leaning back in his recliner, watched his figure disappear behind the door, then suddenly turned to his side and asked, "Dwayne, what do you think?"