Success

Kronos eagerly looked back.

"Sequence 9: Lawyer."

"Sequence 8: Barbarian."

"Sequence 7: The Briber."

"Sequence 6: The Baron of Corruption."

"Sequence 5: The Mentor of Disorder."

"Sequence 4: The Fallen Earl."

"Sequence 3: Frenzy Mage."

"Sequence 2: The Duke of Entropy."

"Sequence 1: The Prince of Abolition."

"Sequence 0: Black Emperor."

Kronos was about to delve deeper into the research when he suddenly Consciousness something.

It seems this thing is completely unblocked after being unblocked, and it can't be restored to its previous bookmark state. So, if we return it to Saint Hilleran Cathedral, wouldn't that be like throwing good money after bad?

This is a real problem. Kronos doesn't want to fawn over Klein, but he also doesn't want to ruin his opportunity.

This card has been a great help to Klein, saving him from danger several times. What if Klein gets tricked by this opportunity?

It's terrifying to think that the person who ultimately becomes Pillar of support might wear a Glasses in their right eye.

But no matter what, this card definitely can't be sent back; it wouldn't end up in Klein's hands anyway.

After thinking for a while, Kronos finally decided to keep it for himself.

First, find another bookmark to replace it, and then slowly figure out a way to reseal this card. There's always a chance to make up for this mistake.

Thinking of this, Kronos quickly gave another instruction, this time not to Servants, but to have the Servants deliver a letter to his Ansel Company.

Kronos instructed Beck, the manager of Siel, to quickly obtain a bookmark—specifically, a genuine bookmark from the era of Roselle —so that the substitution could be truly successful.

Since Kronos has said he'd spare no expense, things will be easier to do. After all, there are quite a few of these bookmarks; they're not particularly valuable.

After giving his explanation, Kronos truly immersed himself in the vast ocean of knowledge about the Black Emperor Card.

As Kronos studied the potion, he exclaimed, "This is truly the Pathway that suits me best! My innate noble status greatly facilitates the digestion of Potion!"

A Marquis's status ensures this boost continues until Sequence 3, unlike now, where Sequence 6 7 are already incredibly difficult.

Originally, Kronos only intended to quickly Record the knowledge below the level of Demigod, since he would have to return it anyway, and he didn't have much time to study it in detail.

But now it's feasible, and we have plenty of time to study the actual object at our leisure.

Kronos even took out the Justiciar Card and studied the two cards side by side.

It was quite a coincidence that the two cards that Kronos obtained were Adjacent Pathways, both of which were related to the Rules, and the two types of authority could verify each other.

Upon comparison, Kronos felt that his understanding of the Justiciar Card had become much deeper.

The next day, Archbishop Horamick personally went out to deliver the "gift" to Kask.

While the Church of Steam and Machinery may not have a strong network of connections in political and military circles, this only means that it has established and reliable connections; it does not mean that the Church of Steam and Machinery cannot contact any "big shots."

Moreover, even someone with little connection to Archbishop Horamick, a Sequence 3 Archbishop, wouldn't refuse to build a relationship with him.

Horamick formally met with several Member of Parliament of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. These people were not believers in Steam, but they were indeed happy to accept Horamick's favor.

With these people's promises, Kask's position has essentially been upgraded from a member of the Higher Education Committee to Secretary-General, and he will also have a seat in the House of Commons.

This is indeed a very generous gift for Kask.

The Secretary-General of the Higher Education Committee is already a high-ranking official in the Kingdom, and with the addition of Member of Parliament of the House of Commons, he is definitely a big shot in the Loen Kingdom.

Just like Councilman Macht in the original work, his mere status as a Member of Parliament was enough to get him involved in the arms trade, not to mention that Kask also held a powerful position and had a Earl brother.

At this point, he truly possessed the ability to support his younger brother, so Horamick believed that this gift was enough to make Kask do anything for the Church of Steam and Machinery.

After these things were basically finalized, Horamick reassigned someone else to find Kask.

Even though Kask had been involved in all the plans, and he was mentally prepared for the unexpected gift, the sheer weight of it still nearly stunned him.

For a moment, Kask even considered "abandoning darkness and embracing light"; the Church of Steam and Machinery was simply too generous.

However, as a seasoned politician, Kask naturally understood that if the Church of Steam and Machinery was willing to offer such a generous gift, then Kronos and Portland's speculation must be correct.

Just like Portland's assessment, Kask was still able to see things clearly. If such a serious act of undermining the Kingdom were to be carried out according to his plan, his life would be over soon.

Therefore, the initial gratitude towards the Church of Steam and Machinery was quickly transferred to Kronos, without whom none of this would have been possible.

After seeing Horamick's men off, Kask went out to find Portland.

"Portland, do you think I should prepare some gifts for Kronos?"

This was the first thing Kask said when he entered the Portland office.

Portland looked at Kask with surprise, "Looks like you've had quite a haul, haven't you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have had to compensate Kronos."

Kask leaned closer mysteriously and said, "The Secretary-General of the Higher Education Committee and Member of Parliament the House of Commons!"

Portland sneered, "They've really gone all out, huh? They'll stop at nothing to poach talent."

Kask nodded. "Yes, so generous. They must have something big up their sleeve."

"Then let's proceed according to the original plan. We must get the Message through; otherwise, even if the Church of Steam and Machinery doesn't succeed in the end, the three of us will be in trouble."

That's right, the three of them originally planned to report this matter to higher authorities, but they couldn't do it through the Higher Education Committee because it would be too easy to leak.

So the plan was to report this matter directly to the Royal Family through Kask's brother, Earl Wolf, so that there would be no more issues of favoring the church.

Kask nodded. "Don't worry, I'll talk to my brother about it tonight."

Portland glanced at him, then casually said, "Kronos is very interested in the story of the Eggers Family, the Death God family of the Southern Continent. If you want to give him a gift, you can start from that angle."

In the view of Portland and Kask, Kronos was the main driving force behind the plan, was the one who reaped the least, because he had no room to negotiate a higher price.

That's why Kask said that at the very beginning: he received such a great gift, so he wanted to make it up to Kronos.

Portland's idea was even simpler: just help Kronos out. Since what Kronos wanted wasn't of much use to the Wolf Family, he might as well do him a favor.

Kask thought for a moment, "That's quite a coincidence. My brother seems to have one of the Eggers Family's treasures. I'll just bring it over when I go back today and give it to Kronos next time we meet."

Professor Portland didn't look up, but a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Kask continued, "I came here to tell you that you can ask for Lion huge amount later, and I think they can give you more!"

The Church of Steam and Machinery thought that with Kask under control and their previous nearly 50% support, they could bypass Portland. However, they didn't expect these three to manipulate the votes.

Kronos may not be much, but Kask and Portland wield unparalleled control over the Reorganization Group, and the entire group is essentially comprised of their supporters.

The initial support rate of nearly 50% was inflated. Many votes were cast after seeing hints from Kask and Portland. A proper count would reveal that the total support from individual voters plus Kask's supporters did not even reach two-thirds.

In this situation, the Church of Steam and Machinery will have to bleed money again in Portland.

The Church of Steam and Machinery wanted to bypass Portland because the Old Man's demands were unlikely to be met, since he disliked money and power and only cared about technology.

But where can you find the technology for him?

If it really existed, the Church of Steam and Machinery would have already used it to generate revenue; there's no way it would be Portland's turn.

Portland had already made up his mind that he had to take a big cut from the Church of Steam and Machinery. Even if he couldn't fulfill his promise now, he had to sign the contract as soon as possible, otherwise things might change.

I believe the Church of Steam and Machinery would be very willing to support this delayed payment method, since everyone is in a hurry.

Since Kronos had already decided to keep the Black Emperor Card for the time being, he wasn't in a hurry anymore. So, after studying the knowledge below Sequence 5, he focused his energy back on making the Scroll of the Armor of Guardianship.

Perhaps it was because he was in good condition, or perhaps it was because he had witnessed several more Sequence 5 powers, that he was able to apply his knowledge to other situations.

After trying several times, Kronos suddenly felt his Spirituality throb violently.

Although the Spirituality didn't give him any specific instructions, Kronos just felt that he could succeed if he tried again.

So he didn't hesitate and immediately picked up his Inscribing Pen decisively.

At this moment, Kronos truly felt the state recorded in the Family Secret Manual. It was an indescribable feeling, where everything felt incredibly natural, as if divinely aided.

Kronos wrote on the Scroll with fluid strokes, and then put down his brush a moment later.

The Armor of Guardianship Scroll has been successfully crafted!