On the luxurious carriage leaving Earl Hall's house.
Luke was chatting with Lady Mary about the distinguished guests they had just met, such as Sir Desi Shaw, Chairman of the Atmospheric Pollution Investigation Commission and Director of the National Meteorological Bureau; Mr. Cavendish, a member of the Atmospheric Pollution Investigation Commission, President of the Royal Meteorological Society, and a Member of Parliament; and Mr. Hawksley, the Head of Health and Medical Services of the Awwa County and a renowned Doctor.
They are all influential figures in the government, the royal family, or parliament. The committee's final report will become the most important basis for the planned " Anti-Pollution Act " and " Smoke Emission Reduction Act."
Coim Company specializing in anthracite and charcoal, aims to drive and accelerate this process, leaving its aging but powerful competitors no time to adapt.
"They certainly won't be stingy with their money; they'll definitely lobby those heavyweight members of parliament to interfere with our investigation. We must have a clear response plan. Just as Mr. Hibbert Hall said, we need to control public opinion and have newspapers and magazines repeatedly publicize the horrors of smoke pollution..." Luke was a senior manager at Coym and an important assistant to the major shareholder Mary in managing the company. He was also quite capable himself.
During their conversation, Luke suddenly noticed that his wife was sitting beside him, but she was silent, as if she had lost her soul.
" Starling, what happened?" Luke asked with concern.
Starling snapped out of her daze and forced a smile, saying:
"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired."
"Yes, after meeting so many important people, you must have been on edge the whole time. It's normal to feel tired now that you can finally relax. Actually, I feel the same way," Luke said with a smile.
Starling didn't respond to him, but stared blankly out the window at the park with the lake.
The casual words of the noblewoman from before still faintly echoed in her ears:
450 pounds.
"A well-trained hunting dog costs between £450 and £700."
City of Silver, at the base of the round tower.
Derrick Berg remained confined to the small room, eating and taking medication on time. His mental state improved rapidly, and the auditory and visual hallucinations ceased.
In another day or two, we should be able to get out... Staying in this kind of environment all the time is really suffocating... The former leader of the exploration team next door was imprisoned for a full forty-two years, and he is still very clear-headed and rational. If it were me, I would definitely have gone crazy... However, the exploration stories and strange Monster he told about were very attractive, even a little scary... Derrick sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the candle that had burned to the end.
He will be in true darkness until the guards bring him the next food and medicine.
Just then, Gray Fog suddenly filled his vision, and he heard the deep voice of " The Fool ":
"Preparing for the party."
Such a change was fleeting; Derrick pulled his attention back and subconsciously began to count his heartbeats.
However, he soon realized that this was unnecessary, because he was currently in a state of solitude and did not need to avoid other people.
Derrick had stopped silently counting his heartbeats, quickly thought of a question:
That means he's currently within the sealed area of that magical item at the base of the round tower. Will Mr. The Fool's subsequent actions of pulling people into the Gray Fog be discovered and detected because of this?
This is one of the two magical items that saved City of Silver from complete destruction during several crises!
Torn between anxiety and unease, Derrick, unable to make a decision, saw boundless Red Light surge forth from the void, and saw it engulf him in a single, surging wave.
The small, enclosed room was completely silent; even breathing was barely audible.
Suddenly, the metal wall separating Derrick and the former exploration team leader made a soft "thud".
This is a coded signal between two people to initiate a conversation.
"Thud!"
The person opposite them curled their fingers and tapped again.
After that, the third strike, which should have followed quickly, did not occur for a long time.
After a long while, the "thump" sound rang out hesitantly again, and then both rooms fell silent, with no further movement.
After finishing the lunch party, Audrey practiced the piano for a while, then made her way back to her bedroom, timing it perfectly.
As she passed by her father, Earl Hall's, study, she saw the door ajar and a thick stack of documents on the table.
"This wasn't there before..." Audrey's curiosity was piqued, so she slowed her pace and winked at the golden retriever Susie.
As the " Spectator," Susie often only needs a small Psychological Suggestion to understand what her owner wants her to do. Of course, she will occasionally pretend not to understand and just lie still.
Having received the coded message, Susie silently jogged into the study, then stretched out her two front legs, braced them against the edge of the table, and stood upright.
It glanced quickly at the first page of the stack of documents, returned to Audrey's side, and lowered its voice:
"A survey of the living conditions of various social strata in the East Borough, the Dock Borough, and the Factory Borough."
" Audrey, what does this mean?"
A survey on the living conditions of all social classes in the East Borough, the Dock Borough, and the Factory Borough? Why would Dad suddenly conduct this survey? I don't remember mentioning anything like that to him... Audrey was puzzled and didn't have time to answer Susie's question.
She glanced around and saw that the servants were all in their places and not paying any particular attention to her. So, she slightly raised her head, calmly and naturally turned and entered Earl Hall's study.
Reaching the desk, Audrey looked down at the investigation report and found that the title did indeed match Susie's description.
"Hmm, it's a document typed out. The investigator is a journalist named Mike Joseph, and there's the goddess's emblem at the bottom... Was this commissioned by the Church of the Goddess? But why give Dad a copy? Hmm, Dad's a believer in the goddess, and the church wants him to provide some support in this matter? That's a good thing..." Audrey made her initial assessment.
She had originally considered asking someone to conduct a similar survey, but she felt that it did not align with her intention of subtly guiding others and would easily make her stand out from the other nobles, so she hesitated to try it.
Audrey reached out and flipped through the documents, discovering that Mike Joseph's report on the East Borough, the Dock Borough, and the Factory Borough wasn't the only one; many others had conducted on-site investigations from different perspectives.
Several of these reports even mentioned the spread of cults and collusion between some Beyonder and gangs.
Sigh... Audrey glanced at the wall clock in the study and saw that it was almost three o'clock, so she gave up on reading carefully and put the documents back to their original state.
Before leaving, she casually picked up a book and used it as a pretext to show her purpose for coming in.
At exactly three o'clock, while the chimes of the clock were still echoing, Audrey appeared in the majestic palace, beside the ancient long table, bathed in a deep red, illusory light.
She smiled, rose, and bowed to the person at the head of the table:
Good afternoon, Mr. The Fool.
After receiving a slight nod in response, she greeted " The Hanged Man," "The World," " The Magician," and others, and keenly noticed that " The Sun " seemed a little uneasy.
"What are you worried about?" Audrey asked.
This meant that Klein, who had also noticed that Little " The Sun " was not in a good condition, didn't need to speak up himself.
Having entered this mysterious space ahead of time, he tidied up the items on the table, throwing the Azik Copper Whistle, the Biotoxin Bottle, the Spirituality Religion Copper Whistle, and other items into a corner, and then completely covered them with a thick Gray Fog.
Now, only the " Black Emperor " card is covered on the table in front of him.
This is an item that perfectly matches the identity of " The Fool "!
" The Sun " Derrick didn't hide anything and immediately recounted in detail how he had successfully "faked illness" and been sent to the bottom of the Round Tower for isolation and treatment. He concluded by asking:
"Dear Mr. ' The Fool,' will that magical artifact detect that I'm attending Tarot Club?"
How would I know... I don't even know what it is... However, for now, no strange or powerful force is trying to invade... Well, even the " Eternal Blazing Sun " and the " True Creator " haven't been able to find this place... Klein tapped the edge of the bronze table with his fingers, answering with an air of "ease":
"Normally, it wouldn't be able to detect it."
"But some magical items possess peculiar effects."
Seeing that Mr. The Fool had given an affirmative answer, Derrick was immediately relieved and nodded in response:
"I don't know what special effects it has."
"This is one of City of Silver's top secrets."
At this point, he suddenly remembered what the former exploration team leader had told him and blurted out:
Have you ever heard of someone named Amon?
Amon Klein thought for a moment and then remembered the source of the familiarity.
But he didn't rush to answer. Instead, he turned his gaze to " The Hanged Man." He knew very well that this mid-level member of the Church of Storms also knew " Amon," and perhaps even knew more about him than he did. Similarly, " Justice " Audrey also looked at " The Hanged Man." She had last heard this name from him.
" Magician " Fors listened blankly, feeling that the topic of discussion was outside his area of knowledge.
Alger, the " The Hanged Man," frowned and asked in confusion:
"During your exploration of the surrounding area, your City of Silver encountered a man who called himself Amon?"
"Or, have similar records been discovered?"
" The Sun " Derrick nodded seriously and said:
"Yes, forty-two years ago, an exploration team encountered a man who called himself Amon in the depths of darkness. After returning to City of Silver, they all went mad and out of control, leaving only one of them, who was imprisoned at the bottom of the round tower, right next to mine."
"Perhaps he's gone mad too, and that's just wishful thinking..." " The Magician " Fors offered a conjecture based on his extensive experience in novel writing.
Alger, the " The Hanged Man," glanced at the Fool, the man at the head of the table, and seeing that he remained calm and composed without making any statement, he boldly spoke:
"Delusion is one possibility, but the name ' Amon ' wouldn't come up without a reason."
He turned his head to look at the " The Sun " and said:
"In the Quaternary Period, well, fifteen hundred years before our time, or even longer, there was a family that possessed strange powers. They belonged to the Tudor Dynasty, and their surname was Amon."
Even in an era teeming with High-Sequence powerhouses, this family's surname was a taboo.
PS: Requesting recommendation votes and monthly tickets on Monday!