Caliber equals justice, range equals truth.
Klein never imagined that this theory, so widely regarded as gospel on the internet, would one day intrude into his life, proudly telling him:
That's right, your boasting is correct; on the battlefield, I am the truth.
The giant cannons occupied the main roads, and metal golems walked the streets, moving forward and backward alongside brown-skinned flesh and blood.
The jungle was leveled, the lake was polluted, and the Rosd people, at the cost of their homeland's health, kept the Rune people outside the eastern and western dividing line of Blue Mountain Island. A day of tug-of-war has proven that the rebellion launched by the natives is no longer a farce, but a real trouble that the Rune people need to deal with with utmost care.
Blue Mountain Island, a black port controlled by the Rothschild resistance.
Klein stood atop the cargo crane, overlooking the ships of various flags approaching the depths of the harbor from all directions. After examining them for a while, his brow furrowed.
"Admiral Cattleya's 'Future'?"
"Is that the black skull and crossbones flag in the background the 'Black Death' of 'General of Disease' Tracy?"
When the pirate generals entered Bayam at this time, they actually took the initiative to participate in the war against Rune.
This might be a sign… Klein thought to himself.
Almost every pirate general is a front man for some powerful force. The force they represent can be a secret cult, a belief in an evil god, or a country with legitimate international status.
Rumor has it that Captain Cattleya of the "Future" betrayed the eldest daughter of Emperor Roselle in her early years, later joined the "Morse Penitentiary," and has since acted as the spokesperson for the "Hidden Sage" faith at sea.
Does her driving the flagship into Rothschild represent the "Morse Ascetic Order," or Bernadette, whom she may never have betrayed?
Unlike Señor and Ludwell, who were among the stronger pirate generals, Cattleya did not attract Klein's attention. Klein knew very little about this powerful female extraordinary being, and the information he had was insufficient to support his judgment.
He temporarily suppressed his doubts about the purpose of "Admiral Star" joining the Bayam conflict and instead began to think about Tracy's thoughts.
My order to her was to gather information on the movements of the "Spirit Order" and the "Rose School." After Senor's defeat, her focus was probably on the "Spirit Order." Why did she suddenly come to Bayam?
Unlike Cattleya, Therese is relatively controllable. Klein, using the title of "God of Mysteries" to intimidate her, has already frightened this unconventional witch.
Perhaps one of the "Spirit Order" or the "Rose School" had also logged into Bayam, which is why Tracy was drawn here... Klein narrowed his eyes slightly, suddenly recalling a detail he had almost forgotten.
He had never had a good impression of the pirate general, and even after it was later proven that "Iceberg Admiral" Edwina Edwards and her men were more like a loose adventure group than pirates in the traditional sense, his attitude did not change much, only from extreme to neutral.
Tracy was able to contact me and attract the attention of the Gray Fog because of a strange Quaternary-style seal in the Zilingus legacy she inherited.
The sealed artifact appeared at the end of the time when the "God of Mysteries" walked the earth.
"Aquaman" Arne Cortman and "Calamity" clashed in the open sea off Rosde, which happened to attract Tracy, who possessed an item related to the "God of Mystery." Tracy's compass was activated by "Calamity," allowing it to contact the Gray Mist...
One coincidence might be a coincidence, but a series of coincidences... Does the "God of Mysteries" think I'm a fool?
Watching the "Future" and "Black Death" dock one after the other, Klein found it hard to continue standing on the top of the crane to look at the scenery and pass the time.
His gaze swept across the throng of people below, and among the spiritual threads, he spotted one that was trembling unnaturally.
Beside a six-legged cannon, Rosago, with his thick beard, was preparing for the final debugging, while the puppet Milerva faced several Rosds and used a semi-hypnotic, semi-narrative approach to quickly instill the cannon's operation into the minds of the illiterate natives.
A clump of weeds on the ground was engulfed by orange-red flames, and flames two people high suddenly rose up. The obvious temperature change startled the hypnotized and captured natives, and the work of the puppet Minerva, which lasted for fifteen minutes, vanished in an instant.
"...Mr. V, is there something you need from me?"
Rosago put down the calibrator in his hand, looked at the natives who were paralyzed around the flames and screaming, and sighed helplessly.
"I saw that several large fish entered the port today through the declaration."
As he manipulated Ludwell, dressed as a male servant, to pull up several semi-transparent ghosts and take over Rosago's work, Klein said.
"Several individuals have sent messengers, including 'General of the Stars', 'Lieutenant General of Disease' himself, as well as 'Lieutenant General of Twilight' and 'Lieutenant General of Iceberg.' As for whether they will come themselves, they are probably still hesitating and have not yet made a decision."
Seeing that he couldn't continue working, Rosago didn't force himself and naturally seized the rare opportunity to rest, sitting on the ground with one of the bionic legs of the six-legged cannon.
Unlike the cannon's upper part, which is mostly composed of mechanical components, the spider-like six legs connecting the chassis are pure alchemical puppets. The "classical alchemist" design structure and the core power source have been modified by the "alchemist" to ensure maximum endurance.
Aside from its exorbitant cost, this cannon is practically perfect.
Two of the six surviving pirate generals have arrived, and two more may be coming... Klein couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
Given the current situation, the archipelago branch and the Rothschild resistance cannot expect large-scale support from within Trensoust.
Although the elves have been persuaded and the addition of the "God of Miracles" priest will prevent the disparity in strength between the two sides from becoming too great, it cannot be ignored that most of the Rosd Islands are still firmly controlled by the Runes, and the Runes' Sunia naval fleet may also head south at any time, crossing the island chain from Damir to Tinaya and reaching the vicinity of the Rosd Islands.
Not to mention that the Storm Church's stronghold, Passu Island, and Olavi, where demigods reside, are not too far from Rosd.
The addition of "Admiral Star" and "Lieutenant General of Disease" may not be entirely a good thing. Since even the relatively inexperienced Klein can see the sinister clouds hanging over the Rosed Islands, there is no reason why the pirate generals who have been famous for their long-standing presence on the seas should not be able to see it, and there is even less reason why the beings behind them should not be able to.
Leaving Tracy aside for now, it's important to consider whether the "Admiral of the Stars" was expressing goodwill towards Trenshorst on behalf of the "Order of Morse," or simply acting on his own personal behalf...
"What does Mr. Taylor think?" Klein asked.
"The colonel went to the front lines this morning. He probably only just found out that the 'Star Admiral' and his men are coming."
Is Taylor Franz not at the branch?
"So who's in charge now?" Klein's tone grew increasingly urgent.
Rosago didn't care about his boss's job transfer and shrugged indifferently.
"I don't know the background of that gentleman, but I heard that he is an older gentleman with more seniority and greater strength than the colonel."
"His... his last name seems to be Eugen."
...
Above the boundless gray fog, Klein, having failed to find Tristan Eugen, sat in a magnificent palace, gazing at the ever-expanding and contracting red star.
Someone prayed to me again...
With ten minutes to go before 3 p.m. Monday afternoon Backlund time, he had enough free time before the meeting started to "receive" a new guest.
The gold coin tumbled silently, spun in the air, and landed steadily in Klein's palm.
Klein watched the result fall into his palm, then turned his hand over, extending his spiritual touch toward the expanding crimson star.
The divination results indicate that there is no danger.
On the left side of the mottled long table, a deep red bursts forth on an empty chair. On the upper half of the rustic high-backed chair, a symbolic pattern belonging to the "red moon" is quickly sketched, and a figure that is not masculine but has a soft moonlight feel follows closely behind.
An irresistible aura of greatness swept over him, causing the vampire youth, whose five senses had suddenly shifted, to tremble and instinctively lower his head.
Fortunately, before reciting the name of "Fool," Count Mistral, a vampire, did not leave Emlyn without telling him anything.
Although Mistral didn't think that a casual prayer could attract the attention of the "mysterious god," Emlyn's strong self-confidence made him mentally prepared before reciting the name of the deity, so he wasn't too surprised when the favor of another deity truly descended.
In his view, this was the blessing of the ancestor.
After a brief moment of disorientation, the color of the vampire youth's spirit in Klein's vision transitioned from a chaotic mess representing panic to a blood red of extreme excitement. The slender figure abruptly rose from the high-backed chair and, with impeccable Fourth Age standard etiquette, showed unreserved respect to the supreme being.
"The great 'God of Mystery'".
"Emlyn White, on behalf of the immortal progenitor Lilith, sends his greetings."
The title of Lilith, the progenitor of the vampires, failed to disturb Klein's thoughts.
He merely nodded slightly, accepting the courtesy befitting the identity of "Fool" with a nonchalant attitude.
"I thought Lilith would at least send one of the vampires I knew to see me."
Klein mimicked the "mysterious" tone, carefully considering the opening remarks that might come from the mouth of an ancient and great being.
Emlyn, lost in his own world and immersed in joy, was unconsciously curiously gazing at the boundless gray fog and the palace when suddenly his mind went blank. He opened his mouth, but could not utter a single word.
This problem was outside his scope of preparation!
In his preconceived logic, if another master was willing to summon him, it would mean that the other master recognized his identity. All he needed to do next was to properly explain the plight of the vampires and their loyalty to the master, as instructed by Count Mistral.
But now, judging from the words of the "God of Mysteries," it seems that he is not satisfied with him as an envoy.
Although I do not have a title, the progenitor chose me, and it is only a matter of time before I become a baron or even an earl... Emlyn concealed his slightly resentful gaze and thought for a moment before speaking.
"Ancestor… Ancestor heard that I have a close relationship with your benefactor, Mr. V, so he chose me as your messenger."
"Close relationship, does that mean you've successfully set a record for the worst cooperating doctor...?" Klein was speechless at Emlyn's answer.
He doesn't care about empty formalities, but that doesn't mean he can easily accept Emlyn's abysmal emotional intelligence.
At this point, they could easily have found an excuse, such as "the important figures of the vampire clan are all contributing to the Creator's holy war," anything would have worked... It was such a simple matter...
However, it was precisely because Klein knew Emlyn well enough, and because he was not the true "God of Mysteries," that this strange conversation could continue.
"You may call me Mr. Fool."
He first corrected Emlyn's way of addressing him.
"I remember that V received a letter from you after he left Backlund. You volunteered to act as his eyes and ears, to gather information about Backlund's movements?"
"Yes, Mr. Fool." Emlyn nodded confidently.
The conversation eventually returned to the draft that Count Mistral had prepared for him beforehand.
"So what did you discover?"
After confirming that Emlyn was the only one offering prayers, Klein seemed to relax his guard, convinced that the vampires would have little chance of getting any useful information from Emlyn.
Bearing the title of "God of Mysteries," the vampires dared not explore Emlyn's mind to try to reconstruct the conversation above the gray fog. A single prohibition was enough to shut Emlyn's mouth, allowing him to only convey to the vampires what Klein wanted them to know.
Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, Klein decided to find out exactly what Backlund had become after he left.
"I secretly participated in the gathering of extraordinary humans in Backlund and discovered traces of the activities of the 'Rose Cult'."
Emlyn's words were startling, inadvertently hitting Klein's sensitive spot.
Before the great smog, Gostars hoped to take advantage of the royal family's secret preparations for the initiation ceremony to plot a massacre of all the residents of Backlund.
After Gostars's failure, the Loen government and royal family became far more sensitive, and the church tightened its control over disorderly areas such as the East District. The "Rose School" even wanted to continue planning blasphemous rituals... Klein asked as calmly as possible.
"Are they trying to communicate with the 'Mother Tree of Desire'?"
Emlyn, who was already in a daze, swayed slightly, a glimmer of light flashing in his numb eyes before disappearing again.
However, he quickly shook off this confusion and tried his best to answer before the "God of Mystery" asked a second question, or perhaps an interrogation.
"I have no idea."
To be honest, I shouldn't have had too high expectations for Emlyn... After all, he's just a vampire who hasn't been an adult for long, a Sequence 7 with little authority or status... Klein sighed silently as the gray fog obscured his view.
He spoke gently and did not get angry because he received an unsatisfactory answer.
"You can tell me how you discovered the 'Rose School' and what the reactions of your vampires, intelligence department, and Rune people were."
"For example, the actions of MI9 in Ruen."