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Colin Iliad waved his hand lightly, interrupting Derrick before he could finish speaking, then said, "Just tell me what you need to report. You delayed too long outside the Door just now, and I have a meeting soon."
Derrick nodded blankly, organized his thoughts, and said, "Chief, can you stop the upcoming exploration of that half-ruined temple?"
"That is the True Creator's temple. He is a truly Evil God, and an Evil God who controls the Shepherd Pathway. If Lovia leads the exploration, I'm worried there will be an accident."
After pouring out everything he wanted to say, Derrick felt a lot lighter.
Colin Iliad's eyes each showed a complex dark green symbol. He looked at Derrick with a serious aura, his voice carrying an uncharacteristic authority as he said, "Repeat what you just said!"
Derrick was stunned for a second, then nodded again, repeating his words.
Colin Iliad did not comment, only saying in a serious and cold tone, "How do you know this information?"
Derrick hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and told everything: "After I personally killed my parents, I continuously prayed to the gods, but unexpectedly established contact with a Great Existence. He allows me to attend a gathering in His Divine Kingdom once a week."
"I mentioned at the gathering that I would be participating in the exploration of that half-ruined temple. I had previously mentioned information about that half-ruined temple to the other members of the Tarot Club, and they told me not to participate in this exploration."
Colin Iliad maintained his posture without moving, saying in an even colder tone than before, "How did they tell you to avoid this exploration? And 'weekly'? Is that their way of keeping time?"
Derrick wanted to bury his head deep in his chest, but his inner courage made him raise his head again to look into the Chief's eyes, and he spoke with a somewhat natural tone, "One member gave me a suggestion: to make myself appear as if I was on the verge of losing control, so I could avoid the upcoming exploration. And I would only need to rest for one week to fully recover."
"One week is their external way of keeping time, roughly equivalent to seven periods of frequent lightning flashes. They call our place the Forsaken Land of the Gods."
"I only know that their world has sunlight, oceans, and normal food, and no Monster appear in the Darkness."
Derrick paused here, cautiously observing the Chief's reaction.
"Continue," Colin Iliad said indifferently.
Derrick was stunned for a moment, unsure what to say, and hesitated for a while before continuing, "My Beyonder Potion formula came from a transaction at that gathering; it was the Sun Pathway, which the City of Silver does not have."
"I also traded some information with them using content from textbooks. The world they live in worships seven gods: the Evernight Goddess, the Earth Mother, the God of Combat..."
"I also obtained a knowledge of a spell. Can I demonstrate this spell?"
Derrick thought of the Beyonder knowledge he had gained through the mystical ritual last time. This knowledge, which the City of Silver had never possessed, should be able to prove that he could indeed contact the outside world.
Colin Iliad nodded lightly: "You may."
After Derrick nodded lightly, he clasped his hands together in a prayer-like gesture, and a sacred, clear, bright, and pure warm light appeared in the room.
Then Derrick, with a very unpracticed posture, reached out and grasped in the light. After failing twice, he finally managed to pull out a straight sword condensed from light from within the light.
Derrick scratched his head a little awkwardly and said, "I haven't quite mastered this spell yet."
The complex dark green symbols in Colin Iliad's eyes disappeared. He silently watched Derrick for a while, then said, "Why would a Great Existence allow you and the members you mentioned to gather in His Divine Kingdom?"
"Are you sure the Great Existence you mentioned is not an Evil God?"
Derrick first shook his head blankly, then nodded firmly and said, "I believe that Great Existence has no ill will towards us!"
Colin Iliad did not care about Derrick's answer, but went on to ask other questions: "The members you mentioned who also attended the gathering, their Sequence shouldn't be very high, right?"
Derrick frowned slightly, recalling the performance of everyone at the Tarot Club earlier. Except for the unfathomable Mr. Fool and the clearly stronger Mr. Tower, the rest of them should only be at Sequence 8 or Sequence 7.
Derrick refocused his attention on the Chief, and in the Chief's serious expression, he nodded and said, "Hmm, apart from the Great Existence who convened the gathering, there is only one member with relatively strong power. The Sequence of the others should not be too different from mine."
Colin Iliad merely nodded slightly, then changed the subject: "Why did you want to be honest with me about this? Your initial approach was clearly to hide your uniqueness."
Derrick lowered his head, his cheeks flushed, and he said somewhat awkwardly, "I was afraid of being discovered at the time, and treated as a Fallen person misled by an Evil God."
"This time, when I discussed the exploration of that half-ruined temple with everyone, one member mentioned that saving the City of Silver cannot rely on just one person."
"I don't want to back out of this exploration myself, but ignore the safety of the other members of the exploration team."
After saying these words, Derrick mustered his courage and met the Chief's gaze.
Colin Iliad's eyes had, at some unknown point, once again revealed the complex dark green symbols. He looked at Derrick expressionlessly, gazing deeply.
Derrick felt his hard-won courage instantly recede a lot, and he wanted to bury his head again.
"I will renegotiate the exploration of that half-ruined temple with the Council of Six, but you must understand that our exploration into the depths of the Darkness will not be abandoned because of this minor issue."
"But, Chief..."
"The City of Silver has not persevered for thousands of years by retreating into the Darkness. Perhaps you will understand in the future that faith and will are more important than sacrifice!"
Colin Iliad interrupted Derrick's words and continued, "You should understand that whether or not you have been corrupted by an Evil God, you will remain under our control during this period."
Derrick nodded heavily, his voice carrying a sense of determination as he said, "I understand, Chief. I accept any arrangements."
Derrick was taken to the Round Tower Bottom, the place where Beyonder who showed signs of losing control and corrupted members of the exploration team were imprisoned.
Whether it was a deliberate arrangement by the City of Silver's Council of Six Chief or a coincidence, Derrick was imprisoned in the small room where he was supposed to be held.
Apart from the guard who brought him candles and food, he saw no one else.
Most of the time, Derrick just sat blankly within the range of the candlelight, quietly staring into the deep Darkness around him.
On Wednesday morning, Leyton collected enough blank paper, bound it into blank books, and then set up the ritual to pray for knowledge from Green Light Serapis.
After setting up the ritual, Leyton placed a stack of books, even the covers of which were blank, along with ink, in front of the candles.
With a "snap!" of his fingers, all three arranged candles were lit.
He sprinkled some herbal powder and dripped a drop of essential oil into the burning candlelight, and the scent of tulips instantly filled the entire room.
Leyton stepped back and simultaneously began to chant the incantation:
"Eternal Light of the Spirit World, embodiment of endless knowledge, green of emotion and art."
"I pray to you, I pray for knowledge of the spiritual realm..."
The light in the room dimmed, and the temperature continuously dropped, making the room feel somewhat cold.
A whooshing sound of wind arose, and the candlelight was tinged with a layer of green light, flickering constantly in the wind.
The stack of blank books was blown by the wind, their pages rustling, and the ink placed nearby surged into waves in the air, then fell onto the turning blank pages.
Under Leyton's gaze, the previously blank pages quickly filled with dense text. Every drop of ink flung into the air by the howling wind accurately landed on a page, forming individual words.
"This is much more convenient than a printer!"
Leyton thought to himself, a very impolite thought.
Fortunately, this was not a mystical ritual, so Green Light Serapis could not know his inner thoughts.
This scene lasted for two or three minutes before ending. The wailing wind disappeared, the previously flickering candlelight not only became stable again but also lost its green tint, and the light and temperature in the room gradually returned to normal.
Leyton took two steps closer, reached out to extinguish the still burning candles, and then picked up the scattered books that had been blown around by the strong wind, one by one.
The previously blank pages now had lines of standard words, as if printed by a machine.
After simply tidying up the ritual site, he flipped through the contents of each book, then took out paints and brushes to leave marks on the cover of each book to help him distinguish them.
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