And his relationship with the King in Yellow was more like… the True Creator and Adam?
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The True Creator and Adam? Humanity and divinity?
The more Hastur thought about it, the more likely it seemed, yet at the same time, it felt wrong.
If he truly was the humanity of the King in Yellow, then at the very least, shouldn't he already be starting off as a Level 0 sequence, that is., a true god?
How could he still be stuck at Sequence 8?
Relying only on this bit of humanity, the King in Yellow would have long since fallen into eternal madness and chaos, utterly incapable of maintaining clarity like Adam.
Moreover, the name Hastur Campbell belonged to the original soul of this body. Whatever fate there was should have been borne by the original soul, what did it have to do with him?
Hastur thought for a long time, but still felt this speculation was unreliable.
The situation of the True Creator and Adam was already extremely rare, otherwise the Seven Gods would not have been completely unaware of it.
For chaos and madness were the norm, while the separation of divinity and humanity was abnormal, a deviation.
Thinking of the True Creator, Hastur couldn't help but feel curious, wanting to catch a glimpse.
What did the True Creator do every day?
It felt as if His presence was everywhere, yet at the same time, He seemed to lack any real sense of existence.
Adam could walk about freely, but the True Creator seemed to never have truly stepped outside.
And how exactly was the human side of the True Creator manifested? Was it through playing out tender father-and-son bonds with Oroboros?
That didn't match the style of the Aurora Order at all.
After pondering a while longer, Hastur gave up on thinking about the True Creator.
Instead, he shifted his focus to the Yellow-Robed Monks.
These devout followers of the King in Yellow always hid in the shadows, what fate were they waiting for?
Or rather, what kind of fate did they desire?
Could it be that Andrew, who had rashly come to his home to commit fraud, was deliberately pushed out by them as a pawn?
Otherwise, how could Andrew, who wasn't even Sequence 9, know about the golden box?
That was something even Will, the Snake of Mercury, could not glimpse.
Perhaps Andrew had been deliberately pushed out, meant to be handed over to him for punishment.
They probably wanted to use Andrew's case to tell him of the golden box's existence, and that only those tied to fate could obtain it.
If it had been the original Hastur, for the sake of reviving his mother in his obsession, he would have surely sought out the golden box, opened it, and made use of whatever was hidden inside.
Could that be exactly what those Yellow-Robed Monks had been anticipating?
But they hadn't expected him to be overly cautious, not only refusing to search for the golden box, but even deliberately ignoring its existence.
Even when moving into a new house, he had intentionally left it on the third floor of the old residence, refusing to touch it.
So then, had they deliberately packaged the golden box as a gift and sent it back to him?
But how had they gotten hold of it? Wasn't it said that only those tied to fate could perceive its existence?
Perhaps the King in Yellow had bestowed upon them a different kind of power.
Hastur carefully reasoned through it and found this action sequence the most logical.
So the purpose of those Yellow-Robed Monks became clear: they were waiting for him to open the golden box as part of his fate.
Would the King in Yellow descend as soon as the golden box was opened?
As devout believers, they could very well commit to such actions for the sake of their faith.
After much thought, Hastur's mind wandered back to Hastur and the King in Yellow.
In his knowledge of mysticism, Hastur was not the same as the King in Yellow.
The King in Yellow was merely one avatar of Hastur in the mortal world, Hastur was the true Outer God, the Great Old One.
Apart from the mask of the King in Yellow, He had other identities as well, such as the The Feaster from Afar, The Peacock King, and so on.
The god worshipped by the Yellow-Robed Monks was Hastur Himself, not merely the incarnation of the King in Yellow.
But that was his understanding of mysticism; it didn't necessarily apply in this world of mysteries.
Perhaps in this world, Hastur was only the King in Yellow, with no other identities.
And the Yellow-Robed Monks' god was not Hastur Himself, but the King in Yellow.
Hastur found that a bit of a pity. If the Yellow-Robed Monks worshipped Hastur Himself, then under the name of Hastur, he could at least have become a favored one within their organization.
Perhaps even risen to be a leader, a villainous boss of sorts.
"As long as they don't come after me, I'll wait until I grow stronger, then deal with them."
Hastur still believed in prioritizing his own strength first. At his current potion digestion speed,
in another ten or so days, the Barbarian potion would be fully digested.
Hopefully before the next gathering of the Starry Hall, then he could give the Lamp God a little surprise face-to-face.
After thinking through many things, Hastur finally left the Hall of Stars and went to bed.
…
In the morning, after breakfast, Hastur as usual headed to the Gordon Club for training.
The usual pair: combat and firearms.
After enjoying a free lunch at the club, he didn't go straight to the law firm as usual but instead returned to the West Borough and paid a visit to the police station.
He wanted to find Andrew to confirm his suspicions, to see whether Andrew had indeed been deliberately pushed out by the Yellow-Robed Monks to draw his attention.
At the police station, Hastur directly asked the duty officer about Chief Reed.
Of the people there, he was only more familiar with Chief Reed, having dealt with him several times before.
He had even treated him to a meal last time.
"Baron Campbell, what brings you here!"
A policeman who had once tagged along with Chief Reed for that meal recognized Hastur and ran up happily.
"I heard you had arrested Andrew, that conman. Since I happened to be passing by today, I thought I'd stop in to check and ask about the details."
Hastur acted kindly, never mentioning that he had once hung Andrew over a drainpipe himself.
The officer looked troubled, glanced around, and pulled Hastur outside to a deserted corner.
Lowering his voice, he said: "That conman named Andrew already died in prison more than half a month ago."
"Dead?" Hastur was surprised, though not entirely shocked.
If Andrew's death had special reasons behind it, that would confirm his suspicions.
Andrew had indeed been pushed out to catch his attention, and his death was most likely the doing of those Yellow-Robed Monks.
"He drank water that day, and by mistake, a thumbtack had been dropped into it. When he drank, the tack lodged in his throat, tore it open, and not long after, he died."
The officer carefully recounted the exact details of Andrew's death.
"What a tragedy," Hastur sighed, though in his heart he was already certain Andrew's death involved Beyonder influence.
There was no such thing as so many coincidences, he would never believe it.
For those Yellow-Robed Monks, killing a prisoner locked away in jail would have been far too easy.
"Extortion, even plotting to rob a noble, by his crimes he should have been sentenced to death anyway. Dying this way might even be the Goddess' last mercy upon him."
"A life is still a life." Hastur put on a look of compassion, as if he couldn't bear to see anyone die.
The officer sighed. "Yes, but he just wouldn't walk the right path."
Before leaving, Hastur casually asked about Chief Reed's situation.
That way, it would seem like he valued Chief Reed, making it easier to ask for his help in the future.
The young policeman sighed before replying slowly: "Chief Reed's family had some trouble, so he hasn't been to the station recently."
"What happened exactly?"
"Chief Reed's wife got pregnant. At first, it was a good thing. But ever since, her health has declined more and more. So Chief Reed had to stay home to care for her."
"Her health is failing?"
"Yes. Chief Reed's wife isn't doing well. Last time I ran into him on the street, I clearly saw he looked haggard, his eyes dim, must be because her condition hasn't improved."
The young policeman went on about Chief Reed's character and current situation.
At the station, Chief Reed might not have been the most accomplished, but he was definitely the most popular among younger officers.
Every time on a mission, he would give them opportunities to take action at key moments, letting them win the flowers and applause.
For older officers, he'd assign them lighter tasks, and when danger struck, he himself stepped forward first.
To the younger ones, Chief Reed was nearly a flawless superior.
"If Chief Reed needs it, I can introduce him to a very skilled doctor."
"Thank you for your kindness, Baron Campbell. You truly are a good man, not like the other nobles."
The young policeman was delighted. He had said so much just to nudge Hastur into helping Chief Reed.
But he knew he couldn't demand it outright, so he truthfully told Hastur everything about Andrew's case.
After all, Andrew dying in prison wasn't exactly an honorable matter for the police.
After asking for Chief Reed's address, Hastur left. Once home, he instructed Butler Neil to arrange for a doctor to visit and see if they could help.