Bernadette stood there, falling into complete silence.
----------------------------------
He actually really knew where the last tomb was!
My father truly hadn't completely fallen, he did jump onto the Black Emperor's path at the last moment, and even left the final tomb behind.
Given the Black Emperor's uniqueness, as long as no new Black Emperor is born and the former order and influence left behind haven't completely dissipated, the Black Emperor could one day return!
If we find that tomb, my father can be resurrected and return!
Bernadette's mind trembled, but she didn't dare fully trust this Master of the Stars, perhaps He was deceiving her.
"How can you guarantee what you say is true?"
"On this matter, I disdain lying."
Bernadette was silent for a long moment, then said, "Since you were close to him, why didn't you intervene to save him, so he could be resurrected from the tomb?"
Close?
Fellow transmigrators, that relationship could indeed be considered close.
Hastur thought for a moment and said, "He has been corrupted."
Bernadette's emotions surged again, her father had indeed had problems in his later period!
No wonder she increasingly felt he was unfamiliar; his appearance remained, but his behavior was completely different from before.
Because of that, she had severed ties with him, even for a long time had been hostile toward him!
It turned out she had misjudged him!
He was just corrupted, not acting of his own free will!
Yet she had left his side at the most critical moment!
"Can you tell me which being it was?"
Years of accumulated anger lay within Bernadette's calm tone.
"Pollution from the cosmos, the Mother Goddess of Depravity."
"Thank you for telling me."
Bernadette suppressed the emotions rising within her, bowed once toward the Hall of Stars in the river, and shifted from addressing Him as "you" to the more respectful "You."
So she was beginning to believe Him, at least somewhat?
At least her efforts hadn't been wasted.
Hastur was in a good mood and displayed the new plot between the Magic Wishing Lamp and the Mother Tree of Desire to Bernadette.
Bernadette watched quietly to the end and said calmly, "I know how to handle this."
She thought a moment and asked, "Did you once have the same goal as my father?"
"??"
A string of question marks appeared in Hastur's mind, what did she mean by that?
Roselle's goal should have been to return home, to the original Earth; that was why he was seduced by the Mother Goddess of Depravity to head into the space and encounter the corruption.
If he hadn't known this place was Earth, he should also have wished to return to the original Earth.
After all, life there was convenient and safe, and he still had many games on his computer he hadn't finished.
"I once shared the same goal with him."
Indeed, this Master of the Stars had once made an agreement with her father, only later, when her father had an accident , did that agreement temporarily lapse.
Bernadette became more certain of her conjecture and frowned slightly: "Becoming a Followers of the Stars is the new agreement?"
"This is a new beginning."
A new beginning?
Many of Bernadette's speculations gradually clarified.
It truly was a new beginning, because this would be an agreement between her and the Master of the Stars.
She paused, then asked again: "Have you met my father in person?"
"??"
Hastur thought Bernadette was acting strange tonight; what bizarre questions was she asking!
Was this some roundabout method of probing?
He thought for a moment and said, "Unfortunately, I have not yet met him face to face."
Hearing that, Bernadette fell silent again. After a long time she murmured, "I still cannot fully trust You; I need time to verify the suspicions in my heart."
"The stars will guide you."
The conversation had reached this point, which meant tonight's meeting could come to a satisfactory close.
Hastur left those final words and withdrew the power of the Hall of Stars.
The murmuring river once again reflected the light of the crimson moon.
Bernadette's emotions were like that flowing water, unable to settle for a moment.
Through tonight's conversation with the Master of the Stars, she understood many questions and doubts that had previously puzzled her.
Everything seemed to connect, yet she did not dare to trust the goodwill of such a mysterious being. Even if He spoke nothing but the truth.
Thus she declared she needed time to verify, what exactly to verify, and how long it would take, were excuses she had devised to leave herself an out.
As for becoming a Follower of the Stars, she would take it one step at a time.
Standing by the river a while longer, Bernadette then summoned the pea vine and returned to the clouds.
Inside the room, the Magic Wishing Lamp remained quietly sealed.
Sensing Bernadette's return, the Magic Wishing Lamp emitted a faint golden light; the Son of Chaos struggled to manifest from within the lamp but found it difficult.
In the end it could only present a mouth on the lamp's surface.
"Bernadette, the stars are returning to their places. Everything will begin anew. If you send me back to the space now, there's still time."
Bernadette glanced at the Son of Chaos without a word and immediately strengthened the seal, sending that mouth back into the Magic Wishing Lamp.
Having just joined forces with the Mother Tree of Desire to set a trap for her again, and now wanting to trick her into sending Him back to the space, what a nice thought.
Inside the Magic Wishing Lamp, the Son of Chaos snorted coldly: "Tonight I trod on the Supernova Dominator's head; He didn't even dare utter a word of resistance."
After his spiritual triumph, the Son of Chaos felt considerably pleased and began thinking about the plot with the Mother Tree of Desire.
Estimating by the speed at which the Mother Tree would descend its oracle, it would take three days for that Abomination Suah to reach the vicinity of Backlund.
In those three days, He needed to accumulate some strength and try to deceive Bernadette into leaving Backlund, so she would fall into the wide-open net.
As for whether they could catch Bernadette, He had no guarantee.
Being sealed inside the Magic Wishing Lamp made it difficult for Him to exert true power.
He could only interfere with the real world by using the Magic Wishing Lamp as a medium.
"Hmph, despicable Mysteries!"
…
In the Hall of Stars, Hastur rubbed his temples; he felt tonight's conversation had been strange.
First the Mother Tree of Desire, the Supernova Dominator, and the Son of Chaos all acted as riddle-givers, and later Bernadette herself was odd, vaguely showing a tendency to be a riddle-giver.
"What an inexplicable night." Hastur sighed and left the Hall of Stars.
…
The next day.
In the morning Hastur went to inspect the newly opened factory; with Manager Harley at the helm, everything was beginning to get on track.
According to Manager Harley's estimate, the first batch of mosquito-repellent powder would be completed in a few days; as for the stoves to go with the powder, those needed to be custom-ordered from outside.
Manufacturing such stoves themselves would take too much time and the development costs would be too high.
Hastur came to inspect not only the factory's operations but also to discuss pricing with Manager Harley.
After discussion, Hastur set different prices for each product model to reflect differentiation.
Currently they were only selling to the noble class, so the materials had to be exquisite and the scents had to be pleasant.
For the nobles, this mattered more than whether the product could repel mosquitoes.
Hastur decided to set the initial prices somewhat higher, production was limited; scarcity increases value, and a high starting price leaves room for better reductions later.
After finishing all this, Hastur hurried to the law firm that afternoon.
He had Butler Neil prepare some gifts in advance, then took the gifts with him.
In the name of gifts, he carried out bribery.
In his era, this was a very common and widespread method.
Although one could no longer openly give gifts as bribes later on, the practice simply moved into the shadows.
Hastur's arrival and the gifts he presented quickly established Bribe-Connections with members of the law firm, allowing him to clearly perceive each person's emotional fluctuations at that moment.
If he wished, he could influence their moods at any time.
This experiment taught him a truth: money is the best bribing chip.
With enough money, one can provide sufficient benefits to accomplish a bribe.
There's no helping it, the allure of money is too tempting; whether poor or rich, powerful or not, no one would complain about having more of it.
Unfortunately, lecturers like Fron were just ordinary people; bribing them was far too easy and couldn't effectively promote the digestion of the potion.
Therefore, Hastur set his sights on Will.
This Snake of Mercury who loves eating ice cream had a high enough status; bribing him would be simple, one just needed to be willing to spend.
With that realization, Hastur arranged for more and better ice creams to be prepared and sent for Will to enjoy.
With Will's intelligence, he should understand what was being done.
But Hastur quickly discovered these acts were only superficial; real bribery occurs when one encounters problems that are hard to resolve, and uses special solutions that bypass law and brute force.
His gift-giving and ice-cream-sending were more like purposeful attempts to win hearts, not genuine bribes.
Hastur thought for a long time and ultimately focused his goal on obtaining a promotion in rank.
In the power games of the nobility, resolving this matter through bribery would count as a proper performance of the role of a Briber.