Above the gray fog.
A new Tarot Club meeting was about to begin. Today, Klein sat alone at the head of the bronze table for a long time.
He was thinking about an important question, whether he should go to Backlund.
With the conclusion of the Lanevus and Ince Zangwill incident, the captain of the Red Gloves squad extended an invitation, asking if they were willing to go to Backlund and join the Red Gloves, or directly serve in Backlund.
Leonard didn't hesitate at all. He immediately chose to join the Red Gloves. He seemed to hate his former unmotivated self and now wished he could advance to higher Sequences as quickly as possible.
And he was indeed achieving that, supposedly, it wouldn't take long before he could advance to Sequence 7: Nightmare.
The captain Dunn wasn't willing to leave Tingen. He only wanted to continue protecting this city, so he wanted to give this opportunity to the other team members.
As for Klein himself, he was already Sequence 8: Clown, only a small step away from Sequence 7: Magician.
According to his divination, Backlund was not only the city of hope in the eyes of the world, but also his city of hope in the future.
For personal reasons, he was also willing to go to Backlund, to see this metropolis known as the Capital of Capitals.
But Benson and Melissa wouldn't be able to go with him in the short term. Melissa had to prioritize her studies, and Benson was currently losing hair over preparing for the civil service exam.
They would need around half a year to finish everything before they could move to Backlund.
Benson acted magnanimous about it, insisting that he must not miss this opportunity and urging him to settle down in Backlund first and wait for them to join him.
Melissa didn't stop him, but the strong reluctance in her eyes already revealed her unwillingness.
"Miss Justice should be a noble young lady living in Backlund, right?"
Klein thought about it, and it seemed he had just gained another reason to go to Backlund.
Plus, Lanrus and Ince Zangwill had already escaped to Backlund. Those two caused so much trouble in Tingen, they absolutely deserved to die. They must not be allowed to get away!
"When I start hesitating, it means I've already made my decision."
Klein lowered his head with a soft laugh, composed his thoughts, and began summoning Miss Justice, Mr. Hanged Man, and Little Sun to start the meeting.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."
No matter when she said it, as long as he heard Miss Justice's greeting, it always made people feel energized, sweeping away any gloom.
Mr. Fool was in a pleasant mood. He took the Roselle diary they offered and started reading.
This time, there wasn't much useful information in Roselle's diary. It seemed that ever since Ince Zangwill took 008 away, all these coincidences had come to an end.
He used to suspect that Miss Justice might be problematic, but now, he was more inclined to believe that all the unusual contents appearing in Roselle's diary were caused by the coincidences created by 008.
After finishing the diary, they entered the free chat segment.
Little Sun shared what he had seen and experienced in Silver City, allowing Mr. Fool, Mr. Hanged Man, and Miss Justice, who always freeloaded information, to gain a lot.
Alger mentioned that the Southern Continent had been very unstable recently. The seven major Churches were carrying out a joint operation, determined to wipe out the evil cults entrenched on the Southern Continent, but progress had been slow.
Except for the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, which had gone all-in, the other Churches claimed they couldn't spare enough manpower because their headquarters were not located in the Southern Continent.
Moreover, the cooperation among the seven Churches had alarmed the local powers, who began tacitly working together to prevent the Churches from expanding their influence in the Southern Continent.
In short, it was chaotic. A mess beyond messy.
Audrey thought for a moment and began sharing what she had seen recently. She mainly talked about how Backlund was searching for Followers of the Stars.
This was currently the hottest topic within the Beyonder community in Backlund.
Alger sighed. "Searching for Followers of the Stars… The seven Churches have already established special teams for this, but there's been no real progress."
Audrey said unhappily, "Recently, because of the Followers of the Stars, there have been dozens of murder cases in Backlund. Most involve Beyonders. Someone hiding in the shadows seems intent on killing every suspicious Beyonder to find the Followers of the Stars."
"This crazy and bloody method is similar to the maniacs in the Aurora Order. Only they would act like that."
"The Aurora Order? Right, there's a Beyonder calling himself Mr. A who posted a huge bounty. Is he from the Aurora Order?"
Alger nodded. "Very likely. You'd better stay far away from them. They are lunatics. When they kill, they never care about status or identity. Even if the target is a powerful noble, they dare to assassinate them directly."
"..." Audrey puffed her cheeks slightly, feeling like it was a clear warning directed at her.
Is her noble identity really that obvious?
But she still thanked Mr. Hanged Man for the reminder.
After talking for a while, Audrey and Alger both turned to Mr. Fool at the head of the table and asked if he knew what the Stars represented.
This question was both hard and easy to answer.
Klein had already anticipated that they would ask Mr. Fool for guidance, so he had long prepared a reply in his mind.
According to what he learned from Roselle's diary, the cosmos was extremely dangerous, a minimum danger level of five stars.
"Stars", just the title itself was extraordinary.
He once heard a terrifying prophecy: "When the stars return to their places, chaos will rise from the depths of the earth, and the great Primordial One will awaken."
The supposed Followers of the Stars were likely those who believed in such terrifying prophecies.
In his previous life, there were also many people who believed the world would end in 2012.
Yet nothing happened in the end.
But in a world with supernatural powers, the meaning of "Stars" could be far more significant.
After some contemplation, he said with a calm smile: "Above your heads are the stars."
This sentence was absolutely correct and carried enough mystique and authority to stop Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man from asking further.
Above our heads are the stars?
Audrey and Alger subconsciously raised their heads, and Little Sun followed suit.
Their hearts trembled. A profound and indescribable fear instantly crawled up from their chests.
Audrey and Alger quickly lowered their heads, abandoning further speculation.
Just as Mr. Fool said, above their heads were the stars. That symbolism alone was more terrifying than the seven orthodox Gods.
After all, the Eternal Blazing Sun was nothing more than a single star.
Alger finally understood why the seven Churches were searching for Followers of the Stars, fear, because of the unknown.
Little Sun looked again toward the gray mist above him, confused why they needed to fear it.
Gray fog was better than pure darkness, wasn't it?
As for the stars? In Silver City, they couldn't even see the sun, much less stars.
He actually hoped that the light of the stars could shine upon Silver City.
But now that they had Mr. Fool, he believed that one day Mr. Fool would bring light to Silver City!
Seeing that one sentence had completely subdued the three, Klein smiled.
"Today's gathering ends here."
After sending them off, Klein raised his head and looked around. Fortunately, he didn't feel anything.
Because of the unknown and their own insignificance, humans always feared the starry sky. Yet the magnificent starry sky also attracted human eyes, making people wish to gaze at it forever.
If he didn't know how dangerous the starry sky was, he too would like to see what was different between this world's starry sky and the one from his original world.
After all, humanity had yet to find a second planet capable of sustaining life.
He was curious what kind of galaxy environment could create a second life-bearing planet.
Maybe he could even find a galaxy shaped like the Milky Way.
Klein stopped daydreaming. Those things were too far away from him.
He logged out and left the gray fog.
Klein straightened his clothes in front of the washroom mirror, then walked out.
He took out his pocket watch, checked the time, then snapped it shut.
It was still early, just enough time to stroll through the streets, buy ingredients, and prepare a hearty dinner.
Last time, his beef-and-potato stew was a big success, except Melissa had scolded him for wasting too much cooking oil.
Hmm, he should buy Melissa a bigger pudding this time, big enough for her to eat to her heart's content.
After buying everything, the mysterious and mighty Mr. Fool put on his apron and began chopping vegetables, lighting the stove, and cooking.
When Melissa and Benson returned and saw the table full of food, they froze for a moment, then immediately understood.
Benson offered his blessings and encouragement. Melissa's eyes turned red as she whispered her blessing too.
Klein raised his glass of ginger beer and smiled.
"We're only parting temporarily. We'll reunite in Backlund. Let's toast to our future reunion."
"Cheers!"
Benson raised his ginger beer, and Melissa cupped the oversized lemon pudding carefully in both hands.
The next day, Klein went to Blackthorn Security Company and submitted his transfer application to Captain Dunn Smith.
Dunn stamped it and smiled.
"This is a wise decision. Tingen is small, but your future is vast. While you're young, you should go out and explore."
"No, Tingen isn't small at all. Because you are here protecting it, Captain, this place becomes great."
Klein smiled, the same smile he had when he received his first salary as a Nightwatcher.