Upon hearing Odis the Hermit's words, "The Sun" Derrick once again fell into deep thought.
Alger, the "Hanged Man," remarked: "It seems the 'Hermit' is also a man with a story."
"Justice" Audrey and "Magician" Fors also hope that "Little Sun" can mature quickly after experiencing this.
Klein, the "Fool" behind the gray fog, felt that, judging from the usual behavior of the "Hermit," he was a sufficiently mature Extraordinary. Despite understanding the nature of the Extraordinary World, he did not become indifferent and was still willing to help others, which was also a virtue.
Odis gave Derrick time to think, and then said, "Let me analyze it for you again."
"Your greatest special quality is that you have the help of Mr. Fool."
"So you are crucial to Silver City, but if you completely expose your special abilities, you will definitely be imprisoned and kept under strict guard, and you will be unable to play your role."
"But if you conceal your special abilities in some places, you might be able to find hope for Silver City."
He shrugged: "Your 'chief' sent people to monitor you because he's an evil person? A wicked villain with terrible deeds?"
Derrick immediately protested, "No."
Odis nodded slowly: "It seems you understand this principle. To accomplish something, especially something very difficult, virtue alone is not enough; you also need some means."
Alger nodded repeatedly, feeling more and more that the "hermit" was speaking his own thoughts.
Audrey also felt a sense of sudden enlightenment. Although the "hermit's" words were different from what she had been taught since childhood, after carefully recalling what she had seen and heard, she found that the "hermit's" description was more in line with the development of events.
"I understand," Derrick said earnestly. "Thank you, Mr. 'Hermit'. My previous thinking was too naive."
Odis hummed in agreement and readily accepted the "Little Sun's" thanks.
Then Derrick added, "There's something else. The exploration team that set off earlier has returned. I mean the exploration team led by Elder Lovia, the 'Shepherd'."
"They completed their exploration of the half-ruined temple of the 'True Creator' and returned to Silver City. I noticed that the personalities of several team members I knew had changed to some extent."
Alger said with certainty, "They have been corrupted by the 'True Creator'."
"I also think they seem to have a problem," Derrick said, sounding slightly aggrieved. "I've already reported it, but the 'chief' doesn't seem to believe me…"
"I understand. It's because the 'Chief' suspects I'm possessed by Amon that he won't trust me."
Alger, Audrey, and the other members nodded slowly. Clearly, the "Hermit's" teachings had had some effect, and "Little Sun's" thinking was no longer so naive.
Derrick asked anxiously, "Then what should I do?"
After thinking for two or three seconds, Alger said, "I think your 'Chief' is probably also paying attention to Elder 'Shepherd' and the members of that exploration team right now."
"The only problem is that they certainly don't value it enough, not even as much as they value you and Amon."
Before "Little Sun" could speak, he added thoughtfully, "Perhaps we can use this to clear your name of suspicion."
"Well, find an opportunity to make a member of one of the exploration teams act strangely and have a conflict with him. That way, the 'Chief' will pay more attention to him."
"At the same time, you take the opportunity to hand over that strange little bug, saying that when you had a conflict with that team member, you suddenly felt mentally disoriented and vaguely heard someone shouting 'True Creator,' while pretending to cough up the bug."
"There are many methods and abilities that cannot be used when evil gods are involved. Your 'chief' would logically guess that Amon's clone clashed with the spiritual pollution left by the 'true creator' and eventually perished as a dead insect."
"The surveillance on you will definitely decrease a lot as a result. If you behave yourself for a while longer, there will be virtually no suspicion against you."
Audrey thought with her mouth slightly agape: Why does Mr. Hanged Man seem so skilled in this area?
Klein thought to himself: Is the internal struggle within the Church of the True God really this intense? It seems like the "Hanged Man" often experiences this kind of "palace intrigue."
Derrick's eyes lit up as he listened, thinking that Mr. Hanged Man was indeed trustworthy and had come up with such a good idea.
He pressed further, "How can I get the members of that exploration team to exhibit the most complete and abnormal state?"
Alger paused for a few seconds before speaking, "I don't know."
Klein manipulated the previously silent "world" to speak: "I have an item that contains the contamination of the 'True Creator'."
"Little one, I can lend you that item, but what will you offer in return?"
Derrick thought for a moment before saying, "I can try to help you collect information about the characteristics of the Shadow of Human Skin."
At a previous gathering, "World" posted a request for this.
The World nodded gently: "Very well, I will ask Mr. Fool for help to lend it to you."
Alger added, "Use the 'Spiritual Wall' to seal the container containing that item beforehand, so that no one notices anything unusual."
"Thank you, Mr. Hanged Man, thank you, thank you for your help." Derrick sincerely thanked the other members of the Tarot Club.
During the conversation, he gradually came up with a complete plan.
After a few seconds of silence in the hall, Odis, who had been listening for a while, spoke again, saying to Derrick, "You must have gone to great lengths to sacrifice those animals and plants around Silver City while they were still alive, right?"
Klein, still slightly upturned at the corners of his mouth, recalled the scene of the "Hermit" frantically dealing with the situation from behind the gray fog.
Audrey was slightly taken aback before realizing what was happening: What? A live sacrifice?
Then, she smiled helplessly.
Derrick replied seriously, "Yes, especially that fish. It was so easy to kill. It took me a lot of effort to stun it."
Odis nodded: "If I need a live subject, I will specifically remind you. If I don't remind you, it means I can accept the test subject as a corpse. Just kill it and give it to me."
Derrick seemed to understand the meaning of "hermit": "Okay...okay."
Fors and Audrey both smiled knowingly; they could even imagine the Hermit's astonishment when he saw the living test subject.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
"In any case, I am very satisfied with your payment," Odis said.
In the past few days, he has been taking time to observe the condition of those plants and animals, and plans to start studying them next week, once he has made sufficient observations.
As for the bucket of silt and the bucket of soil, they had already been sent to the "knowledge wilderness" in advance.
At this moment, everyone recalled the deal made between the "Hermit" and the "Sun" at the last gathering: the "Little Sun" provided the "Hermit" with test subjects, and the "Hermit" collected information about Amon for the "Little Sun".
Odis continued, "I've gathered some crucial information about Amon, and it's very advanced. Do you want to hear it for yourself, or do you want me to just say it like this?"
"Let's just say that." This was Derrick's way of thanking the other members of the Tarot Club.
"Alright." Odis began to recount: "I have learned an astonishing piece of news: there has only ever been one Amon in this world, from ancient times to the present."
This description surprised everyone slightly, and for a moment they didn't quite understand what was so amazing about it.
Fors scratched his head and asked, "The only Amon was destroyed by the angels sent by Mr. Fool?"
"No." Odis smiled and said, "You're misunderstanding it. I mean, from ancient times to the present, no matter how many clones Amon has, there is only one original Amon."
Suddenly, everyone felt their hair stand on end!
Alger said with some surprise, "I remember the Amon family already existed in the Fourth Epoch!"
"It's not just the Fourth Age!" Odis said. "According to the information I've received, Amon was born in the Third Age!"
Audrey first gently covered her mouth before saying, "My God, that means Amon is... is already thousands of years old?"
Fors repeated slowly, "Several thousand years..."
For her, this was a very distant number.
Klein, who was behind the gray fog, was not surprised, because when he obtained the "Blasphemy Card," he had already thought of a fact: the gods had lived for countless years.
In fact, Alger and his companions knew this in their hearts, but they thought these ideas were too blasphemous. Gods are high above, existing since the creation of the world. How could they possibly have a concept of how long they have lived?
That's why they've only just realized it now.
At this moment, Klein thought to himself: No wonder it's called the "Blasphemy Token". Obtaining such an item greatly reduces one's respect for the gods. Isn't that blasphemy?
Alger was the first to react: "I've heard that becoming an angel causes a fundamental change in one's life form. It seems that one of these changes is having a long lifespan."
Odis hummed in agreement: "I've also heard that the Amon family back then was actually Amon and his clones."
Klein, behind the gray fog, paused slightly: This is a bit strange. The patriarch of the entire family is Amon himself, and the elders are Amon 1 to Amon 6? I wonder if there are any internal conflicts or small cliques among Amon's clones?
Fors recovered from her earlier surprise: "It's like listening to a ghost story."
She felt that this was indeed a good subject for a horror story!
After Fors said that, Audrey imagined a scene where she entered a noble family's courtyard, surrounded by classical buildings and with beautiful scenery. Many members of the noble family were coming and going in the courtyard.
Suddenly, the family members seemed to realize that she was an intruder and all turned their attention to her.
Whether they are old people, children, men, or women, they all look exactly the same and have the same eerie smile!
Audrey shuddered: "What a terrifying ability!"