Inside the Harvest Church in South of the Bridge, Backlund, countless complex and pure knowledge surged from the Spirit World, converging in the prayer hall and reconstructing Leyton's body.
Emlyn White, dressed in a loose, greyish-white priest robe, instinctively retreated several meters. After recognizing the sudden appearance of Leyton, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and complained in a low voice:
"It's still daytime, and people could come to the church to pray at any moment. How can you just pop out of the Spirit World so casually? What if ordinary people saw you?"
"Ordinary people can't see me..." Leyton calmly replied, his gaze lingering for a moment on the candlestick and rag Emlyn held in his hand, as well as on his priest robe, before he chuckled softly:
"It looks like you're doing well at the Harvest Church. You're even wearing a priest robe. When do you plan to oust Father Utravsky and become the bishop here yourself?"
"Don't talk nonsense! I would never betray the Moon! This is just a necessary disguise, yes, a disguise!"
As if successfully convincing himself, Emlyn's words flowed more smoothly: "At the Harvest Church, neither the Sanguine, nor official Beyonders, nor other forces dare to investigate me deeply, or even approach. This is my natural sanctuary."
"You've gotten a bit smarter..." Leyton commented, then walked past Emlyn directly to the Life Holy Emblem on the altar.
"What do you mean, 'a bit smarter'? Are you questioning the intelligence of a noble Sanguine?" Emlyn's expression distorted slightly.
Then he saw Leyton sit down before the Life Holy Emblem, hands clasped, resting against his mouth and nose, looking as if he was praying devoutly. His expression instantly turned strange as he said:
"Are you planning to convert to the 'Earth Mother'?"
"It's impolite to disturb someone's prayer..." Leyton murmured, then ignored Emlyn and began to pray seriously.
Emlyn pursed his lips at the remark, then took the candlestick and rag and sat down on a pew at the back of the church.
After his prayer, Leyton continued to sit before the Life Holy Emblem for a while, but he felt no abnormality or revelation.
After getting up from the pew, he left a few one-pound banknotes in the offering box at the front, then greeted Father Utravsky, who was sitting nearby and praying devoutly, and prepared to turn and leave.
Father Utravsky suddenly raised his hand to stop him, saying earnestly, "Please wait a moment, the 'Earth Mother' has a revelation for me to give you."
At the back of the prayer hall, Emlyn, seeing this scene, quickly approached and said in an exaggerated tone, "The 'Earth Mother' has a revelation for him? How is that possible? He's not a follower of the 'Earth Mother'!"
He paused for two seconds, then, as if suddenly remembering something, looked at Leyton with a strange expression and said, "Wait, you didn't really change your faith, did you?"
Leyton glanced sideways at Emlyn and shook his head lightly, "No."
Emlyn almost instinctively said, "Then it must be that you haven't yet comprehended the joy of harvest and the preciousness of life!"
Leyton chuckled, "Are you trying to proselytize to me?"
"Of course… not! My faith belongs only to the 'Moon'!" Emlyn glared at Leyton, placed the polished candlestick back on the table, and turned to walk towards the clergy lounge at the back of the church.
Father Utravsky smiled and shook his head, watching Emlyn's quickly disappearing back. He actually wanted to tell the awkward Vampire that he didn't need to avoid them; the revelation given by the "Earth Mother" didn't need to be hidden from him.
Seeing that Emlyn had left the prayer hall, Father Utravsky lowered his gaze slightly and looked at Leyton, saying, "The 'Earth Mother' asked me to tell you that you can go to the Emerald Jungle when you are confident and ask Her for that item. If you choose to wait, She will also give it to you at the appropriate time."
"I understand. Thank you for informing me..." Leyton bowed to Father Utravsky in gratitude.
Father Utravsky nodded gently and continued, "The 'Earth Mother' asked me to remind you that a thief has infiltrated Backlund."
"A thief?" Leyton raised an eyebrow slightly, then nodded in sudden realization. Amon and I don't have much conflict. Isn't Lilith trying to remind me, a gesture of goodwill towards The Fool?
After thanking Father Utravsky again, his body disintegrated into streams of complex and pure information flow, disappearing from the prayer hall of the Harvest Church.
Deep within the Spirit World, a misty glow formed by a torrent of information hovered, forming a slowly rotating giant vortex, continuously observing and analyzing the information of the surrounding Spirit World area.
About ten minutes later, the vortex formed by the information torrent suddenly collapsed inward, and countless complex and pure knowledge converged and reconstructed Leyton's body.
His gaze easily pierced through the Spirit World to the 'Capital of Capitals,' Backlund, in reality, sweeping across the streets.
"There's simply too much, too chaotic information in the Spirit World. Just sifting through information related to a monocle is such a massive undertaking."
As he lamented, he spread his spirituality to envelop himself, and at the same time stepped forward, his body instantly piercing through the Spirit World and returning to reality in Backlund.
Dock District, near the East Balam Docks.
A postman, carrying a satchel and cycling through the crowd, suddenly straightened his back. He released his right hand from the bicycle handlebars, pinched the monocle over his right eye, and with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, muttered to himself in a low voice:
"Trying to search for information related to a monocle through the Spirit World, huh? How naive. I've known that winged old lizard for thousands of years; how could I not guard against such methods?"
"Since your reaction is so strong, it means there is indeed someone I'm looking for in Backlund. I wonder if it's Pallez, or perhaps The Fool?"
Amon's smile grew brighter. He gripped the handlebars with both hands, pedaled quickly through the streets, and his figure was soon swallowed by the flow of people.
Shortly after he left, a faint, misty glow, difficult to see with the naked eye, streaked across the sky, moving away towards the East Borough.
In the underground of Saint Samuel Cathedral in the North Borough, Leonard was attending an internal meeting with the members of his Red Gloves team.
Soest, the captain of the Red Gloves team, scanned the team members seated on both sides of the conference table, cleared his throat, and said, "Headquarters has sent a secret letter, requesting that some personnel be drawn from Red Gloves teams across various regions to conduct preliminary investigations in the Southern Continent Paz River Valley area. If there are no issues, relevant personnel will follow to proselytize."
"The Church of the God of Combat seems to have already started their operations a few weeks ago. We need to get ahead of them. Once the faith of the God of Combat takes root there, it will be very difficult for us to spread the faith of the 'Goddess'."
Across from Leonard, a Red Gloves team member in his thirties raised a hand and asked, "Although the Feysac Empire is further from the Southern Continent, it will be difficult for us to make up for a few weeks' time difference, won't it?"
Soest raised a hand and pressed his temple, saying calmly, "The headquarters' secret letter didn't say, but there should already be high-level personnel coordinating with the Southern Continent. We just need to complete our own tasks."
"Because the location of this mission is quite far and the time is uncertain, you can volunteer to participate. If there aren't enough people in the end, I will select a few of you to go to the Southern Continent with me."
Leonard, who had been leaning back in his chair, carefully recording the meeting's content, suddenly paused his movements. A hint of surprise appeared on his face but was quickly hidden. He pressed one hand to his ear, tilting his head slightly, as if listening intently to something.
In his ear, Pallez's aged voice whispered, "That rude boy has arrived. He didn't conceal his presence."
"Strange, the Archbishop of the Church of the Evernight Goddess stationed at Saint Samuel Cathedral should have discovered him, yet there was no response. Ha, no wonder the Church of the Evernight Goddess suddenly sent people to proselytize in the Paz River Valley. They must have reached some kind of agreement."
Leonard resisted the urge to ask further questions and looked up at Soest, who was seated at the head of the conference table. Thoughts flashed through his mind one after another: According to previous intelligence, the Moses Ascetic Order has been very active recently in the Southern Continent Paz River Valley. Has the "Goddess" reached an agreement with the "Hidden Sage"? But isn't he an evil god?
"Heh, what do you think is the difference between an evil god and a righteous god? Is it evil and Justice?" Pallez's voice echoed in his ear again.
Is it not? Leonard subconsciously retorted in his mind.
"Naive!" Pallez scoffed, then fell silent.
Isn't the old man supposed to be in a deep sleep? Why is he suddenly awake again? He never used to communicate with me in the church basement. Has this period of sleep restored his condition somewhat? Leonard took a deep breath, reined in his thoughts, and refocused his attention on the meeting.
Soon, this impromptu meeting came to an end.
"You all think about it for the next two days. Those willing to go to the Southern Continent can come find me anytime." As Soest finished his final instructions and bowed simply, the members of the Red Gloves team left the meeting room one after another.
Leonard deliberately avoided two teammates who wanted to talk to him, walking at a steady pace out of the basement and into the church's prayer hall.
His gaze swept around, and he quickly spotted Leyton sitting in a back pew. He slowed his steps slightly, walked directly past Leyton, and did not look back until he had exited the church.
He walked all the way to the edge of the square outside the church before stopping. He skillfully pulled a small handful of shelled wheat from his coat pocket and extended his hand forward.
Soon, two white pigeons descended from the sky onto his hand, pecking at the wheat in his palm.
Leyton's figure appeared silently beside him. He chuckled softly as he watched the two pigeons pecking at the wheat:
"Aren't you worried that those two pigeons will suddenly get black circles around their right eyes?"