If the cross represents that Original Creator—then what does this painting mean as a whole?
Sons of the Creator? Lorne stared fixedly at the two infants being held by the twelve-winged angels in the mural, an incredibly strange feeling rising in his heart.
If the scene in this painting is real—then Amon's background is simply too immense!
Moreover, he seemingly has a brother—Lorne put down the camera, then turned his head to look at Sharon behind him.
"Do you know what this mural represents?"
"Only the True Creator uses the cross as a symbolic sign—" Sharon's voice carried a hint of uncertainty, "However, His Holy Emblem is also somewhat different from this one on the mural."
"I think this most likely corresponds to an even more ancient history before the fourth epoch," Lorne analyzed. "Could it be that the ancestors of the Amon Family are descendants of a certain Creator?"
"The 'Marauder' being a descendant of the Creator—that's quite a contrast." Lorne couldn't help but mutter to himself.
The two left this wall and circled the burial chamber for another half-turn, eventually finding a stone door with only a blurry outline sketched out in an inconspicuous corner.
After Lorne tried to reach out and push it, the surface of the stone door suddenly rippled like water, condensing into a highly realistic scene.
Deep blue waves surged one after another toward the distance, and at the end of the waves, there was black mist so thick it seemed liquid. A craggy mountain peak, constantly dripping with black slime, protruded abruptly from the mist. Behind this peak was an endless, boundless black mist.
"Another nonsensical image—" Lorne muttered, then turned his head to look at Sharon.
"The Abyss!"
Sharon spoke this word with a slight tremble. Lorne could feel a clear sense of fear coming from her.
He subconsciously took a step forward, shielding Sharon.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here."
"I—I am not afraid." Hearing this, Sharon snapped out of it. Looking at the relaxed smile on Lorne's face, she appeared a bit flustered, but still softly refuted him.
"Uh-huh~ I believe you." Lorne didn't expose her, nodding slightly before refocusing his attention on that mural.
The Abyss? That legendary source of all depravity, the Abyss that can even corrode true gods?
Waves, and mist—this most likely refers to the Fog Sea. So, in the depths of the Fog Sea, there's an entrance to the Abyss hidden?
"Can you take off that monocle?" Sharon's voice suddenly sounded from behind him.
"I feel—it's a bit strange when you're wearing it."
"Let's wait until we leave here to talk about it." Lorne reached out and touched the lens over his right eye. "Wearing it at least ensures we are safe in this mausoleum."
"—" Sharon didn't speak again, only silently lowering her head.
After confirming there were no new discoveries around, the two began to sort through the spoils of this expedition.
The dried and decayed corpses on the ground were the primary source of gains. Beyonder characteristics had long since condensed within those corpses; some had even fused eerily with a certain body part, forming various bizarre Mystical Items. Additionally, these deceased carried various miscellaneous items on them.
Of course, in Lorne's view, the most precious thing this time was still that self-portrait of Amon.
This thing was most likely related to the terrifying power in this mausoleum that stripped away time.
"Should we—bring that 'Ghost Picture Frame' back too?" Lorne suddenly suggested.
After all, although that thing was dangerous, its effect was also extremely powerful. If they could find a suitable buyer, it would definitely be worth a lot of money.
"The risk is too great," Sharon immediately vetoed.
Risk—Lorne stroked the monocle on his right eye, thought for a moment, and eventually gave up on this tempting idea.
Forget it—leave a little'surprise' for those destined to come later.
When they emerged from the mausoleum, it was already past four in the morning, and the sky showed a hint of turning white.
"The harvest this time is quite significant—" Lorne pushed his monocle, feeling quite good. "There should be many more Monsters like the Human Skin Shadow in that mausoleum—it can be called an unexploited gold mine."
—
After noticing Sharon's somewhat unusual gaze behind him, he sighed softly and reached out to take off the monocle.
"We might have a chance to come back and look again later, Teacher Sharon~"
"—" Sharon was silent at first, then spoke slowly in an ethereal voice: "Actually, you can just call me Sharon."
"You don't like the title 'Teacher'?" Lorne was somewhat surprised.
"No, I can only say—I don't hate it." Sharon's tone still had no ups and downs, but she hung her head.
"Hmm—" Lorne was silent for a while, looking up at the sky. "Then let's wait until I completely finish the course before changing the form of address."
"It's almost dawn, let's go."
"Teacher—Sharon."
After everything settled, Lorne returned to his office.
The spoils had basically been divided with Sharon in the warehouse. The characteristic of the Human Skin Shadow and Amon's self-portrait went to him, while the items scavenged from the corpses were split equally. Sharon, who had a wider network of contacts, would be responsible for the subsequent fencing channels.
"This monocle is actually related to the Amon Family—" Lorne sat in his chair, repeatedly rubbing the lens made of pure crystal.
After returning, he had checked it many times using various methods, but found no abnormalities on this monocle.
"Could it be that this monocle is a token of a core member of the Amon Family? Or some kind of identification?" he speculated. "Because I was wearing it, I was 'Error'-neously identified as 'one of their own' by the mausoleum's defense mechanism—"
Lorne rested his chin on his finger, his brow slightly furrowed. There was still too little information; he needed more clues regarding this mysterious family.
"Speaking of which, the reason I'm so obsessed with this thing is still because of that basement I discovered back in Tingen, which was suspected to be left by a transmigrator."
"Now, this Amon is related to a 'Creator' who is suspected to be a transmigrator—"
"This guy's background is getting weirder and weirder. If one day he gets involved with Roselle as well, I wouldn't be surprised."
Carefully putting away the monocle, Lorne slumped back into his chair.
"I'll write a letter later and ask the Captain and the others if they know anything."
"By the way, I'll send the photos I took today along with it—"
"If all else fails, I'll ask Queen Mystic."
After thinking for two seconds, he changed his approach.
"As a Beyonder family that also has high-Sequence inheritance, other 'Marauders' should also have a certain understanding of the Amon Family—"
Lorne pulled out that badge engraved with strange patterns from his portable space.
"Hold this to join."
This was something taken from the corpse of the adventurer killed by the Human Skin Shadow.
Through Lorne's subsequent divination confirmation, that person was a Sequence 8 Swindler of the Marauder Pathway during their lifetime.
He guessed that the person was likely attracted by the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Convergence and thus found that mausoleum.
"Uh—" After contemplating for a few seconds, he suppressed the urge to feed that characteristic to the monocle and instead went alone to a deserted corner outside the factory.
After using a pendulum divination and confirming that his spiritual intuition sensed no danger, he injected a sliver of spirituality into the badge.
Immediately after, a layer of hazy light bloomed from the badge, quickly condensing into a straight beam of light.
Two seconds later, the beam of light suddenly dispersed, turning into a palm-sized, illusory parchment. On it, a line of small characters was written in Ancient Forsake: "January 4, 1350, 8:00 PM, Babel Valley."
Is this—a communicator? A mysticism version of a pager? Send a request signal, and then synchronously get the latest gathering time and location?
"Year 1350—it's currently November, so there are still over two months left."
Lorne let out a breath, reminding himself not to be impatient.
"However—a 'Marauder' gathering—" He thought of another person.
"Perhaps I can go talk to Hazel."
In any case, the matter of the charity foundation also needs to be discussed with her. He could take this opportunity to inquire about her mysterious teacher and see if he could visit while wearing this monocle.
And also give Hazel a warning.