"The Beckland Great Smog Incident? That sounds awful. Has the air pollution here become that serious?" Lex frowned, continuing to read, and the more he read, the more shocked he became.
'…The Beckland Great Smog Incident!'
'Let me explain this incident in detail for you below, hoping it will be helpful.'
'The Beckland Great Smog Incident occurred on December 28th, in the East District and Dock Area.'
'This incident will cause over sixty thousand deaths, and its occurrence stems from a disaster jointly created by the Witch Sect and the Aurora Order. At that time, the Lady of Despair will spread the Plague in Backlund's East District, causing a large number of civilian deaths, thereby digesting a potion and preparing for advancement.'
'At the same time, this lady is also 'setting a fire' to add fuel to the Aurora Order's Lord who is about to descend into the world. The Aurora Order will use this opportunity to expand its influence, create a channel or vessel, and thus welcome the return of their Lord.'
December 28th? That's in the latter half of this month, not many days from now.
The incident will occur in the East District and the Dock Area. I've been there; that area is inhabited by the lowest-class residents, and there are many of them.
The Witch Sect… the Aurora Order… the Lady of Despair spreading the Great Smog… the Aurora Order welcoming their Lord's return…
Hiss.
Lex gasped, two secretive evil organizations actually uniting to create such a major disaster in Backlund.
"Over sixty thousand deaths… My God, sixty thousand people."
Upon seeing this, Lex's first thought was to 'report' it, to report the Conspiracy of these two organizations to the Three Great Churches. But there were still many messages from the Watcher on the Mysterious Book.
Lex knew that this incident was definitely not that simple, so he continued to read patiently.
'But is it really that simple? No, it's not.'
'Firstly, the Lady of Despair spreading the Great Smog, besides 'setting a fire' for the Aurora Order, is actually also to revive the original Witch worshipped by the Witch Sect. All the people who die in the Great Smog are sacrifices sought for a ritual.'
'And at this time, the vessel for the revival of that original Witch is currently with Prince Edessak Augustus. She is confined; do not approach her, otherwise, you will be sensed, and you will appear in a certain 'story'.'
"The Witch Sect really has other motives, not just simply to digest a potion."
"There's a Witch beside Prince Edessak Augustus, and she's the vessel for the revival of the original Witch. Is the Loen Royal Family even involved in this?"
"How did they manage this? This is Backlund, and it involves the Loen Royal Family. How will they create this disaster right under the noses of the Three Great Churches and the Loen Royal Family?"
"The Three Great Churches are not to be trifled with, and the Loen Royal Family isn't blind. This doesn't make sense."
Lex shook his head, his gaze continuing down the page.
'Yes, stories. Speaking of 'stories,' I have to mention someone. Do you remember when everyone warned you in Tingen not to approach Klein, not to appear in his story?'
'That sealed artifact that can create coincidences and devise stories for everyone is currently in Backlund. Next, is the second thing I want to tell you.'
'After reading the message above, you must be very confused. Backlund is not a small place; it is the center of the Loen Kingdom, and there are the Three Great Churches here. How can the Witch Sect and the Aurora Order carry out their Conspiracy in such a place?'
'Unless, they have the permission of the master?'
'Yes, the master of the Loen Kingdom, Emperor George III, is the mastermind behind all of this!'
'So, why would George III do something that harms his own people? The reason is simple: the Loen Royal Family and the Witch Sect are cooperating. The Loen Royal Family exchanges a Red Priest Sequence 1 characteristic for a large population provided by the Witch Sect.'
'George III needs these people to fulfill the conditions required for a certain ritual; he wants to advance to the Black Emperor, and the Augustus Family wants to break free from the control of the Three Great Churches.'
'And the Witch Sect is doing this to give the original Witch a chance to impact the Old One's position, so they need to occupy adjacent pathways in advance. This is why they need the Sequence 1 characteristic.'
'Having said this, I believe you have already seen the truth of the Beckland Great Smog Incident, but do you think the truth is only this?'
"What!"
"This matter has the master's permission, George III is behind all of this?"
Lex originally thought he had witnessed enough darkness and madness in this world, but seeing this, seeing George III cooperating with the Witch Sect, even sacrificing sixty thousand civilians, just to advance to the Black Emperor and to free his Family from the control of the Three Great Churches.
He then realized he had still underestimated the madness of this world.
And this, surprisingly, was not even the full truth of the 'Beckland Great Smog Incident'.
'…Do you think the truth is only this?'
'No, the third thing I am about to tell you is the real reason, the true source.'
'Thirdly, George III is only a Sequence 5 in the eyes of the Three Great Churches. So, who helped George III hide himself? Who provided the conditions for George III to become a god?'
'That is an Angel King, an existence at the pinnacle of the Watcher, an Angel whose name alone will be known.'
'The purpose of his doing this is because all of this is related to his ritual of becoming a god.'
'Above is my understanding of this incident; I hope it is helpful to you.'
"Angel King, the pinnacle of the Watcher, an existence known just by mentioning his name…"
Lex's scalp tingled; it turned out that such a 'root' was hidden within this incident.
It turned out that everything that happened, the death of over sixty thousand civilians, was part of an Angel King's ritual to become a god, to satisfy George III's ambition to advance to the Black Emperor, preparations made by the Witch Sect to revive the original Witch, and sacrifices by the Aurora Order to welcome their Lord's descent into the world…
Among those sixty thousand-plus civilians, how many families, how many innocent children there must be. It turns out that unemployment and poverty were not the most tragic things for them. Even merely losing their lives could be considered merciful.
The most tragic thing is that they will, unknowingly, become sacrifices for gods and higher-ups, falling powerlessly like straw in the wind.
Lex shook his head vigorously, trying to shake off the images he had imagined in his mind, but found he couldn't do it no matter what.
"No."
"This cannot be."
"They, by what right!"
Perhaps the message he just read contained too much information, and the characters involved were of too high a status. Just finishing that message had already nearly depleted Lex's spirituality.
He couldn't read anymore, nor did he have the mood to read other information, so he ended the summoning.
The mystical book disappeared from his sight, and the room's colors returned to normal, but Lex was still immersed in the complex emotions brought to him by that message, so much so that he didn't even notice when Kardashian emerged from the wardrobe.
The black-haired, exotic-looking woman stared at Lex expressionlessly: "What's wrong? Why have your emotions become so complicated?"
"Anger... Helplessness... Despair... Sadness..."
"I must remind you that overly intense emotions, especially negative ones, can easily lead to loss of control."
Hearing Kardashian's words, Lex nodded, closed his eyes, and used the Meditation Method to calm his mood little by little. It took him ten minutes, but he finally regained his composure.
After calming down, Lex considered what he should do next.
If he hadn't known about this, he should have been able to enjoy the New Year holiday, collect extraordinary materials, relax, and prepare for the Sea adventures after the New Year.
But now, he couldn't stand by, especially since he had personally witnessed the lives of the people in Backlund's East Borough, and those in Tingen and Enki Town who had similar experiences.
He had seen these people, even though they lived difficult lives, still strive to live. He could not accept that these hardworking people would unknowingly become sacrifices for gods and higher-ups.
He couldn't ignore these people being slaughtered like pigs and sheep. He decided to take action, not daring to say he could stop it, but at least he had to do something.
But if he did this, Lex would have to be prepared. Prepared for the possibility of being discovered by the Witch Sect, the Aurora Order, George III, or even the Angel at the pinnacle of the Spectator pathway.
In that case, he could almost foresee the outcome.
Therefore, he couldn't stand up and resist himself. Not only would that fail to prevent the Great Smog incident, but it would also cost him his life and even implicate his Family.
Thus, he could only hide in the dark, trying to expose the matter through various channels and using other forces to stop it.
"Speaking of channels..."
"The Black Sail channel definitely won't work. It would expose me and wouldn't have any driving effect. After all, the owner of Black Sail is George III. How could a dog raised by its owner bite its owner?"
Lex sorted through the channels he controlled.
"Next, the one with some weight should be Abraham, but this Family is already in decline, and even its continued existence is a problem, so they can't be relied upon to meddle in this business."
"Am I to rely on the Tarot Club?"
"Last time, I already used The Chariot's identity to send out the Feysac people's surprise attack plan through the Tarot Club's channels. If I use the Tarot Club again, it's hard to guarantee they won't guess my identity."
"Moreover, Miss Justice is a noble, a truly great noble. If she knew, it might alert the Royal Family and make them more vigilant."
"In that case, I don't have many channels left."
"Hmm, the Storm Church is one, and it's a force with enough weight to get involved. I can use Rayleigh's identity to send a message, but I can't send it to the churches in Backlund."
"Right, I can have Osweld's messenger do this."
"Also, perhaps I don't need to be too confined to my own channels..."
As Lex thought deeply, one idea after another emerged from his mind, gradually giving him a direction and some vague ideas on how to expose the Great Smog incident.
Kardashian looked at him and said in a low voice, "My intuition tells me that what you are about to do is very dangerous."
Lex chuckled, not responding. He took out paper and pen and wrote two letters.
One was for the Medic currently on Simim Island, asking him to find a way to subtly deliver the message to the Sea Wave Cathedral for the Storm Church. Lex believed the Medic could do it.
The other was written to Asered. Lex listed some materials, mainly the main materials for Sequence 5, and added some extraordinary materials to confuse the purpose, to prevent Asered from obtaining the Reaper potion formula for Sequence 5.
After putting the letters into envelopes, Lex first summoned Osweld's messenger, had it deliver the letter to Simim Island, and paid 1 gold coin.
Immediately after, he busily set up a simple altar, took out two bottles of essential oil and some common herbal powders according to the information provided on his mother's note.
"...Spirit that roams the Upper Realm, Void creature that loves to deliver mail, Asered Abraham's exclusive messenger."
Whoosh!
As the incantation was recited, a sudden gust of wind swept through the living room, the sound like someone weeping. The candlelight also swayed unsteadily and was tinged with an eerie green.
The scene before Lex's eyes slightly distorted and bulged. Then, a pair of translucent hands seemed to breakthrough a thin membrane, emerging from the air. The palms then opened, and in their centers grew large eyeballs, which rolled and stared at Lex.
Lex remembered that Spirit Realm Encounters mentioned not to stare at Spirit Realm creatures. Although this was Asered's messenger and should not attack the sender, he carefully lowered his head and handed out the letter: "Please deliver this to Mr. Asered."
The messenger, with only two arms, gently picked up the envelope and then drilled back into the air, disappearing.
"Phew."
"Next," Lex turned around and said to Kardashian with a smile, "do you mind making a trip?"
Kardashian replied seriously: "I mind. Very much."
But in the end, she still transformed into a carpet made of flesh and blood, slipped out the window, and headed to Backlund's West Borough as Lex instructed.
After doing all this, Lex changed into his formal attire and left the bedroom with Levto.
It was close to noon when Lex finally saw his adoptive father, Baron Bison.
He was truly busy, returning late last night and leaving early in the morning, only coming back now.
Seeing Lex, Bison strode over, hugged him tightly, and gently patted Lex's back: "Well done, my boy. Your mother already told me last night, you're a major now."
"Excellent! To celebrate, we'll eat out for lunch. I've already booked a restaurant, it won't disappoint you."
So the Family took a carriage to the West Borough. In the carriage, Bison excitedly said: "The Intis Celenzo Restaurant in the West Borough has the most authentic Intis cuisine. And I heard that many of their signature dishes bear the name of Emperor Roselle, said to have originated from his imperial court..."
Lex's mouth twitched slightly as he listened, thinking, Emperor Roselle surely didn't create any new and exotic dishes, did he? Like Intis roast duck with sweet bean paste?