A pirate conference? Wasn't that something held periodically anyway? Why was Mr. Hanged Man opening with such a serious tone?
Justice, Audrey, a little puzzled, spoke up. "Mr. Hanged Man, did something happen at this conference?"
"Mm."
Alger took a deep breath, not daring to look at Temperance.
"To put it plainly, after a disaster, the King of Immortality died.
At the same time, a new king, the Scarlet King, was born. Along with that, the Rose School of Thought's leader, Suah, suffered heavy injuries..."
His words drew a wave of astonishment from everyone.
"As for the specific details..."
Hanged Man Alger wasn't sure whether he could say more, since the battle had involved one of Temperance's powerful trump cards, so he could only hedge vaguely. "I'm sure word of it will reach your ears soon enough, spread by the pirates themselves."
Mr. Temperance is so powerful!
Audrey thought to herself.
Judging by the way Mr. Hanged Man described it, he must have shown off his strength at the conference; perhaps he'd even had a hand in killing the King of Immortality.
Still, Mr. Hanged Man being this cautious about it only made her more curious.
Hermit Cattelya, meanwhile, seemed a little dazed.
She hadn't expected that missing just one pirate conference would mean missing something this major.
But if a Sequence 1 Angel like Suah had shown up, the situation back then must have been extremely dangerous. The Queen wouldn't have been in danger, would she?
The thought made Cattelya turn at once to look at Hanged Man.
"The other kings are all fine."
Alger, guessing what was on her mind, answered right away.
Inwardly, though, he let out a cold sneer.
Heh. So I've found your weakness.
He'd originally thought the Admiral of Stars was some inscrutable, formidable Beyonder, but the moment it touched on Queen Mystic, she wavered so easily.
Whether it was her willingness to offend Mr. Fool for the Queen's sake, or her worry over the Queen's safety just now, now that he knew this, he had a way to keep her in check.
After the initial shock, everyone gradually came to accept the fact that a king of the sea already sat within the Tarot Club.
Under their complicated stares, Silas raised his head and looked toward Sun.
"Are you back from Afternoon Town?"
"Yes."
"What about Lovia?"
"Elder Lovia is still at the camp. The exploration and cleanup of Afternoon Town isn't finished yet. I was rotated back by the follow-up team."
Sun, Derrick, answered earnestly. "Mr. Temperance, I'm still under quarantine observation right now. The moment I'm free to move about, I'll go find potion materials for you..."
He held this powerful companion in great respect.
Though he didn't quite understand topics like the pirate conference or the king of the sea, he could tell well enough that all of it proved Temperance's strength had climbed even higher.
"Mm, thank you. But that's not what I wanted to talk about."
Silas nodded. "Has Lovia been promoted to Sequence 4 yet?"
"Not yet."
Mm, if she hadn't even reached Sequence 4, the True Creator surely hadn't granted her the Sequence 3 potion formula yet. Still, it was worth keeping an eye on.
Silas was, at this point, grasping at any straw within reach, trying to secure potion formulas through as many channels as possible.
He thought it over, then asked Derrick, "Also, at the last meeting I asked you to look into Lovia's past. What have you found?"
Based on what Sun had described before, he suspected there was something unusual about this Lovia, that she might not be entirely devoted in her faith toward the True Creator, and that had only sharpened his interest in her.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Temperance. Since I'm still in quarantine, I haven't been able to get at any records back in the city."
Sun, Derrick, said, looking rather ashamed. "But I asked around among the other members of the exploration team, and I heard a rumor."
At this, Derrick looked somewhat afraid, and somewhat doubtful too. "They all say that Elder Lovia ate her own husband..."
Silas, who had been fairly calm until then, felt his pupils suddenly widen.
Ate... her husband?
Ate her own... closest person?
In that instant, Cecilia's smiling face rose up before his eyes, along with the image of her driving a blade through her own heart, melting into his flesh and blood with a bitter, sorrowful smile.
Damn it, damn it!
Silas's breathing quickened without his meaning it to.
At the sight of this, Sun fell silent at once. Above the gray mist, some oppressive atmosphere was spreading rapidly. That usually cold, composed, blood red figure had suddenly turned extremely dangerous and pained, as if he might explode at any second.
Justice, Hanged Man, and the others were all caught up in that atmosphere. Though they wanted to warn Silas, none of them dared to make a sound.
Not until a soft knock, knock, sounded.
A crisp knocking rang out. The Fool's slender fingers came to rest on the bronze long table, releasing an intangible, formless authority.
Silas gave a sudden start, looked around, then turned to bow toward the head of the table. "My deepest apologies, Mr. Fool. I lost my composure."
"It's fine."
Klein said it lightly on the surface, but worry welled up inside him. He could more or less guess that Sun's words had triggered a flashback in Silas, bringing back thoughts of his own dead younger sister.
All he could say was that this fellow transmigrator and former colleague of his had suffered too tragic a fate; it stirred up sympathy in him as well. He himself had only been separated from his family, while Silas had truly lost someone to death.
"Hah..."
Silas took a deep breath and settled his emotions.
He turned back to Sun and said, "Keep looking into Lovia's background for me. Also, you might speak with your Chief about it. Have him help you find out more about her."
"Huh?"
Sun, Derrick, looked a bit dazed. "I should speak to the Chief directly? Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
"It's appropriate. Just tell him you can offer a high Sequence potion formula for the Warrior Pathway, and he'll be more than happy to cooperate."
Silas had just gotten his hands on the Twilight Giant card from a room aboard the Black King, and the formula inside would serve perfectly well as a bargaining chip.
Of course, merely investigating Lovia hardly called for such a steep price, but the Chief could accumulate some contribution points toward the corresponding formula in exchange.
He was confident the other side would never refuse.
"Alright..."
What else could Derrick say? He could only agree to it all. In truth, he too hoped the Chief could keep advancing, so that the City of Silver would have even greater strength at its disposal.
After this, everyone shared a bit more of the information they each held, and little by little there was nothing left to say.
"Well then, let's stop here for today."
The Fool, seated at the head of the table, said this at his leisure, and along with everyone's parting gestures, sent their consciousness back to reality.
Except two people.
Silas looked down toward the far end of the table and saw a gloomy figure slouched in a chair: World, Klein.
The little transmigrator gathering that belonged to just the two of them officially began.
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