"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool!" Audrey's crisp greeting rang out.
She also discovered the new member, but she had something more important to tell the other members. After greeting them, she said to Mr. Fool, "You have saved Backlund once again."
Both "Magician" Fors and the new member "Moon" Emlyn were stunned, thinking to themselves: When did I get saved again?
The other members were also taken aback, because there was no so-called "great smog event". So on the surface, the past week in Backlund was peaceful and ordinary extraordinary beings were unaware of the plots of the "Witch Church" and the "Aurora Society".
Only Alger, the "Hanged Man," has heard that the official Beyonders of Backlund have once again thwarted the evil organization's plot.
However, he wasn't entirely clear on the specifics, because by the time the Archbishop of Backlund arrived at the scene, "Mechanical Heart" had already largely covered up the traces of the incident.
Even Klein, the "Fool" sitting at the head of the table, didn't quite understand what was going on. He clearly heard the "Lady of Despair" say that they were going to the East District to provide enough life for the Aurora Society.
After he escaped danger, he inquired around and found out that apart from the strong winds, nothing seemed to have happened in the East District.
Klein was also thinking of taking advantage of today's tarot gathering to ask the well-informed "hermit" what was going on.
However, he still had to put on an act when necessary, and responded with a smile, "I only offered a little bit of help."
"No, it was your chosen one who truly saved Backlund," Audrey said sincerely. "His reminder allowed the Church of the Night to prepare in time and prevent the awakening of the 'Primal Witch'."
"Moreover, he directly disrupted the Aurora Society's ritual, once again blocking the 'true creator' who was trying to descend through this ritual from the real world."
Because Audrey also played a role in passing on information in this matter, she learned a lot of inside information from the "Night Watchers" from her parents.
She added, "There was also a gentleman and a demigod who stopped the 'Lady of Despair' in the East District and dispersed the thick fog created by the 'Witch of Despair,' saving many lives."
Klein, sitting at the head of the bronze table, thought to himself, "So that's how it is."
He was eager to ask who that gentleman and the demigod were, but now was clearly not the right time to discuss that.
Emlyn, attending the meeting for the first time, almost jumped up: "The Primordial Witch" is about to awaken? "The True Creator" is attempting to descend? Mother Goddess... no, by the moon, is this lady a fraud?
Alger secretly breathed a sigh of relief: No wonder this event has caught the attention of Mr. Fool, but what benefit can He gain from thwarting the evil gods' schemes?
After a moment of silence in the hall, Fors, as if awakened, said, "Respected Mr. Fool, I received three pages of Russell's diary last week."
Klein nodded slightly and said, "Very good."
The more members and channels you have, the faster things will grow, like a snowball rolling downhill.
Emlyn felt he had heard something incredible again: Russell's diary? Could it be those notes?
It was only then that Klein remembered that he had forgotten about a certain vampire, so he smiled and introduced, "This is the newest member, Mr. 'Moon'."
So, as the "Fool" began reading the notes, the new members and the original members began to look each other over.
Audrey nodded politely while pondering to herself: "Mr. Moon"? I thought the person who chose the "Moon" card would be a lady.
After carefully observing the other person's clothing, Alger, the "Hanged Man," guessed that the "Moon" was a Rune.
Magician Fors had a similar guess, and even speculated that the other person probably lived in Backlund because the lapel pin on his shirt was a style that was popular in Backlund last year.
"The Sun" Derrick wasn't too concerned about any of that; he was preoccupied with thanking "The Hermit" later.
The Hermit Odis also pretended to observe for a while, but he knew the new member fairly well. However, since there had been no "business" dealings before, Odis did not establish contact with him in advance.
Similarly, Emlyn was also wondering about the other members' pathways, their sequence levels, which organizations they belonged to, and whether they were friendly to vampires.
His observation skills were average; he could only tell that "Justice" and "Magician" were Rune people, but he couldn't see much detail about the other members.
A few minutes later, Klein, who sat at the head of the bronze table, leaned back in his chair and smiled at everyone, saying, "You may begin."
Audrey immediately looked at "Little Sun": "Have you broken free of the cycle?"
Derrick nodded seriously at first, then sincerely said to the "Hermit" on the side, "Mr. Hermit, thank you for the information you provided. According to our chief's investigation, it is indeed a cycle caused by the residual power of the 'Angel of Fate'."
Emlyn, the "Moon," appeared to be listening quietly to their conversation, but he was actually completely bewildered: What was this "Angel of Fate"? What was this "breaking free from the cycle"? Why could he understand each word individually, but not the meaning when they were put together?
Odis smiled and said, "As members of the Tarot Society, we should help each other."
At this moment, Alger turned slightly and looked at the "sun" to his side, asking, "What exactly happened?"
Derrick didn't hide anything: "During the sixth exploration, I carefully observed the murals in the temple and sure enough, I saw murals depicting a crowd coming from afar, making a pilgrimage to a certain place."
"This also aligns with the information provided by Mr. 'The Hermit,' who said that during the Fourth Age, a large number of followers of the 'True Creator' came to our world from your world."
"After that, we entered the room behind the temple..."
Upon hearing "the true creator," Emlyn fell into deep thought again: Why are the questions raised by the members of this gathering all about angels or evil gods? Are they all demigods? Am I the only one in the "middle order"?
When the other members heard the little boy say he came from Enmat Port, they realized that the "Forsaken Land" was still connected to the North and South continents in some way.
Finally, Derrick continued, "The chief told me that, thanks to my prompting, he recalled some records from ancient books."
"It says that when 'the Creator of all things, the all-knowing and all-powerful God' looked down upon the earth, he was surrounded by many angels, and the leaders of the angels were the eight 'Angel Kings'."
At this point, he added, "This also aligns with the information previously released by Mr. 'The Hermit'."
Emlyn now completely revealed his bewilderment, because he had never heard of the "King of Angels".
Audrey noticed the new member's embarrassment, so she smiled and reminded him, "Mr. Moon, the information about the 'King of Angels' is important intelligence from the Third Age, and this information all comes from Mr. 'The Hermit'."
"If you want to know, you can make a deal with Mr. 'The Hermit'."
Emlyn quietly let out a slight sigh before smiling and saying, "Thank you for reminding me."
He thought to himself: What a beautiful and kind lady.
Emlyn then turned to the Hermit beside him and asked, "Mr. Hermit, what price should I pay for the trade regarding information about the 'King of Angels'?"
Odis pondered for a moment before saying, "For those transactions that don't involve trading, you can follow along with everyone else's future transactions and participate in the trading together."
"The intelligence that has already been traded at the Tarot Club has cost the other members a total of £2,400, but that was a collective investment."
"If you want to make the deal, I'll give you a discounted price of £600."
Emlyn hesitated for a moment before saying, "I...I'll think about it."
He hadn't expected the price to be so high, and considering that he didn't seem to urgently need this information, he decided to wait until later.
As "Little Sun" finished narrating, the transaction process officially began.
Fors first said to "The Hanged Man": "'The Hanged Man', we have news about the eyeballs of the 'Dragon Eye Eagle' you need, 2200 pounds."
She repeated her old trick and added another 200 pounds herself.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
But the "Hanged Man" is not "justice." He smiled and said, "Very well, but your price is too high. I have many channels to get a cheaper one. 1,900 pounds is the highest price I can accept."
"No, £2,000 is the bottom line," Fors replied without hesitation.
Alger immediately nodded: "Deal!"
Fors was momentarily stunned.
Emlyn, who was listening in, witnessed a deal being made. After thinking for a moment, he asked eagerly, "Gentlemen, does anyone know how vampires can increase their strength? Hmm, without relying on gifts from their elders."
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a barrage of gazes directed at him.
Odis thought to himself, "The 'Three Celestial Fools' truly live up to their name... Well, now they might be the 'Second Fool,' since the 'Little Sun' has matured considerably."
Fors's eyes lit up instantly when she looked at the "moon": a vampire?
As a novelist, she undoubtedly had all sorts of wonderful or bizarre imaginations about vampires.
Audrey also re-examined the "moon": Is this the legendary vampire?
Alger was taken aback for a moment, then quickly regained his composure: every member of the Tarot Club was extraordinary, and this "Moon" man clearly represented connections and channels within the vampire clan. Furthermore, was he deliberately revealing himself right from the start?
Derrick couldn't help but turn to examine "the moon": a vampire hiding in the depths of darkness, covered in pus, moving like the wind.
This is what vampires look like in the "Forsaken Land".
The world hesitated for a second before giving a normal response; to be precise, Klein hesitated for a second: this guy practically had the word "vampire" written on his forehead.
Emlyn was momentarily at a loss under the gazes of everyone, but he also vaguely realized that he might have asked something he shouldn't have.
However, he was somewhat resentful, thinking: What are you looking at me for? Can't I have a vampire friend? Should I explain myself? ...No, what's wrong with being a vampire? I am a vampire, there's nothing wrong with admitting it! We vampires have a long history, long lifespans, and abundant resources; we are a noble race!
Thinking of this, Emlyn raised his chin and proudly added, "Yes, I am a pure vampire."
Odis, standing next to Emlyn, twitched her lips: Nobody asked if you were a vampire! And what were you so nervous about earlier? Now what's there to be so smug about?
Fors asked curiously, "'Moon', do you vampires have created ranks like duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron, similar to humans, to correspond to different levels and statuses of powerful individuals?"
"No, it was you humans who imitated us vampires!" Emlyn sat up straight: "Long before the Great Cataclysm, long before the Second Age, our vampires had a system of ranks including duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron."
"At that time, you humans were still under the rule of the Giants' Court, and it was impossible for you to invent titles!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than "Sun" Derrick, standing beside him, blurted out, "There is no such record in the history of our Silver City."
"The division of the vampires is based on the birth of the 'Desecrated Stone Tablet.' Before that, it was very vague and general, with only titles such as patriarchs of different families and leaders of different regions."
Emlyn responded dismissively, "Our vampire history is written over long lives, not something that can be overturned by the random records of a small, ordinary Silver City."
Derrick said somewhat aggrievedly, "We in Silver City don't fabricate history!"
Audrey was observing the "mind reader's" daily routine with great interest, while thinking to herself: If no one stops them, I think they could argue about this until the end of the party.
"In terms of titles, vampires do indeed imitate humans," Odis said at this moment.
Emlyn immediately shifted his focus: "Sir, what evidence do you have?"
"There is a lot of evidence, but the most important evidence is still the 'blasphemous tablet' that 'the Sun' just mentioned." Odis looked at Emlyn, who resembled a rooster ready for battle, and then asked:
You should know what the 'Blasphemy Slab' is, right?
"Of course I know," Emlyn said. "But what does that prove?"
"That proves that before the 'Blasphemy Tablet' appeared, there was no concept of a potion system." Odis further explained, "Back then, people directly devoured attributes to advance, and most of the time they even devoured those of higher levels."
"In other words, even if there were titles among the vampires at that time, it was very likely that a baron would be directly promoted to an earl, and there would be no stable hierarchy."
"Later, under the guidance of the 'Ancient Sun God,' humans began to use magic potions to advance their ranks, and vampires also began to use this safe method of advancement, which is how the concept of a sequence came about among vampires."
"It wasn't until the Fourth Age, when the Blood Moon Queen of the vampires married Trensost and became the Empress of the Empire, that the leaders of the vampires were granted titles such as Duke and Earl, and reappeared in people's sight, returning to the center of the extraordinary stage."
"After that, the vampires adopted the custom of distinguishing different levels by titles."
Emlyn opened his mouth, unsure how to respond.