Lord of Mysteries: Starting As A Reader

However, Old Huang's (Roselle's) intentions aren't hard to guess… For him, being already "gone," there are only three possibilities:

First, removing his own contamination; second, resurrection; third, currying favor with Transmigrators like me or Mr. Fool to aid his future resurrection.

Even if he were contaminated, these three core desires wouldn't change much; only the process or outcome might have issues.

But even knowing the goal, with the current intelligence, it's still impossible to deduce what exactly he arranged in Groselle's Travels… Hmm, the superficial fantasy world in the travelogue shouldn't be anything special… A reasonable guess is that his arrangement is hidden deep within the travelogue, in the kingdom of the Fantasy Dragon—Leviathan.

As his thoughts raced, Ebner picked up the "Error" playing card again.

The portrait of Roselle on the card didn't wear a monocle as Ebner had conjectured, but it still felt somewhat unsettling—whether it was the smile at the corner of his mouth or his eyes.

Even stranger, looking at the card from different angles, one could see many completely different "Roselles," old and young, male and female… They had different appearances, but each look would make you feel that it was "Roselle."

In the lower-middle part of the bust, this strange Roselle held three translucent small worms with twelve segments each, like the hour, minute, and second hands of a clock.

This card was currently in a "sealed" state, so it didn't reveal the potion formula for the "Error" pathway.

Holding this "Blasphemy Slate," Ebner tried saying words like "Amon," "bug," "Bernadette," "Isabella," etc., in various languages, but received no response…

Suddenly, he looked at Roselle's gloomy expression on the card and the "pose" of him holding the "Time Worms"… A thought struck him, and he said in Chinese, "Panda Burning Incense."

But unfortunately, the card remained unresponsive…

"It seems even Roselle wouldn't be that bored, huh…" Ebner sighed, then decided to temporarily abandon this baseless conjecture.

Just then, Edwina, who had been watching his attempts, thoughtfully said, "The mysterious person who gave Loenzell's family that note left a sentence on the page where this card was tucked in…

"It read: 'My life's greatest error needs your redemption.'"

My life's greatest error needs your redemption? My life's greatest error…

Based on my deductions, the one who first approached the Loenzell family was most likely the "Seal of Calamity." Its purpose should have been to take Groselle's Travels and conduct an unknown transaction with the Fantasy Dragon… Leaving something for Loenzell's family might have been an afterthought, or part of a setup… Of course, it could also have been to make up for some regrets in the original story, there's no telling.

But Roselle later clearly altered his arrangements, making them serve his own ends… So, the subject of this "greatest error" should refer to Roselle himself…

Thinking this, Ebner took a breath and recited in Intisian, "Lunar landing!"

For Roselle, this was his greatest "error," the error that led to the ruin of everything he had. It was perfectly suited as an unsealing incantation for the "Error" card.

As expected, no sooner had his voice fallen than he felt the card in his hand sink slightly. Then, a clear light slowly rose, gradually condensing into a line of text:

"Sequence 0: Error!"

Although Ebner had anticipated this, he still couldn't hide his joy as he looked at the item in his palm, turning page after page and jotting down the formula.

After this, he used his authority in the "Quiz Labyrinth" to "purchase" a mystical "isolation package" for it, only then handing the card back to Edwina.

Seeing this, Edwina's light blue, clear eyes immediately lit up. After also flipping through the names and brief introductions of each Sequence, she put down the card and continued recounting her experience:

"After I obtained the 'Error' card and the note left by the mysterious person in Loenzell's old home in Dacy, I temporarily 'invited' Captain Alanson back to the 'Golden Dream' to prevent him from reporting to the Church…

"Afterwards, while I sent Danitz to deliver a message to you, I myself came to Tosk. Using the descriptions in that note, I searched for the so-called 'ritual place.'

"Finally, I confirmed it was somewhere beneath the Surrey family's ancestral home."

Surrey family ancestral home… I remember Klein told me during the last Tarot Club that Roselle had buried treasure in the Surrey family's home… Could this be referring to that?

Hmm, perhaps the Great Emperor indeed buried treasure at first, but after his return from the moon, his disposition changed significantly, and he extinguished some of his family ties, completely treating the Surrey lineage as tools for his resurrection… Therefore, he changed the treasure into a resurrection arrangement?

As Ebner pondered, he heard Edwina continue:

"Because the Archbishop of the Church of Steam stationed in Tosk was assassinated, the Surrey family's ancestral home was also protected by Machinery Hivemind… I didn't dare get too close, so I could only use the nearby sewers to slowly investigate the exact location of the 'ritual place'…

"And during this time, I was discovered by members of the Delien family and attacked without reason… I fought desperately to escape, and if I hadn't been rescued by the 'Men in Black,' I might have fallen into their hands."

After listening to Edwina's straightforward, unembellished explanation, Ebner subconsciously offered a suggestion: "Keeping your language engaging while teaching helps improve students' learning efficiency."

Edwina blinked her light blue eyes, initially almost failing to keep up with Ebner's leap in logic. After realizing what he meant, she thought carefully for a moment, first nodding, "That makes sense… I'll keep that in mind."

Then, she asked with some hesitation:

"But if I don't lecture in a cold, serious tone, their attention will wander…"

That's because your crew's main purpose in attending class is you, not knowledge… Ebner muttered inwardly, while outwardly he changed the subject: "Let's not discuss teaching for now… I heard that Seyrow Delien, who came to Tosk, is a playboy. Perhaps he coveted you, which is why he sent people to attack?"

"I don't think so… The 'Blade of Flesh and Spirit' that injured me was wielded by that 'playboy' himself… He's completely different from the rumors." Edwina shook her head.

"Was it a Beyonder item he used, or his own Beyonder ability?" Ebner was somewhat surprised and frowned, pressing for details.

He had previously assumed that the "corrupting" power that injured Edwina was an ability an Amon clone had stolen from elsewhere.

"I can't be certain… but I'm inclined to believe it was his own ability," Edwina replied after thinking for a moment.

In other words, that "Seyrow Delien" is at least a Black Knight?

What is going on with this family? They already have a family head, either an Iron-blooded Knight or a War Bishop, who lived from Roselle's time until now, and then family members who successively believed in the Eternal Blazing Sun became Unshadowed.

That's one thing, but it's astonishing enough that the Prime Minister's direct lineage was involved with the Noth family and the Mother Tree of Desire… And the Prime Minister's biological son, whom people originally thought was a "playboy," even believed in the True Creator?!

Finally, another direct descendant of this family, Owen, joined the "Psychological Alchemists," becoming the "Lust" of the highest council… and is suspected to be a member of the Twilight Hermit Order, serving under Adam…

Is this multi-party hedging… Aren't they afraid of losing control?

They're even more "flashy" than I am! After all, none of the entities they've pledged allegiance to are easy to deal with…

As Ebner clicked his tongue, he wanted to ask for more specific details but suddenly noticed Edwina's breathing gradually becoming even… She had actually fallen asleep leaning against the headboard.

Right, although I used a ritual to help her remove the "corrupting" power from her spirit, that process was very taxing on her mind… She was probably forcing herself to stay awake when she was talking to me earlier.

Her mental weakness will take at least a day or two to fully recover. I can use this time to complete the investigation she hadn't finished… As for the Delien family, since the "Men in Black" were deliberately left in Tosk by Roselle, they will naturally block those who impede Roselle's "plan."

"Heh, I won't have Edwina's concerns when searching for the 'ritual place.' After all, with Fanny's connection, I can completely move into the Surrey family's ancestral home and slowly dig around…"

After murmuring to himself, Ebner pulled the covers over Vice Admiral Iceberg and then left the "Mirror Mansion," returning to the real world hotel.

He then checked the clock and found that it was still early. He decided to grab a meal first, then head to the train station to pick up the others.

.....

Symeem Island.

The "Black Death" was anchored in the leeward side of this outermost island of the Rorsted Archipelago, with towering stone cliffs behind it and restless waves below.

Klein saw Vice Admiral of Ailment Tracy wave at him, then make a reassuring gesture, before leaping from the cliff face back onto the "Black Death."

Watching the entirely black sailing ship, with a large white flag bearing a skull fluttering from its mast, depart, Klein felt a sense of bewilderment beneath his "cold" expression.

Goddess above, he clearly came to hunt Vice Admiral of Ailment Tracy, but how did it turn into him teaming up with her to repel her mother… No, according to her, that was her mom, who used to be her dad…

In short, to protect the ordinary people in that hospital, he had no choice but to rescue Tracy, who had already been captured by her mother, and together with her, they forced back the powerful Demoness of Affliction and her subordinates.

Although, to thank him for saving her, Tracy agreed to help find the documents that had been hijacked by "Vice Admiral Hurricane," which technically achieved his goal… it still felt like something wasn't quite right.

Could it be that after taking Prince Edessak's "Demoness" card, he inherited some of its characteristics?

Aggregation effect?

But I've only used that card once…