Oravi Island, Governor's Mansion—
"Your Excellency Kottman, Sealed Artifact 037 has taken effect. This area has been completely sealed off and isolated from reality," a Punishers squad leader reported in a low voice to Sea King Kottman in a hidden corner outside the Governor's Mansion.
"Mm, notify all squads. Launch a general offensive in ten seconds." Kottman nodded slightly. As the head of the Sonia Sea region's diocese, the Mother Tree's descent on Oravi Island was naturally his responsibility.
As for why no angels came, it wasn't that the Church of the Lord of Storms didn't take this matter seriously. It was simply that there weren't many angels within the Church itself, and most of them had important matters to attend to, making it truly impossible to spare anyone. However, considering the danger of this matter, they did deploy a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact.
Besides the Church of the Lord of Storms members, there were also Loen Military personnel ambushed here at this very moment, also led by a Sequence 3.
"Oh my, what a pity. It seems she won't be coming over." At the same moment, inside the Governor's Mansion, the beautiful girl with a black fan covering her face seemed to sense something and suddenly let out a charming laugh. If one didn't already know her true form was a certain indescribable God of Pranks, her current state would be incredibly misleading.
"You did it on purpose." The woman shrouded in a black robe from head to toe seemed to finally react, looking at the Bloated Woman and saying.
"Don't say that. I didn't do anything." The Bloated Woman naturally wouldn't admit to such a thing. After denying it with a smile, she fanned herself and said, "You're almost at your limit too, aren't you? How about it? Do you want to cause a big commotion before you perish? I can help you!"
"What exactly do you want to do?" The woman wrapped in a black robe clearly couldn't understand the mindset of the God of Pranks before her. "Isn't it also what you wish for, for that one to return?"
The Bloated Woman's hand, which was fanning herself, seemed to pause. She suddenly laughed, and in a questioning tone, said, "Why would you have such a thought? Or is that how Shub-Niggurath sees me?"
Immediately after, the woman wrapped in a black robe suddenly found her entire body unable to move, and a hand directly passed through her chest.
In the black-robed woman's stunned gaze, the Bloated Woman said unhurriedly, "Don't get it wrong. That one can't come back. I know this better than anyone. Perhaps to creatures like you, the consciousness born from the remnant is no different from the original one, but I have never acknowledged that."
Having said that, the Bloated Woman withdrew her hand. In her palm, she held something resembling a seed.
"It seems to have been nurtured well. Thank you very much. I will remember your sacrifice," the Bloated Woman said with a smile.
The black-robed woman looked at the seed in shock. Immediately after, her body fell, instantly dissipating into a mist mixed with blood-red and black. As this mist spread, everything it touched grew flesh and blood. In an instant, the room turned blood-red, and this blood-red color continued to spread outwards.
"If only it could have been two days later, but alas... I went too far last time, which is why I'm so constrained now that I can't do anything," the Bloated Woman sighed with a hint of melancholy as she looked out the window, though her true feelings remained unknown.
Her figure then vanished, as if she had never appeared.
And lightning and storms flashed in mid-air the next moment, striking directly at the location of the study.
...
A certain sea area in Sonia, Future.
The mushrooms that always emitted Holy Light had all died out at this moment. They had collectively lived for six days, and Future had finally gotten rid of that special state of glowing Holy Light everywhere, allowing the crew members to sleep soundly in the dark. Heath also no longer had to be cooped up in the captain's cabin and could return to his own room for a good rest. It was truly cause for celebration.
The only thing that probably made the problem children of Future uneasy was that Frank's laboratory frequently experienced explosions, blinding flashes of intense Holy Light, or strong sensations of purification over the past two days. This made the crew, led by Nina, truly want to grab Frank by his collar and shout at him—Can you please calm down for a couple of days and not research such dangerous things?
Unfortunately, they couldn't defeat Frank, so they didn't do so.
As a guest on Future, Lin Ruo had also finalized a preliminary plan with Solomon over the past two days and obtained a list of Black Emperor members from Nast. The list included both the overt members of Black Emperor and some members developed in secret, all of whom were about to be arranged to meet with Rebel Army members.
Of course, as a man who kept his word, Lin Ruo did not forget to bring Klein along when discussing these matters later, allowing our Klein to participate in the meeting throughout and encouraging him to speak actively.
And after witnessing how Klein went from being somewhat naive to quickly adapting, speaking proficiently, and seemingly capable of handling all these matters independently with just a little more training—mainly because Klein had already dealt with the Sea God Sect's affairs before and gained some experience—Lin Ruo, who always valued the comprehensive development of his students, clapped his hands and happily decided to hand over some rather important tasks from these matters to Klein.
After all, he was originally helping Klein develop his influence. Lin Ruo had no intention of sidelining The Fool, so of course, he had to let Klein handle some of the matters. Once he became proficient, he would let him be the one to steer the ship.
"This is power! The Future development direction and goals of the Church of the Fool are all in your hands. Roughly speaking, you are now a mini Black Emperor. Others, like The Hanged Man, don't even get this kind of treatment!" Lin Ruo's hand rested on Klein's shoulder as he said righteously.
"While what you said is indeed not wrong, with all due respect, I think you just want to slack off, which is why you're pushing the work onto me," Klein said expressionlessly. A stack of papers, that very contact list, lay beside his hand.
"Be confident, remove 'I think'," Lin Ruo said without changing his expression, looking completely unashamed.
"I just want to slack off, which is why I'm pushing the work onto you."
"Can I commit patricide?" Klein continued expressionlessly.
"No, thank you," Lin Ruo directly rejected this excessive suggestion. Then, he smiled and poured himself a cup of tea, and also poured one for Klein, saying, "But you can develop tools like I do. Otherwise, it's fine for now; the Rebel Army isn't that big, and we few can handle it. But what about when the Church of the Fool is established later? If you still handle all these matters personally, you'll truly die from exhaustion, and you won't even be able to finish them."
Klein picked up the tea Lin Ruo poured but couldn't help but ponder, "Tools... The problem is, I don't have anyone useful around me. Danitz is obedient and trustworthy, but can he really handle these matters?"
Although he had discussed with Lin Ruo about making Danitz a Divine Emissary of the Church of the Fool, Klein wasn't really very confident in Danitz's professional abilities.
"I think you can try. For example, first give him some less important tasks to handle, so it's easier to compensate if he fails," Lin Ruo replied while drinking tea.
Just then, he suddenly paused, and then saw his messenger emerge from the ground.
Lin Ruo put down his teacup, took the letter, read its contents at an extremely fast pace, and then handed it to Klein, who was slightly curious, while saying, "The matter on Oravi Island is over."