stjorthotic Chapter 118 Success and Failure
Chapter 118 Success and Failure
Chapter 118 Success and Failure
Although Alger was unhappy, he also recognized the value of Evan's idea of playing the role, and looked at Evan waiting for his offer.
This idea for the role was actually told to Klein by Evan, who hoped that Klein could still digest the role quickly after becoming the "Joker," without expecting to gain any benefits from Alger and Audrey.
However, since they had already brought it up, and Evan happened to have some needs, he spoke up:
"In addition to all the blood of the Black Abyss Demon Fish that I requested last time, I also need three scales of the Shadow Lizard, 50 ml of blood of the Fire Salamander, and 10 grams of Magma Pyroxene Powder. You only need to give me one set of materials as payment for my sharing this time."
If you receive the materials, you can send them to the Brave Ones Bar in the southern part of the Backlund Bridge and ask Kaspersky Kanlinin to keep them safe. Just say they belong to "the kids," and I'll pick them up when the time comes.
The materials Evan mentioned were all auxiliary materials needed for the Sequence 7 "Arsonist" and "Witch," which were relatively hard to find. He felt that he had almost finished digesting the potions recently, and it was time to make preparations in advance.
Having just heard Evan's request, Alger immediately spoke up:
"I do have the scales of the Shadow Lizard, but I'm on a ship right now and won't be able to dock for another two days. The earliest I can get them delivered is this Friday!"
As soon as Alger finished speaking, Audrey couldn't wait to interject:
"I know where to find fire salamander blood and magma pyroxene powder. I can deliver it tomorrow—no, the day after tomorrow."
In order to better facilitate transactions with members of the Tarot Society, Audrey had thoroughly explored her family's treasure vault and knew that it contained many valuable items, including occult materials, among which was the blood of the fire salamander.
In addition, through her personal connections, she had seen the treasures of many other families, and the powder of magma pyroxene was something she had seen at the home of her friend, Viscount Grelint.
Alger glanced at Audrey, surprised that Audrey, who had only recently become an Extraordinary, had such extensive connections. Considering her previous lavish spending, he was certain that Miss Justice was a top noble living in Backlund. If he went to Backlund in the future, he should be able to easily find out Miss Justice's identity.
At the same time, Alger keenly noticed that 'power' didn't react much to Audrey's words; either he was just slow to react, or...
He either didn't pick up on the information Miss Justice inadvertently revealed, or he already knew Miss Justice's identity; Alger believed it was the latter.
Alger suddenly remembered that Miss Justice, who had become a "spectator," shouldn't reveal her information so easily.
The reason she exposed it was because she felt there was no need to hide it.
Given that she was just talking to "Power", does that mean she doesn't feel it's necessary to hide her identity from "Power"? Why is that?
Since their activities are all within Backlund, has it been possible that they have already met in real life and confirmed each other's identities?
Alger thought about it more and more and felt that his guess might be right. He also felt more and more uneasy. He had the same feeling as when he was a child and was isolated in the Storm Church choir. He and "Justice" were the founding members of the Tarot Society, so why was "Power" more familiar with "Justice"?
Unaware of Alger's inner turmoil, Evan stared at Audrey in surprise. He realized he had underestimated this "righteous" lady. Even as a normal person, Audrey could mobilize a lot of resources, let alone as an "audience member."
Audrey felt a sense of pride as she noticed the surprised looks on Evan and Alger's faces. In the past, when she attended Tarot gatherings, she was always the one who received knowledge and purchased materials.
Moreover, Evan's consistent refusal to accept gold pound transactions served as a wake-up call for her, making her realize that there are always things that gold pounds cannot buy.
She also wanted to offer the two gentlemen assistance beyond just gold pounds.
It now seems that her advance preparations were not in vain; she did indeed shock Mr. "Strength" and Mr. "The Hanged Man".
Audrey then inquired about the Tarot Club's membership criteria, while Alger tentatively mentioned information about the "True Creator," which led to the Fool's assertion that he was a "fallen creator," and the Wolf put on a show of bravado.
Finally, Audrey hoped to obtain information about the secret organization. Alger glanced at the somewhat quiet 'Power' today, hesitated for a moment, and then proposed a trade of 500 pounds, which Audrey readily agreed to.
"I remember Audrey was swindled out of 1000 gold coins by Alger here, and now it's down to 500, all because of me! This shows that the worst thing in business is monopoly." Listening to Alger and Audrey's deal, and recalling the original story, Evan couldn't help but mentally complain.
Alger then recounted the history of the Morse Order and the origins of the Hidden Sages, which reminded Klein, sitting at the head of the table, of his mentor on his extraordinary path—Old Neil.
After exchanging all the information, Klein cut off contact with Alger and Audrey, leaving Evan alone. Mr. Fool once again relayed a message for his follower, Klein. The content of the message was exactly as Evan had expected: Klein felt guilty about the disaster caused by Lanluus's expanded deception, questioned whether this method of fighting against the mastermind was too costly, and hoped that Evan could provide more information for him to make a judgment.
In addition, Klein also told Evan that he had obtained the portrait of the hidden audience in Tingen, but he was not going to investigate it and asked Evan to tell him the relevant information directly.
He also mentioned that he had discovered the difference between his school's instructor, Azik, and asked Evan whether Mr. Azik was a high-sequence powerhouse and an important force that could deal with the mastermind behind the scenes.
Evan sighed. He didn't sense any resentment towards him in Klein's letter, which made Klein a friend worth getting to know and trust.
After applying to Mr. Fool again, Evan picked up the materialized pen and began writing a reply to Klein.
In his reply, Evan admitted that the plan's success and failure stemmed from his own lack of planning ability.
He did not expect that the ripples from killing Mrs. Sharon would be linked to Lanius's deception, directly causing the deception to expand to a degree that neither the mastermind nor he had anticipated.
Evan admitted that he had taken remedial measures and reported the scam to his brother, but he did not expect that his brother and the military would see the scam as an opportunity to eliminate the military's black accounts, which ultimately caused the scam to slip out of his control.
When Evan wrote this, Klein, sitting at the head of the table, was completely dumbfounded. Nothing about the gray fog could be hidden from him, and Evan was writing the letter with paper and pen that he had manifested.
Klein never imagined that the situation behind this scam would become so complicated, which also explains why Lanius was able to obtain investment and procurement contracts from the Ministry of Defense and Pritz Shipyard.
Klein initially thought that Lanluus was a clever swindler and that the government of the Kingdom of Rune was a shoddy operation, which was why such a big decision-making error occurred, just like their poor performance in the Southern Continent. However, he never expected that there was such a despicable scheme behind it all.
All of this made Klein suspect that the defeat in the Southern Continent some time ago might have been a "fire dragon burning the granary" in another world.
While Klein was in shock, Evan did not stop writing and continued to write the sequel to Lanius's deception.
Lanius's scam has grown increasingly sophisticated, placing him under the spotlight. The military has assigned personnel to closely monitor him and is prepared to take him into custody once the scandal breaks.
Meanwhile, Lanluus's role in the mastermind's scheme has also disappeared. Under the mastermind's arrangement, Mr. Z of the Aurora Society will expose his deception, and Lanluus has already sensed the danger and is preparing to escape. Therefore, this deception will come to an end in one or two days.
After explaining Lanius's deception, Evan began to reveal information about the mastermind behind it all.
First, Evan tells Klein that he sees the script has become unclear, but the final outcome is still that the mastermind behind the scenes has achieved his goal.
This shows that their intention to use Lanluus to cause trouble has been achieved. Evan guesses that the mastermind behind the scenes forced Lanluus to disappear this time, which will render him powerless to interfere with reality for the next month or two. This is the success of this plan.
The failure lies in the fact that although they stirred up enough trouble this time, they still couldn't change the fate of the mastermind behind the scenes achieving their goal. This shows that no matter how much they stirred up trouble, they couldn't change this established fact. All they did was futile and could only buy time at most.
Therefore, in his letter, Evan proposed another approach: to help the mastermind succeed, take control of the script, and minimize the harm to Tingen.
Finally, in the letter, Evan tells Klein that the "audience member" is named Duster Guderian, a doctor at Greenhull Asylum and a member of the Psycho-Alchemy Society.
Mr. Azik is indeed a high-sequence powerhouse, and a very extraordinary one at that, making him a valuable asset in dealing with the mastermind behind the scenes.
Furthermore, Evan specifically instructed that before Klein determined how to proceed in the future, he should not act rashly, but could continue to interact with the two normally, otherwise he might once again touch the sensitive nerve of the mastermind behind the scenes.
After all, the idea that the mastermind behind the scenes would be unable to write a script in the next month or two is still just speculation, and Klein cannot afford to be careless.
After finishing the letter, Evan pretended to check for typos, made some corrections, and finally handed it to Mr. Fool.
After Evan left the gray fog, Klein frowned as he looked at the letter in his hand, his fingers tapping incessantly on the bronze tabletop.
In the past, he would never have agreed to aid and abet evil, but Tingen's tragedy, his predetermined fate, and the obstacles of failure forced him to consider Evan's suggestion.