Strange Voyage: Summoning the Fourth Disaster.

Chapter 833 The Shadow of Fooling

“Foolish plaything…”

The faint sound emanating from the Philosopher's Scepter echoed in Letty's ears and mind.

Although the sound was faint and mostly drowned out by the noise of other players, it sounded like a booming bell to Letty.

"That is……"

"That is!"

“That’s it!!!”

Letty screamed in shock, seemingly unable to comprehend what he had just witnessed.

He rubbed his eyes hard, then suddenly leaned out from behind the counter, his gaze fixed on the philosophical scepter in the storyteller's hand. He was finally certain that what he was seeing was not an illusion.

The next moment, without hesitation, he flipped over the counter and shouted loudly, trying to stop the storyteller who was gradually walking away.

However, he was surprised to find that he had not made a single sound.

And his power, which had spread out from the flames of war and was trying to stop the enemy, suddenly froze.

At the same time, a voice suddenly rang out behind him.

“Mr. Letty, you look very excited.”

"They're even willing to break our agreement for this."

Roger, with his hands behind his back, slowly began to speak.

However, in his excitement, Letty didn't care about this at all. He turned around and looked at Rogge anxiously, completely losing his previous sinister and cunning appearance.

“Candlekeeper, call to him, about the scepter in his hand!”

Despite his immense excitement, Letty quickly composed himself, took a deep breath, and began to discuss things with Rogge.

“That scepter…is very important to us.”

Revealing your needs too early in negotiations and transactions is clearly unwise, as it gives the other party more leverage and tilts the balance of power.

But at this moment, Letty seemed to have completely disregarded all of this, or rather, his behavior just now had already revealed this.

"interesting."

Seeing this, Roger became quite interested. After receiving the notification, he raised his hand and beckoned the storyteller.

The storyteller was still a little confused, but he quickly understood something from Leti's burning gaze.

Is it because of the philosophical scepter again?

“Candlekeeper, although I know this request is a bit excessive, I still wish to ask you if I could take a closer look at this scepter?”

Letty had calmed down considerably and made a request to Rogge.

"No."

Rogge promptly refused.

This scepter is related to the owner of the withered finger, and there is no doubt that it hides a huge secret. Letty's reaction now proves this point, so he won't be foolish enough to agree to the other party's request.

This is an extraordinary world; it's not impossible for objects to react to upon contact.

Furthermore, even if Letty offers generous terms, Rogge may not necessarily intend to hand it over to the Shadow of Fools.

So... you can just look, do you really want to touch it?
Upon hearing this, Letty felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head. Although he did just want to confirm, he also understood that Roger was unlikely to agree.

However, the storyteller beside him was quite eager to show him, very curious about how this "unexpected plot" would develop.

"Then...may I ask about the origin of this scepter?"

"Or rather, where did you get it from?"

"Letty asked."

"You really want to know?" Roger asked.

“Of course, and rest assured, once we confirm that this is what we want, we will offer many things in exchange.” Letty said very seriously.

Since the other party has figured out his attitude anyway, he might as well go with the flow, since he's not the one who will ultimately pay for it.

Upon hearing this, Roger pondered for a moment: "...I think what you need most right now is to go back first, right?"

Instead of directly answering his question, Roger asked a question in return.

Upon hearing this, Letty remained silent for a moment, understood the meaning behind Rogge's words, and nodded.

After giving Rogge and the storyteller several instructions, Letty reluctantly returned to his hut, preparing to rejoin the Shadow of Fools.

"gone."

Letty glanced at Lotti, said nothing more, and simply called out.

The latter clearly knew what had happened, quickly packed his things, and caught up with the other person.

After the two left, the storyteller immediately began to ask questions.

Rogge didn't hide it; he also needed the players' wisdom to help him.

After hearing the whole story, the storyteller couldn't help but pick up his philosophical scepter once again.

"This thing did seem to have spoken just now..."

He was chatting with his friends and it was quite noisy around him, so he didn't pay much attention. Now that he thinks about it, it must have been that sentence that made Lettie react so strongly.

“Foolish plaything…”

"Could this be referring to the organization Letty or the Shadow of Fools?"

"Why is Letty so agitated? Does he know the true origin of the Philosopher's Scepter? Is there a connection between the Shadow of Fooling and the owner of the Withered Finger?"

A barrage of questions and guesses immediately popped into the storyteller's mind.

Clearly, the two are closely related, and the philosophical scepter is so important that even the cunning Letty doesn't hide his need for it.

Think of this.

The storyteller suddenly felt a pang of regret. In the past, he had always used the Philosopher's Scepter to teleport directly to the Candlelight Hall for convenience and to save time.

If things had been like this earlier, this hidden game storyline would probably have been triggered much sooner.

"Let's wait a while, no matter what..."

"Keep this scepter safe. I'll let you know if there's anything going on with the Shadow of Deception."

Roger patted the storyteller on the shoulder, then vanished to attend to other matters.

The storyteller, of course, couldn't wait to share this news with the other players.

……

Letty arrived at the Shadow Cave without stopping, and then anxiously prepared to go to the deepest part, without saying a word to Loti behind him.

At that moment, a player sitting at the stall in the storyteller's team suddenly called out to him.

"Hey, let me ask you something!"

"Where is Jiama? He hasn't come in a long time?"

The player pointed to a stall near him and asked a question.

"I don't know, go ask Letty, the steward."

Letty ignored it and stepped into the deepest part of the Shadow Cavern, disappearing into a portal shortly afterward.

……

Accompanied by a sound of tentacles intertwining.

Letty's figure emerged from the portal, greeted by a dazzling purple halo that made one dizzy. A few glances were enough to draw one in, prompting endless contemplation.

The people coming and going were almost identical in appearance to Leti and Loti, and could only be distinguished by their clothing and some details.

Without a doubt, this is the stronghold of the Lettys.

But Letty couldn't care less about that at the moment.

He went straight to the very center of the place and looked at the middle-aged man, Leti, who was sitting in an antique chair with his head down.

"I have an urgent matter to report and must meet with 'Shadow' immediately."

Hear his words.

The middle-aged man, Letty, who had been lost in thought with his head down, slowly raised his head, his eyes glowing with a purple light. After glancing at Letty and Loti behind him, he nodded slightly.

Before long, the environment around them began to twist and spin, and they soon arrived at a mysterious area where the purple color was even more intense.

This mysterious place is incredibly vast, with a deep purple hue slowly swirling around it, captivating the soul.

A blurry and mysterious figure slowly approached from afar.

"film……"

Just as Letty was about to speak.

Before the figure arrived, a purple tentacle gently touched Leti and Loti's foreheads. The warm, sticky touch made them shudder, but they dared not have the slightest thought of resistance.

"...A foolish plaything?"

"No merit or effort, yet boastful."

"That useless decoration remains as arrogant and conceited as ever..."

"It does indeed resemble it..."

'Shadow' spoke in a calm tone, yet it carried a chilling coldness that sent shivers down one's spine.

He seemed to read all of Lettie and Lotti's thoughts and ideas in an instant, knew the reason for the matter, and made a decision.

With a flick of its hand, 'Shadow' brought back the purple tentacles, but this time it only lightly touched Letty's brow with the tip of the tentacle.

“Go, tell the helmsman of the Candlelight that I want to have a serious talk with him, and ask him to choose a place and bring that scepter.”

"If I can do it, I will remember your contribution for now."

'Shadow' made the arrangements. He didn't seem to expect Candlefire Island to use the Philosopher's Scepter for a transaction; he just wanted to meet the other party.

Hearing his words, Letty was somewhat excited: "Yes!"

He then turned and left, immediately taking action to deal with the matter.

……

Letty was very fast.

Roger soon saw him again and learned about 'Shadow's' arrangements.

Want to talk...?

It seems the importance of the Philosopher's Scepter is truly unimaginable, to the point that even the leader of the Shadow of Fools, a force that always lurks in the shadows, needs to personally intervene.

But if that's the case, then the philosophical scepter is even less likely to be used for trade and must be preserved.

However, other areas can be used for some operations...

……

Soon, Rogge selected a useless area led by the Spiritfire Harbor, accompanied by a storyteller.

He would like to discuss the matter within the anchored area, but the other party would certainly not agree.

Soon, with a tear in space, a figure named Leti, wearing a hooded purple robe and with an extremely ordinary face, emerged from the portal.

The person following behind him was naturally the one who had contacted the two of them, and not anyone else.

Although the shadow looks ordinary, its peculiar eyes and the disrupted sense of aura all point to one thing—this "shadow" is very likely the real Leti.

"I have long admired your name, the guardian of the candlelight."

Ying smiled slightly.

"On the contrary, I've heard very little about you, 'Shadow'..."

Rogge remained calm and sat down directly. The power of the candlelight quickly supported his body, forming a strange chair beneath him.

Seeing this, 'Shadow' seemed quite amused and sat down as well.

Similarly, the purple halo instantly intertwined and solidified, forming a luxurious chair.

“Name your price for that scepter. You should know it’s worth a lot of money, though in my heart it’s not worth that much.”

Ying rested her chin on her hand and looked at the philosophical scepter in the storyteller's hand. His true personality did not seem to be so profound and serious.

"Foolish plaything!"

The Philosopher's Scepter suddenly spoke again, seemingly sensing the shadow's presence, and its tone was even more disdainful than before, and it unusually repeated its own assessment.

It is clear that there is a deep connection between the two.

The storyteller listened clearly this time, and he seemed to be deep in thought.

Do you think I would sell him?

Roger smiled.

Even without the connection to the Shadow of Fools, the Philosopher's Scepter is undeniably valuable; its evaluation provided Rogge and others with a wealth of potential intelligence, and at a high level.

Just like that sentence I just mentioned.

Upon hearing Rogge's words, the Shadow of Fooling shook his head.

“There are indeed some things in the world that are priceless, but such a foolish scepter is not.”

"My price will satisfy you."

"Oh?" Upon hearing this, Roger became interested. "Then why don't you tell me?"

Hearing this, Ying smiled and then held up one finger, seemingly indicating that this was the first condition.

"The Burning War"

Then it's the second finger.

"The moment of extinction."

Finally, the third finger.

"Eternal Altar".

Every word he said.

The storyteller who saw the subtitles felt his heart skip a beat.

Good heavens, the Burning War, the Extinction Hour, the Eternal Altar—these are all extremely important pieces of news!

More importantly... how did the Shadows of Fools know all this? And did they truly know, or were they lying?

The storyteller's mind was instantly filled with a storm of ideas.

Not only him, but Roger was also very curious about the truth of these things, after all, this was the direction that Candlelight Island had been exploring all along.

But he didn't think the Shadow of Fools would be so kind; it was probably all fake news.

And... if these reports are true, wouldn't the value of the philosophical scepter become even more unimaginable?

It seems they guessed that Rogge and the others might not believe the veracity of the information they provided.

Shadow chuckled lightly, then quickly took out something and slowly floated it in front of Rogge.

"Oh... I almost forgot, there's a lack of trust between us."

"How about this, to show my sincerity, I can give you a small gift first."

"Follow along that path, and you might be able to verify the authenticity of my message."

“In the meantime, we will wait patiently until Your Excellency makes a decision, at which point we can meet again, how about that?”

Ying smiled. He wasn't in a hurry and seemed very confident and composed.

Rogge glanced at the object before him. It appeared to be just an ordinary pointer, but once the power of the spirit candle touched it, he could clearly sense that it contained a guide that locked onto a certain area within the boundary of darkness.

After a moment's thought, Rogge put it away.

Ying smiled and stood up: "It seems our conversation has come to an end. Although it's a bit of a pity that we couldn't reach a consensus, it's a pretty good start."

He turned around and walked away.

However, before stepping into the portal, he left behind a meaningful remark.

"Candlelight, there's no need to treat us like dangerous floods or ferocious beasts..."

"After all, in some ways, we don't have any fundamental conflicts..."

(End of this chapter)