Mystery: A Spark

After some hesitation, Alger ultimately could not resist the temptation of the secrets at the top of the sequence.

With Mr. Fool's encouragement, Alger finally traded a thousand gold pounds and a promise to purchase the marrow crystals from the Fairy Spring for the secret of the top-level sequence from Klein.

As their transaction concluded, a thought immediately crossed Arthur's mind:

Little Ke's wool has grown back.

He coughed lightly and said:

“Mr. Hanged Man, I have a recipe for Windbound with only the main ingredient.”

Alger's gaze suddenly turned towards him, and he asked with some excitement:

What do you need as compensation?

Arthur's lips curled slightly as he said:

"The price of a Sequence 6 potion recipe is around three thousand pounds. My recipe contains both main ingredients. If you digest the potion well, you can even swallow it directly to try to advance. So I think two thousand pounds should be a reasonable price."

Alger's face stiffened, and he felt a little numb.

He just finished a deal with the world, where would he get two thousand pounds now?

"What about something else? How about magical items?" Alger asked tentatively.

“I have no shortage of magical items,” Arthur said calmly.

After all, there are three weapons, which can be used for close-range, melee, and mid-range combat, which is enough for him.

"Your subsequent potion recipes?"

"It already is," Arthur said casually.

"Where are the potion ingredients?"

"I've collected them all."

Alger: ...

Where did this guy come from? Could he be a chosen one of some church? The Hanged Man wondered to himself.

As for the secrets of the extraordinary world, he simply didn't intend to ask, because he didn't think that the obviously extraordinary Chariot would need the secrets he knew.

Good heavens, I thought Rosell was already outrageous, but I didn't expect Arthur to be even more valiant. Whose general is this? Klein couldn't help but laugh to himself as he watched the Hanged Man get his comeuppance.

Audrey was also greatly surprised. She had always thought she was the richest member of the Tarot Club, but now she realized that Mr. Chariot was probably much richer than her.

After all, judging from how easily he was able to assassinate Beckeron last time, and what he usually shows, Mr. Chariot's rank should not be low; at least he is already a mid-rank Extraordinary.

In this way, Mr. Chariot, who has no shortage of recipes, materials, and magical items, possesses an enormous hidden fortune.

Unlike me, all I have is money, and I often find myself in the predicament of having money but nowhere to spend it... Audrey thought with some frustration.

The remaining Fors and Derrick were also secretly amazed, especially Derrick.

Because compared to gold pounds, which he had never seen before, he still felt that recipes, materials, and magical items were more practical.

Therefore, Derrick believed that Mr. Chariot was much richer than Ms. Justice.

Alger asked, somewhat troubled:

"Is money all you need?"

“That’s right, all I need is gold pounds,” Arthur nodded and said.

At this moment, Audrey spoke up:

"How about this, Mr. Hanged Man, I'll pay for this. I feel I'll have a lot of other needs later and will need your help."

After such a long period of time, her financial situation has basically improved, and she is now able to pay back the more than 10,000 pounds she owed Mr. Chariot.

Therefore, adding another two thousand pounds wouldn't be a difficult thing for Audrey.

After all, Mr. Chariot lacks nothing but money, while Audrey lacks everything but money.

Therefore, transferring this deal to her should be a good thing for all three of them.

As expected, the Hanged Man showed some excitement after hearing Audrey's words.

Mr. Chariot also looked over, seemingly somewhat surprised.

"How about it, Mr. Chariot? Is that alright? Including the previous debt, it's a total of 12,500 pounds. After this Tarot meeting, I will offer this money as a sacrifice to Mr. Fool," Audrey asked.

“I’m fine,” Arthur replied.

He only cares about getting the money; it doesn't matter whose money it is.

With this sum of over ten thousand pounds, his financial situation would no longer be as strained as before.

"I owe you a commission worth two thousand pounds, or a corresponding magical item, extraordinary material or something similar."

After Alger received the recipe from Arthur, he quickly wrote it down and then spoke to Audrey.

Audrey smiled reservedly and said nothing.

For someone who lacks nothing but money, it's only a matter of time before she needs to commission the Hanged Man to do something, so she's not worried about spending the money for nothing.

The transaction ended there. Klein had intended to use his knowledge to exchange for a magical item from the Hanged Man that posed little risk.

But seeing that the "Hanged Man" seemed to be almost completely drained, they had no choice but to regretfully abandon the idea.

The tarot session then moved into a free discussion phase.

Right from the start, Alger, the "Hanged Man," took the initiative to mention:

"The fleet of 'Hurricane Admiral' Zilingus has been subdued, and a new pirate general has been born."

"Justice" Audrey was quite interested in the pirate general's affairs, so she used her excellent skills as a straight man to ask:

"What's his name? What's his current title? There's no news like that circulating in Backlund."

Alger, the "Hanged Man," nodded slowly and said:

"She's a woman, a former famous pirate, 'Sick Girl' Tracy, you've probably heard of her, right?"

“No, I don’t know much about that.” Audrey shook her head honestly.

"Me too..." Klein, the "Fool" sitting at the very top, echoed in his mind.

Alger paused for two seconds, wasted no time explaining, and said directly:

"In short, she subdued Zilingus's fleet last month, proving with her actions that she possessed the strength of a pirate general. She renamed Zilingus's ship the 'Black Death' and proclaimed herself 'Vice Admiral of Disease'."

"She used to be a loner, skilled in using curses, black fire, and frost. Those who opposed her would always suddenly fall ill with all sorts of diseases. No one knows which pathway she belongs to, but everyone is certain that she is at the Sequence 5 level."

“It’s a witch,” Arthur’s voice rang out at that moment.

"A witch?" Alger raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm, it should be the Pain Witch of Sequence Five, who has the power to spread diseases on a large scale. If you are not careful, you will be affected."

"When fighting her, try to avoid close combat," Arthur said, his words carrying a hint of caution.

"Thank you for the information." Alger nodded slightly to Arthur.

This information was of great use to him, because he was a fake pirate who wrote about being a pirate but read about being a member of the Storm Church.

As the leader of the high seas and a member of the Church of Storms, Alger is naturally opposed to people like the one who is afflicted by disease, and they might start fighting at any time.

Without the tank's warning, I might have been caught off guard and attacked without my knowledge.

As for long-range combat, this is actually a relatively simple matter for the Church of Storms, which is adept at summoning storms and waves.

If that doesn't work, we might as well learn from the Steam Church and use artillery to bombard the area.

"Justice" Audrey listened with great interest, blinked, and asked curiously:

"Mr. 'The Hanged Man,' could you provide more details about the four pirate kings and the other six pirate generals? I've only heard of their names and nicknames; I don't know what extraordinary abilities they possess."

“No problem,” Alger nodded.

Chapter 141 The Tarot Club is not a lawless place

Driven by righteous curiosity, Alger began to explain the various powerful figures on the high seas.

After listening to the Hanged Man's description of the "Four Kings" and the "Seven Generals," Audrey said with some longing:

"Thank you so much for sharing. I'm starting to long for the sea now. I wonder when I'll be able to actually travel."

“No, Miss ‘Justice,’ it’s definitely not as wonderful as you imagine. In my opinion, it’s a combination of bloodshed, chaos, killing, desire, and fear,” Alger calmly poured cold water on the situation.

Audrey nodded and then began to talk about the recent serial murders.

"This sounds like something related to demon worship, something done by the Blood Cult?" Alger the Hanged Man guessed instantly.

"I don't know, the culprit hasn't been found yet." Audrey wished she could transform into a detective, take Susie with her, and catch that despicable guy.

Just then, Derrick the Sun blurted out:

“I know about this ritual.”

"You know?" "Justice" Audrey asked with delight.

Derrick nodded and began to talk about the mystical knowledge he had learned from his textbooks about the Abyss Path, and also about the rituals required for a demon's ascension.

"The minimum number of people is 13, and the maximum is 49. The more complete the ceremony, the better the chance of promotion."

"There should be at least three days between the two killings, otherwise it is easy to get out of control, but the interval should not exceed nine days, otherwise the ritual will be reset."

“After each murder and each part of the ritual, the demon will eat the victim’s internal organs. From then on, he will be in a state of violent bloodlust and wanting to harm others until that desire is satisfied again.”

“This path to the abyss is both terrifying and cruel…” Audrey sighed sincerely, feeling that she couldn’t even bear to imagine it.

Arthur then remarked, seemingly in a serious tone:

"Yes, with some effort and restraint, one can still advance through other extraordinary paths in a way that is relatively harmless to others. However, the Abyss Path only has one way to go, and it will become increasingly cruel and inhuman as one advances through the sequence."

"Therefore, only a dead demon is a good demon."

The others were unaware of Arthur's ulterior motives because they also felt that such a path, which required a frenzy of killing and an inability to control one's desire to harm others, was indeed a very repulsive one.

"Luckily, I didn't choose the abyss route back then..." Audrey thought with a sense of relief.

She couldn't even imagine what kind of monster she would become if she were to become a demon.

Perhaps I will become cold-blooded and ruthless, or more likely, I will hurt my parents without hesitation... Audrey sighed silently, feeling that she had gained a deeper understanding of the darkness and cruelty of the extraordinary world.