Divine guidance?
Hastur's originally lazy gaze instantly turned sharp, the god worshiped by the Abraham family?
This must be related to Mr. Door, but Mr. Door has not yet become a god, nor would he issue such an oracle to the Abraham family.
Only the Mother Goddess of Depravity would issue such an oracle to members of the Abraham family!
Does She know that I am a follower of the stars?
"Divine guidance? Which god do you worship?"
Morey Abraham grinned and said, "I am a follower of the Mother Goddess, and you are a follower of the stars. The god sent me to convey goodwill."
Goodwill? Goodwill my ass!
If She knew that I am the Sovereign of the Stars themselves, She would definitely risk everything to carry out a divine descent.
Fortunately, She only knows one of my disguises. It seems that when I wiped out two strongholds of the Moss Ascetics last time, it let Her learn that I am a follower of the stars.
Of course, it's also possible that this person is bluffing, after all, I have never admitted to being a follower of the stars, nor have I shown any strange behavior.
"Bullshit! How dare you question my faith in the goddess!"
Hastur instantly flew into a rage and shouted, leaving Morey Abraham momentarily at a loss.
But he still said with certainty, "Count Hastur Campbell, stop putting on airs, you are a Follower of the stars!"
Hastur sneered, reached out to take the cane beside him, drew the sword hidden within, and shouted toward the door, "Guards! Seize this madman who dares to blaspheme the goddess!"
His voice carried outside, and the guard squad stationed outside quickly opened the door and rushed in.
There was no panic on Morey Abraham's face.
Just as he was about to say something more, he saw Hastur thrust his sword straight at him, muttering, "You dare question my faith in the goddess, you damned thing, how dare you blaspheme the goddess, you deserve to have an ice spike driven straight through your ass!"
The guards also closed in at the same time, preparing to capture this assassin who had suddenly appeared in the carriage.
"You!" Morey Abraham did not dare remain any longer. He opened a doorway and hurriedly teleported out of the carriage.
Hastur slashed fiercely at the air several times, then looked at the guards with dissatisfaction and cursed, "Why are you still standing here? Hurry up and find that assassin who just attempted to kill a count!"
"Check every carriage one by one, don't let a single suspicious person go!"
Since things had developed this far, Hastur simply went along with it and made a show of beating the grass to startle the snake.
After all, this steam train had clergy from the Church of the Evernight Goddess and Beyonders sent by the royal family. Even if something really happened, they would step in to resolve it.
After the guards left, Hastur closed the door again. The anger on his face vanished. He sat down and poured himself another cup of Marquis black tea.
"Meow?" Ariella looked at Hastur with puzzled eyes, seemingly trying to confirm whether the foul-mouthed person just now was really her elegant master.
"You wouldn't understand. This is called strategy."
Hastur explained with a smile, his gaze turning toward the mirror on the table. In the mirror, Sharron's figure appeared.
"You are a follower of the stars?"
Clearly, she had heard Morey Abraham's words just now. She was not so easily fooled.
"More or less."
"This is very dangerous. You shouldn't have told me the answer."
"Because I believe Miss Sharron would not do anything detrimental to me."
Sharron fell silent for a while before saying, "As for tonight's events, I saw nothing and heard nothing."
After speaking, her figure disappeared from the mirror.
Hastur reminded Sharron once more not to go out and investigate casually, then turned his thoughts back to what had just happened.
Morey Abraham, a Beyonder from the Abraham family, he had actually become a follower of the Mother Goddess of Depravity. Does this mean that some members of the Abraham family have also become followers of the Mother Goddess of Depravity?
"This doesn't seem like such a big deal."
After careful consideration, Hastur realized that he didn't really need to worry about the Mother Goddess of Depravity right now.
Although the Mother Goddess of Depravity's status and power were above the Mother Tree of Desire, Her influence in the real world was clearly inferior to that of the Mother Tree of Desire.
The Mother Tree of Desire controlled the indulgence faction of the Rose School, had Sequence 1 Suah under her command, and cooperated with the Outer Deity known as the Supernova Dominator, she had many people at her disposal.
In contrast, the Mother Goddess of Depravity had indeed successfully corrupted Mr. Door and Roselle.
But Mr. Door was promptly discovered and successfully isolated by the Evernight Goddess and other true gods, while Roselle himself was still resisting the corruption of the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
In other words, these two trump cards of the Mother Goddess of Depravity could only play their proper role if one voluntarily approached them.
The Mother Goddess of Depravity had no real organization under Her command, only occasionally influencing Beyonders of the Mother and Moon pathways through Her status.
But at present, Lilith still held the relevant authority, so any influence of the Mother Goddess of Depravity would naturally be countered by Lilith.
Calculated this way, the Mother Goddess of Depravity had very little power to affect reality.
Thinking of this, Hastur felt much more at ease. Even if the Mother Goddess of Depravity confirmed that he was a follower of the stars, it would be difficult for Her to send powerful Beyonders to target him.
"I still need to hurry and plan regarding the evil god offspring stored with Mr. A, develop it into a follower of the stars. Only then will I have truly usable combat power under my command."
"And since the new year has passed, I can recall Bernadette from the Southern Continent. That way, my safety in Southville County will be ensured."
Hastur carefully considered these matters that were difficult to speak of to others.
…
"Routine inspection, take out your tickets and identification, quickly!"
At a little past four in the morning, members of the guard squad, together with police personnel on the steam train, began conducting detailed searches of each carriage.
Although many passengers complained, they had no choice but to cooperate.
Some Beyonders who had boarded the steam train without buying tickets or possessing identification turned pale in the face of the strict inspection and began thinking of countermeasures.
Although they were Beyonders, most were only Sequence 8 or Sequence 7 and did not want to clash head-on with armed police.
After all, powerful Beyonders had been guarding the train last night, and there were also quite a few church clergy on board.
"All passengers without identification or ticket records must disembark at the next station to purchase tickets and pay an additional fine."
A sudden voice defused the potential for bloodshed. If these Beyonders were not given a way out, conflict would surely break out.
The restless Beyonders suppressed their urge to fight and allowed the police to carry out inspections.
Crestet Cesimir, who had originally intended to step in and suppress any chaos, resumed pretending to sleep.
Ince Zangwill also breathed a slight sigh of relief. Although he had legitimately bought a ticket and possessed fake identification sufficient to pass inspection, he likewise did not want any major trouble.
After this routine inspection, the atmosphere on the steam train became much calmer.
At eight in the morning, the guard squad returned to report to Hastur, saying they had not found the assassin from last night.
Hastur scolded them harshly, then closed the door. Of course he knew these people could not find a Beyonder of the Door pathway.
If he hadn't wanted to reveal his strength last night, Morey Abraham would never have escaped.
All it would take was to establish a rule forbidding teleportation, which would cripple most of his Beyonder abilities.
Together with Sharron, it would have been easy to keep him.
But there was no need, who knew how many monsters and schemers were hidden on this steam train? It was better to stay quiet.
After washing up, the attendants delivered a lavish breakfast.
Hastur carried the tray to sit before the mirror and lowered his voice, "Miss Sharron, would you like to try some food together?"
"No need." A cool voice came from the mirror.
"Meow?" With a small silver fish in her mouth, Ariella walked over. After thinking for a moment, she placed the fish before the mirror and nudged it with her paw.
"It seems Ariella likes you very much. She's not nearly this generous with me."
"Meow." Ariella shot Hastur a disdainful look, as if to say, even if I gave it to you, would you eat it?
Sharron slowly floated out of the mirror, sat opposite Hastur, picked up Ariella into her arms, and fed her the small silver fish from the table.
"Meow." Ariella lay in Sharron's arms, pawing at the fish and eating happily while Sharron gently stroked her head.
Enjoying his meal, Hastur admired the harmonious scene before him.
…
Night.
An uninvited guest arrived again in Hastur's carriage, not Morey Abraham from last night, but Molaka, Seraphina's daughter, who had once attempted to assassinate him.
Molaka entered through the slightly open window. Like Mr. A, she did not like using the front door.
Her arrival made Ariella's eyes brighten, but she remained obediently lying on Hastur's lap without any unusual movement.
Hastur did not give her a pleasant expression and said in a deep voice, "Did you come to deliver an apology gift?"
"Heh, aren't you satisfied after taking so many things from us?" Molaka's face was equally gloomy.
"Did you come tonight just to show me a lifeless face?"
"…" Molaka suppressed the anger in her heart and said coldly, "If it weren't for my younger sister constantly thinking about you, I wouldn't have come to warn you."
"Many organizations now believe you are the Follower of the stars. You'd better take care of yourself."
After speaking, Molaka did not want to see Hastur's extremely annoying face any longer. Her body merged into the shadows and left through the window.
"Meow." Ariella instantly became alert, jumped off Hastur's lap, and ran to hide in the shadows.
Her black fur naturally blended into the darkness, making it difficult to detect her with the naked eye.
Hastur said in a good mood, "Little one, you're learning quickly."