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Sharron paused, seemingly not expecting Mr. Blessed to be interested in this ritual.
However, she didn't hesitate and began to materialize. The surrounding dark golden mist surged and converged, forming a slightly illusory, complex ritual pattern that appeared before Aaron.
Looking at the ritual pattern, Aaron's eyes lowered slightly, suppressing the surprise in his heart.
The complex patterns in the center of the ritual diagram were almost identical to the strange patterns on Astolfo's body, only more detailed and obscure.
Aaron simply glanced at it and didn't spend time memorizing it; after all, he could use "Dream Divination" to recall it later.
With a slight thought, a charm seemingly cast from gold appeared in his hand. Aaron flicked his finger, sending it into Sharron's hand, then spoke indifferently:
"Before you act, you can use it to contact me. I will provide you with help based on the situation."
Sharron's azure eyes looked at the charm before her. She held it in her hand, stood up, and bowed. Even though this could be considered an equal exchange, she still said with gratitude:
"Thank you for your help."
Aaron nodded, looking at Sharron, who rarely showed extra emotion, and added:
"If you wish to restore your Sealed Artifact to a Beyonder characteristic, you can offer it to my Lord."
Sharron nodded slightly and sat back on the stone chair. Louise, who was beside her, slowly withdrew her gaze from the golden charm, feeling as if it was identical to the one Mr. Blessed had given her.
Dismissing the strange thoughts in her head, Louise mused:
"I currently reside at 20 Daffodil Street, St. George Borough, Bayam, and the Sanguine accompanying me also live nearby."
"The Church of the Lord of Storms does not trust us and always has a Punisher team patrolling nearby."
"I will convey your idea to Count Mistral of the Sanguine. We can find time to meet and discuss the specific plan in detail."
Sharron listened silently and nodded.
Seeing a plan that might involve a demigod-level being achieve its basic framework in just a few words, Ferran Eddas was secretly amazed and also slightly wistful.
So far, apart from the mysterious and powerful Mr. Blessed, he had never seen a demigod. The strongest he had seen was only a Sequence 5 captain...
"Are you still on the Golden Dream?"
As his thoughts drifted, Ferran was suddenly startled awake by Aaron's voice. He coughed dryly and quickly replied:
"Last week, the captain brought us to the Oladk Islands near the Fog Sea. I have already left the Golden Dream and am currently collecting intelligence near the archipelago."
Before Aaron could ask, Louise, who had thoroughly read the fifth epoch general history of the northern continent, spoke first with interest:
"Oladk Islands?"
"Isn't that the territory of the Intis Republic? I remember the rumors about Vice Admiral Iceberg, wasn't she said to be from Lenberg or Segar?"
"Could the rumors be wrong? Is she actually from Intis?"
Looking at Louise, whose eyes were full of gossip and curiosity, Ferran's forehead twitched slightly, and he explained dryly:
"We are just here to seek treasure. The captain learned from a certain source that Emperor Roselle, a hundred years ago, found a ghost ship left by the Solomon Empire, the ancient 'Black Throne', near the Oladk Islands on the edge of the Fog Sea!"
"Even if that 'Black Throne' has already been taken away, it is said that there might still be some ancient books remaining there, or even a hidden treasure map pointing to an unnamed small island."
"That was the final settlement of a great noble of the Solomon Empire who retreated and left the Northern Continent. Everything he left behind is there!"
Everyone listened intently, only Aaron was thoughtful. Others might not be clear.
Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina's ancestor, Edwards, was Roselle's subordinate, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. He only moved his family to Lenberg after Roselle's fall and lived to be over a hundred years old.
So, from this perspective, it's not surprising that Vice Admiral Iceberg obtained some clues about Roselle's adventures from her family.
As for that treasure map, Aaron was more inclined to believe that Roselle, who had grown stronger later, put it back, and the location it pointed to should be a relatively safe area.
After all, according to the original map, Roselle found the Abyss during his voyage, was corrupted, and also found the original island where Roselle later built his final mausoleum.
However, this also cannot rule out that it was done by Roselle during a period when his mind was not normal. Therefore, if a so-called treasure map is indeed found, it is still necessary to pay attention.
Looking at Ferran, who was recounting his experiences during this period, Aaron coughed lightly, interrupting his narration:
"The next time you return to the Golden Dream, you can find Edwina and tell her that someone wants to buy the iron-black key she has."
"I am willing to pay 6,000 pounds. Of course, if Vice Admiral Iceberg has any other additional requirements, you can also inform me."
"Hmm, you can also ask if she has a book called Groselle's Travels; I am also willing to buy it."
Ferran carefully remembered Mr. Blessed's requests and was secretly amazed that such a strange key was worth 6,000 pounds, and he was even willing to agree to other additional requirements. This was almost comparable to the value of a Sequence 5 Beyonder characteristic.
As for Groselle's Travels, Ferran seemed to have seen it in the captain's library, but compared to other mysticism books, Ferran naturally didn't pay much attention to this type of book that looked like a biographical novel.
However, anything that Mr. Blessed specifically expressed a desire to purchase must contain significant secrets. Ferran secretly decided that once he returned to the ship, he would definitely read what was written inside.
The other members were also secretly curious about what key could be worth 6,000 pounds and secretly noted down the items mentioned in the transaction proposed by Aaron, as these might all be valuable information.
Seeing everyone fall silent, Aaron secretly manipulated the magnificent figure on the throne to end this Chaos Council.
Clusters of light dissipated within the hall, where dark golden mist drifted. Aaron waved his hand to disperse the phantom and sat back on the throne.
He conjured the divination pendant from the pile of sundries and performed Dream Divination, re-materializing the ritual array required for advancement to Wraith that Sharron had provided.
Next, he took out the Mask of Death, an item Astolfo had resided in before becoming a messenger, which could also be considered a medium for divination.
Aaron was concerned that directly giving this ritual array to Astolfo might disrupt some existing balance and cause unknown changes, so he decided to use the authority of the Nation of Disorder to divine the possible outcomes.
With a slight thought, Aaron incorporated the black emperor card into his body. The boundless dark golden mist seemed to gather into waves and strong winds.
A majestic armor formed on Aaron's body, a pitch-black crown appeared above his head, and a long cape of the same color draped behind him. Lines containing divinity also emerged on the armor.
Feeling the surging power within him, Aaron nodded in satisfaction, suspending the divination pendant between the Mask of Death and the materialized ritual array.
His mind quickly calmed, and the pale golden color of his eyes deepened, entering a semi-meditative state.
He let the light blue crystal hang naturally in front of him. Once its swaying subsided, Aaron infused his spirituality and silently chanted in his mind:
"Giving this array to Astolfo will cause terrible changes."
.....
Again and again, after exactly seven times, Aaron opened his eyes to see the citrine pendant rotating clockwise, and quite rapidly.
This indicated that it would indeed trigger an uncontrollable anomaly, and the danger level was not low!
Aaron pinched his brow, his expression unusually solemn. He leaned back against the chair, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest.
After a few seconds of consideration, feeling the surging power within him, he decided to take this opportunity to further investigate what kind of anomaly his messenger might cause.
And this time, Aaron decided to use "Dream Divination," which was clearer in its direction and more explicit in its revelations.
Aaron materialized a piece of paper and wrote down a new "divination phrase" on it:
"What exactly is the change that will be triggered?"
The divination pendant hung down again. Aaron paused, then reached out and conjured the Sun Chaser Scepter from the pile of sundries, instantly feeling much more at ease.
He then half-closed his eyes and silently chanted the "divination phrase" seven times, allowing his spirituality to resonate with the Spirit World, which was above all else.
Soon, he saw an boundless, illusory, dark golden mist.
The mist slowly parted, revealing illusory, transparent entities with indescribable forms.
All colors became vivid and distinct yet overlapped, while the hazy mist faded to nothingness, pervading and enveloping everything.
And in the depths, high in the sky, seven clear, distinct lights of different colors slowly moved. They seemed to possess life and contained infinite knowledge.
Aaron recognized at a glance that this was the Spirit World, completely overlapping with reality, omnipresent.
Not far away, space distorted and overlapped, with rich, vibrant color blocks. A rotting long leg, oozing yellowish-green liquid, stepped out of the red and blue interwoven color blocks.
Further up, there was a massive body wrapped in corpse-oil bandages. This mysterious and mad angel clutched a human-shaped light cocoon in his right hand.
The strange yet familiar patterns on the surface of the light cocoon, combined with his spiritual intuition, immediately made Aaron realize that this was his messenger, Astolfo.
Before Aaron could clearly see what was happening, a sudden change occurred.
Brownish-black branches, covered with viscous black liquid, pierced through the Spirit World, obscuring the seven clear lights of different colors in the high sky of the Spirit World.
Amidst this aura that almost solidified the surroundings, the terrifying figure, whose full appearance was hard to discern and who was oozing yellowish-green pus, was pierced by countless brownish-black branches, and together with the human-shaped light cocoon in his hand, was dragged towards the violently torn gap in the Spirit World.
Through this gap, Aaron could vaguely see a mummy wrapped in yellowing bandages, its body pierced by countless brownish-black branches, suspended in an unknown space.
Its belly was swollen, and at times, a certain spot would bulge and then deflate, as if nurturing new life. Its opening and closing mouth continuously let out miserable screams.
Aaron clearly knew that this was merely a scene from a dream divination and he shouldn't be able to hear actual sounds, but a pain still resonated within his body and soul, making him bear a little of the mummy's suffering.
"Chained God"!
Aaron's heart suddenly clenched, and this name appeared in his mind.
Without giving him time to react, everything before Aaron's eyes collapsed and shattered, and the dream instantly disintegrated.
Inside the magnificent palace, Aaron suddenly straightened his back, feeling his heart pounding wildly, pounding wildly for no reason.
With his control over this space, Aaron easily saw his current state:
The gold and crimson in his eyes intertwined, the divine patterns on his body were corroded by ink-black, seemingly living liquid, and his belly was subtly bulging.
The entire magnificent palace seemed to be draped in a curtain of crimson and black.
Without any hesitation, and without Aaron needing to command, the dark golden mist swirling throughout the magnificent palace, and even the entire space, completely boiled.
Boundless mist surged in, confusing all conceptual directions and completely isolating this space from everything outside.
Aaron's consciousness, in a peculiar form, floated at the highest point of this space, watching the boundless dark golden mist erode the curtain of crimson and black.
He wasn't sure if it was the effect of the Sefirah's own autonomous counterattack or an anomaly caused by the clash of two forces, but Aaron felt that his current control over this space seemed to have reached another level.
This strange and unique feeling lasted only for an instant. The next second, Aaron felt a moment of disorientation and then returned to his body.
The surging, wave-like dark golden mist gradually calmed. The original anomaly had disappeared, and Aaron, his body restored to normal, leaned back against the chair, his face pale. Before he could think, his consciousness plunged into Darkness.
...
Bayam, inside a simple room, Sharron, who had just finished the gathering, suddenly turned her head to look out the window.
The crimson Moon high in the sky had, at some unknown point, become rounder and larger, and its color had visibly deepened, like flowing blood.
"Blood Moon..." Sharron murmured silently, clenching her fists, enduring the pain brought by the curse.
The northernmost tip of the Rorsted Archipelago, a small city northeast of Bayam, in a deserted alley.
Although it was still February, the Rorsted Archipelago's location was close to the equator during Earth's time, coupled with being surrounded by sea, so it was hot all year round, roughly divided into a dry season and a rainy season.
A thin man with gray but disheveled hair, wearing a cotton-padded jacket that was unfitting for the season and a woolen overcoat, was tossing coffee-colored candies into his mouth one after another, chewing and muttering to himself incessantly.
It was Helmosuin, the avatar of "Orange Light" Hillarion.
Suddenly, his heavily clothed figure abruptly paused, and his chewing stopped. As if sensing something, he looked up at the Blood Moon in the sky.
A moment later, he lowered his head and sighed, seemingly muttering a few words, then changed direction and slowly walked towards Bayam, to the southwest.
-----------------
Northern edge of the Fog Sea, Oladk Islands.
Inside a room near the port, Ferran opened his eyes, looking tired. The sudden Blood Moon last night had made him feel uneasy, and he hadn't rested well all night.
He sighed, just about to ask the inn's servant to bring food to his room, when he heard a strong shout from the window, seemingly from the nearby port:
"Hey, come one, come all! Anderson-Hood, the strongest Hunter of the Fog Sea, will lead you to unearth lost treasures."
"Hehe, tickets to the Sea of Ruins are running out! Seize the opportunity now, cling to this big guy's leg, and getting rich overnight will no longer be a dream..."
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