Emlyn, upon hearing the Hermit's reply, paused for a moment, then looked sharply at the Hermit: "'The Hermit'..."
Before he could finish speaking, Odis raised his hand and said, "My knowledge of the relevant information is limited, so I cannot trade with you information about the 'Progenitor of the Vampires'."
Emlyn quickly replied, "I'll trade as many as you have!"
Odis thought for a moment before saying, "That's fine, but it will cost 4,000 pounds, because some of the intelligence is too valuable."
Emlyn opened his mouth, but then said, "I will raise the money as soon as possible."
"Don't be in such a hurry," Odis said. "Actually, knowing some things when your sequence isn't high enough isn't necessarily a good thing."
Although "Moon" nodded in agreement, it was obvious to everyone that he was distracted and had not taken "The Hermit's" words to heart at all.
Klein, the "Fool" behind the gray fog, was somewhat helpless. He had originally wanted to bring up the topic of "ancient gods following gods" again, but unexpectedly he helped the "Hermit" close a deal.
So he manipulated the "world" to ask the "Hermit": "How much money would I need to trade for clues about the 'Ancient Gods from Gods'?"
Odis thought for a moment: "Do you want to hear more details, or just the general outline? More details will cost 6,000 pounds, while just hearing their names and titles will cost 1,500 pounds."
So expensive!
Klein thought to himself: Some of it comes from God...
At that moment, he immediately realized: it seems it's not just from God...
So he asked the "hermit" again: "How much do you know about the 'Angel Family'?"
The new member, "Priestess" Cattleya, looked at "The World." She also knew something about the "Angel Families," but she noticed that "The World" seemed more interested in the "servants of the Ancient Gods."
She only knew of two or three of the ancient gods' subordinate gods.
Odis thought for a moment before saying, "My research into the history of the Fourth Epoch has allowed me to learn about most of the angel families."
"If I explain in detail, it will cost 4,000 pounds; if I just help you sort things out, it will cost 1,000 pounds."
Klein nodded slowly: My feeling was right, there really are some great secrets hidden in the "servants of the ancient gods"!
Then, manipulating "the world," he asked, "What if I want to learn about the Zarathustra family and the Antigonus family separately?"
Odis thought to himself: You're like the kind of guy who barges into a store, asks about every price, and then doesn't buy anything!
However, he patiently replied, "The former is 800 pounds, and the latter is 1200 pounds."
Just as Odis had expected, Klein manipulated the "world" and said "Oh," without saying anything more.
At this moment, Fors, the "magician" who had been listening in, asked, "'The Hermit', how about a private deal regarding information about the Abraham family?"
Odis thought for a moment and replied, "1000 pounds."
Fors simply said "Oh," showing no intention of continuing the transaction.
Audrey, the "Justice," showed no interest in this at all, because she was currently thinking about trading intelligence on the Tudor Empire and would finish trading the intelligence on the Four Emperors first.
The price inquiry session ended there, and everyone shared some recent observations. Klein felt that it was about time, so he ended the gathering.
...
On a raging sea, the surface of the ocean rises and falls with the wind in a storm.
"Admiral of the Stars" Cattleya returned to the real world and carefully savored the party she had just attended.
Her first thought was: This gathering is actually dealing with such high-level, secret history!
After reflecting on the "Hermit's" every move again, she still couldn't figure out his background and identity. In addition, the other members also clearly had their own special backgrounds and channels.
However, what concerned Gadriya the most were the "Hermit" and the "Hanged Man." The "Hermit" was an extraordinary being of the same path, while the "Hanged Man" was clearly someone who mingled at sea and was a member of the "Church of Storms."
Cattleya decided to test the two members at the next gathering.
Then she stared at the bookshelf in silence for more than ten seconds, took out paper and pen, and carefully wrote: Recently, someone has been consciously collecting the Emperor's diary.
She dared not mention anything about the Tarot Society in her letter, fearing punishment from Mr. Fool.
After folding the letter, she took out a delicate harmonica that she always carried with her and played it.
In the blink of an eye, she saw the letter mysteriously disappear.
...
Lacha Island, Emerald Palace.
Odis returned to the real world and, as usual, stared at the ceiling for a while.
Then, carrying candles and spiritual materials, he used the "Travel Ring" to return to a deserted island. After confirming that no one would disturb him, Odis set up the altar and awaited the "Fool's" instructions.
This time the wait was a little longer, about half an hour, before the "Fool" notified him to perform the "gifting" ceremony.
Odis immediately followed the steps of the ceremony and soon received the gold pounds and extraordinary materials obtained from the gathering.
Seeing that huge stack of gold pounds, Odis exclaimed: "The Tarot Club has now become an important source of income for me."
The intelligence deal at this gathering, involving the Solomon Second Empire, earned him £1,830, an additional £800 from Cattleya, and an extra £300 from Emlyn.
The total income is £2,930, plus 5 extraordinary materials of Sequence 9.
Odis thought to himself: If I hold another tarot session, I can pay off Bernadette's debt without any pressure.
In a good mood, Odis completely destroyed the altar, returned to the Emerald Palace, and continued to modify the "Helmet of Wisdom".
Before dinner, Odis finally completed the renovation.
The moment it was finished, Odis suddenly felt that the potion was starting to digest.
He thought to himself: This is pretty good. As long as there are any research results, I can digest the magic potion and work and digest at the same time.
Only then did Odis realize that he hadn't considered the problem of potion digestion.
After being promoted, I discovered that I had already digested most of the "Scroll Professor's" potions. Since I didn't have the pressure of promotion at the time, I didn't even think about digesting the potions.
But now we should consider this. First, we already have the potion recipe, and the advancement ceremony is also in place, so we should start thinking about the advancement plan.
Odis sat at his desk, deep in thought. He believed that the key to digesting the Sequence 6 potion should be the "Professor".
After all, Odis's understanding of "scrolls" is somewhat different from that of most people, but it seems that she did not digest more potions as a result.
Therefore, "professor" should be the key focus of digestion. A professor is primarily engaged in research, and Odis has been doing this all along. Moreover, there are still many problems that he needs to research and solve in the "wilderness of knowledge".
Therefore, they should be able to continue on the path of "research" and keep digesting the magic potion.
Therefore, Odis intends to write another book about scrolls, which he also does not plan to publish. The writing direction is tentatively set as a summary of his research.
Such content is extremely valuable. Odis didn't even intend to make a copy; he simply placed it in the "Wilderness of Knowledge." If he were to discover someone with potential in the future, he could use this book to help them digest the potion.
As for the book's title, Odis tentatively named it "The Scroll: From Beginner to Expert".
Odis chose this name to distinguish between the common understanding of scrolls by "scroll professors" and his own understanding of scrolls.
In his view, the "Scroll Professor," who only knew how to use the knowledge granted by magic potions, was not even a beginner.
Only by using one's knowledge to invent scrolls with new abilities can one be considered to have entered the field.
Only those who know "Garr runes," understand the meaning of each character on the scroll, and use a large amount of knowledge—not granted by potions—to increase the scroll's power, can be considered proficient.
Having set this goal, Odis considered another possible way to digest the knowledge: teaching students.
After all, another role of a professor is to teach students while conducting their own research.
But for Odis, the biggest challenge in this approach was first getting a student.
Odis thought that Kaina from the herbalist shop in Backlandgar would be the top choice for a student; she was hardworking and quite clever.
However, the other party has a poor family that he needs to support, so it's unlikely that he would come to sea to become a pirate with him.
However, Odis didn't really trust the people from the sea when it came to recruiting students in the colonies.
After thinking it over, Odis decided to put the matter aside for now and focus on digesting the potion through research.
Around six o'clock in the evening, Odis went to the restaurant for dinner.
Bernadette was also there today. She glanced at Odis as she entered and said, "You seem to have lost quite a bit of hair lately."
Odis sat in his seat, smiled somewhat helplessly, and said frankly, "One of the negative effects of the sealed artifact is hair loss."
Bernadette nodded slowly, put down her cutlery, and snapped her fingers at Odis.
Odis felt her hair grow back much longer, and in no time it became lush and green again.
Bernadette said, "From now on, every time you lose a hair, a new one will grow right away."
"Thank you!" Odis said sincerely, touching her hair with her hand.
He never expected that the problem that had been troubling him would be solved so easily for Bernadette.
Odis sat in a good mood as a maid served him aperitifs. He then said, "My first intelligence exchange meeting has successfully concluded."
"However, since it was the first time it was held, everyone was observing and no important information was traded."
Bernadette nodded slowly; she had already heard Primo mention this before: "Things are always difficult at the beginning."
Then she asked with some concern, "Have you encountered any trouble?"
"Although I encountered a small problem, I solved it myself." Odis smiled and said, "Those who trade false information right from the start don't have any particularly strong backgrounds."
Bernadette hummed in agreement and picked up her cutlery to eat.
Because Odis arrived a little late, his meal was served slightly later than Bernadette's; Bernadette had already eaten her main course, while Odis was still drinking his appetizer soup.
As he sipped his soup, he said, "However, I did get some information from the exchange meeting about recent events on the raging sea. It is said that a split has occurred within the 'School of Life,' with some members joining the 'School of Roses.'"
"This is an organization that combines several approaches," Bernadette commented. "They have split up several times."
"In my view, an organization that is merely pieced together with ideas does not have enough cohesion."
"Their 'speaker's' idea is not bad. Since the Fifth Age, the Church of the True God has been gradually shrinking the living space of wild extraordinary beings and secret organizations. Wild extraordinary beings should unite to find a way out."
"However, if the paths within a 'school' are too mixed, there will inevitably be huge contradictions in which direction to develop. For example, an extraordinary person who follows the 'pharmacist' path cannot invest in the 'monster' path."
"Fortunately, after several splits, most of their councilors became extraordinary individuals in the 'monster' pathway. Only after the emergence of extraordinary individuals in the main pathway will the development tend to be stable."
Odis nodded slowly, feeling that the "mysterious queen's" analysis was very insightful.
Before this, he didn't know much about the "School of Life," only that their "Chairman" had recently "rebooted" and was in a weakened state, which led some extraordinary individuals with the "Pharmacist" pathway in the "School" to join forces with the "Rose School" to attack some members of the "School of Life."
Bernadette took a sip of red wine and continued, "The most recent split occurred about a month ago. I heard that some of the extraordinary individuals who followed the 'Pharmacist' pathway defected."
When Odis's roast chicken arrived, he took a bite before saying, "An extraordinary individual with a 'monster' pathway contacted me, hoping I could offer him some assistance."
"Help," Bernadette said immediately. "As far as I know, three of the seven councilors of the 'School of Life' are in the Rothschild Islands."
"Because only the extraordinary power of the Storm Church and the military is here, and the situation is relatively chaotic, it is easy to hide oneself."
"Their power here is greater than that of the 'Rose School,' provided, of course, that the 'Rose School' has not secretly sent demigods."
"As long as it's not too dangerous, I can help with this kind of favor."
Odis sighed: It's still good to have a "big shot".
This is information that even someone with a "God's-eye view" wouldn't know.
Of course, Odis also knew that Bernadette was willing to tell him these things because she admired him.
He had learned from a casual conversation with Arya that Bernadette rarely dined with her subordinates, except at public banquets. If they were to have a meal with the "mysterious queen," they would consider it a great honor.
What made them somewhat envious was that Odis actually lived in the Emerald Palace, and whenever Bernadette was there, the two of them would dine together.
After hearing about this from Aria, Odis did not mention dining with Bernadette in front of the "Mysterious Queen's" subordinates.
After thinking for a while, Odis asked again, "If I need your help, how can I contact you on Blue Mountain Island?"
"I can have my messenger deliver this message to me," Bernadette said. "If you think your operation is too dangerous, I can go to Bayam and try their grilled fish after your operation begins."
"But if that's the case, you'll have to pay some compensation or provide certain merits in the future."
Bernadette smiled at Odis, secretly hoping that Odis would owe her more favors and merits, so that she could firmly bind him to the "Elemental Dawn".
Odis hummed in agreement: "Let me reassess the level of danger of this operation. In my opinion, it shouldn't be too dangerous, but you never know."
Bernadette asked, "When will your operation begin?"
"Thursday."
"I understand." Bernadette changed the subject: "How is the shipbuilding progressing?"
The two then talked about shipbuilding, and Odis took the opportunity to mention his plan to use the "wisdom helmet" to teach scholars.
The "mysterious queen" had no objections.
After dinner, the two chatted over tea until after eight o'clock before going back to rest.
On Tuesday morning, the scholars from Lachaise Island arrived at a side hall of the Emerald Palace at the time agreed upon the day before to hold their class.
Upon entering, they noticed a strangely shaped helmet on Odis's table.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
As everyone opened their notebooks and prepared for class, Odis stood up and said, "I have some good news for you."
He smiled and said, "A recent study of mine has made a breakthrough, which has given me a way to share my knowledge with you."
The scholars were taken aback for a moment, but soon their faces lit up with joy.
"However, I must tell you that because only one round of experiments has been conducted, it's impossible to determine whether there will be significant side effects. Therefore, please consider carefully whether to use that method." Odis explained first:
"The only known, unavoidable side effect is a headache, which usually disappears within ten minutes."
Upon hearing this, everyone asked, "What kind of side effect is this?"
One scholar said, "It's far less harmful than the negative effects of sealing artifacts!"
Everyone nodded in agreement, firstly because the side effects were indeed minimal, and secondly because they really didn't want to live such a miserable life anymore.
Seeing that no one objected, Odis began to briefly describe the working principle of the "smart helmet" and then demonstrated its use to everyone.
In fact, extraordinary individuals are more accepting of this way of acquiring knowledge than ordinary people, since they are well aware that using extraordinary power comes with its negative effects.
Seeing that the process seemed harmless, everyone crowded around and took turns receiving the knowledge.
The process went smoothly, with only two scholars experiencing mild headaches, but because they were both extraordinary individuals, they recovered within a minute or two.
After completing this process, Odis helped them acquire that knowledge by asking them questions.
As the scholars gradually came to understand the full scope of Odis's design for the new ship, their expressions grew increasingly serious.
Although they had been exposed to some of Odis's core research during their previous studies, and they knew that it was very advanced and sophisticated, they had never been able to see the full picture of the new ship.
When their previous attempts were successful, they thought they had understood Odis's design and how advanced the extraordinary knowledge within it was.
However, once they saw the new ship in its entirety, they immediately realized that they were still ignorant; the ship's advanced technology had completely exceeded their imagination.
After a brief moment of astonishment, they began to listen attentively. Odis was somewhat worried that they might not have grasped the knowledge firmly enough, so he summarized the key points of the knowledge for them.
He soon discovered a problem: while the knowledge about the new ship was instantly transmitted to the scholars, they still needed some guidance in terms of logic and computation.
In other words, they now understand all the knowledge about the new ship, but because they lack sufficient logic, they only understand it but do not yet know how to apply it. They need Odis to use logic and calculation to help them digest that knowledge so that it can be fully utilized by them.
Odis was also observing and trying to find a solution to the problem. Fortunately, the whole guidance process went relatively smoothly. In just one morning, everyone fully understood all the designs of the new ship.
So in the afternoon, Odis led everyone to the shipyard and began setting up a magic circle on the new ship.
Since the 12 scholars who had been studying with Odis had already acquired all the knowledge about the new ship, they only needed a little guidance from Odis to understand what they were supposed to do.
Odis laid out all the magic circles in sections, and had them draw the magic circles themselves with soft brushes. After they finished drawing, Odis checked them and found no errors before they could be carved.
This accelerated the process of setting up the magic array several times over, and by dinner time, most of the magic arrays had been carved.
After dinner and a short rest, Odis led everyone to continue working, striving to complete the carving of all the magic circles today.
At this time, Odis was relatively free; he only needed to check on the progress of the work.
At this time, Aria, who had been by Odis's side, was informed that all the parts Odis had ordered from the foundry had been completed.
Furthermore, to prevent any potential carving errors, three extra sets were made and given to Odis free of charge.
After Odis asked them to transport the parts to the Emerald Palace, he began to consider carving the parts for the "extraordinary puppet".
If you give the 12 scholars who are currently busy a little instruction, they too can complete the carving process.
The problem is that the craftsman Dee already has the blueprints to make the "Smart Cube" and the "Signal Processing Crystal," and Odis doesn't want them to get their hands on the blueprints for the other parts of the "Extraordinary Puppet."
Odis took a deep breath, but he didn't have time to carve it himself.
At this moment, Odis thought of Kaina in Backlund. It was very likely that the "Mechanical Heart" was monitoring him, but Odis was not too worried about this. He could let him do the job.
The most important components of the "Extraordinary Puppet" are the "Wisdom Cube" and the "Signal Processing Crystal". Without these two items, even if you obtain the magic circles on other parts, they will be of little use.
Thinking of this, Odis suddenly sighed: We need to build our own extraordinary team as soon as possible; we can't outsource everything.
However, that's something for later, at least something I'll consider after I set sail. Right now, I need to solve the problem of carving the "Extraordinary Puppet" parts first.
Odis toured the ship again, and finding nothing amiss, asked Aria to help him find a quiet office.
He first wrote a letter to Kainah, then lit a candle and summoned the messenger in ancient Hermes: "I!"
"I summon in my name:"
"A spirit that wanders in delusion, a messenger belonging solely to Odis Gar."
The candlelight suddenly expanded, and the skeleton messenger dressed in a lady's hunting attire appeared before Odis from the spirit world.
Odis handed the letter to the recipient: "Please deliver this letter to Kena at Gard Herbalist's Shop, 51 Henry Street, Backlund."
Based on the timing, Kaina should be cleaning at this time.
The skeleton messenger opened his mouth and said, "Okay."
Odis added, "Please wait a moment while the other party reads the letter. They will then give me a reply. Please relay that to me."
"No problem." The messenger took the letter and returned to the spirit world from the huge candlelight.
...
Backlund, Garrison Herbalist.
After finishing her work for the day, Kaina was cleaning the herbal medicine shop with her sister.
Suddenly, the two of them felt the room become very cold.
They instinctively looked at the door, because it was still January and the wind outside in Backlund was still cold, but the door was closed.
Just as the two of them were not paying much attention and were about to continue cleaning, Kaina noticed that there was suddenly a letter on the counter.
He immediately realized that the appearance of this letter was very unusual, so before his sister saw it, he asked her to go and clean the backyard.
Once he was alone, Kainer picked up the letter and saw that it was for him, and that it was in Mr. Gard's handwriting.
Kenner quickly opened the book and began to read it. Mr. Garr said he was at sea and that it was very warm there.
Then they got down to business. It turned out that a batch of parts needed to be engraved. There were 43 sets of each type of part, and Mr. Gard was willing to pay £1,200, hoping that Kenner would take on the order.
Finally, Mr. Gar said that if one was willing to accept the order, one should leave the letter and say "yes." If one was unwilling to accept the order, one should say "no," so that Mr. Gar, far away at sea, would know.
The reason so much money is needed is that after the carving, some expensive spiritual materials are required for filling.
Odis was well aware of the prices of those spiritual materials and left Kaina a profit of around 100 pounds.
Kaina hesitated for a moment, then put down the letter and said, "I'm willing."
Immediately afterwards, the chill in the room vanished.
Kaina then realized that something he couldn't see had appeared in the room earlier.
Recently, Kaina has been living a very fulfilling life. In the morning, she prepares herbs, in the afternoon she learns intelligence gathering knowledge and skills from Mr. Max, and in the evening, the pharmacy is busiest.
Through his recent training, Kainer realized that he seemed to be being watched, and he guessed that the person watching him was probably looking for Mr. Garr's whereabouts.
At this point, Mr. Garr contacted him in such a mysterious way and entrusted him with an order, so he was definitely not afraid of being discovered by those who were monitoring him. Therefore, he accepted the order without hesitation.
...
Lacha Island.
After receiving Caina's reply, Odis asked the messenger, "Is he being watched?"
"Yes." The messenger opened his tooth-only mouth and replied, "But the surveillance wasn't very tight; there was only one Sequence 9 and two ordinary people."
She didn't actually need to open her mouth, but she probably just spoke like that out of habit.
"Thank you," Odis said, then added, "I may need to summon you again in a little while."
The messenger grunted in response and returned to the spirit world.
Odis thought to himself: I didn't expect that in less than a month, the people of "Mechanical Heart" would stop paying much attention to my departure from Backlund.
He was certain that the person monitoring Garr's herbal shop was someone from "The Mechanical Heart".
It is impossible and unthinkable for MI9 to compete with Mechanical Heart for this surveillance position.
This gave Odis the illusion that perhaps he was not so important to the god of steam and machinery.
He didn't think about the problem in detail, but for him it was a good thing, as he could confidently use messengers to contact Backlund's connections.
Odis did not dwell on the matter further, but returned to the large ship to continue overseeing the setup of the magic array.
Around ten o'clock, everyone finally completed carving all the magic circles as Odis had requested.
Everyone was exhausted, and Odis generously told them to come back at 10 a.m. the next day.
Upon returning to the Emerald Palace, he first examined the parts delivered by the foundry, then wrote a letter to Kainer, providing the corresponding drawings.
Then he summoned the messenger again, pointed to the parts in the yard, and asked the skeleton messenger dressed in a lady's hunting outfit, "Can you take these things to Backlund?"
These parts were packed into ten heavy wooden crates.
"Can."
Odis took out the prepared letter and asked the messenger to deliver it again to the herbal shop in Bechlandgar.
The messenger raised his hand slightly, and a hazy light enveloped the wooden crates, making them appear as if they had suddenly lost their weight and floated slowly into the air.
Immediately afterwards, as if they had gained some intelligence, they lined up and followed the messenger into the spirit world.
Just as Odis was about to go back inside, Bernadette, dressed in loose pajamas, suddenly appeared on the courtyard wall: "What was that just now?"
Odis was slightly taken aback, and immediately realized that the "mysterious queen" had noticed the messenger's arrival.
He told the truth: "I just asked a messenger to help me deliver some things."
Bernadette said "Oh" without saying anything, and jumped back into her own yard from the wall.
She frowned and thought to herself: Even a messenger is of such a high level?
This suddenly reminded Bernadette of the towering figure who had helped Odis back in Backlund.
She took a deep breath and suddenly realized that it was unlikely that Odis would be bound by her merits and debts.
...
When Odis saw Bernadette return, he didn't take it too seriously; in these matters, the truth was enough.
The following morning, although the scholars could come back around ten o'clock, Odis arrived at the dock early as usual.
He directed the workers to hoist the assembled weapons into the correct positions. After the scholars arrived, they connected the weapons to the magic array on the large ship and made some adjustments.
Then they began filling in spiritual materials, and while filling, they used tugboats to remove the large ship from the dock. The second round of sea trials will take place this afternoon.
The main purpose is to verify the weapon systems of the large ship.