During the tarot reading, "The Fool" Klein thought to himself, "The Hermit has explained the root of the gods' contradictions so clearly that it's hard to have any respect for them anymore."
The priestess, Cattleya, also sighed inwardly: she never expected that the inherent contradictions of so many advanced problems would be so simple. Even the struggles among the gods could basically be understood through the corresponding laws of "extraordinary characteristics".
Alger, the "Hanged Man," realized that although this was also the "Hermit's" guess, it sounded quite reasonable.
"The Hermit" Odis continued his description: "It can be said that the struggle between the 'Six Gods' has made the 'Emperor of the Underworld' safe in the Southern Continent for the time being."
"Because it is difficult for the 'Six Gods' to form an alliance and launch an offensive against the Southern Continent."
"When the Night Emperor had just fallen, the Underworld Emperor did not have enough power to attack the Northern Continent."
"Therefore, there was a period of relative peace after the end of the 'Four Emperors Era'."
"Of course, it was peaceful but not necessarily tranquil, because during this time, both the Trensost family and the vampires were attacked by the Church, the 'Blood Moon Queen' also fell, and the vampires went into hiding again."
"The Trensault family must have been systematically purged, so much so that we rarely hear about them now."
Emlyn, "Moon," clenched his fist: "Mr. 'Hermit,' could you explain the process in detail? I can pay another 300 pounds."
Odis thought for a moment before saying, "I don't know the specifics either, but you can pay me the 300 pounds and I'll tell you another very important piece of information."
Emlyn immediately nodded and said, "Okay!"
Odis then said, "The Solomon family, the Tudor family, and the Trenthostor family have basically disappeared from people's sight under the attack of the Church of Orthodoxy. At least I rarely get any news about them."
"I estimate that these three families may only have a few demigods left, or even none at all."
"However, three 'dukes' of the vampire clan managed to escape, which must have been with the help of some god."
Emlyn nearly stood up: "Which god?"
The other members, after hearing what the "Hermit" said, also noticed this point, and so they all looked at the "Hermit" and waited for his answer.
Otis replied: "The Earth Mother."
Emlyn and the other members were taken aback, as if it were both unexpected and expected.
The priestess, Cattleya, even thought: It seems that the Church of the Earth Mother has an old tradition of recruiting vampires as believers.
Emlyn continued, "Mother... Mother Goddess? Why Mother Goddess?"
Odis simply said, "Perhaps it's like the Church of the Goddess of Night, which also cultivates extraordinary individuals through the 'Death God' pathway. After all, they are adjacent pathways, so it's convenient to cultivate them along the way."
You can't exactly say that was your ancestor, can you?
Emlyn nodded: "I see."
At this moment, he suddenly felt that he sometimes felt as if he was actually worshipping the "Earth Mother Goddess" and thought it was shameful to have such thoughts. After hearing what the "Hermit" said, it didn't seem like a big deal. After all, the "Earth Mother Goddess" had been kind to the vampires, so it was okay to worship her casually.
Klein nodded to himself first, then realized something was wrong: the Church of the Goddess of Night had a tradition of training Beyonders through the "Death" pathway, but they trained Beyonders from Sequence 9, not the higher-level Beyonders of the "Spirit Order".
At this point, he realized that there must be some hidden story, but since the "hermit" did not explain, he did not ask any questions.
Of the other members, only Alger, the "Hanged Man," had official experience as an extraordinary being, but he was more like a "field operative" and rarely stayed in the church, so this was not noticed much.
Those members without official experience as extraordinary individuals were all marveling at the connection between the "Earth Mother Goddess" and the vampires, and none of them made any connection to this.
"Let's continue our previous deal," Odis said. "According to some later intelligence, the 'Emperor of the Underworld' has become stronger at the cost of going half-mad…"
Klein recalled some entries from Russell's diary, where Mr. "Door" had said of "Pluto": "He has gone mad, and he is stronger."
However, Klein had already used up his chance to ask a question, so he had to wait for other members to ask questions.
Fortunately, Cattleya could ask multiple questions, so she quickly asked, "How did He do that?"
"I don't know exactly how he did it," Odis replied. "I only learned through some channels that the 'Emperor of the Underworld' used the uniqueness of the 'Red Priest' pathway to make himself stronger."
It would be too much trouble to explain clearly.
Gadria really wanted to ask: Is the channel you mentioned the "mysterious queen"?
Because she wasn't sure if the "Queen" would know such information.
However, she ultimately held back, because she knew that even if she asked, she probably wouldn't get any results.
Alger realized that there really was a clear difference between gods, but it seemed that gods had to pay a considerable price to become stronger, such as the "Emperor of the Underworld," who became half-mad.
The other members shared similar thoughts with the "Hanged Man," and they realized that there seemed to be many secrets about the hierarchy of gods.
Odis continued, "Under the leadership of the 'Six Gods,' the four nobles of the Terensost Empire divided up the Northern Continent. Subsequently, the conflicts among the 'Six Gods' re-emerged, and the Northern Continent once again fell into civil war."
"The 'Emperor of the Underworld' and the 'Primordial Witch' believed the time was ripe, so they joined forces to launch an attack on the Northern Continent. In extraordinary history, they launched the 'Pale Calamity,' so this period is called the 'Age of the Pale'!"
"Based on what I understand, this is absolutely a disaster for the people of the Northern Continent. It is said that the offensive of the Byron Empire is accompanied by death and madness."
He paused and then said, "I didn't understand why such a disaster would happen until recently, when I encountered a military post from the 'Pale Age' during an operation."
"It was only when I encountered a 'soldier' from the outpost that I suddenly realized that the 'Emperor of the Underworld' and his subordinates needed a large number of corpses and undead to serve as their army."
"After the war began, other churches and armies saw their numbers dwindle as the fighting progressed, but the Byron Empire's army grew larger with each battle, and the dead enemy soldiers would immediately 'join' them."
"What's even more terrifying is that their army doesn't need to eat or drink, doesn't need to worry about logistics, and can't even be injured by ordinary weapons."
As Odis described the situation, a sense of powerlessness gradually filled the hearts of the other members.
They just thought about how terrifying it would be to face such an enemy.
They listened intently, as if they were hearing a story that had intrigued them when they were children, and couldn't help but open their eyes wide and listen quietly.
"In the early stages of the 'Pale Age,' the 'Six Gods' still did not give a major response." Odis continued, "The conflict between them remained that some gods wanted to obtain the characteristics of the 'Emperor of the Underworld,' while the other gods were unwilling to let them obtain them."
"At the same time, the struggle between the 'Lord of Storms', the 'Eternal Sun', and the 'God of Knowledge and Wisdom' also became very intense after the fall of the Ternsost Empire. In the eyes of many, there was no possibility that they would join forces."
"The reason I have this conjecture is because that period is called the 'Pale Era,' and historical periods that are generally called 'eras' usually last for at least several decades."
"In other words, for at least several decades, the 'Emperor of the Underworld' and the 'Primordial Witch' could do almost anything they wanted in the Northern Continent!"
"The Magician" Fors took a deep breath: Although "The Hermit" did not say it explicitly, he was clearly criticizing "Six Gods'" actions.
Klein also lamented: Sometimes it's not that the enemy is too fierce, but that the teammates don't have a common goal. The result is that even though the enemy is not that strong, they can act recklessly.
"I'm not sure exactly where the 'Emperor of the Underworld' and the 'Primordial Witch' have conquered," Odis continued. "But I have received accurate information that the 'Primordial Witch' had a daughter who died in Trier."
"It is said that the 'Primordial Witch' also had a huge impact on Trier. I am not very clear about the specific impact, but it is almost certain that Trier should be the main battlefield."
"That would mean that they have occupied most of the densely populated areas of the Northern Continent."
Of the four empires in the Northern Continent, the Fusak Empire is the largest in area, even exceeding the combined area of the Kingdom of Rune and the Kingdom of Feneport, but it has the smallest population among the four.
If the war spreads to Trier, then most of Feneport, as well as the Takwell Plain of the Kingdom of Loen, will essentially fall into the hands of the Byron Empire.
These places are all densely populated areas of the Northern Continent.
Gadriya thought to herself: In that case, the "Pale Catastrophe" really is a huge disaster. The Byron Empire rules over half of the population of the Northern Continent. Of course, some of them must be dead, and some must be alive.
Audrey and several other members also realized this, and at the same time, they found it hard to imagine what a country where the dead and the living coexisted would be like.
After giving everyone a few seconds to process the information, Odis continued, "Fortunately, the 'Six Gods' eventually formed an alliance."
"This should be the third 'Six Gods Alliance,' and also the last 'Six Gods Alliance' to date."
"They joined forces and severely damaged the 'Emperor of the Underworld' and the 'Primordial Witch.' I believe that such a war of gods should end in a very short time."
"As a result of the battle, the 'Emperor of the Underworld' perished on his way back to the Southern Continent, and his fall caused many landmasses to sink."
"It is said that during the Quaternary Period, the southern and northern continents were connected by land, but these lands sank at this time, and the northern and southern continents were separated."
"At the same time, the barriers between the real world and the underworld were broken in some places, eventually forming the raging sea!"
Emlyn exclaimed in surprise, "The Raging Sea was formed like this?"
Fors and Audrey shared the same surprise, but Klein, Cattleya, and Alger, who were on the high seas, had all heard of such legends, so they were not particularly surprised, but felt a sense of destiny.
Only "Sun" Derrick didn't know much about these geography things and didn't understand why "Moon" was so surprised.
Odis nodded in response, then continued, "It is said that the Primordial Witch was also severely injured. This injury seems to have triggered other problems within her, preventing her from fully recovering to this day."
"The Byron Empire suffered heavy losses in this battle, which is why kingdoms such as the Highland Kingdom and others that resisted the Byron Empire later emerged in the Southern Continent."
"In the Northern Continent, although the 'Six Gods' were somewhat late in stopping the 'Emperor of the Underworld,' they ultimately ended the disaster, and people revered them as orthodox deities."
"In this battle, the 'God of Craftsmen' stood on the same side as the 'Six Gods' at the time. So after this battle, He gained the recognition of the other six gods and became the orthodox deity. This is what we now call the 'Seven Gods'."
"However, the conflict between the seven gods broke out again, the alliance was dissolved, so the power of the church and the power of the four countries did not reach the Southern Continent at that time."
"Later on, the gods entered the astral plane. The power of the church and the four kingdoms was insufficient to overcome the obstruction of the raging sea. The key was that they could not form a new alliance. As a result, people gradually got used to the feeling that the northern continent was the whole world."
"It was not until Emperor Russell found a new sea route that the connection between the North and South continents was re-established."
Odis paused slightly, then continued, "The moment 'Emperor Hades' fell marked the end of the Fourth Age."
"There are two criteria for the end of the Fourth Age. The first is that the 'Pale Plague' has ended and the rulers of secular regimes are no longer gods."
"Secondly, the gods have entered the astral plane, and beings at the level of true gods almost never appear in the real world."
"The new Fifth Age has arrived, and the history after that can basically be found in history textbooks."
The members breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if a heavy curtain had fallen, a curtain that represented the ever-flowing tide of history, evoking both nostalgia and a sense of weight.
It took more than ten seconds for the atmosphere to ease slightly.
At the same time, everyone began to marvel at how detailed the description of the "hermit" was, giving them a comprehensive understanding of the history of the Quaternary period.
Even someone like "Little Sun" Derrick, who had never been exposed to Quaternary history before, is very knowledgeable about the Quaternary period.
After a moment of internal reflection, he said to the "Hermit," "Mr. Hermit, I need to trade 8 extraordinary weapons, 4 'Ice Bombs,' and 4 'Thunderstorm Bombs' this week."
Odis nodded: "No problem."
He then asked, "Why don't you try trading some other weapons? Like scrolls with 'invisibility' or 'flight' capabilities?"
Derrick's eyes lit up, but then he smiled helplessly and said, "We'll not trade for now. I'll trade with you privately when I need it."
Those two weapons are so useful and popular that they're now in high demand.
However, Derrick knew that he couldn't let his guard down yet and needed to wait before using scrolls or similar items, otherwise it would still easily arouse suspicion and vigilance.
"Alright." Odis began to calculate: "I still owe you 30 pounds from the last gathering, and this intelligence transaction paid 400 pounds for you. The 8 extraordinary weapons cost 400 pounds, so you need to pay 770 pounds."
"If converted into extraordinary materials, that's exactly 11 pieces of materials at the 9th level of the sequence."
Derrick nodded: "Okay."
Then Odis did some calculations and found that after this round of transactions, almost all of his inventory had been sold off.
Speaking of which, these stockpiles were prepared when Hugh and Fors were fighting against the enemy's spy organization. At the time, a lot of them were made at once for convenience.
But unexpectedly, there was no need for it later. After advancing to Sequence 6, more convenient scrolls became available, so it became even less necessary.
With the extraordinary materials they acquired, Odis now has a stable "sales channel." Last week, through the Mysticism Research Society and the Information Exchange Meeting, they sold a total of 9 items, earning £1,350.
So the industry chain has basically been formed, but compared with the money earned from fighting pirates, this is just extra income.
After the two finished trading the extraordinary weapon, Odis said, "I need the sap of the Misty Black Birch Tree."
These are the auxiliary materials needed for promotion. Of the four auxiliary materials required for "Astrologer", two can be obtained from the "Shining Star Tree" and the "Trickster Pegasus" respectively.
The other two are: 50 ml of black-striped peony essential oil and 50 ml of misty black birch sap.
Odis cultivates black-striped peonies in the suburbs of Backlund and can make essential oils herself, but "sap of the misty black birch" needs to be traded.
Cattleya glanced at Odis and then said, "50 grams, 80 pounds."
Odis smiled and said, "Deal."
No new transactions were initiated in the next few seconds, and the trading session of this gathering came to an end.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
During the Q&A session, Audrey smiled and asked, "'Priestess' lady, 'Hermit' gentleman, how is your exploration going?"
Last week, Odis and Cattleya finalized their plan to explore the unknown island together, searching for the main ingredients and properties of their respective potions.
Everyone heard it, which is why Audrey asked that question.
"It went very smoothly," Odis said. "We all got what we needed, and we also had some unexpected gains."
Cattleya smiled, then gritted her teeth and said, "It is quite unexpected."
She never expected that the demigod Odis had found would actually be the "Queen," which truly surprised and delighted her.
Alger the Hanged Man thought to himself: Judging from the Priestess's tone, it seems she suffered a loss at the hands of the Hermit? No way? The Hermit is clearly a Sequence 6.
Audrey also noticed that the "priestess's" tone and expression were a bit off: "Is the enemy very powerful?"
Odis smiled somewhat helplessly: "I can only say that the enemy was completely unexpected."
He rubbed his forehead: "Because this involves the privacy of that demigod, I can't go into too much detail."
"Well, let me share some of my observations and experiences during the exploration..."
So Odis began to talk about the ruins and towers on the island. After the demigod defeated the "Light of Mystery," he began to greatly simplify what happened afterward, telling everyone almost only the final outcome.
After listening, Klein thought: The Hermit had said that the Steiano family was the family of the "God of Steam and Machinery". Could it be that he encountered the power of the Steam Church in the ruins of this family?
He smiled to himself, thinking: "What if, while exploring, I stumble upon one of the workshops of the Steam Church? That would be interesting."
The other members felt it was a pity that they didn't hear the whole exploration process, but what they heard was quite interesting. At least they learned that there was a stronghold of the Steam Church deep in the raging sea.
At this moment, Cattleya said to Odis, "There's something I don't quite understand. That island isn't close to the Northern Continent, but the Stiano family's activities have always seemed to be confined to the Northern Continent. Why would they establish a base there?"
"It must be related to the fact that this family wasn't very powerful in its early years," Odis guessed. "Like a secret organization, having a base on the high seas can avoid a lot of trouble."
"For example, they won't be so easily found by the enemy, and they can also settle some family members."
Cattleya nodded slowly, finding the explanation plausible.
Then she asked, "What's the story behind that 'Pale Era' military outpost you mentioned earlier? Could you briefly explain it?"
"Sure." Odis was quite agreeable: "That was a commission I received last week, asking me to help find traces of the 'Skull' pirate map."
"After more than a day of searching, I found the Skull in the 'dangerous waters' and tracked it into the 'dangerous waters'."
"While chasing the 'Skull,' we unexpectedly discovered a ruin on the seabed. According to a piece of intelligence I had previously obtained, it should be a military outpost from the time of the 'Pale Catastrophe.'"
"It is said that the soldiers inside are all living corpses personally transformed by the 'Emperor of the Underworld'."
Audrey quickly asked, "Have you explored the ruins?"
"No, that's too dangerous."
Fors quickly followed up with, "Are there any 'soldiers' inside?"
Odis took a deep breath: "And there's more! And it's incredibly powerful! It's probably close to the abilities of a demigod."
He was now relieved that the "elf" had been submerged underwater for over a thousand years and no longer possessed the strength of a true demigod.
Otherwise, if they encounter a demigod traveling by "sailor" at sea, they would be grateful if they had time to abandon ship.
The other members were somewhat surprised; judging from the "Hermit's" tone, he must have fought against those "soldiers."
Audrey asked with concern, "Are you hurt?"
Odis gave a wry smile: "I wasn't injured, but my ship was damaged in quite a few places, and it took a whole day to repair."
Caldelia thought to herself, "The Hermit did a lot last week. Not only did he explore the island with me, but he also had this kind of experience."
Moreover, as a captain, she was well aware of the oppressive feeling of encountering a powerful enemy at sea, or being pursued by a powerful enemy.
Although the sea may seem vast, it is open and unobstructed, offering no place to hide. Being chased by a powerful enemy would be a disaster.
Alger, however, was concerned with another question: "You mean, you followed the 'Skull Ship' into 'dangerous waters'?"
He knew very well that the man was a powerful "great pirate," and the "Skull" was also a very strong ghost ship, which gave Captain Balk of the "Skull" strength close to that of a "pirate general."
"Yes," Odis smiled, "but it's not just me chasing after them; there's a soldier from the 'outpost' also chasing them."
"Later I found out that it seemed that as long as you saw that outpost, you would be chased by the soldiers inside."
"The 'Skull and Bones' discovered the 'outpost' before I did, so they were also pursued before I did."
Alger was stunned for a moment before suddenly realizing what was going on: I thought those "soldiers," though powerful, were just undead after all, and that the chase would only be symbolic. I didn't expect them to chase for such a long time! Being chased by a demigod for a while, it's already quite an achievement to escape. No wonder the "Hermit's" ship was damaged.
Thinking about this, he gained a new understanding of the "Hermit's" strength.
On the high seas, the "Sailor" pathway of Sequence 6 has an advantage over other pathways of Sequence 6. Alger had always thought that the "Hermit" going to sea was like an amateur boxer fighting in underground boxing matches, and he would definitely suffer a lot of losses.
But I didn't expect the other party to be so strong.
Then Alger seemed to realize something and suddenly asked the "Hermit": "You said you spent a whole day repairing the boat?"
Odis paused for a moment, then said, "Yes."
Alger opened his mouth; he had just landed on a new island in the past two days and obtained a lot of new intelligence.
One of the intelligence reports was that Captain Balk of the "Skull" was killed by Captain Gal near Norhaus Island.
It is said that they encountered a storm at the time, but continued to fight even in the storm. After the battle, the Argo was also seriously damaged and spent a day repairing it on Norhaus Island.
He hadn't thought of this before because in his mind, the "Hermit" was just a "great pirate" of average strength. It wasn't until he was certain that the "Hermit" was capable of catching up with the "Skull Ship" that he realized this.
Audrey, the "Justice," opposite Alger the Hanged Man, smiled to herself, thinking, "Mr. Hanged Man has guessed the Hermit's identity in the real world."
Then she thought: Mr. Hanged Man seems very surprised. Is the Skull Ship really that powerful?
Seeing the Hanged Man's reaction, Fors, the "magician" next to Audrey, asked, "Mr. Hanged Man, is there something wrong with Mr. Hermit's day-long ship repair?"
Alger smiled and said, "It's nothing, I just remembered something else."
"Alright," Odis said, "The two crew members at sea already know my true identity, so there's no need to hide it anymore. I am 'Captain Gal'."
"In the future, when we meet at sea, we will not treat each other as enemies."
Fors and Emlyn, who knew little about what was happening at sea, still didn't understand what this meant.
Audrey, standing nearby, explained, "I read in the newspaper that Captain Gal has wiped out two large pirate crews in the past two weeks."
"There are three." Seeing that the "Hermit" was no longer hiding anything, Alger shared the information he had received: "The 'Skull' pirate crew was also wiped out by him, but this news may not appear in the newspapers until this week."
Audrey was slightly taken aback; this was indeed news she didn't know.
Fors didn't think much of it. After all, she had worked with the "Hermit" before and knew the "Hermit's" strength. In her opinion, it wouldn't be difficult for the "Hermit" to wipe out a pirate crew.
Emlyn, the "Moon," recalled what he had heard about the high seas and asked, "They must have gotten quite a bounty, right? I've heard that big pirates get pretty high bounties."
Odis smiled and said, "It's alright, the crew members don't have a penny left."
Emlyn nodded without giving it much thought.
But Cattleya and Alger knew that a pirate crew's greatest spoils were not the pirates' bounties, but rather their extraordinary abilities, magical items, and the pirate ships that served as their flagships.
After the topic ended, a few seconds later, "World" said in a hoarse voice: "Recently, I discovered that there seems to be a defection within the 'School of Life'."
"The members hunt each other down, and it seems some members have even joined the 'Rose School'."
This information was obtained the week before last, but some details were not clear at the time. Now that the information is clear, he brought it up during the Q&A session.
"I've received similar news," Odis said. "This rebellion seems to have occurred more than a month ago."
"Members of the 'Pharmacist' path within the 'School of Life' have defected to the 'School of Roses' and are cooperating with the 'School of Roses' to assassinate members of the 'School of Life'."
The world responded with a "hmm," which was similar to the information Klein had received.
At the same time, Klein thought to himself, "The Hermit" certainly doesn't know that this rebellion is because the leader of the "School of Life" has entered a new cycle.
Emlyn was also quite concerned about this: "I've also heard that their battles seem to mostly take place in the Rothschild Islands?"
Vampires are very interested in organizations with the "Pharmacist" pathway, but the vampires have almost no influence in the Raging Sea because the sunlight there is too scorching, and no vampire is willing to stay there.
However, they would also actively inquire about information about the Raging Sea, so they had probably heard about the "School of Life's" betrayal.
Cattleya and Alger, who were also at sea, were unaware of this matter because they had never specifically inquired about it.
"From what I understand, this internal strife is basically over," Odis said. "Some members of the 'School of Life' have been killed, and those who weren't have gone into hiding again."
Emlyn nodded; the news was very useful to him.
Audrey asked curiously, "'The Hermit,' what kind of secret organization is the 'School of Life'?"
"The organization was originally formed to counter the Church of the True God's encroachment on the living space of extraordinary individuals," Odis said. "Because initially, the main members had several avenues, internal struggles frequently occurred."
"However, things should be much better after this betrayal, because the main path for members of this organization has been reduced to only one: the 'monster' path."