The trading session during the Tarot reading.
After "The Fool" Klein traded the properties of "Sun Priest" with "Little Sun," "The Hermit" Odis looked at "The Hanged Man": "I have the 'Ocean Singer' potion recipe you wanted."
This was traded by Odis from the female elf Shatas.
A smile crept onto Alger's face: "Name your price."
Odis had already decided: "5,000 pounds."
Generally, a Sequence 5 potion recipe costs between 4,000 and 7,000 pounds. A Sequence like "Ocean Singer," which is very useful at sea, costs closer to 7,000 pounds. Therefore, the price offered by Odis is already considered to be a discount.
After thinking for a moment, Alger said, "How about this? I'll pay you 2,000 pounds first, you give me the recipe, and I'll give you the remaining 3,000 pounds once I've gathered them up."
He paused for a moment and then said, "With Mr. Fool's testimony, you don't need to worry that I will renege on my debt."
After trading for extraordinary materials, he really couldn't come up with £5,000.
Odis grunted and said, "Deal."
After obtaining the potion recipe, Alger immediately went to browse it.
But after taking a look, a bitter smile appeared on his face, because the ritual to become an "Ocean Singer" was to take a magic potion inside the belly of an Orbness sea monster.
The Obinnis Sea Monster is a monster that Alger is currently unable to deal with, which makes him realize that even with the recipe and main ingredients, the ritual is still difficult to prepare.
At this moment, he suddenly remembered some information he had collected before, and said to the person at the head of the bronze table, "'Fool', I wish to speak with 'Hermit' alone."
When Odis heard that Alger the Hanged Man wanted to speak with her alone, she was slightly taken aback, not yet figuring out what the other man wanted to talk to her about.
After establishing a private trading environment, the other party mentioned that they intended to ask for my help in finding and controlling an Orbness sea monster to help them complete their promotion.
Odis resisted the urge to scratch his head. He remembered that Alger was supposed to seek help from "The Fool," but instead he was asking him for help.
This was not surprising, though. He had heard that the "Mysterious Queen" and the "King of the Five Seas" each controlled one or two Orbnis sea monsters.
Although most of the members of "Elemental Dawn" are extraordinary individuals through the "Spy" and "Generalist" pathways, it is still an organization with considerable influence on the seas. There are also many members through the "Sailor" pathway who also have the need for advancement, so they must find a way to control an Orbness sea monster.
Moreover, it was clear that for Alger, making a deal with the "Hermit" was "more controllable," because he did not know what the "Fool" needed, nor whether he was capable of meeting the "Fool's" needs.
Furthermore, once the "Fool" states their needs, there is no room for negotiation; they can only choose to comply.
The "hermit" simply said that he wanted things or money, and that everything was negotiable.
Thinking of this, Odis said, "I can help you make the contact, but I'm not very confident."
It wasn't that Odis was unwilling to help, but rather that organizations like the "Elemental Dawn" typically offered very high-level rewards for "helping prepare the ceremony."
Odis received the ritual reward because he built a ship for the "Elemental Dawn," and no one said anything about it.
But telling Bernadette about the "Hanged Man's" request would put her in a difficult position.
Alger paused for a moment after hearing the "hermit's" answer before saying, "Alright then."
Odis sensed Alger's concerns and empathized with them: making deals with the gods is always stressful.
This is why Odis rarely bothers the "Goddess of Night," as it's difficult to offer her something she would value.
This is like a beggar making a deal with a rich man, and such a deal can easily turn into a favor because it is almost impossible for the beggar to offer anything of value to the rich man.
Odis had a more profound understanding of this, while Algerne may not have had such a clear opinion or viewpoint, but he also had similar feelings.
If it were the "Lord of the Storms," a similar blessing would only require offering one's loyalty. However, the "Fool" prefers equivalent exchanges, which leaves Alger somewhat at a loss.
Thinking of this, Odis suddenly smiled and said, "I think you can discuss this with 'The World'."
Alger paused for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing: How could I have forgotten this "representative of the gods"?
"Agents of the gods" and "favorites of the gods" are those who receive benefits on behalf of the gods in the name of the gods!
This is somewhat similar to the relationship between God and the church; the things that ordinary believers contribute are unlikely to move God.
But even gods need people to be loyal to them and to help them with worldly affairs.
Thus, a three-way transaction was reached between God, the church, and believers. Believers donated money to the church in exchange for spiritual comfort or protection. The church accepted the money in the name of God and pledged allegiance to God. God provided spiritual comfort to believers and occasionally offered corresponding protection.
In this transaction, all three parties obtained what they needed, thus forming a mature and stable transaction system.
Alger sincerely said to the "hermit," "Thank you for your reminder."
Odis smiled slightly, indicating that it was nothing.
Alger, the "Hanged Man," then asked the "Fool" to end the one-on-one communication environment.
Klein, sitting at the head of the bronze table, remarked: "This is a conversation between two old hands. Although they don't say much, they both understand the hidden meaning behind each other's simple words."
At the same time, this result was also quite satisfactory to Klein, since it was a headache for him to figure out what kind of reward Alger would charge "The Fool" for his help.
First of all, we definitely can't do without it; it would be a huge loss not to.
If so, the gods' needs would also put Klein in a difficult position.
If the Hanged Man insisted on offering gold coins as a sacrifice, he would be happy, but he couldn't accept them because the gods should be "detached from vulgar tastes" and shouldn't accept such "common" things.
Now that we have the "transfer" of "World", things are much easier. "World" is a Sequence 5, so it's normal for it to have a demand for gold pounds.
Just give the gold to "the world" and let "the world" figure out a way to get "the Fool" to do it.
After a moment's consideration, Alger, the "Hanged Man," once again requested permission from the "Fool" to have a private conversation with the "World."
Having established a private communication environment, Alger expressed his needs, asking "the World" to help him find an Orbness sea monster and assist him in completing his ascension ritual.
Klein manipulated the "world" and said, "Sure, but what kind of reward can you offer?"
The "Fool" was never mentioned in the entire transaction; the two tacitly reached an agreement.
Alger hesitated for a moment before saying, "I'll exchange it for the coordinates of a primitive island that no one else knows."
"Not only are there many extraordinary creatures that have become extinct on the northern and southern continents, but there is also an ancient site whose exact age is unknown."
"Back then... well, I discovered it with Qilingus. At that time, we didn't have the ability to explore it in depth, but he found some traces and suspected that something very precious was hidden within the ruins."
"My strength is not as good as Qilingus's, nor is my depth. I have no way of knowing what he saw. I can only guess the situation from some of the things he said unintentionally."
Klein hadn't expected that the "Hanged Man" and Zillingus had known each other for a long time and had even gone on adventures together. He manipulated the "World" into a thoughtful pose.
Seeing that "the world" neither rejected nor agreed, Alger continued, "There are traces of demigod-level extraordinary beings on it. This should be of great value to you."
"I can swear to Mr. Fool on this that I am not lying."
"World" no longer hesitated: "Deal."
Slightly relieved, Alger continued, "I have one condition: I hope that when you first explore that primitive island, I will be your companion, and with Mr. 'Fool' watching over everything, I think you don't need to worry about me having any bad intentions."
Klein considered for a moment and had "The World" nod, saying, "No problem. When we go to dangerous places, I will need some companions. I hope you are capable enough to keep up."
Alger then said, "So I hope your first exploration will be after I successfully advance. Of course, if I lose control because of the potion, this agreement will naturally be null and void."
"The World" replied, "Yes."
Alger stopped arguing and, after obtaining the "Fool's" consent, materialized a parchment containing information about the original island.
After their private conversation, "Priestess" Cattleya looked at "Justice": "'Black Hunting Giant Lizard's spinal fluid' has been confirmed, 1800 pounds. 'Psychedelic Bell Tree Fruit' has no leads yet."
"This is already very good, better than I expected," Audrey said sincerely, completely unconcerned about the price.
After finalizing the deal, Cattleya looked around and asked, "Any leads on the blood of mythical creatures?"
Klein immediately manipulated the "world" to ask, "Do you mean purely mythical creatures?"
"Justice" Audrey and the others were somewhat confused: Pure mythical creatures? There are also impure mythical creatures?
After a moment of hesitation, Cattleya replied, "Pure, that is, the blood of angels."
Klein responded via "The World": "I have some leads, but I can't be sure if I can get them, and I'll have to wait at least three months."
Three months later, a certain "Snake of Destiny" will be "born".
The other members of the Tarot Club watched the transaction in silence, never expecting that "The World" even had clues about angel blood.
Alger, however, suspected that the "world" wanted to borrow a drop of blood from Mr. Fool's angel.
Caldelia smiled and said, "No problem."
Finally, there was a clue; it was the last obstacle for her to become a demigod.
Thinking of this, Cattleya looked at Odis and believed that Odis did not have such a need, probably because he had not obtained the potion recipe from the "mystic".
She hesitated, wondering if she should remind Odis to also join the deal and prepare a drop of mythical creature's blood in advance?
At this moment, Odis was also hesitant, wondering whether he should remind Cattleya?
According to the information he received from the messenger, the blood of mythical creatures from the "monster" pathway was not actually the best choice.
So Odis decided to wait and see if he could get a drop of blood from a mythical creature that had passed through the "Secret Seeker" pathway.
Moreover, Odis already had a certain idea. Since she had saved the life of a demigod from the "Morse Penitentiary" before, she could use her to seek a drop of blood from a mythical creature through the "Secret Seeker" pathway.
Of course, one cannot ask for help as Odis in the "wilderness of knowledge," but rather, like Klein, one can set up a secondary account similar to "the world" to seek assistance.
This operation carries some risk, so Odis needs to wait for an opportunity.
Another option is for Odis to continue monitoring the demigods of the "Morse Penitentiary," find the angels of this organization, and then ask Bernadette for help to see if they can ambush them, injure them, and obtain a drop or two of their blood.
In any case, we must wait for an opportunity.
After a moment's thought, Odis finally spoke up: "There are four ways to obtain the blood from that mythical creature, and they can be helpful after advancing to demigod status."
He suddenly realized that if he talked to Bernadette about this later, Bernadette might pass the message on to Cattleya.
What does this make the "Star General" think?
You knew all along which blood transfusion pathways were advantageous, yet you didn't tell me.
Upon hearing the Hermit's words, the other members instantly understood: the Hermit knew very well why the Priestess needed this drop of blood, and clearly also knew some information that the Priestess was unaware of.
Cattleya was also quite surprised, but she immediately sat up straight and listened attentively to what the "Hermit" had to say next.
Odis simply stated: "The blood of mythical creatures along the 'Seer' pathway is helpful for Sequence 4, while the blood of mythical creatures along the 'Monster' pathway is helpful for Sequence 3."
"The blood of mythical creatures through the 'Generalist' pathway grants you the ability to create magical items."
"The 'Secret Seeker' pathway is helpful for both Sequence 4 and Sequence 3, and is also said to provide some assistance for ascending to angelic status."
"As for the blood of mythical creatures obtained through other means, they can only help you advance in rank."
The other members were stunned: The blood of mythical creatures is already a very rare thing, why did you choose it?
After pausing for a couple of seconds, Gadriya smiled helplessly and said, "Sometimes, there aren't many options."
The other members speculated that this drop of blood from a mythical creature might be an important ingredient in a potion.
Alger the Hanged Man thought to himself: You have to use whatever comes your way. I'll focus on becoming a demigod first, otherwise I might miss the best opportunity to advance.
"The Magician" Fors held a similar view: for ordinary wild extraordinary beings, being able to advance to demigod is a huge opportunity, so they should advance first and think about other things later. As for advancing to angel or something, that is not an opportunity that ordinary people can have.
When Odis heard Cattleya's reply, he simply smiled slightly and said nothing more.
His situation is different from Cattleya's. Cattleya has already digested the potion and obtained the extraordinary characteristics of a demigod. All that is left is the ritual for advancement.
Odis had only digested less than a third of the potion, so he wasn't in a hurry.
After the deal was closed, "Little Sun" Derrick said, "I need the 'Elder Tree Root Crystal' and the Golden-edged Sunflower."
Having already tasted the sweetness of buying and selling, "Moon" Emlin immediately perked up: "I can help you trade for 'Elder Tree Root Crystals,' and Golden-edged Sunflowers are also easy to buy."
"So, what can you offer in exchange?"
When he previously provided "fruits of the Elder Tree" to Miss "Justice," he learned that the seller also had root crystals.
During the previous Tarot meeting, Emlyn learned that the five pathways, including "The Audience" and "The Sun," were adjacent pathways. At this moment, he suddenly realized that because they were adjacent pathways, the main materials needed for "Justice" and "The Sun" came from an extraordinary plant.
"Sun" Derrick thought for a moment: "An extraordinary characteristic corresponding to a Sequence 5 vampire?"
In the dark depths of the "Forsaken Land," there are many such monsters.
"Vampires!" Emlyn corrected through gritted teeth. "Don't rush me. I'll tell you once I've decided what I want."
He didn't want the items he acquired through trading to overlap with the rewards from the hunting competition.
Speaking of the hunting competition, what Emlyn didn't expect was how efficient Miss "Magician" was; she had already identified the locations and key clues for two of the five hunting targets last week.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
He is making final preparations and plans to hunt one of his targets in the next couple of days.
At this point, Emlin was absolutely confident that he could win the game.
"Okay." Derrick, who already owed the "world" a huge debt, said quite frankly.
After their deal was finalized, Odis suddenly said to Derrick, "I want to make a request of you."
Derrick turned to Odis: "What is the request?"
"In the next week, keep a close watch on the area around Silver City for any starlight or other radiance," Odis said.
While rescuing the demigod of the "Morse Ascetic Order," Odis noticed that he could make the "Staff of Guth" levitate and emit a dazzling light in the "Wilderness of Knowledge."
This light should be quite conspicuous in the dark "Forsaken Lands." If the two "Guth Staffs" in the "Forsaken Lands" were around Silver City, such a dazzling light would likely have been noticed by the residents of Silver City.
Odis plans to ask "Little Sun" to help her find and retrieve the staff.
Odis's request surprised "Little Sun" at first. He had thought that "The Hermit" had asked him to collect some extraordinary materials again, but he did not expect that it was a request about "The Forsaken Land".
The other members were also somewhat surprised, unsure of what the "hermit" meant by starlight or other light.
However, they are certain that the "Hermits," or rather, those who provide the "Hermits" with those ancient secrets, have ways to exert some influence over the "Forsaken Land."
Derrick then exclaimed happily, "'The Hermit,' you..."
He originally wanted to say whether the "hermit" had entered the "forsaken land," but then he thought it was unlikely.
So halfway through his sentence, Derrick changed his mind and asked, "...Mr. 'The Hermit,' can you contact the 'Forsaken Land'?"
Odis smiled and said, "I suppose so."
Seeing that the hermit did not give a direct answer, "Little Sun" did not continue to ask questions.
He took a deep breath and said, "I will keep an eye on it."
"Yes, I'm still in Wuzhen now. I'll try to find out more information for you when I get back."
Odis hummed in agreement and asked, "What kind of payment do you need?"
"No reward." Derrick flashed a smile as radiant as his code name: "Consider it a token of gratitude for all the help you've given me."
He felt that being able to help the "hermit" was a way of repaying some favors.
Odis remarked, "Your answers are always so unexpected."
After this transaction, the two then traded for extraordinary weapons through barter.
The gathering fell silent. Just as Klein was about to assume there were no more deals to be made, "Justice" Audrey suddenly raised her hand slightly and asked, "'The Hermit,' do you have any information about Emperor Roselle?"
The conversation between the "Fool" and the "Priestess" had piqued her interest in the topic of Roselle. Just now, she suddenly wondered if the "Hermit" knew anything about Emperor Roselle.
The "magician" Fors, who was standing to the side, was also taken aback for a moment, and then realized: "That's right, how come I didn't think of that? The well-informed 'Hermit' must know some secret information about a big figure like Emperor Roselle."
Sitting below them, Cattleya held little hope, as she guessed that the "Hermit's" information about the Emperor likely came from the "Mysterious Queen."
The other members also looked at the "Hermit," waiting for his answer.
Odis glanced at Cattleya before turning to Audrey and saying, "I do know some information about Emperor Roselle. How about 3,000 pounds if you're interested in making a trade?"
Audrey noticed that Odis glanced at the "priestess" before answering her question, and she immediately guessed: Could the "priestess" be a descendant of Emperor Roselle?
Apart from "The Fool" Klein, the other members only know that "Admiral of the Stars" seems to be secretly serving "Mysterious Queen" Bernadette.
Upon hearing the Hermit's offer, Audrey immediately replied, "No problem!"
Fors, who was standing nearby, quickly said, "I'll join the deal too."
Russell has become a unique symbol in people's minds, and everyone is eager to learn about his secret history.
The deal with the "Hermit" often involved surprising information if the reward exceeded £2,000, so Alger and Emlyn actively joined the deal.
Derrick was the only one who wasn't very enthusiastic about it, but he was also influenced by the other members and joined the deal.
Ultimately, they agreed that Miss Justice would contribute £1,200 and the other members £300, crowdfunding the proceeds from the transaction.
Odis smiled at everyone and said, "Before we begin the transaction, I would like to speak with the 'Priestess' lady alone."
At this point, Audrey was certain that there must be some connection between the "priestess" and Emperor Roselle.
She was very curious about the content of their private conversation.
Cattleya was somewhat surprised, but quickly recovered and agreed to Odis's suggestion to speak with him alone.
Odis got straight to the point: "You'd better not tell the 'Queen' some of the information I'm about to reveal."
Cattleya's expression suddenly changed: "Do you know some information that the 'Queen' doesn't?"
Then she questioned, "Don't you know that the 'Queen' has been gathering intelligence about the Emperor?"
"Of course I know." Odis took a deep breath and said, "I also know that she has been unable to adjust her state and complete her promotion because she misses the Emperor, cannot get over the Emperor's crazy actions back then, and regrets that she was unable to help the Emperor when she left."
Klein, sitting at the head of the bronze table, was taken aback for a moment, then sighed inwardly, unsure of how to respond.
Cattleya's mouth dropped open: "But...but didn't the 'Queen' say that she hasn't found a suitable promotion opportunity yet?"
Odis shook his head: "Since you don't know the inside story, then listen to me. For now, don't let the 'Queen' know too much about the Emperor."
"Why?" Cattleya asked immediately.
This is also the question Klein had after the gray fog.
"Even if we knew that information, we wouldn't be able to rescue the Emperor," Odis said. "It would only worsen the Queen's condition."
Cattleya seemed to be muttering to herself, "Rescue the Emperor..."
Her eyes lit up: "The Emperor isn't dead?"
Odis took a deep breath: "Yes, I will release the specific information later."
He then said, "Imagine if the 'Queen' finds out about this and asks you where to find the Emperor, and you know that if you say 'I don't know,' the 'Queen's' condition will immediately worsen. What would you do?"
Caldelia seemed to have all her strength drained away: "I understand."
She then promised, "I will not tell the 'Queen' about today's deal."
Odis nodded, indicating to the Fool that they could end their private conversation.
After the private conversation ended, the other members noticed the "priestess's" solemn expression and each had their own speculations about the conversation between the two.
"Our deal begins," Odis said to everyone. "You should all be quite familiar with most of the history of Emperor Roselle."
"When he was born, the Gustav family was already in decline, and the emperor did not receive much help from the family."
"Although it was a bit difficult at the beginning of Emperor Rosell's career, it was not without its advantages. At least after becoming consul, Emperor Rosell was able to easily get rid of the influence of the Gustav family."
The other members were taken aback when they heard this. They all knew about this history, but they had never thought about it in this way.
Klein then realized: I have no political career and no intention of doing so, so when I look at history, it is a series of interconnected events, but I do not have the perspective of a scholar like a "recluse".
"I won't go into the details that you can find in history textbooks," Odis continued. "I'll just talk about some hidden history that you might not be aware of."
"As we discussed at the last Tarot meeting, Zarathustra Jr. once supported the Great Emperor during his weak period."
"I'm not entirely sure exactly when the support started, but I personally believe it was shortly after the Emperor joined the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery and began to amass great wealth through his inventions..."
Klein wanted to complain: "The word 'invention' should be in quotation marks."
"…This is the best time to invest," Odis said. "After accumulating some wealth, Emperor Roselle quickly gained his first group of followers, the most famous of whom were the 'Four Horsemen'."
Klein mentally complained again: Actually, they're called the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"... Well, I guess Rosell also thought that name was too childish, so he just called them the "Four Horsemen".
Odis also wanted to complain, but he was afraid that if he said what was on his mind, it would be bad, so he kept his mouth shut.
He continued, "During this period, Emperor Roselle learned from some documents about the 'Black Throne,' a legacy of the Solomon Empire."
"After a period of searching, the Emperor finally found the ghost ship in the Oradech Islands in the western part of the continent."
"As we mentioned before, this ship was later bestowed upon Nast's father, the 'King of the Five Seas,' and Nast later inherited the ship and the title conferred upon him by the Emperor."
Alger and the other members nodded; they all remembered the incident.
Cattleya took a slight breath. She knew that the title of "King of the Five Seas" originated from the Emperor, but she did not expect that his flagship was also bestowed by the Emperor.
Odis continued, "It is said that on that ship, the Great Emperor obtained a great deal of ancient geographical information and gained the concept of other continents."
"Regarding this, we need to imagine the context at that time, when the people of the Northern Continent had generally lost the concept of other continents."
"At that time, communication with the Southern Continent had been severed for more than a thousand years, and the Southern Continent was all part of mythology."
"Therefore, this information should be very important to the Emperor."
"Moreover, it is said that the ghost ship not only has information about the Southern Continent, but also some information about the Eastern and Western Continents."
He paused slightly at this point, and as expected, "Justice" Audrey asked, "'Hermit' Mr., what are the Eastern Continent and the Western Continent respectively?"
Fors and Emlyn had a similar question. They speculated that one of the continents might be the one where the "Forsaken Land" was located, but like "Justice," they didn't know whether it was the eastern or western continent.
Odis smiled and replied, "According to information I obtained from another source, the 'Forsaken Land' is located on the Eastern Continent, while the Western Continent is said to be at the end of the Misty Sea, and no one has discovered it to this day."
Audrey, the "Justice" woman, couldn't help but feel a sense of longing: "A continent that no one has ever set foot on."
Fors also conceived in his mind an adventure novel about discovering a new continent.
A sense of curiosity and a desire to explore the unknown quickly filled the hearts of the other members.