Lord of Mysteries: Starting As A Reader

With a hint of inexplicable anticipation, Klein led Sharon and the others up the stairs, rounded the enormous throne, and returned to the Hall of Honesty.

The murals also came into the view of Sharon and Taylors, who were seeing them for the first time.

"This mural depicts humans building a city... This one shows scenes of war and migration... Dragons truly have no artistic flair. These paintings are overly crafted; though seemingly realistic, they lack any sense of beauty... Fortunately, the long history imbues them with gravitas...

"Huh? No, this is what I'm thinking, why am I saying it out loud?

"No, it's not me speaking... it's this 'Hall' that's the problem!"

Taylors muttered to himself as he looked at the murals, but he quickly heard his own voice and swiftly identified the problem.

At the same time, Sharon's voice echoed around them, but it lacked her usual ethereal quality and instead sounded a bit playful:

"A story of a warrior defeating an evil dragon? So cliché... I stopped liking it when I was four..."

By this point, Sharon, hearing her own voice, had reacted. She instinctively looked at Klein and Ebner, who were secretly observing her, and immediately understood something. Her inner voice transmitted again:

"They aren't transmitting their inner thoughts... Did they prepare beforehand?

"Ill-intentioned Sherlock... Ebner, who loves to watch a good laugh... Edwina, whose exterior doesn't match her interior..."

Hearing her words, Ebner immediately curled his lips but forcibly suppressed his laughter with a "Secret Art."

Though Klein had reined in his thoughts, he was also amused by Sharon's chattering and couldn't help but let out a low chuckle that resonated through the hall.

And Edwina voiced her first thought: "Is this what Gehrman called 'contrast moe'?"

"'Contrast moe'?" Sharon, who was already trying to "restrain" her inner thoughts, couldn't help but inwardly mumble.

"'Contrast moe'... It's a term Gehrman coined the last time he passed through here. He said then that he wanted to see your 'contrast moe.'" Edwina, with her "Mechanical Mind" active, had an "iceberg" expression on her face, and her inner thoughts were equally devoid of emotion.

Seeing Sharon glance back at him, Klein outwardly put on a Gehrman-esque cold demeanor, but his inner thoughts betrayed his true nature: "Don't talk nonsense... My exact words were definitely not that! Spreading rumors is against the law!"

"The 'Mad Adventurer'..." "Vice Admiral Iceberg" muttered inwardly, recalling Ebner's previous introduction of him.

But to Klein's ears, it sounded somewhat sarcastic.

This made him sigh inwardly: "Why am I still the unlucky one, even after preparing?"

"Sherlock, who wants to pry into my inner thoughts." Sharon concluded inwardly, observing Klein seriously for a moment.

At this moment, names began to sound out nearby; it was Taylors mentally listing his "friends" to distract himself from thinking anything rude.

At first, it was nothing, but as more and more names of various "madames" appeared later, Ebner's and Klein's expressions both grew strange.

Ebner released part of the effect of his "Secret Art," letting his inner voice out: "Your choice of friends seems to be getting more and more... peculiar."

"I once traveled in Intis for a while... They are all very enthusiastic towards friends," Taylors unconsciously replied inwardly.

After hearing his own "words," he couldn't help but stiffen, then "composedly" thought: Well, men will be men, it's normal. And we 'Readers' also have this kind of charm... This is our true inner self!

He tried to drag Ebner down with him... Unfortunately, what he didn't know was that the latter had already developed an "anti-social death art" for such environments.

"Is that why the 'Eternal Blazing Sun' Church has a 20,000 Firkal bounty on your head?" Edwina's cold voice then rang out.

Firkal is the official currency of Intis; 1 gold pound is roughly equivalent to 1.5 Firkal.

"Haha..." Taylors cleared his mind, only letting out an awkward chuckle.

"What did he do?" Sharon's voice followed, carrying a hint of curiosity.

Is Sharon's inner emotion so rich? Then it must be really hard for her to 'restrain' herself normally... Klein couldn't help but think.

"It's precisely because I have many thoughts that I need to 'restrain' them… If there were no thoughts, 'restraint' wouldn't exist," Miss Sharon's inner voice spoke halfway before she self-"restrained."

"Among the list of madames he just recited, quite a few surnames belong to bishops and deacons of the 'Eternal Blazing Sun' Church…" At this moment, Edwina's answer also rang out.

But before her inner thoughts were complete, she gathered a "light orb" in her hand, a secret art she had developed for recording others' images. She used it because, after analysis, she believed that by diligently recording others' "inner voices," her own thoughts would be fewer.

"But why was Roselle fine back then?" Klein subconsciously wondered. He had read many diary entries about this; "The Great Emperor worked tirelessly to gain the support of the 'Eternal Blazing Sun Church'!"

"Because I'm a member of the 'Church of Knowledge'…" Taylors seemed to have found the trick to controlling his thoughts, answering the question helplessly in his mind, "In this regard, even 'Tyrant' is more reasonable than 'Eternal Blazing Sun'!"

Seeing that Sharon and Taylors had both passed the "surprise attack" phase and managed to control their thoughts, and Klein was no longer so easily "agitated" after Sharon restrained her thoughts, while Edwina had even found a coping method, Ebner decided not to stay in this city any longer. So, after leading the few of them to view all the murals, he summoned his "Bone Dragon" and flew everyone out of the City of Miracles, Liveseyd.

.....

In the "Kaspersky" base beneath Tosk.

When the former Pope of the "Eternal Blazing Sun Church," Aurbach, was resurrected in the body of the Delian family's "Black Knight," Cero, with the help of Lilith's utilization of Roselle's arrangements, the acting commander of the "Men in Black" immediately knelt down excitedly, proclaiming loudly: "Your Majesty, 'Spade 1' welcomes your return!"

Aurbach looked at the young man kneeling before him, sorted through the extra segment of Roselle's memories, and then suddenly chuckled: "You are 'Heart 1,' aren't you?"

This head of secret agents appeared respectful on the surface, but his words were full of "probing."

"Your Majesty, please forgive my disrespect…" The young man "trembled" as he prostrated himself, his voice fervent, "I knew it! According to the prophecy, when Your Majesty's bloodline… those who deceive the world… descendants of knights… and those who ignore the 'Rat Path' arrive successively, you would truly be resurrected! It truly is so!"

"Caution is necessary, but such probing can be done once or twice, but not thrice." Aurbach chuckled, first giving a warning, then directly pointing out the flaw in his words: "'Foolish one'!"

Upon hearing this, the young man's trust level in the person before him increased to fifty percent, making him feel that this person might indeed be His Majesty returned.

It's just that "resurrection" in the body of the original "sacrifice" is still very strange… His Majesty is not a Beyonder of the "Hanged Man" pathway…

Numerous thoughts swirled in the young man's mind as he secretly attempted to steal the "Black Knight's" thoughts, but failed.

This made him realize that the person before him was at least at the Angel level.

Is it really His Majesty? Just as the young man's thoughts raced, he saw the supposed "Black Knight" stand up and stretch his limbs, then ordered in a familiar tone:

"You must evacuate this base immediately, otherwise Amon might come knocking at any time. I currently lack the ability to protect you further."

"Additionally, instruct any remaining 'Men in Black' to keep a low profile recently and avoid Amon's retaliation."

"Finally, I will return to Trier using this body's identity… Unless I summon you, try to avoid any further contact with me."

After speaking, he used the partial memories he had gained to walk to an emergency evacuation point in the base, and under the young man's gaze, he initiated a ritual and left the underground space.

The young man watched his disappearing figure, feeling that something was amiss, but he quickly calmed down, pondering:

"His Majesty once said, 'What's real can't be fake, and what's fake can't be real'… Although this may not be entirely accurate in the mystical world, it's suitable for this matter."

"If he is fake, he will expose flaws eventually through contact… I just need to avoid accepting overly dangerous orders from him during this time."

.....

In an old apartment on Riverbank Street, Saint George Borough, Backlund.

Daly leaned into Dunn's ear and chuckled softly: "I'm pregnant… and you still owe me a wedding."

Although it had been less than a month, for a Beyonder, for a "Spirit Guide," she clearly felt the loss of characteristics and the new "life" in her womb.