On the Sonia Sea, Pasu Island.
The Blue Avenger, which had been summoned, finally arrived at the headquarters of the Church of the Lord of Storms. It was docked at a port.
Alger removed the cloth wrapped around his head and jumped off the shipboard, landing firmly on the dock thanks to the wind.
The Wind-blessed potion he had consumed had long been digested. The reason why he had done so was to make himself appear more like the other members of the Church, making them feel a sense of kinship.
Years of experience told Alger that it was best to maintain uniformity with the people around him most of the time. He didn't want to appear out of the ordinary. Under the circumstances where he had plenty of secrets, it was even more imperative to do so!
"Haha, Alger, control your impatience." A man who had been waiting at the dock came forward with a smile.
He had a head of soft yellow hair and a long robe embroidered with lightning patterns. He was Alger's former partner, but later on, one chose to be the captain of a ghost ship and continue floating out at sea, while the other returned to be a clergyman.
Alger smiled as he raised his right hand and struck his left breast.
"May the Storm be with you."
"May the Storm be with you." The yellow-haired man, who was in his prime, replied with a smile.
He immediately lowered his voice and said, "I heard that you've already adapted to the Wind-blessed potion?"
Yes, it's very simple. I fly every day and maintain the state of floating. I often use the wind to travel back and forth in different places to quickly adapt. I've already sent a telegram to report this matter." Alger arched his brows to look proud.
The yellow-haired man looked around and maintained his volume from before.
"It's no wonder you were summoned back.
"I heard that, because of the ongoing war, there's a lack of manpower on all sides. The Council of Cardinals has decided to organize a group of Wind-blesseds to advance to Sequence 5 as soon as possible. You should be within those ranks. How enviable. I just became a Wind-blessed, so I don't have the chance."
Organize a group of Wind-blesseds to advance as soon as possible... After knowing that there might be a world war ahead of time, Alger Wilson wasn't surprised. A word suddenly appeared in his mind: cannon fodder!
In fact, just from his contributions for the Bansy Harbor incident, Alger, who was only a Seafarer back then, could've advanced to Ocean Songster without any obstacles. Furthermore, he was usually hard at work, having completed countless missions. In the end, he had only become a Wind-blessed. He had to join the queue for an opportunity to advance to Sequence 5.
And now, there was no need for him to do anything. He was suddenly placed on the list of candidates, and he would soon enter the ranks of the quasi-upper echelons of the Church. He couldn't help but feel suspicious.
Indeed, once a full-scale war begins, the order that prevents people like us from rising will split apart... However, the most important thing is to survive the war. Only by surviving will everything be meaningful... As Alger's thoughts raced, he asked in surprise, "Sainz, is that true?"
"I can't be sure. In short, that's what I heard. Let's go and catch up. If you have the chance to become a high-ranking deacon or a cardinal, don't you forget us!" The yellow-haired man named Sainz reached out his hand and patted Alger on the shoulder.
Alger dodged without a trace and replied with a smile, "Definitely.1
In the City of Silver, the expedition team brought back news that there was a sea on the other side of the Giant King's Court. All the citizens temporarily entered a state of excitement.
After two days of waiting, Derrick Berg finally received a notice from the six-member council, permitting him to receive the Classical Metallurgist's potion formula.
This meant that the upper echelons of the City of Silver had agreed to exchange for the special mushrooms.
The advancement ritual is to personally refine a Stone of Life... What's a Stone of Life? There's no explanation here... Derrick glanced at the parchment in his hand and began preparing a ritual without much thought.
In his opinion, Mr. Fool definitely knew what the Stone of Life was. He didn't need to worry about Mr. World.
After setting up the altar, he took out two metal tubes, each containing the blood of him and a Dawn Paladin from the City of Silver.
The Dawn Paladin had reached a certain age, and his body could no longer withstand the corrosive effects of the poison in most foods. In the foreseeable future, he would gradually reach the end of his life. Two days ago, his granddaughter had personally delivered the final stab with a sword.
As for Derrick, he had previously obtained the Chiefs approval and found an opportunity to extract some of the deceased's blood.
As for the Devil's blood that Mr. World needed, the City of Silver's inventory temporarily didn't have one. However, Chief Colin Iliad said that, as long as the mushrooms could satisfy the needs of the City of Silver's food requirements, he would organize a small hunting team and go to a region where Devils appeared.
After placing the two metal tubes and goatskin parchment onto the altar, Derrick took two steps back and faced the lit candles as he began the sacrificial ritual.
After a series of tasks, the illusory door that was formed from flames and spiritual materials opened heavily. After the sacrificial items were taken away, a dark glow was left behind.
The brilliance slowly faded as large numbers of mushrooms of different shapes appeared before Derrick's eyes.
As for whether they "looked" strange, Derrick didn't even think about it. This was because he had seen mushrooms once—abnormal ones. Therefore, he lacked a point of reference for comparison.
After recalling Mr. World's description of different breeds of mushrooms and effects, Derrick quickly categorized them and placed them into different leather handbags.
Immediately after, he picked up the Unshadowed Crucifix excitedly and prepared to head for the spire.
However, just as his hand touched the bronze cross, he felt it burn and feel prickly. It was as if a light was seeping out of the rust and shining at the mushrooms.
"They're evil and need to be purified..." Derrick was confused, but he eventually decided to believe in Mr. World.
He hid the Unshadowed Crucifix and carried Thunder God's Roar. He walked all the way to the spire and met Chief Colin Iliad.
"Are these the mushrooms?" As he spoke, Demon Hunter Colin's eyes reflected two complex dark green symbols. His gaze swept across the different mushrooms that were either pure white and full, or filled with flesh.
Yes..." Derrick began introducing them, one by one.
Colin returned to normal and remained silent for a few seconds.
"There's an evil and tainted aura emitted from them, but they're in minute amounts and can be tolerated.
"This must've settled down after they devoured the flesh and blood of monsters."
He paused for a moment before saying, "Let's first test their proliferation ability."
Following this sentence, a number of City of Silver personnel, who were prepared to "usher in" the mushrooms, carried a few monster corpses into the Chiefs room and scattered them over the different kinds of mushrooms.
The moment those mushrooms came into contact with the flesh, they immediately grew hyphae and burrowed into them.
About twenty to thirty seconds later, they began to rapidly expand and spit out spores.
After a while, the corpses of those monsters were densely covered with mushrooms.
However, the mushrooms didn't stop growing. They kept growing upwards, and in the end, some of them were even taller than Derrick Berg, facing him as if they were "looking down" at him.
...Mr. World didn't say that they would grow this large... Besides, the speed at which it grows is way too fast... Derrick looked at it in a daze, but he didn't think it was a problem.
There wasn't much of a change in Colin Iliad's expression. Only after the monsters were left with skeleton and dregs did he look around.
"It's better than I expected. Next, who wants to try the effects of eating it?"
Without hesitation, Derrick took a step forward and said, "Your Excellency, I'll do it."
He was in charge of "importing" the mushrooms, so he definitely had to personally confirm its safety.
Colin Iliad nodded slightly and said, "Okay."
He then turned his head and said to another City of Silver resident, "Invite Elder Lovia over to prevent any accidents." As a Beyonder who controlled flesh and blood, Lovia could resolve most of the changes in the human body.
Of course, whether the mutated individual could survive was another matter.
Everyone waited for a few minutes before Shepherd Lovia, who was wearing a deep purple robe, arrived in the Chiefs room.
She had just passed through the door when her light gray eyes suddenly narrowed. She instinctively looked at the mushrooms that occupied most of the space.
After staring at it for a while, Lovia looked at Colin Iliad and nodded slightly, indicating that she was ready to provide any help.
Without any hesitation, Derrick Berg chose a black mushroom that was embedded with blood-red threads and marbling, standing at half his height. He tore off the mushroom that had wrapped around the skeleton, and he produced a bonfire and began roasting it.
Gradually, a fragrance that seemed to be able to drill into one's stomach emanated out. This was a smell that the residents of the City of Silver had never smelled before.
Their throats bobbed as they instinctively swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
The bonfire emitted a sizzling sound before the fragrance grew stronger.
This wasn't the usual sound. It was as if it could make one's soul yearn for this strange smell. It was the type that everyone was rather familiar with. It was the natural desire for Black-Faced Grass food after returning to the City of Silver, having not eaten them for a long time.
As the sizzling sounds grew louder and frequent, they felt as though a hand had reached out from their stomachs, eager to grab the food back.
Unknowingly, the other City of Silver residents who had been doing something else in the spire had followed the fragrance and gathered at the door.
It took Derrick a great deal of effort to control himself from tasting the mushroom midway. He waited until it was completely charred yellow on the outside before he took it back and blew at it.
At that moment, everyone's eyes were on him, including Colin Iliad and Shepherd Lovia.
With his faith in Mr. World and Mr. Fool, Derrick didn't speak. He lowered his head and bit the mushroom.
"Ssss..." He let out a sound of being scalded before chewing and gulping it down.
After nearly half of the mushrooms were gone, Derrick raised his head, his face slightly red. His mouth was glistening with oil as he mumbled, "It's such a weird... taste... I can't help it... I can't stop..."
Colin Iliad sized up Derrick for a few seconds before turning his head to look at Shepherd Lovia.
Lovia slowly shook her head and said, "No problem."
The surrounding people of the City of Silver immediately let out cheers as they rushed forward and surrounded Derrick. They either wanted to share a piece or ask him what to do with the other mushrooms.
When Colin saw this, his expression gradually relaxed. He slowly closed his eyes and lifted his chin.
He took a deep breath of the fragrance that had filled the room.
The City of Silver held a mushroom ritual? Isn't this a little strange... Also, what's a Stone of Life? Yes, the people from the Church of Earth Mother definitely know, and Frank is no exception... Above the gray fog, as Klein listened to Little Sun's latest report, he opened the parchment that he had received but hadn't had the chance to read in detail.
The reason why he had rushed back to the real world after the sacrificial and bestowment ceremony was because the serialized horror stories of Backlund's hospitals in several newspapers had reached its climax. Hence, he received a lot of feedback over the past few days. He was at the critical moment of having his Bizarro Sorcerer potion digested.
And now, he had already completed this step.
He was already prepared to advance to Scholar of Yore.
