After staring at the deck below, Cattleya left the captain's cabin and walked to the cabin's entrance. She waited until Frank Lee carried a bucket of alcohol-free beer over.
"Captain, do you want a cup?" Frank raised the large bucket of beer with one hand.
Cattleya shook her head firmly and asked in a seemingly casual manner, "Is this the will of the benevolent mother?"
"No," Frank said rather seriously. "I just feel that drinking liquor that has been altered by a modified sedative isn't good for the body. I hope that they'll be able to accept this drink that has no alcohol inside, other than the smell of alcohol. Of course, this is only a preliminary result and it doesn't involve liquor. After all, it can't use distillation to enhance its taste."
Cattleya was momentarily at a loss for words as she nudged the heavy glasses on her nose bridge. After two seconds of silence, she said, "Do you hear the benevolent mother's voice or divine epiphanies?"
"No." Frank didn't think much of it as he shook his head.
Phew... Cattleya secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
At that moment, Frank casually added, "The benevolent mother's will is in the ears of the wheat, in the milk of cows, in the growth of mushrooms, and in every corner of nature. One can feel it without the need to experience the divine epiphany."
Cattleya's gaze immediately shot towards Frank's eyes. She didn't find any signs of madness, only pureness.
Without another word, she nodded slightly and walked forward. She crossed Frank Lee and arrived on the deck.
After taking in the sea's vista for a few minutes, Cattleya returned to the captain's cabin. She unfolded a letter and wrote:
"I wonder what's your take regarding Frank's actions? He claims that he doesn't obtain any divine epiphanies, and believes that the benevolent mother's will is hidden in every nook and cranny of nature."
This was a letter to Gehrman Sparrow. Cattleya believed that just by adding such a question, he would be able to understand what she was implying.
After folding the letter, she took out a gold coin and began to summon the terrifying messenger.
...
Ma'am Hermit wrote me a letter immediately after the Tarot Gathering ended... It shouldn't be related to the Hidden Sage. It can't be that fast... Klein was on a cruise ship, traveling on the Tussock River.
Wearing a black robe, he took the letter from Miss Messenger's mouth and opened it. He finished reading all the content with a glance.
This... Klein frowned slightly.
Perhaps it was because Frank had shown enough danger and "madness" in his usual behavior that he had actually neglected the possibility of this Druid being affected by the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
Frank had once been placed on trial by the Church of Earth Mother for a forbidden experiment, and then he was placed on a wanted list... If Earth Mother hadn't been corrupted, and the Church of Earth's operations were rather normal, then it means that they believe that Frank is problematic... However, if there's concrete evidence, Frank, who went to the court, probably wouldn't have lived... Klein's mind raced as he attempted to find clues based on his understanding of Frank.
There's no problem with the relevant actions. The prayer posture and his usual prayer gestures are different. It's just like how when the Beyonders of the Church of Evernight pray, they won't draw four stars on their chests at times. At most, they'll just go through the final motions...
Apart from this small problem, there's something wrong with Frank in every aspect. He's like a child raised by the Mother Goddess of Depravity... As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Klein had two contradictory guesses.
Either Frank's corruption was very hidden, making it impossible for the Church of Earth Mother's tribunal to be certain, or he wasn't affected by the Mother Goddess of Depravity at all. It was purely because he had a mental problem that made him look like a Blessed of an evil god.
Regardless of which guess it was, Klein believed that the subsequent development wouldn't be good.
He remembered very clearly that Frank's mushroom experiment had a breakthrough because he had been given an assistant who believed in the Primordial Moon. And the Primordial Moon was one of the manifestations of the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
That also meant that from that moment forth, regardless of whether Frank had any problems in the past, he could very well have entered the eyes of the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
This wasn't a good thing.
Of course, I can't eliminate the possibility that Frank is excessively crazy, causing the Mother Goddess of Depravity to just look away... Klein mumbled in amusement, hoping to make the best out of it.
This was nearly impossible. The horror and strength of a foreign god wasn't something a demigod could understand.
Klein even suspected that if it wasn't for the overly intense response that would destroy the anchors of the deities, allowing "Them" to attack each other in a frenzy, resulting in the Beyonder characteristics to gather and awaken the Oldest One, the Outer Deities might've already destroyed the sun and destroyed the ecosystem of the world. They weren't able to do anything to the Oldest One's barrier, but they were free to do anything to the star outside the barrier.
Sometimes, Klein wondered if the astronomically observed sun was real or not. Perhaps it was just the Eternal Blazing Sun that hung "Himself" there.
So far, there shouldn't be any major problems with the mushrooms that Frank invented. I've already dealt with them above the gray fog... Furthermore, the residents of the City of Silver and Moon City didn't show any abnormalities. Yes, after they left the Forsaken Land of the Gods, they abandoned farming mushrooms because they lacked monster corpses and had sufficient food... The more Klein thought about it, the more fearful he felt towards it.
If it wasn't for the fact that the Mother Goddess of Depravity's powers that could penetrate the original barrier was still extremely limited, Klein suspected that the Cards of Blasphemy and mushrooms would've left him corrupted. Sefirah Castle would have unknowingly changed owners.
These were things that had been placed above the gray fog for a long time and didn't undergo any special sealing.
Compared to the flamboyant Mother Tree of Desire, the usually low-key Mother Goddess of Depravity was far more terrifying!
Mr. Door and the Emperor were silently corrupted by "Her."
As expected of an existence that stands atop the Outer Deities despite losing two Beyonder pathways and a sefirah... Klein sighed inwardly. He took out a pen and paper and prepared to write a reply to Cattleya.
At that moment, he realized that Miss Messenger had been waiting by his side the entire time without returning to the spirit world. The eight eyes of the four heads stared at him unblinkingly.
"What do you think of Frank?" Klein hesitated before asking, "I mean, other than his nickname."
The four heads in Reinette Tinekerr's hand spoke one after another:
"He only..." "Appears like..." "An adopted son of..." "An Outer Deity..."
In other words, Frank wasn't affected by the Mother Goddess of Depravity previously. He was simply crazy... Klein heaved a long sigh of relief.
He then asked, "What about now?"
As Frank Lee summoned Reinette Tinekerr every time he wrote a letter to Gehrman Sparrow, Klein believed that Miss Messenger, who had a very high status, had a relatively clear and accurate grasp of the state of the Mushroom King.
"I..." "Don't..." "Know..." "Either..." Reinette Tinekerr's four heads answered one after another.
Following that, "She" added, "His body..." "Temporarily..." "Hasn't been..." "Corrupted..."
Does that mean that you can't tell if his psyche is affected? That's right, other than his low level, Frank's usual actions resemble more of an evil god than me... Klein lampooned as he took out a gold coin and flicked it.
With this medium, he quickly entered a dream divination state.
At the same time, he was prepared to activate Sefirah Castle to cut off the Outer Deities from watching.
Scenes flashed past as Klein saw several futures.
Yes, the greatest threat right now is that Primordial Moon believer. I have to separate him from Frank, or things will become extremely troublesome and dangerous... If Frank doesn't come into contact with anything related to the Mother Goddess of Depravity in the future and doesn't advance to a demigod, there shouldn't be any problems... If only one of these two conditions is satisfied, the chance of an accident happening will increase greatly. If both are satisfied at the same time, I can't see the developments at all... Klein snapped awake as he interpreted the results of the divination.
Perhaps because Frank's level was too low, and he wasn't too affected by it, Klein's divination happened smoothly without encountering any danger.
Phew... He silently exhaled and caught the gold coin.
Then, he realized that Miss Messenger's eight red eyes were focused on the gold coin in his palm.
Klein twitched his eyebrows, expressing his doubts.
"It..." "Has..." Sefirah Castle's..." "Aura..." Reinette Tinekerr's four blonde, red-eyed heads shook up and down.
This is one of the five gold coins I often use for divination. It has already been tainted by the aura of Sefirah Castle? This way, it can be considered a mystical item to a certain extent. However, the effect will be drained over time... Klein carefully looked at the gold coin in his hand and made a rough judgment based on his spiritual intuition.
This gold coin could increase the accuracy of divination and enhance a user's ability to resist any interference.
To Klein, this was a pleasant surprise. He decided to use the actual gold coin rather than its historical projection.
Retrieving the gold coin, Klein wrote a reply to Ma'am Hermit and handed it to her through Reinette Tinekerr.
...
After giving Gehrman Sparrow's messenger another gold coin, Cattleya unfolded the letter and quickly scanned it.
After reading it, she felt her shoulders weigh down a little.
Without any delay, Cattleya took out another piece of paper and wrote:
"Your Majesty,
"I dreamed of you finding that primitive island and successfully returning...
"The situation of that descendant of the Emperor is getting worse. If he continues staying on the Future, I suspect he'll go crazy. If you don't mind, I want to send him over to you."
"What we need to take note of is that, although he claims to no longer believe in the Primordial Moon, no one has ever confirmed that.
"...
"My greatest worry now is that it's difficult to obtain the main ingredient of a Clairvoyant... If you have returned, I wish to find a time to return the Magic Wishing Lamp to you..."
