Chapter 7 The code name

"You can call me the Fool," the short answer quickly disappeared into the grand temple and the mist, but in Audrey and Alger's hearts, the voice echoed for a long time, stirring up ripples one after another. It was unexpected, but they felt that this was the perfect title that embodied the mysterious, powerful, and eerie image! After a few seconds of silence, Audrey stood up, lifted her skirt, bent her knees, and bowed to Zhou Mingrui, "Respected Mr. Fool, may I humbly request that you be the witness of our transaction?"

"It's a small matter." Zhou Mingrui's thoughts turned quickly, answering in a manner befitting his identity.

"It is our honor, Mr. Fool." Alger also stood up, touching his chest with his right hand and bowing.

Zhou Mingrui lightly pressed his right hand and smiled, "Please continue."

Alger nodded, sat back down, and looked at Audrey, "If you can get the blood of the ghost shark, find someone to send it to the 'Warriors and Seas' bar on Peliz Port's Pelican Street and tell the owner Williams that this is what the 'Captain' wants."

"After I confirm it, should I send the potion formula to the address you give me, or should I tell you directly here?" Audrey thought for a while, smiled and said, "I choose the more confidential way, right here, although it tests my memory."

Since Mr. Fool agreed to witness the transaction, it meant that there would be similar "gatherings" in the future. Thinking of this, she suddenly turned her head, looked at Zhou Mingrui with shining eyes, and proposed with interest, "Mr. Fool, do you mind having more 'attempts' like this now?"

Alger listened calmly and was also moved, and quickly agreed, "Mr. Fool, don't you think this kind of 'gathering' is very interesting? Although your power surpasses our imagination, there are always areas in the world that you are not familiar with or good at. The lady opposite is obviously from a noble background, and I also have my own experiences, insights, channels, and resources. Perhaps she and I can help you complete some insignificant things that are inconvenient for you to do in the future." In his opinion, since he was pulled into this place without any defense or resistance, it meant that the initiative was in the hands of the mysterious Mr. Fool. Refusing to participate in the "gathering" and withdrawing from it would not necessarily be successful. Therefore, it was better to dig deeper into the benefits of this encounter and use the gains to make up for the passive and unfavorable situation. The three parties at the long table had different backgrounds, resources, sources of information, and understanding of mysterious fields. If they could communicate with each other and cooperate within limits, it would produce wonderful effects that could not be estimated or measured! For example, the resource exchange that was just agreed upon, or if he wanted to kill someone, he could completely ask a "gathering member" who had no connection with him in appearance or reality to help, which would perfectly mislead the situation in another direction. "Miss Noble... is my performance and accent so obvious?" Audrey's mouth was half open, and she was stunned for a moment, but she quickly regained her senses and nodded without hesitation, "Mr. Fool, I think this is a very good proposal. As long as the 'gathering' becomes regular, if there are things that you are not convenient to handle, you can completely hand them over to us, of course, within our ability." Since just now, Zhou Mingrui had been weighing the pros and cons. More "gatherings" could indeed allow him to gain more extraordinary mysteries and knowledge of mysticism, which would help him travel back in time in the future. For example, the potion formula that should appear at the next "gathering" could also obtain information for his current reality and provide some help. However, the more "gatherings" there were, the easier it was to expose one's true self! Indeed, in any world, there is nothing that exists only for the better... Zhou Mingrui once again extended his right hand and lightly tapped the edge of the long table with his finger. Considering that the gathering and dispersal of the "gatherings" were under his control, even if any problems were exposed, they were within a controllable range. The benefits clearly outweighed the drawbacks, and Zhou Mingrui quickly made a decision. His tapping stopped, and he smiled at the four expectant and nervous gazes. "I am a person who likes to exchange equivalents." "I won't let you help me unconditionally." "Every Monday at 3 pm, try to be alone. After I try a few more times and figure out some things, maybe you can take a leave of absence in advance and not worry about being in an inappropriate situation." This was even if he agreed to Alger and Audrey's proposal. Audrey had just turned 17 and had always been well-protected. She had a very girlish personality. When she heard Mr. Fool's answer, she couldn't help but clench her fists and lightly sway them in front of her chest. "Shouldn't we also give ourselves a nickname? After all, we can't communicate with our real names." Without waiting for Alger to speak, she brightened up and said excitedly. Although her true situation may not be hidden from Mr. Fool, the guy across from her was also dangerous. She couldn't let him know who she really was! "Good idea." Zhou Mingrui replied briefly and easily. Audrey immediately started brainstorming, thinking as she spoke, "You are Mr. Fool, from the Tarot, so as a regular, long-term, and secret 'gathering', the nickname should be as consistent as possible. Hmm, I'll pick one from the Tarot too." Her tone gradually became cheerful: "I've decided, my title is 'Justice'!" This is one of the twenty-two major arcana cards in the Tarot deck. "And what about you, sir?" Audrey smiled at her "companion" across from her. Alger furrowed his brow slightly, then relaxed and said, "The Hanged Man." This is another major arcana card. "Okay, then we can consider ourselves founding members of the Tarot Society!" Audrey exclaimed happily, then looked a bit timidly at Zhou Mingrui, who was shrouded in gray-white mist. "Is that okay, Mr. Fool?" Zhou Mingrui chuckled and shook his head, "This is a small matter, you can decide for yourselves." "Thank you!" Audrey was clearly very excited. Then she looked at Alger again and said, "Mr. Hanged Man, can you repeat the address you just gave? I'm afraid my memory isn't deep enough." "No problem." Alger was quite satisfied with Audrey's seriousness and repeated the address. After silently reciting it three times, Audrey eagerly said, "I heard that the Tarot deck was just a game invented by Emperor Roselle and doesn't actually have divinatory functions?" "No, often divination comes from within oneself. Everyone has spirituality and can sense the spirit world, and can sense information related to themselves at a higher level. It's just that ordinary people can't perceive this, let alone interpret the 'hints' they receive. When they use divination tools, these messages are presented through the tools. The simplest example is dreams and dream interpretation." Alger glanced at Zhou Mingrui and saw that he didn't object, so he denied Audrey's statement, "The Tarot deck is actually one of these tools. It uses more symbols and more reasonable elements to help us interpret 'hints' more conveniently and accurately." Zhou Mingrui appeared to be nonchalant, but in reality, he was listening very carefully. However, the phenomenon of his mental exhaustion had started to become severe, and his head was throbbing. "I understand," Audrey nodded in agreement, then emphasized, "That's not what I meant. I'm not questioning the tarot cards. I heard that the actual deck created by Russell the Great was another deck, a secret one that symbolized some unknown power. It had a total of twenty-two cards. After completing it, he used it as a reference to create the twenty-two major cards of the tarot deck as a game tool. Is this statement accurate?" She looked at Zhou Mingrui, as if she wanted to get an answer from the mysterious Fool. Zhou Mingrui just smiled and didn't speak, turning his gaze to the "Hanged Man," with a look that seemed to be testing her. Alger instinctively straightened his back and said in a deep voice, "Yes, it is said that Russell the Great had seen the Blasphemy Slate, and that deck of cards concealed the secrets of the twenty-two paths of the gods." "The twenty-two paths of the gods..." Audrey repeated in a tone full of longing. At this point, Zhou Mingrui's headache intensified, and he felt the invisible connection between himself and the deep red star and the gray-white mist begin to waver. "Well, let's end today's gathering here," he immediately made a decision and spoke in a low voice. "As you wish," Alger bowed. "As you wish," Audrey imitated the "Hanged Man." She had many more questions and thoughts and was completely unwilling to end the gathering. Zhou Mingrui smiled and said, "Let's look forward to the next gathering." The "star" shone again, and the deep red light shrank back like water. Audrey and Alger had just heard the words of the "Fool," and their figures became even more blurry and increasingly unreal. In less than a second, the "projection" shattered and silence returned above the mist. Zhou Mingrui felt himself rapidly becoming heavier, and everything around him seemed to disappear. Then, darkness gave way to bright sunlight. He was still in his apartment, standing in the center of the room.

"It was like a dream...what was that misty world? And who or what created the change just now?" Zhou Mingrui muttered to himself, full of confusion. He walked towards his desk, his legs feeling like they were filled with lead. He picked up the pocket watch he had left outside and checked how much time had passed. "Time flows at the same rate," he guessed.

Putting down the watch, he couldn't bear the pain in his head any longer and sat down in his chair. He lowered his head and used his left thumb and index finger to massage his temples on both sides. After a while, he sighed and said in Chinese, "It seems like I won't be able to go back for a short time..."

Only the ignorant could be fearless. After witnessing such a miraculous event and learning about the extraordinary and mysterious world, Zhou Mingrui dared not rashly attempt the "transformation ritual" in the Gufusak language or the Runes language. Who knows what other situations might arise, perhaps even more bizarre and terrifying, to the point where death would be preferable to life!

"At least I need to have a deep understanding of mysticism before attempting it," Zhou Mingrui thought helplessly. Fortunately, the so-called "gathering" could provide him with some help. After a moment of silence, he spoke to himself with a mix of frustration, disappointment, pain, and melancholy, "From now on, I am Klein..."

Klein tried to redirect his thoughts to methods and plans to alleviate his negative emotions. Perhaps next week we may be able to eavesdrop on the recipe for this "audience" potion... The gathering just now was truly magical. People from different parts of the world were brought together as if they were just a stone's throw away, communicating face-to-face and sharing their thoughts. Hmm, this sounds familiar... After a few seconds of confusion, Klein suddenly burst out laughing, pressing his temples with his hand and muttering to himself, "Is this some kind of online dating platform?"