Chapter 562: Klein: "Mr. Hastur, You Can't Fool Me"

Chapter 562: Klein: "Mr. Hastur, You Can't Fool Me"

"This is quite an interesting conversation." Sharon's face rarely showed a slight smile, indicating that she found the previous conversation genuinely amusing.

"This is very normal; it's a conversation between friends," Hastur explained with a serious expression.

"I don't believe you."

"Sharon, you're becoming more mischievous."

Hastur walked over to Sharon, gently playing with her small hand. For the past three days, due to Klein's presence in the castle, he hadn't had the time to get close to Sharon.

Sharon's beautiful eyes moved slightly, and she softly said, "Isn't it good?"

"..." Hastur was momentarily stunned, then smiled and said, "Of course, it's good. This is exactly what I hoped for."

"Oh, did you not like the old me?"

"Sharon, you need to restrain yourself." Hastur added, "Hearing such words from you makes me very happy."

Sharon just gave him a calm look and said nothing more.

"Aren't you curious about my relationship with Mr. Dawn Downstair?" Hastur held Sharon's small hand and walked towards the castle. "I'll explain it to you slowly on the way."

...

"Mr. Hastur, you can't fool me. You're definitely a lucky one like me."

In the carriage, Klein was in a fairly good mood.

Although he hadn't directly heard Hastur admit that he was from Earth and a transmigrator like Klein, Klein was already convinced of his guess. Hastur's lack of obvious abnormality was, in itself, an abnormality.

Whether it was the court's jade liquor, the odd-even rule, or the hexagram magic circle, Hastur showed a shocked expression when faced with these tests, but his curiosity about these novel things was very low.

If he were a normal extraordinary person, he would naturally have a strong desire for knowledge when encountering such novel extraordinary knowledge. This kind of curiosity didn't appear in Hastur, especially regarding the hexagram magic circle.

Hastur didn't even want to try it once, which meant he had already seen through that the hexagram magic circle wasn't a time-traveling magic circle. Knowing this, he naturally wouldn't want to try to understand it.

Moreover, as a worshipper of Emperor Roselle's knowledge, Hastur wasn't surprised or delighted when Klein handed him Roselle's diary. He only asked a shallow question about why Klein called Roselle's notes a diary.

What convinced Klein the most that Hastur was a transmigrator was the momentary shock and hesitation Hastur showed when he suddenly heard Klein's Mandarin before parting.

Although these emotional changes were fleeting, Klein caught them all.

Shock was understandable, but why hesitate? What was Hastur hesitating about? It felt like he was about to blurt something out but held back at the last moment.

This was Klein's trump card, left for the final moment to catch Hastur off guard.

The result was satisfying; Klein had gotten the answer he wanted.

As for why Hastur didn't want to admit his identity as a transmigrator, there were too many possible reasons: natural caution, a desire for a peaceful life, distrust of Klein... too many possibilities.

"Finally, one major concern is resolved. It's time to leave Southwell County and continue my role as a trickster."

Klein lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, admiring the slowly retreating natural scenery.

"The sea might be the best place for me right now."

Klein had made up his mind. As Mr. Hanged Man had guessed, the sea was about to undergo dramatic changes, making it a suitable place for Klein to train. Moreover, he wanted to help Little Sun and the City of Silver escape the forsaken land.

The key to all this lay in the depths of the sea.

When Klein returned to Puning Port, Mr. Hanged Man had already hidden his tracks. Klein went to the dock to take a ship to sea, but few ships were willing to sail at this time.

After inquiring, he learned that pirate activities had become increasingly rampant. To retaliate against the Church of the Storm, they often gathered to attack storm churches in various ports.

Any port with a storm church had been attacked without exception.

Even more puzzling was that the Church of the Storm, which usually couldn't tolerate pirate arrogance, hadn't taken significant action this time.

Normally, the Church of the Storm would coordinate with various naval forces to eliminate any pirates daring to challenge them.

Klein speculated that the Church of the Storm was short-handed and that their communication channels might have been intercepted.

He waited at the dock for two days before setting sail with a few merchant ships.

On the third day at sea, they encountered pirates nearby. Fortunately, it was a small pirate group that didn't dare to attack.

On the fifth day, the merchant ship reached Midway Island, where Klein disembarked. He planned to head to the Rhosid Archipelago, the place with the most up-to-date information on the sea.

Additionally, to promote the economic development of the Star Sea Kingdom, they had dispatched some ships to attract investors from various countries.

Without a thriving commerce, relying solely on pirate plundering couldn't sustain the vast machinery of the Star Sea Kingdom.

Klein boarded a Star Sea Kingdom ship on Midway Island and took half a month to reach the Rhosid Archipelago.

Before even landing, he saw rows of majestic warships docked at the Rhosid Archipelago's port.

This looked like preparation for war.

After landing, Klein inquired about the current situation at sea.

A newly emerged pirate king had gathered a large group of pirates and, under the pretext of defending pirate freedom, had formally declared war on the Church of the Storm five days ago.

The southern continent had sent twenty medium-sized warships and three heavy warships to support the Star Sea Kingdom.

Currently, the war had gradually spread to the waters near Passu Island.

Once Passu Island was conquered, only the Storm Abyss, the Church of the Storm's headquarters, would remain.

This development surprised Klein.

Despite controlling the sea for so many years, the Church of the Storm now seemed weak, unable to effectively counterattack and being pushed to their doorstep by pirates.

This didn't match the Church of the Storm's strength.

After deep contemplation, Klein concluded that the Church of the Storm had more enemies than just the pirate king and the Star Sea Kingdom. There were more terrifying enemies hidden in the shadows.

These enemies had crippled the Church of the Storm's key nodes at sea, preventing them from effectively counterattacking.

The tide of the times?

The Twilight Hermit Order.

During his three days of exchanging extraordinary knowledge with Hastur, Hastur had inadvertently revealed that Adam was about to become a god.

After finishing a meal, Klein went to a secluded spot and began operating on the Rhosid Archipelago under the identity of Gehrman Sparrow.

His reputation among pirates was decent, and his name wasn't on the recently exposed list, making him a certified bounty pirate, which actually increased his notoriety.

...

At the Storm Abyss, the Church of the Storm's cathedral was holding a long-unheld cardinal meeting.

This meeting was exclusive to the Church of the Storm's cardinals, the highest decision-making body of the church.

Sitting at the head, with eyes closed and appearing only in his early forties, was the Pope of the Church of the Storm, Garde II, a favored one of the Lord of Storms.

Time had not left many marks on his face but had instead engraved the resilience of his years. He had presided over the cardinal meeting for nearly a century.

"A bunch of pirates dare to flaunt their power at us; this is a disgrace to all storm believers!"

"Exterminate these reckless pirates and cleanse their sins with a storm baptism!"

"We shouldn't have allowed them to grow in the first place. Now they turn back to bite their master, it's simply laughable!"

"The so-called four kings and seven pirate generals are just a bunch of jumping grasshoppers that can be crushed at any time!"

"And that Star Sea Kingdom, let's wipe it off the sea as well!"

...

The cardinals at the meeting displayed the strong confidence of storm believers, dismissing the pirates' momentum and the chaotic situation at sea.

Pope Garde II listened to the noisy, disdainful, and excited discussions around him without lifting an eyelid.

The Church of the Storm's doctrine did not advocate combat or war but emphasized treating enemies with storm-like severity, venting any anger on the spot.

Thus, noisy arguments, cursing, and even physical altercations were common at cardinal meetings.