Wednesday 5 January, 9 a.m.

With a gray scarf around his neck, Crane arrived at Rose Wharf with a suitcase and a cane.

Moored there, the White Onyx is unusually large for humans, and is said to be able to carry hundreds of passengers. It has a strong character of this era, with chimneys and sails standing side by side, and 12 guns and corresponding gun emplacements on each side of the ship, which is necessary to guard against pirates and their peers.

Under the arrangement of Captain Ellankag, the selected able-bodied sailors and crew lined up at the gangway, some even deliberately revealing legal revolvers, rifles, and sabers. This gave the guests who boarded the ship a lot of security and no longer feared the next nine-day journey.

Crane stood below, glanced up, and walked up the suspension ladder in the undulating blue waters.

No sooner had he stepped onto the deck, and before he could enter the cabin, Klein saw out of the corner of his eye the lady standing on the deck, independent of the crowd.

She had waist-length, naturally draped chestnut hair, and wore an olive-green dress and an old-fashioned black floppy hat that hung down to cover her face. Although I can't see the face clearly, I can tell from the lady's beautiful body that this is definitely an outstanding beauty.

It's just that I don't know if it's an illusion, Klein always feels as if she's intentionally observing herself.

The thought came to his mind, and the next second Crane saw the other party leave the deck and enter the cabin.

"I guess I'm thinking too much."

Crane shook his head, not too entangled.

He probably read too much of Russell's diary to make him have such an unbounded thought.

On the other side, a lady with waist-length maroon hair had entered the cabin, into the top first class, room 310.

The first class cabin is the best on board, with a living room of about 30 square meters, connecting a master bedroom and three servants' rooms, with a separate powder room, a standard wardrobe and a desk made of mahogany.

The lady sat down on the sofa in the living room, allowing a noticeable dent in the soft sofa cushions.

On the woman's shoulder, a small blue doll wearing a peaked hat flew out and sat down on the edge of the coffee table.

Bernadette looked at the petite doll in front of her and asked softly:

"Why are you paying attention to him?"

The petite puppet tilted her head, revealing her eyes under the peaked hat, and said calmly:

"He has the blessing of the Golden Tree in him, but he is not a Fader, and this is not a borderland."

Bernadette didn't know what a fader was, nor did she know the borderlands, but she still understood, and said softly:

"His name is Gelman Sparrow, but this is a false identity, does he have anything to do with the king?"

The two arms of the petite puppet were folded together with their fingertips, and he said calmly:

"The king trusts him."

"Is there anything I need to do?"

"Just observe."

Bernadette bowed slightly, they had not planned to sail on this ship.

It was only because I happened to meet that Gelman Sparrow on the way that I bought this ticket from a generous lady. As for Gelman Sparrow's true identity, this person is not difficult to find. After all, this identity was forged by Bernadette.

——

Beckland, North District.

Ember rode in a horse-drawn carriage to Pesfield Street in the North End.

There is a pure black church with a bell tower on each side, presenting a symmetrical beauty, which is the headquarters of the Church of the Goddess of the Night, the Church of St. Samuel, the headquarters of the diocese of Beckland.

The embers did not teleport, and strode into the church, through the quiet corridors, and in the light of the stained-glass sunlight from above, which was rare in winter, to the Great Prayer Hall. It's very dark, and it makes you feel calm. Believers sit in rows of black backrested chairs and pray intently to the goddess with their eyes closed.

As the minutes ticked by, the believers who had listened to the sermon slowly got up, walked to the altar, bowed to the dark-haired bishop, and then went to the nearby offering box to throw in the prepared cash.

It's not compulsive, but it's routine. And believers are also happy to donate to the church, which will make them feel religious. However, the amount of donations varied from class to class, with the commoners taking about a few pennies at a time, the middle class three to five sules, and the rich and nobles in gold pounds.

This is not only based on family conditions, but also a symbol of class and status. So the middle class and the rich are usually happy to donate more money to show that they are in a different class from the common people.

But Ember is not a believer in the goddess and does not intend to donate money.

So he just sat there and watched quietly as the faithful lined up to donate money and then left the church.

As time passed, even the bishop with short black hair had left, and only Ember was left in the church.

Soon, however, another figure came out of the door at the back of the large prayer hall.

It was an old man, dressed in a black and red clergyman's robe, with a beardless face and deep eyes, who was none other than Archbishop St. Anthony.

St. Anthony walked over to the seat in the same row as Ember and sat down next to him, smiling as if he were talking to a friend:

"Your Excellency, you seem to need help?"

Archbishop St. Anthony could feel the confusion in the embers, a loss of direction, a loss of motivation. He has seen many such people, most of whom have made their lives messed up because of changes in their families and careers. Not knowing what to do, they came to church in a daze to seek confession and guidance.

Of course, this is just a metaphor.

St. Anthony could clearly sense that Ember was different from the others, he was a little confused, but he didn't lose his bearings. This is undoubtedly a bit contradictory, and it also makes St. Anthony a little surprised and puzzled, not knowing what the dependents want and what they are looking for.

Ember stared at the altar, the bright sunlight piercing the stained glass casting pure, faint highlights on it, connecting with the near-night surroundings, intertwined light and dark, incarnating into a sublime starry sky.

He suddenly asked:

"Archbishop Anthony, can the painting world of the Church be accessible to outsiders?"

"Absolutely."

Archbishop St. Anthony smiled and nodded, "As I said a long time ago, you can enter the world of painting in the church at any time. No additional application is required, and I will explain the situation to the church in advance. ”

"Nope."

Ember shook his head lightly and said slowly, "I mean the painting world of other churches. ”

Archbishop St. Anthony was stunned for a moment, and immediately realized that Ember still didn't want to enter the world of paintings that the Church kept right now.

In addition to the Church, there are a total of five painting worlds kept by other forces, which belong to the three Orthodox Churches of God, namely the Church of Mother Earth, the Church of Steam and Machinery, and the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, as well as the two secret organizations of the Aurora Society and the Elemental Dawn.

St. Anthony was silent, a little puzzled in his heart, but he quickly replied and said slowly:

"I'll try to contact other churches, but if you want to enter the world of painting that other forces hold, I suggest starting with the Elemental Dawn."

"Elemental Dawn?"

Ember withdrew his gaze from the altar and wondered, "Why? ”

Among the forces that own the world of painting, Elemental Dawn is undoubtedly the weakest, and even in the hidden organization, Elemental Dawn's strength is the last to the bottom.

After all, the original purpose of this organization was to fight the Morse Ascetics. It has mastered the Hermit Path and the Wheel of Fortune Path, blending elements from various schools of occultism, with its own set of theories, and its members are skilled in spell-casting and mastering many ancient sorcery - but they don't have a god of their own.

This also means that the members of this organization will not and cannot be blessed by the gods, and it will be quite difficult to develop members.

But because of this, this organization is exceptionally low-key compared to covert organizations such as the Aurora Society. Because they don't have a god to believe in, they don't have much need to spread their faith and develop their followers, and they have little contact with other organizations, which has led to many people never even hearing of the name 'Elemental Dawn'.

But Ember wants to enter the world of painting, not rob it, and Ember doesn't even know who and where this organization is, so he can't contact them, and he can't enter the world of painting that they have.

In comparison, even the Aurora Society is better than the painting world of the Dawn of the Elements.

However, he had already been to the painting world of the Aurora Society once, so the other three righteous churches should be his first choice.

Archbishop St. Anthony explained with a smile:

"Your Excellency, you should remember Bernadette Gustav, who is the founder of the Dawn of the Elements."

A hint of clarity flashed in Ember's eyes.

Since Bernadette is the founder of Elemental Dawn, she must have a clear idea of the location of the pictorial world that Elemental Dawn has mastered. Asking her for help is undoubtedly the quickest, but unfortunately not. Because in the Beckland smog incident, she has already repaid the favor, and she owes nothing to Ember.

Ember pondered for two seconds, then slowly spoke:

"Let's start with the Orthodox Church."

"Yes."

Archbishop St. Anthony nodded slightly, did not make any suggestions for Ember's decision, and smiled, "I will contact the heads of other churches, and I also ask Your Excellency to wait patiently for a while, and I will inform you as soon as there is a result." ”

Although the world of painting is one of the foundations of the Orthodoshit Church, it is usually kept in the sanctuaries of the major Orthodoshit churches, but it is not completely inaccessible to outsiders. In particular, it is not difficult for the Night Church, which is also a righteous God church, to negotiate.

Of course, even the Orthodox Church has to look at people—

For example, if the painting world kept by the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom were to negotiate with the people of the Church of the Eternal Sun and the Church of the Storm, they would definitely be driven out directly by the people of the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.

After all, these three major churches have always been in a difficult situation, and they may fight directly just by meeting. If it weren't for that, the three churches wouldn't belong to three different countries and wouldn't be in touch with each other.

"Okay."

Ember slowly stood up, reached out to Archbishop Anthony, and whispered, "Goodbye, Archbishop Anthony." ”

Archbishop St. Anthony smiled similarly and held out his hand to shake him.

"Goodbye."

——

Beckland Queens, in a hidden house.

In the basement, which is as large as a temple, several candles flicker a yellowish flame that illuminates the altar, chairs, round tables, and a statue nearly 3 meters in length that are placed around it. It was a man whose legs were chained and hung upside down. The upside-down hanger had the characteristic vertical eyes of a giant, and his arms were stretched out in a cross.

Mr. A, dressed in a hooded black robe, knelt in front of the statue, hiding in the darkness and whispering something reverently.

At the edge of the light, in an extremely dark place, a figure seemed to be nothing, sometimes shaking, sometimes stretching, a thin layer, no thickness, like a shadow that came to life.

"The Dark Sage."

Mr. A sensed the arrival and bowed his head respectfully.

The Dark Sage looked down at Mr. A, who was kneeling in front of the statue, and said in a low voice:

"You're doing a great job."

Mr. A's expression suddenly became fanatical, and his hands were raised high:

"Praise be to my lord!"

The Dark Sage silently watched as Mr. A finished his prayer, and then asked:

"Has anything happened lately?"

"Nope."

Mr. A recalled it carefully, shook his head, and said, "Since George III was assassinated and the royal family cut off contact with us, they have stopped communicating with us. I've sneaked into the ruins, but I didn't find anything, and it seemed to disappear into thin air, leaving no trace. ”

"In addition, the Sage of Secrets has sent messages on many occasions to hold Mr. X accountable for his death."

The expression of the Dark Sage remained unchanged, and he said indifferently:

"Don't worry about him, they crossed the line on their own, and even if they die, they can't blame us. If he comes to accountability again, just let him come to me, and I will explain it to him personally. In addition, don't cut off the contact over there, that person may be able to use us next time. ”

After a pause, he said slowly, "This is the Lord's instructions. ”

Although the Secret Sage and the Dark Sage are both demigods of the Aurora Society, and there is no friction between the two sides, on the contrary, there have been several times when both sides are quite satisfied with the cooperation, but when it comes to the 'Lord', no matter who has to stand aside.

Mr. X himself came to Beckland without permission and crossed the line to hunt down members of the Abrahamic family, which was a violation of the rules.

What's more, he's still involved over there, and even if he dies, he will die in vain-

Even if he didn't die, the Dark Sage would kill him himself, so as not to delay the Lord's plan because of him.

After a moment's thought, the Dark Sage suddenly took out a picture frame covered with a black cloth from the shadows, handed it to Mr. A, and commanded:

"This is the new entrance, if you come to contact again, you can take the initiative to invite him into it, mainly to see him."

"Understood."

Mr. A bowed his head respectfully and had no objection to this.

(End of chapter)