Chapter 318: Chapter 275: The First Customer Arrives (4000 Words)_2
"I don’t mind if you take a few more bites," Byron said. "But you made it back this time unscathed because of good luck. Who can guarantee you’ll always be this fortunate? Never go back there again. If there’s anything valuable or any other kind of intelligence, we can look for it when we have a chance to explore the New Continent. I’ll accompany you then."
Violet gently touched the bite mark, her heart aching uncontrollably. She nodded her head without hesitation, agreeing decisively. "I’ll listen to you."
Her greatest strength was that she was open to advice (as mentioned in Chapter 78). She never played the game of "turn a deaf ear and keep causing trouble."
Seeing her agreement, Byron’s tone finally relaxed. "The reason you automatically entered that dream city after falling asleep is probably due to the side effect of the bloodline ascension ritual ’Deep Sea Tracing.’ As it involves tracing your origin, it’s definitely related to the source of your blood. We didn’t anticipate this beforehand, but what’s done is done. We should strengthen your Anchoring a bit more. Choose one from what’s left here."
He snapped his fingers. A golden light fell, manifesting into a splendid Gold Law Net, with eight shiny marks bobbing at its core. These were the remaining eight positions of The King’s Right Hand.
The King’s Right Hand originally consisted of: one King, one Queen, two War Chariots, two Bishops (or Prime Ministers), two Knights, and eight Guardians, making sixteen positions in total.
[Mithril Dragon] Catherine was the Regent King; Uncle Skeleton Knight Andrew was Prime Minister; [Guardian Knight] Bruh was one of the War Chariots; [Blood Red Whiskey] Alfred was a Knight; [Phantom Blade] Gus, [Honest Man] Eight Fingers, [Shipwright] Little Hans, and [Gunner Chief] Wayne Dote each occupied one Guardian position.
All eight were either diehard loyalists or had signed life-binding contracts, truly committed. Even his cousin Jacqueline was temporarily excluded.
If one included the yet-to-be-activated 17th position—held back for fear of Catherine’s potential wrath and commonly referred to as The Three Musketeers—there were nine positions left in total. These were also deeply bound to the [Golden Code] and the Sacred Golden Empire, representing the core of power.
With Torrent Fortress’s operations booming and the effects of economic colonization becoming increasingly evident among the fifteen million natives and hundreds of city-states, the Golden Law grew ever stronger. If "Mad Hunt" were to release news of selling these positions, offering powerful additional Anchoring, who knows how many Transcendents teetering on the edge of losing control would spend their entire fortunes for a spot.
Violet, without any pretense of formality, stretched out her slender fingers and touched each of the four Guardians, one Knight, one War Chariot, one Prime Minister, and one Queen in turn. When she touched the Queen position, she suddenly looked up at Byron with a playful smile. "Although my ’id’ and ’superego’ clearly have differing opinions and can’t seem to agree, a good girl would never ask that difficult question, ’If both your mother and I were drowning, who would you save first?’ So, following my ’ego’s’ choice, I choose this one."
She then plucked the neighboring point of light corresponding to Prime Minister and embedded it into her Spirituality, forming an anchor chain that latched onto the Golden Law.
But the words she spoke with that smile seemed to hint at something deeper, just like how she had actually mastered "Flow State" the very next day but pretended to be hopelessly clumsy, as if she couldn’t learn it at all.
"Prime Minister, huh? I understand," Byron said. He was young, but no fool.
Catching her gaze and instantly looking away, he silently withdrew the other positions of The King’s Right Hand.
She’s truly a treasure of a girl! he exclaimed internally. What’s with this sudden sense of being moved? Now, besides the already urgent ’Heist Plan,’ sister’s offshore finance, and the need to promptly plan how to efficiently ’fish’ in the Dream Realm, perhaps it’s really time for me to arrange the second bloodline ascension ritual, [Blood Feast Holy Grail], and strive to... eliminate the side effects of the tentacle habit as soon as possible. A good girl shouldn’t be kept waiting.
「A few days later.」
In a small colonial town under the control of the Rhein Alliance in the Bantaan Archipelago, the trio from the Church had been lingering for quite some time. In fact, ever since Teresa lost her arm, she had not dared to contact her companions at the Tribunal again. Compared to those combatants whose only need was to fight, how could a Clergy member who couldn’t even ensure her own ascension to Heaven properly guide her followers? If Teresa were to reveal her current situation, she might very well have to return home before even embarking on her dreamed-of missionary work.
"I absolutely will not allow this to happen," Teresa muttered. Though young and doll-like in appearance, her face was visibly withered. Clearly, the mental torture she had endured recently was far more severe than any physical pain.
After silently consuming her dinner in her room, she felt it was perhaps time to talk with her two teammates. But after putting on her cloak and searching their room to no avail, she used divination to locate them in a warehouse behind the inn. The two grown men had their heads together, busy with something.
Teresa’s sudden arrival startled them. When they turned and saw it was her, they tried to use their bodies to shield something on a small table. Yet, the sharp-eyed Nun still managed to see what it was, and her face turned pale. "Is this... my hand? What have you two been doing with my hand in secret?"
The Barnacle that had parasitized her severed hand had, against all odds, not died. Instead, it had used the hand as a base and grown into a palm-sized piece of red coral. They had been keeping it in a glass aquarium.
Now that she had found out, [Armed Priest] Brendan stepped forward, pulled her over, and introduced it to her with a smile. "Isn’t it your 23rd birthday tomorrow? Herman and I wanted to give you a gift to make you happy. I heard a legend from the West Coast about a Saint who fed his flesh to eagles. Since you always love caring for small animals and spreading His compassion, it made sense to use your hand to raise these little creatures, putting it to good use. Just apply a Holy Healing Technique every day and provide the necessary nutrients, and you can keep it alive indefinitely. How about it, isn’t it beautiful?"
Incredibly, Brendan had learned from Teresa’s own example: "Holy Healing Technique + cow = living cow + endless supply of beef."
However, he unexpectedly found that the Nun, already somber, had a face that was darkening.
The priest cautiously asked, "Don’t you like it? Oh, I know, you must be worried that the coral is still dangerous and could parasitize someone else, right? Actually, Herman has another good idea."
The Quasi-Sword Saint beside him immediately stepped forward, raising a small blackboard. This was mainly because Byron considered it too inconvenient for Herman to communicate. Although he couldn’t speak, he could use a wooden board and chalk; with his hand speed, writing wasn’t any slower than speaking.
He quickly wrote a line of text: "I heard there are some bored nobles on the Continent who like to ’play with’ all sorts of things until they develop a patina—bamboo, walnuts, beast teeth... As long as they’re well-polished, they look as fine as the highest-grade jade. If you’re worried about the risk, we can cook the hand, sterilize it with high heat, and then let you ’play with’ it at your leisure. When you finally take it to your coffin, others will see your jade-like bones and think you were a Saintess reborn. In many years, it might even be venerated as a [Sacred Relic], scaring grave robbers on the spot. Isn’t this gift brilliant?"
This was another instance of her own methods being used against her, like when she had amputated a hunting dog’s limb on Silvergold Island to make a "returning bone."
"You... you guys..." Teresa panted, "HUFF... HUFF..."
Despite her immense Talent and possessing the [Penitent’s Rope], one of the Sacred Relics, Teresa was still young and inexperienced. After being hit repeatedly by her own boomerangs, she finally felt what true heartbreak was. Unable to hold back any longer, she burst into tears with a "WAAAH!" and ran away, leaving the two bewildered men behind.
At the same time, her last bit of hesitation completely vanished.
A hand! I must get a new hand! I can’t stand living like this for another day, WAHHH...
「Half an hour later.」
Just as she sat exhausted against a tree in the woods, hugging her knees, having cried herself out, she suddenly felt a stillness around her. When she looked up again, the forest clearing had silently disappeared.
In its place was profound darkness.
An attack?
Just as she grew alert, she unexpectedly heard a young voice by her ear: "Miss Nun, welcome to Financial Street. What can I do for you?"