novelraw Chapter 267: David One
Chapter 267: David One
"That's right, Mr. Fisher, you may call me Lord Cardinal, or you may call me [David] or [David One]. I can specifically recognize your form of address, so there is no need to worry."
David One?
Why doesn't that sound like a person, but rather like the serial number of some device?
Could it be that the one conversing with me right now isn't the Lord Cardinal himself, but a machine possessing his will?
Fisher silently chewed over this address squeezed from the other party's mouth in his mind. According to the Creator's Society's classification of so-called Completion Handbook owners, the other party was highly likely the owner of the [Cardinal Completion Handbook].
He silently maxed out his vigilance; one must constantly remain vigilant when dealing with owners of Completion Handbooks, especially after the other party had already demonstrated to him the unique peculiarities belonging to Completion Handbooks.
The room at this time was full of the smell of blood. The pungent odor originated from the pieces of corpses scattered everywhere. At the edges of the corpse pieces, Fisher discovered small tentacles that had already completely lost their vitality, clearly Erwinde's handiwork. Upon closer inspection, Fisher also saw a severed arm with the tattoo of the Nazarene Overseas Clandestine Affairs Bureau lying on the floor.
They seemed to have been cut by some sharp, scalding weapon. Quite a bit of splattered blood on the walls and floor emitted a slightly foul smell as if burnt, sickening like a pot of scorched meat broth.
And the doll-like Cloud Cat-kin standing beside the room merely stared blankly at Fisher in the room, acting like completely unconscious puppets.
An offensive weapon of terrifying power, an unknown means of mind control... this seemed to be only the tip of the iceberg of the abilities of the mysterious figure named "Lord Cardinal".Fisher, having evaluated the surroundings, withdrew his gaze and looked at the Annihilation Prototype floating in mid-air before his eyes.
"So, these Cloud Cat-kin have been your people from the very beginning. You making them appear before me wasn't to contact the Iceberg Queen at all, but for me?"
That machine resembling a giant mechanical eye gently swayed its body, as if nodding in response.
"Ah, this was merely a little trick to contact Mr. Fisher. We heard you have an extraordinary interest in demi-humans, so I specifically borrowed the bodies of these Cloud Cat-kin from within Mya in the Northern Border for a period of time, wanting to use this to attract Mr. Fisher's attention. I will return them afterwards, and they will remember absolutely nothing..."
Hearing the Lord Cardinal's placid words, although there was no strange sarcasm or teasing in the other party's tone, Fisher's face involuntarily darkened a shade after hearing them.
What do you mean 'extraordinary interest in demi-humans'? It's as if my tastes are incredibly strange.
It needed special defense that he only had academic research desires towards demi-humans.
"But just as the [Lord of Fate] anticipated, your understanding of the Completion Handbooks is very limited, nor are you clear about the composition and goals of our Society. I am exactly shouldering such a mission to contact you; this is my main objective today. Next, I will broadly introduce the situation of our Society and the problem of the Lord of Life to you, and attempt to establish a stable and friendly cooperative relationship with you."
The Lord Cardinal's voice was exceedingly mechanical and rigid, making it truly difficult for Fisher to distinguish whether he was a living human or a machine.
"Mr. Fisher, according to the information we have grasped, you seem to possess a Completion Handbook unknown to us, correct?"
As the conversation cut to the main topic, Fisher also focused entirely on weighing the other party's words, deeply afraid of falling into a trap laid by the Creator's Society.
The two members of the Creator's Society he had encountered so far had left a very profound impression on him, giving him a deeply negative impression of this Society. Heaven knew what difference there was between the Lord Cardinal before him or the Lord of Fate he mentioned, and madmen like Erwinde and Pherone.
But when he met Erwinde back then, he had already indicated that the Creator's Society knew about his possession of a Completion Handbook, so regarding this point, Fisher chose to remain noncommittal.
Upon receiving Fisher's response, the mechanical light on the Lord Cardinal's body brightened even more.
"Erwinde disobeyed the Lord of Fate's directives, attempting to seize two Completion Handbooks from you and defect from the Society. Consequently, I received the Lord of Fate's directive to purge him, and unexpectedly encountered him within the borders of Schwari, leading to a battle."
Hearing this, Fisher raised an eyebrow. Erwinde's life form was so bizarre that even the Mythic rank Eliog couldn't completely kill him, only able to make damage effective through a conceptual weapon like the [Death Rune]. Did this Lord Cardinal possess other methods to deal with Erwinde?
"Although I suffered heavy losses, Erwinde equally sustained extremely severe trauma as a result. The soul of his main body was struck by a special Cardinal weapon I manufactured, thereby generating a rift. And due to the unity of soul and flesh, it caused temporarily irreversible damage to his body..."
"But just as the Lord of Fate said, every problem in the world will have an answer. Facing such a difficult problem, Erwinde also thought of a solution... He attempted to use the power of the Spirit World to heal the trauma to his soul and obtain a higher tier of soul mass. This was also his initial objective in wanting to seize the Soul Completion Handbook from you."
"He still hasn't given up on seizing the Completion Handbooks from you. He knows you hold a weapon that is extremely fatal to him, so he plans to first stabilize his injuries and situation before coming to find you."
Only upon hearing this did Fisher suddenly understand why Erwinde had targeted this piece of True Ice from Mya.
Previously, Eimhart had told him that True Ice was a natural existence linking to the Spirit World. The young of the Phoenix-kin obtained the ability to see glimpses of the future by gazing at True Ice over a long period. And now, Erwinde wanted to replicate this operation to find a method to communicate with the Spirit World from within.
No wonder that guy knew he was on the island but didn't come looking for him; it turned out he was injured and didn't want to conflict with him.
"He infected the consciousness of these Naris people who came to trade on Patlusion Island through flesh possession, attempting to snatch the True Ice before everyone else. But he was discovered by my Cardinals scattered outside, which is why I came one step ahead to deal with him."
"Speaking of which, what I need to remind Mr. Fisher is that any matters related to the Completion Handbooks must absolutely never be exposed to the secular world. Your complete lack of suspicion towards the trap I set, and your lack of sensitivity towards the Snow Cloud Commandos possessing a Cardinal, are not in compliance with the norms..."
Fisher smiled slightly upon hearing this, looked at the Lord Cardinal and said,
"I understand... actually, the reason why you organized a siege against Erwinde wasn't at all because he disobeyed your directives and wanted to snatch two Completion Handbooks from me, right? The real reason is that he exposed the creation of the Completion Handbook, Anna, to the sight of secular society, which could cause the Society to be exposed, right?"
Facing Fisher's questioning, the Lord Cardinal's tone didn't change in the slightest, perfectly matching his machine-like exterior. He merely continued,
"In actuality, these two are not contradictory. The extermination campaign against Erwinde is a choice we made synthesizing multiple considerations. Ever since the sudden disappearance of the original President, the [Magic Lord], the checks and balances between the various Handbook owners have also become increasingly insecure. This is an unavoidable matter, and we are powerless regarding it. Mr. Fisher merely needs to know that right now we are standing on your side, and that is enough."
"Although I have already dispersed Erwinde's consciousness, based on my observations just now, he seems to have already obtained something from this True Ice Rough Stone, leaving here without tangling with me too much..."
As the Lord Cardinal spoke, his body flew toward the depths of the room. Fisher hesitated for a second, following him inwards, until arriving by the bed in the bedroom, where he saw a small hidden compartment chiseled out of the floor there.
Looking inside, it surprisingly stored a massive wooden chest. And within the wooden chest, a large piece of bizarre rough stone resembling beautiful jade was quietly staring at Fisher who cast his gaze upon it.
That rough stone was filled as if permeated with dense fog within. If one gazed at it for a long time, you would always feel the fog within slowly moving, like some sort of guidance or omen. This bizarre phenomenon injected spirituality into this beautiful stone; if sculpted further, it would become a rare work of art in this world.
This was precisely the True Ice Rough Stone unique to the Phoenix-kin.
"He seemed to be able to use this small piece of True Ice to find a method to enter the Spirit World, but I don't know what the specific method is. I could only sense his consciousness leaving here, not knowing where he ran off to."
Fisher looked down at that True Ice, suddenly recalling the matter that had occurred on the small island previously. The Phoenix Scroll there seemed to have a certain subtle connection with the Spirit World. The origin of that connection was not on the small island, merely blooming through a unique medium like True Ice.
And the origin that generated a connection with the Spirit World lay at...
"It's the Frostwood Sycamore Tree, that is Erwinde's final destination."
Fisher looked at the beautiful rough stone seemingly containing infinite nebulous fog within, his expression appearing somewhat solemn.
According to the information in the scroll on the island, opening the Frostwood Sycamore Tree required the sigils of the six clans. Erwinde definitely didn't know the method to enter the Frostwood Sycamore Tree right now, otherwise he wouldn't have even left the Cangniao-kin's sigil behind.
It turned out that beneath that beautiful rough stone were not only quite a few pieces of jewelry and gems, but also quietly lying there was a petite, finely-crafted snow-flake shaped sigil. Fisher gently reached in and took it out of the chest. He saw that in the center of the snow-flake shaped sigil, a tall Cangniao-kin knelt on one knee, looking up towards the direction above the sigil.
At the very top of the sigil was the shape of a snow mountain peak. According to the history of the Cangniao-kin, that snow mountain peak shape seemingly represented the Frostwood Sycamore Tree where the Phoenix resided.
There were also quite a few ancient Northern Border texts on the sigil, but Fisher's current Northern Border language was only at a half-baked level; being able to maintain daily conversation was already good enough. He completely couldn't understand this kind of text, and could only wait to ask Eimhart after he woke up.
"Frostwood Sycamore Tree, searching glossary, please wait a moment... I found it, but this term mostly appears in the mythical classics of the Frost Phoenix faith regions. You seem to have some understanding of Erwinde's destination?"
Fisher didn't answer his question. He very naturally put that Cangniao-kin's sigil into his clothes, and then looked at the Lord Cardinal suspended beside him and asked,
"So, the Creator's Society sending you to contact me is still to have me join your Society?"
"...My original intention was so, but the Lord of Fate mentioned that you might choose to refuse right now. Therefore, even so, I will provide you with help, helping you resolve Erwinde's problem first. After that, his Life Completion Manual will also be temporarily handed over for you to safe-keep."
Fisher raised his eyebrows upon hearing this. Hearing the meaning of the Lord of Fate from his mouth at this moment suddenly gave him the illusion of seeing a normal person in the intensive care unit of a psychiatric hospital, leaving Fisher momentarily unsure whether he should feel pleasantly surprised or alarmed.
Either that Lord of Fate wasn't a madman like Erwinde or Pherone, or this madman was better at pretending than other madmen...
"Generous conditions always mean an ulterior motive behind them. Speak, what does she want me to do for her?"
The Lord Cardinal's mechanical body flickered dimly and brightly. Only if you gazed closely would you discover that within the flowing light there seemed to be countless bizarre symbols continuously flowing.
"I mentioned previously that the Creator's Society became like a sheet of loose sand after the President suddenly disappeared. For so many years, the Lord of Fate has always been acting on behalf of the President's affairs. But ultimately, this Society was established by the Magic Lord; the Lord of Fate cannot replace her..."
"She told me she believes you are precisely the key leading to the Magic Lord's whereabouts. She predicted that one day you will meet the Magic Lord. She hopes that on the day you meet, you can bring her back."
Fisher was originally somewhat puzzled, but upon thinking that the Lord of Fate possessing the [Destiny Completion Manual] might possess a bit of foresight regarding fate and the future, he swallowed the words he originally intended to speak.
Fortunately, the Creator's Society's demands on him were quite obvious right now. If they offered him help without stating any requirements, Fisher would have instead been somewhat suspicious.
Mya's warships outside seemed to have not yet finished negotiating with the local pirates, but sooner or later they would enter the vicinity of Patlusion Island's sea area. Fisher cast a glance at the situation outside and opened his mouth to say,
"I understand, I agree to cooperate with you."
"That is good. I have no way to stay here for long, and still need to deal with the scene to avoid leaving any flaws... Mr. Fisher, it is best for you to leave the Iceberg Queen as soon as possible and head to the Northern Border. After you arrive at the Northern Border, I will contact you to search for Erwinde's tracks... As for now, Mya's warships still need a bit of time to enter the port. Is there anything else I can do for you?"
Fisher's expression paused for a second upon hearing this, and then subconsciously looked behind at the row of standing, unconscious Cloud Cat-kin siblings. He hadn't researched the Cloud Cat-kin yet; if he could obtain a bit of biological research progress regarding the Cloud Cat-kin here, it would be great.
The suspended Lord Cardinal behind him keenly noticed his gaze. Before Fisher could open his mouth, he had already nodded and asked Fisher,
"Mr. Fisher, there is less than ten minutes before Mya's warships arrive here. The time for doing that kind of thing might not be quite enough, or is it already enough?"
"..."
Fisher's eyes turned into dead fish eyes. Up until this moment, he grew increasingly certain that the Lord Cardinal beside him was completely unalike a normal human and more resembled a brainless machine.