Capítulo 453: Chapter 454: "Lynn, Be a Human!"
'If I were to choose the 50,000 pounds...' Klein's brow instinctively furrowed. His rational mind told him that 50,000 pounds for the Sequence 4 potion formula was not overpriced, but his wallet disagreed — he simply couldn't afford that kind of money.
'Do I really have to resort to making cat meme expressions?'
Mr. Fool hesitated slightly. Then, he heard Lynn suddenly speak up:
"By the way, Gehrman, do you mind if I invite Mr. Azik over to help? We could recreate the classic big cat and little cat duo."
Klein: ...
Klein's expression almost cracked. He looked at Lynn with difficulty and finally said, "Lynn, show a little humanity!"
"Strictly speaking, it's hard to define if I even am human to have humanity," Lynn corrected jokingly. Seeing Klein's face on the verge of breaking, Lynn finally showed some mercy. "But since you're so against it, I won't invite Mr. Azik."
Klein let out a sigh of relief but quickly realized what had just happened. He muttered under his breath, "I didn't even say I was going to choose the first option..."
Hearing this, Lynn said nothing, just smiled at him, then glanced at his wallet and shook his head, sighing.
He didn't say a word, yet it felt as though he had said everything.
Klein: ...
Gehrman couldn't help but clench his fists, feeling a surge of determination rise within him. He swore that one day he would make Lynn understand — the God of Poverty wouldn't stay poor forever!
"Enough with this. I'm still terrifying, you know!" Klein finally snapped.
"Hahaha!" Lynn, showing no shame, burst out laughing. He then patted Klein on the shoulder and said seriously, "Keep it up, Gehrman. I look forward to the day your cat meme album goes public!"
This time, Klein's fists tightened for real.
...
While Lynn was busy attempting to coax Mr. Fool into making cat memes, and while Mr. Fool was on the verge of unleashing his friendship-breaking punch, elsewhere, the Angel of Secrets was meticulously crafting with Kalvetua's Sea King Characteristics.
The process didn't take long for the Angel of Secrets, being the finest artisan of the era, aside from Artisan. By that evening, the Angel had already handed the newly forged "Sea God's Scepter" over to Mr. Fool.
Out of a sense of ritual, the Angel of Secrets shaped this Characteristic into a scepter, similar to its original form, but with some differences in ability.
The new version of the Sea God's Scepter retained most of the abilities once held by the Sea King, allowing its wielder to communicate with followers of the former Sea God, Kalvetua. Additionally, it came with an advantage that wasn't present in the original — minimal negative effects.
In the original story, the Sea God's Scepter was classified as a standard Grade 1 Sealed Artifact due to its severe negative effects. Without Klein's protection through the Gray Fog, using this artifact could have killed him.
However, after the Angel of Secrets' modifications, the new scepter's negative effects were much simpler. The wielder would become hot-headed and quick to anger, and the scepter needed to be soaked in blood after each use — though it didn't have to be human blood; livestock blood would suffice.
Furthermore, the power to channel the prayers of believers, which was both an ability and a negative effect in the original, was also improved. The wielder could now choose whether or not to accept prayers from followers and could control the amount of prayer channeled, making it safe and manageable.
That very night, Mr. Fool donned the mantle of the Sea God, taking on the role in the Gray Fog for the first time.
In the jungles of Blue Mountain Island, within a secret cave that served as one of the rebellion's hidden bases—
Bald-headed rebel Kalat knelt despairingly in front of the shattered statue of the Sea God, his entire being void of spirit.
His reaction was understandable. Since noon, when the statue broke, Kalat had lost contact with the Sea God's high priest, and the god had ceased to respond to prayers. For a devout believer like Kalat, this was akin to the sky falling.
He couldn't even lie to himself — he wasn't the only one who had lost the god's favor. The other members of the rebellion had also failed to receive responses. It seemed all signs pointed to one conclusion — something had happened to their god.
It was a terrifying thought, one that could drive any Sea God follower to despair. Yet, it wasn't entirely unexpected for Kalat.
As a high-ranking member of the Sea God Church, even though he had been exiled to the rebels for rejecting bloody sacrifices, Kalat had long suspected that their god was in decline.
But he hadn't expected it to happen so quickly, so suddenly. This left him confused, heartbroken, and despondent. If it weren't for his responsibility to the rebels and the oppressed people of the Rorsted Archipelago, Kalat might have considered following his god into death.
But he couldn't. If he died, what would happen to the rebels? And what of his fellow countrymen, those who had no means of resisting the oppression of the Loen Kingdom and other foreign powers?
'But, without our god, can we truly continue to resist?' Kalat's sorrowful, confused gaze once again landed on the shattered statue of the Sea God. Then, something caught his eye.
He froze, seeing a vague figure, a towering form that seemed to blend into the deep blue waves of the sky and bolts of silver lightning.
The figure was majestic, grand, awe-inspiring, and sacred.
Kalat was instantly awestruck. He instinctively lowered his head, his heart swelling with incredulous joy.
Then, he heard a calm, powerful voice:
"I have returned."
...
Above the Gray Fog, Klein carefully selected a suitable believer from the Sea God Cult and proclaimed the Sea God's rebirth. He also issued a new holy covenant, marking the beginning of the church's reformation.
The Sea God Cult, having once worshipped the insane serpent Kalvetua, had been both primitive and bloody. Now that Klein had taken over, he would not allow such mistakes to continue. With careful restraint and reform, his goal was to transform the Sea God Cult into a proper church instead of a cult, and a reputable secret organization that wouldn't be blacklisted by the official churches.
(End of Chapter)
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Capítulo 454: Chapter 455: Live Like a Human
This task was not an easy one. Fortunately, the most devout and inhumane followers of the Sea God had already perished with Kalvetua. Wearing the Sea God's mask, klein naturally held authority and intimidation over the remaining followers. Thus, reformation wouldn't be too difficult.
However, for those who refused to repent and continued down the path of bloody sacrifices, Mr Fool would simply send them to meet the Sea God they believed in.
Although Klein was kind-hearted, he wasn't a saint without boundaries. For the Sea God Church members who were willing to reform, he would offer leniency and guidance. But for those stubbornly refusing to change, sending them to Kalvetua was a fitting end to their faith.
After handling the matters of the new covenant, Klein became curious about the Sea God's Scepter and its function of accepting believers' prayers. For Mister Fool, this was a novel feature, and after some investigation, he connected with a prayer from one of the followers.
What Klein saw next was a scene under a bridge, where a ragged girl with multiple festering wounds leaned against a corner, murmuring prayers to the Sea God.
The girl, named Buddy, was a native of the Rorsted Archipelago. Her parents were devout believers of the Sea God, and thus, she also followed the faith. Buddy once had a family that was not particularly happy but at least bearable. However, two years ago, her father died in a road construction accident, and the Rorsted Railway Company gave only minimal compensation. Since then, her life spiraled downward. She was sold by her mother to the Red Theater, where she became a prostitute. Later, she contracted a serious illness and was cast out, becoming a sickly vagrant without work.
The only consolation was that her city had a charitable organization that provided her with free food and medicine, allowing her to barely survive and not starve to death under the bridge.
But this was only temporary. Charity had its limits, and her illness wasn't one that could be cured with a few free pills. Her life was already on a countdown.
She hadn't committed any wrongs, but fate had never been kind to her.
"If only I could live like a person..."
In her prayer, Buddy muttered, almost as if talking to herself, expressing her small and fragile wish.
She didn't expect a response from the gods. That was too distant for her. She was merely recalling her parents and the words of adventurers and pirates, leading her to instinctively pray to the Sea God, hoping to find a sliver of comfort in her suffering.
Above the gray fog, Klein instinctively raised the Sea God's Scepter, but he remembered that it didn't have healing abilities.
Fortunately, since becoming friends with Lynn, the extravagant Beyonder who casually tossed scrolls around, Klein had stocked up on various types of scrolls, including those with healing powers.
So, he quickly fished out two healing scrolls from his miscellaneous pile and used them on Buddy through her prayer light.
Under the bridge, in a corner unnoticed by anyone—
Buddy's eyes widened as she saw the warm white light enveloping her body. In that moment, all her pain seemed to melt away, replaced by peace and comfort.
When the light disappeared, she was shocked to find that her festering wounds had miraculously healed. Her body felt lighter than it had in years, as if she had returned to the days before her downfall.
'Was this... a miracle?!'
Though she wasn't highly educated, after a brief period of shock and disbelief, she remembered her parents and the stories of adventurers and pirates describing the miracles of gods. She instinctively knelt down and, just as she was about to bow her head, a distant yet majestic voice echoed in her ears.
"Someone will come for you soon. From today onward, you can live like a person."
Buddy wanted to look up, to see the sky, to see the great figure speaking to her, but she knew she couldn't. That would be disrespectful to the god. She sat there in a daze until the feeling of being watched completely disappeared.
"Drip—"
It seemed like a droplet of water had fallen on her clothes. she instinctively looked up, wondering if it had started raining, but the sun was still shining brightly in the sky.
Only then did she belatedly touch her face, realizing that it was already wet with tears.
These weren't tears of sorrow; they were tears of rebirth.
…
"You don't seem to be in a good mood?"
In the hotel, Lynn looked at Klein, who had just returned from the gray fog, and asked with some confusion.
"I just feel a bit heavy-hearted." Klein sighed and said, "I finally understand why, despite Kalvetua's madness and the bloodthirsty practices of the Sea God Cult, so many people still believe and join... They simply have no other choice."
After saving Buddy and arranging for her to be picked up by a nearby member of the Resistance and given a proper job, Klein also answered some other believers' prayers. He deeply felt the suffering of the Rorsted Archipelago natives and understood the damage colonialism had inflicted on these people.
The higher-ups of the Sea God cult, who led the bloody sacrifices, certainly deserved death. They had long ceased to be human and never cared for the lower-ranking believers. However, the ordinary Sea God followers were largely believers out of desperation.
People like Kalat, the bald leader of the resistance, who had received good education and knew the blood sacrifices were wrong, remained with the Sea God Church because they had no other option—without the Sea God's support, the resistance had no chance against a nation like the Loen Kingdom.
In the end, Kalvetua didn't truly save them, and the resistance's choice was akin to drinking poison to quench their thirst.
"But now, they have you, don't they?" Lynn smiled as he patted Klein on the shoulder. "Mr Fool is far more reliable than that stupid Sea Snake."
(End of Chapter)
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