Chapter 781: The Third Fragment
I almost forgot how useful the Hand of Glory is. For Older Brother Jayad, it’s a master key for theft. Even the most secure anti-theft door can be bypassed in an instant. Even if there’s a barrier inside that my God’s Eye can’t see through, the Hand of Glory can pass through it easily.
Unfortunately, when facing an opponent like the Usum Child, whose magic and sheer size far exceed ours, even the Hand of Glory can’t hold him back. That’s our predicament; the strength gap between us is simply too vast. We can’t win with mere tricks.
We entered the secret room. The shelves here were filled with silver ingots and gemstones, along with bottles of paint, neatly arranged brushes, several paintings covered with white cloth, and statues. In the center of the room, there was an object resembling a globe.
“Is this the treasure vault of the Old Day Imprinter? I never expected us to find our way here. But will this help us defeat the Usum Child?” the Knight Captain said, looking around.
He didn’t expect to find anything that could help them defeat a Demigod. The disparity in strength was too great, something that one or two items couldn’t compensate for.
“Perhaps not, but let’s examine this room first,” I said. The object that first caught my eye was the globe in the center of the room.
It wasn’t actually a globe, though it resembled one, as the sphere of the device had no map painted on it; it was completely blank.
“I feel like this might work. Like this.” Jayad stepped forward and placed his hand on the ‘globe.’ A faint yellow light flowed from his palm, falling onto the ‘globe.’
Immediately, the sphere began to rotate slowly, revealing patterns. These patterns looked like they were painted with oil, and they clearly marked a prominent red dot and a large, irregularly shaped starfish-like green area.
“What kind of map is this?” the Knight Captain frowned. He was certain he had never seen a map with such terrain.
“If I’m not mistaken, this should be the map of the Painted World,” I said, noticing several locations marked on it. Painted in an oil-painting style, both the altar and the research institute could be found.
The red dot indicated a Western-style house, which was precisely our current location. As for the large green area, upon closer inspection, it was a patch of twisted plants. Clearly, it was the Usum Child.
“This sphere seems to be a surveillance device for the Painted World. Through this, we can monitor the Usum Child’s movements,” Jayad explained.
“This doesn’t help us defeat the Usum Child either. Is there a control core or something here that would let us leave? If we could leave directly, I could go get reinforcements,” the Knight Captain said.
Facing such a monster, seeking help from outside was a logical and correct idea. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell him that all the people outside were now mine. If he went out, he’d only be met with glaring eyes from the cultists.
But his words sparked an idea. If I went out, perhaps I could lure Lavias’ reinforcements in to gang up on the Usum Child. A Demigod as prey would surely pique Lavias’ interest.
Alas, after searching the entire room, we concluded that this secret room was merely a treasure vault for storing valuables. The control center wasn’t here. We couldn’t leave, nor could we bring anyone in.
“According to the memories of those Black-Robed Persons, the artifact they use to control entry and exit seems to be in the hands of a Grand Elder. But that Grand Elder might have already fled…” Sherris said uncertainly.
She didn’t know who the Grand Elder was, nor was she sure if he had indeed fled. However, we hadn’t encountered anyone particularly powerful since we entered. Furthermore, they hadn’t reacted even after we destroyed three of their important strongholds. It was reasonable to infer that he had already escaped.
If that were the case, he was truly cunning. The moment he saw the situation turn south, he fled immediately, abandoning even such important assets of the organization and a research facility established at who knows what cost, along with its treasures.
On the other hand, it implied he took the most crucial items, such as the research findings on the Painted World. As long as the technology was taken, everything else could be rebuilt.
At this moment, I noticed Older Brother Jayad seemed to be somewhat distracted, just as he had noticed my distraction when I discovered the secret room earlier. When he seemed to sense something, I would notice it immediately.
“Brother, what’s wrong? Did you find something?” I asked.
“I just feel like something here is attracting me. It feels like it should be here.” Jayad used the Invisible Hand to open a safe. Inside, it was wrapped in oil paper. Jayad reached in and took it out.
“What is this?” I looked at the object wrapped in oil paper. The aura felt somewhat familiar, resonating and echoing with Jayad’s magic. I had seen this phenomenon before.
I took out two stones from my waist pack. Simultaneously, Jayad opened the oil paper wrapping. Indeed, it was another fragment of a stone tablet, made of the exact same ancient material, with the same profound, mysterious aura.
“Remnants of Carcosa?” I said. How could it be here? But then it dawned on me. Naturally, the Old Day Imprinter wanted to touch the power of the Outer Gods by studying the fragments of Carcosa.
“What is this? Is it a fragment of an ancient stone tablet?” the Knight Captain asked, not knowing what we held. He couldn’t feel the resonating aura from these fragments.
“Yes, it seems to contain some magic,” I replied, going along with his words. The Knight Captain lost interest. In his eyes, three small stones wouldn’t help them defeat the Usum Child.
Older Brother Jayad, however, was enthusiastically studying the newly acquired Carcosa fragment. With this one, we now had three fragments. If we collected all seven, I wondered if we could summon the King in Yellow and have him grant me a wish.
I looked around and noticed a letter placed on top of the safe. Upon opening the envelope, I found not a letter, but a stack of tickets. They read: St. Laurentia Opera House, valid in a few days.
This was rather strange. Why would a stack of opera tickets be placed inside a secret room, on top of a safe? Were they planning to go to the opera together?
At this moment, I suddenly recalled a saying: according to the Beelzebub cultists, the believers of the King in Yellow were fond of art, especially opera.
The opera tickets were placed so close to the Carcosa fragments. And the Great Fly wanted me to deliver another Carcosa fragment to them. Could it be that this opera house was a place where Yellow King believers frequented?
I never expected to find a clue in such an unexpected place. However, this didn’t seem to help my current situation.
Just then, Older Brother Jayad quietly said, “Parul, I think I might be able to absorb its power.”
