The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 1177

Chapter 1174
Ice Cold
Moist
Slippery
Eivass closed his eyes, using his soul’s tendrils to lightly touch the black紋路 on the back of his right hand, savoring the Power obtained from the Contract.
As a Priest with High-Tier Divine Art, Eivass was already very familiar with the concept of “the Power and Will of others entering one’s own Body”.
If the Candlemaster’s Power felt like Flame accompanied by Spice, Smog, and Warmth, and the Lord of Scales and Feathers’ Power was a viscous and sweet darkness like syrup… then the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s Power would evoke the image of a Giant Octopus.
Ice Cold, Moist, Slippery, accompanied by a faint fishy smell, and with tiny suckers where it contacted the soul.
If one made contact for too long, there would be a tighterning sensation, like being entangled by tentacles. And the longer the contact, the stronger the tightening and moist sensation would become.
When Eivass withdrew his spiritual sense, that illusion quickly dissipated. It was like waking from a dream; everything from the dream was rapidly vanishing.
This proved that the Abyss Heavenly Envoy was not paying attention to Eivass nor had he noticed that his Contract had been transferred.
While Eivass was here, closing his eyes and experiencing this, Sherlock and Lixia also walked over. Following them, obedient and Silent, were three Ritualists who had been transformed into Demons.
From afar, Sherlock and the others saw the other people, still Petrified in their laughter, and the fat Lord of the Feast who had died with a contorted expression.
His face showed a Terrifying expression, his Body twisted and struggling with all his might, his hands clenched. His neck was arched back to the extreme, his face purplish, his expression extremely distorted. His pupils had become bulging and cloudy like the eyes of a dead fish, with dotted Bloodstains. His widely opened mouth, like a fish drowning in the wind, overflowed with some Pink foam.
“Died so easily, that bastard,” Lixia said fiercely. “I wanted to torture him a bit longer.”
Hearing this, Eivass raised an eyebrow. “He did just die. Should I revive him for you to kill him again?”
“That won’t be necessary…”
“Strange,” Sherlock examined the Corpses, frowning slightly. “How is he…”
“What is it?” Eivass turned back.
Sherlock spoke frankly, “He drowned—in this posture, he silently drowned in the Desert, among the rocks. Did you do it?”
“Of course not. However, he just removed his Contract with the Abyss Heavenly Envoy. Perhaps it’s related to that.”
As Eivass spoke, he showed the black紋路 on the back of his right hand to Sherlock and chuckled softly, “Although I’m not at the level of the Twilight Path… I can be considered a Lord of the Feast now.”
“How does it feel?” Lixia asked curiously. “Can you spray water now?”
“No—signing a Contract with the Abyss Heavenly Envoy is like being crawled on by an octopus,” Eivass said frankly. “It’s a bit disgusting.”
“For people in the Desert, that might be a not bad experience,” Sherlock commented. “At least it wouldn’t be too dry.”
For those who had lived in the Desert since birth, they probably wouldn’t know what an octopus was, nor what the Sea was. The sensation of being “covered by an Ice Cold moisture” that appeared out of nowhere might be considered a divine gift to them.
“But…” Sherlock frowned. “Why would you… touch this kind of Power?”
Lixia also listened quietly.
It was clear that both Sherlock and Lixia—both from Avalon—felt resistance and discomfort towards the Power of the Lord of the Feast.
Eivass simply told them the knowledge he had learned from Afshien.
Sherlock immediately understood why that person had died in such a manner.
“…So that’s why, no wonder Lords of the Feast are hereditary, yet there wouldn’t be two generations of Lords of the Feast in the same city simultaneously.” Sherlock understood. “And no wonder Lords of the Feast are good at playing rituals, but their level in the Twilight Path isn’t very high… it turns out this Profession requires a one-on-one succession.”
“But I think…” Lixia was not entirely satisfied with Eivass’s Choice.
As a former Grand Arbitrator, she offered another line of thought that better aligned with “order” and “rules”: “Wouldn’t it be better to give this Profession to the common people of this city? You’ve already obtained this mark, and it’s difficult to draw it out now. But if you leave, how will the people here get water?”
“—No, I don’t think so!” Sherlock said at an extremely fast pace. “From my observations and analysis of the Anxi people, if they truly mastered the Power of the Lord of the Feast—I mean, regardless of whether the person who obtained this Power is a commoner or a Slave, they would ultimately become a new Lord of the Feast, and ultimately nothing would change. Because they don’t want to abolish the Lord of the Feast or slavery; they have never seen Freedom. They only want to become slave owners themselves. So, if we were to give this Power to them, Madam Lixia—”
“…We would become accomplices,” Lixia realized.
“We could indeed temporarily become Lords of the Feast and manage this city,” she looked at Eivass. “But if we leave… what do you plan to do, Eivass?”
“It’s simple,” Eivass looked up at the Dim Yellow sky and said softly, “Just pull down the Abyss Heavenly Envoy.”
As long as he obtained the Authority of the Abyss Heavenly Envoy, he could truly change everything.
And that was what he was going to do anyway.
“…The Ouroboros Ring Ritual? Are you going to initiate it yourself?”
“I don’t need to initiate it. ‘Water’ is the only hard currency in the Desert. Slaves are essentially secondary currency used to exchange for water. And each Lord of the Feast has a limited supply of water, which is also the fundamental reason why their influence cannot expand infinitely.”
Eivass said slowly, “Someone will definitely initiate the Ouroboros Ring, and it will definitely be the Abyss Heavenly Envoy. The War for water has begun… Lords of the Feast want to obtain more water, and the rebels also want enough water. As long as the knowledge of the Ouroboros Ring Ritual spreads, someone will definitely perform the ritual—this is why we came here, isn’t it?”
“Although the Descent of the Abyss Heavenly Envoy will cause the Desert to turn into an ocean, leading to the deaths of millions upon millions of people. But conversely, if guided and protected well, this water can also be used to change everyone’s lives.”
“Granting them Infinite water…” Sherlock mused. “This approach is not bad. It sounds like some kind of economic warfare, where a country’s money is greatly devalued, thus turning the rich into paupers—simply devaluing the money at a hundred or thousand times the speed means wealth evaporates at a hundred or thousand times the speed.”
“If everyone becomes a pauper, then there’s no difference between being rich or poor. But in Anxi, it would mean ‘everyone has water,’ meaning everyone becomes a millionaire…”
Interesting. Sherlock’s eyes lit up.
He looked at Eivass and said firmly, “I’ll help you—what do you want to do?”
(End of this chapter)