Chapter 130 - 113: Protection Treaty

Chapter 130: Chapter 113: Protection Treaty

"All smoke and mirrors!"

This was Chen Qi’s only comment on Binks’s Blood Salt production process.

Whether it was the dyeing or the stirring, it was all a distraction.

The key to the problem most likely lay with that yellow Talisman.

The moment Chen Qi saw that Talisman, he knew it was something special.

Although the script used on it wasn’t one of the fifteen ancient scripts, it still gave Chen Qi a Special Sensing.

Chen Qi wasn’t at all surprised that other special scripts existed outside of the fifteen ancient ones.

In humanity’s long history, thousands of civilizations had fallen, and nearly all of them had their own writing systems.

Among them were some incredibly powerful civilizations whose scripts also possessed Extraordinary Power.

It was only because they hadn’t been preserved for some reason, or their preservation was incomplete, that they weren’t included in the *Comprehensive Guide to Ancient Civilization Basics*.

But as long as one had studied ancient scripts, it was easy to get a sense of their extraordinary nature upon encountering similar writing.

The strange characters on Binks’s yellow Talisman gave Chen Qi exactly that feeling.

...

"Leiteri, what did you find out about that Talisman?"

Chen Qi was confident the Hummingbird Squad would have recognized the importance of the yellow Talisman in the Blood Salt production.

Perhaps they could bring him a pleasant surprise.

"Boss, you truly have a hawk’s eye, pinpointing the problem in a single glance."

"According to our investigation, the Ghost Talisman scribbles on that yellow paper are actually the Feast Text, used in the ancient Lanyu Kingdom to worship the Mountain Ghost."

"The few lines of the Spell that Binks recited also originate from an indigenous tribe from a thousand years ago."

"The CIA found an expert in ancient Lanyu Kingdom indigenous culture to translate it. The general meaning of the Feast Text is to invite the Mountain Monarch to descend and enjoy the offerings."

"That indigenous Spell has a similar meaning and was generally used during tribal sacrifices."

"However, the expert said that the Talisman must be a modern forgery and is basically useless because it hasn’t been bestowed with the Mountain Monarch’s true name."

"In ancient sacrifices, the Mountain Monarch had a specific true name, but unfortunately, it has been lost to time."

Leiteri relayed all the information the Hummingbird Squad had found in one breath. It was clear they had been thorough.

Not only that, but they had also copied all the research materials from the expert and brought them back.

’An expert in indigenous culture? Interesting!’

Chen Qi opened the expert’s research files and looked them over with curiosity.

It had to be said, Leiteri was truly diligent. They had even investigated the expert’s background.

Of course, the Kingdom Central Intelligence Agency deserved significant credit for that.

’He’s from outside the Lanyu Kingdom?’

’There are several similar experts, all of them focused on the legendary Mountain Ghost.’

’Looks like they were sent by some faction from the outside Inner World. They’re certainly relentless!’

From what Chen Qi currently understood, among the three great legends of the Lanyu Kingdom, the legend of the [Divine Talisman] was related to the Mountain Ghost.

One could even say the Divine Talisman originated from the Mountain Ghost.

These foreign experts had such a clear objective, fixated on the Mountain Ghost. Their goal could only be the Divine Talisman.

After reading the expert’s research, Chen Qi got a sense of the outside world’s fanaticism for the [Divine Talisman].

This expert alone had nearly dug up all the indigenous people’s ancestors.

And "dug up" was meant literally. The experts’ research wasn’t done sitting at home buried in papers. It involved roughing it in the wild, going to places where indigenous tribes once lived and excavating their ancestral tombs.

Few among the indigenous tribes were literate; all power was concentrated in the hands of the Priests.

Hoping to obtain written records was basically impossible. The only option was on-site archaeology—digging up the Priests’ tombs.

This was a dangerous job. This particular expert was one of the long-lived ones, having been digging in the Lanyu Kingdom for six years.

His predecessors had either died from the harsh environment or from vicious traps.

In any case, within the Lanyu Kingdom, no one was interested in indigenous culture except for the now-vanished Kalu family.

All the current experts on indigenous culture were outsiders.

As for what these experts were digging and digging for, the research materials also provided an answer.

’They’re actually looking for the Mountain Ghost’s true name?’

’The Mountain Ghost’s true name is a very important part of the Divine Talisman.’

’Knowing the Mountain Ghost’s true name allows one to develop a sensing for the Divine Talisman.’

Perhaps the expert never expected to be suddenly robbed, or perhaps this information wasn’t that important to begin with.

Some of the things recorded in the files went beyond the scope of ordinary people.

The research on the Divine Talisman, in particular, was recorded in plain sight within the documents.

This made Chen Qi a little curious.

Although legends of the Divine Talisman were a dime a dozen in the outside Inner World, it wasn’t something an ordinary person could come into contact with, let alone research.

’Could this expert be an apprentice too?’

Out of curiosity, Chen Qi accessed the Order Keepers’ intelligence database and looked up information on the expert.

’He’s actually in here?’

’Cliff Mund, Profession: [Scholar], Intermediate Apprentice, Danger Level: Extremely Low.’

’As the Scholar profession is protected by World Government Convention No. 178, do not eliminate.’

The Order Keeper database even had a photo of Cliff Mund.

Chen Qi checked, and it was indeed the same expert Leiteri and his team had robbed.

’This guy’s profession is actually [Scholar], and the [Scholar] profession is protected by World Government Convention 178?’

’I once obtained a scholar’s notebook. The guy who wrote it boasted that scholars were the light of humanity. Could that actually be true?’

Chen Qi had thought his understanding of the various Extraordinary systems was quite deep, but it seemed the sea of knowledge was truly boundless.

To think that a profession like Scholar required a publicly decreed treaty from the World Government for its protection.

’Just how rare are they? Or is it that they have no combat ability whatsoever?’

Chen Qi thought of the "Extremely Low" danger rating and figured the latter was probably the main reason.

No wonder he was so easily robbed by Leiteri and the others.

Fortunately, the Order Keeper database was quite "generous" this time. Perhaps taking into account that a newcomer might not know the details about Scholars, it provided a specific explanation.

A Scholar, first and foremost, is defined as a profession.

As for whether it can be classified as an Extraordinary system, there is considerable debate in the Inner World, simply because Scholars are rather unique.

Scholars are, in essence, humans who are incapable of undergoing Spirit Awakening.

But not all humans incapable of Spirit Awakening can become Scholars.

Generally speaking, even for an ordinary person, their Spirituality frequency will change once they begin studying ancient scripts.

The more talented ones can even leap to become apprentices.

But there is a type of person whose Spirituality frequency shows no change whatsoever, even after coming into contact with and learning the fifteen ancient scripts.

Their Spirituality frequency remains permanently at the level of an ordinary person.

Yet they are different from ordinary people. An ordinary person would suffer from Spiritual Suppression when encountering a High Tier Transcendent.

But Scholars do not. To them, external Spirituality doesn’t seem to be a real, existing force, but merely a concept.

As a result, they can interact with certain special phenomena and translate them into "knowledge."

For instance, an Oracle, or the languages of certain powerful Alien Races.

So, regarding that scholar’s notebook Chen Qi had obtained, the author really hadn’t been exaggerating.

Scholars truly are the light of humanity.

But because they can never achieve Awakening, even if Scholars master a great deal of precious Extraordinary knowledge, they remain Mortals who age, get sick, and die.

They are important to human civilization, yet so fragile, which is why the World Government specifically issued a convention to protect them.

But it would be a huge mistake to view Scholars as merely ordinary people who have learned Extraordinary knowledge.

A Scholar is, after all, a living being. After long-term exposure to high-Spirituality entities, how could they possibly be the same as ordinary people?

’Scholars only unleash their true power after death.’

’The more erudite the Scholar, the more terrifying they become after death.’

These were two reminders specifically included in the Order Keeper intelligence file. This was likely the main reason for the "do not eliminate" directive.

A World Government convention held little real sway over a bunch of backwater players.

It was almost certainly because they had suffered a huge loss in the past that the Order Keepers now turned a blind eye to Scholars, not wanting to get involved with them.

’Don’t tell me Scholars turn into something terrifying after they die?’

’Especially when they die filled with resentment.’

This was Chen Qi’s own speculation, but he felt it was most likely the truth.

Even a common cell could produce resentment after it died.

Let alone a Scholar who had been exposed to so many things of high Spirituality.

The Order Keepers’ records on [Scholars] didn’t end there, but Chen Qi felt the subsequent content was full of "prejudice" and seemed to be a deliberate attempt to slander them.

For example, the intelligence file noted a long-standing theory in the outside Inner World that Scholars weren’t actually human at all, but were merely classified as such by the World Government.

That theory was one of the kinder ones. In ancient times, beings like Scholars were even regarded by some Sects as "things rejected by the World" or "sources of Curses."

Scholars were often used by these Sects as [Vessels] to seal certain special entities.

Chen Qi saw more than a dozen such malicious theories in this intelligence file.

At this point, Chen Qi could finally confirm that the Order Keepers were indeed full of resentment toward [Scholars]. Something must have happened in the past.

...

’I was originally planning to grab Cliff Mund for a chat, to pry out some deeper secrets.’

’But now... I’d better forget it!’

’My goal is just to solve the Blood Salt problem!’

After thinking it over and over, Chen Qi dismissed the idea of using the Scholars as a warm-up.

His next task was to suppress the foreign apprentices. When he suddenly discovered this group of Scholars—fish that had slipped through the net—Chen Qi had actually been quite excited.

He hadn’t expected them to be a bunch of hedgehogs.

He could only hope that a Scholar wasn’t the one behind the Blood Salt. Otherwise, even if it was a thorny persimmon, Chen Qi would have to squeeze it.

The situation was now clear. The main culprit in the Blood Salt Case was most likely that yellow Talisman.

To confirm this, Chen Qi could only continue to wait.

Once Ma Qi took over for Binks, the yellow Talisman would be easy to obtain.

To be absolutely certain, Chen Qi planned to make the Blood Salt himself. If he still couldn’t find the problem then, there would truly be nothing more he could do.

The only regret was that, in order not to alert the "mastermind," he had to let Binks leave for now.

But that was fine. He would definitely be sent back.

As long as Chen Qi solved the Blood Salt Case, the Lanyu Kingdom just had to issue a warrant, and Binks would be sent back with great fanfare by his dear brother.

As for what happened after that, it would have nothing to do with Chen Qi.

With a solid lead in the Blood Salt Case at last, a trace of worry was lifted from Chen Qi’s heart.

Next, he would devote himself completely to the Source Ore replenishment plan.

Time flew by. As the Bright Moon rose, the Source Ore’s Spiritual Energy points were finally full.