Chapter 115 A New Diary Entry

When Odis heard that someone was offering to sell him more pages of Roselle’s notes, his initial impulse was to refuse outright. After all, the Machinery Hivemind would no longer reimburse him for the cost of Roselle’s relics.

Yet, recalling the entries of the Emperor’s diary he had read previously, he had to admit the fellow had some real skill. In the end, he decided to buy the diary pages and take a look.

Odis said, “The buyer who collects Emperor Roselle’s relics isn’t in such a rush for them anymore, so the price offered isn’t as high as before. 15 pounds for the two pages. Are you willing to accept that?”

The main reason was that he could no longer expense it; the money had to come out of his own pocket now. When it was time to bargain, he naturally had to bargain.

Giraffe, whose neck was slightly longer than that of an ordinary person, replied, “Alright.”

The price offered by Leader was acceptable. At the very least, there was still a profit to be made.

Odis took the two diary pages and scanned them briefly. They were indeed genuine. Afraid of arousing suspicion that he could read the mystical symbols on the ‘notebooks’, he didn’t examine them too closely.

He pulled out his wallet again, preparing to pay.

Just then, Giraffe spoke up once more, “I also have another relic of Emperor Roselle here.”

With that, he produced a small black metal box inscribed with the Chinese character ” meaning ‘Secret’.

Giraffe continued to explain, “However, there is no way to open the box. I once sought the help of a professional, who said there is a very ingenious mechanism inside. If forced open, the contents within might be destroyed.”

As he explained, he handed the metal box to the attendant.

Odis smiled wryly, thinking: ‘If I open it only to find a copy of the ‘Sunflower Manual’ or a story starring Wukong and Bajie, that would be hilarious.’

Taking the box from the attendant, he immediately felt the cold chill emanating from it. The box was only the size of a palm, but it was far heavier than expected, as if it were solid.

His spiritual intuition instantly sensed that the contents inside the box were very precious. As for how precious they were, he was not yet a Clairvoyant, so he had no way of knowing the specifics.

Had he not advanced and still been merely a Melee Scholar, his spiritual intuition wouldn’t have even been able to determine whether it was valuable at all.

After pondering for a moment, Odis felt his current financial situation was decent enough. He could buy it first and study it slowly once he got back.

Thus, he named his price: “50 pounds.”

Giraffe let out a bitter smile and muttered, “It seems the person collecting Emperor Roselle’s relics truly doesn’t care much for them anymore… Alright, 50 pounds it is. But after you open the box, you must tell me what’s inside.”

“No problem.” Odis nodded, “But you must also tell me where you got this box.”

“An Intisian sold it to me,” Giraffe replied, “Many people from Intis and Feysac come to Backlund to sell antiques. I didn’t ask how he came by it specifically, but it was probably stolen, or dug up from some tomb. Though considering the era, it’s more likely stolen.”

Odis gave an acknowledging hum, counted out six 10-pound notes and one 5-pound note from his wallet, and handed them to the attendant, concluding the antique transaction.

The gathering’s intelligence trading continued, with Odis still listening intently.

About half an hour later, another piece of news caught his attention: the night before last, someone had seen a river of stars flowing through the streets.

However, the others showed no interest in such a bizarre phenomenon. Since no one made an offer on the information, Odis had no way to eavesdrop, leaving him no choice but to initiate a transaction himself: “Elaborate, or write the details down.”

The member known as Cheetah said, “I’ll elaborate then. But for 15 pounds.”

“Deal.” Odis nodded.

This was because the so-called ‘flowing river of stars’ sounded very much like the abilities of a Constellations Master, the Sequence 5 of the Mystery Pryer Pathway.

Odis had sent out a letter last Wednesday asking Aelia to pick up the goods, yet nearly a week had passed and she still had not arrived. Moreover, Bernadette also seemed quite busy.

He wondered if the Queen Mystic was involved in some secret operation recently…

Cheetah then said, “It happened late last Saturday night. On Rice Street in South of the Bridge, many people saw what looked like the river of stars falling from the sky right onto the ground. The gaslit street was suddenly bathed in resplendent starlight, giving off an utterly surreal feeling. The starlight lasted for only a dozen seconds or so. After it faded, shimmering grains of star-sand appeared on the street, but when people went to pick them up, they turned back into ordinary sand…”

“…What was most peculiar was that a vagrant’s left leg seemed to have been ‘assimilated’ by the river of stars. His entire leg turned into transparent crystal, shimmering with brilliant starlight. It wasn’t until half an hour later that his leg fully recovered.” Cheetah paused before adding, “Additionally, voices were reportedly heard within the starlight. Someone heard mentions of needing to stop something from descending, while another spoke of using a pie or some sect or some school or something…”

“…But because the words were fragmented, no one could make out clearly what was actually said.” Finally, he concluded, “In my opinion, it must have been a very high-level Beyonder battle.”

At that moment, Elephant chuckled, “Using what, apple pie?”

His sarcasm drew laughter from quite a few members.

Elephant then added, “And this scrap of news is worth 15 pounds?”

Cheetah’s face flushed red at that, and just as he was about to argue with Elephant, Odis raised a hand and said, “The value of intelligence depends on how it is used.”

Elephant badly wanted to say, ‘It wouldn’t be worth 15 pounds regardless,’ but considering it was Leader himself stepping in to smooth things over, he refrained from speaking further.

Seeing Elephant’s somewhat unconvinced demeanor, Odis smiled faintly, thinking to himself: ‘Don’t be so dismissive. That so-called school or sect is either the Demoness Sect, the Rose School of Thought, or the Life School of Thought. You might even find yourself dragged into it…’

He remembered that the fat Apothecary was a member of the Life School of Thought.

From Cheetah’s description, Odis could basically confirm that it had been a Beyonder conflict involving a Constellations Master.

To ordinary people, or even Beyonders who lacked the relevant knowledge, the supernatural ability of a Sequence 5 naturally seemed like a marvelous, inexplicable phenomenon.

Odis counted out 15 pounds in cash and concluded the transaction with Cheetah.

In the gathering that followed, no other intelligence caught his attention.

Around 10:30, Odis announced the end of the gathering…

…

Passing through the teleportation array in the basement, Odis arrived at Unit 77 Hilton Avenue, shed his ‘Leader’ attire, and took a hired carriage toward the Backlund Institute for Mechanical Research.

In the carriage, he pulled out the two diary pages and began reading:

<..October 17th:

Advancing to Demigod has brought a qualitative leap to all my previous abilities and granted me powers an ordinary person could hardly imagine.

I have noticed that the root of these powers stems from ‘Divinity’! Although Sequence 4 possesses only a trace of Divinity, that minuscule amount has made me feel a distinct change within myself from the inside out.

It’s hard to put this change into words. If I had to describe it, I feel a bit like I’m no longer human. And this isn’t self-deprecation.

Back when I heard members of the Machinery Hivemind say that Beyonders are monsters in human skin, I thought the description was somewhat exaggerated. Thinking back now, that might have been their lived experience.

Even in great condition, acquiring Divinity causes certain changes in oneself…>

<…For instance, the subtle nuances of emotion feel somewhat foreign. It's not that I've lost the capacity for feeling, but rather that certain emotions feel unfamiliar, as if they aren't feelings I ought to have.

These changes force me to ponder a question: what on earth is ‘Divinity’?

With Divinity, I can clearly mobilize far more supernatural power, and it is distinctly different from the Beyonder characteristics within my body. If I had to make an analogy, it’s more like a catalyst, causing certain changes in Beyonder abilities, changes that deviate from normal laws.

Yes, normal laws…

At Sequence 5, even though Beyonder characteristics had all sorts of miraculous effects, once one understood the relevant knowledge of the Beyonder domain, the Spirit World, the Underworld, and the Astral World, those Beyonder abilities could still be rationalized.

In other words, those abilities still fell within the reality and supernatural laws of this world. But Beyonder abilities after acquiring Divinity seem to have broken through these laws! They’ve become even more wondrous, and far more bizarre.

As someone who completed nine years of compulsory education and even went to college, my thinking and logic struggle to accept this cognitive void. I must figure out what Divinity really is!..>

Reading up to this point, Odis nodded slowly: ‘As expected, the Emperor thought of this too…’

He had also pondered this, believing that the emergence of Divinity catalyzed something else out of Spirituality and Beyonder Characteristics.

Reading further down, the next few lines detailed Roselle’s tryst with an aristocratic lady.

The corners of Odis’s mouth twitched: ‘Emperor, is this how you study Divinity?’

Then he turned to the other diary page, which continued directly from the previous one:

Roselle spent considerable space describing the thrill of having an affair with that noblewoman.

This made Odis smile wryly. To think that Roselle still indulged in this even as a Demigod… Intis truly was chaotic.

In the final few lines of this page, another valuable diary entry appeared:

<… October 26th:

At this mysticism gathering, I received some shocking news: a portion of the members of the Mose Ascetic Order have actually become believers of an evil god!

Yet what perplexes me is that the Hidden Sage supposedly seems aware of this, yet remains utterly indifferent.

I asked the member who provided this information which evil god’s believers did they become. The other answered: ‘The Inextinguishable Ravings’.

How have I never heard of such an evil god?..>

Odis stared blankly at this diary entry for a while. He faintly felt he had heard of the Inextinguishable Ravings before, yet he simply could not remember where.

Soon, a warning from his own spiritual intuition made him realize it was not a matter of poor memory; rather, failing to remember this name and what it represented was the Knowledge Moor’s protection over him…