Chapter 998: Establishing Relations

With dark blue eyes, Qonas Kilgor, who had crew cut hair which was

seldom seen among members of high society, held a cup of champagne as he

walked up to Dwayne Dantès. He said with a smile, "You had great luck

today. You also had plenty of courage." 1

If he's referring to me immediately folding after receiving a Bribe,

with me rather losing a big blind, that's not luck but knowledge... As

for the other times, playing cards with all of you has pretty much

drained all of Enuni's recently accumulated good luck... Klein swirled

the cup with pale golden alcohol in his hand and said with a laughing

sigh, "For a person who doesn't care about the outcome, there's

naturally nothing to fear.

"Heh heh, Praise the Lady!"

He was using a Loen-style euphemism to indicate that he was mainly here

to lose money and that his good luck was all thanks to the blessings of

a deity. It had nothing to do with himself.

Qonas hadn't lost much tonight-approximately one to two hundred pounds.

Although this was already a considerable amount when compared to his

purported salary, to a brigadier general deputy director of MI9---a

hidden demigod---his salary was the most trivial part of his income.

Therefore, he didn't mind it. He shook his head with a smile.

"Humans often have no way of seeing through the arrangement of fate.

"You are an interesting person. It's a pleasure to meet you."

His final sentence was both a form of praise and also a part of the

formalities. It indicated that their conversation was over.

However, Klein had "acted" all night to acquaint himself with this

demigod of the Black Emperor pathway, so how could he give up? He first

replied, "It's my pleasure as well." Then, he asked in a seemingly

random manner, "Your Excellency, are you familiar with the manors in the

Backlund suburbs? It's best if they come with forests for hunting."

According to the information Klein had received from Miss Justice, Qonas

Kilgor didn't enjoy holding banquets, balls, or saloons at his place.

Neither did he accept invitations on such matters. It was unknown if it

was a problem with his character or due to his job.

He had very simple hobbies. First, he enjoyed smoking cigars, especially

Chieftain Cigars from East Balam's Mikent-recognized as the best cigars

in the world. Second, he enjoyed playing cards, especially Texas

Hold'em. Third, he enjoyed hunting. He often headed to the Backlund

suburbs during autumn and winter. He even headed to Awwa County or East

Chester County for hunting.

Klein was already planning on buying a manor, an expenditure meant

solely to integrate himself into high society. He hadn't made any

decisions yet, but after meeting Qonas Kilgor today, he suddenly added

this request in a bid to garner his interest. When the time came, he

could even invite this MI9 deputy director to hunt in the suburbs over

an enjoyable weekend. He could then seek out an opportunity to take

action.

Qonas Kilgor drank a mouthful of champagne and said after some thought,

"I'll help you take note of it. If there's anything suitable, I'll send

someone over. Böklund Street, right? Yes, someone will inform you

there."

"Thank you very much," Klein earnestly replied.

At the same time, he pitied his former valet, Richardson, who had now

become an assistant butler. This young man who wished to better himself

recently went out early in the morning and returned late at night. He

had been gathering information about manors in Backlund's suburbs,

filtering out those that met the requirements and the ones which were on

sale. He had been personally visiting them in a bid to list down options

which were all flawless. He didn't wish for his employer to spot

something he fancied only to find out that it wasn't for sale, or that

the actual conditions were far worse what was described.

And after Klein suddenly changed his request, all the work that

Richardson had done was undoubtedly made useless.

The all-evil "Party A" in contracts always changes their requirements

and requests... Yes, after this is done. I'll get Taneja to raise his

annual salary by 5 pounds. As an assistant butler, he should naturally

earn more than his time as a valet... 5 pounds... It was gone in just

one or two raises in today's game... Richardson's annual salary is only

enough to play a few rounds of Texas Hold'em... Klein sighed inwardly

when he sensed eyes looking at him.

He directly looked back and realized that it was Admiral Amyrius

Rieveldt.

This old-fashioned and stern middle-aged man nodded gently and retracted

his gaze. He had no intentions of communicating with Dwayne Dantès, nor

did he get anyone to arrest this unaffiliated Beyonder. After all, he

was considered a working partner of the military, and it wasn't rare for

a merchant, an adventurer with wide connections, to be able to obtain a

potion.

At this moment, Colonel Calvin and Member of Parliament Macht walked

over to Dwayne Dantès with wine glasses in hand.

"What happened?" Calvin asked with an exasperated and suppressed voice.

As Dwayne Dantès had won nearly 1,000 pounds, he and Macht had to change

their strategies to prevent Admiral Amyrius from losing any money. They

went from a tight strategy to an unrestrained one. They felt quite the

pinch from losing several hundred pounds each.

As such, adding to everyone's losses, Admiral Amyrius had won a total of

nearly 300 pounds.

With regards to this, Klein spread his hands.

"I didn't even look at my hole cards!" In between the lines, he meant

that this was simply the blessings of some deity that controlled luck.

At the moment, the deities, angels, and secret existences who had

authority in the fate domain included, but were not limited to, the

Evernight Goddess, The Fool, Snake of Mercury Will Auceptin, Pallez

Zoroast, Blasphemer Amon, and Snake of Fate Ouroboros.

"This is really such a vexing matter," Macht said with a bitter smile

while shaking his head. "Calvin and I don't even dare to return home

after what we've lost."

They had roughly lost about half their purported annual income.

Dwayne Dantès, with grayed sideburns, revealed a surprised look.

"When did you guys lose?"

He then pointed at the pile of chips at his seat.

"I just happened to retain the 1,000 pounds I bought in at the

beginning. The rest are yours, isn't that so?" 1.

Calvin and Macht were taken aback as they exchanged looks. Then, they

revealed smiles.

"We must've counted wrongly due to the anxiety." Calvin gave an

approving nod.

Klein laughed and immediately changed the topic. He then began looking

at supper that was placed on the coffee table beside him.

City of Silver, in the spire of one of the twin towers.

Derrick Berg once again met the Chief of the six-member council, Colin

Iliad.

"You said that you have something you would like to ask me about?"

Colin, who had quite a number of old scars on his face, calmly asked the

youth who wasn't considered too tall.

Derrick bowed and replied frankly, "Yes, Your Excellency. In the

advancement for Priest of Light, I need pure darkness, but once I do it,

it will be extremely dangerous. I'm wondering if there are any

solutions."

Colin Iliad listened seriously before nodding.

"You have to confirm one point: Is it pure darkness, or darkness with

zero light? These two concepts are very different.

"If it's the latter, you can obtain that in the spire's underground

dungeons. You've been there for some time, so you should know what I'm

talking about."

Derrick had a deep fear for the spire's dungeons because it was there

that he first met Blasphemer Amon. Not only did he see the former

captain of the expedition team, but he had even been parasitized. Unless

it was necessary, he really didn't wish to recall it.

At this moment, after receiving the chief's reminder, he began to slowly

jolt his memories. He discovered that, under the spire, although each

cell was given candles, one would have to wait for the guards to deliver

food and medicine and ask for more once they finished burning. This

didn't happen frequently, with it happening only thrice a day with the

gaps in between being very long.

And in such an environment, phenomena like the appearance of monsters

and the vanishing of humans never appeared.

Derrick recalled that he had been in darkness with zero light for some

time without encountering any danger.

He pondered for a moment and hesitantly said, "The darkness with zero

light at the bottom of the spire has external powers involved?"

It was this power that prevented the darkness from making people

disappear or producing monsters? Colin Iliad looked at the two swords

that were hung up in a cross-like fashion on the wall. He looked up and

sighed.

"Yes, that's why it's called darkness with zero light, not pure

darkness."

Derrick frowned slightly as he tried to recall.

After a few seconds, he said without certainty, "If that's the case, the

darkness outside the spire's basement isn't pure darkness as well. In

many historical records, the nights before the Dark Ages didn't make

people vanish or produce monsters. Now, the darkness must've undergone

an abnormal change or had some other forces mixed into it to turn it

dangerous."

"Not bad. For you to make such connections shows that you've improved...

Therefore, let me ask you again. Do you need pure darkness or darkness

with zero light?" Colin's light blue eyes revealed a hint of surprise.

This... Could it be that pure darkness only exists outside the Forsaken

Land of the Gods? Derrick turned gloomy before he pumped himself up.

"Your Excellency, I'm not too sure either. I'll take some time to

confirm this."

He believed that the experienced and strong Mr. Hanged Man, Mr. World,

and the other members of the Tarot Club could give him a good solution.

Colin Iliad didn't ask further as he said with a nod, "Go on then.

"Once you reach Sequence 5, even if you aren't able to become a demigod

for a long period of time, you will have the chance of wielding certain

Sealed Artifacts." 1

Backlund, Hillston Borough, Xio changed into a brown jacket and wore a

cap, pretending to be a very ordinary short man.

She had officially taken the commission and had begun tailing and

investing the gentleman named Ernes Boyar. There were also a few other

bounty hunters who participated in this mission.

Ernes Boyar lifted his top hat and pointed his cane forward as he

instructed the carriage driver, "To St. George Borough."

It was southeast of Backlund, separated from East Borough by the Tussock

River.

Once he got on his carriage and took his seat, Ernes sniffed. He looked

out the window and suddenly grunted.

As a Sanguine Viscount, how could he not have discovered the clumsy

bounty hunters' tailing him?