The King of Black Fog

Their voices had a unified and solemn quality—it was definitely practiced, just like monks chanting scriptures.

"You may leave now," the cardinal said coldly, looking at Li Changzhou and the others.

"There's one last thing," Yang Qinglan put away the "Bible·Knight" and tossed a jade bead to the nun.

"This is—" Half a second later, Larena's calm expression turned serious.

"Power Pill."

"I want to trade it for a herb that increases Perception, the so-called herb, in your terms, is probably a sacrifice or a holy relic," Yang Qinglan said.

"Perfect, no side effects... small Jade Cauldron..." Larena read the introduction and notes of the item aloud.

She looked up, "Two beads."

Without waiting for Yang Qinglan to speak, she explained: "The demand for Perception-enhancing sacrifices is the highest, and they are inherently scarce."

The logic was simple, there were few players who used Attribute Points to increase Perception, so the demand was high; and the plants that enhanced Perception were the hardest to capture, hence they were rare.

In fact, Perception-enhancing plants were the most abundant, far exceeding those that enhanced Strength, Agility, or Constitution.

This was also true for herbivorous animals, particularly those that had to be extremely cautious even when drinking water, for in their genetic instincts, detecting enemies and then fleeing was the normal sequence of events.

For example, the migration of millions of wildebeests served as just one meal for a pride of lions.

In the consciousness of herbivorous animals and plants, unless absolutely necessary, resistance was not an option.

Especially for plants, for them, enhancing Strength simply was not worth it.

They had a low starting point, at the same level 3, an animal (even a herbivore) might have already 10 points in Strength, whereas they only had 5.

It was better to enhance Perception, see the people and run, and keep themselves alive first.

Hearing Larena's price, Yang Qinglan, the young lady, not to mention the experience of bargaining, she didn't even think about it.

Realizing she had surplus elixir pills that were of no use, Li Changzhou and his sister were in great need of Perception Pills, her side could refine three from one plant, and the nun looked honest and she didn't want to waste time...

All this "and" made her take out another "Constitution Pill" and throw it to Larena right there.

The reason she took out the "Constitution Pill" was to keep one of each, the "Power Pill" and "Constitution Pill", in case one type might be needed in future.

She felt she had thought of everything.

But in the eyes of the experienced Li Changzhou, it was sheer... The noble Miss Yang from Ming City seemed to have on her forehead—savign time at the expense of being taken advantage of· Li Clan's prodigal daughter· come swindle my money.

"Lucas, give them a Perception-enhancing sacrificial item," the nun told the cardinal.

"Are you planning to handle the sacrificial items on your own?" the cardinal asked with a mocking expression.

Larena casually tossed the two Jade Pills to him.

Half a second later, the cardinal's face darkened.

Two flawless pharmaceuticals (elixir pills) without any side effects...

In the church, no, among all the major powers, ninety-nine percent of all Attribute-enhancing pharmaceuticals currently produced are flawed.

Flawed items can increase attributes, but they cannot go from 9 points to 10 points, and worse ones can't even go from 8 points to 9 points.

And any flawed product would be annotated in the notes with [This affects where you come from, I don't want this anymore], a seemingly playful but distressing commentary.

Only one percent, one bottle in a hundred, could achieve perfection.

For these two perfect Jade Pills, let alone one offering, ten, or even twenty would be possible!

Lucas glanced at the nun who remained unfazed, keeping his own composure, he even made a tough statement: "You will be responsible for the consequences!"

He spread his hands, not from his backpack, but as if the gaze of the Omnipotent swept over, a delicate golden treasure box appeared in his palm.

He tossed the box to Yang Qinglan.

Yang Qinglan opened it to check its authenticity and then put it away.

"Pleasure doing business with you," she smiled, in a good mood, turned around to beckon Li Changzhou and Li Qianxia with a boss-like demeanor, and led her group away.

The bronze doors closed, leaving the church empty, the seats had already turned to ashes in the recent blaze.

"You guys go rest too, well done today," Lucas told the six monks.

"Yes."

"You as well, step back," Lucas then said to others, like the smokers and waterboys, who had been watching the whole process.

The men looked at the nun, and only after she nodded did they leave.

"Larena!" as soon as the men left, the cardinal immediately lowered his voice, "These two elixirs, one for each of us?"

The Perfect Potions in the church were definitely shared between the two, but there were quite a few people eligible, and they would have to wait a long time.

If they were unlucky, they would end up only being able to consume the flawed ones that could maximize their values but would affect their status of birth.

Having an additional Perfect Potion would save countless time and uncertainty!

During this critical period, just one day, or even half a day, might mean they could never catch up to their comrades or enemies again.

"Weren't you supposed to report today's matters to the Court?" Larena turned her head and asked him.

"The female knight has subdued the Mafia; from today, Sicily and Venice begin to heed the words of the Lord. The female knight is a bit mischievous, but dearly loved by the Lord. We both follow the Lord's arrangement and give her time to reflect,"

He paused, then the cardinal asked, "Isn't that right? She promised us to proclaim herself as a person of the Church!"

"But what about the number of sacrifices?"

"Besides you and me, no one knows the exact number of sacrifices."

"God knows."

"God will forgive us," Lucas immediately said.

He didn't notice the disgust that flashed in the nun's eyes.

Just how many misdeeds had these people committed in the name of the Lord?

She recalled a knight's confession she once saw in a story—

"You blessed us as Your people, and we rejoiced greatly."

"We saw them, not Your people, unwilling to submit, deliberately ignoring You."

"They forsake Your hymns, refusing to recite Your holy words."

"Therefore, we struck them down upon the rocks, leveled their houses, and spilled their blood into the winds, our actions just and righteous."

"For we are Your people."

"We carry Your blessings."

"We belong to You, thus our actions are righteous."

"Is this not Your teaching?"

...

'We belong to You, thus our actions are righteous, is this not Your teaching?' Larena repeated the last line in her heart.

"Is that really what 'God' teaches?"

She was uncertain, so she wanted to see "God" to ask Him directly, whether He truly wanted to make everyone His subjects, regardless of their willingness.

Is the Church a religion without tolerance?

"Of course," she nodded with a smile.

Lucas also revealed a smile, "Which one do you want?"

As soon as he asked, he quickly added, "I know your strength isn't full, and coincidentally I need constitution!"

Was his earlier fight for the 'dignity of God' because his own dignity was offended, or was it truly for the 'dignity of God'?

If it truly was for "God", why did a female knight, who hadn't touched the Evangelical Book for half a month, manage to make the sacred tree hesitate?

"Pleasure working together." Eating the 'Constitution Pill', the cardinal with his values maximized smiled broadly.

Could such a joyful smile survive in the 'Judgement Procedure'?

"These people seem to possess the method to craft Perfect Potions," he pondered again, these kinds of thoughts always foreboded suffering for God.

"This technology belongs to the Lord, it should be presented at the next council of seven, no, no, that won't do, if revealed, the Pope, the priests, they would know about today's events."

"Larena, what do you think we should do? Should we consider collaborating with those people?"

To collaborate with that person who desecrates 'God', who claims to be 'God'?

Larena did not answer; she swallowed a 'Power Pill', oblivious to the comfort it brought to her body, her mind cold as ice.

She needed to become stronger, to seek 'God', to go back to the inception of the anno Domini and personally question the Son of God, Jesus—Lord, what kind of world do You truly desire?