The light and shadows within the water screen flickered unsteadily.
Just a few minutes ago, Aries Hong Jiu had proactively initiated a communication request to tell the blue-haired girl about everything that had happened beneath the Black Smoke Coal Mine.
Listening to her response now, Hong Jiu couldn't help but freeze for a moment.
“What do you mean, ‘met someone from that organization’?” Hong Jiu asked with a frown.
“From your tone, it sounds like you’ve heard of them before?”
The blue-haired girl stood at the other end of the water screen, her expression thoughtful as she spoke.
“The Book of Answers told me! The remnant pages I hold proactively recorded information about their organization two days ago.”
Hong Jiu was stunned, and his expression shifted visibly.
“The Book of Answers?! Even that thing recorded them proactively?”
“Then it seems this organization’s background is definitely not small...”
The girl’s intellectual face suddenly flashed with a mischievous, quirky look, and she spoke with great excitement.
“I never expected it! To think their return would be encountered by you. Hong Jiu, you’ve got some luck!”
Aries Hong Jiu: “...”
“Stop acting up. Be serious. How old are you, still pretending to be a little girl...?”
“Who are you calling old?!” the girl’s voice suddenly rose an octave as she shrieked sharply.
The blue-haired girl’s age was quite different from what her appearance suggested. She was also one of the Ranger executives: Aquarius, Yue Rugou.
Hong Jiu quickly pulled the topic back on track before she could have another episode.
“Alright, stop shouting. You’re the smart one. How much of what that Sinking Black said do you think is credible?”
Yue Rugou smiled. “If you ask me, it’s one hundred percent credible! Just treat it all as truth!”
Hong Jiu was taken aback and asked in confusion:
“Can someone really live that long? From the same era as the Evil Gods? Even if this Sinking Black isn’t dead, he should be an Eternal Sleeper...”
Yue Rugou interrupted him excitedly.
“Think about it. Does the name ‘Masked Hermit Society’ really seem like it just appeared out of thin air?”
“In fact, that organization has left footprints in history before!”
Hong Jiu’s head filled with question marks. This was absolutely the first time he had ever heard of them leaving footprints anywhere.
Yue Rugou, however, grew more excited as she spoke.
“Among those lost dynasties and ancient battlefield ruins, there were indeed unknown codenames left behind. Perhaps those were related to them.”
“In human history, there have been traces of resistance against the Evil Gods of the Old Days. Methods for preserving sanity and containing Evil God corpses... it’s not impossible!”
“Think about history. It’s like a hidden thread. Every once in a while, it shows its head, then pulls back again...”
“And in some of those erased mythological branches...”
Hong Jiu listened to Yue Rugou’s cryptic explanations, feeling completely dazed.
“Wait, wait, wait... Are you actually lucid right now? You’re not just making up stories in your head again, are you? What are you even saying? I don’t understand any of it.”
Yue Rugou’s expression turned to one of disappointment. She shot Hong Jiu a dirty look and said crossly:
“It’s an inference! An inference! What do you mean ‘making up stories’?”
“I’m just recalling the clues that could match up with this organization. Do you think everyone is simple-minded like you, only knowing how to use their fists?”
“This organization definitely has a story. Even the Book of Answers wrote about it. Could it really just be fabricated out of thin air?”
Hong Jiu found himself unable to argue.
Yue Rugou continued:
“Have you forgotten?”
“Two years ago, just before Star-Gazer was about to fall into a deep slumber, they summoned all twelve of us to calculate the fate of all things. What was the final conclusion?”
Hong Jiu’s expression immediately became solemn.
“The heavens are changing; an Age of Strife is upon us!”
“Exactly!” Yue Rugou nodded. “The heavens are changing!”
“In these past two years, there have been so many changes everywhere. Anomalies are so frequent. Many things that were hidden deep in the past are popping up one by one.”
“Those guys living comfortably in the cities... they don’t actually think this brief moment of order is permanent, do they?”
“The appearance of the Masked Hermit Society is likely the beginning of a great upheaval!”
“It didn’t just pop out of nowhere; it has simply resumed its operations.”
Hong Jiu remained silent, his gaze shifting several times as he processed this. He didn't speak for a long time.
Finally, he let out a slow breath.
“Fine, I understand. It’s a pity I couldn't bring back that S-rank Containment Object this time.”
“You wanted to bring it back? I consider it a win for your brain that you didn't leave your life there,” Aquarius Yue Rugou scoffed.
“Stay near Dawn City for now. Don’t go wandering off. I have a premonition that more things will happen there!”
“I’ll think about this some more, then I’ll inform the other Rangers.”
Hong Jiu frowned.
“Is that necessary? I don’t think there’s much left to happen in Dawn City.”
Yue Rugou replied dominantly:
“I don’t care what you think; I only care what I think! Have you ever been right about anything?”
“That Bai Feifei is in Dawn City. She is currently the primary lead for tracking this organization’s movements. You just hang around Dawn City and gather intelligence!”
Hong Jiu eventually nodded in resignation.
The water screen rippled, and the image gradually darkened.
Once Yue Rugou was alone in the room again, a twisted smile slowly appeared on her beautiful face.
“For so many years, the Rangers have been told our ideals are too grand to be realized.”
“This is the first time someone has said our vision is too small! Interesting.”
As she spoke, her expression and gaze became intoxicated. She used the water to form the shapes of a faceless man and woman and began to knead them with her hands.
“Bai Feifei, Sinking Black... I really want to see what you look like. Hehehe...”
...
“Everything you said is true?!” Bai Feifei’s voice carried a chill she couldn't hide.
Xu Mo had just given her a rough introduction to the current status of the Masked Hermit Society and the goals of the organization’s founding, leaving her completely stunned.
She couldn't help but ask:
“Was that organization founded by you back then, before you went into slumber?”
Hearing her question, Xu Mo fell silent for a moment.
“That’s actually a pretty good train of thought. Yeah, sure! From now on, I declare that the Masked Hermit Society was founded exactly like that!”
“Reasonable. If you have any other ideas for the organization’s backstory, feel free to let me know.”
Bai Feifei: “...”
Her mind was reeling. She really couldn't understand this “Evil God” in her head and his nonsensical way of speaking.
Could he please stop talking about such world-shaking matters as if they were a joke?!
How did such an organization just appear out of thin air, and how did she end up joining it?
Is it really okay for a Scavenger to join an organization like this?
Suddenly, Bai Feifei felt as though she had figured something out.
When the Evil God first approached her, he said he wanted her to help him reconstruct his body. Now, the philosophy of this ancient and mysterious organization was to contain the corpses of Evil Gods.
How familiar! It was the same thing!
Just how big was the game this Evil God in her head was playing?
From the unrecorded ancient past to the present, was he calculating against the entire world, history, and all the other Evil Gods?!
Rate on N.U.
