Chapter 1090: Chapter 59: God System of Conspiracy
"Bewildered souls, guided to the end..."
Obscure prayers spread with the contours of the followers, and Matilde Faye screamed, bound at the center of the array, like a legendary exorcism ritual.
An illusory, shapeless spiritual body was stripped from his figure, weakly fleeing the array, only to be captured by Lu Li with a Catching Net.
As a price, part of the weakened wraith remained forever in Matilde Faye’s body. This was a "gift," as the pure spiritual power would grant the unfortunate lucky person inspiration and various mysterious powers—this was why the church arrived without demanding any compensation.
Matilde Faye himself was the compensation.
"Don’t forget your promise."
The lead follower whispered to the slowly awakening Matilde Faye, shadows turning under the cloak, while Lu Li in the distance sensed something and left, wary of the presence of the Gatekeeper.
Lu Li returned to the edge of the array with the ghostly spiritual body, now reduced to a ghost, trapped in his Catching Net.
"Is she your wife?"
Matilde Faye, rising, looked at the ghost in the net and appeared shocked: "No... Mrs. Kegma, why is it you..."
Her husband, Kegma, was Matilde Faye’s former landlord—
"Mrs. Kegma," dazed from enduring all the damage of the split, did not respond to Matilde Faye’s confusion. Lu Li had no intention of learning more. After confirming there were no lingering pollutants, Lu Li borrowed a room from Matilde Faye to help release Mrs. Kegma.
The famous silver crossbow of Silver Cross·Sloan had already been returned, so Lu Li drew the Homogeneous Item and pierced through the gaps of the Catching Net.
The unconscious scream ceased abruptly, and the scene swiftly changed.
...
A dirty, balding old man with a bulbous red nose stared viciously and fiercely at Lu Li’s neck.
After quietly watching him for a moment, Lu Li turned to look behind him.
Mrs. Kegma, disheveled and covered in scars, was like a prisoner chained in a dark and damp cellar.
Receiving no response, the old man grabbed Mrs. Kegma’s matted hair, gazed at her blood-stained face, and said to her eyes, which flickered with impending death’s weakness and hatred: "Find Matilde Faye, claim to be her deceased wife, help her, and then your task will be complete."
The old man raised a rough knife, sharpened from metal scraps, and slashed open Mrs. Kegma’s exposed throat.
...
Lu Li returned to the living room downstairs.
On the eve of departure, he suddenly asked Matilde Faye about Kegma’s features.
Undeniably, Matilde Faye was both unlucky and lucky, luckier more so—his wealth and position remained intact, though the beautiful enchanting lady was frightened away, he gained part of the wraith’s power.
"Uh... almost bald, always reeking with a drunken, red bulbous nose."
Leaving Matilde Faye’s house, which seemed like a dream experience, Lu Li informed the Gatekeeper of the conspiracy behind the wraith.
They coldly responded, stating it’s none of our concern.
The Gatekeeper would only maintain the Giant Tree Academy’s system, not Midnight City.
"Who should I find?"
The Gatekeeper slightly relaxed their stance and told Lu Li about the organization responsible for handling such incidents: the Knights Order.
It so happened that on the way back to the Giant Tree Academy camp, there was a stationing of the Glorious Knights, one of the Five Great Knight Orders.
Passing by the Knights Order, Lu Li informed the receiving knight retinue about Matilde Faye’s mission and the conspiracy behind it.
"The conspiracy might be related to me."
"Related to you? No, a student of the Giant Tree Academy." Despite the aura of following and inexplicable closeness making this knight retinue suspect that the cloaked Lu Li was no ordinary person, the knight retinue didn’t think so. Or rather, they had seen such things many times: "It’s the nauseating methods of some Obscure Church to create the chosen of gods..."
He didn’t go into details, but Lu Li could imagine.
The church needs faith, needs power.
Power comes from faith, faith comes from devotees. Pious faith is more precious than unpious one, the more precious than human faith.
Recalling the ease with which Lu Li contacted nearby Obscure Church and their generous and decisive arrival—the answer revealed itself.
"We know what to do. Tell us your grade and name; upon confirmation, we will reward you, but if false, we will penalize you." The knight retinue flipped open a notebook, grabbed a quill pen, and waited.
"Middle grade, Lu Li."
"...What’s your name?"
The quill pen’s tip quivered in the notebook, spreading ink.
Lu Li briefly lifted his cloak, allowing the knight retinue to see his black hair and face.
"My... my god..."
The knight retinue gasped deeply and trembled.
"Please, please forgive my previous rudeness..." His pupils suddenly contracted: "And the speculation might be true! Please wait, I’ll contact the captain immediately, this could be a conspiracy about you!"
The Glorious Knights division station erupted into a commotion.
Yes, a commotion. To the nearby residents and merchants, they had never seen so many knights appear, sealing off the surrounding area.
"Please tell me the specifics of what happened."
At the core of the Glorious Knights division station, the chief, First Knight Wading Mairo, solemnly inquired.
Lu Li narrated from the start of taking the mission during the 6th level trial until reaching the Glorious Knights division station, including the Death Retrace capturing images.
"A seamless process with no apparent doubts, if not for your ability, it would have been impossible to discover. If this is a conspiracy, it’s a terrifying one... perhaps involving a remnant of the Conspiracy Web Deity Sect." Wading Mairo only hoped it wouldn’t be that severe: "No offense intended, but can you confirm if the Gatekeeper can be trusted?"
"Mm."
Lu Li trusted the Giant Tree Academy, trusted Professor Chris who vouched for the Gatekeeper.
Despite it potentially being a false alarm, Lu Li and two Gatekeepers were still protected and placed under house arrest at the Glorious Knights division station until the scouting knight squad returned from Matilde Faye’s place.
"No power from the Conspiracy Web Deity Sect; within the depths of Matilde Faye’s soul lies a seed from the Obscure Church. A plan by the bishop of Calamity Filth was discovered in the church’s secret chamber, concluding that the Obscure Church was creating a chosen one, and His Excellency Lulian’s involvement was mere coincidence."
The alert was lifted.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Lu Li declined Wading Mairo’s invitation as a guest, but he eagerly hoped Lu Li would join the Glorious Knights at the annual top ten competition in a month—a higher-year student would represent the Giant Tree Academy.
No one thought Lu Li couldn’t be promoted to a higher grade in a month. In fact, the odds in the underground betting pools of Midnight City regarding whether Lu Li could be promoted within a month were 8:1.
Without a clear refusal, Lu Li returned to the Giant Tree Academy camp, took the elevator back to the trunk layer.
Lu Li completed the mission but failed the 6th level trial.
Instead of enduring a two-week failure cooldown, Lu Li had another option.