Mysteries: Arcana Wars

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Klein almost couldn't continue in one breath.

Today is also a day to be thankful for the Joker’s abilities.

Now you are declaring in front of me that you want to steal my entire church. Isn't that a bit rude?

No, if Leonard had not explained Antigonus's affairs before coming to Bayam, Klein's first reaction would probably be that this old man was planning a rebellion.

"...You are so confident in telling me so much information??"

"It's okay, the boss agreed."

"!!! Your boss predicted my coming?!"

"No, I just asked."

"!! When did you perform the ceremony? Why didn't I hear you say your honorific name?"

Plum Blossom Five pointed speechlessly at the brain wave terminal above his ear.

"Don't you have a cell phone?"

"?"

Sorry, I'm out.

Some thoughts surged in my mind, one after another.

Klein silently recited some principles in his mind to calm his overly chaotic thoughts.

As hallucinations continued to erode reality, Klein felt that his mind was increasingly prone to a lot of noisy thoughts. Regardless of whether these thoughts were correct or not, they would appear in his mind from time to time, popping up like mushrooms after rain, and like a group of hungry young birds, all vying for the right to speak and attention.

So where does Antigonus fit into all this? Has he had other ideas in the three hundred years since I was no longer around? Is the flying cards in front of me the will of Antigonus to mess with my mind, or is it my own rebellious attempt to squeeze more joy out of my pain?

Were these planned lines from the script, or were they unexpected improvisations?

...No...Collect your thoughts...Collect your thoughts...

...believe in yourself...believe in Melissa...

After finally calming his mind, Klein turned his attention back to the Five of Clubs.

Whether it was intentional or not, the Five of Clubs almost led Klein into a trap again with just a few simple words. This made Klein even more alert.

...He is truly a first-rate fun-loving jerk.

"Stealing the church from God?" Klein chuckled. "What a big mouth."

"But you have to admit that this is a very interesting and promising project."

The corners of Meihuawu's mouth could not help but grin higher and higher, and her pretty face was gradually stained with madness and gloom.

"I'm not the only spy lurking inside the Lost Church. Even our Prison Master has gone undercover in the upper echelons of the Lost Church and has now become their Pope.

"Even the Supreme Leader is our undercover agent. Why do you think we can't do it?"

Several colorful chips fluttered between the fingers of Club Five, attracting Klein's attention. However, with his other hand, he turned his wrist and harvested all the chips on the table with a putter.

"We may lose, but you will never win."

With a shake of the putter and a wave of the little hand, the piles of colorful chips disappeared, leaving only the largest red chip standing firmly on the table.

"If you still don't believe in the feasibility of this plan, then I just need to emphasize one more sentence, and maybe you will understand -

“The interests of the church are not consistent with the interests of God.”

Klein remained silent.

He first heard this sentence in the Fifth Epoch, when he was still a Night Watcher in the Church of Evernight. He did not expect to encounter this motto again in this form, and he was the god whose interests were inconsistent with those of the church.

In a sense, gods have their own interests, while the church represents the interests of humans. Most gods set up churches in order to expand their dominance over humans, their influence over the world, and to stabilize the anchor. The church, on the other hand, represents humans in the game with gods, seeking profit. Extraordinary power, wealth, status, and even the humblest prayer for the right to survive are all a kind of "profit".

The gold material outlines the number representing the value, shining like a holy inscription under the spotlight.

On one side of the gambling table are the crazy false servants, and on the other side of the table are the lost gods of the olden days, while the chips stand quietly on the dark green table.

Who should this bloody chip belong to?

For the first time, Klein realized so deeply the significance of the name "Dealer" in the Lost Church.

...It's ridiculous.

Things seemed to have become something that Klein found difficult to understand, but if he studied and pondered it carefully, he would find that every aspect of this matter actually made sense.

Klein didn't know why Antigonus could stay in this small place of Rorsted peacefully and willingly to be a fake pope and a real secret attendant, and Leonard didn't know the details either. But Klein felt that the matter might not be as easy and pleasant as it sounded, and Antigonus was not a good person who volunteered to work for free.

The secret behind this may only be known by asking Phantom Melissa.

So, has Antigonus changed now?

In his experience over the past few days, Klein discovered that although the people of Bayam would not pray to the Lost God through common rituals such as reciting the Honorific Name, occasionally there would be clergy who would recite the Honorific Name of the Pope and pray to Antigonus.

In other words, under the influence of the Lost Church, Antigonus possessed a large number of anchors in the Rorsted Archipelago.

As a born mythical creature, Antigonus shouldn't need an anchor to stabilize himself and fight against the spiritual imprint of his Beyonder characteristics. But Klein didn't know whether Antigonus was Sequence One or Sequence Two when he was born. It might be that he still has Sequence One Beyonder characteristics that he didn't have when he was born, or the influence of his Beyonder characteristics from the "Half Fool" period is still lingering around him, so the anchor of the Rorsted Archipelago counterbalances this part.

However, the influence of anchors can be two-way and subtle.

Anchors stabilize the self, but anchors also pollute the self.

Watching the Five of Clubs playing with the chips, Klein felt a little ashamed. Fortunately, these playing cards had only existed for more than three hundred years. Otherwise, as his trusted soldiers, these playing cards would have contaminated Antigonus over the course of thousands of years.

"As for the word 'steal'..."

With a twist of his fingers, all the chips in his hand disappeared.

Klein felt his pocket sink. When he tried to reach out to take the chips, they returned to the Five of Clubs' hand.

“Pockets are a small invention of social civilization. People have made an agreement that what you put in your pocket belongs to you.

“This seems to be a declaration of ownership of the item and a denial of its use by others. But if I take something out of someone else’s pocket and put it in my own pocket, then isn’t it mine?

"Since I can take what's in my pocket, and I can also take what's in your pocket, what difference does it make whether this thing belongs to you or me?

"Everything in the world belongs to me, they are just placed in different places, so how can there be the word 'steal'?"

"..."

That made a lot of sense. Klein was speechless.

From the outside, Plum Blossom Five seems to be an overly indifferent, even a little cold, three-nothing girl. In her eyes, such natural resources as a pretty face and a sexy figure do not seem to matter - she does not seem to care about anything in the world.

But if you dig hard into this pale ice, you will find a crazy and strange fire burning in the abyss, faintly flickering in her eyes.

Essentially, the Five of Clubs and the Seven of Hearts are both equally desperadoes.

Antigonus, where on earth did you collect these scoundrels from!

Klein was about to inquire about Antigonus's news when he suddenly felt something move.

A violent explosion sounded on the first floor of the casino!