Bekland, North District. Having just assigned his direct team's mission, Leonard noticed the boundless gray mist and heard the "Knight of Fools" respond. He exhaled deeply, speaking softly, "It seems everything is settled." Since the "Knight of Fools" could now communicate normally, convene Tarot gatherings, it clearly indicates that He has triumphed in the struggle against Amun. Thus, Caine should now be able to break free from his predicament as well. In his mind, the slightly weathered voice of Parés Soloyasde murmured, "Don't be too optimistic yet. After you enter the 'Source Citadel,' observe the 'Knight of Fools' carefully—note whether His right eye is wearing a single-lens glasses." "You mean, the current 'Knight of Fools' might actually be Amun in disguise?" Leonard's eyes widened, and he quickly asked. Parés sighed, "It's certainly possible—Amun is truly capable of such a feat." "...I'll keep that in mind." Leonard’s relaxed demeanor instantly tightened again. …… Sunia Sea, aboard the *Enterprise*. “Sir ‘The Fool’ has remained silent for so long—does this suggest that the disappearance of ‘The World’ Germain Spalro is connected to His plans? Not certain. Perhaps during this period of silence, Sir ‘The Fool’ has been actively rescuing Germain Spalro, and now, He has succeeded. He hasn’t mentioned it directly—perhaps He intends for ‘The World’ to recount this story himself during the Tarot gathering?” As soon as Sir ‘The Fool’’s voice reached her ears, a cascade of thoughts instantly flashed through Gardeleia’s mind. Drawing upon the Queen’s letter, she now suspected that King George III’s demise was deeply intertwined with Sir ‘The Fool’’s intervention, and that Germain Spalro’s earlier disappearance was simply a continuation of the same unfolding events. Cadryla's first thought was to write a letter to the "mysterious queen," Bernadette, informing her that Germaine Sparrow had been found. But after mulling it over, she restrained herself, deciding to attend the afternoon gathering first, gather the details, determine what could and what could not be shared, and then relay the information to the queen. "Whatever happens, it seems the matter has been resolved," said the "Star General," taking a deep breath and settling comfortably at the window, gazing out at the clear blue sky. "Yet, He has now fully recovered..." "He did not respond to my plea to borrow the 'Cross of No Shadow' from the 'Sun'—He perceived my testing, He saw the subtle thought I had hidden within myself... From now on, such things must no longer happen! The ' Fool ' has merely issued a warning this time; next time, He may very well impose a direct punishment. 'Do not test God. Do not test God.' In the span of thought, Aljer bowed his head, speaking with sincere devotion: 'Thank you for your mercy and patience.' ... In the grand villa of the Hall Countess in Beckett. The 'Fool' did not convey my questions to the 'World'—is that because the Tarot gathering will proceed as scheduled this afternoon, giving us time to exchange thoughts?" "From the delayed feedback, I've identified a few issues," Audrey analyzed. "Normally, the 'Knight of Pentacles' responds promptly. This time, it's been over a minute—perhaps even more than that. Is he handling something else of great importance? Something related to the death of George III?" Regardless, a delay of over a minute isn't particularly serious. Audrey quickly regained her composure, her mood improving significantly. "I'll find out the truth from the 'World' gentleman shortly. "I hope this incident, aside from triggering a full-scale war, doesn't bring about any more severe consequences—since war is already unavoidable..." He immediately interpreted the symbolic significance of this response from a different angle: "The ' Fool ' specifically emphasized that the afternoon tarot session will proceed as usual—does that mean he's signaling that an opportunity to escape lies with one of the members? Isn't it still going to be the 'Star' again? "Well, in any case, I should be able to leave here this week." ——Since Emlyn had been securely detained behind the Charnel Gate of Saint Samuel's Church, no matter what developments occurred in the outskirts of Beckland, it was unlikely to affect him, and it was improbable that he would suddenly break free and make it to the site of the 'Imperial Blood' relics. Thus, when Klein had hinted at other members last week during the midweek, he had inadvertently overlooked Emlyn. ………… Silver City, the Berg household. Upon hearing the 'Fool's' response, Deryck leapt out of bed with such enthusiasm that his excitement was clearly visible. "The 'Fool' is not gone!" "The 'Fool' has not abandoned Silver City like the Creator!" He paced back and forth several times, then immediately intended to rush out of the room, head straight for the Twin Towers, to deliver this good news to the Chief. But the year-and-a-half of growth had left its mark on Daryl, and in the end, he calmed down, deciding to attend the Tarot gathering, receive the blessing, and then go in search of the Chief. "Perhaps," he mused, "this lack of response from the 'Card of the Fool' has been a test—of me, of the Chief, of Silver City—seeing whether we will swiftly align ourselves with the 'Fallen Creator'..." It had been some time now, but Daryl's thought patterns had begun to carry a distinct 'Card of the Pendulum' quality. Of course, he didn't let these reflections grow into unnecessary thoughts; in his mind, it was entirely natural for the gods to test their followers, just as the First Creator had left behind many such tales. After settling his thoughts, Daryl still couldn't sit still and continued to pace back and forth in the room. For the first time, he looked forward to the afternoon Tarot gathering with genuine anticipation. — In the City of Silver, in the land forsaken by the gods, afternoons are an abstract concept, as there aren't enough markers to define them. They can only roughly distinguish day from night by the frequency of lightning, and cannot make finer distinctions. ………… In Beckland, East District, a two-bedroom rental apartment. "Hah," Fols said, laughing out loud upon receiving the response from the Sir of the Fool. As a best-selling novelist, she possessed a rich imagination, and during the period when Mr. The Fool had not yet responded, she had already woven one after another harrowing tale in her mind: that Mr. The Fool sacrificed himself to secure George III's defeat; that his schemes were discovered by the gods, leading to a devastating siege; that his old injuries flared up again, plunging him back into sleep, while "The World" Germaine Sparrow was left abandoned, pursued by his enemies. Though these stories unfolded differently, their endings were remarkably consistent—Forth herself fell once more into "the Full Moon Rhapsody," losing control and transforming into a monster. After joining the Tarot Circle, she now knew her friend's true situation. "Ah!" Firth nodded, maintaining her smile, "Well, I suppose I should have a drink to celebrate!" ........ The gray mist above, within the "Source Castle." Calmly, Caine restored his ethereal state through meditation. "When I first began meditating, I had to imagine something that didn't exist in this world, replacing the things already in my mind—thus truly entering meditation. At that time, my first thought was to visualize intercontinental ballistic missiles on Earth, but I failed. Hah! I didn't think much of it back then, but now I see—perhaps this reveals something. That thing didn't actually not exist; it simply had faded into the mist of history." Caine rubbed his temple, naturally recalling a past memory. Then, he gathered his focus, intending to secure the "Miracle-Worker" potion formula before the Tarot Circle meeting. — At that moment, Amun was patiently guarding the place where his life had ended, confined within the "Source Keep," with nothing else to do. After considering his options, Caine reached out toward the ancient palace, rising above the gray-white mist and drawing forth an object from the historical fissures. It was a notebook with a hard paper cover, entirely blackened. The Antigonos Family Notebook! "Indeed, it works—though not as a unique manifestation, only with a faint residual strength from half of the 'Fool' of the Antigonos family." Caine murmured, placing the notebook on the bronze long table before him. Since the content of the notebook might be flawed, he had no intention of reading out the Sequence 2 "Miracle-Worker" potion recipe from it; he used it merely as a medium for divination. Immediately thereafter, Caine manifested paper and quill, writing a divinatory sentence: "The original owner of this notebook." Set down the pen, picked up the paper and notebook, and leaning back against the chair, Kline softly repeated the words he had just written. After repeating them seven times in succession, he entered a hazy dream, where he saw a mountain rising into the white clouds, and atop it, a majestic palace, separated from reality by a transparent boundary, weathered and crumbling. Within the palace, moss and wild grass grew in many places. At the highest point stood a massive stone throne, its surface inlaid with dull gems and gold. At its center, countless transparent worms curled together, slowly twisting and stretching, their bodies extending long, smooth, patterned tendrils. Unlike before, this time Kline directly saw the "monstrous being," clearly observing its form. Suddenly, the palace atop the mist began to tremble violently, and Kline's physical form rose straight upward, suspended in midair. The very next instant, his spirit shattered into countless wriggling "spirit worms," scattering across the ground. The "Source Keep" immediately trembled, settling back into its original state, and Caine's spirit coalesced once more. Seated in the chair of the "Fool," he rubbed his temple, smiled wryly. "Indeed, a half-Fool with a touch of uniqueness." After a moment of reflection, Caine picked up his pen and began to jot down the knowledge he had gleaned from observing the mythic beings: "Sequence 2: Miracle Worker. "Primary materials: one heart from the Dark-Wolf of the God of Wishes, or another exceptional trait of a Miracle Worker. "Auxiliary materials: 300 milliliters of Dark-Wolf's blood, one Time-Creature, and one Star-Creature. "Rite of advancement: to bring a forgotten history back into the present age." P.S.: Ever since this period, several readers have privately reached out to me, urging me not to worry about the comments and to write freely and authentically. In truth, I've always remained calm—never felt rushed or anxious. On one hand, I've genuinely prepared for a significant drop in subscriptions, and I've been fully committed to crafting this series of exchanges and revelations well. On the other hand, I'm deeply grateful—while I've been growing my audience, you've consistently maintained your automatic subscriptions. Not only have the subscriptions stayed steady, but they've actually increased. To be honest, if I were to see something like this myself, I'd probably take a break and read it all in one go. Yet, over this period, my daily followers have consistently hovered around 53,000—quite a peak. After summoning Chalatu, the numbers have kept rising steadily. The chapters featuring Chernobyl and the two small-killed characters' suicides saw a 24-hour follower surge that broke 60,000—setting a record for the starting platform, I believe. Honestly, while the numbers are important, what matters most to me isn't the data itself, but rather the validation of certain ideas I've had about writing. At least, at this point, my understanding of a specific aspect of narrative tension seems to be on solid ground.