After the meeting in the secret room ended, Chen Lun did not stay long. He made an appointment with the members of the first team of judges to meet at the headquarters tomorrow morning. Then he went straight back to the banquet hall and left the Sun Palace with Flo Yin.
The prince was considerate enough to have the same carriage that brought them back, so Chen Lun and the other two took the carriage back to the Kangkai Church area.
On the way, Chen Lun told Fuluoyin that he might be very busy for some time in the future.
"Did the prince give you a mission?"
Floin guessed the answer very cleverly.
Chen Lun nodded.
"Well, since we have joined the Imperial Inquisition, we have to work hard for the Empire. There is no other way... In the past, we were an opposition supernatural force. Although we were free, we were also walking on thin ice. If we were not careful, we would get into all kinds of trouble."
He said with some emotion.
"Now that we have the support of the Kangkai Council and the Imperial Inquisition, we can do a lot of things with this identity, and we don't have to worry too much... But everything has a price. As the team leader, I have to be responsible for every member. This is the original promise I made to them."
"No matter what choice you make, I will always stand behind you."
Fuluoyin smiled slightly and placed her little hand on the back of Chen Lun's hand.
Her eyes revealed appreciation and admiration. The man in front of her carried a lot of burdens, but he had been leading the team forward under difficult circumstances.
Perhaps this is also his charm that makes Flo Yin unable to extricate himself.
"Thanks."
Chen Lun laughed and gently held Fuluoyin's hand with his backhand.
Flo Yin slowly leaned on his shoulder, and the two of them stopped talking, silently enjoying the rare time alone.
Soon, the carriage drove into the Conkai Church area and stopped at the door of the cathedral.
"Sir, we are here."
The royal coachman respectfully took off his hat and lowered his head to speak inside the curtain.
Chen Lun gentlemanly opened the curtain for Florin, took her hand and got out of the carriage, then turned around and gave the coachman a tip of five silver cups.
"Thanks for your hard work."
"You are welcome, honorable and generous sir. These are all the prince's orders."
The driver took the tip and said happily.
"Praise Trishul."
Chen Lun gently touched his chest, and the driver quickly prayed to express his respect for the royal family. Afterwards, the driver drove the carriage away, and Chen Lun took Fu Luoyin back to the residential area.
He immediately summoned the circus members and his councillors.
Everyone gathered in the conference room and sat down quietly.
"The prince has issued a mission to the Imperial Inquisition. I have to leave for a while to go to the depths of the spirit world to investigate the cause of the unrest... I'll leave this to you. If there's anything important, you can tell Flo Yin, and she will convey it to me through the 'Pale Seal'."
Chen Lun said to his men.
"Yes, Mr. Jack."
Everyone responded.
"Don't worry, Captain. We will do our job well."
Maggie laughed.
Chen Lun hummed, and then said to Frey Akbin and other Gold Cup members:
"During this time, you have all become familiar with the work of the church. From now on, the four of you will serve as the 'priests' of Wangcheng Kangkai Church. As for the specific weekly schedule, you can discuss it among yourselves... Except for special circumstances where you need to go out, you will stay here at other times."
"Thank you for your trust, Master Jack. We will do our best to fulfill your instructions."
Akbin looked at each other, then stood up and saluted.
Chen Lun nodded, then took out a huge iron bucket with a capacity of 100 liters from the Blood Poetry Ring and smashed it on the ground with a thud.
"This is the 'Fountain of Youth', which has the effect of healing injuries and diseases and prolonging life. It can be used as the 'holy water' of the Kangkai Church in the royal city to be given to believers and special guests. Fuluo Yin, this holy water will be kept by you."
He turned and said to Flo Yin.
The nun smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Akbin, the four of you can apply to Floin for it if you need it."
"Yes, Master Jack."
The four Gold Cup councillors answered.
Chen Lun then explained many matters one by one, so that the circus cadres all had things to do. The entire team was like a sophisticated machine, and it began to operate under the action of his spring.
late at night.
Chen Lun sat alone on the sofa in his room in the residential area.
He pondered for a moment, then slowly stood up and walked to the window, looking at the purple moon outside.
'Spiritual World Investigation Project, Dark World...'
Chen Lun took out Mr. Byers's token, the Orchid Statue, and sighed secretly. He then activated it, followed the instructions, took a step, and entered the secret area of the spirit world.
Mr. Byers's graveyard at night.
Looking at the silent tombstones around him, Chen Lun slowed down his breathing, walked forward, and came to the huge tombstone in the center. The names of Byers Wolff and his beloved wife Oget were engraved on the tombstone. Under the tombstone were a broken sword, a set of damaged black armor, and a bunch of fresh orchids.
This is all what Chen Lun did for the Byers couple.
Because the remains of Mr. Byers and the remains of Youlan were cut off from the lovesickness and merged into the mutated A-level monster Youshen Oath, this tombstone is just a "cenote" for the joint burial, which can be regarded as Chen Lun's compensation for Mr. Byers after his death.
Chen Lun touched the tombstone and felt its cold and rough texture.
He sat on the ground, leaning against the huge tombstone, just like Mr. Byers when he first met him here.
After a long silence, Chen Lun opened the last notebook Mr. Byers left for him.
"This is a record of what Mr. Byers saw and heard when he traveled to the dark world in order to consolidate the power of the saint's myth... Perhaps it will be helpful to my next move."
He had only briefly glanced through it before and roughly knew that it recorded some environmental conditions of the dark world.
After a moment.
Chen Lun stopped at one of the pages and frowned slightly.
'There is almost no sunlight, the environment is extremely harsh, and it is filled with countless half-human, half-insect polluted creatures...'
He recalled the dark end he had been to in the fairyland, where the situation was just as recorded in the notebook. The monsters he had encountered were powerful insect people, the sons of an ancient god called Didak.
As he continued to read, his shock grew stronger.
'In the dark world, there are also multiple spatial levels. Mr. Byers found a huge door, which is like a wonder. Through it, you can reach a deeper space... The deeper you go, the more polluted it is, and the more ferocious the monsters are. At the same time, you can also see some relics from the ancient era.'
Chen Lun looked at the notebook. Mr. Byers said that she had only explored the fourth layer of the dark world and didn't know how deep it was. But Chen Lun knew that it would eventually lead to the end of darkness, which was the area where Arnold was.
But the real end of darkness would not be like the replica of Wonderland... Arnold once told him that perhaps the real her had already died at the end of darkness.
"There is also the underground world that Mr. Byers recorded in his notebook. Somewhere in the dark world, there is a special area that can directly return to the real world, but it leads to the underground of the continent..."
Chen Lun turned the notebook to the end, and he was surprised to find that Mr. Byers actually met living people in the underground world, humans with whom he could communicate normally!
But the following content is blank, as if Mr. Byers has not had time to write it down...
'It seems that when Mr. Byers heard the news about his old enemy Terrence, he could not wait to return to the human world and began his revenge plan, so the notebook was not completed.'
Chen Lun thought.
'But these contents have helped me a lot...'
*
*
*
The next morning.
After Chen Lun washed up and had breakfast, he asked Golov to drive the carriage to take him to the headquarters building of the Imperial Inquisition.
This place is not far from the Sun Palace, near the long steps, and next to it is the shelter headquarters building. The two buildings are symmetrically divided, surrounded by high walls, and ordinary people can't see what's inside.
This is also an official confidential place, and any resident who comes within a hundred meters will be driven away by patrolling guards.
Golov showed his identification to the guard and walked unhindered to the bottom of the Tribunal building.
"Go back, no need to wait for me."
Chen Lun instructed Golov.
"Yes, Captain."
Golov saluted him, then swiftly jumped back into the carriage, shouted at the horses, turned the carriage around and left.
Chen Lun turned around and walked into the gate.
The first floor lobby of the jury was somewhat similar to a bank, with rows of seats and service windows separated by glass. Chen Lun did not stay here and went directly to the third floor, where the senior offices were.
As soon as he went up, he saw some members of the Imperial Inquisition sitting in the rest area in the corner of the spacious hall. They were sitting on the sofa drinking coffee and tea, chatting and exchanging ideas. The members of his first team also arrived early and sat around a coffee table.
There are seven members in the team, four men and three women, all of them are Sequence Five Transcendents.
When one of the young men saw Chen Lun approaching, he smiled and greeted him:
"Captain Jack, good morning."
"Good morning, Rahn."
Chen Lun nodded slightly in response.
His superior, McCaughlin, had already shown him the files on these team members' information. The young man in front of him, named Rahn, was an easy-going guy with a mild temper and decent strength. He had worked in the Executioner Squad for several years.
"Jack, as the captain, you are late. Isn't that unreasonable? You know, we have been waiting for you for a long time."
Another middle-aged man spoke calmly.
"Mathison, this isn't really a big deal. There's no need to be like this."
Rahn smiled and waved his hands, trying to lighten the mood.
Chen Lun glanced at Mathison and knew that this guy was quite dissatisfied with his position as captain. There were another man and a woman, Rocky and Melis, who had a similar attitude. The three of them seemed to be a small group.
"Yesterday's appointment didn't mention a specific time, so there's no such thing as being late. But since everyone got here before me, I'm a little careless. Sorry."
Chen Lun said with a chuckle.
Mathison wanted to say something, but Chen Lun raised his hand first.
"I will go and hand over to the receptionist later, leave a backup of the mission, and collect some supplies and props before departure... If you need anything, you can prepare it now, and then we will have a small meeting."
"Okay, Captain."
Laen and another female team member nodded, then stood up and left, walking towards a window, apparently wanting to apply to exchange some supplies.
The remaining five people were still sitting on the sofa.
"Captain, I don't have anything to prepare."
A male team member wearing a baseball cap explained to Chen Lun.
"Me too."
A female team member next to him whispered.
Her face was covered with a black veil, so her specific appearance could not be seen clearly, but overall she had an elegant temperament.
"Wells, Bessie, wait here for a moment."
Chen Lun nodded at the two of them.
Mathison, Rocky and Melis glanced at Chen Lun indifferently, then talked to each other in a low voice, as if they did not take him seriously.
Chen Lun glanced at them and turned away nonchalantly.
He first went to one of the windows, handed his ID number tag to the staff, and then registered for the task.
"Mr. Jackspeight, this is the supply package for your team. I wish you all the best in your next operation."
The female staff member who was in her thirties bowed her head deeply and wished him a happy birthday.
"Thanks."
Chen Lun nodded in thanks, took the package to the side, opened it and took a look.
There were three palm-sized anchor-shaped ornaments inside. They felt heavy in the hand and seemed to be made entirely of metal.
Extraordinary Item-Spiritual Anchor (One-time Consumable)
Through the panel introduction, Chen Lun learned that this thing can anchor a coordinate and then point to that coordinate at all times like a compass. Its purpose is to prevent the operators from encountering accidents and getting lost in the spiritual world.
In addition, there was a medicine bag and miscellaneous items in the package. When the medicine bag was opened, forty or fifty mini reagents the size of a little finger were revealed, and the bottles were filled with light purple potion.
Extraordinary Item-True Sight Potion (Seventh Improved Version of the Shelter Workshop)
Chen Lun looked at the description on the panel and learned that this potion could effectively improve insight. Although it could only last for a few seconds, it could fully support the user to see cracks in the spiritual world and thus enter the spiritual world or even deeper areas.
This is a medicine developed by the Empire government specifically for the spiritual world. It is used to help some extraordinary people who lack insight so that they can enter the spiritual world normally to perform their tasks.
Through Mr. Byers's notes and the internal files of the Inquisition, Chen Lun already knew the specific threshold to enter the spirit world and deeper -
The spiritual world requires 30 points of insight, the second level requires around 40 points of insight, and the third level requires around 50 points of insight... As for the dark world, at least 60 points of insight are required.
This is a pretty high hard target!
Therefore, even though the members of the Inquisition participating in the investigation are all mid-sequence transcendents, not everyone is qualified to enter the dark world. These "True Vision Potions" are the "keys" to help them open the door.
However, this medicine looked quite familiar to Chen Lun.
"Hey... Isn't this just a high-end version of 'Eye Drops'?"
He was a little surprised.
In the previous life 2.0 version, the way for players to participate in the main quest was to go to the spirit world to resist the pollution tide, but with the strength level of the players at the time, it was almost impossible to achieve the required insight.
Therefore, the government and major forces will provide a prop called "Spirit Eye Drops" to help them enter the spirit world.
Chen Lun looked at the packet of medicine and suddenly had an idea.
'Can you get the formula? Then let Maggie study it, reduce the cost, and make a similar potion. We can definitely make a lot of money... After all, this is the hard currency of the next version, and it is a must for players to participate in the main quest! '
With this thought in mind, he went to another window on the third floor and found the quartermaster.
Chen Lun applied to retrieve the exchange database, and actually found the "True Vision Potion Recipe" in it, with the exchange price being "one B-level merit".
'There's a chance!'
He was in a very good mood.
Immediately afterwards, Chen Lun started to look through the other things in the exchange warehouse.
"There are so many good things here... It's worthy of being an official inventory."
He scanned the list and was extremely surprised.
Suddenly, his gaze froze and stopped at one of the columns—
"'The Man Pursuing Knowledge, Laimeng's Thirty-Ninth Attempt', a mysterious book, author Laimeng Calonte, records a mysterious profession called the Engraver, which has the power to copy low- and medium-sequence mysterious knowledge. Exchange price: one B-level merit."