"Bang!"
Hermann was startled by the sound of the door closing. He turned around immediately and saw a strangely dressed man standing behind the door.
The man looked like a wizard from a medieval legend, wearing a long black robe and a tall pointed hat.
His face was hidden in the shadow of his tall hat, so his specific appearance could not be seen, but it could be seen that he had a long white beard.
"Mr. Herman, this is the first time we meet."
The man dressed as a wizard uttered these words, and his voice was as maddening as the shrill cry of a crow.
"I don't know you, tell me, where is my brother Eugene?!"
Herman shouted angrily at the man behind the door.
"Calm down, I don't mean any harm.
Mr. Eugene is now enjoying thirty-six-year-old wine and caviar from the Mediterranean at court.
I believe Mr. Herman will understand that every gram of these luxurious foods I mentioned is equivalent to a gram of gold."
The man raised his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender, showing his goodwill to Hermann.
"If my behavior just now scared you, I apologize for it.
I am His Highness Umberto's chief advisor, but I prefer you to call me the Archmage."
The man who called himself the Grand Master bowed to Hermann.
"Mr. Archmage, don't you think that barging into someone else's home is extremely impolite and even illegal?!"
Herman demanded.
"If I were doing this in a private capacity, Mr. Hermann, what you say is indeed correct.
It's a pity that this time I came here on behalf of His Highness's will to say hello to our great Father of the Silver Spoon.
I believe that Mr. Herman and his family have already felt the kindness of our Interstellar Wisdom Sect during these days?"
The great wizard clarified himself with reason and evidence.
Hearing this, Hermann raised his hands in anger and shouted at the Archmage,
“Good intentions?! We’ve been locked up in this hotel all day, and every time we go out, people look at us like we’re monsters!
Damn it! Our family doesn't need such kindness!
We don’t belong to Milan, nor do we want to stay in Milan forever!
We are not prisoners of Milan!"
The Archmage sighed.
“Mr. Herman, I apologize for the drastic actions taken by our church members, but I hope you can understand.
They all respect you from the bottom of their hearts, and in their hearts, your status is even equivalent to that of His Highness Umberto himself.
Please forgive their actions. Also, Mr. Hermann, please put down the fruit knife you just hid in your right sleeve.
I don’t mean to hurt you.”
Herman had previously hidden the fruit knife in his sleeve by yelling, and now he was embarrassed to be seen through by the great wizard. He could only say stubbornly,
"Where is the fruit knife? What I saw was a poisonous snake spewing lies in front of me."
The wizard shook his head. He understood that Hermann was wary of him and he could only resort to some small tricks.
"As you wish, Mr. Hermann."
The Archmage said so and snapped his fingers.
The silver emblem hanging on the archmage's chest flashed a faint light. Hermann noticed the fleeting light and instinctively raised his hand to block the dazzling light in front of his eyes.
The fruit knife hidden in his hand turned into a poisonous snake wrapped around his hand, staring at him with vicious and ferocious vertical pupils.
The poisonous snake had emerald green scales that reflected a creepy light, and it hissed at him with its black tongue.
Hermann realized from the cold touch of his hands and the friction of his skin that the poisonous snake was real. It all happened so suddenly.
Hermann panicked and threw the poisonous snake to the ground with his left hand. After falling to the ground, the snake opened its bloody mouth towards Hermann, and a slight fishy smell came out of its mouth.
The fishy smell symbolizes a deadly poison. Just a slight bite can take your life within seconds.
"Mr. Herman, this is the venomous snake you requested. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Although the Archmage tried to use a polite and friendly tone, he always gave people the feeling that he was difficult to trust.
Hermann looked at the venomous snake on the ground, which had already stood up, and said in panic,
"Get rid of it!"
"As you wish."
The great wizard stretched out his index finger and waved it gently, and the poisonous snake turned into star-like points of light and dissipated in the air.
Hermann collapsed on the sofa, his mumbling gradually turned into hysterical shouting.
“None of this is true.
None of this can be true.
What do you want
What do you want? ! "
The Archmage walked slowly from behind the door to sit next to Hermann and asked,
"Have you ever heard of the theory of the origin of the universe, Mr. Hermann?"
"What a bullshit theory of the birth of the universe, I just want to take my family away!"
Hermann wasn't listening to what the wizard was saying at all.
“The hypocritical Holy Light Church uses the theory of the birth of the universe to claim that the world was created by Holy Light, but before the actual existence of human civilization, there is no record of Holy Light.
From a geological perspective, some rock formations buried deep underground are much older than human history.
If so, how did the universe come into being
As one of the intelligent creatures on Earth, aren't you curious whether there are more intelligent creatures above the stars in the night sky
Don’t you want to know the origin of the world you live in? The truth behind the world?”
The great wizard was talking to himself, and even though Herman was not listening carefully, the desire for knowledge hidden deep in the human heart aroused Herman's interest.
Nevertheless, Hermann said coldly,
"What does that have to do with you imprisoning us?"
“Mr. Herman, I say this because we at the Interstellar Wisdom Sect are here to seek the truth.
We have found the door to truth, and only through the door to truth can we see the truth behind it.
This door cannot be opened by just pushing it, but requires a silver key, which is your precious son. "
The Archmage said to Hermann.
At this time, Hermann saw clearly the face of the great wizard under his tall hat. It was a face as thin as a skeleton.
The great wizard looked like a dying old man. There was no sign of life on his face, and his skin was like wrinkled dead skin draped over his face.
A pair of fanatical but empty eyes constantly reminded Hermann that the man in front of him seemed to be a madman, but he was an extraordinary madman.
There seemed to be countless curiosities hidden in those eyes, begging Hermann to compromise. Those eyes were as innocent as a child standing in front of a candy store and acting coquettishly to his family, but these were all superficial. Hidden beneath those eyes was endless darkness.
“My dear son, you are not a silver spoon.
Mr. Master, thank you for your magic show, but I think my wife is getting tired of waiting.
I should go back now.”
Herman thought it through and replied coldly.
He walked to the door and touched the handle, but the handle seemed to be welded by a soldering iron and could not be moved.
"Don't make any futile attempts, Mr. Herman.
I tolerate it out of respect, but there is a limit to my tolerance.
Now, please sit next to me and listen carefully to every word I say, otherwise I will make you experience something uncomfortable. "
The great wizard sat on the sofa, crossed his legs, and spoke with his head supported by one hand.
Hermann found that his body moved back involuntarily, like a puppet. No matter how hard he tried, his body still moved towards the sofa.
He clenched his teeth, the veins in his neck showed, and Hermann's face turned red.
"Move now!"
Hermann thought to himself.
But things went against his wishes, and in the end Hermann sat next to the great wizard.
Hermann's pajamas were soaked with sweat and stuck to his body.
"That's right, Mr. Hermann.
Don't struggle, don't resist, just as you shouldn't try to resist fate.
Ahaha, I remembered an interesting saying,
Life is like a bitch, it fucks you many times, but don't resist, just enjoy it. "
The great wizard was telling his own jokes, while Hermann sat there with a sullen face, looking depressed.
"Don't you think this is funny?"
The Archmage asked.
Hermann shook his head.
"Smile for me."
Suddenly, a strong murderous intent burst out from the great wizard, like a bunch of blades sticking to Hermann's body.
Hermann managed to deal with it by forcing out a smile that was uglier than crying.
"That's right, Mr. Hermann.
Human life is boring. You have to learn how to create fun in life in order to enjoy it.
For us in the Interstellar Wisdom Society, the greatest pleasure is to seek the truth.
Our God of Wisdom has already given us an oracle six hundred years ago!"
As soon as the great wizard mentioned the God of Wisdom, he started dancing and gesticulating like a patient running out of a mental hospital.
His words revealed his awe and worship for the God of Wisdom. Hermann even believed that as long as the God of Wisdom gave him an oracle to end his life, the archmage would do it without hesitation and then cut his throat with a sharp dagger.
“It’s really terrible.
The whole of Milan is full of such lunatics.
I will never come to this city again."
Hermann thought so.
“Six hundred years ago, an alchemist reached the pinnacle of alchemy.
A successful alchemy brought him countless prestige, but he was not satisfied.
Because he understood that his alchemy was still superficial and there was no way he could reach the true pinnacle—the alchemy of life.
In legends around the world, he discovered that there are powerful beings who can resurrect the dead with a wave of their hands and feet, there are powerful beings who can create living clay dolls out of mud, and there are powerful beings who can give life to giant trees to become towering tree people.
He longed for more power, he read through countless ancient books, and finally he found the relevant secret.
That is the god of wisdom recorded in the Book of the Dead—Yog-Sothoth!
The omniscient and omnipotent Yog-Sothoth controls all the power in the world and the knowledge and skills that humans desire.
With just a tiny bit of gift, the recipient can become a non-human being.
What a wonderful thing this is!"
The Archmage said in admiration.
"The God of Wisdom gave this alchemist a long life and promised to give this alchemist a chance to explore the truth. The price is to find the silver key and open the door to truth.
Now the alchemist has finally found the silver key, but doesn't know where the door is. What do you think the alchemist will do? "
The Archmage asked Hermann.
The Grand Master's last words gave Hermann goosebumps all over his body. Hermann realized from his words that the Grand Master was the alchemist who had lived for more than six hundred years, and sensed a hint of threat from it.
It was difficult for Hermann to understand the thinking of a person who had lived for so long, not to mention that the great wizard in front of him was obviously a madman.
In an instant, countless terrible thoughts flashed through Hermann's mind, including the idea of killing his beloved son Albert.
Hermann's intuition told him that this so-called door of truth was not a good thing and was extremely dangerous.
The great wizard saw the changing expressions on Hermann's face and obviously saw through Hermann's thoughts.
“Hey, don’t worry.
I am a person who sees the overall situation and I am also a reasonable person. As long as you stay here, you will be safe.
But I don’t recommend you to run away. Running away will make me very, very angry.
The God of Wisdom only needs the silver spoon, and never said he needs the parents of the silver spoon, do you understand?"
The Archmage said with a smile.
Hermann sighed.
"How about this, I'll make a deal with you."
"Oh? What agreement? Tell me about it."
The Archmage listened seriously to what Hermann was about to say next.
“Give our child a happy childhood, and you can go find him when he grows up.
He needs sunshine, friends and a happy environment to grow up in.
If the silver spoon is so important as you said, I believe you would definitely not want our child to complain to the God of Wisdom, right
I don't need much time, just eighteen years. When he comes of age, you can discuss it yourselves then.
And eighteen years later, I will come to Milan to be your hostage. Is that a problem
I believe it is easy to find someone with your means.
At the same time, we need a certain degree of freedom.”
Hermann said to the Archmage seriously.
"Hahahaha, Mr. Hermann is indeed a big businessman.
Eighteen years can't be more than ten years, and I need your whole family to come to Milan.
I dare to agree to your conditions, what about you? "
The Archmage asked jokingly.
Hermann nodded, which was beyond the Archmage's expectations.
"It's a deal."