Chapter 1776 Apulia <TOC> Chapter 1778 Alive
Translator: SumTLMan
Apulia swiftly signed the confidentiality agreement.
Rosen didn’t keep him in suspense and directly mentioned the matter about the Bud. Initially, Apulia didn’t take it too seriously. However, once he understood the classification of the Mysterious Object, he was rendered speechless.
After undergoing a series of emotional shocks and inner turmoil, Apulia’s feelings finally settled.
“… I’m starting to regret signing this contract,” Apulia commented, rubbing his temples which had started to throb. Even without making any prophecies at this moment, he felt an overwhelming malice surrounding him.
“Once you learned about the Bud, there was no turning back,” Rosen replied calmly.
“I understand,” Apulia sighed deeply, slowly facing the reality from a sense of resignation. “What does the Lord of the City want from me?”
“As you might expect, I want to know more about the Bud,” Rosen stated.
Apulia nodded. “Alright, I’ll give it a try.”
With that, Apulia slowly walked to the center of the hall. His expression was solemn, and he seemed to be murmuring some incantations. However, upon closer listening, one would realize that Apulia’s whispers were mostly regretful lamentations like, “Why was I so foolish to sign the confidentiality agreement?” and “I knew the more I knew, the more dangerous it would be. Why did I still take this path? I regret it!…”
In between these expressions of remorse, there were some baffling complaints.
For instance: “Why is half of the floor stone and the other half metal today? Are they redecorating?” “Is this a zebra-style decoration? When did the Lord’s aesthetic sense become so peculiar?” “The previous metal floor used to reflect perfectly under one’s skirt. Why did they randomly change it?”
Angel listened with a speechless expression. Meanwhile, Rosen on the opposite side, and the projected image of Antonio from the communication device, looked unperturbed. It seemed they had grown accustomed to Apulia’s continuous murmuring.
Antonio, ever considerate, reassured Angel, “Apulia is not always like this. However, whenever he’s nervous, he tends to ramble nonsensically.”
The “nervous” Apulia walked to the center of the hall, took a deep breath, and then raised the wooden staff in his hand high above.
At that moment, his constant murmuring finally ceased.
Suddenly, an aura, enigmatic and profound, began to emanate from the tip of his staff.
Under this aura, Apulia seemed like a prophet who had stepped out of ancient times, standing on the desolate cliffs of time, pondering the direction of the future.
As Apulia’s aura grew stronger and stronger, the entire metal hall seemed to transform into a chaotic cosmos.
Apulia stood at the heart of this universe, surrounded by a dazzling array of stars.
When the aura reached its peak, Apulia forcefully slammed his staff onto the ground. A resonant “thud——” echoed, sending vast ripples of energy diffusing outward.
Simultaneously, the stars began to fall, and the universe reverted to dark chaos. The entire hall was instantly shrouded in darkness. In this boundless darkness, a rushing noise emerged.
It started soft, growing louder and more pervasive.
It resembled a raging river, churning in the darkness, rushing towards an unknown destination.
Although Angel couldn’t see it, he knew that this might be a manifestation of the River of Destiny. Without a doubt, what Apulia believed in was likely the River of Destiny, one of the three divisions of the prophecy school.
This roaring sound persisted for a long time, and finally, with a sigh from an unknown source, the darkness receded, and light returned.
Immersed in the mystical afterglow for quite some time, Apulia eventually lifted his head.
“What did you see?” Rosen inquired.
Apulia shook his head gently, his face etched with a hint of helpless bitterness, “I saw nothing.”
“You saw nothing? What happened?”
Resting his staff on his lap, Apulia seated himself cross-legged on the ground. “I initially sought clues regarding the Bud. No success. I then narrowed my search, attempting to gather information about the followers of the Bud. Destiny still didn’t guide me. I refined my search again, focusing on the Southern Region and the Gloriosa Kingdom, yet Destiny remained indifferent.”
He continued, “Then, I tried a unique method, hoping to identify clues within the cyclical River of Destiny. Alas, still no gains.”
Apulia had exhausted almost every spell he could think of, including the most rudimentary of all prophetic spells — the method of future enumeration. Yet, he uncovered not a shred of information.
“Any content related to the Bud seems to be shrouded by a thick, impenetrable black mist, obscuring everything from view. Moreover…” Apulia paused, his expression grave, “Whenever I probe into the mist, I fall into a strange, entranced state. If that state had persisted for just a few more seconds, I felt my mental strength would have been irreversibly tainted.”
It was the first time Apulia had encountered such a peculiar situation during a prophecy.
This direct mental contamination felt as if there was some concealed will, existing in obscurity, obstructing everyone’s pursuit of the secrets of the Bud.
After listening to Apulia’s account, Rosen’s expression grew even graver.
He had suspected from the beginning that prophecy magic might not be effective. He was well aware that Mysterious Objects were very peculiar. Any investigative spells cast upon them might fail, and even the naked eye, light, or energy could be deflected by them.
Almost every Mysterious Object has the capacity to bend, weaken, or even ignore laws.
The art of prophecy was no exception.
Rosen thought that as long as they didn’t involve the essence of the Bud itself and merely sought the followers of the Bud, no problems should arise. However, his hopes were dashed. Everyone and everything related to the Bud was obscured.
“The horrifying effect of this is indeed a phenomenon that’s out of control with no solution,” Antonio murmured.
Angel nodded in agreement, now understanding why some would worship the God of the Bud. If one devoted themselves to it, they would be shielded by a mysterious field of chaos. This protection seemed almost like a “sanctuary” bestowed by a deity, imbued with a religious aura.
With things as they stood, it appeared to be a stalemate. There was no way to locate the followers of the Bud, let alone eliminate or expel them.
What should they do?
As everyone pondered a solution, Apulia used a “Luck Selection spell,” a spell evolved from “Choose One of Two Fortunes,” which belongs to the Ask the Bell School. Apulia wanted to change the approach: instead of seeking the answer directly, he aimed to find a superficial method to resolve the problem——
“How can one alleviate a troubled heart?”
However, after using the spell, Apulia felt no emotional stirrings, deducing that the Luck Selection spell had likely failed.
Shaking his head, Apulia didn’t seem too disappointed. He had merely tried it on a whim and hadn’t truly expected feedback.
Yet, when they were at a loss, a gentle breeze blew in from a slightly open window.
This breeze, moving through the hall, went unnoticed by the group. That was until it lifted a piece of parchment with frayed edges from an experiment table, capturing the attention of both Angel and Rosen.
As the parchment floated in mid-air, a simple symbol on it became clear.
A “Y” at the top and a “一” below.
Upon seeing this pattern, drawn with elegant strokes, both Angel and Rosen had the same realization——
“Silkvine!”