Mystery: The Stars Returner

On the sea.

Klein, who had a fierce look on his face and a full beard, was throwing a blade on the deck of the ship that he had just killed a pirate with a reward of 1200 gold pounds.

He wiped his blood-spattered fingers with the hem of the clothes of a pirate standing beside him who was afraid to move. After doing this, he looked at the frightened pirates around him.

"You have to live a good life and try to increase your worth so that I can exchange your heads for some drink money in the future." A smile appeared on Klein's face, and combined with his deep and hoarse voice, it made the listeners feel even more creepy. .

"Now, get out of here before I change my mind."

The surrounding pirates heard this and left the pirate ship in panic. Some pirates even jumped into the sea with empty oak barrels.

The Black Skull Pirate Group, which was slightly famous among pirates, fell apart in this way.

After all the pirates on the ship left, Klein whispered: "The bounty of 1200 gold pounds is not bad."

"But there is also an intelligence fee of 100 gold pounds to be paid to Mr. Hanged Man, and 7600 gold coins are still owed to Miss Messenger."

"According to the unequal exchange rate between gold coins and gold pounds, I still need to earn a bounty of nearly 8000 gold pounds, which will require about seven or eight bounty tasks."

"Sigh, it's a pity that those well-known pirates have found places to hide under the suppression of the Church of Storms. If I didn't have Mr. Hanged Man's inside information, it would be difficult for me to accurately hunt them."

He thought that if he could hunt down a big pirate with 5000 gold pounds, it would be easy to pay off the debt.

Fortunately, the messenger lady never took the initiative to ask for repayment.

"Go back first and hunt another pirate hiding nearby tomorrow."

When Klein was about to leave the pirate ship, Spirit madly signaled him to go above the gray mist in his mind.

There was no other way, so Klein could only find a nearby dirty bathroom, endure the unpleasant smell, and walk four steps backwards, entering above the gray mist.

When he arrived, the gray fog outside Source Castle was making a mad noise. This movement was even more intense than the last time the mysterious man visited.

He sat at the head of the long bronze table and looked down. Through the cracks in the billowing gray fog, I could vaguely see seven light beams of different colors rising into the sky and reaching the space beneath the gray fog.

Several hound-like creatures ran out of the cracks in time, their tails raised, and they were on full alert for something.

Klein had seen this kind of creature in the books given to him by Mr. Azik.

This is Fulgrim's Hound!

He is a loyal guardian of the spiritual world!

Something is wrong!

Klein noticed something different from last time.

Last time, I was discovered by the mysterious figure when I was observing Silver City, and then I came to the outskirts of the gray fog through the traces I left.

At that time, He and I were not only separated by gray mist, but also separated by a distance as far as the land abandoned by God.

But this time, it seems to be coming straight towards the main body of Source Castle!

Even he himself doesn't know where the Source Castle is exactly now, so how did the other party come to find it?

Those Fulgan dogs outside guarding Source Castle should be afraid that the other party would be detrimental to Source Castle, so they chose to incarnate.

Klein couldn't help but feel panic in his heart. This was the first time that an inexplicable being found his real residential address along the network cable.

Who is it?

Is he the mysterious person from last time?

Klein looked at the scene outside the gray fog seriously and worriedly.

After a while, a bird call loud enough to break through the sky resounded throughout the gray fog.

Then a fiery red light spread upward from below, and even the gray fog was dyed into a large red cloud.

The vigilance of Fulgrim's Dogs also reached its peak at this time. Amid their vigilance and Klein's gaze, a huge phoenix appeared in front of the gray mist, flapping its wings that covered the sky.

And on the huge phoenix, there seemed to be a palace gathering hazy starlight.

Inside the palace, there sat a mysterious being who also sat at the head of the long table.

Klein looked at the other person through the gray mist, and his scalp suddenly felt numb. He tried hard to suppress the panic in his heart, maintained his calm on the surface, and looked at the mysterious being through the air.

The gray fog outside Source Castle began to spread, trying to swallow up the illusory palace that radiated starlight.

But wisps of starlight fell down and turned into a barrier, completely blocking the spread and erosion of the gray fog.

"The Fool."

In the Starlight Palace, the mysterious existence faintly said the title Fool.

Klein's expression suddenly shook, and he immediately understood the true identity of the place.

Stars!

To be able to sit in a palace made of the light of stars, who else could it be besides the stars?

Moreover, the last time he and the other party worked together in Backlund to prevent George III from ascending to the throne of God.

Is it because of that cooperation that the stars locked their true positions?

Then why did He come today?

Klein didn't think too much. He leaned back slightly on his chair, pretending to be calm and composed, and then chuckled and said, "Stars."

Now that the other party has arrived outside the gate, and the gray mist cannot stop the other party, he can only pretend to be the real Fool, the real Lord of Mysteries through bluffing.

Only in this way can we protect ourselves and scare off the other party.

"You just woke up not long ago, and you still seem to be very weak?"

Faced with the undisguised temptation of the stars, Klein just tapped his fingers on the table and said with a smile on his lips: "It doesn't take long for the stars to wake up, doesn't it?"

It is not difficult to make this guess. The Stars Organization and his own Tarot Society appeared at almost the same time, and their followers were active in Backlund at the same time.

It is enough to show that this star has just awakened and is constantly expanding his beliefs through his followers and actively affecting the real world.

This formal style is very much like the process of a sleeping powerful being waking up and beginning to re-understand the world and intervene in it.

Eh...how does this look like I am pretending to be Mr. Fool?

In the eyes of Tarot Club members, Mr. Fool is such a mysterious existence.

The only difference between myself and the stars is that I, the fool, am pretending, bluffing and showing nothing.

And the other party, the stars, are really existences that have awakened from ancient times.

Is this a fake Li Kui encountering a real whirlwind?

Klein felt a little unsure, but he still tried to maintain his composure on the surface and wanted to hear what the other party had to say.

Did he come with malicious intent, or did he want to negotiate and cooperate with him?

"Do you still remember the agreement we made?"

"??"

Klein had a question mark on his forehead, what was the original agreement?

What agreement?

Why don't you know?

The person the stars are talking about should be the original Lord of Mysteries, right?

But I don’t have the memory of the Lord of Mysteries. Who knows what kind of agreement was reached between the Lord of Mysteries and the stars.

It's over. Isn't he about to be exposed?

No, you absolutely cannot answer this question head-on!

Klein was silent for a while before replying: "Times have changed, and everything in the past should have been buried in the long river of history."

"In a new era, there can also be new promises."

"Do Qunxing also need a partner?" Seeing that Qunxing came to visit today without any ill intentions, Klein decided to ask the other party to see if he could find out the other party's details.

"In the past, it was a mystery, but now it is a fool. Since it is different, it is natural to start over."

Klein frowned slightly, unsure of the meaning of this sentence.

The stars seemed to say this deliberately. Did he see the difference between himself and the Lord of Mysteries?

Or does he regard himself as the rebirth of the Lord of Mysteries?

"How do the stars want to cooperate?" Klein decided to test the stars' purpose again.

"Fool, you are too weak now."

"..."

Klein was speechless. He actually heard a teasing and friendly tone from these words.

Could it be that the relationship between Mystery and Qunxing was very friendly back then?

Forget it, I don’t need to clarify the relationship here. Even if I am really exposed by the other party, at worst, I will leave Source Castle and return to the real world, leaving the stars alone outside the gate of Source Castle.

"Often the party that actively seeks cooperation is the weakest and bluffest." Klein appropriately showed Mr. Fool's tough side.

"Fool, aren't you bluffing right now?"

Such a simple sentence made Klein's heart tremble.

Of course he was bluffing. Was this a temptation from the stars, or had He really seen through his own lies?

Klein still maintained a calm tone: "I'm not the one who came to seek cooperation."

"Maybe I'm here to offer you protection."

"The blessings of the stars should be reserved for those who need it more."

After Klein finished speaking, he vaguely heard the stars chuckle, as if they were amused.

Are what you said so ridiculous?

Klein carefully reviewed each of his previous answers, and there was nothing worth laughing about.

Although I can't say that my disguise is perfect, it is not that easy to reveal flaws.

"The stars seem to be in a good mood?"

"It's really good. I get to meet an old friend."

Klein's heart trembled again, meeting an old friend?

The stars, the Lord of Mysteries, and the Fool are no longer human beings. Why do the stars use the term "old friend"?