Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon
Chapter 412 - 411: The Peace Pact

Chapter 412: Chapter 411: The Peace Pact

Over the next two days, the visiting group indeed headed to the City of Defense.

Chaoyang seamlessly switched to his City of Defense counterpart, using The Divine Country’s "connection" ability to observe everyone’s movements throughout the journey. Evidently, neither the Laurel Royal Family nor the Longjiu Family were aware of the secret from fifteen years ago, and they had no intention of visiting the beach cave. Qibo Longjiu, on the other hand, earnestly walked through most of the city on foot, asked many passers-by, and spent quite some time at the Paradise Church’s reception.

Clearly, witnessing a city that should have been abandoned become so bustling and lively was far more shocking than any rumor. At the same time, they discovered discrepancies in the history of both places; for instance, people had evidently left the City of Defense within the past fifteen years, yet the outside world had no awareness of it, not even regarding the news pertaining to the Paradise Church, which had only begun circulating in the past year, originating from the Magnificent Castle in the New Continent.

Unfortunately, under the influence of the Mist Power, no matter how they inquired, they couldn’t find any flaws—the memories of the citizens of the City of Defense were real, as were those of the outside world. Without having personally experienced the enigma of Unfathomed, they would likely never understand this truth.

However, for Qibo, the shock was far from over.

He found that in both Thistlefort and the City of Defense, the control exerted by the Paradise Church was far deeper than he had anticipated. This was not simply a divinity sect, but a bona fide governing authority. The local citizens had long since happily accepted the absence of a lord, while the governance of the Paradise Church was orderly and meticulous, demonstrating a wealth of experience that was hardly characteristic of a newly established organization.

There was also the remarkable Follower’s Mark, which incredibly allowed people to communicate over long distances, unquestionably a magical construct, and one that could be reproduced on a large scale at that.

Regrettably, the Follower’s Mark could only be used within areas under the Paradise Church’s influence; once leaving the city’s boundaries, it became nothing more than a plain gemstone.

Reducing the cost of magical constructs and making them accessible to everyone had long been a goal that Duke Longjiu strived for.

In this regard, the two parties shared an unexpected similarity.

Qibo could not deny that this newly emerged sect was indeed different from past sects; the Longjiu Family should pay close attention to it.

After repeated requests from the eldest son of the Longjiu Family, the Divine Envoy Chaoyang finally "agreed" to facilitate a meeting.

The audience ceremony was arranged to take place in the City of Defense Holy Hall, with only Qibo Longjiu in attendance, which undoubtedly signified who the real leader of the delegation was.

The moment Qibo followed Chaoyang into the audience hall, he felt the lighting around him dim considerably. The room was draped with high-quality black velvet curtains hanging from the ceiling down to the floor; many candles burning at his feet flickered like a cluster of stars. The air was filled with the scent of pine resin and mixed with the peculiar smell of herbs, akin to the divination chamber of an ancient witch.

He frowned slightly.

Such ancient rituals seemed out of place with the identity of a New Divine... For example, the halls of the Mechanical Sect were adorned with a uniform theme of connecting rods and gears, radiating strength. The scene before him, however, resembled a setup from several hundred years ago, when people still blindly followed the divinities.

But after all, this was foreign territory, so he refrained from commenting.

"Please, take a seat," Chaoyang gestured toward a lounge chair, then stepped onto the opposite ceremonial platform.

"Uh... don’t you have a more normal chair?" Qibo asked somewhat awkwardly, glancing at the chair.

"Meeting a divinity requires one to relax completely; lying down is more suitable than sitting. Anyone who wishes to converse with a divinity does so in this chaise lounge," Chaoyang explained dispassionately. "Or has the sir changed his mind?"

"No... this will do," Qibo resignedly replied and settled into the lounge chair. With his center of gravity lowered, he felt an intense suggestion of unease, so he firmly grasped the armrests on both sides of the chair, allowing him to quickly lift himself up in case of any unexpected circumstances.

"Then, I shall summon the divinity," Chaoyang stated, feigning seriousness.

"Please go ahead. I am eager to converse with the divinity you serve," Qibo said.

As an ancient chant filled the air, the firelight around grew dimmer, as if a curtain had enveloped the entire hall. Qibo noticed that the candles beside him had disappeared, and even the ground had turned pitch black, yet even in this lightless condition, he could still clearly see his clothes and fingers.

This illogical scenario indeed seemed like an atmosphere divinities enjoyed creating.

What Qibo did not know was that he was not sitting opposite just Chaoyang, but a row of people—for instance, Kokomoqi, who was responsible for adjusting the light effects, Xue Quan, who was in charge of the dialogue content, Ailuodi, who ensured he made no sudden moves, and the Shadow that prevented any information leaks. Even the armrests on either side of the lounge chair were transformed from a Magic Hourglass, letting anyone seated and holding onto the armrests confirm through the hourglass whether he spoke the truth.

Fearful Qibo could never imagine that this audience ceremony was his one-man audience with an inspection team composed of multiple divinities.

When the chanting ended, an image of an Angel constructed of white phantasms slowly emerged in the boundless darkness, an image also in accordance with the statues in the City of Defense square.

"You are not my follower..." a mixed voice of male and female sounded simultaneously, "Tell me, what is your purpose for wanting to see me?"

Qibo Longjiu swallowed hard.

He had thought he was different from those unsophisticated commoners, that even in the face of divinities, he could speak freely, just as he did when he conversed with the God of All Machines. But when the Paradise Master looming above looked down at him, a strong sense of insignificance welled up in his heart.

No, it was just him scaring himself.

Divinities are not just powerful beasts; they are the incarnations of human prayers.

"Recently, the Longjiu Family received a warning." Qibo took a deep breath, trying hard to maintain his dignity. However, the sight of him lying and speaking, no matter how hard he tried, could not seem formal, "The warning states that the Paradise Church in Thistlefort is plotting a divine war against the Mechanical Sect. The Paradise Church has found a Divine Relic in the City of Defense and intends to use it as a weapon to secretly assassinate the God of All Machines. To prevent any misunderstanding between the two sides, my father has specially sent me to visit Thistlefort."

It was not a confrontation, nor was it an interrogation about the truth, but to prevent misunderstanding?

This wording slightly surprised Chaoyang.

As for the content of the warning... it was indeed quite precise.

"Wherein lies the so-called misunderstanding?"

"Divine Lord, the primary purpose of this warning is undoubtedly to sow discord, someone hopes that the Longjiu Family will direct its spearhead at Thistlefort and the Paradise Sect, to profit from it. The transmission of the message was cleverly disguised, the conspirator even utilized a pawn hiding for a long time in the Royal City to achieve this, but my family was not deceived, on the contrary, we traced the source of the message to come from the land of mountains."

Although he did not name names, who ruled over the land of mountains was common knowledge.

"I see, so you do not wish for the Paradise Sect to enter into direct conflict with the Mechanical Sect?"

"Of course," Qibo answered decisively, "The people of the continent should advance together rather than slaughter each other... If it weren’t for the Kingdom Army’s corruption in colluding with the Heretical Cult forces, the Longjiu Family would not have been driven to this extent."

He spoke with finality, but the sand in the hourglass quickened its pace.

"If you have come just to inform me of this message, then I am already aware."

"Yes... my father has also entrusted me with another matter, which is to observe Thistlefort and the City of Defense on-site, to see if the people under your sect’s governance are indeed afforded good protection. And my conclusion is, the local residents have indeed benefited from the governance of the Paradise Sect, their standard of living having improved a lot from when it was under the dominion of the original Kingdom lord, proving that your sect is on the right path. Thus, I wish to represent the Longjiu Family and sign a treaty with the Paradise Sect, to mutually recognize each other’s spheres of influence, and peacefully compete for the followers in unclaimed lands; ultimately, neither side will invade the other’s territory, to prevent the blight of war from spreading across the entire continent," Qibo Longjiu earnestly said.