The Book of Gospel was a boon from the Omniscient Weaver, a divine miracle beyond mortal reach, an all-powerful wishing machine, and the foundation upon which Gospel Country operated.
Yet in the end, it was merely a tool.
No matter how magnificent a tool might be, washed by the long river of time, it would eventually lose every shred of sanctity. Making use of tools was an expression of wisdom—and even more so, an instinct of sorcerers.
"If we say the Book of Gospel is a spiderweb blanketing the entire country, then agencies are the bugs burrowing through its meshes," Purple Moth said with a smile. "The Book of Gospel doesn't make mistakes; it is merely a bit... slow on the uptake.
"Transferring talent right before ranking evaluations can shift the standings of two cities, and there are many, many more rules like this to exploit. For instance, the Book of Gospel doesn't permit us to directly obtain someone's specific information or current location, but as long as you make a slight detour when phrasing your query, you can achieve the same result—you can't ask for their location, but you can ask for the location of their car.
"An agency's job is to exploit known loopholes in the rules to fulfill all sorts of commissions." Annan gently flicked the rim of her wine glass. "It is a highly dangerous profession. Because the Book of Gospel makes no mistakes, it is merely slow. When it senses an abnormal vibration traveling along the web, any audacious little bug that dares commit sacrilege will meet the end befitting vermin."
Igola frowned and asked, "If the Book of Gospel loathes bugs like you who exploit loopholes, why does it let you onto the rankings?"
"Because the web still has meshes," Annan said softly. "As long as the meshes exist, there will always be room for agencies like ours to survive. When agencies are eradicated entirely, that will mean reality itself is about to become a kingdom of heaven."
"A heaven where everyone engages in cutthroat competition, toiling endlessly just to vie for rankings?" Yaxiu thought about it and felt goosebumps all over. "Sounds more like hell, doesn't it?!"
"I think it sounds pretty good," Harvey said. "The corpses of sorcerers who drop dead from exhaustion make excellent materials."
Annan looked at Igola, gesturing at Yaxiu. "Is the environment in your Blood Moon Country that terrible, that someone who despises competition can become a Two-Winged Sorcerer?"
"...Once again, please do not attribute individual behavior to the entire country," Igola said helplessly. "So, can we outsiders serve as your tools to exploit loopholes? The contract's duration is 101 days—is there an important ranking evaluation happening during this period?"
"Precisely." Annan nodded with great satisfaction. "Mr. Bogin, in the past, I would have loved to invite you to join the Funeral Agency. Unfortunately, that's no longer possible."
Igola's expression chilled slightly. "Miss Annan, I do not believe revealing your murderous intent 101 days in advance is a wise choice."
"You misunderstand me far too deeply." Annan spread her hands. "What I mean is that after taking part in my plan, not only will I gain unspeakable benefits, but even you will transcend the mortal realm and reign at the summit of the world.
"I'm never afraid that you'll seek revenge against me, because after 101 days, you will only be endlessly grateful to me.
"Because our goal isn't ordinary rankings, but the once-in-fifty-years Weaving Ceremony!"
Because our goal is to ring the bell on Nasdaq... Yaxiu was suddenly reminded of when he had submitted a resume in his past life and a boss had spun him a grandiose, empty vision just as blatantly. Fresh out of college back then, his blood had nearly boiled with enthusiasm, only to be crushed by 'cutting-edge flexible working hours' (unpaid overtime) and 'an outstanding learning platform' (taking on multiple roles for a single paycheck).
Yet here they were, having already signed a predatory contract that left them completely at her mercy. Why was their new boss still wasting effort dangling empty promises? She had already forced herself upon them, yet she was still bothering with foreplay—she really took meticulousness to another level.
"The rankings in the Book of Gospel, as well as the intelligence that can be redeemed, are all about the past that has already occurred," Annan said. "If one wishes to redeem information about the future, not only is the cost exorbitant, but it is also very likely unobtainable—unless it concerns security intelligence regarding visitors from foreign realms. For national defense needs, the Book of Gospel allocated extra predictive resources toward foreign visitors and lowered the cost to redeem information about you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to welcome the three of you at just the right moment.
"However, the rankings introduced during the Weaving Ceremony are different, because they concern the future that is still being woven, not yet fully formed."
"The future." Igola's eyes flickered. "Do you mean...?"
Annan said, "Take, for instance, if the Weaving Ceremony introduces the Four-Winged Sorcerer Combat Power Ranking. Those who make the list will most likely not be the well-known Legendary Sorcerers of today, but new legends who will rise one after another over the next fifty years to dominate the contemporary era!
"Perhaps someone on the list is currently just an obscure sorcerer apprentice, or someone might have only just been born. Yet under the full weaving of the Book of Gospel, their destinies will turn into deterministic history, and we will be able to hear the echoes of the future.
"To distinguish them from the ordinary God's Chosen who make the regular rankings, those who make the rankings during the Weaving Ceremony are what we call 'Echoers'—the echoes sent back after the Book of Gospel observes the future.
"The Weaving Ceremony begins on May 10th and concludes on August 10th. A future ranking is released every ten days, totaling ten future rankings. Unlike the point rewards of regular rankings, future rankings provide tailor-made rewards for those on the list, including but not limited to Experience Orbs, rare sorcery spirits, precious items, and even permanent divine favor miracles!"
Harvey had an epiphany. "If we make the rankings, you want us to hand over the rewards to you?"
Annan smiled faintly, though she did not answer right away. Instead, she continued her explanation. "There is a hierarchy among rankings; you should understand that, right?"
The group nodded. National rankings were undoubtedly superior to regional rankings, organizational rankings outranked individual rankings, sorcerer rankings stood above non-sorcerer rankings, and a Four-Winged Sorcerer ranking ranked higher than a One-Wing Sorcerer ranking. Put simply, the harder a ranking was to enter, the higher its status.
"Among the ten rankings of the Weaving Ceremony, aside from the tenth ranking which is predetermined, the other nine are completely random. In the last Weaving Ceremony, there was even a Cat's Cradle Ranking." Annan tapped her fingertips gently against the long table. "Therefore, every placement on every ranking possesses a 'hidden score' used to determine the hierarchy among Echoers. And the Echoer with the highest hidden score will receive a boon from the Omniscient Weaver."
"What kind of boon?"
"A wish." A dynamic spiritual light flickered in Purple Moth's beautiful green eyes. She raised a single finger, pointing upward. "An omnipotent wish.
"Revival from death, true immortality, transcending Four Wings, or even... traveling through time and space!"
Igola's pupils shrank abruptly. Harvey stopped biting his fingers. Yaxiu narrowed his eyes slightly.
After a long silence, Lisi suddenly propped her little face up with both hands, staring at the Scarlet-Gold Drake-Lizard on the table. "That sounds wonderful. Lisi also has a wish... Lisi seems to remember having a little sister. I really want to see her."
The atmosphere suddenly lightened. Stroking his ring, Igola asked, "Is this wish your goal?"
Purple Moth nodded. "Indeed. I won't ask for any of the rewards you receive for making the rankings, but this wish granted to the one with the highest hidden score—that alone must be yielded to me."
Yaxiu spoke up out of the blue. "Why are you so certain we can become Echoers on the future rankings? Aside from staying single and slacking off, I don't have much confidence in any other field."
"Outsiders," Igola said calmly. "Whether we can become Echoers has nothing to do with our present talent, but everything to do with our identity as outsiders."
Ting.
Annan flicked her earring with a smile. "What kind of intelligence do you think the Book of Gospel relies on to extrapolate the future?"
"The past."
"Family, environment, resources, genetic inheritance... Honestly speaking, it isn't complicated. For a child born into an affluent household with loving, well-educated parents and erudite, upper-class neighbors, anyone could see his privileged life trajectory at a glance.
"Likewise, for someone of humble birth whose parents died early, timid and cowardly, plain in appearance, his future is just as readily apparent.
"The Weaving Ceremony turns the vast past into strands of thread to weave an absolute, deterministic, undisturbed, and inevitable future. If a person has lived in Gospel Country since the moment of their birth, even if they haven't cried their first cry yet, the Book of Gospel can still weave their future with one hundred percent certainty."
"But we are outsiders." Harvey glanced at his fingers, bitten almost to the point of bleeding, and lightly licked the wound with his tongue. He said calmly, "The gospel can only blanket this country. Even if a Void Realm passage briefly connected to the Blood Moon, it's impossible for it to know our distant past."
"Without enough of a past to serve as an anchor, the Book of Gospel's predictions of your future must rely almost entirely on everything happening in the 'present.' Which is to say..."
A moth-shaped two-winged sorcery spirit emerged at Annan's fingertip. "...You can use the 'present' to deceive the Book of Gospel into weaving an even more brilliant 'future' for you.
"You are the most dangerous bugs caught in Gospel Country's web."
Chapter 194