"Does this 'Revelation' state last forever?" Yaxiu glanced at everyone. "And none of your next steps seem to involve work at all... So is our Funeral Agency disbanding right here and now?"
"This isn't work hours anyway, but a daily social session for team bonding," Annan said. "Besides, 'Revelation' definitely isn't around the clock. In the bottom-tier city, there's an allowance of only five minutes of Revelation per hour."
Just as Annan finished speaking, Harvey finally managed a *click-spark* and lit his cat grass cigarette. It was like a signal of liberation—Igola instantly relaxed and returned to normal, Banjie closed his notebook and stepped out of his keyboard-pounding pig mode, and Annan released Yaxiu's hand, though she remained seated right beside him.
Only Lisi kept her head buried in his chest, playing the ostrich who didn't dare face anyone.
"How does it feel?" Yaxiu asked.
"To be honest, pretty good," the necromancer said, blowing a smoke ring toward the subterranean city. "An irresistible addiction suppressed by a nobler rationality, absolute will reigning supreme over all hormones... It felt like returning to the carefree days before prison."
"Indeed." Banjie couldn't help but nod. "It's like a clogged sewer suddenly being cleared. Every thought connects the moment you think it, every concept clicks at a glance—it truly lives up to the name 'Revelation.' And unlike Fanmula's 'white fog,' Revelation brings mental fulfillment rather than the physical satisfaction of irritant gas forcibly stimulating receptors. If there are five minutes of such bliss every hour, no wonder so many people choose to stay in the bottom tier."
"Sounds pretty nice, then." Yaxiu looked at the swindler. "So why did you look like you were in so much agony, Igola? Couldn't you just follow your instincts?"
Igola glared fiercely at the cult leader. "Who do you think was responsible for that?!"
Yaxiu threw up his hands. "Could it really have been me?"
The swindler took a deep breath and looked away. "...As a fully prepared mind sorcerer, I made my choices long ago. I never needed 'Revelation' to tell me what was best!"
"Yaxiu," Annan suddenly asked, "did you not enter Revelation just now?"
"At least I didn't feel any difference," Yaxiu mused. "Maybe I'm usually as smart as Revelation already?"
Harvey choked on his smoke. Igola's mouth twitched. Banjie spilled some tea as he poured. Annan burst out laughing, clapping a hand on Yaxiu's shoulder and struggling so hard not to laugh that tears formed in her eyes, while Lisi's shoulders shook uncontrollably with giggles.
Yaxiu fumed at the sight. He couldn't beat the others, but bullying Lisi was fair game, so he vigorously rubbed her white-haired head in retaliation.
Still, no one was surprised that Yaxiu didn't receive Revelation. After all, the Gospel classified him as a 'Disruptor of Fate.' In other words, Yaxiu didn't even count as a migrant worker—at most, he was a high-threat invasive species, so he naturally couldn't enjoy civic benefits like 'Revelation.'
"Alright," Annan said, standing up. "Whether it's the Isu royal family or someone else, whoever is mimicking Yaxiu's crimes is just a trivial matter. Our goal has always been the divine wish. The 'Assassinate the Princess' plan cannot be derailed by minor accidents like this. Let's go. My appointment time is almost here."
"Where to?"
"To the person in Nabistin most likely to know where the princess lives."
* * *
Outside the sewer entrance, Yaxiu watched Banjie stuff the three Crowflight motorcycles into a suitcase and couldn't help saying to Igola and Harvey, "Why didn't you two get such good board rewards?"
"My reward is great," Harvey said. "The Ghost King Shackles allow me to directly transform into a necromantic creature. To me, this reward means as much as turning into your favorite game character would mean to you."
Perhaps due to an aftereffect of Revelation, Harvey's eloquence had shot up dramatically, leaving Yaxiu momentarily tongue-tied and unable to refute him. He turned to Igola. Igola raised an eyebrow. "My board reward is the Kingdom Gold Coin, which protects mental will. I gave it to Anfiel to—"
"I'm sorry," Yaxiu apologized immediately.
"What are you apologizing for—"
"I'm sorry. I was too arrogant, daring to pry into your token of love."
Just then, Annan signaled them to enter, and the Funeral group headed deep into the subterranean city's sewers. Though called a sewer, it was neither filthy nor foul-smelling, though under the dim yellow light it could hardly be described as clear either. Unlike normal sewers, the walking path ran right down the middle, flanked on both sides by open waterways where armed sirens watched them intently like predators.
Walking among them, Yaxiu and the others felt like Lalafells walking willingly onto a dining table, gripped by an unspoken dread.
Guided by a siren, they reached the end of the sewer—Nabistin's Mermaid Palace. Just like the service industries outside, the palace was divided into numerous administrative areas labeled 'Figures,' 'Events,' 'Factions,' 'Sorcery'... Aside from them, quite a few cloaked figures concealing their identities were working out inside while conducting their business.
Seeing such a proper, orderly service facility, everyone couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief. Yet Annan asked, "Aren't we going to the 'Figures' section?"
"Please follow me." The siren didn't answer, merely leading them deeper into the Mermaid Palace. When they stopped outside a conference room, she made an inviting gesture.
The Funeral members exchanged glances, faintly sensing something was amiss, but with the surrounding waterways lined with siren guards, there was no room to retreat.
Annan pushed open the door. Inside the brightly lit conference room stood a long table, but instead of chairs around it, there was a running stream of water. Ten sirens drifted through the channels, with various pieces of workout equipment set up all around. Their thick, moist gazes swept over the Funeral members without reserve.
"Silimolo?" Purple Moth recognized an acquaintance at once. "What brought you to Nabistin?"
Silimolo was the sea witch from the Azula sewers. Back when Annan first forged fake resumes for Yaxiu and the rest, she had asked Silimolo for help, even expending a favor she was owed for helping Silimolo become a sea witch—a favor that had brought price discounts saving the Funeral Agency thousands of Gospel points each year.
"The night you left Azula, I was summoned back to Nabistin as well." Silimolo shrugged, glancing toward the sea witch seated at the head of the room. "However, I'm not the one calling the shots here."
Annan looked over as well, feeling that this sea witch looked somewhat familiar. "I booked the mermaid service as an ordinary client. Can ordinary clients enjoy personal reception from ten sea witches now?"
"An ordinary client certainly wouldn't qualify," the head sea witch said. "However, the arrival of Purple Moth, Rust Crow, the Ghost King, and the Demon Lord warrants our highest standard of reception."
"You foretold our arrival?"
"Water knows all." The sea witch gestured. "You also know our customs. Please choose your preferred workout equipment."
The mermaids' strangest hobby: watching people exercise. Especially when talking business and discussing cooperation, if you didn't break a sweat, the mermaids would think you looked down on them. Yaxiu and the others had known about this custom beforehand, so they weren't surprised and each picked a piece of equipment to start exercising.
Igola, possessing the poorest physical endurance, chose the elliptical. Harvey took the parallel bars, Banjie chose the pull-up bar, Yaxiu and Annan both selected stationary bikes, while Lisi skipped rope.
Once they had all begun exercising, the sea witch spoke. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Speaker of the Council of Ten Sea Witches, one of the seven seats on Nabistin's Bottom Tier Decision Council, and the overall head of Nabistin's Mermaid Palace—"
"First Sea Witch, Helaifeisi."
The Funeral group froze for a second, their expressions instantly warping, and they all drew their weapons at once—
*Clack! Clack!*
Firearm turrets rapidly rose from across the ceiling and walls, cold, ruthless steel zeroing in on the guests who dared run wild on someone else's home turf.
Yet Yaxiu and the others had no choice—because their host was Helaifeisi!
Ranked second on the Evil Arts Board, the 'Chaos Witch' Helaifeisi!
Although the Evil Arts Board had already revealed that Helaifeisi was a siren, sirens were everywhere in the Gospel. Every city had sirens, and the Six Emblems had plenty as well. How could they have guessed that coming here just to buy information would land them right in front of Helaifeisi—and that Helaifeisi was the leader of the mermaids!
It was like stepping out to buy a pack of cigarettes and running smack into an arch-nemesis who wanted to devour Yaxiu alive!
Unless they disclosed it voluntarily, Annan had no way of digging up information like the true names of underground organization leaders!
Had this meeting taken place before dusk, Yaxiu and the others wouldn't have been this tense. But Rog, ranked fifth on the Evil Arts Board, had just committed public suicide, and now they had come looking for Helaifeisi, ranked second. Putting themselves in her shoes, even they felt like they had come looking for a fight!
Just as the atmosphere reached the brink of explosion, Helaifeisi raised a hand, and all the gun turrets retracted.
"Do you still intend to talk business?" she said. "Life lies in movement; sirens lie in flow. If you want to talk business, don't stop."
The Funeral members exchanged glances. With a subtle nod from Annan, everyone put away their weapons and, on edge, continued their workout.
"Let me guess." Helaifeisi rested her chin on her hand. "I'm guessing the intelligence you're after is where the next Yisu Empress, the princess who is about to become the First Gospel, is currently staying?"
"Do you know?" Annan asked.
"I do," Helaifeisi said.
Chapter 444