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Chapter 57: The Hanged Man
Chapter 57: The Hanged Man
"Is... is it dead?"
In the secret chamber, several people stared in disbelief at the Golden Toad statue on the altar, its once golden surface now dull and dark like a mud figure.
"How is this possible?!"
Among them, a middle-aged man with a full head of golden hair was the most agitated. He looked at the statue, now cracked, and exclaimed in disbelief,
"I checked this personally! Old Char is just an ordinary man with an exceptional business acumen. How could he possibly withstand the Holy Spirit of the Scale Gold Sect? Something must have happened there that we're not aware of!"
"You don't know a lot of things yourself!"
An elderly man with a rose emblem on his chest looked at the shattered statue on the altar with deep sorrow. He slammed his hand on the table and shouted at the middle-aged man with anger in his eyes,
"Thomas! We agreed that as long as you helped to bring down Char Department Store, the Rhine family would join the York family in investing and expanding our Macy's Department Store.
But you got the shares of Rose Department Store! We even invested in the Hydro Company together! We even worked together to sabotage the dam of the Department of Transportation!
I'm still not satisfied with what I just said. The elderly man from the Macy's family slammed the table, losing all composure as he scolded the golden-haired middle-aged man.
"You said Old Char's sale had kidnapped too many people, and you had no choice but to use unconventional means to solve the problem.
So, you used unconventional means, and I even invited the Holy Spirit of the Scale Gold Sect for you! Is this unconventional enough?
You bastard! You said that as long as the Holy Spirit descended and caused a mass death incident, you could find an excuse for the city government to order a halt to Char Department Store's sale for safety reasons, cutting off its last breath...
But what happened? Tell me, what happened? The Holy Spirit died!!! How am I supposed to explain this to the Scale Gold Sect? You bloody..."
"Enough!"
As the words of the elderly man in elegant attire became increasingly impolite, the golden-haired middle-aged man's expression darkened. He asked with a grim face,
"I'm human! Not an all-knowing god! How could I possibly predict such a low-probability event?
Also, I never intended for your Macy's family to get involved. It was you who insisted on joining. Even the Holy Spirit of the Scale Gold Sect was invited by you!
And don't you remember? For that toad, how much did you ask from us? Yet, it was killed without a sound. I think your Scale Gold Sect is just..."
"Both of you, stop."
Just as the conflict between the two was about to escalate, a voice filled with the chill of ice chips sounded, halting the escalating situation.
"Sir Thomas."
After calling out the golden-haired middle-aged man's name, the man in the black robe turned around and stared at him seriously, saying,
"Although the Scale Gold Sect isn't a particularly remarkable sect, there is a True God backing them. If you don't want to face their endless assassinations, it's best to watch your words. Additionally..."
The man in black turned to look at the elderly man in elegant attire, who was filled with murderous intent. He continued in a cold, emotionless tone that made people shiver,
"The Holy Spirit you invited didn't die because of something incomprehensible. It encountered a situation it couldn't understand, causing it to doubt the beliefs it had always held, and thus, it chose destruction."
After hearing the judgment of the man in black, the representative of the York family, who had been silent all this time, couldn't help but ask in surprise,
"Just because of doubt... it died?"
"It's not just a suspicion, but a realization that they can no longer convince themselves… But it's not entirely wrong for you to understand it this way."
"As a Holy Spirit born of faith and concepts, their very existence is a convergence of beliefs and rules. When they begin to doubt what they once firmly believed in, it's as if their purpose for existence is stripped away, and they naturally succumb to death, unable to control their fate."
As he spoke, the man in the black robe shook his head and concluded indifferently, "Only the extreme is remembered, only obsession dares to forge ahead, and only madness can comprehend greatness."
"For you humans, this extreme obsession with ideals may be hard to accept, but this obsession is precisely the source of the Holy Spirits' power, and also their most fatal weakness."
"If you still can't understand, then imagine them as someone who firmly believes the sky is below and the ground is above, and thus, they can freely walk upside down in the sky."
"And once they start questioning the beliefs they once held dear, it's as if they've destroyed the very foundation that kept them standing in the sky. They can only flail and fall from the sky, crashing to their deaths on the ground below... Do you understand now?"
"I think I understand a little..."
The York family member furrowed their brows in thought and then asked, "So... what exactly happened to the Holy Spirit of the Scale Gold Sect? Can you guess?"
"I can guess a little."
At these words, the man in the black robe narrowed his eyes and said expressionlessly, "It might have been harder to guess if it happened somewhere else, but since it's in the capital... the only one capable of completely shattering a Holy Spirit's beliefs is that person."
---
"Achoo!!!"
That's strange... Can I still sneeze?
Rubbing his suddenly itchy nose in surprise, the red-haired Bureau Chief in the office straightened up and opened the file in his hand with curiosity.
[Scale Gold Sect Holy Spirit Descent Incident Cleanup Report]
[Incident Rating: Catastrophic]
[Incident Status: Cleared]
[Incident Handler: Leon Laine]
[Anomaly Utilization: Devil's Horn, Witch's Broom]
[Casualties: 1 minor injury]
[...]
Meanwhile...
"I'm so, so sorry!"
Looking at Leon, lying in the hospital bed with thick bandages around his neck and a neck brace, the doll-faced girl in a business skirt bowed deeply, tears welling up in her eyes as she apologized, "When we made that money chest, if I had been more thorough during the inspection and had it reinforced, you wouldn't have been injured by the collapsing Gold Wheels inside! Waa... It's all my fault..."
Hmm... This injury is not really your fault...
Leon couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions as he looked at the crying girl with puffy, red eyes before him. Leon, who was lying in the hospital bed with a neck and rib injury caused by the collapsed Gold Wheels, was at a loss for words for a moment.
If my memory serves me right, the last time at the Red Brick Hospital, when the Evil God's Brain modified the incident, you took the blame for the faulty inspection.
And this time, with the Holy Spirit Descent Incident, it was altered to an accident where the Gold Wheels inside the money chest collapsed, injuring me as I passed by. Yet, you still took the blame and came to apologize.
Leon couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions as he looked at the crying girl with puffy, red eyes before him. Leon, who was lying in the hospital bed with a neck and rib injury caused by the collapsed Gold Wheels, was at a loss for words for a moment.
Girl... Is your luck a little too bad?
(End of Chapter)
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