Chapter 224: Twelve!

Chapter 224: Twelve!

When they first arrived at the cemetery, Karen had remarked that this would be the last dinner he ever made for Old Saman.

As it turned out, Delius's unexpected arrival ensured that it truly became their final meal together.

Karen had not gone out of his way to make it an extravagant feast; there was a plate of braised chicken with edamame, a serving of Kung Pao chicken, fish-flavored eggplant, and a bowl of mixed broth.

Simple and rustic—three dishes and a soup.

The small table was set up on the outdoor steps, where Alfred had already arranged the stools, bowls, and chopsticks.

Alfred had long since followed Karen's lead in using chopsticks, and Old Saman, ever since that memorable hotpot meal, had gradually grown accustomed to the utensils as well.

The three of them sat around the small table, eating in quiet, unbroken silence.

Yet the atmosphere was not heavy, much less sorrowful; one side ran a funeral parlor while the other managed a cemetery, and both had long since grown indifferent to the matters of life and death.

When the meal was finished, Old Saman stood up and took his broom, preparing to go out and sweep his cemetery.

Alfred spoke up to remind him, "Tomorrow morning, I will come to fetch you back to the funeral parlor for your makeup."

"Mmh, very well..."

Old Saman nodded, his silhouette fading into the deep recesses of the graveyard ahead.

Alfred rose to clear the dishes, packed away the table and chairs, and finally took a small broom to sweep the outside area; his chores finished, he walked over to Karen's side.

"Let us head back," Karen said, walking over to the car and slipping into the passenger seat.

Alfred climbed in and, as he started the engine, remarked, "Young Master, I have already arranged everything for the funeral. You may rest easy."

"There is nothing for me to worry about."

Whenever a task was entrusted to Alfred, if the perfect score were a ten, he would invariably deliver a twelve.

By nine o'clock in the evening, they returned to the funeral parlor, where Pick was on duty tonight, snoring softly.

Ever since Mr. Pavaro had all but ceased to appear and Karen had become the de facto head of the establishment, these two workers had found their lives a bit harder and more exhausting than before, but their compensation had increased significantly, so there was no issue with their diligence.

"By the way, Alfred."

"Young Master, please give your command."

"Go to the black market and exchange some coupon points for reils, then wire them home to help pay off the house mortgage first."

"Very well, Young Master."

"I shall retire to my room first."

"Young Master, please rest early."

Karen pushed open his bedroom door and found his cat and dog once more circling the refrigerator.

"Have you figured it out?"

"Oh, you are back early tonight. I have good news for you: this refrigerator, without considering any future upgrades, is completely sorted out. The crystal has just been placed inside, and it is running now."

"Truly?"

Karen opened the refrigerator to find that the central partition inside had been removed, and a sudden wave of chill rushed out to meet him.

"You can try it now," Purr said.

"Woof!" Kevin wagged his tail.

Karen opened the sword box, retrieved the Sword of Arius, placed it vertically inside, and then closed the refrigerator door.

Purr climbed onto Karen, settling upon his shoulder. "Next is the matter of summoning this sword from the refrigerator to your hand. The stupid dog and I have prepared three methods for you.

The first method involves the recorder. The recorder already possesses a formation within it; you only need to infuse a portion of your spiritual power into it and begin to play. The formation inside will activate, a starlight array will appear before you, and the sword will be teleported through."

"So, in the future, before I fight someone, I must first pick up a recorder and play a tune?"

"Do you find it a bit lacking in grace?"

"Slightly."

"It is more than just slightly. Although doing so might make your opponent laugh and catch them off guard, it truly looks dreadful when used. Therefore, the second method is the pipe. It functions exactly the same way: first infuse your spiritual power, then light the tobacco, and when the starlight array appears, your sword arrives."

Karen remarked, "I think that is somewhat better than the recorder."

"Yes, I think so too."

"But before a fight, must I ask the opponent to wait a moment so I can light a pipe first?"

Purr teased, "You should look at it this way: you can ambush them while sharing a smoke."

"You mean I should hold a pipe and hand out cigarettes to others?"

Purr tilted her head. "Uh, that does seem a bit strange."

"Tell me the third method."

Both the recorder and the pipe were "switches" gifted to him by Old Saman; the third method was likely designed specifically for him by Purr and Kevin. After all, the complexity of this contraption lay entirely within the refrigerator, whereas the "switch" itself was not particularly difficult.

"Well, the third method is one I designed specially for you."

"Woof!"

"Of course, the stupid dog contributed greatly to it. I must tell you, I have discovered that the stupid dog seems to be quite adept at this sort of thing."

"Woof!" Hearing Purr praise him for once, Kevin wagged his tail with excitement.

Purr bantered, "I imagine he must have done plenty of handiwork for women he fancied in the past—always making things, always gifting them, and always failing to win them over, slowly honing his skills along the way."

"..." Kevin.

Karen reached out to stroke Kevin’s hairless dog head, saying, "Let Alfred get you some hair growth serum, or perhaps see if the black market sells any potions that can grow fur?"

Seeing Karen's concern for him, Kevin immediately beamed with a smile once more.

Purr pointed a paw toward the top of the refrigerator, saying, "There is a box up there. Bring it down."

Karen retrieved a metal box from the top of the refrigerator and opened it to find twelve small blue spheres inside, roughly the size of marbles, feeling icy cold to the touch.

"These are formation beads. The stupid dog dismantled the formation from the recorder and re-engraved it onto these beads. The method of use is simple: infuse a bit of spiritual power, then crush it, and the formation will manifest automatically.

The disadvantage of the formation beads is that they are difficult to make and the formation lasts only a very short time, making them a one-time consumable. But for you, none of this matters.

Their cost is not high—fifty yuan apiece on the black market—and the expense lies mainly in the production cost, but our production cost is merely dog food.

As for the short duration, it is in any case long enough for you to draw your sword."

"I shall try it." Karen picked up a bead. "Let us try it outside the house. After all, a cost of 3,050 Order Coupons per try feels a bit wasteful to test indoors."

"Mmh, of course. You can also design a movement for it."

Karen took a bead and went out into the yard, while Purr climbed down from his shoulder and sat upon Kevin's back.

"Have you thought of a movement?" Purr asked.

Karen nodded. He first channeled a fragment of spiritual power into the bead, and upon sensing it begin to grow warm, he dropped to one knee and struck the palm holding the bead against the ground, looking as though he were slamming his hand down.

"Bang!"

A crisp crack resonated, and a blue starlight array manifested beneath Karen's palm. Immediately following, the hilt of the Sword of Arius emerged from the starlight, and Karen seized the hilt in stride, drawing the entire blade out as he smoothly rose to his feet.

"Well, I must admit, the entire sequence of movements is very fluid, and quite grand in presence," Purr evaluated.

"Woof!" Kevin agreed, nodding his head.

Karen asked, "I know the teleportation distance covers the York City area, but if my location has formations and barriers, can it still teleport in?"

"Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!"

"The dumb dog says it is not a big issue. The spatial grade of this thing is very high and it can tear through space in an instant. Unless it is a specific space-locking formation or barrier, you will be able to summon this sword to your side.

However, this kind of teleportation will trigger a reaction from whoever is maintaining the formation and barrier."

"Mm, I see." Karen looked toward Purr and Kevin. "You two have worked hard recently."

"Not hard at all, we like having things to do. Besides, the points you've brought home lately are plenty, so the radio fairy has become very generous, and our material supply is quite affluent. This feeling is rather nice."

"Woof!"

"Alright, time to rest. There is a funeral to conduct tomorrow."

"That old man?"

"Mm."

"I think it is a pity that old man is dying. The dumb dog said if that old refrigerator was crafted by the old man alone, it means his understanding and mastery of spatial power is at a very high level."

"He just doesn't want to live anymore, nothing can be done about it."

Yet there are some stories that become all the more fascinating precisely because they have been spoiled.

Karen turned the pages one by one as Old Saiman emerged from the bedroom and seated himself across from Karen once more.

"It runs quite smoothly," Old Saiman remarked. "I thought you wouldn't be able to manage it yourself without my assistance, but it seems I worried in vain."

Karen laid down the book and glanced at the wall clock; it was only half past eight.

"Do you feel that I have intruded upon your otherwise splendid morning?" Old Saiman inquired.

"A little."

"Faced with a dying man, are you truly unwilling to spare even a fraction of your time for him?"

"My emotions were already fully spent over yesterday's dinner, and now nothing remains but detachment. If you insist that I squeeze out some sentimental grief for you at this very moment, you'll first have to let me go to the kitchen and find an onion from the lunch provisions to help me along."

Alfred pushed open the study door and entered, placing a glass of ice water before Karen and handing a cup of coffee to Old Saiman.

Old Saiman took a sip of his coffee and said, "I truly never expected that the Son of God would be his son."

Karen suddenly thought of something and asked, "Have you ever met your Hierophant?"

"I have."

"Oh, that is reassuring then." Karen smiled.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I was genuinely concerned about a plot twist where you might look at the Hierophant and say, 'I truly never expected him to be your son.'"

"Whenever the Hierophant meets outsiders, he wears the Messenger's Cloak, which shields him from any prying eyes. I have never seen the Hierophant's true appearance."

"Oh, so that is how it is."

"But I do not rule out the possibility." Old Saiman crossed his legs. "This collaboration between the Pamires Cult and the Church of Order could never have come to fruition without the Hierophant's backing. Standing before the Hierophant is an elder who has sealed himself away inside the Messenger's Realm, and standing behind him is a Son of God. It is difficult to believe that the Hierophant, caught in the middle, is entirely clean."

"Is that so? There is no way of knowing."

Old Saiman rubbed his neck and said, "Nor do I dare to know. I am genuinely terrified that if I found out the Hierophant were also tainted, wouldn't it mean I ought to have died the moment I was born? Hahaha!"

"Hahaha."

Karen laughed along with him.

After a long while, Karen set down the book in his hand and asked, "By the way, do you know what kind of vessel is best suited for preserving a corpse?"

"You run a funeral parlor, yet you ask me this?"

"I mean preserving it along with the spiritual power inside the corpse, so that it remains intact and does not dissipate."

"A sacred spatial artifact can achieve that, and it is not particularly difficult. Doesn't the First Knight Order of your Church of Order use exclusively these spatial coffins?"

"But I cannot purchase them."

They were not sold in the Point Shop because the standard procedure of the major churches was always to reclaim the corpses of their clergymen, making it impossible to openly sell such coffins.

They were available on the black market, but Karen worried about their efficacy.

"What do you need this for? It is already too late to pack me inside, and crafting one takes some time."

"In the future, I intend to specialize in funeral arrangements settled in Points. You are my first client since the grand reopening."

"Is that so? By all rights, there should be a discount."

"I haven't charged you any Points, have I?"

"The things I gave you cannot be bought with Points either. Why do you think that Son of God insisted on kneeling at my doorstep yesterday?"

"Heh, yes, indeed, I have taken advantage of you."

"Fine then, I shall provide you with the blueprint and the enchanting array. Since you could find someone to run your refrigerator, you can surely find someone to craft the items on the blueprints for you.

By the way, how many such coffins do you require?"

"Is there any particular significance?"

"A single coffin matters little, but if you want several, their design and arrangement must be combined according to a spatial array. This way, it will not only prevent the dissipation of the spirituality within the corpses, but it can even provide a nurturing effect."

"In that case, wouldn't it be a loss if I didn't ask for a few more?"

"That is exactly right. Not only will you obtain the coffin design, but you will also take away a spatial array blueprint from me. Speak up, how many do you actually want, so that I may begin designing and planning now."

Karen picked up the ice water on the table, took a sip,

and said,

"Twelve."