Chapter 276: Surprise! (Please Subscribe!)

Chapter 276: Surprise! (Please Subscribe!)

The sea breeze blew gently, and the leaves in the woods rustled.

[My heartfelt gratitude for your contributions to the Dark Moon Island. You are tired, and you have worked hard; I invite you to sleep here forever. ——— Bernard]

Reading the words on the stone tablet, it was as if one could feel Bernard's expression at that time.

He had succeeded, he had used them, he had profited, he had eliminated them; he had not even bothered to dress it up with hypocrisy, but had instead used a teasing tone to mock them one last time.

This was an isolated island. If one did not pass through the teleportation array in the villa, it was practically impossible to get here.

It was like a diary; here, Bernard revealed a reality different from his public persona, an exposure of the true side of his heart.

The words on the stone tablet could be understood as another sentence:

"Oh, look, a bunch of fools are buried here!"

Karen took out the Sword of Arius, which he had specially brought with him this time, from the sword box. He walked up to the stone tablet, crouched down, and used the sword to slowly grind away the words Bernard had once left behind.

Mr. Eisen and Richard sat behind him, watching Karen grind away the words.

Finally, the words on the stone were completely erased by Karen.

Karen placed the sword on his knees and stared at the clean stone tablet, falling into deep thought.

Because he had once worked at the Inmerales Funeral Home, Karen was used to engraving words on tombstones.

He closed his eyes, and an image flashed through his mind. Over a hundred years ago, a group of people had arrived at Dark Moon Island riding a sea turtle. They had poured their hearts and souls into this island, hoping it would develop in the future.

Over a hundred years later, when they should have sought revenge with hearts full of rage, they chose to stay their hands just as their revenge was within reach.

Was it mercy?

No.

To merely use the word mercy to describe them would be inaccurate.

There was hatred in their hearts. Otherwise, Philias, who had just escaped, would not have laid a curse upon the Dark Moon clan in his fury, and the Curse Bug would not have been born because of it.

But over a hundred years had passed, and Bernard was already long dead.

When they returned to this island, in the eyes of others, what they should have seen were the descendants of their enemies, and the Dark Moon Island that had developed by sucking their lifeblood. They should have been furious, they should have roared, and they should have unwillingly overturned all the glory built upon their corpses.

If it were himself, Karen felt he would have certainly done so. He would have let his rage burn the entire island to the ground.

Yet, what they saw was the growth of the crystallization of their hard work from all those years ago; it was their past dream reflecting into reality.

They were the sowers of light.

They had not come to preach. They had come to scatter the seeds of light, and when the seed took root, sprouted, and bore fruit, they did not name the fruit "Light," but rather "Beauty."

The Church of Light was the Church of Light; the God of Light was the God of Light.

But light was light.

For a moment, Karen was somewhat moved. He was not alone in this world with gods, because over a hundred years ago, there had been such a group of people. Perhaps they did not possess the same clear understanding and dialectics as he did;

But they were better than him, because they were practicing it.

This was probably the purest form of faith.

Karen had once admired a painting in the studio of Piaget's wife, Linda, titled *The Twilight of the Gods*.

In the painting, the last pope of the Church of Light stood atop a high tower, shouting loudly: I do not believe there really is a God of Light in this world.

Historians of the church circles generally believed that this shout from the last Pope of Light was equivalent to tolling the final death knell for the Church of Light, followed by its demise.

Philias was a descendant of the mad pope.

Therefore, the shout of the mad pope was not actually denying the light; he was merely denying the God of Light.

Was there really a God of Light?

Certainly there was. This was a world with gods; the gods truly existed. Even the dog in his own home was one.

But was that fellow called the God of Light truly the God of Light?

Just as before there was a God of Order, was there no order in this world?

Then, before there was a God of Light, had people never seen the light?

In the eyes of the high-ranking officials of the Church of Order, how was his grandfather, Diss, anything but another madman?

Some people were mad because they were truly madmen; while others were mad because the people around them were madmen.

The last Pope of Light had stood upon the Tower of Light and let out that shout. How was that any different from his own grandfather Diss going to bomb the Temple of Order?

They saw the truth that ordinary people could not see, and what was even more commendable was that they did not choose to drift with the tide. Instead, under their respective eras and backgrounds, they each let out a shout that belonged to them.

Karen suddenly felt a sense of panic, causing him to slump onto the ground.

Because he suddenly realized that Mr. Philias inherited the unfulfilled wish of the last mad Pope of Light, while he himself inherited the expectations of his grandfather, Diss.

In essence,

Mr. Philias and he were actually the same kind of person. This similarity transcended the shackles of geography, nationality, church, faith, and so on.

Only,

Philias had already practiced it,

So what about himself?

Could he achieve what Philias did, and would he have the courage to take that step?

Karen discovered that his original inner confidence and steadfastness suddenly turned into trepidation before the bloody corpses of his "own kind."

No wonder Diss had asked him many times before he left home if he was truly ready.

Back then, he had always answered Diss with the reason that he "wanted to go out and see the scenery," and he had even felt quite satisfied with this slightly sophisticated answer.

It turned out that he had always been thinking of things too simply.

He didn't know what kind of mood Diss was in every time he heard such an answer.

The scenery along the way was beautiful, but what if the road was drenched in blood? If it were someone else's blood, that would be fine, but what if it were his own?

Walking step by step, leaving one blood-red footprint after another behind him—in such a state, would he still be in the mood to appreciate the scenery?

"Huff... huff..."

Karen began to breathe deeply.

Richard looked at Karen at this moment with some confusion, some curiosity, and mostly just bewilderment.

Mr. Eisen turned his head to look at his son, then looked at Karen in front of him, and couldn't help but let out a sigh.

Karen adjusted his emotions and thought about the engraving again.

"Thank you for letting me see the true light..."

Karen shook his head. He was not satisfied with this, because he was not qualified to offer such thanks to them.

"Please do not grieve for us, please do not..."

Karen shook his head again. This one wasn't good either.

In the end, Karen engraved his own words on the stone tablet:

"Hey, we're setting sail again!"

Cullen thrust his sword into the ground toward the corpse pit, his arms crossed over his chest, offering no praise.

Promptly, Cullen turned around, looked at Bernard who was lying face down, and flipped him over with his boot.

By now, Bernard's originally neat and meticulous black-and-white hair had fallen into disarray, his face covered in adhering sand.

With deep gravity and earnestness, Cullen closed his eyes to feel, confirming that because Bernard's corpse had been so well preserved, the remaining amount of spiritual power within his body was exceptionally high.

Richard finally could not help but ask, "Cullen, what exactly do you plan to do to him?"

"An insult."

"Then are you about to begin?" Richard asked. "Had I known, I would have drunk a bit more water on my way here, but it doesn't matter; there are many ways to desecrate a corpse anyway."

"What fun is there in desecrating a corpse? I want him to open his eyes and feel it for himself."

"Open his eyes and feel it for himself? You want to use the Awakening Ritual on him?"

Cullen nodded.

"You're mad! He is a genius patriarch in the history of the Dark Moon clan. Do you have any idea how high his realm is?"

Richard was currently a Divine Pastor, having not yet reached the Inquisitor realm where he could use the Awakening Ritual, but this did not stop him from knowing the cost and price of utilizing it.

Mr. Eisen spoke up to correct his son:

"No, he can do it."

Yet it was perfectly obvious that the reason Mr. Eisen believed it possible was not the same as the reason Cullen actually could.

Cullen looked toward Mr. Eisen and asked, "Is there any way to simultaneously guarantee the integrity of his body and ensure the suppression of his resistance after the awakening succeeds?"

The Awakening Ritual of the Order of Order and the Soul Covenant of the Order of Samsara were entirely different concepts; once a covenant was successfully signed, one could forcibly manipulate the soul they commanded, but the Awakening Ritual of the Order of Order merely "awakened" the dead person.

A dead person who woke up was also free.

The safest method would be to sever Bernard's limbs and place him in a jar, turning him into a human swine.

But such extensive destruction of the corpse would cause a massive hemorrhage of the retained spiritual power, making it highly likely that once Bernard awakened, his sanity would be clouded.

Having with great difficulty confirmed that the remaining spiritual power within Bernard's body was abundant, Cullen still preferred to torment him while he was lucid.

"There is a way; we can embed arrays upon his body."

"How exactly do we do it?"

"Set suppression arrays on the various parts of his body, including his soul, divided by tiers and phases."

"How long will it take?" Cullen asked.

"It won't take too long. This only requires quantity, not quality. Just to be safe, we need to reserve at least two larger arrays that can destroy him in an instant."

"Mhm, that goes without saying. You can start helping me prepare now."

"Very well. That, um, I need a somewhat enclosed space."

"No problem. Richard, carry the corpse and follow me."

Richard hoisted the corpse onto his back and followed Cullen into the cave.

Cullen walked up to Lady Jennifer's coffin, pushed open the lid, and after checking, found that the spiritual power within Lady Jennifer's corpse had also vanished completely.

Cullen felt a slight regret in his heart, yet also a touch of relief.

"This coffin is very suitable," Mr. Eisen said. "The material of this stone coffin itself is highly fit for laying down arrays; its original design was born for array imprisonment."

Mr. Eisen pointed again at the coffin where Lady Jennifer lay, continuing, "The arrays on this coffin were once activated, sealing away the resistance from within."

"Then let's begin."

"Alright. Richard, lift the corpse and put it inside."

"Mhm."

Richard threw Bernard's corpse inside with violent force, terrified that Cullen might find it insufficiently crude and call upon him to carry it on his back once more.

Mr. Eisen extracted stack after stack of spell scrolls from his divine robes, covering the coffin lid completely.

This scene struck Cullen with quite a bit of surprise. He had not used any teleportation scrolls to bring things over, which meant that he carried so many spell scrolls on his person at all times.

"You certainly know how to hide things on yourself. Fortunately you told me before that you have no wife and no children, otherwise, given your ability to hide things, your son's pacifier would be hidden away by you."

Mr. Eisen's breathing grew slightly heavier.

"Richard, go outside and fetch some stream water. There are coconut trees outside the cave as well, pluck a few coconuts. Careful, there are quite a lot of venomous snakes out there."

"Alright, leave it to me." Richard immediately went out to find late-night snacks for everyone.

Once he had left, Cullen said to Mr. Eisen, "Prepare with peace of mind."

Mr. Eisen nodded and said, "The longer I spend time with him, the more I doubt whether he is truly my biological son."

"There is no need to doubt this."

"Yes, but it is becoming harder and harder to accept." A sliver of a smile tugged at the corner of Mr. Eisen's mouth; though it was brief, the old him would never have displayed such an interactive expression.

Cullen noticed that Mr. Eisen might truly have been repressed for too long in the past. Previously, beating his son to vent had brought improvement, and this time, being led successively by the Captain and himself to commit such "illegal and undisciplined" acts allowed his mind to find better relaxation in the process.

Some people's balance of work and rest was an excuse for laziness, while for others, if they did not rest to release the pressure, they would truly die.

Cullen stood off to the side, observing Mr. Eisen's methods.

He first arranged arrays upon the coffin—to be precise, he supplemented the arrays of this coffin so that it could be put to use next.

After this, he produced a Rubik's cube, suspending it in front of himself. A thread spilled out from the cube, which he guided with his fingertips, rubbing the arrays from the scrolls onto Bernard's body while using the thread to string his body together.

This sensation was like treating Bernard as a wooden board, while the arrays were hung upon him like individual pendants.

Using the thread as a guide minimized the destruction of the corpse to the greatest extent, thereby allowing him to retain more of the remaining spiritual power.

It looked simple, but doing it was actually highly complex. This cube ought to be the exclusive ability of his mother's family, because on the night they acted against Samsara, Cullen had seen his maternal grandfather, Old Master Delon, use it as well.

"Is this a sacred artifact or a spell?" Cullen asked, pointing at the cube.

"It can be considered a sacred artifact, and also a spell. Its function is to assist in calculation; for the array controller, it can immensely alleviate the burden."

"Can I learn it?" Cullen asked.

"This..." Mr. Eisen hesitated for a moment. "You ought to have better methods."

"Does it have to do with lineage?" Cullen deduced something.

"Yes, those possessing the bloodline of the Guman family seem to master it much more conveniently."

Mr. Eisen did not speak absolutely, but in truth, this cube was probably indeed an ability restricted by bloodline.

"Does Richard know it?" Cullen asked.

"He does, but only when he reaches the Inquisitor realm can he truly activate his own cube. He has one on his person as well."

"Oh, so that's how it is."

Once they returned, he could borrow Richard's cube from him to throw to Kevin and Purr for research to forge a replica; as for the spells to utilize this cube, he could also coax them out of Richard.

The bloodline of the Guman family... he possessed it within himself as well.

Cullen realized now that his understanding of arrays could not merely halt at basic recognition. He still needed to seize the time to elevate his proficiency in this area. He still had the array notebooks left behind by Mr. Hoffen, and combined with the Guman family's cube, he could achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Mr. Eisen spoke again, "Even if you hadn't told him to leave just now, I would have found a reason to send him away."

"Yes, this time, it has cost you dearly." Karen knew that every single one of these scrolls was worth a fortune.

"It's fine. Scrolls are made to be used after all. I think using them here is well worth it."

About two hours later, Mr. Eisen finally finished setting up the entire formation. If he had to draw the formation from scratch, the project would have taken about three days and required gathering many materials. However, using so many spell scrolls was equivalent to using a meal kit—you only needed to open the bag, pour it out, heat it properly, and it was ready to serve.

Bernard's body was also covered in tracks of various colored marks. Each mark represented a formation with a different effect: weakness, gravity, mental suppression, binding, and so on...

At the back of the head and the heart, explosive formations were placed. This was a setup in case any unexpected accident occurred.

Karen couldn't help but feel a sudden wave of emotion. No matter how powerful Bernard had been in life, once he awakened him, Bernard wouldn't be able to put up a fight, because he had already implanted an unknown number of bombs on his body—no, inside his body.

Wiping the sweat from his face, Mr. Eisen admired his handiwork upon the greatest patriarch of Dark Moon Island, a look of satisfaction appearing on his face.

At this moment, Richard walked back, his left hand pulling a vine wrapped with seven or eight coconuts, and his right hand holding a tree branch skewered with a large section of roasted python meat.

Seeing this scene, Karen suddenly felt that his little cousin was actually quite useful.

Karen and Mr. Eisen sat down and began to eat the roasted snake meat.

Richard pried open a coconut for each of them and placed it in front of them, then walked to the side of the coffin to observe Bernard lying inside. He was a young master of the Guman family after all; though his current ability temporarily fell short of standard levels, his capacity for appreciation was still there.

He said excitedly, "Damn, Memphis, you really are a genius when it comes to formations. I feel like my dad is far worse than you in this regard."

Mr. Eisen looked up at Richard and asked, "Your father's proficiency in formations isn't high?"

"Ah, he only has enough skill left to use the Cage of Order to beat me. If you have time, teach me. I don't know why, but these past few nights I keep dreaming about getting beaten by my dad after going home.

I need to improve myself quickly. Next time he wants to lay a hand on me, I can use the formations you teach me to hang him up and let him clear his head, telling him that using domestic violence against his son is a very low-class and foolish behavior, hehe."

Mr. Eisen: "Hehe."

Having eaten the midnight snack, their physical strength was replenished.

Karen wiped his hands with leaves and stood up.

Now,

it could begin.

Richard stared at Karen with great excitement and asked, "Intuition tells me, Karen, that you can really do it, but how do you manage it?"

"The Awakening Technique is also divided into levels. This is something I comprehended myself. You need to keep the secret for me."

"Of course, we are good brothers after all!"

"Good, then I will teach it to you when I have time in the future."

"Haha, good, good!"

Mr. Eisen reached out and tugged Richard, gesturing for him to be quiet.

He knew clearly that there were no secrets to the Awakening Technique; the competition was nothing more than realm and price. Karen could awaken Bernard because he possessed this strength and foundation. His silly son actually believed there was some special shortcut!

Karen fixed his gaze upon Bernard lying in the coffin, raised his hand, and pointed at him. From beneath Karen's feet, an ancient and majestic black chain appeared.

"Did you think death would be the end?

Now, please wake up for me, so we can settle the score.

Order—Awaken!"

The black chain extended into the coffin and sank into Bernard's body.

Karen closed his eyes, waiting for the spiritual power to be drawn from his body.

But after waiting for a long time, there was not the slightest movement.

Richard and Mr. Eisen, standing behind him, both stood on their tiptoes, wanting to see the situation inside. The father and son's movements of craning their necks were strikingly identical.

Karen opened his eyes.

This was the first time his awakening ability had failed.

Yet, not a trace of disappointment showed on Karen's face. Instead, a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth, gradually turning into a chuckle, and finally, his laughter grew louder and louder, his excitement fully revealed.

"Heh... hehe... hahaha..."

He did not believe that his ability to awaken the deceased would absolutely never encounter an accident, but he believed even less that the first accident would happen to Bernard.

Therefore,

this meant only one possibility, a possibility that made Karen excited and pleasantly surprised;

and that was:

"Bernard, you are actually still alive!"

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