It was nighttime. In the dim living room of Number 17, Green Shade Town, Dorothy, sitting by the fireplace, began to seriously review the gains and losses from her recent dealings with the Netherworld Coffin Society.
As usual, Dorothy first calculated the expenses. This operation targeting the Netherworld Coffin Society, from the moment Kapak asked for her help to the final transaction near Gale Fortress, took about half a month in total. So, Dorothy calculated everything within this time frame.
Initially, at the warehouse in New Jacques Port, to help Kapak out of trouble and transport the goods, Dorothy used the Living Puppet for about forty minutes, along with three Life Devours. Each Life Devour cost one "Cup," and the Living Puppet cost one "Cup" for twenty minutes, totaling five "Cups." This was a significant expense.
Besides "Cup," the other Spirituality Dorothy consumed was "Shadow." After Lareina and her group discovered the goods were missing, they attempted divination three times. Dorothy consumed three points of "Shadow" to block them. Overall, the loss of "Shadow" was not significant.
Aside from Spirituality, the biggest expense in Dorothy's series of actions was money. Buying goods from the merchant Max took 500 pounds. Afterwards, buying explosives and parts for assembling the timer in the black market cost about 100 pounds. Asking Beverly to add a false bottom to the box cost another 300 pounds. The frequent use of the Craftsmen's Guild's telegraph for communication with the Netherworld Coffin Society cost about 100 pounds in telegraph fees. Dorothy spent a total of about 1000 pounds for this operation. Dorothy's original balance was 2350 pounds, so this wave nearly halved her wallet again.
'Damn... Selling over forty boxes of high-quality New World tobacco for 500 is a bit of a loss. Black market explosives being expensive and costing 100 pounds is understandable... But the price of things related to that unscrupulous merchant is outrageous. A few telegrams cost 100 pounds, and adding a false bottom cost 300 pounds for a few dozen minutes of labor. What the hell!'
While calculating the accounts, Dorothy complained inwardly. Generally, even if you hired the best old carpenter in the City for such small woodworking, it would only cost a dozen coins. With Beverly, it was directly 300 pounds. This labor fee was enough to buy a house. If it weren't to make the hidden false bottom seamless, she would never have spent so much money to hire Beverly.
"Phew... I've spent a lot of Spirituality and money... Especially money. Recently, I've been spending thousands of pounds like water to get the sacred emblems. If I hadn't made a fortune from the Eight-Pointed Nest by speculating on 'Qi' before, I wouldn't know where these expenses would come from? But fortunately, the gains are also quite substantial... These expenses can be completely compensated..."
Dorothy murmured like this, then looked at her spoils. First and foremost was the sacred emblem of the King of the Underworld. Obtaining this item added another piece to the puzzle of her advancement ritual, which was the most crucial point.
Then there was the money. Out of the 6000 pounds of ransom, Dorothy gave Neff 1000 pounds for her hard work, leaving her with 5000 pounds. Almost all the money she had spent before had returned. There was also Spirituality; three secret transmissions should yield a good amount of Spirituality.
Thinking this, Dorothy's gaze fell upon the three different books on the desk. Extracting Spirituality had always been a key part of sorting through spoils.
Without waiting any longer, Dorothy picked up the three secret transmissions. Then she leaned back on the sofa and, using the gas lamp on the coffee table and the firelight from the fireplace, began to read these secret transmissions using her speed-reading ability.
After spending more than half an hour, Dorothy had more or less finished reading all three secret transmissions. After placing the secret transmissions back on the coffee table, she closed her eyes and began to organize the content of these three secret transmissions.
...
Dorothy had previously requested in the telegram that Lareina's secret transmissions be preferably related to the King of the Underworld, and Lareina had complied. Among these three secret transmissions, two were descriptions of the King of the Underworld. One was titled "Song of the Rebellious Dead," and the other was titled "Immortality of the Soul."
Among them, "Immortality of the Soul" seemed to be a work written by an Extraordinary who studied the undead, gradually developing admiration for the King of the Underworld during his research. The content was mostly admiration and praise. This author praised the immortality of the King of the Underworld and also the immortality of the undead. He detailed the weakness of living beings and expressed his own yearning for the status of an undead.
In the book, this author who studied the undead discovered that people do not necessarily become undead after death. Only under various factors do people remain in the world as Ghosts after death.
The author found that after a person dies, the soul immediately permeates into a certain inner realm of the world, and then slowly permeates deeper and deeper there, eventually permeating to some unknown place, completely disappearing from the surface world. However, this permeation process is not irreversible. In many cases, these souls that have permeated into the inner world will return to the surface world, becoming undead.
There are several main reasons for this, the two most important being: one is due to the deceased's strong emotions during their lifetime, such as hatred or love. For various reasons, those who are attached to the present world will not complete the process of permeating downwards into the inner world after death, but will remain in the present world in the form of Ghosts. The other category is Extraordinary influence. Due to the influence of Extraordinaries or Extraordinary items... or even certain inexplicable Extraordinary factors, the souls of the deceased will become Ghosts and remain in the present world after death.
This book has annotations, specifically describing this phenomenon as "downward permeation."
This author was afraid of eventually permeating into the unknown place in the inner realm of the world after death. Since he was not confident whether his will could escape the downward permeation, he began to seek Extraordinary means to ensure he would become undead after death. Therefore, he prayed to the King of the Underworld, praying that the God of the Dead would allow him to successfully return from the downward permeation after death and become undead. Even if he became undead, he did not want to face the unknown after the downward permeation.
"Ah! Lord of the Undead! Immortal King of the Dead! I implore you to grant me a blessing! Grant me the blessing to struggle and swim in the realm of death! I implore your protection, keep me forever away from the unknown that has no return!"
...
'This guy... would rather become undead than stay in the present world. It feels a bit similar to the attitude of the author of a secret transmission I read before. Are there many such guys in the Netherworld Coffin Society? Tending to become undead or something... Speaking of which, the one who cursed Neff's whole family was an ancient undead, right? So, undead Extraordinaries should also exist...
'Also... the description of the soul's state after death in this secret transmission is also quite interesting. After a person dies, the soul will permeate downwards into the inner realm of the world... Strong will and Extraordinary power can make the soul return during this process... So, where do those permeating souls ultimately go?'
Dorothy thought to herself, evaluating "Immortality of the Soul." This so-called downward permeation immediately made her think of the great soul worshipped by the indigenous people of the New World. In the shamanism of the New World, it is the destination of all souls after death.
'I wonder if this great soul really exists? If it exists, what is its state? Is it related to this so-called downward permeation? Is it the same as other deities? What is its connection with the King of the Underworld? There is too little information in this regard to judge right now...'
Dorothy thought this again in her heart. After a while, she shifted her attention to the second secret transmission, "Song of the Rebellious Dead."
...
"Song of the Rebellious Dead" is also a secret transmission about the King of the Underworld, a collection of poems praising the King of the Underworld. According to the introduction, among the indigenous tribes in the North Africa desert, some tribes with customs of death worship, they worship a symbolic, abstract God of the Dead, which basically points to the King of the Underworld. This secret transmission collects the songs of praise passed down orally among these tribes.
In these poems, the King of the Underworld is more like the God of the Dead than the God of Death. In the praise of these poems, the King of the Underworld is referred to as the Rebellious Dead. There are many contradictory descriptions in these verses, and some verses even suggest that He is the first undead in this world, and therefore the God of all undead.
"Father of the Dead! You are the first returner! The immortal first undead! You bring death and also profane death! You control death and also betray death! You are the profaner of life, and also the rebellious dead!"
...
'Bringing death and also profaning death... Controlling death and also betraying death... These phrases feel very contradictory. What is the specific meaning of the so-called betrayal of death?'
'Also... this secret transmission also claims that the King of the Underworld is the first returner, the first undead... Does this mean that the King of the Underworld is the first being to return to the present world from the downward permeation? If so, wasn't the King of the Underworld a living being who experienced death before? He is the first existence to return from the downward permeation, so does His act of profaning and betraying death refer to this return?'
Dorothy thought about this in her heart. Through these two secret transmissions, she gained some understanding of the King of the Underworld. After thinking about these two secret transmissions, she began to recall the content of the third secret transmission, and in the third secret transmission, a new deity appeared.
...
This third secret transmission was quite strange. It had no title or author, and its origin was completely unknown. Although it had the appearance of a book, when she opened it, Dorothy found that inside the book cover was a piece of parchment that could be unfolded. After she unfolded it, she saw a bizarre picture.
At first glance, the parchment depicted a skeleton, a black, standing skeleton. But upon closer inspection, this black skeleton was not simply drawn; it was written.
Yes! A written skeleton! The parchment was covered with tiny black sentences, arranged regularly and densely, forming the picture of a black skeleton. It looked very eerie.
Looking closely, the sentences that formed the skeleton were in various languages and various handwriting styles, as if written by different people. Dorothy recognized some of these sentences, but most she did not. Among the languages Dorothy could recognize, everything written was extremely malicious words of harm, curses filled with intense hatred for others. The objects of these curses varied, but without exception, they all wished for the cursed to suffer a very tragic fate.
Therefore, the parchment was a black skeleton entirely written with words of curse, and in a corner on the back of this parchment, these words were written:
"Servant of the King of the Underworld... Bound Curse Black Skeleton..."
...
'Bound Curse Black Skeleton... Could this be the variegated deity on the Extraordinary path of cursing?'
Recalling the horrifying picture on the parchment, Dorothy thought this in her heart. Looking at the black undead constructed from words of curse, she judged the other party's identity in her heart.
'Servant of the King of the Underworld... Does this mean this guy is a servant who serves the King of the Underworld? If the King of the Underworld is the pure-colored main god corresponding to the 'Cup Mother,' then this Bound Curse Black Skeleton is a variegated god like Gluttonous Wolf... In the domain of'Silence,' besides the King of the Underworld, there are other deities...
'Since there are Extraordinaries in the Netherworld Coffin Society who can use curses, then this Bound Curse Black Skeleton should also be one of the objects of faith of the Netherworld Coffin Society. I wonder if there are other deities in the other branches of'Silence'...'
Dorothy thought this. By now, she had reviewed the contents of the three secret transmissions in her mind. Now it was time to extract Spirituality.
Finally, Dorothy extracted 3 points of "Silence" and 1 point of "enlightenment" from "Immortality of the Soul," 4 points of "Silence" and 2 points of "enlightenment" from "Song of the Rebellious Dead," and 2 points of "Silence," 1 point of "Shadow," and 1 point of "enlightenment" from the parchment picture of the Bound Curse Black Skeleton.
Combining this with the previous expenses, Dorothy's current Spirituality situation is as follows:
10 Cup, 14 Stone, 6 Shadow, 4 Light, 23 Silence, 30 enlightenment.
As for cash, Dorothy now has 6350 pounds left.
'Hmm... It's barely acceptable. I'm not too short on money or Spirituality. The only thing is that using 5 points of 'Cup' at once is a bit painful, but everything else is fine. After Vanya finishes reading the secret transmissions sent by the Wolf Blood Society and gives them to me, 'Cup' can recover a bit... Hiss... 'Cup' is consumed too quickly mainly because the Living Puppet is too energy-intensive. I hope this ability can become more energy-efficient after advancing...
'Another thing worth noting is that I also extracted 1 point of'Shadow' from the parchment image of the Bound Curse Black Skeleton. Does this mean that the Bound Curse Black Skeleton is a variegated god mainly in'Silence' and assisting in'Shadow'? The corresponding Extraordinary branch that Lareina is good at, which is cursing, has'Shadow' as its auxiliary Spirituality... I wonder if the Netherworld Coffin Society has mastered other branches besides this cursing branch, and if there are any deities at the top of those branches?'
Sitting on the sofa, Dorothy stroked her chin and thought thoughtfully. Then she looked at the secret transmission books on the coffee table.
'I've finished reading these three secret transmissions now. I'll give them to Neff later. After she finishes reading these three and her Grandpa's notes, her Spirituality should be enough to advance to Black Earth. Hopefully, the ritual will be simpler then.'
Having finished organizing, Dorothy put her money and secret transmissions into her magic box, then stretched with a big yawn.
"Woo woo~ It's time to sleep. I've been busy with the Netherworld Coffin matter these past few days and haven't rested well... I need to recuperate for a while. I'm going to meet the parents in a couple of days..."
Yawning, Dorothy murmured, then she shifted her gaze to the other side of the coffee table, where an envelope was placed.
Picking up the envelope, Dorothy casually opened it and looked at the familiar handwriting... Grego's handwriting. The handwriting in the opening of the letter paper was written with a lively flourish.
"Hey! Dorothy, you'll never guess where I am now! Let me tell you, I've arrived in Tivian. We're in the same City now! Unexpected, right! Surprising, right!? You must be dying to meet your older brother..."
With a calm expression, Dorothy looked at the letter she had received that afternoon. At this moment, just by looking at the tone of the words in the letter, she could imagine how happy Grego must have been sitting there writing to her.
"He can freely contact me now, so it seems... my older brother's advancement is over... Since my older brother has been in Tivian for so long, it's time to meet him."