Chapter 62: The Fool and the Little Boy

City of Silver, the Berg household.

Derrick Berg prayed to the Fool once again, while his parents waited anxiously outside the door. Although both Mr. and Mrs. Berg were deeply worried, everything was being done so that the City of Silver could reestablish a connection with the outside world.

Derrick’s mother, Annis, unable to bear the heartache, had once tried to stop Derrick from proceeding.

"No, Derrick, if you keep this up, you will be devoured by an evil deity."

Derrick remained silent, persisting blindly in his prayer.

Under his repeated prayers, and after he uttered his willingness to offer his life and blood, the evil, mysterious entity finally deigned to grant him an audience.

A mass of deep crimson light burst forth from within the pure crystal ball. Like flowing water, the light instantly submerged Derrick.

Hearing that all movement inside the room had ceased, Annis covered her mouth and wept silently. Berg clutched his fists tightly, tears slipping from the corners of his eyes.

When Derrick’s consciousness began to recover, he found himself standing within a towering palace supported by massive stone pillars. Before him stood an ancient, mottled bronze long table, and on the opposite side sat a vague figure shrouded in dense gray fog.

Beyond that, the surroundings were void, ethereal, and desolate. Looking downward, the bottom was filled with boundless, hazy gray-white mist and countless unreal, deep crimson points of light.

This was the second great entity willing to respond to the City of Silver, apart from that Amber King!

Derrick felt nervous, yet a flame of hope was kindled deep within his heart. Gazing blankly and confusedly at the figure enthroned in the seat before him, he asked, "You—are you a deity?"

The moment he finished the question, he suddenly recalled what his teacher had taught in the General Knowledge class at the City of Silver: "Never directly gaze upon a deity!"

He hurriedly and panicky lowered his head.

The figure leaned back, hands crossed and clasped together, maintaining a leisurely and relaxed posture. The disguise bore no resemblance whatsoever to a perverted evil deity with a penchant for young boys.

Yet was that truly the case?

That Amber King had clearly told the Chief that this was an ancient, perverted old evil deity who fancied young boys.

Derrick muttered inwardly, "Next, His very next line will be: I am not a deity..."

Klein answered in Giant: "I am not a deity; I am merely a Fool who takes an interest in the long river of history."

It matched! It really matched!

Derrick was both thrilled and terrified. He was thrilled that the City of Silver had received a response once again, and terrified that his innocence might no longer be preserved.

He had heard that this deity held the authority of the "Door," and feared that...

Klein, who had lightly tapped his left teeth twice, discovered that the surface of the astral projection deep within the young man's ether body mottled with inconsistent colors.

This indicated that the other party was not yet a Beyonder.

Derrick took a deep breath, remaining silent for a long time before speaking with difficulty: "Regardless of whether you are a deity or a Fool, my plea remains unchanged. I hope that everyone in the City of Silver can escape the curse of destiny, and I hope that the sun—the sun described in those books—will appear in the sky."

Mr. Fully-Automated Wish-Granter, who in the future would require only a single copper penny to perform such tasks, smiled. "Then, what about the price?"

Derrick froze for a moment, taking quite a while to respond: "I will offer my soul, and I will use my blood to please you."

"I have no interest in the blood and souls of mortals," Klein smiled and shook his head.

Such a price was completely disproportionate, unless you were the heroine of some third-rate web novel titled *The Domineering Evil Deity Falls in Love with Me*. Klein inwardly roasted.

Before the other could speak again, he said leisurely, "However, I can offer you an opportunity."

Derrick dared not refute, yet he used a tremendous force of will to keep himself from trembling.

Oblivious to Derrick’s thoughts, Klein continued, "I am a Fool who believes in fair exchange. You can acquire what you desire from me, and from others similar to you, by using anything you are capable of obtaining. Note that the value must be equivalent..."

Klein recalled the grand visions his former boss used to paint for him before his transmigration: "This will allow you to grow powerful. Perhaps one day, you will be able to rely on yourself to free the City of Silver from its curse and make the sun reappear in the sky."

This was a promise from the beacon of destiny.

Based on the other’s previous description, he had a certain degree of certainty that the City of Silver was located in the so-called Land Forsaken by the Gods. Of course, he could not be a hundred percent certain for the time being; after all, according to religious texts, the state of the sky lacking a sun had already existed in the First Epoch, the Epoch of Chaos, and no one knew whether there were other strange places unknown to the nations of the Northern Continent besides the Land Forsaken by the Gods.

Naturally, this could also be on another planet. However, since the person before him spoke in Giant, it was presumably not too far away.

Derrick listened quietly, lowering his head in silence. After a while, he replied, "I wish to become a 'Sun,' and obtain from you its Sequence 9 potion formula."

Gellerman: *Ding, you have a new 'Should I kill him?' order, please process it in time.*

Osaiskus: *Not out of gas, it's coming for me.*

Based on these few fragments, Klein deduced that the Land Forsaken by the Gods had been separated from the northern and southern continents at least by the end of the Second Epoch. He inferred that this was related to the cataclysm of the Third Epoch.

Old Futhark was directly derived from Giant, and in this regard, Klein could barely be considered an expert. Therefore, his progress in mastering Giant was rapid, and he was currently in no danger of exposing his flaws.

At this moment, however, he still genuinely desired the synesthetic beacon Celreis had mentioned.

Maintaining his aura of profound mystery, Klein replied in an indifferent tone, "This transaction can be postponed to the next gathering. Over the next two days, you had best not step outside, and try to avoid staying in the same room with others."

"Understood, I obey your arrangements." Derrick lowered his head.

Following that, the despicable and overbearing Fool demanded protection money and an entry fee from the poor little Sun: information concerning the history of the City of Silver.

The plight of the City of Silver weighed heavily on Klein. Powerless to effect immediate change, he could only resort to painting grand blueprints. The innocent Derrick believed the Fool's grand visions and consumed them quite happily.

Finally, before sending Derrick back, Klein materialized a set of Tarot cards and instructed Derrick to choose his own codex name.

Derrick leafed through them and selected "Sun."

The gray fog surged, and the crimson receded. Derrick's consciousness returned to the real world.

He pushed open the door and stepped out. Seeing his parents waiting outside, the three of them embraced one another and wept.