Chapter 302
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"It's impossible that this news is true! There are so many lower-class people out there, we haven't truly utilized them yet, how can they be wasted in this lame catastrophe?"
All of a sudden, a sharp voice was heard.
Upon hearing that, everyone looked over with disgusted looks.
It turned out that the voice came from one side of the round table, where a flirtatious middle-aged woman with thick foundation on her face and dressed in a gown with plunging neckline was seated there. She was staring at Chief Hook ruthlessly with a raging face.
The middle-aged woman was Mary Barito, she often flaunted that her ancestors were from a famous royal family in Europe, and that she inherited the Countess title, such that the others must address her as Countess Barito.
Due to her large fortune and that she mastered in alchemy passed on from her ancestors, her real identity was a master alchemist in one line of sorcerers, thus many people had to pretend to be polite and compliant by addressing her as the Countess.
Nonetheless, she knew no restraints in her arrogance, conceit, and ruthlessness, which caused a strong hatred in many people since long ago.
Right then, Chief Hook's eyes glimmered, he purposely stopped talking to hear what this countess had to say.
However, the host of the conference, which was the old man in a suit, had cut off the middle-aged woman.
"Ms. Barito, please mind your words, this is not the occasion to discuss alchemy." The host reminded seriously, then he unwittingly glanced past some people, which included Chief Hook.
"Hmph," It was as if the host had high rank and power, the arrogant countess instantly shut up.
This made Chief Hook rather disappointed, he knew that an extremely deep and terrifying secret had been going around in the Sorcerer Club, but he had not managed to prove it.
The hierarchy in the Sorcerer Club was very strict, divided into five levels, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Ultimate, and Legendary.
Although he had an immensely high strength, he only had the title of an Intermediate-level sorcerer in the club.
This time, it was only because of the importance of his identity that he was entitled to be invited to speak at this roundtable.
At the moment, those who were able to participate in this conference were core members with at least the title of an Advanced-level sorcerer.
This level not only depended on one's strengths, but also determined by one's qualifications, ranking, and their contributions to the club.
As for these core members, only an extremely small number of them knew about the fearful secret.
They used to collude with demons from the Demonic Space, and greatly utilized criminals from prison to refine demon generals.
This intensely wicked matter was not especially hidden away from the other normal members, it was even openly discussed during the conference, but only that secret was closely guarded.
This made Chief Hook extra concerned, he kept trying to probe it but he failed.
The Countess was one of them who knew about it, though she was full of herself and knew no boundaries, it was pointless to expect to hear related news about this matter from her.
Today, once she was enraged and in disbelief when heard that the news about the catastrophe was true, and that most of the people would die since only a small number of people were eligible to escape through Noah's Ark.
It was evident that she was not one who sympathized the commoners, which meant that the commoners outside were very important to her, so important that she was unable to control her emotions…
Chief Hook faintly had a horrible suspicion…
The old host coughed a little to regain the attention of the people, he said, "Chief Hook, you have control over America's Special Affairs Investigation Bureau, so the source of the intelligence is probably reliable, the matter about building the ark will be our next discussion topic. First of all, we need to confirm the true cause of this catastrophe and see if there's any way to avoid it…"
The members of the Sorcerer Club around the roundtable looked at each other, many of them had not recovered from the shock just now.
They all thought that the news about this catastrophe was only to repay Tom the black cat's kindness, that it was the same as before, whereby it was just something that seemed real but in reality, a fragment of it was used to fool the commoners.
They did not think that it was actually real!
Did it mean that their hundreds of millions of properties, countless attractive secret lovers, and their extravagant lives were going to vanish?
Everyone knew that by getting on board Noah's Ark, it would be impossible for them to have such a high level of enjoyment!
After all, it was the commoners who created these pleasures for them! If a large number of them were to die, who would create these extravagant lives for them anymore?
Nevertheless, among these people, a few of them knew about the daunting secret, so their thoughts were the same as that countess who had no limits to her acts.
The commoners could die, and it would not matter even if all of them were dead, as long as the matter could be accomplished, but they definitely could not die with no value or too soon!
Right after the host said so, everyone else nodded in agreement, then somebody raised his hand up impatiently to signal that he wanted to speak.
"Detective Smith, you're the top detective in America, you have a sharp mind and a wonderful ability in investigations, please tell us your opinion on this." The old host appointed someone.
Everyone's gaze was shifted to that person, a white-haired old man. Despite looking aged, he was dressed unusually neat, there wasn't a single spot on him.
He held onto a walking stick and stood up slowly then said,
"Previously, Hook mentioned that the tides are abnormal this time, which can't be explained by existing scientific theories. This means that there's a great possibility that it actually comes from an extraordinary power. I only have a question now, is there any extraordinaire on this earth now who can perform something like this?"
Everyone nodded as he went straight to the point.
For those who were able to enter the Sorcerer Club, apart from a minority of those who depended on their family resources, most of the rest had their own specialty.
Just like the countess whom everyone despised, she was a master alchemist herself, so nobody here could look down on her.
Hook smiled and said, "Teacher, you asked a right question, you're still sharp as always and have shocking insight. You managed to grasp the crux of the problem at once. That's right, we've considered this problem too and there's only one conclusion, which is…"
Everyone held their breaths immediately and paid closer attention.
"God."
Chief Hook uttered this single word slowly.
"Hiss!" Upon hearing this, everyone gasped all at once.
In everyone's minds, this was not someone nice to get along with, and had criminal records long ago, if the legends were true…
At this instant, somebody questioned, "Myths are myths, reality is reality. Even if the phenomenal era arrives and perhaps God really exists, the earth is still not his home, will the other Gods watch him send the flood to wipe out the world?"
Hook shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, sir, perhaps you need to refresh your knowledge structure. The God I'm saying is just a referral, the Earth's will on behalf of us. It's not the one from the myths and legends, it's impossible for that one to appear so early."
"Hmph, you should just say that it's Gaia's Consciousness then, why must you mention God…
That person said indignantly.
Hook did not say a word as he had nothing to say in reply. It was entirely out of his subconscious habit when he mentioned "God" just now, but he had a pay a price for bringing that up…
Detective Smith spoke to help his former disciple out of trouble, "Where's it's God or Gaia, it's the same to us, they're both omniscient existences. The key task at hand is to grab the opportunity to communicate with it to get a clear picture of why it is causing the abnormalities of the tides. Everyone, please have your say on the choice of candidate for this communication."
If Fang Ning had heard that, he would absolutely say that great minds think alike, because that was just what he was thinking…
"I suggest that Abraham the Great Sorcerer from Druid make the move, he's an expert in communicating with nature, so he can definitely determine what Gaia's Consciousness actually wants to do." Soon enough, somebody nominated a candidate.
That being said, someone shook his head. "Indeed, he can do it since he's resourceful, but he previously disagreed with our action of enhancing strength through demons, and has chosen to left long ago. He might not help us now, will he?"
"Hmph, foolish fellow!" Countess Barito put her palms together and placed them on the round dark brown table, as if she did not mind about the blood spots on it at all. She sneered and said, "Isn't this simple? Just send two fellows with lawyer backgrounds. As long as we kidnap him by the name of righteous and moral, he'll find out the cause of the catastrophe for us even at the cost of his life.
"Besides, we can use this opportunity to get rid of this stubborn old thing too, lest he gets in our way."
After everyone heard her, they became more disgusted with this woman.
While everyone thought that way, nobody said so.
If it was somebody else, it would have been "Looking at the noble character of Abraham the Great Sorcerer, he surely won't be calculative of the past, he'll certainly make a move for countless commoners and even sacrifice himself."
Once Hook heard about this, he had a stronger desire for Robert to die.
If that were to happen, his nephew William would be able to do this easily, and there would be no need to sacrifice another respectable great sorcerer from Druid…
Sigh, the one who should die did not die, but the one who should not die had to die…
Abraham the Great Sorcerer was reputable, broad-minded, and had a profound strength…
The ones before were just bullshit, the most important one was naturally the last sentence.
He heard that he had recently advanced another step in merging with nature, according to the latest Dragon Clan evaluation standard in the east, he was already considered to be a Lake-level master, which was his most important secret power behind the scenes.
The reason Hook was able to go all the way to being the Chief of the Investigation Bureau was certainly not because he was soft-hearted.
Should Abraham really die, he would not be saddened at all, he would only feel pity that he had lost one of the most powerful weapons and counterweights.
He had always thought that while he was greedy, had a lust for women, unscrupulous, ruthless, hypocritical, and cunning, he was still a patriot…
He could sacrifice many things for his country.
In order to excite Willian's Spiderman nature, he could plot against his follower, Agent Robert, who was diligent, hardworking, upright, innocent, loyal, and patriotic.
This time around, who should he sacrifice?
He had a second thought then said, "I think that we don't need to be in such a hurry, this catastrophe involves the whole planet, there are many others who are even more worried than us."
Right then, somebody said coldly, "Hmph, Mr. Chief, just now you were still rushing us to build Noah's Ark quickly, why do you say that we 'don't need to be in a hurry' now?"
Hook immediately responded, his contradicting words had attracted suspicions from some people.
Previously when he hurried that they should build Noah's Ark, he wanted to take the chance to embezzle some funds for cultivating forces.
After all, his identity was still the Chief of America's Special Affairs Investigation Bureau, big projects like this required transfers of large quantities of society's resources.
Throughout the whole process, if it were to be done in secret, they needed to rely on him to hide and conceal the news, hence along the way, he could just demand any amount of money he wanted.
Hook understood the minds of these people very well, they were mostly exceptionally selfish people. Just like the novel "Window", they were those who could watch their wardmates die just so they could see the scenery outside the window.
Which was just like himself… thus he further understood them.
Consequently, he explained, "This is because when Noah's Ark is built, we'll have a foundation and there's no need to rush, let the others worry for us…"
Everyone came to a sudden realization after hearing that, they nodded their heads instantly one after another.
The expression of the countess slowly calmed down as well, she gave him a look of commendation.
Lieutenant General York from before was the only one who was not very satisfied, he scoffed and said, "Where do America's leaders stand then? This time, the whole world is looking at us, our allies are watching us too!"
The Countess said in disdain, "What about leaders' positions, they're just some low-class commoner f*cks! What does it mean to extraordinaires like us? When Japan was at the brink of extinction, they sought help from us too, I recall that Lieutenant General York was also reluctant to send his precious fleet to save those innocent Japanese, he just let them drown in the waters…"
When Lieutenant General York, a middle-aged man dressed in brownish grey military uniform, heard this, his face flushed red and he forcefully explained, "That was because the situation was not clear and extremely misty, even the radars can't see through. I can't let those precious young fellows sacrifice for no reason for a dog we used to keep."
Countess Barito continued saying, "Since this is it, we can now continue to sit and watch once again. Chief Hook just reminded me that some people, such as the Eastern Pharos, won't be watching the commoners die. In his eyes, people from the east and the west are the same.
"If not, he won't come to New Netherlands to become Batman, and save a fellow who was said to be God's son."
Once they listened up till then, around the roundtable, the core members of this Sorcerer Club immediately started laughing out loud.
"That's right, we can still control the media to create public opinion, lift the Eastern Pharos up high and shape it into a universal saint. When that happens, he'll definitely want to care about America's commoners…"
"As for us, we'll silently build Noah's Ark and prepare everything for the escape, it's truly a perfect plan."
"Hahaha, you're right, Mr. Senator."
"Great minds think alike, Sir Governor."
Many members had already agreed to this suggestion - They decided to build Noah's Ark, incite the Eastern Pharos to be the savior, while America would just sit and watch once again.
It was just like England's empire back then when they sat and watched as the second duke strutted around.
They believed that they could still laugh till the very end.
These people no longer treated themselves as normal people.
Perhaps there were many billionaires in the past, whereby the spirit of equality and sharing was abundant, but when the new era arrived, those who already knew how to seek a living had already treated themselves as the highest beings…
In spite of that, there were quite a number of core members who were typical representatives of Lieutenant General York, but they looked awful.
Regardless of the organization, there would never be just one opinion.
These people were still deeply clinging onto the glory from some time ago when America led the world.
As for the measures taken by these companions, though they were very much beneficial for individuals, it was clearly not much advantageous to America.
That was because it meant that America would once again lose the great opportunity to establish authority and to settle the foundation of the new era.
They looked at each other once, and decided to do it alone.
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"It's impossible that this news is true! There are so many lower-class people out there, we haven't truly utilized them yet, how can they be wasted in this lame catastrophe?"
All of a sudden, a sharp voice was heard.
Upon hearing that, everyone looked over with disgusted looks.
It turned out that the voice came from one side of the round table, where a flirtatious middle-aged woman with thick foundation on her face and dressed in a gown with plunging neckline was seated there. She was staring at Chief Hook ruthlessly with a raging face.
The middle-aged woman was Mary Barito, she often flaunted that her ancestors were from a famous royal family in Europe, and that she inherited the Countess title, such that the others must address her as Countess Barito.
Due to her large fortune and that she mastered in alchemy passed on from her ancestors, her real identity was a master alchemist in one line of sorcerers, thus many people had to pretend to be polite and compliant by addressing her as the Countess.
Nonetheless, she knew no restraints in her arrogance, conceit, and ruthlessness, which caused a strong hatred in many people since long ago.
Right then, Chief Hook's eyes glimmered, he purposely stopped talking to hear what this countess had to say.
However, the host of the conference, which was the old man in a suit, had cut off the middle-aged woman.
"Ms. Barito, please mind your words, this is not the occasion to discuss alchemy." The host reminded seriously, then he unwittingly glanced past some people, which included Chief Hook.
"Hmph," It was as if the host had high rank and power, the arrogant countess instantly shut up.
This made Chief Hook rather disappointed, he knew that an extremely deep and terrifying secret had been going around in the Sorcerer Club, but he had not managed to prove it.
The hierarchy in the Sorcerer Club was very strict, divided into five levels, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Ultimate, and Legendary.
Although he had an immensely high strength, he only had the title of an Intermediate-level sorcerer in the club.
This time, it was only because of the importance of his identity that he was entitled to be invited to speak at this roundtable.
At the moment, those who were able to participate in this conference were core members with at least the title of an Advanced-level sorcerer.
This level not only depended on one's strengths, but also determined by one's qualifications, ranking, and their contributions to the club.
As for these core members, only an extremely small number of them knew about the fearful secret.
They used to collude with demons from the Demonic Space, and greatly utilized criminals from prison to refine demon generals.
This intensely wicked matter was not especially hidden away from the other normal members, it was even openly discussed during the conference, but only that secret was closely guarded.
This made Chief Hook extra concerned, he kept trying to probe it but he failed.
The Countess was one of them who knew about it, though she was full of herself and knew no boundaries, it was pointless to expect to hear related news about this matter from her.
Today, once she was enraged and in disbelief when heard that the news about the catastrophe was true, and that most of the people would die since only a small number of people were eligible to escape through Noah's Ark.
It was evident that she was not one who sympathized the commoners, which meant that the commoners outside were very important to her, so important that she was unable to control her emotions…
Chief Hook faintly had a horrible suspicion…
The old host coughed a little to regain the attention of the people, he said, "Chief Hook, you have control over America's Special Affairs Investigation Bureau, so the source of the intelligence is probably reliable, the matter about building the ark will be our next discussion topic. First of all, we need to confirm the true cause of this catastrophe and see if there's any way to avoid it…"
The members of the Sorcerer Club around the roundtable looked at each other, many of them had not recovered from the shock just now.
They all thought that the news about this catastrophe was only to repay Tom the black cat's kindness, that it was the same as before, whereby it was just something that seemed real but in reality, a fragment of it was used to fool the commoners.
They did not think that it was actually real!
Did it mean that their hundreds of millions of properties, countless attractive secret lovers, and their extravagant lives were going to vanish?
Everyone knew that by getting on board Noah's Ark, it would be impossible for them to have such a high level of enjoyment!
After all, it was the commoners who created these pleasures for them! If a large number of them were to die, who would create these extravagant lives for them anymore?
Nevertheless, among these people, a few of them knew about the daunting secret, so their thoughts were the same as that countess who had no limits to her acts.
The commoners could die, and it would not matter even if all of them were dead, as long as the matter could be accomplished, but they definitely could not die with no value or too soon!
Right after the host said so, everyone else nodded in agreement, then somebody raised his hand up impatiently to signal that he wanted to speak.
"Detective Smith, you're the top detective in America, you have a sharp mind and a wonderful ability in investigations, please tell us your opinion on this." The old host appointed someone.
Everyone's gaze was shifted to that person, a white-haired old man. Despite looking aged, he was dressed unusually neat, there wasn't a single spot on him.
He held onto a walking stick and stood up slowly then said,
"Previously, Hook mentioned that the tides are abnormal this time, which can't be explained by existing scientific theories. This means that there's a great possibility that it actually comes from an extraordinary power. I only have a question now, is there any extraordinaire on this earth now who can perform something like this?"
Everyone nodded as he went straight to the point.
For those who were able to enter the Sorcerer Club, apart from a minority of those who depended on their family resources, most of the rest had their own specialty.
Just like the countess whom everyone despised, she was a master alchemist herself, so nobody here could look down on her.
Hook smiled and said, "Teacher, you asked a right question, you're still sharp as always and have shocking insight. You managed to grasp the crux of the problem at once. That's right, we've considered this problem too and there's only one conclusion, which is…"
Everyone held their breaths immediately and paid closer attention.
"God."
Chief Hook uttered this single word slowly.
"Hiss!" Upon hearing this, everyone gasped all at once.
In everyone's minds, this was not someone nice to get along with, and had criminal records long ago, if the legends were true…
At this instant, somebody questioned, "Myths are myths, reality is reality. Even if the phenomenal era arrives and perhaps God really exists, the earth is still not his home, will the other Gods watch him send the flood to wipe out the world?"
Hook shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, sir, perhaps you need to refresh your knowledge structure. The God I'm saying is just a referral, the Earth's will on behalf of us. It's not the one from the myths and legends, it's impossible for that one to appear so early."
"Hmph, you should just say that it's Gaia's Consciousness then, why must you mention God…
That person said indignantly.
Hook did not say a word as he had nothing to say in reply. It was entirely out of his subconscious habit when he mentioned "God" just now, but he had a pay a price for bringing that up…
Detective Smith spoke to help his former disciple out of trouble, "Where's it's God or Gaia, it's the same to us, they're both omniscient existences. The key task at hand is to grab the opportunity to communicate with it to get a clear picture of why it is causing the abnormalities of the tides. Everyone, please have your say on the choice of candidate for this communication."
If Fang Ning had heard that, he would absolutely say that great minds think alike, because that was just what he was thinking…
"I suggest that Abraham the Great Sorcerer from Druid make the move, he's an expert in communicating with nature, so he can definitely determine what Gaia's Consciousness actually wants to do." Soon enough, somebody nominated a candidate.
That being said, someone shook his head. "Indeed, he can do it since he's resourceful, but he previously disagreed with our action of enhancing strength through demons, and has chosen to left long ago. He might not help us now, will he?"
"Hmph, foolish fellow!" Countess Barito put her palms together and placed them on the round dark brown table, as if she did not mind about the blood spots on it at all. She sneered and said, "Isn't this simple? Just send two fellows with lawyer backgrounds. As long as we kidnap him by the name of righteous and moral, he'll find out the cause of the catastrophe for us even at the cost of his life.
"Besides, we can use this opportunity to get rid of this stubborn old thing too, lest he gets in our way."
After everyone heard her, they became more disgusted with this woman.
While everyone thought that way, nobody said so.
If it was somebody else, it would have been "Looking at the noble character of Abraham the Great Sorcerer, he surely won't be calculative of the past, he'll certainly make a move for countless commoners and even sacrifice himself."
Once Hook heard about this, he had a stronger desire for Robert to die.
If that were to happen, his nephew William would be able to do this easily, and there would be no need to sacrifice another respectable great sorcerer from Druid…
Sigh, the one who should die did not die, but the one who should not die had to die…
Abraham the Great Sorcerer was reputable, broad-minded, and had a profound strength…
The ones before were just bullshit, the most important one was naturally the last sentence.
He heard that he had recently advanced another step in merging with nature, according to the latest Dragon Clan evaluation standard in the east, he was already considered to be a Lake-level master, which was his most important secret power behind the scenes.
The reason Hook was able to go all the way to being the Chief of the Investigation Bureau was certainly not because he was soft-hearted.
Should Abraham really die, he would not be saddened at all, he would only feel pity that he had lost one of the most powerful weapons and counterweights.
He had always thought that while he was greedy, had a lust for women, unscrupulous, ruthless, hypocritical, and cunning, he was still a patriot…
He could sacrifice many things for his country.
In order to excite Willian's Spiderman nature, he could plot against his follower, Agent Robert, who was diligent, hardworking, upright, innocent, loyal, and patriotic.
This time around, who should he sacrifice?
He had a second thought then said, "I think that we don't need to be in such a hurry, this catastrophe involves the whole planet, there are many others who are even more worried than us."
Right then, somebody said coldly, "Hmph, Mr. Chief, just now you were still rushing us to build Noah's Ark quickly, why do you say that we 'don't need to be in a hurry' now?"
Hook immediately responded, his contradicting words had attracted suspicions from some people.
Previously when he hurried that they should build Noah's Ark, he wanted to take the chance to embezzle some funds for cultivating forces.
After all, his identity was still the Chief of America's Special Affairs Investigation Bureau, big projects like this required transfers of large quantities of society's resources.
Throughout the whole process, if it were to be done in secret, they needed to rely on him to hide and conceal the news, hence along the way, he could just demand any amount of money he wanted.
Hook understood the minds of these people very well, they were mostly exceptionally selfish people. Just like the novel "Window", they were those who could watch their wardmates die just so they could see the scenery outside the window.
Which was just like himself… thus he further understood them.
Consequently, he explained, "This is because when Noah's Ark is built, we'll have a foundation and there's no need to rush, let the others worry for us…"
Everyone came to a sudden realization after hearing that, they nodded their heads instantly one after another.
The expression of the countess slowly calmed down as well, she gave him a look of commendation.
Lieutenant General York from before was the only one who was not very satisfied, he scoffed and said, "Where do America's leaders stand then? This time, the whole world is looking at us, our allies are watching us too!"
The Countess said in disdain, "What about leaders' positions, they're just some low-class commoner f*cks! What does it mean to extraordinaires like us? When Japan was at the brink of extinction, they sought help from us too, I recall that Lieutenant General York was also reluctant to send his precious fleet to save those innocent Japanese, he just let them drown in the waters…"
When Lieutenant General York, a middle-aged man dressed in brownish grey military uniform, heard this, his face flushed red and he forcefully explained, "That was because the situation was not clear and extremely misty, even the radars can't see through. I can't let those precious young fellows sacrifice for no reason for a dog we used to keep."
Countess Barito continued saying, "Since this is it, we can now continue to sit and watch once again. Chief Hook just reminded me that some people, such as the Eastern Pharos, won't be watching the commoners die. In his eyes, people from the east and the west are the same.
"If not, he won't come to New Netherlands to become Batman, and save a fellow who was said to be God's son."
Once they listened up till then, around the roundtable, the core members of this Sorcerer Club immediately started laughing out loud.
"That's right, we can still control the media to create public opinion, lift the Eastern Pharos up high and shape it into a universal saint. When that happens, he'll definitely want to care about America's commoners…"
"As for us, we'll silently build Noah's Ark and prepare everything for the escape, it's truly a perfect plan."
"Hahaha, you're right, Mr. Senator."
"Great minds think alike, Sir Governor."
Many members had already agreed to this suggestion - They decided to build Noah's Ark, incite the Eastern Pharos to be the savior, while America would just sit and watch once again.
It was just like England's empire back then when they sat and watched as the second duke strutted around.
They believed that they could still laugh till the very end.
These people no longer treated themselves as normal people.
Perhaps there were many billionaires in the past, whereby the spirit of equality and sharing was abundant, but when the new era arrived, those who already knew how to seek a living had already treated themselves as the highest beings…
In spite of that, there were quite a number of core members who were typical representatives of Lieutenant General York, but they looked awful.
Regardless of the organization, there would never be just one opinion.
These people were still deeply clinging onto the glory from some time ago when America led the world.
As for the measures taken by these companions, though they were very much beneficial for individuals, it was clearly not much advantageous to America.
That was because it meant that America would once again lose the great opportunity to establish authority and to settle the foundation of the new era.
They looked at each other once, and decided to do it alone.
"It's impossible that this news is true! There are so many lower-class people out there, we haven't truly utilized them yet, how can they be wasted in this lame catastrophe?"All of a sudden, a sharp voice was heard.Upon hearing that, everyone looked over with disgusted looks.It turned out that the voice came from one side of the round table, where a flirtatious middle-aged woman with thick foundation on her face and dressed in a gown with plunging neckline was seated there. She was staring at Chief Hook ruthlessly with a raging face.The middle-aged woman was Mary Barito, she often flaunted that her ancestors were from a famous royal family in Europe, and that she inherited the Countess title, such that the others must address her as Countess Barito.Due to her large fortune and that she mastered in alchemy passed on from her ancestors, her real identity was a master alchemist in one line of sorcerers, thus many people had to pretend to be polite and compliant by addressing her as the Countess.Nonetheless, she knew no restraints in her arrogance, conceit, and ruthlessness, which caused a strong hatred in many people since long ago.Right then, Chief Hook's eyes glimmered, he purposely stopped talking to hear what this countess had to say.However, the host of the conference, which was the old man in a suit, had cut off the middle-aged woman."Ms. Barito, please mind your words, this is not the occasion to discuss alchemy." The host reminded seriously, then he unwittingly glanced past some people, which included Chief Hook."Hmph," It was as if the host had high rank and power, the arrogant countess instantly shut up.This made Chief Hook rather disappointed, he knew that an extremely deep and terrifying secret had been going around in the Sorcerer Club, but he had not managed to prove it.The hierarchy in the Sorcerer Club was very strict, divided into five levels, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Ultimate, and Legendary.Although he had an immensely high strength, he only had the title of an Intermediate-level sorcerer in the club.This time, it was only because of the importance of his identity that he was entitled to be invited to speak at this roundtable.At the moment, those who were able to participate in this conference were core members with at least the title of an Advanced-level sorcerer.This level not only depended on one's strengths, but also determined by one's qualifications, ranking, and their contributions to the club.As for these core members, only an extremely small number of them knew about the fearful secret.They used to collude with demons from the Demonic Space, and greatly utilized criminals from prison to refine demon generals.This intensely wicked matter was not especially hidden away from the other normal members, it was even openly discussed during the conference, but only that secret was closely guarded.This made Chief Hook extra concerned, he kept trying to probe it but he failed.The Countess was one of them who knew about it, though she was full of herself and knew no boundaries, it was pointless to expect to hear related news about this matter from her.Today, once she was enraged and in disbelief when heard that the news about the catastrophe was true, and that most of the people would die since only a small number of people were eligible to escape through Noah's Ark.It was evident that she was not one who sympathized the commoners, which meant that the commoners outside were very important to her, so important that she was unable to control her emotionsChief Hook faintly had a horrible suspicionThe old host coughed a little to regain the attention of the people, he said, "Chief Hook, you have control over America's Special Affairs Investigation Bureau, so the source of the intelligence is probably reliable, the matter about building the ark will be our next discussion topic. First of all, we need to confirm the true cause of this catastrophe and see if there's any way to avoid it"The members of the Sorcerer Club around the roundtable looked at each other, many of them had not recovered from the shock just now.They all thought that the news about this catastrophe was only to repay Tom the black cat's kindness, that it was the same as before, whereby it was just something that seemed real but in reality, a fragment of it was used to fool the commoners.They did not think that it was actually real!Did it mean that their hundreds of millions of properties, countless attractive secret lovers, and their extravagant lives were going to vanish?Everyone knew that by getting on board Noah's Ark, it would be impossible for them to have such a high level of enjoyment!After all, it was the commoners who created these pleasures for them! If a large number of them were to die, who would create these extravagant lives for them anymore?Nevertheless, among these people, a few of them knew about the daunting secret, so their thoughts were the same as that countess who had no limits to her acts.The commoners could die, and it would not matter even if all of them were dead, as long as the matter could be accomplished, but they definitely could not die with no value or too soon!Right after the host said so, everyone else nodded in agreement, then somebody raised his hand up impatiently to signal that he wanted to speak."Detective Smith, you're the top detective in America, you have a sharp mind and a wonderful ability in investigations, please tell us your opinion on this." The old host appointed someone.Everyone's gaze was shifted to that person, a white-haired old man. Despite looking aged, he was dressed unusually neat, there wasn't a single spot on him.He held onto a walking stick and stood up slowly then said,"Previously, Hook mentioned that the tides are abnormal this time, which can't be explained by existing scientific theories. This means that there's a great possibility that it actually comes from an extraordinary power. I only have a question now, is there any extraordinaire on this earth now who can perform something like this?"Everyone nodded as he went straight to the point.For those who were able to enter the Sorcerer Club, apart from a minority of those who depended on their family resources, most of the rest had their own specialty.Just like the countess whom everyone despised, she was a master alchemist herself, so nobody here could look down on her.Hook smiled and said, "Teacher, you asked a right question, you're still sharp as always and have shocking insight. You managed to grasp the crux of the problem at once. That's right, we've considered this problem too and there's only one conclusion, which is"Everyone held their breaths immediately and paid closer attention."God."Chief Hook uttered this single word slowly."Hiss!" Upon hearing this, everyone gasped all at once.In everyone's minds, this was not someone nice to get along with, and had criminal records long ago, if the legends were trueAt this instant, somebody questioned, "Myths are myths, reality is reality. Even if the phenomenal era arrives and perhaps God really exists, the earth is still not his home, will the other Gods watch him send the flood to wipe out the world?"Hook shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, sir, perhaps you need to refresh your knowledge structure. The God I'm saying is just a referral, the Earth's will on behalf of us. It's not the one from the myths and legends, it's impossible for that one to appear so early.""Hmph, you should just say that it's Gaia's Consciousness then, why must you mention God That person said indignantly.Hook did not say a word as he had nothing to say in reply. It was entirely out of his subconscious habit when he mentioned "God" just now, but he had a pay a price for bringing that upDetective Smith spoke to help his former disciple out of trouble, "Where's it's God or Gaia, it's the same to us, they're both omniscient existences. The key task at hand is to grab the opportunity to communicate with it to get a clear picture of why it is causing the abnormalities of the tides. Everyone, please have your say on the choice of candidate for this communication."If Fang Ning had heard that, he would absolutely say that great minds think alike, because that was just what he was thinking"I suggest that Abraham the Great Sorcerer from Druid make the move, he's an expert in communicating with nature, so he can definitely determine what Gaia's Consciousness actually wants to do." Soon enough, somebody nominated a candidate.That being said, someone shook his head. "Indeed, he can do it since he's resourceful, but he previously disagreed with our action of enhancing strength through demons, and has chosen to left long ago. He might not help us now, will he?""Hmph, foolish fellow!" Countess Barito put her palms together and placed them on the round dark brown table, as if she did not mind about the blood spots on it at all. She sneered and said, "Isn't this simple? Just send two fellows with lawyer backgrounds. As long as we kidnap him by the name of righteous and moral, he'll find out the cause of the catastrophe for us even at the cost of his life."Besides, we can use this opportunity to get rid of this stubborn old thing too, lest he gets in our way."After everyone heard her, they became more disgusted with this woman.While everyone thought that way, nobody said so.If it was somebody else, it would have been "Looking at the noble character of Abraham the Great Sorcerer, he surely won't be calculative of the past, he'll certainly make a move for countless commoners and even sacrifice himself."Once Hook heard about this, he had a stronger desire for Robert to die.If that were to happen, his nephew William would be able to do this easily, and there would be no need to sacrifice another respectable great sorcerer from DruidSigh, the one who should die did not die, but the one who should not die had to dieAbraham the Great Sorcerer was reputable, broad-minded, and had a profound strengthThe ones before were just bullshit, the most important one was naturally the last sentence.He heard that he had recently advanced another step in merging with nature, according to the latest Dragon Clan evaluation standard in the east, he was already considered to be a Lake-level master, which was his most important secret power behind the scenes.The reason Hook was able to go all the way to being the Chief of the Investigation Bureau was certainly not because he was soft-hearted.Should Abraham really die, he would not be saddened at all, he would only feel pity that he had lost one of the most powerful weapons and counterweights.He had always thought that while he was greedy, had a lust for women, unscrupulous, ruthless, hypocritical, and cunning, he was still a patriotHe could sacrifice many things for his country.In order to excite Willian's Spiderman nature, he could plot against his follower, Agent Robert, who was diligent, hardworking, upright, innocent, loyal, and patriotic.This time around, who should he sacrifice?He had a second thought then said, "I think that we don't need to be in such a hurry, this catastrophe involves the whole planet, there are many others who are even more worried than us."Right then, somebody said coldly, "Hmph, Mr. Chief, just now you were still rushing us to build Noah's Ark quickly, why do you say that we 'don't need to be in a hurry' now?"Hook immediately responded, his contradicting words had attracted suspicions from some people.Previously when he hurried that they should build Noah's Ark, he wanted to take the chance to embezzle some funds for cultivating forces.After all, his identity was still the Chief of America's Special Affairs Investigation Bureau, big projects like this required transfers of large quantities of society's resources.Throughout the whole process, if it were to be done in secret, they needed to rely on him to hide and conceal the news, hence along the way, he could just demand any amount of money he wanted.Hook understood the minds of these people very well, they were mostly exceptionally selfish people. Just like the novel "Window", they were those who could watch their wardmates die just so they could see the scenery outside the window.Which was just like himself thus he further understood them.Consequently, he explained, "This is because when Noah's Ark is built, we'll have a foundation and there's no need to rush, let the others worry for us"Everyone came to a sudden realization after hearing that, they nodded their heads instantly one after another.The expression of the countess slowly calmed down as well, she gave him a look of commendation.Lieutenant General York from before was the only one who was not very satisfied, he scoffed and said, "Where do America's leaders stand then? This time, the whole world is looking at us, our allies are watching us too!"The Countess said in disdain, "What about leaders' positions, they're just some low-class commoner f*cks! What does it mean to extraordinaires like us? When Japan was at the brink of extinction, they sought help from us too, I recall that Lieutenant General York was also reluctant to send his precious fleet to save those innocent Japanese, he just let them drown in the waters"When Lieutenant General York, a middle-aged man dressed in brownish grey military uniform, heard this, his face flushed red and he forcefully explained, "That was because the situation was not clear and extremely misty, even the radars can't see through. I can't let those precious young fellows sacrifice for no reason for a dog we used to keep."Countess Barito continued saying, "Since this is it, we can now continue to sit and watch once again. Chief Hook just reminded me that some people, such as the Eastern Pharos, won't be watching the commoners die. In his eyes, people from the east and the west are the same."If not, he won't come to New Netherlands to become Batman, and save a fellow who was said to be God's son."Once they listened up till then, around the roundtable, the core members of this Sorcerer Club immediately started laughing out loud."That's right, we can still control the media to create public opinion, lift the Eastern Pharos up high and shape it into a universal saint. When that happens, he'll definitely want to care about America's commoners""As for us, we'll silently build Noah's Ark and prepare everything for the escape, it's truly a perfect plan.""Hahaha, you're right, Mr. Senator.""Great minds think alike, Sir Governor."Many members had already agreed to this suggestion - They decided to build Noah's Ark, incite the Eastern Pharos to be the savior, while America would just sit and watch once again.It was just like England's empire back then when they sat and watched as the second duke strutted around.They believed that they could still laugh till the very end.These people no longer treated themselves as normal people.Perhaps there were many billionaires in the past, whereby the spirit of equality and sharing was abundant, but when the new era arrived, those who already knew how to seek a living had already treated themselves as the highest beingsIn spite of that, there were quite a number of core members who were typical representatives of Lieutenant General York, but they looked awful.Regardless of the organization, there would never be just one opinion.These people were still deeply clinging onto the glory from some time ago when America led the world.As for the measures taken by these companions, though they were very much beneficial for individuals, it was clearly not much advantageous to America.That was because it meant that America would once again lose the great opportunity to establish authority and to settle the foundation of the new era.They looked at each other once, and decided to do it alone.
