Not Some Evil God

Damn it!

Elias cursed wildly in his mind.

After all this time...

He had been set up by damn evil capitalists!

The implication behind Old Crowley’s words was nothing short of blatant cruelty.

The dream demon curse wasn't some random encounter at sea!

This was a method used by the Wayland Shipping Company to control their low-level keepers!

A predatory anti-resignation clause etched directly into their souls!

"Holy shit?!"

In the depths of his mind, Old Ed couldn't help but swear too.

The old man’s worldview was clearly shattered by this trans-generational, unethical operation.

"You young people really are monsters," the old man cursed indignantly in his mind.

"To think you'd come up with something so wicked!"

"Distributing spirit world curses as employee benefits!"

Elias leaned back against his chair, feeling a deep sense of powerlessness.

He was utterly speechless.

"How did they do it?"

Elias was baffled.

"Dream demons are spirit world creatures that only know how to devour spirituality. They aren't exactly intelligent beings you can sit down with at a negotiation table, are they?"

"What?"

"Can Wayland’s people actually talk business with them?"

Faced with Elias’s rapid-fire questions, Old Crowley took a few puffs of his pipe.

Amidst the swirling smoke, the old sea dog shook his head.

"That, I don't know."

Crowley’s voice was very low, carrying a hint of dread for the unknown.

"I’ve only heard..."

"Our high-and-mighty big boss, Thomas Wayland, once entered the spirit world."

"And he came out alive."

"Keep in mind, he’s just an ordinary human."

"No one knows what method he used, or how he reached an agreement with the dream demons."

Crowley sighed.

"In short, Wayland Capital has massive ambitions."

"There are deep secrets that aren't for people like us to touch."

The old captain paused, then shifted the topic.

"Including the partnership between the company and the Mist Veil Society."

"In reality, it’s not as unbreakable as the outside world imagines."

The old captain spoke eloquently.

"Their cooperation is merely a matter of mutual benefit."

"The Mist Veil Society needs Wayland’s funding and the cover of their shipping routes."

"Wayland needs the Mist Veil Society’s supernatural knowledge and thugs."

"But when it comes to their core interests, their goals overlap."

At the words "goals overlap," a bolt of lightning flashed through Elias’s mind.

Without a moment's hesitation, he sat up straight.

"The Fifth Element."

Elias’s gaze was sharp as he solemnly finished the thought.

As soon as those three words were uttered...

The old man froze.

Then, a flash of admiration crossed his cloudy eyes, and he nodded heavily.

"Indeed."

"You actually know about the Fifth Element?"

Ms. Sophia, sitting to the side, set down her crystal glass.

She looked at Elias with some surprise, her beautiful eyes sparkling with interest.

This young man had truly exceeded her expectations.

Facing their scrutinizing gazes...

Elias simply maintained a profound, enigmatic silence.

He nodded slightly, giving a generic, empty explanation.

"I learned of it by chance."

"Since we’ve already reached this point..."

Elias gripped his cane with both hands.

"What exactly does the Pendulum do?"

"It opens the ruins beneath Moon Bay," Crowley answered without hesitation.

The answer was blunt and direct, without any concealment.

"So the Fifth Element is inside those undersea ruins?"

"Yes."

The logic had come full circle.

The Mist Veil Society wanted the Pendulum to get the Fifth Element from the undersea ruins.

Wayland Shipping Company presumably had the same plan.

But then a question arose.

"But what do you want the Pendulum for?"

Elias suddenly realized something and stared fixedly at Old Crowley.

"Is your Resurrection Society also interested in the Fifth Element?"

Faced with this sharp question, Old Crowley did not answer directly.

He set down his pipe and leaned forward slightly.

An invisible pressure began to spread through the room once more.

"Kid," Old Crowley asked in a raspy voice.

"You should have heard the name of the Mist Veil Society’s 'Lord,' right?"

Elias frowned.

"I have."

"Good."

Old Crowley nodded, a startling chill flashing in his cloudy eyes.

"Then what if I told you..."

He spoke a shocking secret, one word at a time.

"That Lord is currently slumbering beneath the ruins at the center of Moon Bay?"

"..."

"Holy shit?!"

Elias’s brain instantly stalled.

It wasn't that he hadn't considered the possibility.

However...

Because he had just received news of the Fifth Element back in Hope County...

He had naturally assumed that the Mist Veil Society wanted the Fifth Element to awaken their sealed 'Lord.'

That logic was perfectly sound.

So, he had subconsciously pushed aside the terrifying possibility that 'a god is right under my feet.'

But now...

When this truth was stated clearly and plainly by Old Crowley...

The soul-shaking impact was beyond words.

Thinking about it, this Moon Bay sea area was truly a remarkable piece of prime real estate!

Not only were there wishing stones under the sea...

There was actually a living evil god sealed there too!

And he had been living right above that evil god for the past two months?!

"Dammit."

In his mind, Old Ed was also completely stunned.

The old ghost’s voice was trembling.

"I really thought..."

"We were just keeping an eye out for those scaly sea-folk monsters..."

"Old man, your information is way too outdated!" Elias complained mercilessly in his mind.

However, in reality...

Crowley wasn't finished.

Every subsequent sentence challenged the limits of Elias’s mental endurance.

"Why do you think those disgusting sea-folk attack the shore like they've gone mad?" Crowley asked back with a cold sneer.

"Is it because they like the sweet air on land?"

"Wrong!"

"Because if those lighthouses are completely destroyed, their 'Lord' will break through the cage and return to the world."

The old sea dog pointed his pipe toward the pitch-black night sky outside the window.

"From the very beginning, those lighthouses were meant to prevent the one beneath Moon Bay from emerging to wreak havoc."

"And the fuel we use to light the lamps—the phosphor whale oil..."

Crowley continued to drop bombshells.

"...contains the power of the Dawn Lady."

"The fire lit by the lighthouses can temporarily suppress the blessings and pollution radiating from that Lord."

"That is why the sea-folk hate the lighthouses to the bone."

So that was it.

Everything made sense now.

Why the lighthouses had to remain lit all night, and why the sea-folk monsters always attacked frantically at night.

"But the problem now is..."

The expression on Crowley’s face turned completely grim, as if it were about to drip with gloom.

"Whenever 'Abhoth's Comet' passes over this planet..."

"The Dead Tide descends upon Moon Bay."

"That is the moment when the evil god’s power is most active."

In Old Crowley’s eyes, a strange, almost desperate, fanatical light flickered.

"And Abhoth's Comet passed through the sky twenty-five years ago—the very year the company took over Moon Bay."

"Now."

The old man stared fixedly at Elias.

"The cycle is complete."

"The time has come again."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop to freezing at that moment.

Cold sweat instantly poured down Elias’s back.

He had unknowingly provoked such an existence!

He suddenly felt a chill down his spine, as if a pair of massive eyes covered in unspeakable things were coldly watching him from the depths of the sea.

Elias swallowed hard.

He gathered his crumbling thoughts and spoke dryly.

"This comet..."

"I suspect it has some sort of secret connection to the evil god sealed in Moon Bay, doesn't it?"

As his voice fell...

The entire second-floor room suddenly fell into a suffocating silence.

Old Crowley stopped speaking.

Ms. Sophia also lowered her head, looking at the crystal glass in her hand.

The expressions on both their faces became strange.

This silence made Elias even more uneasy.

"What?"

Amidst the eerie silence, Elias blinked in confusion and asked.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Sophia finally looked up, a hint of an indescribable difficulty appearing on her exquisite face.

"It’s not a matter of right or wrong..."

She took a deep look at Elias.

"It’s just..."

"Strictly speaking, the one beneath Moon Bay... isn't some evil god."