The next day, January 30, 2049, Game time PM 15:20, Mo Tan's room in the Holy Church United Chapel in Mida City.
Mo Tan was leaning against the table, quietly flipping through the "Dawn Holy Book" in his hand. Unlike the previous scripture he had been scammed 20 copper coins for (yes, he still remembered), this luxurious, limited-edition special supply version given to him by Yu Cheng was not only beautifully packaged and made of excellent paper, but it also actually had words on it, unlike the blank book that could only be used as equipment.
Although he wasn't very interested in theology, Mo Tan would occasionally flip through it during his more leisurely moments. Of course, he wasn't interested in the simple praises and eulogies; when reading, he mainly focused on the latter half of the book, which recorded the Goddess's deeds, such as her seven-day and seven-night battle with the Darkness Goddess on the Hill of Kalam in the Primordial Era, where she ultimately achieved victory with her supreme divine power, bringing light to the world...
"Tsk, tsk, I probably know how the sun god and Darkness Goddess's scriptures are written," Mo Tan casually closed the Holy Book, slumped into his chair, and stretched, shaking his head with a smile. "It seems that no matter where, the general direction of religion and faith is pretty similar. It's just that the records of many miracles here are more detailed, after all, gods do exist in the Innocent World... although in terms of style, it's a bit... sigh..."
He let out a dry laugh, recalling the unsightly 'war' between the Dawn Goddess and Darkness Goddess from before, and then combining it with the content he had just read in the Holy Book, he couldn't help but feel that what was written there was unreliable.
【What 'source light and dark abyss were in a stalemate for over ten hours,' what 'Goddess conjured a glorious divine kingdom out of thin air'—it all seems so unrealistic... Shouldn't those two first spend seven or eight hours cursing each other before getting into a close-quarters brawl that results in a garden of lilies? Who wrote this stuff anyway?】
Mo Tan lightly patted the cover of the Holy Book, his gaze filled with suspicion, doubt, and disdain.
Although he was quite peaceful at this moment and didn't truly care much about these things, and he genuinely believed in Pa Ke Xi, the Goddess of Dawn (after all, he knew the Goddess was real), some views he had held for over a decade were not so easy to change.
Although he had no faith (in reality), Mo Tan, as an agnostic, did not disbelieve in the existence of beings similar to gods in the world; he merely scoffed at most religious texts.
The reason was simple...
To give a simple example, Buddhist scriptures often mention the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, describing how wonderful that place is, saying that as long as people accumulate good deeds and build many Futu, after they die, they can go to that place and live a comfortable life of enjoyment without having to work hard. And there are those legendary Buddhas and Bodhisattvas; the Buddhist scriptures not only state their names and what they are responsible for, but even list their detailed appearances clearly...
At first glance, it seems fine, right?
But who wrote those scriptures?
They were written by people, weren't they? By living people, weren't they?
How could you, a living person writing scriptures, know what the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss looks like? How could you know what those great figures seated in the nine heavens like, what they're responsible for, what they're called, and what they look like? How could you know the specific (many scriptures write in great detail) way to reach the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss?
Thinking about it carefully, this matter is not only very unscientific, but even a bit un-mystical.
First, we need a living person who has been to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, that is, someone who has died. Then, after he dies and becomes a dead person, sees the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss and all the gods and Buddhas, and communicates with them, he must find a way to come back to life, and finally... publish a book.
Otherwise, many things are completely unexplainable!
Therefore, based on the above, although Mo Tan did not deny the existence of gods and Buddhas (as Absolute Neutral), and believed that good and evil would be repaid, he would always unconditionally do good deeds (limited to lawful good), but under none of his personalities could he agree with the almost baseless records in most ancient texts.
Although it was much later that he learned that the Dawn Goddess and Darkness Goddess were indeed very extravagant when they clashed, and the previous unconventional street brawl scene was just an anomaly... but that was a story for later.
A new friend message flashed in the corner of his vision, and Mo Tan smiled, thinking that a certain female assassin was indeed efficient under the influence of money, and so quickly could...
'Ah, I logged off quite early yesterday, didn't notice the message bar. What's up?'
Well, the sender wasn't Yu Ying, but Cordova.
Mo Tan had sent a message to this guy yesterday while waiting for Yu Cheng at the street corner, but he only replied now.
'Oh, it's actually nothing big, I just heard from a friend that you were coming over to my side, and I just wanted to ask what was going on. I heard you seem to be doing a very high-end quest?' Mo Tan replied quickly, his tone completely different from when he was 'Mo.' After all, 'Black Vatican' was still the Mo Tan whom Cordova had only met once in reality, completely unaware of his game experiences.
Cordova's reply was very confused: 'Coming to your side? Where are you?'
Mo Tan smiled and replied, 'I'm in Mida City, Misha County. I've been working with the Holy Church United forces recently.'
'......'
Cordova paused for a while after sending a string of ellipses before adding, 'Holy crap, what a coincidence.'
'Isn't it? I was startled too when chatting with a friend yesterday ~ What a small world.' Mo Tan replied instantly, his 'small world' comment completely heartfelt.
Cordova seemed to be free while traveling, and his messages came back quickly: 'I am indeed on a super awesome quest, but it's just a bit mysterious. I heard from Wan Yang that there's a super lucky girl saving lives in Misha County, so I planned to go and try my luck. You should know about her, right?'
'Yes, we've met once before and are quite familiar in the game.' Mo Tan knew that Cordova knew that he knew Cordova was talking about Yu Cheng, so he replied very affirmatively.
As a result, the other party actually sent a lewd red leaf emoji with drool, then asked: 'Hehe, how familiar is 'quite familiar'? Wan Yang said that girl seems quite introverted, so being this familiar means you two have a story, huh~~~'
Mo Tan: "..."
He was now 100% certain that Cordova had been bragging yesterday when messaging 'Mo'! The whole 'date' thing was completely this shameless guy's unilateral fabrication!
However, this kind of thing is actually a common practice among 'netizens,' such as calling taking one's less-than-five-year-old sister out for a walk 'Sorry, a beauty ordered me to take her shopping,' or calling a holiday tutoring session with a greasy male substitute teacher 'A date with a fair lady,' or calling doing homework 'paying public grain' (crossed out) and other shameless statements, which can greatly annoy netizens (causing theoretical maximum damage to single people) and satisfy their vanity. It can be said to be a very common method of spiritual victory...
If Mo Tan's mindset hadn't been a bit unbalanced before, he could have figured out what was going on with just a little thought, or if he had logged off ten or twenty minutes later, he probably would have understood.
So Mo Tan really wanted to send a 'we are officially recognized old flames' to counter Cordova, but then he remembered that they were very likely to meet at Yi Dong's house the day after tomorrow, so he just brushed it off casually and ended the conversation after chatting with Cordova for a bit.
As a result, in a short while, his friend message lit up again...
'The most detailed county map is done. The Thieves' Guild in Hofur City has indeed resumed operations. I'll be back in about two hours, which shouldn't delay too much. Remember to reimburse me~'
This time it was Yu Ying.
Mo Tan smiled. With this, things were much more secure. Now, all that was left was...
Knock knock knock~
A knock on the door suddenly sounded, followed by Luna, who was perpetually sleepy, slowly walking in, holding a small pouch.
"The thing you asked me to help with is done. It can be activated with just a little magic power..."
The Alchemist girl, who treated 'knocking' as a mere formality, placed the bag on the table, then looked at Mo Tan with a faint gaze: "How's your health recently?"
"Thank you." Mo Tan casually put away the small pouch on the table, then smiled, "I'm fine now."
Luna nodded, then, from somewhere, produced a bottle of highly suspicious dark purple liquid. Her eyes, which seemed to be filled with a faint mist, were a little unfocused as she quietly asked, "Do you want to try this potion of mine that is absolutely not for testing resistance, will not cause diarrhea, and will not make one mentally confused?"
Mo Tan's mouth twitched: "Then what exactly is this thing for?"
Luna thought for a moment, then tilted her head uncertainly and said, "For drinking for fun?"
"Heh heh..." Mo Tan let out a dry laugh and spread his hands, "The truth?"
"It's for testing body resistance, and there's a little bit of danger in drinking it," Luna replied calmly.
"No thanks!"
"Oh, find me if you want to drink it..."
Luna said calmly, then left as if sleepwalking.
Mo Tan watched her receding figure, which had forgotten to close the door, and couldn't help but sigh with a bitter smile, "There aren't many people this innocent anymore."
He was basically used to that scene by now, because ever since Mo Tan's 'mysterious coma' incident, Luna had often tried to feed him all sorts of strange potions, supposedly to test something. However, because the things she brought out were truly a bit bizarre, and because the girl was adorably straightforward, she hadn't succeeded even once until now...
However, from the above, it can also be seen that Luna clearly did not believe Mo Tan's previous excuse of 'sleeping because he was tired.' Clearly, this girl was not stupid, just a bit hazy, and she was also very kind. Whether it was Yu Cheng, Mo Tan, or Ai Mang, if they needed any alchemy items, she would help. Even if her Alchemy Workshop wasn't nearby, her tattered spatial bag also contained many good things.
Just like a Doraemon...
Although her alchemy works always had some minor issues, who was Mo Tan? Mo Tan was a man who had seen fragmentation hand grenades, so he could remain completely unfazed.
"Anyway, the preparations are almost done." Mo Tan walked to the window, looking at the lingering dark clouds outside and sighing softly, "I hope we can achieve some good results..."
...
Game Time PM 20:13, Southwest Continent, Shavin Empire, King's Capital Troon, Zui Jue Residence.
"That's roughly how it was at the time, Mr. Digory." Mo, leaning on the bed, wearily rubbed his forehead, apologizing with a smile to the young inspector in front of him: "I'm sorry I couldn't provide more useful information, but the situation at the time was too critical. Even just protecting myself took all my effort. Please understand~"
Cedric Digory put down the quill in his hand and shook his head with a smile. "You don't need to blame yourself for this, Sin Duke. Duke Garros and the Marshal have already provided enough information to the intelligence department. The reason I chose to come here to question you is mainly for some personal reasons."
"Oh?" Mo, with Ji Xiaodao's support, sat up with difficulty, his gentle smile revealing an undeniable weariness: "If you don't mind, could you tell me?"
Digory rolled up the scroll in his hand, winked playfully, and whispered, "You've become a role model and idol for most young people in the King's Capital. The fact that I can come here and chat with you for a bit will make me the center of attention at some private gatherings in a couple of days~"
"Honestly, if she wasn't here..."
Mo glanced at Ji Xiaodao, then turned to Digory and shrugged: "I would definitely ask you how many beautiful girls there are among those young people who consider me their idol."
Digory shook his head exaggeratedly: "Oh, my Sin Duke, if Ms. Jidao wasn't here, I would tell you without reservation... there are many, many, many~"
"Hmmph." Ji Xiaodao, standing by the bed supporting Mo, let out a soft snort. While lightly pinching his shoulder, she glared at Digory: "While I don't mind two Gentlemen's conversation gradually going off-topic, that doesn't mean I'll let others treat me like a fool~"
Mo spread his hands to Digory: "Alright, then please slander me a bit at those enviable gatherings, so that this clever and petty lady beside me can feel balanced."
"As you wish, Sin Duke." The young inspector bowed slightly, then nodded to Ji Xiaodao, who had not yet been granted noble status: "I will do my best to ruin the Sin Duke's image in the hearts of those ladies."
The Dark Elf girl turned her head away: "That had better be the case, otherwise next time I might greet you with a broom and a mop."
"She's good in every way, except she holds grudges too much," Mo whispered to Digory, only to have his shoulder pinched again. He quickly said seriously, "Then goodbye, Mr. Digory. Please allow me to apologize to you again."
"Goodbye, Sin Duke~"
Chapter 219: End
