Catastrophe Card King

Seeing no sign of danger near the box, Leonard Churchill remained cautious.

He turned his head towards Camilla and asked, “Can this box be opened?”

The contents of the box surpassed his current understanding and he thought it better to ask someone more experienced.

Camilla glanced at it and answered, “Hmm, this is just an ordinary box. The Disaster Object within it is not that easily destroyed. It should be safe to open.”

Comforted by her words, Leonard felt at ease.

Since the box was a spoil of war, it had to be taken.

However, it was impossible to leave with the box as is. If someone else were to see it, disaster would be imminent.

Besides, all three of them were curious about what lay inside.

The box had a simple lock, Leonard took out his Universal Key and soon there was a ‘click’ sound.

At this sound, even the eyes of Camilla and Tracy trembled for a moment.

The suspense over the box’s contents had the trio intensely curious.

Leonard gathered his thoughts and carefully checked for traps before finally opening it.

He had initially thought there would be something special inside.

But what he found was just a clay pot, only slightly larger than a fist.

It appeared to be an ordinary grey pot on first look.

But on closer examination, one could see tiny glyphs densely covering the pot. The intricate glyphs resembled chain-like seals around the pot.

At first glance, it seemed commonplace, but the more one looked, the more an aura of mysterious antiquity emerged.

It subtly displayed an Enlightenment message.

“X-711 Mysterious Clay Pot”

Detail: This Disaster Object, X-711, can individually exempt all curses not exceeding the rule level of the fixture itself.

Leonard had already learned that the content of the Enlightenment Display was related to his own personal understanding.

This pot had the power to exempt curses, this was the effect which he had witnessed.

But this did not mean it only had this single function.

The higher level the item, the more hidden and unexaminable information it possesses.

Camilla had previously speculated that since this item had not been put in the Storage Ring, it was probably a special item that could not be stored.

This type of ancient relic which cannot be stored has a specific term – “Disaster Object”.

Typically, these objects exhibit some kind of magical property.

Looking at the pot in curiosity, Leonard asked, “Is this a Disaster Object? But what does this number mean?”

This was a high-level topic that those at the bottom of society could hardly reach.

Camilla seemed to understand these secrets and explained, “X stands for the X Bureau, a mysterious department of the Federation, officially known as the ‘Federation Disaster Response and Extraordinary Phenomena Containment Bureau’. The number 711 is the temporary number assigned to this Disaster Object. Disaster Objects could be anything – physical objects, energy, rules, monsters, viruses, divine entities… or other various oddities. Once discovered, it usually takes a while to understand their specific functions. The Federation usually assigns these numbers at first for easier identification.”

Hearing this, Leonard began thinking about his Joker Card.

Back at the 407 Institute, was it not also a Disaster Source?

After a pause, Camilla continued, “But what can be confirmed is that Disaster Objects that cannot be contained are divine artifacts. Each of them incorporates top-tier laws and pertains to the ultimate mystery of the universe that humans cannot control.”

Leonard listened, impressed, but not quite understanding her.

He didn’t even need to consider the ultimate mystery; merely the full name of this ‘X Bureau’ seemed high-level enough.

Leonard didn’t ask Camilla how she knew all this; instead, he curiously inquired, “Does the Federation contain over seven hundred such Disaster Objects?”

Shaking her head, Camilla answered, “The precise number is unknown, as this numbering system has been in use for many years. Some Disaster Objects associated with these numbers have been lost, sealed, or no longer exist for various reasons. Some were never recorded. But there’s certainly a significant number accumulated over many centuries.”

“I see.”

Leonard suddenly realized something.

He thought that perhaps this represented the rumored Disaster Object that the Miller family of the Governor’s Mansion recently acquired, causing quite a commotion around Sinless City.

He had initially believed this to be a false rumor deliberately spread around, yet it turned out to be true.

But if it weren’t for witnessing the pot’s ability to resist the Custodians’ curse, it would be easy to underestimate the value of this pot, potentially overlooking it as a worthless object.

As for opening the pot?

The mere thought of it, Leonard quickly dismissed.

Not to mention he wasn’t sure how to open it, even if he could, Leonard wouldn’t dare for the time being.

Camilla’s previous explanation made it clear, whatever was in the pot, it was definitely high-end.

Tampering carelessly could lead to a fatal accident.

Having an artifact in possession that could fend off curses was sufficiently miraculous already.

After all, he hadn’t killed the person himself, Leonard didn’t feel right about just taking the item.

And Camilla seemed entirely indifferent.

She had been in low spirits since the betrayal, and seemed disinterested in anything.

The pot was left sitting in the secret chamber.

Not in a hurry to sort through their war spoils, Leonard turned his attention to the fresh corpse, using his Feast skill.

The corpse of a third-tier Card Master was the highest quality corpse Leonard had encountered so far.

The remaining extraordinary traits were very strong and certainly not to be wasted.

“You used Feast Devour, Physique +0.009”

“You used Feast Devour, Strength +0.016”

“You used Feast Devour, Ice Affinity +0.02”

Through this Feast Devour, the extraordinary traits continuously integrated into his body.

There was nothing unusual about using the Face skill, so Leonard merely sat by the corpse while absorbing it, simultaneously examining the carvings on the ceiling and the bricks around the secret chamber to find the exit.

In a short while, Tracy had finished treating Camilla’s new injury, and she too started examining the secret chamber’s glyphs.

However, the symbols on the wall seemed to possess a kind of drowsy magic. After a while, they became dizzy and their thoughts were disorderly.

Feeling as though the symbols were beginning to dance before her eyes, Tracy felt a throbbing headache and murmured, “This is strange, I feel like these symbols are jamming my brain and making me dizzy when I look at them for too long.”

Hearing this, Leonard Churchill also looked up at her.

Because he had the same feeling.

He initially thought it was a delusion caused by the oppressive environment, it turns out others also felt the same way.

But he didn’t see any negative status on the Enlightenment Display.

At this time, Camilla seemed to have thought of something, and began, “It’s normal. This is the brain coming into contact with knowledge beyond cognition.”

Tracy Garcia did not understand: “Huh?”

Camilla explained: “As far as I know, all known texts we have now originate from Demon’s language. The older the civilization’s script, the closer it is to the original meaning of Demon’s language. Taren’s Classics is one of the simplified versions of the Demon’s language. These mysterious symbols are not just ‘shapes’, their texts themselves contain the ‘meaning’ of the power of rules. A skilled craftsman can carve out that mysterious layer of meaning. Just like the ‘curse’ to make cards, it is a text with magical power, which is said to be a branch of some high-level Demon Language.”

“Oh?”

This statement was quite novel to Leonard Churchill.

He had noticed this problem before.

The symbols on the carvings of this secret room were obviously the same as those on the previous documents.

But when he looked at them with his own eyes, they seemed different.

The symbols on the carvings were obviously much heavier, and they seemed to contain a lot of deeper meanings.

He didn’t understand what this was at first, but this explanation offered some insight.

It’s like some master’s painting, conveying the image as well as some indescribable mood.

Leonard Churchill was really interested in this and wanted to learn more.

But looking at his expectant gaze, Camilla regretted: “To understand that level of knowledge requires a very high wisdom and recognition of the rules. These are things studied by curse card masters in the 5-Wisdom sequence, and I only know a little about it.”

“Oh…”

Leonard Churchill pondered for a while, slightly enlightened.

Even if they see the same world, what each person sees is different in levels.

But his thoughts drifted off, and soon came back.

The current puzzle is the most pressing matter.

Tracy Garcia felt that her head was not enough, she was clear about the reality, and probably there was no hope for her to get out by herself.

She could only look at Leonard Churchill and asked: “Mr. Leonard Churchill, have you discovered anything?”

Leonard Churchill also shook his head and said: “So far, the clue of the maze always points to the three hundred thousand laborers. I can only think that the exit of the maze and the laborers definitely have some connection, but I haven’t found what direction this connection should point to.”

Whether it is from the perspective of spatial layout, or monster distribution, it is now almost certain that this secret room is the exit.

But he still had no idea how to break the game.

Talking about his thoughts, the three of them might as well discuss it.

Camilla also put forward her own thoughts: “Laborers? These carvings were carved by laborers. Could the solution to the puzzle be hidden in the symbols? Or the murals outside?”

“Hmm. It’s almost certainly this train of thought. But so far, no accurate clues have been seen. It might take me some time to slowly read all this content.”

Leonard Churchill’s tone was very calm, and there was no sense of anxiety.

The most taboo thing in puzzle solving is to set unnecessary distractions for oneself.

The more panicked you are, the more it will affect your judgment.

“Hmm.”

Camilla also nodded.

Without saying much more, she looked up and pondered the densely carved brick wall.

The three began to study the carvings in the secret room.

Leonard Churchill held the lamp and looked at each inch of the brick wall carefully, not even missing any corner detail.

Time flew quickly without notice.

After about half a day, he had memorized all the symbols he saw in his mind.

But still, no clues on how to solve the game were found.

Yuri, the great adventurer then, was trapped in this step.

Leonard Churchill felt that he seemed to have fallen into the same predicament.

That kind of feeling was not good at all.

It was like being in a secret room, having everything under control, but missing a key.

But strangely enough, he just couldn’t find it.

He thought that if he couldn’t find a clue, he might have to risk going outside to the take a look at the “Return” passageway.

But his instinct told him that the most important clue must be in this secret room.

Not outside.

Leonard Churchill himself had no clue with his current enlightenment and problem-solving experience, it was even harder for others to find the clue.

Camilla on the side also fell into contemplation, her tightly locked eyebrows remained that way.

And more obviously, this sort of complex mental activity was not suitable for a certain Miss Spirit Communicator with a round head.

It had been half a day already, and Tracy Garcia was feeling a bit groggy.

But she still tried her best to help and didn’t stop at all.

Tracy Garcia mumbled while looking, “Ah…these symbols are so complicated, they look like a maze after a while, making my head dizzy…”

Although she muttered quietly, it was clearly audible in the secret room.

Camilla had long been used to it.

Listening to this made Leonard Churchill helpless.

This Miss Spirit Communicator had been muttering for half a day…

He didn’t intend to pay attention to it at first.

But suddenly, this sentence was like a flash of lightning in his mind.

Maze, symbol?

Like waking up from a dream, he exclaimed: “I found the ‘key’!”