They all call me an Outer God.

Chapter 127 Lake Ega

At the other end of the street, James happened to be waiting there.

Upon seeing Liya, he took a few steps forward and joked, "Why do you seem to be in a bad mood?"

“Will it?” Ria walked past James toward the outer edge of the church. He turned back thoughtfully halfway through, the church bells ringing heavily in his ears on the hour.

"when--"

"when--"

"when--"

"..."

The atmosphere along the entire Zolam Street was still incredibly oppressive: a gloomy sky, damaged doors, cracked roads, and the "person" in the middle of the road watching Ria leave.

It had a bloody hole in its head, was soaking wet, had no skin on its face, and had a rotting umbilical cord hanging from its belly, the end of which was tied around its neck to prevent it from tripping.

It was that baby, if it should still be called a baby.

The "baby" was waving goodbye to Ria, muttering something, but no one could hear it.

"The perverse sense of humor of the white-masked man."

James scoffed: "You want me to solve it?"

"Need not."

Lia shook her head: "The worst thing about performing is when the audience doesn't buy it, and the worst thing about telling jokes is when the audience has no reaction."

"It is a great honor for me to have someone see me off."

As they spoke, they ignored the strange baby and walked away, the church bells stopped ringing, and the street returned to silence.

The Guardian's branch they were heading to was quite a distance away, and they even had to pass through a rather large lake, so Ria and James chose to travel by vehicle.

The machinery industry here is very developed. Dedicated lanes for vehicles can be seen everywhere in the city. Steam cars shuttle through those asphalt lanes, surrounded by white steam, being dragged for a short distance.

Lia observed the cars with great interest. They were old-fashioned, but they could still drive steadily. They had open wheels on both sides and a long pipe at the rear for exhausting gases.

The steam-powered car used components from two real water jugs to heat liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The LPG was used to heat the boiler, and the distilled water was used to produce pressurized steam.

When distilled water is pumped into the boiler at a rate of fifty liters per minute, the steam is heated to four hundred degrees Celsius and then introduced into the car's turbine at twice the speed of sound. The thrust generated by the turbine can accelerate the car from zero to over two hundred miles per hour.

At that point, white condensed steam will spew from the rear of the car, making a "whooshing" sound like an "angry" kettle.

Even within the same city, there are rich and poor, and compared to what Ria sees now, the development of Zolam Street can be described as lagging behind.

As for Winstown... Winstown's development seems to be a product of hundreds of years ago.

The buildings in Adeline are Georgian in style, tall, well-proportioned, exquisite and elegant in appearance, with square windows arranged in a rigorous and orderly manner, and doors so symmetrical that even a perfectionist could not find a single flaw.

Ria saw a pure gold statue, a man with a thick beard and wearing a battle robe. He wore a crown, held a sword in one hand pointing to the ground, and held a statue of the sun god in the other hand, raising it to the sky.

"Are you looking at Wilton I?"

James saw Ria staring at the golden statue and turned his gaze in the same direction. At that moment, a light drizzle began to fall, washing away the dust from the statue and making its color even more subdued. "That's the ancestor of the current King of Enderles, Liven Wilton. It's said that he single-handedly saved Enderles from a crisis and was then hailed as King Wilton the Great. However, his life was short; he died mysteriously less than a year after taking the throne."

"In his honor, people have erected golden statues of the old king in various cities. The current king is Wilton IV, but in my opinion, he is far inferior to the old king. The current king is nothing more than a puppet of the church."

James slumped back, the car groaning under the strain: "The Pope's power is far too great. They have the power to appoint and dismiss the king. I think this country will be destroyed sooner or later without the Order Association and the Keepers of the Secrets."

"Could it be that the Keepers of Secrets and the establishment of order have received their approval?"

"What do you think? Our existence can restrain the church and at the same time protect the insatiable greed of the royal family. Although no one wants to do this, I believe the leader has a reason for doing so."

During their casual conversation, Ria turned his gaze away. What he was curious about was whether the golden statue was made of pure gold. If such a large object was made of gold, then the wealth of the royal family and nobility must be immense.

Listening to the conversation along the way, Ria felt that the king's position was now in jeopardy. If they wanted to consolidate their power, the best option would be to find a way to weaken the nobles, the church, the Keepers of Secrets, and the Order Society.

However, this might be difficult for the poor king; Ria could only hope that he was well.

Then there is no more then.

"Ugh——"

The steam-powered car still made a rather unpleasant noise as it traveled along the winding road. After an unknown amount of time, it successfully led Ria and James to the vicinity of Lake Edda.

James pointed to the vast lake that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see, with a giant bridge spanning its center. Countless boats sailed on the lake, and water birds hovered in the sky from time to time. Suddenly, one bird swooped down into the lake, grabbed a fish that was thrashing about, and went ashore.

He said, "This is Lake Ega."

"Once we cross this lake, we will soon reach the territory of the Keeper of the Secrets."

How large is this lake?

"It's roughly several thousand square kilometers."

Lia walked to the lakeside, feeling the cool breeze. The lake water was a dark blue color, so it must be quite deep. If there were any extraordinary creatures down there, they could easily attack people.

It's no wonder Riad thought this way; he had seen too many things like this before, and he couldn't let his guard down at the slightest sign of trouble.

What do you think might be at the bottom of the lake?

"Hmm... I think it should be a corpse, after all, which lake hasn't had people drown in it before?"

James pointed dismissively at the crowd of people playing with swimming rings on the lake: "Take those tourists who you can't persuade to stop, for example. They fill Lake Ega with at least three hundred offerings every year, but even that can't stop their enthusiasm for entertainment."

"What, you want to go to the lakeside and join them in the fun?"

James was secretly wary that Ria might actually go to the lake, but Ria said she wouldn't do something so stupid.

He turned around and asked James how they were going to cross the lake later.

"Should we go across the bridge or take a boat?"

“What kind of transportation can’t pass through, Kercha? You’re too nervous. It’s just passing through a lake. No huge supernatural creature will suddenly appear and sweep the vehicle to the bottom of the lake.”

(End of this chapter)