Chapter 666: Divine Inquisition
Now that their interests were aligned, Qin Ye immediately understood Black Mamba’s question to mean how Hell would react once the Black Mamba Underworld was exposed for developing Forbidden Arts.
You don’t know that the Black Mamba Underworld is developing Forbidden Arts?
And since that’s the case, it’s naturally none of Hell’s business. Who do we look like? Some kind of charitable organization that would resolve such issues for the greater good of the netherworld?
“Very well…” He straightened up and smiled, “We’ll ink the deal in three days' time. Once that’s done, I’ll immediately convene a meeting with the Coalition of Alkebulan Underworlds.”
“To success.”
Qin Ye didn’t stay for much longer. Instead, he tore off the latter half of the secret memorial and kept it for his own reference. After all, he didn’t quite understand what secrets that part of the secret memorial contained, and he naturally wouldn’t give to the Black Mamba Underworld anything more than he needed to.
20 minutes later. As soon as Qin Ye returned to his villa and shut the door behind him, he immediately slumped to the ground with his back against the door.
“Interesting…” He massaged his throbbing temples as he glanced out of the room into the distant skies, “The stratum of international politics is truly interesting…”
Just then, he sat up abruptly. His mind was incredibly worn out, but even then, he felt strangely invigorated. Thus, he sat up straight on his sofa, pulled out a piece of paper and immediately began to write on it.
“My experiences in the field of international affairs are clearly lacking. I’d thought that I’d done enough, but everything thus far was clearly still within their expectations and speculations. Everything that I’d planned failed to reap the results that I’d anticipated. International politics is incredibly unpredictable. Nobody would stick to the script if they could help it.”
With inspiration abounding, Qin Ye penned down thousands of words in one fell swoop, until his weariness finally got the better of him.
I’ll get some rest in preparation for the final closure.
“The winds are changing.” He smiled and glanced out the window once more. He’d now gained himself a reliable partner, and he sincerely believed that having devoured the temptation of the Forbidden Arts whole, the Black Mamba Underworld would do whatever it took to bring things to fruition as quickly as they could!
Qin Ye got up early in the morning of the fourth day. But as soon as he did, he noticed that there was already a carriage waiting in front of his villa to take him straight to the Temple of the Black Mamba.
There weren’t other emissaries around, but Qin Ye wasn’t perplexed in the slightest. After all, they had essentially sold out their own interests in order to curry favour with Hell. Naturally, the Black Mamba Underworld wanted to keep their tacit partnership as discreet as possible.
Is this what an international treaty looks like?
Each party’s obligations were set out with patent clarity. 20 minutes later, Qin Ye finished examining the articles on the treaty, and pulled out Fate once more.
Just then, a hoarse voice echoed from the end of the round table, “This is a treaty that has been written with my blood. Once signed, it will bind both parties until both parties have completely discharged their obligations.” At once, two spots of netherflames emerged from the darkness, and a ten-meter serpent head appeared in the darkness filled with roiling clouds of Yin energy.
They locked eyes. After several seconds, Black Mamba finally spoke, “Have you ever heard of the divine inquisition?”
The huge serpent head shrunk back slightly, and the soft rattle of his scales echoed in the darkness. He continued, “This is a technique that is unique to the Alkebulan Underworlds. It comes from Aegyptus. Although they’ve already proceeded to shift their capital away from Al-Qahirah, certain things of legacy would still be passed down onto us.”
“I’ve already sent a Black Missive out to the rest of the Mythic Spirits.” Black Mamba paused for a moment, and then continued, “Furthermore, I’ve taken the liberty to apply for a divine inquisition on your behalf.”
“No!” Black Mamba’s forked tongue emerged from his lips as he hissed back with his explanation, “Five questions.”
So, that’s it.
This was the payout.
It was already difficult enough to negotiate with one Mythic Spirit, much less an entire troupe of Mythic Spirits representing the interests of the Coalition of Alkebulan Underworld all at once. But with the divine inquisition, things might appear to be harsh and strict, but the fact of the matter was that it would also alleviate the pressure of negotiations off his back.
It would be ideal if he could be given a rough idea of the kinds of questions that would be asked.
Just then, Black Mamba’s colossal figure slowly began to vanish into a vortex of Yin energy, “But, like I said, there’s no need to be too concerned. So long as you’re telling the truth, the divine inquisition isn’t as scary as you think…”
There were still 28 days until the New Year.
After all, he was already on the final stretch of this journey! He couldn’t afford to let up in the slightest and ruin all of his efforts!
East Alkebulan’s Great Rift Valley.
These faults were practically a paradise for all who loved nature. A myriad of rare animals, plants and insects can be found thriving within the various climates and environments existing along these fault lines. These ranged from lush grasslands and plains to barren mountains and canyons. It was a perfect weaving of nature’s tapestry filled with the marvels of the world.
With their long, elegant legs, they would flip over the shells of clams hidden close to the edge of the waters. As the clams playfully spun deeper and deeper into the waters, a piece of seemingly harmless “driftwood” next to the flamingo would suddenly spring into action and snap the unsuspecting flamingo into two.
But little did they know that all of them were but supporting characters in a film that was being produced.
“Excellent! That’s perfect!” “With this, we can finally wrap up our “Mother Nature” series!” “It’s all thanks to UNEP’s sponsorship! This is going to be the best nature documentary that we’ve seen in the last five years! I’m willing to bet good money on that!”
The cheering came to an abrupt halt, and the old man rushed over promptly, “What’s going on--...”
“My god…” The old man glanced out of the tent and looked to the distant skies. And he wasn’t the only one. Everyone around him did the exact same thing, staring blankly at the skies even as their expensive equipment threatened to collapse all around them.
Countless birds.
The old man’s eyes lingered for a second, and then he immediately turned towards where the birds were all flying from.
For instance, an earthquake… or a volcanic eruption.
As he glanced into the distance, he saw right across the horizon, countless dark and dense clouds gathering quickly as they blotted out the sun completely. It was almost as though the gates of the underworld had just descended upon the world.
Something… was approaching...
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