Versatile Mage

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

Mo Fan had only told the Parthenon Temple about the Guild of the Wicked. As for the Black Vatican… frankly speaking, it was up to the Parthenon Temple to find out they were involved. Mo Fan was not willing to share such an important clue with the Parthenon Temple.

Who knew if the Parthenon Temple had more spies from the Black Vatican around. It was better if fewer people knew about the Black Vatican, so Mo Fan did not have to worry about being set up when he made his move!

“So we don’t tell anyone about the Black Vatican?” Mu Bai did not understand Mo Fan’s intentions.

“The Parthenon Temple doesn’t care about getting rid of the Black Vatican, they only care about their image. They won’t necessarily take action if you tell them about the Black Vatican. Besides, do you think telling them is going to make any difference? They didn’t know the Black Vatican was blatantly planting those Frenzy Poppies in their territory!” Mo Fan replied.

“When we were dealing with the Cold Prince, we didn’t dare ask the Enforcement Union for assistance, as we were afraid we might lose the clues we had. The Black Vatican is everywhere. It turns out that we made the right choice, which allowed us to track down their Red Cardinal!” Zhao Manyan chimed in.

Zhao Manyan was quite experienced when it came to dealing with the Black Vatican. It was tricky to take out the Black Vatican, since they had infiltrated many organizations. The three of them could not afford to leak the information they had.

“I’ll let Xinxia know, but tell her not to inform anyone else from the Parthenon Temple. Mu Bai, if you are confident that Yan Qiu is an important member of the Parthenon Temple, we might have a chance to find Salan!” Mo Fan said.

“Seriously? Are we really going after Salan?” Zhao Manyan protested.

“Of course!” Mo Fan and Mu Bai said together. They were both as determined as the other.

“Old Zhao, you have no idea how important it is to obtain a clue on Salan’s whereabouts. During the Calamity of the Ancient Capital, the officials had to sacrifice themselves just to expose Salan. Unfortunately, they let Salan go to save the millions of lives in the inner city. It was the closest the Enforcement Union has ever gotten to learning Salan’s identity. However, she has disappeared without a single trace since then. No one knows where she is.”

“Salan likes to abuse the Frenzy Spring. It can mix with rain and provoke the demon creatures within several hundred kilometers to attack human cities. If she can cause the Calamity of the Ancient Capital, she can do it a second time, or a third time…”

“Based on our speculation, Salan hasn’t been active lately not because she’s being merciful and thinking of retiring, but because it’s very likely that it takes a long time to produce the Frenzy Liquid!” Mo Fan went on.

Mu Bai nodded. He added, “I’ve analyzed the features of the Frenzy Poppies and noticed that they take a longer time to mature than normal poppies. Salan’s next move might depend on when she finishes producing the Frenzy Spring. You saw the dead bodies on Green Sprouts Island. They were buried in the pool and left to rot like a school of fish, but if Salan is on the move again, the deaths will be ten times, or a hundred times worse than the tragedy on Green Sprouts Island. The Bishop of the Black Church is like a kid playing with his playdough compared to Salan!”

“Fine… I guess we’ll be busy saving the world again. That being said, do we even have any clue to her whereabouts? Blue Bat has already taken Mr. Lin away. What should we do next?” Zhao Manyan finally agreed with a wry smile.

“Do you remember Harper mentioned he had planted poppies before? He bragged he could help us pick the places where the Tyrant Titans would most likely show up,” Mu Bai reminded him.

“Yeah, but that guy is already dead… Wait a second, are you telling me Harper was with the Black Vatican too?” Zhao Manyan exclaimed.

“Of course he wasn’t, but Harper knew Mr. Lin was planting poppies, and if he was familiar with poppies, he must have been aware of Mr. Lin’s secrets. I made sure to check Harper’s belongings after we left Crete. I must say it’s a blessing that we met him. He might be dead, but he has been a great help to us,” Mu Bai said.

“Harper’s belongings? Why do I have a feeling you were only trying to find a lot of sex toys?” Zhao Manyan scoffed.

“He told me once that he wanted to be a writer, the kind that writes about relaxing lifestyles in remote places,” Mo Fan said.

“Him? A writer?” Zhao Manyan huffed disdainfully.

“He was just an amateur. He must have taught himself with tutorials he found online. He started to keep a diary to practice his writing…” Mu Bai took out a few notebooks. They were filled with words.

Zhao Manyan was stunned. He did not expect the guy who claimed to be living off women to have such a hobby!

“He did write about his secret relationship with Mr. Lin’s daughter, including that he was suspicious about the poppies Mr. Lin was planting, too,” Mu Bai told them both.

“Was there anything exciting that I might find interesting?” Zhao Manyan raised his brows.

Mu Bai could only look awkward at the question.

Mu Bai had basically read all of its contents while translating it. There was indeed an entry about how he had tricked Mr. Lin’s daughter to meet him in the field. Harper had described the encounter in great detail. Mu Bai seriously wished Harper was only practicing his writing skill when he wrote the entry, instead of trying to display his character!

Thanks to Harper’s shameless diary, Mu Bai learned that Mr. Lin’s daughter suspected her father was having an affair with another woman.

“Harper knew Mr. Lin was planting poppies, and according to the diary, he believed Mr. Lin had a bigger plantation of them somewhere else. Harper was amused that Mr. Lin’s daughter suspected her father was having an affair when the truth was that he was doing some shady business!” Mu Bai said, basically ignoring Zhao Manyan’s question.

“So that’s why Mr. Lin’s daughter is dead. The Black Vatican was afraid she might leak some important information,” Zhao Manyan said thoughtfully.

“Exactly, Harper was smarter than we thought. Mr. Lin didn’t even realize a lazy worker of his had seen through his disguise. However, Harper didn’t know Mr. Lin was working for the Black Vatican,” Mo Fan nodded.

Harper’s diary clearly stated his speculations about Mr. Lin’s plantation being somewhere Mr. Lin frequently visited. It had plenty of sunlight and the perfect temperature, weather, and moisture to plant poppies!