Chapter 368 Escape
“This is Mr. Stinoa. You guys chat. I’m going to leave first.”

Seeing that Stiano kept trying to pull Luke’s hand as if he was facing his lover, with a look of joy and eagerness, Fors gritted her teeth and left the room, closing the door.

It’s not that she doesn’t mind a man who seems to like the same sex approaching Lu Ke, but she just doesn’t dare.

Stiano gave her a very familiar feeling, the solemnity of mathematics, logic and science that she felt every time she entered the church of the Steam Church.

Thinking about the fact that the Archbishop went to ask for divine revelation and brought such a man back with him, Fors really didn’t dare to think further.

After all, she was a shallow believer in the God of Steam and Machinery.

……

After Fors left, Stiano, who was close to a tech geek, relaxed a little and became more enthusiastic.

“I didn’t know where you were and couldn’t come to visit you. Today, I asked Miss Fors to lead the way. I hope you don’t mind.”

Luke glanced at Stiano. The person in front of him was certainly not the “God of Steam and Machinery” himself who was in the astral realm filling the cracks, but a mechanical wonder created by the combination of the mysterious side and the real side.

He pulled up a chair and sat down, “You just came here like this?”

“I cleared the memories and mystical connections of all believers except Ms. Fors. Someone also helped me keep it secret before I set off.”

Stiano also pulled a chair over and sat opposite Luke, speaking half in praise and half in admiration:
“I didn’t expect you to be able to establish a good relationship with Dark Night in such a short time. He has always been a very difficult person to approach.”

The USB drive that Luktofors sent contained a huge number of books, which contained richer and more specific knowledge than what Roselle once had. If he could digest it all, he could enter a new era, and his title would change from “God of Steam and Machinery” to “God of Electric Energy and Information Technology”.

The only problem is that the second half of those books are covered by the “unknown”, and violent destruction will inevitably destroy them, which makes Stinoa very anxious.

Lu Ke ignored this flattering politeness, skipped the preliminary dialogue, and directly raised the question:
“Aren’t you worried that I might cause harm to the earth?”

After these words were spoken, Stiano’s smile gradually disappeared, revealing a solemn expression, and after a moment he let out a long breath.

“It’s impossible to say I’m not worried. I don’t know any information about you. When facing an unidentified threat, the best option is to eliminate it while it’s weak.”

When he said this, there was amazement in his eyes. Just an avatar could open the door to divinity in less than a month and become a demigod. This development speed was really terrifying.

In a few months, he will probably become a god.

He smiled and sighed, “I’m not afraid you’ll get angry if I tell you this, but I was also in favor of killing you to ensure stability within the barrier.”

Lu Ke was not surprised, and said calmly: “Then why did you change your mind?”

Stiano straightened his face and said, “The end of the world will come soon. It doesn’t matter if it’s earlier or later. You are an unpredictable variable. It may be a disaster, but it may also be a surprise.”

“Also, I can’t believe you, but I believe in Amanesis. He has always been the one with the best vision. Follow His choices and you will definitely not lose anything!”

Luke smiled: “You are more honest than I thought.”

This sentence seemed to bring back some memories for Stinoa. He looked reminiscent and seemed to be caught up in some kind of emotion.

“I once lost a very important person due to lack of communication, and it still hurts when I think about it now…”

He showed an extremely depressed expression: “Do you have any wine here?”

There are naturally all kinds of wine in the aristocratic mansions in Queens. Luke looked at Stinoa again with a little hesitation.

“Can you drink alcohol in this body?”

“I guarantee it!”

……

On the gorgeous long table, bright red wine and distilled liquor were served like water, and the refreshing aroma of the wine filled the space.

“Brother, I feel sad.”

After three rounds of drinking, Stinoa’s face turned red. He pulled Luke’s sleeve with one hand and covered his head with the other. His tone became sad and melancholy, just like a dumped dog.

“Tell me what the problem is. What did I do wrong to him?”

Luke took a sip of the liquor slowly, feeling his lips and teeth being overwhelmed by the rich aroma, and did not comment too much on the feud between the God of Steam and Machinery and Roselle Gustav.

“You were really nice to him, but maybe you used the wrong method.”

“So what exactly went wrong?”

Stinoa was very emotional, and seemed to want to vent all the grievances he had suffered over the years:

“He wanted power, so I secretly helped him become the core of the political circle. He wanted to advance to a higher level, so I prepared all the Beyonder characteristics and rituals for him. He wanted reforms, so I helped him implement them. I vigorously promoted his inventions, whether they were useful or not. I almost sent the women he liked to his bed, but there were too many of them… I couldn’t send them all!”

When he spoke of his deep feelings, he burst into tears and pounded the table with his rough hands. “I even recommended his son to become an angel. An angel! Many demigods would beg for one even if they could not do so in their entire lives.”

“Do you know how it feels to try your best to please someone but be rejected by him?”

Luke shrugged. It was undeniable that the position of angel was indeed precious, but becoming an angel too early and lacking the anchor of humanity made Bonois Gustave lack humanity, and even the god of steam and machinery was misinterpreted by Roselle.

Of course, this was also because Roselle was eroded to a certain extent when he explored the pristine island polluted by the “Fallen Mother Goddess”, which caused his mentality to change.

“You gave it to him, but he may not want it. In his heart, humanity is very important. You gave his son the position of an angel without his consent. Even if you have good intentions, it is wrong.”

Stiano fell silent, as listless as an eggplant hit by frost, still mumbling to himself.

“After his death, I preserved his relics, publicized his deeds, prevented the laws he promulgated from being replaced by reforms, and ensured that he had a chance to be resurrected.”

“Let’s not talk about Bonois. If I hadn’t accepted the descendants of Ciel into the clergy, they would have been hanged by the people of the Soran family long ago.”

“Even his beloved daughter Bernadette wouldn’t have lived a peaceful life without my watching over her all these years. Does she really think that inheriting her father’s huge inheritance won’t be targeted by some people with bad intentions… Well, brother, what’s wrong with you?”

Someone with ill intentions coughed lightly and knocked on the table. “It’s okay. I just think that people shouldn’t be trapped by past experiences. The most important thing is the present.”

“Said it right.”

Stiano closed his eyes, exhaled heavily, and when he opened his eyes again, he had regained his original calm.

“I can tell you something. All the righteous gods are openly the opposition.”

“all?”

Luke picked out the key points from this sentence.

The last time he communicated with the Goddess of Night, she said the majority. Was it true that He had been included in his camp by his hidden ally, “Mother Goddess of the Earth” Lilith?
“all!”

Stiano repeated in an affirmative tone, “Of course, this is only on the surface, but your enemies are not only the righteous gods, you also need to consider other evil gods.”

“For example, the ‘Original Witch’, the ‘True Creator’, the ‘Dark Side of the Universe’… and some Angel Kings who control uniqueness. They are also capable of having a certain impact on the battle situation.”

Compared with sequence one, the priority of uniqueness is still much higher.

According to Will Auceptin, the unique “Dice of Probability” of the Monster Path, if fully activated, can digitize the entire world, only the True God will not be affected, and even the Angel King who is a Triple Sequence One cannot do this. Stiano said in a serious tone: “My suggestion is that when you step out into the open, when you are exposed, it is best to be ready to be promoted to a True God.”

Luke thought for a moment and nodded, “I’ll take your words into consideration.”

“Well, there is one more thing. When I first arrived, I felt the presence of the ‘Hidden Sage’.”

Stiano’s eyes changed slightly, “Can you leave this to me?”

Luke looked at Stiano in surprise, “You want to fight for a seat too?”

The two paths corresponding to the source substance “Wild Knowledge” are “Generalist” and “Mysterious Peeper”. As long as the “God of Steam and Machinery” obtains the uniqueness and sequence one of the “Hidden Sage”, he will have the foundation to accommodate the source substance and have the opportunity to become the old “Knowledge Fairy”.

Stiano showed helplessness, and his mood was extremely complicated:
“To be honest, I don’t want to. The situation of the source essence over there in the Western Continent is unclear, and there is not even a ceremony for promotion to the Old Ones. It’s too dangerous.”

He sighed, turned his head to look towards the window, his eyes penetrated the glass and fell on the stars in the night sky. He seemed to see the great beings lurking outside the earth.

“But if you don’t fight, you won’t have the strength to resist when the end comes.”

The gap in combat power between the two sides is too great. It seems that there is no chance at all unless we fight hard.

Stiano smiled wistfully, withdrew his gaze, and his tone became calm.

“Heiye and I can only take action at the most critical moment, so you must seize the opportunity.”

He stood up and walked out, his body gradually disappearing into the shadows.

A moment later, Fors, holding his breath, came to the hall filled with the strong aroma of wine and looked at Luke who was sitting quietly in his seat, seemingly thinking about something.

She asked quietly, “Is Mr. Stiano gone?”

“I’ll leave naturally after I finish what I need to talk about. Otherwise, why would I stay and chat with him about the Riemann hypothesis and quantum mechanics, and which one is better, Chat GPT or Deepseek?”

Luke came back to his senses and looked at Fors’s nervous expression with amusement, “Why are you so afraid of him?”

“You don’t know, that person is…”

Fors gestured with her hands for a few times, and halfway through her speech she remembered that the thing that led out Stiano was given to her by Luke. She was immediately stuck and made an expression as if she had seen a ghost.

“You wouldn’t know.”

“What do you think?”

Fors was speechless for a moment.

What kind of person is Xio’s boyfriend…

At first, he was just a good-looking liar, but suddenly he became a mid-sequence Beyonder, and went to Mr. A’s secret party and behaved like a demigod.

Now, I took out something that could directly lure out the God-favored ones, or even the gods, from the Steam Church…

Fors’s heart was beating violently, and an indescribable sense of surprise surged into her heart. A sentence suddenly emerged in her mind – choice is more important than hard work!

It turns out that her laziness was not her nature, but fate had deliberately sent her a partner who did not require her to work hard.

Fors felt relieved immediately. She licked her lips gently, took Luke’s hand, walked into the bedroom of the mansion, and guided him to fall on the luxurious big bed.

Under the man’s interested gaze, she blushed, stretched out her hand, and tentatively lowered her head uncomfortably.

Lu Ke had just had a brief fight with the “Hidden Sage” and was leaning against the head of the bed in the warmth, feeling a little agitated.

He half-closed his eyes and inserted his fingers into Fors’s soft hair.

“If you’re not working hard enough, at least give up halfway.”

Fors, who had no way to answer, felt short of breath. Just as she was about to step back, a strong hand that was running through her hair pressed heavily on the back of her head.

……

Backlund, Earl Hall’s mansion.

Audrey wore a pure white dress with gold lace, her long golden hair casually tied up, and her green eyes showed her breathtaking beauty.

At this moment, she was sitting at the dining table, enjoying breakfast with her mother, and her beloved dog Susie was lying at her feet, gently wagging her tail.

“Our little princess is getting more and more beautiful. Which party is she going to attend today?”

Mrs. Hall noticed that Audrey was wearing a banquet dress and smiled gently, and asked casually.

“A banquet hosted by Viscount Glint.”

Audrey spoke calmly, showing a bright smile like spring, “He has invited me several times, it’s hard to refuse again.”

Mrs. Hall understood the meaning and nodded with a smile. “You did a good job. Even if you don’t like it, you should give those gentlemen a chance to show their grace and be tactful enough. This is basic courtesy.”

“I know.” Audrey nodded slightly, showing concern.

“You didn’t seem to get enough rest yesterday. Are you going to attend Mrs. Kellent’s tea party today?”

“Yes.”

Mrs. Hall showed some helplessness, “Relationships cannot be terminated at will, otherwise it will take many times more effort to continue them.”

After finishing her meal, Audrey saw her mother off and returned to her room accompanied by her maid Anne, waiting for the carriage to pick her up.

“Are you planning on sneaking out today?”

As the air shook, the golden retriever Susie suddenly opened her mouth and spoke in human language.

Audrey’s beautiful eyes widened, “How did you know that?”

Susie wagged her tail happily. “It’s been just three days since Viscount Glint invited you last time. He won’t invite you again so soon. You deliberately sent Anne away during dinner so that she wouldn’t hear about your schedule. You always spend a long time worrying about your skirt every time you attend a ball, but you just wore it casually this time, which shows that you didn’t put your heart into it. And…”

“Stop, stop, stop!”

Audrey raised her hands in surrender, “Well, I was planning on meeting a…a friend.”

Susie’s eyes lit up. “Can I come along?”

“No, I have something serious to do!”

“But I haven’t been out for some fresh air for a long time.”

Susie lowered her tail in grievance, “If you don’t agree, I can only call the maid, although this is not very ladylike.”

“…”

Audrey fell silent. She was actually threatened by a dog?
(End of this chapter)