Chapter 370 True Vision
An awkward atmosphere gradually spread in the box.

Lu Ke sat leisurely on the chair, stroking the golden retriever with skillful techniques, rubbing his fingertips rhythmically on its body, making the big dog’s tail wag gently in comfort and turn over to expose its belly.

Audrey’s delicate face gradually turned red, her eyes were filled with tears, and she bit her lips, feeling half shy and half annoyed.

She felt embarrassed because in such an ambiguous and passionate atmosphere, she almost kissed a man she had just met. She was annoyed because the other party ended the kiss at the last moment, as if he was blatantly mocking her charm as a woman.

It’s like going to death in a daze, but at the end I have the illusion of being let off.

“Just now you…”

“Don’t get me wrong, it just happened to be bad timing and the magic’s effects just ended.”

As if he could read Audrey’s mind, Luke put the big golden retriever, who was so comfortable that he could hardly stand, on the ground and smiled at her.

“Otherwise, why would I give up getting close to Backlund’s most dazzling gem?”

Audrey, who was usually praised by various princes, dukes, heirs and princes, felt even more embarrassed when she heard that title. She could only glare at Luke with her watery eyes.

“Mr. Emperor, I am still a spectator after all.”

The undisguised mocking smile on the other person’s face showed that this was not a coincidence at all, he was just teasing her on purpose.

This person is so awful!
“Yes, you are the ‘audience’.”

Luke approached Audrey with a smile, his steps steady and his tone unhurried.

“A qualified ‘audience’ should remain emotionally stable at all times. You should learn to detach yourself from your situation and look at things from a more detached perspective.”

Audrey, who was feeling flustered by his approach, took a deep breath and gave up the idea of ​​retreating. She recalled the exhilarating dance and spoke hesitantly.

“So, you arranged this just now to give me a channel to vent my emotions and let me relieve my recent depression?”

Lu Ke did not deny it, and said calmly: “I hope the effect will not be too bad. After all, I am not a professional psychologist. That is your job.”

It’s really like that…

Audrey relaxed but felt inexplicably lost. A shadow blocked her sight and a strong body with masculine deterrence walked up to her.

The distance between the two of them narrowed again, but this time there was no more ambiguous atmosphere. Audrey remained sober, and after thinking about what she had just said, she asked calmly:
“Is this another test to see if I am a qualified ‘audience’?”

“Do not.”

Luke raised an eyebrow, “I want to finish what I just didn’t do.”

The unexpected answer made Audrey startled for a moment, and the next moment she was held in his arms, with aggressive lips and teeth usurping her unnecessary intelligence, giving her the illusion of being dominated.

She instinctively tried to resist, but found it difficult to shake the other party at all. Instead, she enjoyed the other party’s skillful techniques. She was paralyzed by this electric shock-like feeling she had never experienced before. Her pushing hands gradually lost strength and turned into caressing.

Susie next to her lay down silently, buried her head in her forelimbs, and then quietly poked her head out to look.

The behavior of these two people is so… so ungraceful!

After a long time, Audrey suddenly began to struggle and pushed Lu Ke away. She took a few steps back, touched her lips in disbelief, and looked at him angrily.

“Mr. Emperor, I must say that your behavior is very, extremely, and particularly rude!”

Lu Ke straightened his messy clothes and slowly returned to his seat.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“I, I didn’t agree with you to do this!”

“Well, I’m sorry.”

“This kind of forced behavior against a girl’s will is essentially a crime!”

“Indeed, kill me.”

Audrey was totally unable to cope with the nonchalant tone of voice and could only return to her seat in frustration.

Luke glanced at Audrey who seemed to be sulking, and smiled to comfort her:

“I just don’t want to be too serious and formal when chatting with you. That will turn the chat into a long and boring debate, lacking practical meaning, and unable to resolve the dilemma in your heart.”

He paused for a moment, his voice becoming deeper, “It’s more because our Miss Jewel is so charming and attractive.”

Audrey did not respond immediately, but the low pressure on her body dissipated a little. She closed her eyes and meditated to calm her mood before speaking.

“You already know my identity, so you can just call me Audrey. Can you tell me your name, Mr. ‘Emperor’?”

“Luke.”

Luke said his name, and then added with a smile, “If you think this is a pseudonym, you can call me Xenovia.”

Audrey shook her head. She could tell that “Luke” was his real name, even though it sounded strange and didn’t fit the naming method of the Northern or Southern Continents.

“I’m here to meet you this time. I have a lot of questions for you. I also told you about this at the Tarot Club.”

“Just ask me any questions you get, I’ll tell you everything I know.”

Luke twirled his fingers gently and said, “I will be leaving Backlund and returning to Tingen City in two days. I don’t think we will be able to meet before I return.”

Audrey lowered her head, thought for a moment, and then laughed at herself:
“These days, I’ve learned some things. I found that I was just like a flower in a greenhouse before… Do you really want to start a war?”

“Yes, the war will come soon, faster than you can imagine, and its impact will inevitably sweep the entire world.”

Lu Ke nodded in affirmation and added details.

Audrey spoke faster: “Are you so sure? This should be a very difficult thing. According to Mr. Hanged Man and Mr. Fool, even gods would find it difficult.”

Luke shook his head. “It’s not that exaggerated. You know very little about the mysticism, so you don’t know about the Pale Plague. One or two crazy true gods can start a war that sweeps the world. Even angels can do it if there is no other existence to stop them.”

“So what is your current sequence?”

“Sequence 4.”

“…”

Audrey frowned and breathed a sigh of relief.

“I already know that demigods are great and powerful people, but they can’t do such great things, right?”

Lu Ke smiled at her and said, “More than half a month ago, I was just an ordinary person.”

“…”

Promoted from Sequence 9 to Sequence 4 in less than a month?

Audrey’s mind went blank.

In such a short time, normally even a sequence 9 potion wouldn’t be enough time to be digested!
She entered the “audience” state, carefully observing every expression on Luke’s face and analyzing every tone of his words, but all the results clearly told her that this was true.

“How did you manage to be promoted so quickly?”

Audrey knew that this question was very abrupt and inappropriate. Luke’s telling him about his promotion speed was already a disclosure of important private information, but she couldn’t help asking. Audrey regretted the moment she said it and hurried to make amends.

“Well…you don’t have to answer that question.”

Luke propped his head up with his hands and looked at Audrey meaningfully.

“It’s not a big deal. It doesn’t matter if I tell you about it.”

He looked out the open window and asked an irrelevant question: “If a person’s weekly salary is 10 soli and after deducting living expenses there is 6 soli left, how much can he save in a month?”

“One pound equals twelve soles. A month has 28 to 31 days, so he can save about two pounds.”

Audrey quickly answered the somewhat confusing question and then asked curiously:
“How can a person’s weekly wage be only 10 soli? Are you talking about hourly wages?”

Luke ignored Audrey’s question and calmly guided her: “How long will it take that person to save 10,000 pounds?”

Audrey silently calculated in her mind, “Four hundred and seventeen years.”

After she gave her answer, she fell into a long silence. It was a pretty huge number.

“But if it’s you, it should only take two or three months to save up 10,000 pounds, right? And it can’t be during festivals or your birthday.”

Audrey grasped something in her mind and looked up suddenly.

“You are a person favored by God. Is there a true God supporting you?”

“That’s understandable.”

Lu Ke nodded, “What needs to be corrected is that the existence that supports me is greater than the true God, so the specific information cannot be disclosed. If you listen to it, it will easily cause trouble.”

It’s not a lie, a being greater than the Seven Gods…what is that?
In “Apocalypse of the Night”, who woke up from chaos, broke the darkness, created the first ray of light, and finally merged into the universe and turned into the creator of various gods?
Or are there other hidden existences that have never been mentioned in the scriptures, evil gods? Demons? These do not seem to be greater than the Seven Gods.

Audrey fell into a long silence, and after a while she asked in a dry tone:
“What’s the reason?”

She looked at Luke seriously, “I believe that you and the existence behind you have the ability to start a war, but why do you have to start a war?”

“Whether you win or lose, war will cause social regression, economic depression, countless deaths, far-reaching upheavals, and countless trauma and tragedy.”

She looked at Lu Ke nervously, hoping that he could give her an answer that would convince her and resolve her inner conflict.

“That’s what I said. I don’t want to have a serious chat with you and turn it into a debate because everyone has different ideas and it’s troublesome to try to convince anyone.”

Luke smiled and sighed, then stood up and walked towards the door, smiling at her:
“But after seeing the facts clearly, it is much easier to understand and sympathize with each other.”

“Would you like to go out for a walk together?”

Audrey, seeking answers, did not hesitate and quickly stood up, and Susie followed her out.

The two walked side by side to a street with dense traffic, mixed with various smells, orderly yet mixed with small-scale chaos. Following behind them was Susie who was silently observing the two of them.

The combination of a handsome man and a beautiful woman with a big golden retriever attracted a lot of attention, some of which were mixed with desire and greed. Noticing that Audrey was not used to those fiery gazes, Luke raised his hand slightly.

Invisible waves spread, and the sounds around them suddenly became quiet. The light seemed to dim, and the pedestrians withdrew their gazes and no longer paid attention to them.

Audrey noticed this small detail and pursed her lips, feeling a little brighter.

After walking quietly for a while and about to leave the area, Lu Ke spoke lightly.

“What do you think of the Joud District?”

Audrey recalled what she had seen along the way and answered carefully: “It’s crowded, narrow, the infrastructure is poor, there are a lot of people, and the houses are generally a bit old, but it’s more lively than Queens.”

Lu Ke glanced at her and said the most crucial point:
“The average weekly wage here is 10 soli.”

Audrey was confused for a moment. “You just said a hypothesis… 10 soli, is 10 soli enough?”

“After deducting the cost of rent, food and water, taxes and living expenses, you can save a little, provided you don’t get sick or encounter any accidents, and don’t have any family members to support.”

Luke calmly stated the facts, “This is a salary that can only be earned by young people with strong physical strength and energy, as well as women, the elderly and children who are lagging behind, and civil servants who raise the average, senior lawyers, senior mystics, private consultants, and averaged bankers, entrepreneurs, industrial tycoons…”

“So, there are also weekly wages less than 10 soli?”

“Quite a lot.”

“…”

Audrey paused, her expression becoming complicated.

In the past, she thought she was not so naive. It was only after taking the “audience” potion and observing her surroundings with meticulous insight that she realized she was just a child who had not grown up.

But “audience” allowed her to see clearly what was happening around her and see the stench of politicians, but it couldn’t make her leave Queens and see for herself the living conditions of the lower classes.

It was not until this moment that she got a glimpse of the truth.

Amid the monotonous footsteps, the surrounding scenery became increasingly deserted. Entertainment facilities almost disappeared, leaving only a few old restaurants and small shops.

Luke brought Audrey to a hillside where they could clearly see the scenery below.

Tall chimneys stand there, emitting industrial waste gases that are either light yellow, thick white, or black and gray.

Even though it was almost noon, the sunlight was still greatly weakened by the fog, making the sky not bright.

Audrey looked at the haze covering the sky, thinking of Backlund’s shadow that seemed to never dissipate, and the sky that would never be completely clear, and spoke softly:
“here it is……”

“The factory district, this area, the East District, and the dock district are the poorest areas in Backlund, but they are also the economic pillars that support Backlund’s enterprises.”

Lu Ke looked down at the factory buildings rising from the ground and seemed to sigh:

“Is it like the melting pot of life?”

“The workers are like straw blown down by the wind. When they are exhausted, they are thrown into the furnace as fuel, batch after batch, and their lives are as fragile as the foam when washing clothes.”

“But the factory cannot be closed because of the policy from above, because of the economic benefits it brings, and because if it closes, large numbers of workers will lose their livelihoods, society will be in turmoil, and countless people will starve to death.”

Audrey’s face gradually turned pale as she listened. The recent expansion of her horizons had caused her worldview to collapse.

She did not look away, but forced herself to stand upright, her eyes gradually brightening as she asked softly.

“Is this why you decided to start a war?”

“That’s not the case. I always have my own purpose.”

Lu Ke glanced at the gray sky and spoke in a calm tone.

“I have always felt that I am not a good person. I like to play tricks on others but I don’t allow others to play tricks on me. I allow myself to be unfaithful but I will never allow my partner to be unfaithful. When I see good things, I want to cheat and deceive to get them. If anyone offends me, I will do everything I can to retaliate…”

At this point, he shook his head and smiled.

“War is not the only solution for me to achieve my goal, nor is it the best solution.”

“But I am still a human being.”

(End of this chapter)