Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1540: Chapter 267: Scales of Good and Evil (Part 1)

The war between Britannia and France lasted for over a century. The Night Watchman had also experienced it… however, as a king from a much more ancient era, he didn’t have much interest in the mutual slaughter between human races.

If I remember correctly, during that period, he was already in the Far East Region, on the one hand to avoid the chaos of war, and on the other to search for the legendary elixir of immortality in the Far East Region.

But he had the right to longevity because of a wish granted by the Magic Lamp… so what about Xie Jiatu?

He certainly wouldn’t have wished upon the Magic Lamp… how exactly did he achieve longevity? At this moment, even though the Night Watchman wasn’t interested in what Xie Jiatu was trying to accomplish, he was still a bit moved by the fact that Xie Jiatu could live to this day.

“You have also been alive for so long.” The Night Watchman shook his head, “Actually, a hundred years is enough time for a person to forget many things. As for hundreds of years, even hatred would have long decayed… yet you still seem persistent.”

“Let me tell you a story.” The High Priest Xie Jiatu waved his hand at this moment.

Suddenly, dozens of grids cracked open on the metal wall behind him—from these grids, a series of drones the size of washbasins slowly flew out.

Through a wall of transparent, reinforced glass, they projected lasers—the moment the light converged, several images unfolded before the Night Watchman.

A tranquil mountain village slowly unfolded before the Night Watchman.

At this moment, the voice of the High Priest arose: “This is where I was born… recorded in a peaceful town in the Kingdom of France. As you know, I was born in that era of war.”

Suddenly, flames soared to the sky, and the peaceful town was dyed a crimson red, as the war began to devour all the houses, roads… and people.

Among the ruins and debris, a ten-year-old child struggled to carry a little girl, even smaller than himself, on his back, trudging along the scorched black street of the town.

The child was barefoot, his feet long since burned by the scorching ground… finally, his strength gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.

“That is me.” The High Priest pointed at the child who had fallen to the ground, speaking slowly, “Did you feel it?”

The Night Watchman said calmly, “Quite pitiful, but living in a time of war, he is clearly not the only one who would encounter tragic events.”

“I guessed you would say that.” The High Priest smiled at this moment, looking at the child in the projection, “But obviously, I didn’t have such thoughts back then. For a child who lost all his family, his only thought at the time was hatred towards the entire world.”

The Night Watchman glanced at the High Priest, “And now?”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” The High Priest said calmly, “The progress of human civilization has always been accompanied by war and blood… the arrival of this misfortune only means that I didn’t have the ability to protect my family back then… or even myself, as I could die at any moment. So all of my anger and hatred at that time were futile fury.”

The Night Watchman said nonchalantly, “For that child, don’t you think your viewpoint is a bit too harsh?”

“He needs to realize this truth.” The High Priest laughed, “To realize that even if he treats life tenderly, life won’t show him any mercy.”

“So?” The Night Watchman frowned, “You plan to take revenge on life… on the world?”

The High Priest shook his head: “I said, there’s nothing wrong with that. I was so insignificant back then, hence the hatred… but now I obviously won’t, because as long as I am willing, I even have the power to change the entire world.”

The Night Watchman sneered immediately, “Relying on this place? Oh… or relying on that method you mentioned, about replicating humans?”

“I call it The Scale of Good and Evil.” The High Priest said slowly, “I didn’t replicate anyone, just separated a person’s goodness from evil.”

“The Scale of Good and Evil?” The Night Watchman couldn’t help but furrow his brows, as if vaguely recalling something, “Are you referring to Ma’at’s… Scales of Good and Evil?”

The High Priest smiled slightly: “I thought you would think of it immediately, after all, you are a king of the Seventh Dynasty… but unfortunately, it is somewhat different from the legendary Ma’at’s Scales of Good and Evil that you know.”

The Night Watchman gazed at the drones doubtfully—the drones were now switching to another set of images.

In the images appeared a young man, whose appearance bore a striking resemblance to the boy amid the war, and also very similar to the High Priest now standing in front of him—this was the young Xie Jiatu.

The young Xie Jiatu was now in the middle of a desert… the Oasis, where the Oasis Temple was located.

“I discovered this Balance here.” The High Priest’s voice echoed within the empty room, “I touched it, and it completely separated my good thoughts from my evil intentions… then, I became two people, while my soul attained immortality.”

The Night Watchman furrowed his brows even more, trying to comprehend what the High Priest was saying using the experiences and knowledge he’d accumulated over his long life… to judge the truth of the matter.

“Who stands here now?” The Night Watchman suddenly asked.

“If I claim to be the good one, would you believe me?” The High Priest smiled, “You might speculate that I’m the one impersonated by malice instead. So which one I am doesn’t matter—what matters is why I am telling you this.”

“Oh?” The Night Watchman’s brows lifted.

The High Priest spread his hands, “I am conducting a great experiment… I would like to invite you to join me and complete this experiment—in this lengthy passage of time, you are the most extraordinary human I have encountered! You possess a long life, your knowledge is incredibly rich, and you have a strong body, making you an ideal assistant for this long experiment—of course, this decision was made when you received the invitation and joined the exploration of the Oasis Temple, which is when I discovered your secret… don’t you think this is a destined event? Initially, I only sought some outstanding scholars, but I didn’t expect you would be among them.”

The Night Watchman shook his head, appearing rather helpless about the situation—but the High Priest’s words connected some of the previously perplexing parts for him.

More than half a year ago, after receiving a mysterious invitation from an investor, he felt a vague sense of unease—though he had continuously been seeking mysterious powers—for a certain purpose within his heart.

More than half a year ago, a whole archaeological team, after experiencing several hardships, finally reached the Oasis Temple—this temple had never been recorded in the annals of human history.

They nearly went mad, rushing into the Temple… the beginning of it all.

The Nightwatcher thought of this, and suddenly turned around, glancing at Yiben, who was hiding behind the door and sneakily poking his head out — back then, the scholars who entered the Temple were just like Yiben now.

They forgot everything, became like puppets, and always remained deep within the Temple, conducting all sorts of research — even he himself was replicated by the High Priest in a peculiar manner.

But ultimately he was special… a human with no special abilities other than longevity.

His vast knowledge and experience let him escape — since then, he has been hiding in the City of the Sun, quietly waiting for the opportunity.

Yiben… that is, Aria, due to having no learning, after losing memory, he was thrown into the City of the Sun to fend for himself.

The entire City of the Sun is actually under the surveillance of the High Priest — everywhere in the City of the Sun has monitoring cameras installed, and there are even unmanned planes disguised as birds in the sky.

The entire City of the Sun resembles a giant experimental field — except for the High Priest himself, everyone living here is probably a part of his experiment.

Having figured this out, the Nightwatcher… the real Mr. Otto, if he said his heart was devoid of waves, it would certainly be untenable — he even started to be amazed at the other’s action power!

Also as a human who obtained longevity, compared to all that High Priest Xie Jiatu did, Mr. Otto suddenly found — he truly seemed like a salted fish!

“The experiment you mentioned, what actually is it?” After a long silence, the Nightwatcher finally went straight to the point — living long, being old, often you simply don’t want to understand the processes of certain things.

“I discovered a soul exists within this miraculous Scale.” High Priest Xie Jiatu said with faint eagerness in his eyes: “I can feel the power of the soul in the Scale… it is the master of the Scale, it has unimaginable strength to humans! But it is incomplete, thus it remains dormant… I want to complete this incomplete soul!”

“Complete the soul?!” The Nightwatcher was slightly startled.

The study of souls, since ancient times, whether in the west and Ancient Egypt where he stayed, or the Far East Region he once traveled, has been a huge unsolvable mystery!

“How to complete it?” The Nightwatcher couldn’t help but directly ask — even though he looked so foolish when he asked the question… he even felt the foolishness in himself, yet couldn’t resist a certain curiosity stirring in his heart.

The long time made his knowledge vast enough to eclipse the world’s finest scholars — but even so, there are still many things in the world he cannot fathom… soul studies are clearly one of them.

— If the soul could be completed… if the soul could be authored…

— Resurrection… resurrect her!

The Nightwatcher’s eyes instantly became like those of a beast, gaze full of aggression… the High Priest seemed to feel the obsession in Mr. Otto’s gaze, slightly furrowing his brows: “Otto, it seems your story is more than I currently know… I’m becoming more and more intrigued by you!”

“Stop rambling, speak quickly… how exactly do you plan to complete an incomplete soul?” The Nightwatcher Otto asked with a deep voice.

The High Priest affirmed: “Very simply, just create a shell that is perfect enough, then it will be the residence of this incomplete soul! This shell can remedy the soul’s incomplete parts… when this perfect shell is finished, it will be the time for this incomplete soul to awaken.”

The Nightwatcher couldn’t help but furrow his brow, contemplating the High Priest’s words… yet the eagerness in his eyes gradually cooled.

He shook his head, “I don’t know how you came up with this method, or from where you got the inspiration for it… but I don’t believe this method is feasible.”

The High Priest frowned.

The Nightwatcher said indifferently: “In the Far East, there’s a saying called Borrowing a Corpse to Resuscitate the Soul. The general idea is that a soul of someone already deceased attaches to another already deceased person’s body, thus allowing the latter to revive… the question is: what truly revives?”

The High Priest replied without hesitation: “The first deceased person’s soul, their thoughts too. I think therefore I am… naturally, they are the first, regardless of how the appearance changes, only the inner self remains unchanged.”

The Nightwatcher gave the High Priest a deep look: “Then, throughout future years, the first person can only live as the second. For they possess the second person’s appearance, and hold all blood ties belonging to the second person. So tell me, who are they ultimately?”

“He knows clearly.” The High Priest retorted with a cold snort.

“Only he knows.” The Nightwatcher shook his head, casually glanced at the High Priest: “You won’t know either.”

“You’re wrong.” The High Priest smiled and said: “What I care about is not which, the focus is just the experiment itself — if it revives, it proves one thing, my method is not wrong, this will be the greatest discovery humans have made so far.”

“But I don’t need this.” The Nightwatcher shook his head: “What I need is a certain, real, and unique soul.”

He locked eyes with the High Priest… confronting him.

After a long while, the High Priest finally sighed: “I always make some last-ditch efforts, but usually these efforts are in vain… Otto, I truly hope you can understand me.”

The Nightwatcher didn’t speak… the good conversation was actually near its end here — he focused his mind, tensed his body, and then picked up the carbon fiber Black Blade in his hand, knowing difficulties would surely follow.

Often at such times, usually, there’s only one outcome.

“Rest assured, I’ve never killed anyone.” The High Priest shook his head: “I loathe letting a life vanish… but you will have a long period of time not knowing who you are, you’ll also become nourishment for this shell’s growth.”

After saying this, the High Priest directly clapped his hands… the surrounding metal walls suddenly cracked open piece by piece — White-robed Guards began filing out from these cracked entrances.

They closed in on the Nightwatcher Otto… simultaneously, their bodies started undergoing bizarre transformations — it was as if something was about to burst forth from their bodies.