Nataly quickly hid her infatuation and stated respectfully, "A few hours ago, through our information network, we received a secret message from an unknown source. According to this message, all this upheaval is caused by Star Hackers of a secret organization on the surface called ATLAS! And they were the ones who approached Her Holiness over two decades ago to find the location of the legendary key!"
Mercy on the side suddenly widened her eyes slightly when she heard this, and a cold glint flashed past her eyes, "Did you find the source of this message?"
Nataly shook her head slightly, "No, Your Holiness, the messenger was very clever and used one of our own people to send it. Although I don't know how they were able to get ahold of this message center, whoever they were, they knew how to use it. If I'm not wrong, they should be one of our hidden informative, but I'm not completely sure."
Mercy frowned a little, "Alright, you are excused. Focus on calming down the masses and recovering all the damage. Anyone involved in this, even if they had the slightest bit of involvement in this, capture them for interrogation."
Nataly hesitated momentarily before asking, "What about the Priest Lords? Although the attackers caused upheaval, they also exposed many of the Priest Lords' corruptions. They were completely aware of their dirty deeds and all the wealth they had hidden from us."
Mercy dismissively replied as if she didn't care about this little problem at all, "Do you still need to ask? As my proxy, you should know how to deal with these degenerates better. There's no need to ask my permission for such trifle matters."
Nataly's eyes flashed coldly as she nodded, "I understand!" Then, she quickly left.
Mercy also left the secret chamber and headed towards the prayer hall, where the statue of the Mermaid Goddess was located. But now, there were many more statues, and in addition to those, there was a cloaked midget.
"What happened?" The midget asked in a static voice.
Mercy sighed as she grimly stated, "Unexpectedly, nine large regions of the Siren Hymn Temple suffered terrorist attacks in the past three days. Do you want to hear something even more absurd? We received a secret message stating that those attacks were done by none other than the Star Hackers of ATLAS!"
The midget was startled and uttered incredulously, "Impossible! They shouldn't be here!"
Mercy scoffed in derision, "That's what I thought as well. After all, you'd told me they were doing something else to help us locate the Legendary Key. Yet here they are, causing problems in my territory!"
The midget fell into silence before replying after a while, "I'll look into it. If they are the ones behind this, I'll owe you an explanation."
Mercy deeply looked at the midget's hooded face, which was enshrouded by a dark fog. She couldn't see through it, no matter what.
In the end, she sighed in resignation, "I don't have any choice in this matter, do I? I still don't understand the purpose behind all this?" She said this while looking at all those statues emitting a peculiar undulation, and inwardly, she felt ecstatic, but she still maintained her helpless expression.
After all, she knew this deal was nothing but a godsend for her, and that's why she was willing to comply with this midget's demands.
"Didn't I already tell you? Since there's some kind of problem locating the legendary key, we'll just have to locate the person holding it. Free Sword and his crew were the only people who were supposed to have it.
"Furthermore, Free Sword last appeared many years ago, and his actions at that time were very strange. So, this will greatly help us in locating the legendary key. Even though prophesizing a person is more difficult than an item, I've already given you more than enough for this task." He impassively stated, clearly having no intention of revealing his hidden motives.
Mercy didn't push further since she knew better. After all, she was getting the long end of the stick in this deal, so she was content. She was just annoyed by the fact that someone was causing trouble when she was so close to achieving her goal.
After all, once she achieved her goal, the entire Siren Hymn Temple could turn to ruin for all she cared.
"I understand. I'm just a little curious. After all, you want me to prophesize all the people on this list, and you even go out of your way to collect all the information I need to perform an oracle about them. I have to admit, you know even more than Ocean Oracle than myself." Mercy innocently stated.
"Don't overthink it. This is all just a precaution to make sure that even if Free Sword isn't the one holding the Legendary Key, it could be with one of his crew members or anyone who came in contact with him. We need to end this once and for all since time is running out," the midget explained coolly.
'Like hell, I believe you. There is something you want from one of these people on this list, and I'll know once I perform an oracle about them. No matter how much you tried to hide it, I'm also a Golden Constant. Those who wander the infinite time are prone to observe time differently…' She sneered inwardly but didn't let it show on her face.
"Then let's start without any further due. Let me experience this Fate Soul Formation that we spend so much effort and these many faith-type treasures to build." Mercy chuckled with a hint of excitement before she moved towards the runic platform in the middle of the statues.
The midget didn't speak and only watched her going in. His eyes flashed coldly, 'You're digging your own grave by probing into the matter of Timeless City Lord, just like my old self.'
Under his cloak, a gloating smile appeared on his face, showing his sharp rows of teeth as if he were extremely pleased with someone else heading towards the same abyss he once fell into!