Lord of Mysteries: Return of the Stars!

Then why execute people for mere petty theft? Did those lives not matter?

Respecting life while also disregarding it. This was an era where savagery and civilization intertwined.

That was the only conclusion Hastur could come to.

-------------------------------

After the trial ended, Lady Germani once again warmly invited Hastur to her house as a guest tonight, subtly hinting that her husband had a social engagement and would not be returning home.

Faced with such a romantic invitation, Hastur could only tactfully decline, claiming he had important matters to attend to that evening and it wouldn't be convenient.

Lady Germani wasn't upset. Before boarding her carriage and leaving, she turned back to glance at Hastur a few more times, then left satisfied.

Plop!

Hastur took out his pocket watch — 4:13. It was well past 3 p.m.

Heh, women are all liars. Boys also need to protect themselves when out and about.

Hastur sighed, sharply aware of another pair of unabashed eyes scrutinizing him from behind, scanning him from shoulders downward, especially lingering on his hips.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it was two elderly, pot-bellied noblemen. He felt a wave of disgust and quickly flagged down a carriage to leave.

…

Back home, Hastur went to the kitchen to get busy. There was still quite some time before dinner, and he planned to make some hand-beaten meatballs for himself.

He first used a round rolling pin to carefully and repeatedly pound the meat, grinding it finely into mince. Then he sprinkled in a suitable amount of flour, added water, a bit of salt, and some spices, kneaded it into balls, and placed them in warm water to set. The meatballs were done.

After a satisfying meal, Hastur took off his coat, rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt, and began washing the dishes and the rolling pin.

At times like this, he always considered hiring a suitable chef to prepare his meals — preferably a pastry chef skilled in all kinds of desserts, to satisfy his cravings.

But the idea of a stranger living in his house made him uncomfortable, so he temporarily abandoned the thought.

He would reconsider hiring a butler and a chef once he had a stable income.

Currently, aside from the 1,000 pounds deposited at Backlund Bank, he had only 405 pounds, 8 soli, and 4 penny in cash.

Just the lawyer's potion formula and potion ingredients had cost him about 530 pounds. Studying law took another 50 pounds. Food and transportation expenses also added up.

He still needed to save up money to buy the Beyonder materials for the Sequence 8 Barbarian potion and keep 500 pounds aside as emergency funds. The amount of money he could actually spend was very limited.

At the same time, he needed to repay the 2,000 pounds he owed to Viscount Glaint.

The thought of owing so much money gave him a headache. In any world, you can't live a decent life without money.

He had thought of opening a law firm to take on commissions and earn money, but his current level of legal knowledge was still far from sufficient to handle things independently.

The best way to earn money, naturally, would be to encounter some utterly evil Beyonders, deal with them, and sell off their Beyonder characteristics and potion formulas.

But that required him to advance to Sequence 8 Barbarian first.

"Sigh, I'll just have to endure for now. In another two months, I should be able to fully digest the potion."

Hastur composed himself, went upstairs to take a shower, and put the clothes he changed out of into a bag to be sent to a laundry service.

That was another expense.

The long night stretched on. He could only burn the midnight oil in his study, continuing to read the three introductory law books.

He worked until eleven o'clock, which was Hastur's favorite time of day.

He closed the books, put them away, got up, walked to the adjacent bedroom, lay on the bed, and prepared to enter the dream world.

More precisely, to enter the Hall of Stars.

In his otherwise dull and tedious life, the only bit of enjoyment left was whipping the Son of Chaos at night.

Sitting on the first chair, his gaze locked onto the star where the Son of Chaos was, and he summoned the Chain of Order, ready to strike.

When the phantom of the Magic Wishing Lamp reappeared, Hastur chuckled and lashed out with a powerful whip.

This time, he didn't even bother observing the Son of Chaos 's reaction. He whipped and left, without lingering for even a second.

Hastur tapped his fingers lightly on the table, the corners of his mouth curling up, and murmured, "It's time to rest again. Hopefully, the Son of Chaos will have a pleasant night too."

…

Smack!

The heavily sealed Magic Wishing Lamp was once again sent flying by the strike, crashing to the ground.

"Damn it! Even worse than the Lord of Mysteries!"

The Son of Chaos 's phantom appeared again, its eyes filled with hostility, looking up at the starry sky above.

This time, Bernadette was intrigued.

She had stayed up tonight specifically to investigate the secrets of the Son of Chaos , and indeed caught the moment something strange happened to the Magic Wishing Lamp.

At that instant, the heavy seals seemed to be breached by some mysterious force, a mighty power descended from the starry sky, lashing the Magic Wishing Lamp and sending it flying.

This is not a change that the Son of Chaos himself caused, but rather a force from the starry sky is influencing the Magic Wishing Lamp!

Although his expression couldn't be seen at the moment, it was clear that he was in a fit of rage.

"You, who pride yourself on being great and extraordinary, actually have such a miserable moment, how surprising," Bernadette directly launched into mockery.

The Son of Chaos only sneered and said, "You have no idea what that power represents."

"I only need to know that this power is not here to help you break the seal."

"Hmph, are you really that sure?"

"Could there really be an existence in the starry sky that hopes for your return?"

Bernadette's rhetorical question rendered the Son of Chaos silent.

He once had a glorious record of achievements, provoking many enemies.

Now that he was sealed in the Magic Wishing Lamp, those beings—let alone saving him—had already shown kindness by not seizing the opportunity to eliminate him.

"I think we can cooperate."

The Son of Chaos expressed a willingness to cooperate; time was tight, and he no longer wished to play mind games with Bernadette.

"I refuse."

Bernadette didn't even give the Son of Chaos a chance to speak again, saying, "It's late. I'm going to have a good sleep."

"..."

The Son of Chaos watched Bernadette leave, without appearing too anxious.

Bernadette was a clever person, and it was hard to impress her with mere conditions.

But there was one bargaining chip she absolutely could not refuse, he simply didn't want to waste the chance for an outrageous demand.

For several days in a row, at around 11:30 p.m. each night, the Magic Wishing Lamp would be forcibly drawn from its place.

Bernadette had gone from being cautious at first to mocking the Son of Chaos 's helplessness.

Of course, deep down she remained alert, and the Dawn continued to linger in the waters near the Storm Church.

One day, the Son of Chaos finally chose to manifest himself from within the Magic Wishing Lamp.

Being forcibly drawn once a day, combined with Bernadette's constant mockery, had pushed him to his limit.

He had to find a way to counter this situation, he couldn't let himself be toyed with like this. After all, he was once a powerful Great Old One!

Bernadette said bluntly, "Tsk, finally decided to stop being a coward, huh?"

The Son of Chaos ignored her mockery and said coldly, "Let's make a deal."

"I think things are fine the way they are—every night I get to enjoy the sight of you being whipped like a dog."

"Verbal attacks won't earn you any benefits."

"But they make me happy."

"Hmph, my patience is limited. Sooner or later, you'll need help more than I do."

Bernadette waved her hand lightly and said, "Then we'll talk in the future."

Seeing the conversation fall apart, the Son of Chaos returned directly into the Magic Wishing Lamp.

Bernadette placed a seal on the lamp, got up, walked out of the cabin, and went to the bow of the ship, gazing up at the starry sky.

Watching the Son of Chaos flustered over the past few days had indeed been amusing.

But it also brought a crisis—that mysterious force from the starry sky, it was unclear whether it was friend or foe.

What if it was already trying to help the Son of Chaos break the seal?

Now the Son of Chaos was lowering himself to seek cooperation and negotiation, but it could also be an act, meant to lull her into letting her guard down.

She wouldn't easily trust the sincerity of an evil god.

Yet she had already tried every kind of sealing technique, and still couldn't stop the nightly changes.

Would she really have to hand the Magic Wishing Lamp over to the Seven Gods for suppression and safekeeping?

It was a Level 0 sealed artifact that could save her life at a critical moment. Even in the face of the descent of one of the Seven Gods, it still offered some chance of survival.

"The starry sky is always so terrifying,"

A sigh drifted over the vast ocean.