Steam Age: I Fight Against Divine Authority with Otherworldly Tales

Chapter 78 Golden Dawn Knowledge Society

Charles quickly recovered from his shock. He composed himself, gave Suren a deep look, and then glanced at Loft.

Loft immediately understood. He bowed slightly and respectfully gestured for us to come: "Mr. Suren, it's not convenient to talk here. Please come with me."

Suren nodded, picked up the canvas bag in his hand, and followed Loft and Charles to Loft's room.

According to the two men, the first floor has been booked by Mr. Charles, and the rooms are mostly occupied by Mr. Charles's servants.

The rooms here are even larger than Suren's residence, fully furnished, clean and bright, with views of greenery outside the windows, making for a very pleasant environment.

After entering the room, Loft closed the door, and Suren walked to the small table in the room. He reached his right hand into the actually empty canvas bag, and a white light flashed from the ring on his left hand. Then he placed the goods one by one on the small table in the room, making it look as if he had taken them out of the canvas bag.

"Mr. Charles, to be frank, this shipment of yours was quite difficult to find, even involving two mysterious organizations, the 'Gate of Truth' and the 'Eternal Oath Knights'." Suren placed the last etching on the table, smiling at Charles. "Bringing these back is already the best I could do."

Charles stared blankly at the items on the table. He knew exactly how many items were missing, so he could tell at a glance that only two items were missing.

This outcome was far better than he had anticipated; Charles had even prepared for the loss of half the cargo.

He did not doubt Suren's statement. After all, he had previously recruited many civilian superhumans to search for the goods, including several "Awakened Ones," but all of them failed in their missions. This was enough to prove that there was indeed a lot going on behind the scenes, so it was reasonable to involve a secret organization.

But this only shocked him more, because in the case of two secret organizations, Suren recovered almost all of the goods in less than a day.

This Mr. Suren was more capable than he had imagined.

Loft stepped forward, took out a monocle, and began inspecting the goods one by one.

After a moment, he turned around, nodded to Charles, and said, "Sir, apart from the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Tears of the Goddess, all the other goods are here, and they are all genuine."

"Can you sense the location of these two items?" Suren suddenly asked.

Loft paused, then closed his eyes. A few seconds later, he opened them and shook his head helplessly: "Those two items are no longer in Loren Town, and I can feel their presence being erased. It must be that the mark I left behind has been discovered."

Suren nodded, but couldn't help feeling a little puzzled. What was so special about these two items that made them worth fighting over between these two major organizations?

Charles looked at the pensive Suren, exhaled, and said, "Mr. Suren, I really can't believe you're just a 'Pryceader.' Your abilities and efficiency surpass most of the 'Awakeners' I've ever met."

Actually, I'm an awakened one now, Suren thought to herself silently.

However, he didn't reply. Instead, he looked up at Charles and asked another question: "Mr. Russell, do you know anything about the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Tears of the Goddess?"

Charles paused, frowned, and pondered for a moment before seemingly making a decision.

"Do you know the 'Golden Dawn Knowledge Society'?" Charles didn't answer Suren's question, but instead mentioned an organization.

Suren stroked his chin, and in an instant, memories of the organization appeared in his mind.

The "Golden Dawn Knowledge Society" is different from non-governmental organizations such as the "Gate of Truth." It is an academic organization spontaneously formed by a group of occult enthusiasts.

The organization's members are mostly middle-class people such as businessmen and scholars. Since they are only interested in academic exchanges, the church turns a blind eye as long as the research does not involve research that is explicitly prohibited by the church.

That ritual book also records the types of rituals advocated by the "Golden Dawn Knowledge Society".

They believe that there exists another world called "Astral Realm," and the object of communication behind the ritual is an Astral Incarnation with a will. The purpose of the ritual is to attract the Astral Incarnation to attach itself to the practitioner, thereby manipulating its power.

It's worth mentioning that their rituals targeting the Protoss actually have a higher success rate.

Nevertheless, Suren didn't know much about the organization; his knowledge came from books and reports, and much of the information was missing.

After receiving a positive response from Suren, Charles smiled and, no longer hiding his intentions, said directly, "Actually, I'm one of them too."

As he spoke, he pulled out a badge with a five-pointed star made up of four different colors, which was the symbol of the "Golden Dawn Knowledge Society".

"I came to Loren Town this time because of guidance from members of the Society. My goal is this 'Dead Sea Scrolls'." Charles put away the badge and looked out the window, seemingly lost in some kind of memory. "The 'Dead Sea Scrolls' are said to have been written by survivors of the 'Cataclysmic Era'. Legend has it that they contain the truth of the world, and some even believe that obtaining them is equivalent to obtaining omniscience and omnipotence."

"The Age of Natural Disasters..." Suren repeated the word subconsciously. This was the first time he had heard this term. What exactly happened in that era?

"However, this is just a legend. Nobody knows what the Dead Sea Scrolls actually contain." Charles smiled helplessly. "Nevertheless, the Society is very enthusiastic about it, after all, it may hold the ultimate answer."

"I suspect that the Dead Sea Scrolls in your shipment isn't genuine, is it?" Suren's gaze fell on Charles, keenly noticing a problem.

Charles paused, glanced at Suren with a complicated expression, and slowly said, "You are very perceptive. Yes, this is just a copy, and only the first volume has been copied."

Suren nodded. After all, if what Charles said was true, then items of the Dead Sea Scrolls were beyond the reach of a small merchant like himself.

Even a copy is quite valuable. Thinking of this, Suren asked with some confusion, "If that's the case, why didn't you make some backups when you got this copy?"

"That's because you haven't seen the words on there with your own eyes." Charles sighed helplessly. "Those words will make your eyes sting and give you an unbearable headache after looking at them for a while. Let alone copying them, even reading them is difficult."

"Not even taking pictures?" Suren blurted out, but the moment she asked the question, she remembered the photo Charles had provided earlier.

"Firstly, the clarity of the photos is insufficient for normal reading needs, and the negatives are relatively expensive. Secondly..." Charles nodded to Loft, who then took out a stack of photos and handed them to Suren.

These are all photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls. As Suren expected, without exception, the text on these photographs is blurry and illegible.

Suren pressed his temples; he suddenly began to believe the rumors about the Dead Sea Scrolls.