Chapter 56: The Thief Who Usurped the Scepter and Occupied the Nest!

Chapter 56 The Scepter Usurper, a Thief Who Steals Another's Nest!

Yi Fengchu walked deep into the rows of archive shelves.

The primary purpose of his visit was to review the archives of deities associated with him thus far, such as Twilight Calamity and the Tree of Life.

At the A City branch of the Anomalous Affairs Bureau, it was unlikely to contain highly classified information, but the widely circulated myths, religious texts, and general information about their domains of influence were enough for Yi Fengchu to form a preliminary understanding of them.

—At the very least, he wouldn’t be completely clueless when assuming a high-level identity.

Yi Fengchu’s gaze swept over the rows of inert archives before settling on the file of the Tree of Life.

He noticed that the ink used to write the deity’s name seemed to be a particularly unusual type, with each stroke emitting a black mist composed of fine particles.

[This is the power of the "Conspiracy Domain."]

The phone explained:

“What is conspiracy? Conspiracy is the latent, unspoken desires and schemes lurking in the hearts of all intelligent life.”

[Thus, the power derived from "conspiracy" can obscure all traces of information, shielding from others’ perception of things.]

“These archives involve supreme entities. To prevent drawing their attention, the Anomalous Affairs Bureau must have specifically requested an Ability User from the Conspiracy Domain to process them.”

“So that’s how it is…” Yi Fengchu reached out and took the file, casually asking, “Even with such special treatment, the archives remain one of the most dangerous restricted areas?”

The phone replied, “There’s no helping it. The knowledge here is inherently corrupting—that can’t be changed.”

Yi Fengchu lowered his head and quickly scanned through the Tree of Life’s file.

Beyond this world, the myriad realms and infinite universes are commonly recognized in occult circles as divided into nine dimensions, each controlled by one of the nine most powerful and exalted deities, hence referred to as the "Dimensional Standards."

As the Second Standard, the Tree of Life’s influence over the entire second dimension results in the amplification of "life" forces, which dominate while the influence of other domains diminishes—a characteristic that makes it the most benevolent and gentle among the nine dimensions for ordinary beings.

Thus, the Tree of Life commands a relatively large following. The archives also contained detailed records of this deity’s prayers and rituals, and the strength of the sects under its command should not be underestimated.

Yi Fengchu learned that beneath the Tree of Life’s throne, there were three Apostles, titled "Crimson Tree," "Vital Breath," and "Calamity." Each Apostle guided and led a group of followers, forming sects with distinct doctrinal emphases.

Crimson Tree focused on spirit and flesh, Vital Breath revered fertility and reproduction, while Calamity governed evolution and mutation.

Though the records on these Apostles were limited, Yi Fengchu quietly deduced and memorized their characteristics based on their titles and doctrines.

The phone remarked, “You seem particularly interested in the Tree of Life’s Apostles?”

After finishing the file, Yi Fengchu returned it to its place and responded, “For some reason, my intuition tells me this might be valuable later…”

What a strange intuition. How could this information be of any use?

It wasn’t like he’d ever encounter these Apostles directly, right?

Yi Fengchu felt his words were rambling, but after hearing his answer, the phone fell silent for a long moment before encouraging him, “Your intuition isn’t wrong. Keep studying and remembering.”

Next, Yi Fengchu continued searching through the piles of archives for records of known deities.

Perhaps due to the branch’s limited records, or perhaps because Twilight Calamity usually acted covertly—when it didn’t, this god of decay left no survivors—Yi Fengchu found no file on it.

And based on the hints the phone had dropped earlier, the Mother of the Tides was in an abnormal state, no longer extending her customary protection to her followers and descendants. Her miracles had vanished years ago, so the Anomalous Affairs Bureau likely had scant information about her as well.

“The branch’s archives really are too limited…”

He murmured regretfully, Yi Fengchu’s gaze swept over a particular file, and his eyes brightened suddenly: “*An Introduction to the Curse Domain and Basic Histories of Deities*?”

Ever since devouring the Moth God, his new collection, the "Curse Cloak," had been stored in his phone’s exhibition cabinet. Learning more about curses might help him figure out how to use this artifact sooner…

So Yi Fengchu opened the file and discovered it was a transcription of an occult tome.

The original book came from a B-rank or higher dungeon, its exact details unknown, but it was confirmed to be an ancient artifact whose current whereabouts were a mystery.

A transcription was fine—as long as it was usable.

Yi Fengchu thought with satisfaction, then quickly scanned through it, soon arriving at the section on basic deity histories that interested him most.

“…This author once traveled through the birthplace of curses, the notorious ‘Storm of Dread Canyon’ in the sixth-dimensional world, and discovered that the faith of the Goddess of Misfortune once flourished there. It is suspected that she was the earliest deity to wield the authority of curses.”

“But later, for unknown reasons, the Father of Cursed Nightmares was born. Nowadays, most curse rituals and death curses are completed through his power—could this signify a transfer of authority?”

“No, that can’t be. Why do the ancient curses inherited by the natives of Storm of Dread Canyon possess even greater lethality and destructiveness?”

“After four hundred and sixty years of studying curses, even I have never encountered a curse so simple in ritual, minimal in cost, swift in activation, and instantly fatal—as if… the Father of Cursed Nightmares is not a complete ■■”

The last two characters were obscured by a blot of ink.

Yi Fengchu studied it intently for a long time before realizing that the splattered and smudged shape on the original book must have been—blood.

Just as Yi Fengchu fell into thought, the book in his hands split open violently, becoming the only archive bold enough to manifest anomalies in his presence.

But it wasn’t attacking, tempting, or intimidating—it seemed desperate to convey a message, its hysterical shrieks nearly piercing the ceiling:

“A lowly false god! False god!”

“A thief of divine right, a thief who steals another’s nest… His wicked acts will inevitably be repaid in blood!”

As the book screamed, every inch of it—from spine to margins—trembled violently, as though enduring unbearable torment.

The pages gradually disintegrated into dust, slipping like fine sand through Yi Fengchu’s fingers, but its shrieks of hatred lingered, echoing through the archives.

False god? Thief?

Combined with the earlier information, was this referring to the Father of Cursed Nightmares?

Observing Yi Fengchu’s expression, the phone asked, “You don’t seem surprised by this book’s assessment of the Father of Cursed Nightmares?”

“Surprised about what?”

Yi Fengchu, in turn, looked slightly puzzled. “Was his previous image particularly glorious? As the titular deity of the Curse Domain, he allowed a Moth God—who nearly encroached on his authority and even approached godhood—to flourish unchecked…”

“Even if he’s still alive, what’s the difference between that and being dead?”

What a useless fool, plagued by troubles inside and out, utterly incapable of managing his own affairs.

The phone fell silent for a moment before sighing. “The situation in the Curse Domain is indeed somewhat unique—one could say it’s fragmented.”

“Don’t worry about the specifics for now. Just safeguard the Curse Cloak, which represents a portion of the curse authority… As long as it’s in your hands, they’ll come begging to you eventually.”

Yi Fengchu immediately understood the phone’s meaning.

The situation was chaotic, and direct involvement would bring more harm than good—but that didn’t stop him from sitting back and leveraging his share of "curse" power to gain some advantage.

“Fine. We’ll deal with the future when it comes… Fate won’t let me lose out, after all.”

Yawning and stretching, Yi Fengchu glanced at the time and was surprised to see it was nearly 3 p.m. He decided to head back to his apartment to catch some sleep.

As he stepped out of the archives, he paused by the receptionist’s desk and suddenly asked, "Did you hear any strange noises just now?"

"Huh?" The receptionist, who had been filling out Yi Fengchu’s access records, looked up in surprise, her face blank. "What noises?"

As expected, only he could hear the book’s screaming…

Otherwise, the moment it screamed, Ability users on patrol would have rushed over to investigate, even setting off the bureau’s alarms.

Yi Fengchu shook his head. "Never mind, just a random question—oh, if you want to put it in the records, I don’t mind."

"By the way, a file was accidentally destroyed just now. The title and ID number are…"

After smoothly reciting the details, Yi Fengchu met the receptionist’s stunned gaze and attempted to explain, "I didn’t do anything—it started it. I just glanced at it, and it turned to dust by itself. The remains are still in the corner of the shelf."

But the explanation only made things worse.

In the receptionist’s experience, it was always Ability users who struggled against the lure of dangerous knowledge, trying to escape its effects—never had knowledge itself collapse from being "glanced at" by someone!

The most powerful Ability users she had encountered were Captain Meng from headquarters and Mr. Jiang You—the former at Ability level 7, while the latter was teetering on the edge of level 8 and could temporarily reach it with the aid of specific artifacts.

Yet even they could only deal with such knowledge somewhat safely.

But Mr. Yi, who effortlessly caused knowledge to disintegrate, seemingly surpassing even those two…

The receptionist didn’t want to think about what that meant. She forcibly suppressed her curiosity and refocused on the task at hand, replying professionally, "Understood. I’ll contact the relevant personnel to handle it shortly."

Yi Fengchu nodded, said a brief "Alright," then turned to leave.

The receptionist remained in place, staring at his retreating back, lost in thought.

Previously, whenever Yi Fengchu left, she would bid him farewell warmly, like any other colleague, welcoming him to visit again.

But today, she hesitated. She had clearly sensed that Yi Fengchu carried too many secrets—enough to create an insurmountable gap between him and ordinary people like her.

As she wavered, Yi Fengchu had nearly reached the end of the corridor, his faint shadow moving alone along the wall.

Watching this, the receptionist, as if something had snapped her out of it, leaned against the doorframe as usual and called out to the departing figure:

"Goodbye! If you have time, come by again sometime…"

Yi Fengchu turned back in confusion to see the receptionist waving vigorously, her smile bright and enthusiastic.

He paused, then hesitantly gave a small smile in return. "...Mm."