“Dark Gold Society...?” In the quiet room of the hotel, Dorothy sat on the sofa, gazing down at the Literary Sea Logbook resting on her lap. Her expression grew increasingly grim as she read Beverly’s reply. “So… all of this was the doing of that Dark Gold Society, huh? Judging by the name, this group must worship that ‘Dark Gold’ deity Beverly once mentioned—some god in the ‘Stone’ domain. I remember her saying they were a pure commerce deity. Back then, she referred to worshippers of Dark Gold as the ‘Secret Trade Society’—so why are they being called the Dark Gold Society now? Could it be that Dark Gold is worshipped by multiple different organizations?” Dorothy pondered for a moment, then immediately picked up her pen and wrote her questions into the Logbook, making the most of the brief window while Beverly was “online.” Who knew how long it might be before Beverly checked again? Soon after she finished writing, the ink on the page melted into the paper—and not long after, new clean, print-like letters surfaced once again. “Yo, didn’t think you’d still be up this late, Miss Neighbor. I figured with how long my experiment ran, you’d be asleep by now. What a pleasant surprise—we can have a real chat for once.” “Unlike the White Stone Craftsmen’s Guild, which worships the Core of Order, a divine entity of craftsmanship, Dark Gold is known as a god of commerce and wealth. They’re an obscure deity, not known to the general public, and one of the many secret gods outside the Three Saints. Traditionally, those who worship Dark Gold were part of the Secret Trade Society. The Dark Gold Society, in fact, is a splinter group that evolved out of them. You could say it’s a transformed continuation of the Secret Trade Society.” “Transformed, huh? So you’re saying the Dark Gold Society is the successor to the Secret Trade Society?” Dorothy thoughtfully stroked her chin as she wrote her follow-up. A few seconds later, Beverly’s crisp font returned. “More or less, yeah. But to call it a full continuation wouldn’t be entirely accurate. The Dark Gold Society wasn’t the only one to inherit from the Secret Trade Society. Our Craftsmen’s Guild did, too.” “The Craftsmen’s Guild? They were connected to the Secret Trade Society?” Dorothy was visibly surprised, and her next written question came quickly. Beverly’s response followed. “Of course. In fact, the commercial tradition you see in the White Craftsmen’s Guild today actually comes from the Secret Trade Society. “You might not know this, but the Craftsmen’s Guild didn’t always have such a strong commercial flavor. At its core, it started as a guild of mystical artisans—a platform for craftsmen to exchange techniques, ideas, and legacy knowledge. Its focus was on craftsmanship, not commerce. While it did have internal platforms for material exchange, the scale was small—meant only to meet members’ needs. It was nothing like the massive mystical trade network we handle today. “For most of the Fourth Epoch, it was the Secret Trade Society that acted as the central mystical marketplace. Compared to us, they were a purely mercantile organization made up of all sorts of traders. Their patron deity was Dark Gold, the god of commerce—not the Core of Order, our own deity of craftsmanship.” “So... in other words, the real merchant faction used to be the Secret Trade Society, not the Craftsmen’s Guild?” “Exactly. At least, that’s how it was—up until about four hundred years ago. Back then, the Secret Trade Society was the largest neutral trade organization in the mysticism world. But then… the whole structure collapsed due to an internal schism. “Few people know the full story behind the split. Most only know that it had something to do with a hidden mystery surrounding Dark Gold. Whatever the case, on the day the split occurred, the upper ranks of the Society suffered a tragic event—three of their ‘Dark Gold Nobles’ died, and only one remained. That survivor—called the ‘Black Coin Noble’—claimed that he had become the living incarnation of Dark Gold, now fully in control of the society, and issued new doctrines. “After that, the immense Secret Trade Society fractured. Those who refused to submit to the Black Coin Noble left en masse. In retaliation, the Noble launched a purge. But just as the mass executions began, our guild’s deity—the Core of Order—rarely seen in any direct form, issued a divine edict to the Golden Triad: protect all Secret Trade defectors. “Thanks to that order, most of the defectors were absorbed into the White Craftsmen’s Guild. This allowed us to expand significantly—and also brought in a ton of commercial talent. “As for the remnant of the original society that stayed loyal to the Black Coin Noble… they renamed themselves the Dark Gold Society. Under his leadership, they abandoned almost every rule from the old days. They began conducting all manner of shadowy deals, pushing into markets they’d never dared touch before, and using every trick imaginable to extract profit.” Line by line, the neatly-typed words unfolded across the page. Dorothy, reading with a furrowed brow, then quickly penned her next question. “Abandoned all rules? Conducting all manner? What exactly do you mean?” Beverly’s answer came swiftly. “To put it simply: for profit, nothing is off-limits. The Dark Gold Society now engages in numerous industries that the Craftsmen’s Guild would never touch. The most infamous example? Human trafficking. “As you probably know, many mystical cabals rely on ‘living material’—actual people—for their spiritual refinement practices. If they don’t kidnap victims themselves, they buy them. And where do they buy them from? The Dark Gold Society. “They operate across all three continents, capturing ordinary people and selling them to mystical cults. Sometimes even Beyonders fall into their hands—those are premium merchandise. “Beyond that, the Dark Gold Society acts as a mystical trade platform, just like we do. But where our dealings have limits and ethical safeguards, theirs are utterly unrestrained. They provide loansharking, assassination services, and even work hand-in-hand with numerous shady cabals that specialize in scams and conspiracies. “They are, essentially, the ugliest and most ruthless face of the mysticism world.” Dorothy stared at the unfolding script, her brow tightening. Beverly’s descriptions of the Dark Gold Society were far more horrific than she had anticipated. After spending a long time navigating the mysticism world, Dorothy had already become familiar with the spiritual accumulation methods used by various cabals and heretical sects. One common trait among them was their direct exploitation of humanity—the most spiritually potent of all beings—as a shortcut to amass spirituality. For example, the Blood Feast Method used by the Afterbirth Cult required human flesh and blood; the Fear and Torture Method of the Eight-Spired Nest demanded long-term torture slaves; the Blackdream Hunting Pack needed to consume human dream cocoons to feed their moths; and in the Nether Coffin Order, Bonesmiths needed human bones, while other Silence Path Beyonders needed human souls... Looking at it all, the number of sects that required “materials”—human ones—was shockingly high. With such massive demand, the profit margin was obviously immense. Naturally, organizations dedicated to capturing and selling such “materials” would arise. And clearly, the Dark Gold Society was one of them. “Now I get it. Those two guys wanted to take Brandon away to sell him as a ‘material.’ According to Beverly, if the subject is a Beyonder, they’re even more valuable.” “So, the Dark Gold Society really is the black market cartel of the mysticism world.” With that thought, Dorothy formed a clearer understanding of the Dark Gold Society. She then picked up her pen again and continued writing in the Literary Sea Logbook. “The Dark Gold Society is also a commerce-oriented organization. So is your Guild’s enmity with them simply a matter of market competition?” “You could say that. According to the divine oracle of the Core of Order, once the White Craftsmen’s Guild took in the former members of the Secret Trade Society, we began greatly developing our commercial functions. From a purely craftsman-based association, we gradually evolved into our current form, becoming the largest trade platform in the mysticism world. Since we accepted the defectors, we’ve been in a state of open hostility with the Dark Gold Society.” Beverly’s words once again neatly printed themselves across the page. Dorothy read them quickly and wrote another response. “From the looks of it, your guild seems to have the upper hand right now. A group like the Dark Gold Society that worships a god of commerce—Dark Gold—can’t even win in the commercial field against you? That’s kind of ironic.” “Hehe… the fact that we’re able to suppress the Dark Gold Society is due to a combination of factors. First, the original Secret Trade Society split, and we absorbed part of it, while the Dark Gold Society became what remained. “Second, our Guild does business with more restraint. There are certain lines we don’t cross, which makes us far more acceptable to official Beyonder organizations. As long as there is demand, there will be a market. The mysticism world’s trade market will always exist, and someone must fulfill the role of trade intermediary. To the Church and various national mystic-world authorities, it’s far better to hand that role to us—people they can at least sit down and talk to—than to the uncontrollable Dark Gold Society. “If the Dark Gold Society dominated the market, their unrestrained, rampant transactions would cause cults to surge and the occurrence of mystical incidents to skyrocket. So most authorities, led by the Church, prefer to support us in taking charge. Yes, we sometimes also deal with heretical groups, but we don’t touch large-scale human trafficking. As long as we can fulfill most of the mysticism world’s trading needs, people won’t seek out the Dark Gold Society. “Because of that, in the eyes of national authorities, the Dark Gold Society is classified as a dangerous, malevolent sect, while we are tacitly permitted to exist. That official stance is one of the main reasons we can suppress them. “As for what you asked earlier about the god Dark Gold... there are many mysteries surrounding that deity. Historically, Their name always appeared alongside the Secret Trade Society. Very little is known about Them, and most people can’t make a clear judgment. “But as I said before, the Guild’s internal schism was triggered by a high-level power struggle. After the fighting ended, the Black Coin Noble even claimed to be Dark Gold’s earthly incarnation. “For a well-functioning divine faction, this kind of internal conflict is extremely rare. Throughout the Fourth Epoch, no god has ever descended by claiming to be an incarnation. So, in my opinion, whether Dark Gold even exists is debatable. And if They does, They’re probably in a very abnormal state.” 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢 Beverly’s lines appeared across the page like the strokes of a typewriter. After reading them, Dorothy finally understood why the White Craftsmen’s Guild was able to suppress the Dark Gold Society. She picked up her pen again and continued writing. “Since you’re enemies with the Dark Gold Society, do you think the problem with the White Craftsmen’s Guild branch in Telva was their doing?” She finished and watched the words sink into the page. Soon, Beverly’s response appeared again. “Of course. Our conflict with them spans all fronts. They’ve never stopped trying to sabotage us—be it through commercial competition or outright violence. “For example, they often use their talents for stealth and infiltration to silently replace an entire Guild branch in a city. Once in control, they masquerade as Guild members and begin trading with local mystical circles. While trading, they collect information—especially customer locations—and later go out to ‘harvest’ both the customers and their resources. After rapidly stripping a city of its mystical wealth, they immediately retreat and move to the next target. Not only do they take resources, but they also leave our reputation in ruins, making it very difficult for us to rebuild a local presence. That gives them an opening to take over the local mysticism world market. Based on your earlier description of Telva, it sounds like that’s exactly what happened. Since you bought something from them, be careful—your purchase likely contains a marking sigil. Once they’ve located you, they’ll come for you soon.” Dorothy exhaled as she finished reading, then calmly wrote. “Thanks for the warning, but it might be a little late. They already came—two Wall Walkers. I’ve already taken care of them.” “Oh? You already dealt with them? Not bad! If they sent two Wall Walkers after you, it means they definitely saw you as valuable. For you to handle them both? Impressive.” "You think I’m just anybody..." Dorothy wrote playfully on the page. As she continued, she bit the tip of her pen in thought before resuming her writing. "By the way, since we’re talking about Wall Walkers, there’s something I want to ask. Does the Dark Gold Society have some special secret technique? I ran into Black Earth-rank Wall Walkers who are supposedly Shadow-primary and Stone-auxiliary, but they were so tough it was like fighting Stone-primaries—their skin was so hardened that even handgun bullets couldn’t pierce them. I ended up wasting way more spirituality than I should’ve." Once she finished writing, Dorothy waited quietly for a reply. After a brief pause, Beverly’s tidy printed script began to appear again on the page. "Who told you Wall Walkers are Shadow-primary and Stone-auxiliary?" Dorothy blinked in surprise, then quickly wrote back. "I heard it from a Serenity Bureau hunter from Ulster. I ran into him when he was being hunted down by an Eight-Spired Nest Wall Walker assassin. Just before he died, he told me that. Is that not true?" "Definitely not true. First of all, you need to understand one thing—Wall Walker is a branch almost exclusively belonging to the Dark Gold Society. Other organizations, including the Eight-Spired Nest, rarely have it. So the assassin you encountered back then probably wasn’t one of the Eight-Spired spiders, but someone from the Dark Gold Society instead. Like I told you before, the Dark Gold Society’s ’services’ cover a wide range—including assassinations for hire. If someone pays enough, they’ll take the job. That killer you met was likely a Dark Gold assassin hired by the Eight-Spired Nest. "Before the Dark Gold Society begins operations in a new region, they usually start by leaking false secret intel into the local mystical circles to create confusion. Once they sense their activities have been noticed, part of the misinformation they release will include fake details about Wall Walkers—especially about their spiritual composition. The most common lie they spread is to reverse their true makeup. "Let me be clear—Wall Walkers are actually Stone-primary and Shadow-auxiliary, not the other way around. That Ulster hunter got it wrong because he was misled by the fake intel the Society planted in Ulster. If official mystical agencies are misinformed about the composition of a Beyonder Path, then their strategies against them will also be flawed. The Society uses these errors to gain a tactical edge—just like how you ended up wasting extra spirituality due to that misinformation. "In the mysticism world, due to cognitive poison and the nature of secrecy, information rarely flows smoothly. Each local mystical circle operates in an info bubble, and there’s very little shared consensus or common knowledge across regions. The Dark Gold Society exploits this information gap constantly to run deceptive operations. "In Pritt, their activity is relatively minimal, so even the local mystic-world police don’t know much about them. I’d say almost no one in Pritt knows the correct composition of Wall Walkers—maybe just a few of the old-timers in Tivian." As Beverly’s sentences appeared one after another, Dorothy stared blankly at the page. She hadn’t expected to be misled like this. So Wall Walkers weren’t Shadow-primary at all—they were Stone-primary, which meant they had second stage enhancement hardened skin… of course they could tank handgun bullets!