Chapter 30: The Smart Man
Su Xiao picked up the [Greed Chapter] from the dining table. As its holder, he could already sense that this equipment had been activated.
The reason Su Xiao could arrange Azathoth's consciousness to this extent was mainly due to piecing together layers of clues.
After contacting the three Immortal Wizards, Su Xiao noticed many anomalies. Laurent's first campaign against the Dominator Sothoth could barely be explained, after all, he was the leader of that era.
Laurent's defeat and Shuguang taking over the Wizard Council wasn't unusual either. What truly alerted Su Xiao to the abnormality was Nia's appearance.
After the first failed campaign, Dominator Sothoth resided in the alternate space within Helu City. Bone Harbor wasn't far from the Wizard Council's headquarters, practically right under Sothoth's nose.
Shuguang and the others had been beaten so badly by Sothoth that they couldn't find their bearings. Cultivating Nia right under the enemy's nose seemed highly abnormal. Or rather, someone was secretly assisting Shuguang and the others without their knowledge.
Had Shuguang not considered this? No, she had long thought of it, but she wanted Dominator Sothoth dead even more. That was why Gus called her stubborn.
It was through Nia's existence that Su Xiao deduced someone was manipulating everything behind the scenes. During his battle with Dominator Sothoth, he obtained crucial information: a surname, Hughes.
The old wizard was named Hughes Archid. Su Xiao certainly didn't think this was a coincidence. According to Shuguang, Nia's sword 'Remnant Moonlight' was forged by the old wizard. This meant only four people could contact Nia, plus one puppet.
Then came the process of elimination. As for Azathoth's existence, Su Xiao wasn't certain at all, which was why he said: 'If I'm not mistaken, you were the previous host.'
Su Xiao had only inferred the existence of such a 'concept.' The old wizard confirmed it.
The Hughes family and the Moen family originated from the same lineage. Su Xiao had no evidence for this either. When he mentioned the division of labor between the two families and observed the old wizard's subtle facial changes, he confirmed that the Hughes and Moen families had split from one.
Su Xiao didn't have a habit of 'explaining' to enemies. The reason he said so much to the old wizard was to bluff him, using the illusion of 'You're going to die today anyway, let's talk' to make the old wizard inadvertently admit many things.
Once he obtained accurate clues from the old wizard, things became simple.
Azathoth's consciousness wouldn't let go of Shuguang, Gus, and the others. It wanted them to cultivate the next batch of Old Gods or directly nurture a second Nia.
From this perspective, the 'Azathoth consciousness' could only inhabit a few people: the old wizard, the puppet, Laurent, or someone from the Moen family.
Therefore, before the plan began, Su Xiao approached Gus and had him eliminate the puppet.
Although Gus was a brute in his youth, after being suspended for so many years, his strategic skills had significantly improved. He guessed that eliminating the puppet was just a pretext. Su Xiao was actually conveying a covert message: 'I trust you're fine. Keep watch here. If Shuguang or Laurent shows any abnormality, kill them immediately.'
Gus understood this, so he ended his suspended state and began sharpening his axe.
After dealing with the old wizard and as the plan was wrapping up, Su Xiao left Bubu Wang in the Old God Church to guard against any issues with Shuguang or Laurent. With Bubu Wang's observational skills and Gus's combat power, the Old God Church was secure.
Baha was stationed in the Slumber Room to prevent any unexpected incidents with the puppet, such as Azathoth's consciousness transferring to her. If that happened, things would go badly.
Amu guarded the first floor of the Wizard Council to prevent any contractors or violators from interfering.
Kaisa was meeting with the Moen family. The two sides had been cooperating for the past few days, and this wasn't their first meeting.
What truly made Su Xiao decide to act was the characteristic of [Greed Chapter]. Bubu Wang had once entered [Greed Chapter] in the form of a 'spiritual projection' with Su Xiao's help. This showed that [Greed Chapter] could drag in consciousness other than Su Xiao's, as long as the timing was right.
Su Xiao had arranged countermeasures for every possible backup plan Azathoth's consciousness might have. This was why Azathoth's consciousness was so easily dragged into [Greed Chapter].
From beginning to end, Su Xiao never actively investigated this matter. All the intelligence was collected incidentally while dealing with Dominator Sothoth. He simply pieced it all together.
By not actively investigating 'Azathoth's consciousness,' the chance of alerting it was minimal. After all, it seemed like Su Xiao was only trying to deal with the Dominator, the White Goat, and so on.
The only place where Su Xiao might have exposed himself was when he visited the old wizard. To be safe, he didn't directly harm the old wizard but used alchemical poison to finish him off.
From start to finish, Su Xiao never had direct physical contact with the old wizard. Even Amu, who pushed the wooden wheelchair, was extremely cautious.
As soon as the old wizard died, Su Xiao immediately returned to the Wizard Council headquarters and had Kaisa occupy the Moen family with the lure of enormous benefits.
Blood dripped along the edge of the dining table. The headless corpse lying on it slid diagonally, leaving a trail of blood before falling to the ground with a thud.
Su Xiao picked up an unstained apple from the table and took a big bite.
"Let's continue talking, Moen Tony."
Su Xiao didn't intend to kill Moen Tony because he still needed this guy to handle the aftermath, provided he was smart enough.
Moen Tony wiped the blood from his face, his expression twisting. If it were a few days ago, he would have roared and ordered the wizards in the next room to surround Su Xiao.
But now, Moen Tony neither wanted to nor could do that. He didn't know Su Xiao's relationship with the three Immortal Wizards. Even if those three didn't manage the Wizard Council, they weren't people Moen Tony could provoke.
Moreover, one of those three was once the leader of the Moen family and even the entire Wizard Council.
"You..."
Moen Tony struggled to stay calm. As a wizard, he sensed how terrifying that voice just now was. It felt like a power that wizards shouldn't possess.
As the public face of the Moen family, Moen Tony was also as cunning as a ghost. After the initial shock, he quickly noticed many clues.
Kaisa smiled at Moen Tony, putting an arm around his shoulder.
"Tony, I can tell you the whole story of what happened. Do you... want to know?"
"No."
Moen Tony answered almost without thinking. He took a deep breath and leaned back as far as possible.
Thud~
Moen Tony slammed his head against the stone table with such force that the entire table cracked. Strangely, it didn't make much noise.
Moen Tony's eyes rolled back, his legs kicked out, and he toppled straight to the side. It looked like someone had suddenly pressed his head down and knocked him unconscious.
Tony had seen too many smart people die horribly. He was very smart, so he wanted to live stupidly. That way, he could live longer.