manynovel 0011 Emperor Tarot is also a prominent field of study.
0011 Emperor Tarot is also a prominent field of study.
As the four full moons gradually rose, Tita stretched her tired body.
The scarlet eyes of the Heavenly Father no longer open, and the light of the four moons has returned to its pure radiance, turning the horizon of Macurag City silver.
The city was forged from greyish-white stone quarried from the mountains. The rough stones flowed through the streets at the foot of Tita like blood flowing through veins, converging from the narrow alleys that acted as capillaries towards Proyana Avenue. Along the avenue, it passed through the gates of Tils, across the crowded apartment district, past the council chambers belonging to the Connors and the temple district that ruled over all beings, finally merging into the beautiful pastoral landscape of the many senator residences.
Macurag is a living city.
Tita still remembered what her uncle had once said.
"The wise and capable will continue to climb up the social ladder in this city, while the ignorant, incompetent, and degenerate are like worthless cells, metabolized into debt slaves, and made to serve those who are truly valuable."
"Just wait, Tita. I will use my knowledge to keep improving myself. One day your uncle might become an elder."
At that time, Zhou Yun was full of vigor and confidence, and he said these words to Tita.
Tita genuinely believed at the time that her uncle could climb the ranks through her knowledge.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Yun himself is now being murdered by the system of debt slavery...
Knowing the dangers of gambling and the possibility of becoming a debt slave, why did he still gamble and borrow money?
Perhaps it's because knowledge is not the same as wisdom...
Tita sighed, calculating next month's expenses as she climbed to the second floor of her apartment building.
Zhou Yun and Tita each rented two rooms on the second floor of this apartment building.
In Macurag, the lower the floor of the apartment building, the cheaper it is. With Zhou Yun's previous income, paying the rent for these two rooms wouldn't have been difficult.
But next month.....
Zhou Yun has been absent from work too many days this month; I wonder how much salary he'll have left.
Furthermore, Tita's father's pension is only enough to barely cover the first phase of debt; it's likely that Zhou Yun's salary will be needed to make up for the rest.
We might have to borrow some from Professor Lucretius... Professor Lucretius was Uncle Zhou Yun's teacher when he was a student, and is now the head teacher of the Faculty of Arts and Grammar, as well as a well-known historian in the entire Macurag.
If Uncle Zhou Yun is willing to talk to that old professor, he should be able to borrow some money.
Tita gently reached out and knocked on Zhou Yun's door.
She was a little nervous; she was still worried that Zhou Yun had lied to her and gone to the casino...
"The door's unlocked, come in."
Tita breathed a sigh of relief. She pushed open the door and saw Zhou Yun writing furiously at his desk.
"The food is all in the corner." Zhou Yun lay on the table without looking up.
Tita saw that the bread, fish sauce, and fruits and vegetables that Zhou Yun bought were placed in the corner.
"Tarasal fish sauce..." Tita muttered.
Tarasal is a maritime world, extremely rich in seafood. Local fishermen often pile all sorts of miscellaneous fish into huge fermentation tanks to ferment into fish sauce, a condiment.
However, due to its rough processing, the taste is relatively ordinary, often mixed with an excessive fishy smell, which is not comparable to the local fish sauce of Makula.
However, the advantage of this fish sauce is its low price... Ever since His Excellency Connor strengthened intergalactic trade, all kinds of daily necessities have become much cheaper.
Tita didn't take the food to the communal kitchen downstairs. Instead, she stood up and tiptoed towards Zhou Yun from behind.
She had just noticed that Zhou Yun wasn't writing anything, but drawing something.
Tita knew that Zhou Yun could do some basic sketching, but only to the extent necessary for historical research; it was purely for work purposes and didn't reflect any real interest.
This was the first time Tita had seen Zhou Yun painting at home.
Curious, she leaned closer and discovered that Zhou Yun had just finished drawing a picture and casually tossed it onto the table.
Tita looked at that one.
Zhou Yun cut the parchment into card-sized pieces and drew simple patterns on them with a black pen.
The drawing he just finished depicted... a black giant, wearing armor, with a claw in one hand and a longsword in the other, and sporting a somewhat comical topknot.
What bizarre aesthetic sense... Tita couldn't help but think to herself.
But Tita didn't say it out loud. Although her aesthetic sense was a bit strange, she thought that painting was a better hobby than gambling.
Tita glanced at the other dozens of cards Zhou Yun had drawn.
A crimson eye, a planet crumbling, a tower bathed in lightning, an angel with outstretched wings, a blond demigod clad in blue armor...
For some reason, Tita couldn't help but shudder as she looked at the image composed of pitch-black lines. The twisting ink lines seemed to foreshadow a dark, cold, stagnant, and war-torn future.
Tita withdrew her gaze from the completed drawings and looked again at the one Zhou Yun was currently working on...
It was a magnificent throne made of cables, machinery, and gold. Kneeling beside it were wailing angels, but only one of them had wings; the rest were clad in heavy armor of various colors. Royal guards in golden armor stood beside the angels, and the corpses of infants floated in the air.
And upon that golden throne, that throne as vast as a mountain, lies locked away... a weasel wearing a laurel wreath...
Um... Tita couldn't understand Zhou Yun's aesthetic sense at all.
But she didn't disturb Zhou Yun. Instead, she took the ingredients and quietly left the room.
Zhou Yun finished the last stroke, raised his pen, and looked at the last card with satisfaction.
How wonderful it would be for a weasel to sit on a golden throne.
The divination tool that Zhou Yun just drew is called the Emperor Tarot.
This method of divination is considered one of the most prominent disciplines in the galaxy, second only to numerology.
It is said that this tarot deck, with its seventy-eight cards, was created by the emperor himself and is connected to the emperor's mind on the Golden Throne. Divination through it allows one to seek answers from the emperor's own mind, and it is one of the few legally permitted methods of divination within the empire.
From street fortune tellers to the Ministry of the Interior, from the Inquisition to the Grey Knights, all levels of the Empire have used it to predict the future and reveal revelations.
Of course, most of the Imperial Tarot cards used by the Empire are made of liquid crystals with psionic properties; Grefax once gave Zhou Yun a set.
Zhou Yun is currently in Makula, where he doesn't have the means, so he'll have to make do with parchment.
This also works, since even the diviners in the Imperial Nest can perform divination using plastic cards blessed by the state religion...
Receiving blessings from the state religion... According to the state religion's propaganda, this seems to be a necessary step; only through this blessing can one connect with the emperor's will...
But a state religion has not yet been established... Zhou Yun thought for a moment, why not try blessing the tarot cards himself?
After all, he himself was the emperor, and his own blessings should be more effective than those of the priests of the state church, right?
Zhou Yun tidied up the stack of Emperor Tarot cards, then brought his hand closer to the cards.
"The eighteen Primarchs have arrived, the twentieth Legion beware! Lyon Guilliman, Ruthdorn Vulcan, Saint Gilles Scolax Chagatai, and the headless Felus, consecrate, consecrate, may all things prosper! I, by the Emperor, command you hastily..."
Zhou Yun muttered a few words to the tarot cards.
The tarot cards on the table appeared unchanged.
But looking at this tarot deck, Zhou Yun inexplicably felt a sense of confidence, believing that it could indeed reveal the future.
It seems that it was a success.
Zhou Yun stroked his chin, picked up the tarot cards in front of him, shuffled them a few times, then drew out four cards and placed them in front of him.
He reached out and flipped to the first page...