Chapter 133: Grayish-White Fog

Chapter 133: Grayish-White Fog

Amid Miss Justice’s greeting, The Hermit Cattleya maintained the same cool, detached posture as before. She did not involve herself too deeply, as though she still remained an outsider to this gathering.

She watched Miss Justice and Miss Magician each take out Roselle diary pages, paying off the debts they had previously owed. Then, as though afraid to look straight at him, she cautiously glanced at Mr. Fool, only to find that she still could not see anything more through that strange gray fog. Reflected in her dark-purple eyes were only garments that were clearly materialized.

Holding the three pages of Roselle’s diary, Klein did not read them impatiently as he usually did. After all, he had already touched and used a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, had seen what the Uniqueness of a Beyonder pathway looked like, and had even effectively intimidated that divine artifact. He believed that no matter what Emperor Roselle wrote next, it would be difficult to shock him too much.

“Unless he received a ‘Demoness blessing’ from some powerhouse with unique abilities and briefly became a woman…” Klein joked inwardly, then looked around the bronze long table with interest.

Huh. Madam Hermit’s curiosity is somewhat different from Miss Justice and the others’. She seems to place special importance on Roselle’s diary… Klein withdrew his gaze and silently noted that discovery. Then, with a casual posture, he began reading the yellowish-brown parchment in his hand:

“April 22. We are preparing to enter that place and explore the Abyss.”

“April 23. We followed the pitch-black ocean, passed through fog like liquid, and arrived at that mountain peak, which seemed like a monster. Behind it lay endless black fog, as though it covered an entire continent.

“However, if one looks toward the bottom of the mountain, one feels that there is no end, no limit. At the time, I joked to Edwards that if I jumped off the cliff here to commit suicide, perhaps I would never hit the ground and would instead fall forever.”

Upon reading this, Klein nearly raised an eyebrow. He found it hard to believe that, after seeing the Abyss, Roselle had dared to organize his knights and sailors to explore the border region.

“Was he not afraid of death? According to rumors, that is a place that corrodes everything and causes every living creature to fall! At this stage, Roselle definitely had not reached Sequence 4. He was not a demigod. At most, he was Sequence 5, and maybe not even that… If it were me, I would definitely turn the ship around immediately and report it to the Church…” In that instant, Klein once again deeply understood how enormous the difference between himself and Roselle was.

In addition, Roselle’s description of the Abyss’s border reminded Klein of the mysterious stone door in Amon’s mausoleum. After it was touched by the “doll” of Archbishop Horamick of the Church of Steam and Machinery, it had revealed a similar scene.

I wonder what Roselle discovered there… At least he did not die during that exploration. He lived quite colorfully afterward… Klein lowered his gaze and continued reading the rest of the diary page:

“April 24. We descended along the mountain peak, attempting to go deeper.

“The thick black fog was cold and greasy, as though it could soak through flesh, blood, and soul. Haha, fortunately, certain items aboard the Dark Throne could effectively resist this corrosion. Otherwise, I suspect I and my Apocalypse Knights would all have turned into members of Farron’s awkward dance troupe. (Note 1)

“It was very quiet here. We discovered nothing.”

“April 25. We saw demons. However, only their rotting corpses remained.

“Behind jagged black rocks, beneath sludge that could hardly be called roads, and in all kinds of normal or unimaginable places, different demon corpses lay scattered.

“They seemed to have suffered the same death at the exact same instant.”

“April 26. Corpses or silence. There is never any end ahead.

“The items aboard the Dark Throne are beginning to show signs of corrosion.

“In recent years, I have rarely felt fear. But here, that fear of the unknown is like an invisible hand tightly gripping my heart.

“We must leave! We must return! We cannot stay any longer!”

What happened afterward? Did Emperor Roselle escape the border of the Abyss smoothly, or did he encounter something else? What exactly did the abnormality there symbolize? A fierce war? With an instinctive sense of expectation, Klein flipped to the second page, only to regretfully discover that there was no connection between them:

“May 8. My adorable Bernadette is almost two years old. The older she grows, the more lovable she becomes. As expected of a little girl who inherited the excellent genes of both me and her mother.

“Hearing her call me Papa in that crisp voice and watching her lively figure, I suddenly felt a kind of satisfaction.

“Ever since transmigrating to this world, I have done many things, some of which could even be called shameful, but I do not feel ashamed, nor do I regret them. On one hand, this is because I am someone who has difficulty restraining his desires and is easily influenced by his surroundings. Heh, I must thank fate that I have never encountered an Apostle of Desire from the Devil pathway. Otherwise, according to the records, I would definitely be severely countered by Beyonders of that Sequence, and might even be instantly killed.

“On the other hand, I still feel a sense of alienation from this world. The father and mother of this life have treated me very well, and I have worked hard to make them proud, but I know that my feelings for them are very weak. It is the same with Matilda. Possessiveness outweighs affection.

“I have to admit that my mentality is like playing a virtual reality role-playing game. Parents, wife, siblings, and friends are all merely NPCs. I can invest a little emotion into them, but I will not truly place them in my heart. Therefore, I can attend all kinds of depraved gatherings without guilt and coldly deal with people I once knew, just as when I played The Elder Scrolls, I could slaughter a village for the sake of a single chicken.

“But after Bernadette was born, I discovered that I had gained a bit more belonging toward this world. I was no longer so detached.

“This is my child, a living, breathing child.

“Perhaps this is what they call maturity?”

I have no child, so I cannot understand that feeling. No, I do not even have a girlfriend… Still, I must be vigilant against the mentality Emperor Roselle mentioned in this diary entry… The fact that it does not exist now does not mean it will not appear later. The higher the Sequence, the more divinity outweighs humanity… Klein silently sighed a few times, then turned to the third diary page:

“January 6. A new year, a new beginning.

“After advancing to Artisan, I finally have the ability to do that thing!

“That is, to make the mysterious silver plate from my memory—the one that is most likely responsible for my transmigration!

“In truth, after becoming a Savant, I had already fully recalled its appearance, including the strange symbols and patterns on its surface. But back then, I could clearly sense that I had no way to imitate such an item.”

“January 9. After several failures, I finally succeeded.

“Holding the silver plate covered in strange symbols and patterns, I worked hard to infuse spirituality into it, trying to activate it.

“Before my eyes, an endless grayish-white fog seemed to appear, but after that, nothing happened.

“Is it a problem of materials, or does it lack some necessary step?”

“January 10. Following the experiences I recalled from before my transmigration, I restored my state from back then and believed nothing was missing. Yet the mysterious silver plate still only allowed me to see that strange gray fog and could not help me accomplish anything.

“If that does not work, then how did I successfully transmigrate in the first place?

“I will temporarily abandon the attempt and destroy the silver plate I made. Perhaps after I become a high-Sequence powerhouse, after I become a demigod, there will be a way to interpret the meaning of those patterns and symbols and uncover the secret of transmigration.

“Mm. I will definitely become a demigod! I am the protagonist of this era!”

Grayish-white fog? After Emperor Roselle replicated that mysterious silver plate from Earth, he saw an endless grayish-white fog! As Klein read the diary, his pupils suddenly contracted.

Beneath his feet was precisely an endless gray fog, one that seemed unchanged since time immemorial.

“Could both my transmigration and the Emperor’s be connected in some way to this mysterious space? But why was the Emperor unable to enter it, while I can? Judging from his final diary entries, he definitely never unlocked the secret of the silver plate. Otherwise, when he was at his most desperate and insane, there is no way he would not have thought of this place or treated it as a source of reliance…” Klein lifted his head, his gaze falling outside the ancient palace.

He remembered that deep within this mysterious space was a staircase of light that resembled a path to heaven, vaguely corresponding to his own Sequence.

That staircase seemed built for giants, and its destination was a layer of grayish-white fog floating in midair, seemingly supporting something.

Are the secrets of my and Emperor Roselle’s transmigration both hidden there? Klein made the diary in his hand vanish, leaned back against his chair, and said in a normal tone, “You may begin.”

The Sun Derrick had originally intended to buy in advance the Sequence 6 potion formula after Solar High Priest, but Elder Lovia’s release made him temporarily give up that plan. He was impatient to speak of the entire matter, hoping to receive necessary guidance.

Considering that this was currently the trading segment, he forced himself to suppress the impulse in his heart and continued waiting in silence.

Little Sun has something on his mind… Has something happened in the City of Silver? Justice Audrey thoughtfully withdrew her gaze and likewise did not speak to purchase anything.

At that moment, The Hanged Man Alger looked around and proactively said, “I need the Ocean Songster potion formula.”

As expected, he is already Sequence 6, Wind-blessed… Isn’t he a member of the Church of Storms? Why would he seek the Ocean Songster potion formula outside? It would be much easier to obtain it internally… Does he have a secret he wants to hide from the Church of Storms, or had he only been pretending to be a member of the Church before? The Hermit Cattleya instantly formed quite a few guesses and gently nodded.

“I can help you keep an eye out.”

Seeing The Hermit respond, Alger smoothly asked, “Madam, what do you need?

“I can gather clues in advance, to make future exchanges for potion formulas more convenient.”

Translator’s note: Roselle’s “Farron’s awkward dance troupe” joke refers to Dark Souls III, where the Abyss Watchers are corrupted by the Abyss. The original phrasing is a Chinese fandom meme.