Chapter 128: The Answer to the Question

Chapter 128: The Answer to the Question

After Justice Audrey and The Star Leonard left the area above the gray fog, Klein did not immediately return to the real world.

He continued sitting in The World’s high-back chair, silent for more than ten seconds.

Then, he beckoned and drew an item over.

It was a “heart” the size of a child’s fist, covered in grayish-white folds.

The Manipulator Beyonder characteristic!

Holding this Beyonder characteristic, Klein stood and walked out of the majestic palace. He made his way deep into this mysterious space above the gray fog and arrived at the radiant staircase that seemed to lead to the kingdom of heaven.

He climbed the steps to the grayish-white clouds suspended in midair and stood before the strange door of light and the transparent “cocoons” hanging down from it. Klein raised his right hand, lifting the Manipulator Beyonder characteristic that resembled both a heart and a brain to chest height, then extended his spirituality and attempted to activate it.

He wanted to see whether the people trapped inside the “cocoons” still possessed hidden consciousnesses, whether they had sedimented and blended together to form a miniature collective subconscious sea.

If they had, he planned to rely on this Manipulator Beyonder characteristic left behind by Hvin Rambis to enter the realm of consciousness, inspect the spiritual imprints, and figure out what these people suspended from the door of light had encountered before they “transmigrated.” He also wanted to find out whether, during their long “slumber,” they had sensed anything.

This was the inspiration that today’s exploration had given Klein.

Of course, the Beyonder characteristic left behind by Hvin Rambis might not necessarily help Klein accomplish what he intended. After all, it had not yet been made into a mystical item and would be difficult to use effectively.

In the next instant, the grayish-white, folded “heart” in Klein’s hand slowly began to beat, letting out thump after thump.

Klein then heard synchronized heartbeats sound from within each transparent “cocoon”:

Thump. Thump.

This proved that the people inside were all still alive, merely in some state of deep sleep.

In Klein’s vision, their forms gradually evolved into islands whose upper portions were clear and whose lower portions were blurred.

These represented their realms of consciousness.

However, these “islands of the mind” were likewise bound within the transparent “cocoons,” isolating them from outside prying.

Similarly, they could not sediment or blend with one another to produce a collective subconscious sea.

“Unless I destroy the cocoons, there’s no way to bypass them and enter the corresponding mind worlds…” Klein muttered silently and lowered the hand holding the Manipulator Beyonder characteristic.

A few seconds later, he sighed deeply, turned around, and left the place.

…

Queen Borough, inside the Hall family’s luxurious villa.

Audrey, who had been sleeping beneath a silk quilt with her eyes closed, suddenly opened her eyes.

She immediately sat up, moved to the side of the bed, and devoutly prayed to Mr. Fool, requesting that He witness her oath of secrecy.

After finishing this, she took a cushion and placed it behind her lower back, then began savoring the parts of this exploration that she had not “forgotten.”

“The history of ancient times is truly fascinating, yet it inspires an inexplicable fear… Mr. Star’s behavior is consistent with my usual observations of him. He is somewhat lazy, casual, and his thoughts easily wander and are hard to control. Yet at times, he also seems experienced, sharp-minded, and fairly reliable… Those traits aren’t contradictory. Many people are such ‘composites’…

“Mr. World really is gentle at his core. His face doesn’t show much expression, but his heart is always quietly muttering. His inner conversation with Mr. Star could practically be turned into a stage play…

“Everyone says he is a crazy adventurer, someone who, upon seeing a target, never considers danger or cares about the environment, but simply draws his gun and fires… Mm, at the final moment, I thought he would try to approach that bronze door. In the end… he fled—no, withdrew so decisively!” Thinking of this, the corners of Audrey’s lips lifted slightly.

Then, she summarized the matter.

“Facts prove that in the world of mysticism, unless one has completely lost reason, or rather, given up thinking, there are no truly insane Beyonders. Caution, carefulness, not looking where one shouldn’t, and not listening to what one shouldn’t—those are the true themes here.

“Audrey, you must remember this!”

…

7 Pinster Street. Leonard returned to his body.

He quickly thought through how he should communicate with Pallez Zoroast, then pretended nothing had happened and spoke in a low voice.

“Old Man, there’s something I want to ask you.”

Inside his mind, Pallez’s slightly aged voice immediately chuckled.

“You need to remember one thing. The more questions you ask, the more likely I am to guess what you went off to do tonight.”

“It’s not something that needs to be especially secret…” Leonard replied out of habit, then finally moved to the main topic. “Old Man, what do you know about Amon’s brother?”

“That depends on what aspect you want to know about.” Pallez Zoroast threw the question back to Leonard.

Leonard thought for a moment and said, “After Amon’s brother obtained 0-08, is He only one ritual away from becoming a god?”

“That should be the case.” Pallez didn’t give an overly certain answer.

Leonard wasn’t especially satisfied with that reply and changed tack.

“I remember you once mentioned that in the early Solomon Empire, the two Kings of Angels, Medici and Ouroboros, were rather fearful of Amon’s brother. That means They really were already very close to the divine throne.”

This was something Pallez had occasionally mentioned during their earlier conversations, and Leonard had also confirmed part of it through Mobet’s answers.

“Heh. I only said the first half of that. I never told you that Amon and Adam were already very close to godhood at that time.” Pallez denied Leonard’s statement. “There are too many possible reasons for Medici and Ouroboros to be fearful. Being close to godhood is not the only one. You cannot make a firm judgment based on that alone.”

The Sequence 1 angel cleared His throat and continued, “Being close to the divine throne is one possible reason. Adam and Amon also possess unique authorities and are difficult to deal with, which is another possible reason. Take Adam, for example. You never know whether He is sitting right beside you. You never know whether the things you do stem from His arrangements. You never know whether you will voluntarily walk into His trap. Heh, by ‘you,’ I mean you, not me. Of course, I still have to be on guard against such things as well. If I’m not careful enough, I can very easily suffer a loss too.

“As for Amon, His thoughts come in all sorts of varieties, and He has the spirit to put them into practice. That makes it impossible to guess His goals and therefore hard to guard against Him. Moreover, He is extremely skilled at deception, and there is always a conspiracy behind Him. In that era, apart from true gods, no one was unafraid of Him. Heh heh. Even true gods had to be wary of Him, or who knows when He would steal some of Their authority.”

Leonard nodded almost imperceptibly and guided the topic in another direction.

“Old Man, do you think there might be some secret hidden within the Spectator pathway?”

“Below the level of angels, there probably isn’t much of a secret. Above that, I don’t know.” Pallez Zoroast pondered for a few seconds.

Before Leonard could respond, He seemed to hesitate slightly before adding, “I once heard a saying from Medici. He said that high-ranking individuals of the Spectator pathway are the least likely to lose control and go mad, and also the most likely to lose control and go mad.”

“Why?” Leonard asked in astonishment.

Pallez Zoroast gave a heh.

“I have some guesses, but I lack evidence and logic, so I don’t want to tell you for the time being.”

“You actually don’t have any thoughts or guesses, do you…” Leonard muttered, half out of habit and half deliberately.

“Don’t play these little tricks in front of me.” The slightly aged voice was not affected in the slightest.

Leonard didn’t dare ask any further. After some consideration, he said, “Old Man, this time I went to a real dream. There were many mental remnants of ancient figures inside.

“Do you know a viscount named Mobet Zoroast?”

“Mobet…” Pallez Zoroast’s voice suddenly sounded much older, then quickly returned to normal. “He was one of my direct descendants. He disappeared after a large-scale war. I had originally thought that Amon or Jacob had casually killed him, which was why I couldn’t divine the culprit… From the look of it now, the matter wasn’t that simple.”

“Indeed.” Leonard gave an affirmative answer, then stripped away the outward details and extracted the essence. “He has been dead for some time now, with only a few mental remnants left behind. In that real dream, he became husband and wife with an elven songstress…”

Pallez quietly listened. After a period of silence, He said, “That is good as well…”

Leonard had originally wanted to say that Mobet also called Him Old Man, but at that moment, he suddenly couldn’t bring himself to speak. He could only let the topic end there.

…

After witnessing Leonard and Audrey’s oaths, Klein returned to the real world.

He put away the altar in his room, took out pen and paper, and drew a complicated symbol that blended “Peering” and “Concealment.”

He was going to summon the magic mirror Arrodes and ask how it had confirmed that Groselle’s Travels had appeared after the disappearance of the City of Miracles, Liveseyd.

After he waited for more than ten seconds, the full-length mirror in the room lit up with a faint glow. Ripples seemed to shimmer across its surface.

Within the dim waves of light, one silver word after another leapt out.

“Supreme, great, merciful master, your insignificant, humble, loyal servant Arrodes has come in response to your summons.

“What orders do you have for me?”

“Some questions.” After Klein answered, he didn’t hurry to ask about Groselle’s Travels. He intended to begin with a less sensitive topic.

He thought for a moment and said, “Arrodes, in Delaire Forest, there is an abandoned castle. Deep within it exists a bronze door that seems to be sealing some power from underground. Do you know what it is?”

The moment Klein finished speaking, the faint glow on the surface of the full-length mirror abruptly went out, turning into a sheet of pitch darkness.

Upon that darkness, one pallid word after another surfaced, sliding downward like liquid:

“I come from underground…”