Angel had planned to log off once Edward and the other two entered the Instrument World.
He had discussed it with Laplace earlier. Laplace would send one of his doubles to the Heart Space to help Angel set up a "livestream" screen.
It would broadcast Coleman's situation in real time, around the clock.
But then another eliminated participant appeared.
Angel decided to wait a little longer before logging off.
He wanted to see whether this newcomer had brought back any fresh clues.
Fifteen minutes later, the eliminated participant went through the now-familiar routine: logging off, logging back on, then leaving the Instance. Eyes bloodshot but strangely alert, he arrived at the Prophet's Cave.
"Luoketa, tell us what happened to you," Yota said.
The Crystal-Eyed Race member called Luoketa had perked up somewhat after taking the Liquid Gold Crystal Sand, but his gaze remained oddly unfocused.
He seemed troubled by something he could not understand.
Only when he heard Yota's voice did he slowly come back to himself. "After I passed through the mirror, I arrived at a sea of clouds..." he said, his voice dry.
Luoketa began recounting his experience.
At first, it had been much like everyone else's. He had landed on an "island" and caught a Jellyfish Hitchhiking ride.
But after he boarded the jellyfish, something unusual happened.
Rather than clinging to the Skyborne White Whale's surface, the jellyfish slipped through a hole in its body and went inside.
Yes, the whale had "chambers" inside it too.
Everyone froze at that. The other Challengers had merely hitched rides, but Luoketa had gone straight into a VIP suite?
"I have some illusion nodes..."
Angel took out his illusion nodes and asked Luoketa to use them to show everyone what he had seen inside the whale.
It was Luoketa's first