Bayers stood rooted like a statue, Mr. Pot wailed, Mr. Bottle withdrew into the Bronze Bottle, Akbin fell to his knees, and Drink toppled over screaming, curling up with his hands over his head.
Hiss, hiss...
Countless phantom green vines were forcibly dragged out of Chen Lun's chest, forming an ancient-looking book that the unfamiliar blond, middle-aged man before him seized.
"Howard...!"
Recalling the Cat God's words and connecting them to the man before him, Chen Lun struggled to utter the name.
Holding Philip's Wonderland, Howard gave Chen Lun a faint smile.
"Jack, don't be nervous. I mean you no harm... I'm simply checking on the progress."
With that, he opened the book in his hands.
Boom!
A dazzling white light flashed.
Howard and Chen Lun vanished at the same time.
Inside the space created by [Four Seasons Bookmark-Awakening of Insects].
Howard stood on a vast stretch of hills, surveying the grassland that stretched beyond sight in every direction. Then he looked at the empty Vine Platform ahead, a puzzled expression crossing his face.
"This... isn't Wonderland."
He took a few steps forward, approaching the Vine Platform.
His field of vision brightened.
He looked up.
At the farthest edge of his vision, directly ahead, stood a towering tree, its luxuriant branches and leaves blotting out the sky.
An enormous, entirely silver-white serpent clung to the tree. Each of its scales was as large as a house, its surface densely covered in hundreds of millions of eyes. The eyes turned, their pupils reflecting countless scenes from the Mortal World.
A halo shone around the silver-white serpent, with thousands upon thousands of profound, mysterious symbols constantly floating within it, writhing and twisting as though alive.
The serpent's head blocked out all light, looking down on Howard like a deity,