Oh no! We've been controlled by the Puppet!
The captain and the others were either unconscious... or hadn't recovered yet, unable even to get up... there was simply no time... to wake me up...
No... I have to... save myself!
What Klein saw before him was a slow-motion replay of his past life; it seemed as if more and more glue had been injected into every joint of his body and his thinking brain.
He had no interest in becoming a real-life Puppet; seizing the opportunity before he was completely controlled, he desperately sought a way to save himself.
Hitting myself... definitely... won't work... I need... external force...
External force... give it a try... There was no time to waste, no time to think. Klein seized an Spirit Intuition in two or three seconds, activating his "rusty" knee joint to take a counter-clockwise step.
At the same time, he didn't try to break free from the invisible rope binding his throat, but silently recited in his heart:
"Fusheng... Xuanhuang... Xianzun..."
He wants to use the mysterious world above the Gray Fog to awaken himself and break free from the assimilation of the Sealed Artifact "2-049"!
With a series of sharp, grating sounds, Klein's knees and ankles made a series of painful, grating noises as he took another step counter-clockwise in a slow, Distortion motion.
"Fusheng... Xuanhuang... Tianjun..."
His thoughts grew increasingly sluggish. Klein, like a computer with all the FamilyMart security features and software installed, slowly and haltingly lifted his left foot and stepped towards his predetermined position.
"Fusheng... Xuan... Huang... Shang... Emperor..."
Klein's thoughts became increasingly rigid and sluggish, and he took the final step solely on instinct.
At this stage, he knew he was almost completely controlled, and even if Al Hasson got up in time and ran over to rescue him, he probably wouldn't be able to wake him up.
But his overwhelming will to survive led him to silently recite the final incantation:
"May the Heavenly Venerable of Blessing... Born... of... Mysterious... Yellow... Venerable..."
The moment the thought ended, the chaotic and frantic screams and murmurs suddenly rang out, instantly shattering Klein's solidified thoughts, breaking them into fragments and turning them into one uncontrollable idea after another.
Klein's mind was like a pot of boiling porridge; he vaguely felt his "body" becoming lighter and his Spirituality soaring.
The boundless gray-white mist and the deep red stars in varying distances once again appeared before his eyes, vast, mysterious, blurry, and hazy.
Klein's chaotic thoughts quickly settled, and he finally regained his ability to think, seeing the magnificent and imposing temple.
"Phew... thank goodness it worked." He muttered in lingering fear.
Based on his previous observations, he understood that once one was deeply controlled by the Sealed Artifact "2-049," it was essentially tantamount to death, and normally there was no medicine or method to save one.
Fortunately, his " Luck Enhancement Ritual " and the mysterious world above the Gray Fog are outside the realm of normalcy!
After pacing back and forth a few times, Klein began to consider his current situation:
"I can't stay here forever, can I?"
"Once the captain and the others wake up, or get closer, things will be impossible to explain..."
"Right now, 'I' am just a physical body, more like a living dead than a living dead himself..."
"But if we risk going back, we can't guarantee our safety... What if we get controlled by '2-049' again?"
Amidst a flurry of thoughts, Klein suddenly slapped his forehead and chuckled softly:
"Looks like I haven't really adapted to the identity of a ' Seer ' yet!"
Before he finished speaking, he appeared at the head of the long bronze table, sitting upright in the high-backed chair with strange symbols.
Klein reached out and picked up the pen that had appeared out of thin air in front of him.
With a few quick strokes, he wrote a passage on the illusory white paper:
"It's safe to return to the real world."
Immediately afterwards, Klein took out the projection of the "pendulum" from his pocket—after several gatherings, he discovered that any item he carried could be projected onto the Gray Fog, though it would be relatively more illusory.
Holding the silver chain in his left hand, Klein brought the citrine pendant almost to the paper, to the "event."
As the swaying subsided, he half-closed his eyes and calmly recited the words on the white paper:
"It's safe to return to the real world."
"It's safe to return to the real world."
Again and again, Klein performed the Divination using the complete " Spirit Pendulum Method " without reducing any steps.
He opened his eyes and saw the pure yellow crystal pendant swaying slowly, causing the silver chain to rotate clockwise.
Clockwise is a certainty, counterclockwise is a no... It's safe to return to the real world... Klein breathed a sigh of relief, habitually put away the silver chain, and then he unleashed his Spirituality, enveloping himself and simulating a rapid downward fall.
The hazy Gray Fog and crimson stars flew swiftly and illusory upwards. Klein soon saw himself standing still, saw the brown Puppet with half its body hanging outside the iron box, and discovered that the Sealed Artifact seemed to have stopped all movement.
His bodily sensations reached his mind, and just as he was about to move his arm to check his condition, a voice, Concealment in the wind, suddenly reached his ears:
"Want to be awakened? If you promise me one thing, you can be saved."
"This task is to help me retrieve that Antigonus Family notebook."
"Nod if you agree. I know you can still do this."
Who? Hmm, "2-049" doesn't seem to be trying to control me anymore... Well, it doesn't affect the same person continuously, there are intervals... Klein was startled, but remained outwardly calm.
At this moment, the voice quickly added a few more words:
"If you can accomplish this, you will receive additional rewards. I know you are a ' Seer,' and I also know that the Church of the Evernight Goddess does not have the subsequent Sequence 8, but our Secret Order can provide it for you."
"Ha, to be honest, I used to be a ' Seer,' otherwise I wouldn't dare to return. To show you my sincerity, I'll tell you now: the Sequence 8 corresponding to ' Seer ' is ' Clown.'"
" The Clown "? The Secret Order... Klein almost lost his " Puppet- like" state.
He never imagined that the " Seer " would be associated with the " Clown ".
Are they going to form a circus duopoly?
"Alright, make your decision. Trust me, you don't have much time to waste." That voice came again on the wind. In the distance, Dunn and Lolota were still unconscious. Borgia seemed to be badly injured, groaning without moving Al Hasson and Leonard Mitchell were in relatively better condition, trying to sit up.
Why are you looking for me? The Secret Order... Is that the tuxedo Clown? He ran away and then quietly returned, trying to take advantage of the situation... But why are you asking me for help? He could easily handle everyone here now... Hearing the other person's words, a series of questions Blink through Klein's mind.
Since the other party claimed to be a " Seer," Klein began to try to analyze the situation using the thinking style of a " Seer ":
"His willingness to return must stem from Divination that foretold 'hope,' a belief that the Monster Bieber will be eliminated, and a belief that we will suffer a severe blow."
"The fact that he didn't retrieve the notebook himself, nor did he confront us directly, suggests that he Divination the immense risk involved in this matter, and therefore suspected that the captain and Ms. Lolota were faking their unconsciousness, suspecting it was a trap set for him."
"His reluctance to perform further Divination and confirm my current condition could be due to two reasons: firstly, he's running out of time, and if he waits any longer, Mr. Al Hasson and the others will be able to recover some of their fighting strength; secondly, he underestimates me and thinks it's unnecessary."
"He knows ' Seer ' very well, and he must believe I can't escape the Puppet's control... He's using me as cannon fodder to test his trap..."
"This, from another perspective, illustrates that the outward manifestations of the ' Luck Enhancement Ritual ' were almost entirely normal..."
Klein's mind went completely straight, and he grasped the Clown in the tuxedo's thoughts and purpose.
He didn't believe the other party's promises at all; "cannon fodder" have no human rights!
The thought Blink mind quickly. Klein controlled his neck and nodded awkwardly and with difficulty.
As he made this move, he truly confirmed that he had broken free from the control of the Sealed Artifact "2-049".
He had just nodded when a transparent " Curtain " was lifted two or three meters to his side, revealing a figure in a tuxedo with Clown paint on his face—the very Secret Order member who had escaped earlier.
At this moment, Klein, having turned around earlier in an attempt to escape the influence of "2-049," was facing away from the black iron box and the Puppet. The Clown in the tuxedo was positioned to his side and slightly in front of him, both to keep away from the Sealed Artifact and to avoid his gun, appearing quite cautious.
The Clown the tuxedo pulled a long strip of paper from his pocket, shook it violently, making it stand straight like a stick.
Holding the "wooden stick," he poked Klein's shoulder from a distance of two or three meters, trying to wake him up.
This guy knows a lot about "2-049," knows that where the aura of the Antigonus Family's descendants lingers, the Puppet will go berserk and control two people at the same time... He also knows that hitting it with stones doesn't seem to work? At least I haven't seen the captain and the others try anything like that before... Although Klein didn't understand why "2-049" stopped trying to assimilate him afterward, he didn't dare to stay within five meters for too long, so he held his breath and waited for an opportunity.
Just as the stick that the note had transformed into was about to touch his shoulder, Klein suddenly raised his left hand, grabbed the top of the "stick," and pulled it back sharply.
Caught off guard, the Clown in the tuxedo was pulled forward and staggered, the distance between him and Klein shrinking again to less than two meters.
At the same time, Klein, who had been waiting in the air, forcefully pulled the trigger of the revolver with his right finger.
Bang! Bang!
He fired two shots, but instead of aiming at the Clown in the tuxedo, he aimed at his back, at the side of him furthest from the Sealed Artifact "2-049"!
Before the gunshot rang out, the Clown in the tuxedo had already switched from staggering to rolling, instinctively taking cover in advance.
Klein released his grip on the "paper stick," took several strides, and rushed out several meters, escaping the "dangerous" area.
The Clown in the tuxedo had just rolled twice and was about to turn around and pounce when his head suddenly buzzed, and his thoughts quickly went blank.
not good!
He deliberately forced me to move in the direction of... the " Antigonus Puppet "!
I'm within five meters...
How could he... possibly not be controlled by... " Antigonus "... " Puppet "...?
The Clown in the tuxedo stopped rolling and tried to crawl outside as if his joints were rusty.
At this moment, Klein had turned around, gripped the revolver with both hands, and aimed at the slow-moving target.
In his eyes, this was equivalent to shooting at a stationary target.
Having witnessed the battle between the tuxedo Clown and Dunn, Al, and Lolota, Klein knew that his opponents were agile and adept at rolling. Therefore, even though the distance between them was only one or two meters, he cautiously abandoned direct shooting and instead forced them to retreat to his pre-planned "home ground," near the Sealed Artifact "2-049"!
If the Puppet has no effect, the Clown in the tuxedo will realize that he has fallen into a "trap," and his counterattack will only be to escape, posing no real threat.
Bang!
Under the Clown's indescribable gaze, the man in the black suit calmly pulled the trigger.