Klein looked down at his palm, his eyes reflecting the image of the gold coin:
It faces upwards, displaying the king's portrait.
This signifies affirmation, indicating that Klein should use the Marionette's eyes to examine himself!
Even after receiving this revelation, Klein remained hesitant, wondering whether he should hold a ritual to bring the Marionette Enzo above the Gray Fog, to try again in that relatively safe environment where any harm or contamination to the spirit could be completely erased.
However, he doubted that this would be fruitless, because the Beyonder of the " Fate " path were only concerned with the projection of that mysterious space onto their reality. Above the Gray Fog, such special abilities might no longer exist. It was like trying to observe the external shape of an elephant but instead entering the body of the target.
Klein curled his fingers one by one, gripping the gold coin. After a long silence, he finally made a decision.
He suddenly stood up, took out a ceremonial silver dagger, and created a " Wall of Spirituality " that enveloped the room.
This is to prevent any possible screams or strange noises from getting out!
Immediately afterwards, Klein set up a ritual, sacrificing " Creeping Hunger " onto the Gray Fog.
He was afraid that if his own condition deteriorated later, the glove would backfire on the wearer!
This is an inherent property of " Creeping Hunger " itself. Once it cannot eat its fill and cannot guarantee that it will eat one person a day, it will feed on the wearer. Klein starved it more often than he fed it.
Having made all the other preparations methodically and without any confusion, Klein reached out and took the " Flower of Blood " ring from the hand of the Marionette Enzo, then held it to his left palm.
This ensures that even if his body suffers severe damage, he can recover.
Just as he was about to put it on, Klein thought for a moment, then paused, took out a pen and paper, and wrote a sentence:
Remember to pick up the ring.
He was worried that after the experiment ended, he would be affected by the " Flower of Blood " and suffer from its dementia, so he didn't want to remove it.
Perhaps then, a beautiful princess will be needed to kiss me awake—no, to help me remove the ring... Klein chuckled self-deprecatingly, exhaled, took off his clothes, and put the ring back on.
Then, he turned his attention to the new Marionette, " Winner " Enzo.
Hesitation and inner retreat are always inevitable, but once he makes up his mind, having experienced so much, he can forge ahead bravely and resolutely.
After making a slight adjustment and entering a Cogitation state, Klein had the Marionette slowly turn its body so that it looked at him.
With the help of the " Winner's" eyes, he first saw a thin layer of grayish-white mist that seemed to be spreading outwards.
Within the mist, a brilliant Door of Light tinged with a bluish-black hue could be faintly seen.
The Door of Light was composed of countless layers of light spheres, each of which was itself a cluster of Distortion worms huddled together. Some of these worms were transparent, while others were translucent, bearing symbols and patterns that were either complex and difficult to describe or had profound symbolic meaning.
Before Klein could even see the specific details clearly, his mind suddenly went blank, and he lost consciousness.
He didn't know how much time had passed before he slowly woke up, and for a moment he even had some amnesia, almost thinking that he had slept normally until dawn.
"What happened? It's still very dark outside..." Klein pushed himself up and sat up, only to find that he was lying on the floor.
At that moment, he caught a Marionette Enzo standing beside him out of the corner of his eye, and a flood of images and sounds suddenly rushed into his mind.
"Yes, I was just studying what the ' Monster ' pathway Beyonder could see on me... Did I faint because I was overstimulated? I vaguely remember hearing painful screams, were those my own?" Klein, having regained his memory, quickly examined his physical condition and was shocked to see one bloody, gruesome wound after another on his body, as if something was crawling out from inside.
At this moment, the flesh and blood in these numerous wounds are writhing and rapidly Reorganization into a whole.
Klein then looked down at the floor and saw a blood-stained figure where he had just been lying.
"Luckily I was wearing the ' Flower of Blood ' ring, otherwise I might have slowly died from the severe injuries caused by the collapse of my body. I wonder if I would be resurrected in human form or Monster form after such a death..." Klein raised his hand and rubbed his temples, glancing around. He noticed that the tables and chairs were overturned, but the " Wall of Spirituality " was not broken.
This truly relieved him, confirming that the anomaly he had just experienced was limited to his own body and a very small surrounding area, and had not spread outwards.
Judging from the healing progress of his wounds, Klein estimated that he had been unconscious for no more than a minute.
He pulled up a chair, sat down, and felt as if he had forgotten something, but couldn't quite remember it.
It wasn't until he instinctively started cleaning up the scene and saw a note that read "Remember to take the ring" that he realized what was happening and took off the gold ring with a ruby on his left hand.
More memories surfaced, and Klein shook his head, both frightened and amused, muttering:
"Luck can be really important sometimes. If the negative effect of the ' Flower of Blood ' ring had been the strongest, I might not even recognize the words anymore, and I wouldn't have received the notification..."
Seeing that his wounds had almost healed, he had the Marionette Enzo put the " Flower of Blood " back on and removed the " Viridescent " ring.
With the help of the latter's treatment, Klein no longer felt uncomfortable and turned his attention back to the scene he had seen before—the scene that the " Fate " pathway Beyonder had seen in him:
" Door of Light, countless orbs of light, clusters of transparent and translucent worms, mysterious and complex symbols and patterns containing a wealth of knowledge yet offering no feedback... What do all these symbolize and represent?"
"Is this some kind of Mythical Creature Form corresponding to that mysterious space above the Gray Fog? One that belongs to the Sequence 0 True God level?"
"Because of the obstruction of the Gray Fog, only those Beyonder on the ' Fate ' path can directly see and endure the impact and pollution? Similarly, it is also because of the obstruction of the Gray Fog that those Beyonder on the ' Fate ' path do not completely collapse as if they were staring directly at a god, but they also cannot gain any knowledge?"
Klein pondered for a while, then began to try to interpret the symbolic meaning hidden in the painting using Divination techniques:
" The Door of Light looks a bit like the symbol behind the ' Apprentice ' chair, and it also seems to point to Mr. 'Door'..."
"The countless layers of light spheres were consistent with what I Cogitation, and the latter originated from the mythological system constructed by certain novels on Earth... Was my subconscious influenced, choosing similar memories, or did my choice, in turn, affect the way that scene in the Gray Fog was presented?"
" Distortion, transparent worm clung to the mass on the colossal throne atop the main peak of the Hornacis Mountain Range, yet it was slightly different. Did it belong to Sequence 0 of the ' Seer ' pathway, ' The Fool '? It was semi-transparent and difficult to discern, making it hard to determine..."
"Also, the bluish-black color on the surface always reminds me of that mysterious space deep within that I still can't reach... When I stand on the highest level of the Stairway of Light, I can see a bluish-black tinge on the clouds gathering in the air..."
Klein thought about it for a long time but couldn't find an answer, so he had to put the matter aside for the time being and wait for more information and clues to be available in the future before analyzing it.
After cleaning up the evidence at the scene, he took four steps backward and entered the Gray Fog, preparing to conduct a more comprehensive and thorough examination of his own condition and to confirm whether the Marionette Enzo still possessed passive "luck" and "calamity".
In Bayam, a slum, inside a small, dilapidated room.
" Admiral of Stars " Cattleya sat behind the table, looking at the door, when she heard a knocking sound with a distinctive rhythm.
"Come in," she said, without trying to hide her voice.
The wooden door creaked open, and the " The Hanged Man," wearing a hood and a black robe, walked in.
Seeing the other person's furtive attire, Cattleya pushed up her heavy glasses and smiled slightly:
"If you walk out like that, you'll be surrounded by the Church of Storms in less than five minutes."
She didn't bother with any disguise, because she knew that news of her letting Gehrman Sparrow board the " Future " had already spread at sea, and the " The Hanged Man " could easily guess that the " Admiral of Stars " was the " The Hermit " lady.
Alger didn't respond directly. As he closed the door and pulled out a chair, he said, not wanting to be outdone:
"You're going to walk out like that too."
He meant that " Admiral of Stars " was second only to " Admiral of Hell " among the seven pirate generals, and was suspected of having close ties with Gehrman Sparrow. He was a major target of multiple forces, including the Church of Storms and the Church of Evernight, and his bounty had risen to 45,000 pounds. No matter which city he went to, if he was recognized without disguising himself, it would mean a lot of trouble was coming.
Cattleya nodded slightly, then turned to look at the Hanged Man's face, which was hidden by his hood, and said:
"Such attire is meaningless to me."
"However, I respect your choice."
She kept wearing glasses.
He exuded confidence and charisma, truly befitting the title of " Admiral of Stars "... Alger, who wore an additional mask under his hood, didn't dwell on the matter of disguise and went straight to the point:
Thank you for your help.
" Admiral of Stars," Cattleya placed her right hand on her left elbow and said:
"I'm curious, with your current abilities and resources, you should be able to handle the ' Artisan ' problem even without my help, so why did you need to come to me for help?"
Alger was prepared and simply said:
"I don't want to become the subject of other people's discussions."
Cattleya seemed to grasp the other party's hidden meaning, and after a few seconds of contemplation, she said:
I need more intelligence.
Alger nodded slightly and said:
"Based on my observations and speculations, the ' Artisan ' are likely controlled by those who believe in the ' The Moon Primordial,' who belong to the faction that originally existed in the Southern Continent, rather than being traitors to the School of Life."
Cattleya's expression remained unchanged. After thinking for a moment, she said:
Why don't you contact Mr. ' The Moon '? He should be very interested in this kind of thing.
Alger curled the corners of his lips into a slight smile and replied in a normal voice:
"If we can't solve it either, I might do this."