Chapter 3: Dali Telunsuoste

After hesitating a moment, Dali grabbed the Trensost Brass Book, turned and ran straight upstairs to the bedroom.

Oh, dear Dada, what's wrong with you?

Penny cried out in surprise, completely unaware of what had happened.

Fonu glared angrily at Harry, believing Harry had messed everything up.

Harry was quite innocent; in fact, he hadn't done anything.

But faced with this situation, he had long grown accustomed to it; no matter what happened, it was surely his fault.

After returning to his bedroom, Dali's breathing remained somewhat rapid.

He carefully placed the brass book pages he was holding on the table.

"Trensost Brass Book, this name and concept, just seemed to pop into my mind out of nowhere—why is that?"

After coming back through the crossing, Dali had never properly recalled the events of that strange world; now, upon reflection, he realized there were many things he seemed not to remember.

Or more accurately, his memory was a blur; if he focused, he could recall some things, but those were basically trivial matters.

Yet the things truly concerning the core of that strange world, he couldn't recall at all.

Even the memory of the Trensost Brass Book surfaced in his mind suddenly after he saw this book.

"Part of my memory has been sealed away, because anything related to the strange, once understood, causes contamination; once pondered, brings disaster."

Soon, Dali deduced his current situation from all this.

Memory is not always harmless; in that strange world, anything could happen.

"My name in that world is Dali Telunsuoste, which means I must have some connection with this book."

Dali murmured softly, trying to recall some details of that world, but soon he gave up, because any truly strange memories eluded him.

Dali's gaze fell upon the Trensost Brass Book.

His memory seemed more like possessing a unique trigger mechanism—only when confronted with things of that level could he recall something.

For example, the Trensost Brass Book—if it hadn't appeared here, Dali would never have recalled this level‑sealed object under any circumstances.

"So the question now is… how should we deal with it?"

Faced with this level‑sealed object, Dali fell into confusion, not knowing what to do.

Now he had no extraordinary abilities whatsoever, making it impossible to seal this level‑sealed object.

According to the information extracted from his memory, this level‑sealed object possesses a living trait; once it awakens, it would be a huge disaster for the whole world.

After pondering a moment, Dali slowly walked over.

At least when he just touched the Trensost Brass Book, nothing happened, indicating the sealed object is likely in a very low activation state and thus temporarily harmless.

His hand rested on the brass book, feeling its cold metallic texture; he could feel the strange patterns etched on the pages, as if some indescribable power were brewing within the book.

After a long while, Dali opened the brass book, his eyes falling upon its contents.

He saw a sheet of mercury‑colored text, but the characters were blurred and illegible; Dali's expression changed, and instead of straining to read them, he kept turning pages until he found a blank one.

"The Trensost Brass Book is also called the Rule Book; it possesses a living trait but usually remains at a very low level. Its first half presents nearly all the major underlying rules, while the second half is blank, to be filled in by oneself. It despises twisted, ugly rules and hates having loopholes sought."

Dali murmured softly; as he flipped through, his understanding of the Trensost Brass Book deepened continually.

Dali took a deep breath and slowly sat on the edge of the bed.

"Judging from the current situation, the Trensost Brass Book is likely in an extremely low activation state because it's not in that original strange world, so there should be no major problem for now—though I don't know if trouble will arise later."

Thinking of this, Dali sighed.

Without extraordinary abilities, he could hardly affect the Trensost Brass Book, let alone restrict or seal it.

"I hope it stays in an extremely low activation state."

Dali thought to himself.

"Dear sweetheart, are you all right?"

Outside the door, Penny's voice came.

"It's fine, Mom; I'm just not fully awake yet, you don't need to worry about me." Dali said immediately.

At that moment his thoughts were tangled; he didn't want to be disturbed, and his tone inevitably carried a hint of authority and command.

"Oh oh, okay okay, we won't bother you."

Penny hurriedly replied, not daring to linger another second, and rushed downstairs.

Dali fell into contemplation.

"My extraordinary abilities have failed—why would the Trensost Brass Book appear in this world? Could all of this be fake…"

Dali couldn't help but start doubting whether the world he now inhabits is still the one he crossed into before, or if it might be a construct of some evil god.

The previous bans had no effect—could it be due to some other reason?

As he pondered, Dali suddenly felt a strange murmur whispering in his ear, his mind plunging into chaos, as if he were about to lose control and go mad, his whole body beginning to twist.

"What… is going on…"

Dali knew this feeling all too well—it was the sensation of an extraordinary one's magic pill not yet digested, the brink of losing control; he had experienced it many times in that strange world, each occasion unforgettable.

At that very moment, Dali felt a wave of dizziness, sensing his body falling, the bedroom receding, and he plunged into a black strange space.

Here he saw two lumps emitting an odd glow, about the size of a child's fist—one a mix of iron‑gray and dark‑red, the other pure black.

"Extraordinary trait!"

Seeing these two things, Dali's breathing suddenly became rapid.

These two lumps before him were nothing if not extraordinary traits; he could even recognize that the pure‑black extraordinary trait belonged to the Black Emperor pathway, Sequence 9, Advocate, while the iron‑gray and dark‑red intertwined trait was that of the Judgment pathway, Sequence 9, Arbiter.

"These are inside my body; these two extraordinary traits have begun to erode my flesh."

Dali almost immediately realized what it was.

His gaze drifted into the dark depths—there was nothing there, yet something seemed to emit a dim light, making him faintly perceive, as if it were merely a mass of pure darkness.