Chapter 642: Communication

"Is that you?" Parles's voice carried a hint of doubt and astonishment, but he quickly restrained his emotions and, in a very respectful tone, began:

"Thank you for your help, and I am very sorry; my current condition is truly poor, so I cannot appear in person to meet you."

"Hmm." The woman in a black, hooded, classical long robe expressionlessly nodded, then her voice showed no inflection, lacking emotion, said: "A Meng appeared here to test me."

She did not explain what A Meng intended to test, ended the topic outright, and instead said: "His purpose has been fulfilled; he will not come looking for you again. Diverting that 'sage' is already the limit of what the True Creator can achieve. If it continues, their alliance will break."

"You can find collaborators and try to eliminate the copies He left in Beckland."

As the words fell, the lady's beautiful but soulless figure seemed to be erased point by point, the surrounding dim light returned to normal, and the noisy sounds rose again in his ears.

Leonard stared at the white dove that landed at his feet, instinctively stepped back, cautiously surveyed the surroundings, and then asked: "Old man, was the one who suddenly appeared just now a high-ranking figure of the Church? Looking at her, I couldn't feel any emotion, as if I were confronting the deepest, most terrifying darkness."

"A big figure? He indeed is a high-ranking person of your Church," Parles chuckled twice, offering no further explanation.

"He?" Leonard was briefly surprised, then found it reasonable; to clear A Meng's copies so easily, He must be an angel.

After a pause, he pressed on: "Which prince in the scriptures is He?"

"If He is willing to let you know, you will naturally know; if not, I cannot say it, and even if I said it, you wouldn't hear it."

"Enough, stop disturbing me. My injuries are too severe; I must sleep for a while, otherwise I might lose control at some point."

Parles fell silent after those two sentences; no matter how Leonard shouted, there was no response.

In Leiston Province, Rayak Port, Rekton held a freshly bought drink and pastry, leaning against the stone railing along the coastline, watching the crowds moving through the distant streets.

The next second, a flash of silvery white swept across his eyes, instantly turning them extremely deep, clearly losing focus into a vast blur.

In that state, images spontaneously surfaced in his mind, very vague, only barely seeing a tangle of light and shadow, as if an ancient, mottled stone wall clock flickered in and out, and as if countless writhing insects were gnawing at a pure white light veil, creating one hole after another that filled with shadow before a moment of silence; Rekton muttered in a dreamlike whisper:

"The Trojan horse of fate, the time worm of time. Loopholes of rules. All avatars of error."

The state did not last long; Rekton quickly regained his senses, pure clear light spilling from his eyes, as if countless streams of information were circulating, calculating one possibility after another.

A moment later, his eyes cleared again, he exhaled a long breath, and muttered softly:

"Did A Meng obtain the Time Worm trait from Parles?"

As thoughts drifted, he sensed a gaze fixed on him—more precisely, fixed on the drink and pastry in his hand.

Following his spiritual intuition, he went toward it and saw a boy of about ten, with light‑blue eyes, sharply defined features that caught the eye, but a frail build, exposed arms, calves, and a face dotted with fresh scars.

The boy stared at the pastry in his hand, constantly swallowing saliva, looking as if he hadn't eaten for a long time.

Rekton placed the drink on the railing behind him, waved at the boy, who pressed his lips tightly, did not approach, but stepped back, his eyes filled with deep wariness.

Rekton withdrew his hand, smiled at him, then placed the other pastry from his other hand onto the railing behind him, and turned to walk away along the coastal street in the opposite direction.

The other was just an ordinary boy; a single simple stare was enough for him to imprint all of the boy's information into his sight.

"A wandering child who has almost forgotten his own name; his fate is intriguing. He seems ordinary, at most intersecting with the Iron Blood Cross, yet my intuition tells me it's not that simple—perhaps he'll encounter some high‑rank entities I cannot foresee, causing his destiny to shift?"

Behind him, the wandering child had taken the drink and pastry he left, but instead of eating them directly, he cautiously tore a small piece from the pastry and fed it to ants under a nearby tree shade.

Regaining his focus, concealed by illusion, Rekton silently transformed into a pure information‑flow entity, surging and diving into the spirit realm.

Above the gray mist, Klein, having heard Leonard's prayerful description of his prior encounter to the "Fool", learned that A Meng's true form had once appeared in Beckland for a period.

After a brief silence, he sighed lightly and said, "I understand."

"The Fool"'s relaxed tone reached Leonard's ears, easing his taut nerves. "The Fool" seemed not to take the matter to heart, expressing more of a lament over the old man's ordeal: "Next time—no, there will be no next time. I never want to encounter A Meng again in this lifetime."

Reining in his wandering thoughts, Leonard gazed at the "Fool" surrounded by endless gray mist, as if overlooking the whole world, inhaled deeply, and said: "Esteemed 'Fool', please convey to the 'World' that I retrieved two wondrous items from the mechanical hall beneath the Steam Church cathedral; he may choose one as his reward."

After a brief pause, he gave a rough description of the two wondrous items, without detailing their precise effects or drawbacks, since he himself did not know; Parles was asleep, and he was not adept at divination, so he could only have Klein perform the divination, then choose, and casually inform him of the result.

After the prayer ended, Leonard's empty room gave him the constant feeling that in the shadows of the corners, the floating dust in the air, the birds passing outside, everywhere could be a copy of A Meng.

"I feel I need some psychological therapy," Leonard whispered.

After two seconds of silence, he still couldn't adapt, constantly feeling eyes everywhere, maliciously staring at him.

"I need to move; I simply can't stay here. Over time, even without problems, I'd scare myself into trouble."

Just as he began to act, a burst of "light" surged into the room, a torrent of chaotic, terrifying information coalescing into light; this light collapsed inward the instant it appeared, reconstituting Rekton's figure.

Leonard tensed for a moment, but after recognizing the newcomer he relaxed, weighed his words, and merely sighed: "A Meng has already come."

Rekton nodded, unsurprised, and calmly replied: "I anticipated it; soon a suitable opportunity for His ascension will arise. With no other targets, this is a wise time to retrieve the final trait from Parles."

Parles awoke from his slumber, his tone a cold snort, not in a good mood:

"Hmph, why didn't you tell me this in advance?"

"Obviously, I only just realized this myself. Lately I've been contacting the spiritual world too often, and unintentionally got affected, briefly forgetting some things; even my spiritual intuition's foresight was somewhat disturbed."

Rekton spread his hands, looking somewhat helpless.

"Sigh~" he sighed heavily, then Parles' tone returned to calm: "Help me find a descendant of the Jacob family; I need to go into the secret treasure left by the Jacob family in Flora Jacob's memory to retrieve something to restore myself."

Rekton did not immediately agree to Parles' request, hesitating as he said:

"How much of the treasure left by a family of thieves and swindlers is genuine?"

After a pause, he added: "For a long period in the late Fourth Era, Jacob was played by A Meng."

Parles remained silent for a while, then sighed helplessly:

"Even if it's a trap left by A Meng, the bait inside is at least real, and He has already taken the Time Worm trait from me. If we don't seize the bait while He prepares the ritual, are we to wait until He finds free time to retrieve what's inside?"

After a moment of thought, Rekton lightly nodded: "Sure, I will find a descendant of the Jacob family for you, help you open the treasure, navigate its traps, and as payment, after the matter is resolved, you will need to give him a Parasite trait."

"If the bait left by A Meng or Jacob can restore my condition, then if it's just an empty-shell treasure, I can only blame his bad luck."

"Alright, I will sleep for a while; don't disturb this old fellow unless necessary."

As the words fell, Parles fell silent again.

"Old man? Old man?" Leonard called several times; seeing Parles truly silent, he gave up, muttering softly:

"Waking up so suddenly and then sleeping again, I almost thought He had become withdrawn."

Rekton calmly explained: "He likely left one or two awake Time Worms to handle sudden external situations, which is why he could quickly awaken from slumber after I arrived."

Leonard nodded in agreement, then looked at Rekton and asked: "Where do you plan to look for a descendant of the Jacob family?"

Rekton calmly replied: "I know the second officer of the 'Golden Dream', who is a Jacob descendant; he is currently stationed on the Southern Continent, handling some affairs for me."

Lún Nà Dé nodded thoughtfully: 'No wonder you would request a trait of the "Parasite".'

(End of chapter)