Chapter 688: Mr. Men

Feeling the familiar aura, Luo Sai Er slightly twitched the corner of his mouth, his eyes showing a rather complex expression, and in a tone calm to the point of indifference he said:

"Long time no see, Mr. Men, you really gave me a hard time!"

From the layered doors emerging from the full-body mirror came heavy sighs, overlapping, sounding ethereal and fleeting: "Alas~"

"I often cannot control myself, nor know what I've done, lost deep in darkness and storms; only during a full moon or blood moon can I have sufficient connection to reality, but that is also when the contamination on me is most severe."

"So that means you're relatively safe now?" Luo Sai Er mused and asked back.

After a moment of silence, Mr. Men's voice layered and echoed: "No, it's equally dangerous; I don't even know when I'm lucid, and whether the next moment I'll be replaced by my own madness."

"I'm sorry about your situation, but you should understand the dangers of the mysterious world and cannot trust the words of any unknown entity."

"Yes." Luo Sai Er nodded, his tone steady and composed: "But I have too many secrets, and many things I want to figure out; even knowing the danger, I will still choose to take risks."

After a brief silence, Leikton asked a new question: "I'm curious, what is the god‑ascension ritual of the Gate Path? Returning to reality from the impossible realm?"

"It is, and it isn't."

"For the Sequence Path, the ritual is not required; even for Sequence 0, the ritual merely lets the ascendant retain or recover parts of themselves, preventing total assimilation by the lingering psychic imprint of the demonic elixir and primal madness."

"The ritual's focus is self‑preservation, so the ceremony to become a 'Gate' is not a return from the impossible realm, but the opening of a door that should not exist, allowing one's consciousness to sense a hint of discord during ascension."

"If you're confident enough in your luck, you can become a god first and perform the ritual later, provided you don't lose complete control and madness during ascension—for example, the 'Craftsman', whose luck is excellent."

Mr. Men's voice layered a phantom echo in the ears, heavy with fatigue and oppression, making it clear that his condition worsened when the god‑ascension ritual was discussed.

Another heavy sigh sounded, and Mr. Men's tone turned snarling and pained as he whispered: "Don't save me, make no attempts."

Luo Sai Er scoffed, his tone flat as he said:

"Rest assured, we certainly won't save you, but others who aim to become the Lord of the Mysteries might."

Heavy breathing alternated, and after a while Mr. Men's tone suddenly calmed, sounding much more relaxed:

"'Lord of the Mysteries'? Few are qualified to chase that position. Cha La Tu was slain by me and An Ti Ge Nu Si together in the Four Emperors War; Ya Ge and Pa Lie Si were never A Meng's match; perhaps one of them was already unknowingly replaced by A Meng, and I, trapped in the storm's depths, lost in endless darkness."

"In the end, only An Ti Ge Nu Si and A Meng could still pursue that position."

"Yet neither is a good choice; A Meng is too vile, and An Ti Ge Nu Si is a naturally mythic being—though he studies hard, he still lacks essential humanity."

"Or perhaps, during my time lost in darkness, new figures have emerged?"

Leikton did not answer Mr. Men's question; he felt the Mr. Men he was speaking with now was the mad one, sighed lightly, and asked: "I want to know the locations of the nine secret tombs of Alista Tu Duo and any non‑standard entry methods; those tombs' concealment surely involved you, so you must know something."

"It's simple: gather the blood of twenty‑two extraordinary beings of the Path, then draw this sigil."

The ethereal blue light flowing from the full-body mirror rose on its own, sketching in midair a symbol resembling the Gate Path emblem while also displaying the locations of the nine secret tombs.

Luo Sai Er stared at the image on the mirror, squinting vexedly at Leikton: "If it's that easy to get the answer, why keep Beiernad forever in Beikeland?"

Leikton shrugged and replied casually:

"If you do nothing, wouldn't that be very abnormal?"

"Someone is investigating, but they can't uncover crucial details, so they let their guard down; you wouldn't want a group of familiar or unfamiliar angels to appear when you later try to stop George III's god‑ascension ritual, would you?"

"Moreover, this is also made for the Seven Gods who mend the rifts in the Astral Realm."

"Someone else wants to become the Black Emperor?" Mr. Men's voice echoed through the full-body mirror in the captain's cabin, his tone showing a hint of interest in the topic.

"Again?" Luo Sai Er sneered, looking at the doors highlighted by the ethereal blue light, and said gravely: "It seems that during your time lost in the darkness you aren't completely ignorant of what's happening in the real world, huh?" "During a full moon or blood moon, as spirituality and inspiration increase, I can to some extent perceive events in reality—though limited, I can know a few."

Mr. Men's tone remained perfectly calm, showing no concern for Luo Sai Er's sarcasm and doubt.

Leikton shook his head, no longer wishing to converse with Mr. Men, raised his hand, and caused the pattern drawn on the mirror from pure informational conversion of Lawrence's blood to vanish.

Deprived of the communication medium, the ethereal blue light on the full-body mirror abruptly receded, leaving a deep void, as if countless layered reflections returned to normal.

The scarlet moonlight that bathed the room vanished, and everything returned to normal.

Luo Sai Er settled back into the lounge chair by the glass window, asking leisurely:

"Do you think the few sentences Mr. Men said while communicating with us just now were normal?"

Leikton shook his head: "I don't know; perhaps none of them were normal."

"Just as I thought." Luo Sai Er sighed, then continued after lying down:

"At the beginning, I was always curious why Mr. Men showed no concern for the matter of escaping, and hadn't tempted me to go to the moon as often."

"Until later, I discovered the secrets hidden on the second profane stone slab; unfortunately, by then it was already too late."

"As long as anyone wants to become the Lord of the Mysteries, whoever it is, they must help him return to reality." Leikton nodded lightly, adding briefly.

Luo Sai Er, relaxed in the lounge chair, exhaled slowly, his tone unusually calm as he added: "Once back here, his god‑ascension ritual can start immediately, making him a true god of Sequence 0; that will spark a new contest, and a 'Gate' who can appear anywhere at any time is exceedingly flexible—and exceedingly dangerous."

Before finishing, Luo Sai Er suddenly halted, as if sensing something, glanced doubtfully at the gloomy sky outside the window, and muttered softly:

"Hmph, is Cha La Tu summoning my historical projection again?"

"Historical projection? Maybe not Cha La Tu, but during the later Black Emperor god‑ascension ritual, he will definitely summon you; you could then take the opportunity."

He paused, then Leikton completed his thought: "You could take the chance to kill George III, who is performing the ritual."

He also sensed some changes; certain pieces of information belonging to himself were triggered, not belonging to his current self yet appearing now.

Civilization and history are similar in some aspects, so he could more intuitively feel a part of his own history being pulled out.

"Historical projection"? Maybe "I have a friend" fits better. As the thought drifted, Leikton's figure became silently transparent, cloaked in a faint hazy starlight, and swiftly vanished from the Dawn's captain's cabin.

In Beikeland, in a basement beneath St. Samuel's Church, Craine suddenly found that the cost of maintaining his historical projection had dropped dramatically.

He looked up, puzzled, at the two images summoned from the historical rift; only Luo Sai Er, eyes vacant, remained standing, while Leikton's historical projection had already vanished.

"This guy's historical projection is so unique, and it can even run on its own?"

Craine muttered a low, sarcastic remark, guessing that the other had sensed his summoning of the historical projection and transmitted his consciousness.

"After the historical projection's consciousness awakened, my consumption dropped dramatically, hardly needing any spiritual energy to sustain its existence; however, I also lost control over the projection—there are pros and cons."

"Nevertheless, for me the benefits outweigh the drawbacks; after all, the stagnant projection's combat performance is far behind my own."

After a brief summary, Craine discontinued the maintenance of Luo Sai Er's historical projection, raised his hand again, and tugged twice in the air.

After two failures, he finally pulled from the historical mist a lady clad in a simple robe, a bark belt, long black hair hanging, barefoot.

She is the Abbess of the Night Monastery, leader of the Ascetic Brotherhood, and chief among the thirteen archbishops: A Lian Na!

As he had guessed, the ascetic's eyes quickly became lively, and at the same time Klein found that the spiritual power consumption required to maintain this historical projection had decreased greatly, and he lost control over this historical projection.

(End of chapter)