Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In the exhibition hall where Roselle’s diary was kept, the two Machinery Hivemind members suddenly heard a clatter.
At the same time, they turned their heads to look at the Sealed Artifact made out of blocks above the glass display case.
Inside the scaled down model of the museum’s first floor, there was a gray dot that was constantly flashing.
“There’s a lifeless object in the nearest washroom.” One of the team members made a definite judgment.
The other team member relaxed a little, frowned, and said in a guessing tone, “A dead leaf blown in by the wind?”
“It’s possible.” The team member who spoke first nodded. “Let’s wait till the security guards pass by, we’ll get them to check and confirm the situation. Captain told us to stay here and not to leave no matter what happens, especially not alone.”
In the event of an urgent emergency, they could evacuate with Roselle’s notebook.
“Alright.” His companion had no objection to his suggestion.
…
In the office area on the second floor of the museum, Klein was like a floating ghost, passing through one wall after another and flying directly above the restored study.
However, he didn’t fly too fast. Instead, he continued to sense the fire spark below and kept track of the distance.
When the straight-line distance reached almost thirty meters, he lifted his illusory and translucent right hand and soundlessly snapped his fingers.
In the washroom on the first floor, the box of matches exploded with a soft bang.
Then, a scarlet flame leaped up and ignited a paper towel, a potted plant, and the wooden door.
The flames didn’t spread yet, but it was shocking enough.
The nearby security personnel who heard the noise immediately rushed over. In the exhibition hall that was monitoring the entire situation on the first floor, the two Machinery Hivemind members also saw the flames in the model at the same time and subconsciously wanted to rush over there. This was not only an attempt to extinguish the fire, but they were also prepared to capture the troublemaker.
But the moment they took two steps, they stopped, having remembered their Captain’s orders:
Don’t leave this exhibition hall, don’t leave Roselle’s notebook, regardless of the situation!
They looked at each other, then they looked warily at the two entrances to the hall before quietly taking out their own Beyonder weapons.
As Beyonders of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, they were never lacking in equipment.
…
At this moment, Max Livermore was patrolling the various exhibition halls on the first floor with a lantern in hand. He had also noticed the commotion and, without thinking, rushed towards the direction of the exhibition hall where Roselle’s notebook was located.
The priority to ensure the safety of the items was higher than capturing the intruder!
Moreover, Max believed that no matter what the other party’s intentions were, as long as they entered the first floor of the museum and entered any of the halls, they would be under the effect of the Sealed Artifact, and it wouldn’t be easy to leave that easily!
If there was no external help, the infiltrator would be trapped inside!
Even if the intruder had a helper, it would still take them quite a bit of time to get rid of the effects.
“Once you enter, you will be like prey that has fallen into a trap!” Max Livermore ran at top speed. After passing through many exhibition halls, he finally saw the silhouettes of his two companions.
At that moment, Klein, who was on the second floor of the museum, had already passed through the doors and walls according to the layout in his memory. He had arrived right above the restored study.
He was in no hurry to carry out any follow-up actions. Instead, he first looked down.
As the stone floor was relatively thick, Klein was unable to vaguely confirm if there were any auras or emotions beneath him. He could only spread his arms wide, fall forward, and silently lie on the ground.
His illusory and transparent figure quickly faded into the ground.
…
On the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling on the first floor, a faintly discernible human face suddenly appeared.
The strange face overlooked the exhibition hall, its eyes constantly moving, taking in the scenery of every corner in the area.
There are no Beyonders or security personnel… Mumbling to himself, Klein penetrated the ceiling and descended in front of Roselle’s glass-covered desk.
He glanced at it, and without hesitation, he reached out with both hands to grab the bookmark in the manuscript of creativity and the bookmark which looked like child’s graffiti.
He was trying to prevent a powerful Beyonder, who could reconstruct the scene through magical means, from knowing that he knew which bookmark was abnormal. This was to prevent the investigator from suspecting Miss Justice who had only touched one bookmark.
Augmented by Azik’s copper whistle, he passed through the glass case and steadily held the two bookmarks, then he wrapped them within his spirit body.
After finishing this step, Klein’s heart calmed down, no longer having any obvious nervousness or tension.
He stretched out his hands again, reaching out for the other bookmarks.
“Waaa! Waaa! Waaa!”
The loud and shrill cry of a baby suddenly reverberated within the exhibition hall.
It was so illusory, as though it came from far, far away.
Klein’s body stiffened, freezing all of a sudden like a lake encountering extreme coldness.
In his spirit body state, he appeared to have been frozen!
“Waaa! Waaa! Waaa!”
Along with the cries of the baby were fine black rifts that surrounded Klein like a discontinuous iron fence.
In the blink of an eye, one of the black rifts cracked open, revealing an eyeball filled with blood strands. In the center of the eyeball was a deep pupil, and in it, countless tiny white worms were crawling and squirming.
One, two, three… Black rifts opened successively, and one by one, the bizarre eyeballs were exposed in midair. They stared at Klein in a cold and merciless manner.
As they appeared, everything around them froze in place. Even the illusory spirits were unable to penetrate through them.
It even became hard for Klein to sense the existence of the spirit world. He found it difficult to see the translucent figures that were located infinitely high. He found it hard to see the different colors, the lustrous splendors which contained various types of knowledge.
“Why did you only take the bookmarks?” A soft but unemotional female voice entered Klein’s ear.
He froze on the spot and saw a tall bookcase, divided into two levels. The top level almost reached the ceiling, with a staircase and a passage surrounding countless books.
At the top of the stairs sat a figure shrouded by the darkness.
The figure’s feet, which wore black leather boots, hung from the wooden stairs as they were suspended in midair.
I actually didn’t sense her existence at all… Is she some powerhouse from the Machinery Hivemind? No, she might be a High-Sequence Beyonder! Klein didn’t answer; instead, he narrowed his eyes.
“Why did you only take the bookmarks? Where did you learn to only take the bookmarks?”
The figure asked once more. The gentleness had a hint of sternness, and the bloodshot eyeballs surrounding him rapidly widened, as though they wanted to occupy the entire space.
Before she could finish her sentence, Klein revealed a wide smile on his face.
His illusory, nearly translucent figure instantly disappeared, leaving his whereabouts unknown!
Even Azik’s copper whistle and the two bookmarks which were wrapped in his spirit body had vanished!
…
Above the gray fog, within the majestic ancient palace.
Klein’s figure suddenly appeared at the top of the long, mottled table.
He leaned back into his chair and said with a chuckle, “Fortunately, I was prepared.”
The state of his spirit body wasn’t part of his Beyonder powers. It didn’t originate from the transformation between his physical body and spirit body. This was the result of him summoning himself and responding to his ritual.
And the power of this ritual came from the mysterious space above the gray fog. It stemmed from its special nature!
Hence, as long as Klein succeeded, he wouldn’t even need to try to escape. By just ending the summoning directly, he would be able to return to the gray fog and, from here, instantly return to his physical body in the real world!
As the space above the gray fog could block the power of deities like the Eternal Blazing Sun and the True Creator, Klein believed that, without the interference of deities, the summoning wouldn’t be interrupted!
As long as the enemy didn’t kill his spirit body or instantly knock him unconscious, Klein had the confidence to escape!
This was also the reason why he didn’t want to become a spirit body and still make a “long trek” over to the museum. The more time spent, added even more variables.
…
As the faint and dark crimson moonlight shone in from the window, the woman sitting at the top of the stairs between the bookshelves looked at the desk in silence. She looked at the spot where Klein had been. The surrounding cries of the baby and the eyeballs had disappeared one after another.
After an unknown period of time, the top of the stairs suddenly became empty, as if no one had ever been there before.
In the exhibition hall which housed Roselle’s diary, Max Livermore said to his two team members, “Watch this place well. I’ll go find the infiltrator.
“He must still be trapped somewhere on the first floor by the power of the Sealed Artifact!”
As he spoke, he looked at the Sealed Artifact, the “model” of the first floor of the museum in a bid to find the red dot which represented the infiltrator and lock onto that person’s location.
However, no matter how he looked and counted, something didn’t seem right.
The number of people hadn’t increased!
“This…” Max Livermore froze where he was.
…
18 King’s Avenue, in a certain wealthy merchant’s storage room.
Klein’s eyes lit up again, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
He left the bookmarks and Azik’s copper whistle above the gray fog, and he didn’t waste time returning to his body.
After extinguishing the candles and ending the ritual, Klein cleaned up the scene. He used a specially concocted medication to neutralize the smell of the Holy Night Powder and the essential oils from the ritual.
After doing all of this, he dispelled the wall of spirituality, allowing the wind to blow away the remaining traces.
Next, he took out his Master Key, planning to go through buildings before taking a rental carriage a distance away.
Using his cane to determine his direction to prevent himself from getting lost and heading back to the Royal Museum or to a particular cathedral, Klein headed off at a brisk pace, opening the walls and doors that stood in his way with the Master Key.
After walking in a straight line for a while, he suddenly felt like he was unable to determine his position.
Hmm… Two more buildings and I’ll be out. If I’m no longer on King’s Avenue, I’ll get a rental carriage, or I’ll make another divination? I’ll immediately study the Card of Blasphemy once I’m home! Klein quickly made up his mind. He placed the brass key which was simply shaped against the wall and gently twisted it.
As the formless ripples spread out, he arrived at a neighboring building of the terraces.
At this moment, his nose twitched as he smelled a strong stench of blood.
The strong smell of blood! Klein frowned. He looked up and saw a lady laid out in the living room ahead of him.
The woman’s expression was filled with pain. There was a large wound at her abdomen, and her internal organs seemed to have disappeared.
At the same time, Klein heard grunting noises.
