Mystery: Survival from the Secret Doll

Chapter 354 353 What is a miracle?

"The starting station of this Spirit World Express is Tinggen City, and the final stop is Black Vortex Town."

"Passengers who have not yet boarded, please board as soon as possible. The train is about to depart..."

A steampunk-style train, parked on the western outskirts of Tingen, slowly started moving with a "whoosh" of its whistle. Inside the train, the passengers were scattered and very quiet; almost no one spoke.

This is the last Spirit Express train departing from Tingen City, and its final destination is a place almost no one has ever heard of, seemingly the afterlife.

Outside the window was a devastated world, ravaged by the lava flow from the Sunwell mine after it went out of control.

Amidst the ruins, the figure standing between them appeared remarkably small.

Mr. "Mistake" stood in the heart of this city riddled with holes, watching the Spirit World Express slowly start and head into the distance.

People sitting in their seats, looking somewhat dazed, all turned their gazes to the world outside the window as the train moved along and the whistle wailed.

This was a city they knew well, yet felt strangely unfamiliar with.

The former prosperity is gone, leaving only devastation everywhere.

So many people died...

So many people died...

But why are they still alive?

The train departed from Tingen City, traversing the spirit world, passing through a world of overlapping ink-colored blocks, upside down and inverted left and right, heading towards a space deep within the spirit world, surrounded by boundless gray-white mist and distorted spacetime.

As the train slowly came to a stop, a small and exquisite-looking platform came into view.

There was a sign on the platform with the words written in a distorted ancient Hermes style:

The final stop: Black Vortex Town.

In the town of Black Vortex, which is imbued with vortex elements, there are already quite a few people. Some are bewildered, some are in disbelief, some are covering their faces and crying, and some are hugging their relatives and friends and having a mental breakdown. They seem to be out of control.

The train stopped at the station in Black Vortex Town. After passengers got off the train, they looked at the small town located by the sea and saw familiar faces among the passengers.

Old Neil raised his hand to shield his eyes from the warm, yet somewhat artificial, sunlight falling from the sky.

It looks like a sun that someone painted on it; it appears somewhat deliberate, blurry, and distorted into an irregular circle.

He squinted, seemingly still somewhat unaccustomed to his current situation.

Not long ago, because the Hidden Sage had passed through the defenses built by "Error" and entered Tingen City, all the extraordinary beings on the Path of the Seekers were affected by the power of the pinnacle of that path. Old Neil's spirit had already begun to decline, especially those who were getting old.

Under the influence of the knowledge of the hidden sage's violence, and while worrying about Pedigris's current state, he unsurprisingly lost control due to the influence of the highest-ranking person in this path, turning into a monster. When he attacked Dunn, the other party used a "1" level seal behind the Charis Gate to reverse his control, which prevented his loss of control from causing greater casualties.

But in the end, someone ambushed him and the strange pregnant woman.

After his out-of-control, frenzied consciousness calmed down, Old Neil vaguely felt as if he had been dreaming for a very long time. He couldn't remember what happened in the dream, and his memory became blurred. When he woke up again, he was sitting in a place that was both strange and familiar.

The Spirit Express is a mystical behemoth developed by Miskatonic and aided by various ritual magics, which travels through the spirit world.

This colossal vehicle, shimmering with the colors of steam, is covered in hundreds of magical powers and can move freely through the spirit world. It is virtually fearless of any creature unique to the spirit world and is the most magnificent and outstanding mystical creation Miskatonic has produced in nearly a thousand years.

Old Neil, shocked at why he was sitting there, looked around.

The city of Tingen outside the window was riddled with holes. He didn't recognize the passengers on the train, but his intuition told him that these people might all have been the victims of Tingen.

what happened?

In the end what happened?
The dead have come back to life? Or is all of this just another dream he had?
Is this all that people who have lost control see?
When they arrived at the station and got off the platform, Old Neil discovered that the final stop they had reached was full of people, all of whom looked bewildered. He also saw Dunn and several of the Punisher's familiar Extraordinary beings.

"what happened?"

"Old Neil..."

Dunn frowned, but the furrows on his forehead slowly relaxed when he saw Old Neil appear.

He sighed, "I don't know what happened either, but I'm just glad you're alright."

"Perhaps Mr. Flamel returned immediately."

Some people recognized those around them, who seemed to have died in the catastrophe. The only explanation for this was that Mr. "Mistake" returned in time, suppressed the contamination of the Sunwell ore, and protected them all.

After all, Mr. "Mistake" was not a cold angel; all the investigators genuinely respected this ancient angel.

With such an optimistic guess from Miskatonic's investigator, after confirming his safety, he looked around, paused slightly, and said somewhat uncertainly to Dunn, "Um, this place... I think I've seen it before when I was taking the professional ritual magic level test..."

In other words, this place belongs to a region under the jurisdiction of Miskatonic.

And these people...

"I remember I was dissolved by the magma produced by the Sunwell ore."

The investigator looked at his palm and found no trace of dissolution.

"When you put it that way, it's true, there's no way you could be completely without any injuries in that situation."

Another extraordinary individual was also examining his body, and said with some surprise, "Indeed, there is no sign of injury, nor does it show any signs of loss of control or mutation."

It all seemed like a pipe dream to them. Once the dream was over, nothing happened, and the world continued to operate as before.

All of this seems to point to one thing: someone protected them and prevented them from dying in that catastrophe.

This must have been done by Mr. "Mistake"!
Mr. "Mistake"!

Someone saw a figure appear between them and shouted excitedly.

The young man, wearing a black silk top hat and a matching tailcoat, turned around and looked at Dunn and Old Neil.

"Mr. 'Mistake,' what happened? How is the situation in Tingen?"

As the captain of the Night Watch in Tingen, Dunn quickly took a few steps, skillfully bypassing the other people who wanted to question Mr. "Mistake," and walked to a spot not far from Mr. "Mistake."

He desperately wanted to know if Tingen was safe, and whether his teammates, especially Klein, were secure...

The fact that he didn't find Klein here proves...

"Everything is perfect. The story of Tingen City is over. You did a good job."

"Well done, not bad?"

Dunn's pupils dilated for a fleeting moment; he realized something, and his gaze towards Nikolai suddenly became filled with suspicion and uncertainty. "You..."

Nikola's gaze swept over Dunn and old Neil, not giving Dunn a chance to speak, but instead asked with a smile, "What do you think a miracle is?"

Dunn was somewhat unable to keep up with Nikolai's leaps of thought when faced with this suddenly appearing question, and Nikolai clearly didn't want their answer either.

"For the City of Miracles, the resurrection of the dead and the restoration of the past are miracles."

"Tinggen remains the safest city. Everything that happened in the past was simply an incorrect history caused by incorrect mistakes, nothing more..."

"But Mr. 'Mistake,' you..."

when--

The melodious sound of bells, seemingly from the oldest era, rang out over Black Vortex Town, and at that moment, a huge whirlpool spun on the surface of Lake Swell in the town center.

A gate that seemed capable of swallowing everything emerged from the vortex, and a voice appeared in everyone's mind.

"Leave here, enter the gate, and journey to a new world."

The gate slowly opened, revealing the vast universe and countless stars.

Among the stars, two azure planets stand facing each other, attracting each other and revolving around each other as their own satellites. They were born together and seem to be no different from each other, a beautiful sight to behold.

"This is……"

Old Neil murmured to himself as he saw a familiar figure through the gate.

"what."

Old Neil suddenly snapped out of his daze, as if he had realized something.

His wife has been gone for a long time.

They never had children in their lives.

The old man, with a gentle smile on his face, smiled at old Neil from the other side of the door.

That was their home, the city of Tingen, which had never been destroyed.

Old Neil also smiled and walked with the others toward the door in the center of Black Vortex Town.

In a daze, Dunn seemed to see Tingen City, Blackthorn Security Company, his parents, and his former teammates who had died.

His thoughts became muddled, and everything was undergoing unknown changes.

Inside and outside the gate, the city of Tingen outside the gate and another planet inside the gate, separated by what seems to be an eternal distance, gradually overlap.

"The embodiment of all incorrect errors, fallacies, and loopholes..."

Whether it was Dunn, Old Neil, or every extraordinary individual and ordinary person who died in this catastrophe in Tingen, their perceptions gradually became distorted under the guidance of Mr. "Error," and they transformed everything that happened in Tingen into a long dream they had created.

Tingen City remains Tingen City; the area where they live has never changed.

People live and work in peace and contentment, while extraordinary individuals diligently fulfill their duties.

The night watchman remains the same night watchman, the one who protects everything amidst danger and madness.

Thus, the story of Tingen City officially came to an end.

The prologue has ended, and a new story is about to begin.

"With the help of Alshogod's pen, the story of Tingen City comes to a perfect end. The 'Fool' Klein Moretti, whose fate is uncertain, is resurrected, while the Hidden Sage and the God of Evil, Siea, flee in panic. All of this is making more thorough preparations for the final, impending apocalypse..."

In a ward on the top floor of St. Peter's Hospital in Tingen.

When Klein slowly opened his eyes, he saw a person sitting by his bedside, holding a small knife and peeling an apple, with a gentle face.

"woke up?"

"Mr. Error..."

Klein realized who the young man was. His pupils dilated slightly. He had never imagined that the person he had been trying so hard to avoid meeting alone was now sitting right in front of him.

“Mr. Klein Moretti”.

Nikola nodded and placed the peeled apple in front of Klein.

“No, Mr. ‘Mistake,’ I don’t…”

"Eat up, you haven't eaten in a long time."

Nikolai stood up, placed the apple in Klein's hands as he hurriedly took it, then walked to the window and opened it.

Soft light streamed into the room from the window. Klein looked over and involuntarily squinted, taking a moment to adjust before he could clearly see what was happening outside.

In the devastated city of Tingen, all traces of its former prosperity had vanished. Only then did Klein recall the events that had transpired before he lost consciousness.

"Internal organs ruptured, heart stopped, and even the brain was burst and destroyed by knowledge. Ordinary people, even a Sequence 5 shepherd, would already be dead."

Nicola leaned against the bedside, watching Klein's face gradually tighten, and suddenly asked, "Morretti, what do you think a miracle is?"

What is a miracle?

"To be brought back to life and for the past to return is a miracle."

Before Klein could answer, Nikolai continued speaking on his own.

A resurrection from the dead, a return to the past?
The dead self came back to life, including the original body that was hit in the head by a revolver, and the one Nikola mentioned this time, the sudden cardiac arrest, and the brain being burst by knowledge.

His survival is akin to being resurrected from the dead.

And the past reappears...

Nikola turned to the side, and Klein sat up so that he could see a huge, ancient clock above the devastated city ruins outside the floor-to-ceiling window. As the twelve-ringed hands began to rotate counterclockwise, the void surged, and it seemed that an invisible gray-white mist was spreading across the streets.

The phantom images of buildings and streetlights, after being swallowed by the lava of the Sunwell, transformed from nothingness back into reality in the barren world.

The past is back!
Everything seemed to have reversed back to the time before the Sunwell ore underwent its mutation, when everything could start over, and everything was just a dream of theirs.

Real, yet illusory.

(End of this chapter)