Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Chapter 198 The Dreamer's Matryoshka Doll

Klein pondered Mr. Azik's reply, considering how to subtly reveal this information. His first thought was to have Mr. Fool continue to "recall," but that would seem too abrupt, so the only solution was to have "The World" speak.

Upon realizing this, Klein immediately manipulated the 'World' and said in a deep voice:

"I know an elder who personally experienced the war of the Four Emperors in the Fourth Age. He told me that he had seen the Blood Emperor, who was as tall as a mountain and wore a crimson cloak. However, his eyes were unusually crazed, almost irrational, and he was on the verge of losing control. There was also the resurrected True Black Emperor, who sat on a huge throne, looking down on everything on earth..."

Klein, through the voice of "The World," recounted Mr. Azik's reply word for word from an observer's perspective.

However, the members of the Tarot Club had different focuses when it came to these words.

"An elder? An 'elder' who personally experienced the war between the Four Emperors and is still alive today? That's at least a demigod!"

Emlyn White looked at The World with some shock. Among all the people in the Tarot Club, he had always felt that The World and The Lovers were the most mysterious, and now he was even more convinced of this idea!

After all, that was a demigod who had lived for over a thousand years, and his family, conservatively estimated, had a lineage that had lasted for over a thousand years, as ancient as the royal families of various countries. While such a force was not as powerful as the vampires, it was still among the best of humanity.

Unlike the Moon, the Hanged Man, while equally shocked that the World had a demigod elder, knew one thing better than the Moon: among all the people in the Tarot Club, the World was the only one who appeared as a servant of Mr. Fool.

The elder mentioned by "The World" is very likely a demigod or even an angel under the command of Mr. "The Fool"!

As a follower of the Fool, it's perfectly normal for "The World" to obtain secret information from the demigods or angels under the Fool's command—information that is inaccessible to ordinary people. But why would "The World" suddenly bring it up? This kind of information shouldn't be known to them in the first place…

and many more!

Alger suddenly felt a chill and went through the matter again.

This topic originated from the 'world' itself; it was he who guided the Embers to that underground ruin, and it was he who brought up the matter of Bansi Island—

The Weather God, the Messenger of God Skin, Medici… so many forces are entangled on the same small island; this cannot be explained by simple coincidence! And the appearance of these powerful beings one after another makes the situation increasingly perplexing. The changes happening on Bansi Island seem as if someone is deliberately stirring up trouble.

And now, Mr. Fool's retinue has also appeared on Bansi Island, and has suddenly and subtly revealed information to them. All of this sends a clear signal:

Mr. Fool foresaw this! He hopes to spread the word through us!

Alger's pupils contracted, and he lowered his gaze in fear.

Why does Mr. Fool want to publicize these things?

No, it's not necessarily about publicizing everything; only a portion of it needs to be publicized. As for other confidential information, perhaps that's the 'reward' for publicizing it.

"The true Black Emperor who has been resurrected?"

Audrey murmured the word to herself, then suddenly looked up at her 'lover' opposite her. Wasn't George III the one who aspired to become the true 'Black Emperor'? Even though his plan was thwarted, George III at that time was only one step away from Sequence 0!

Does the fact that the "resurrected true Black Emperor" of the Solomon Empire means that he once reached the Sequence 0 level?

The Black Emperor is Sequence 0, and the Blood Emperor has allegedly undergone a godhood ritual, making him highly likely a true god as well. Does this mean that the war between the Four Emperors at the end of the Fourth Age was actually a war between true gods?

However, this war ultimately ended with the fall of the Four Emperors; there were no true victors among them. The empires they established crumbled, and their bloodlines nearly died out…

"Half-mad?"

Yu Jin lingered on the phrase "half-mad Blood Emperor" for a long time, as if he had gained some insight.

Klein silently observed the reactions of the others, his gaze briefly lingering on Ember before quickly shifting away.

At the same time, Mr. Fool tapped the surface of the mottled long table lightly and chuckled leisurely:

That concludes this gathering.

As the words faded, figures disappeared from the palace, and the gray mist returned to its timeless silence.

"Coincidence, yet another coincidence..."

Klein pressed his right thumb and middle finger against his temples and rubbed them with a little force.

From the moment he set sail, he had a vague feeling that something was wrong.

First, they inexplicably forgot about the underground ruins, and then, near the coast of Damir Island, they encountered a pirate crew that shouldn't have been there at all—

It's important to know that the Kingdom's navy patrols the area around Damir Island year-round; even the Seven Warlords of the Sea consider it a forbidden zone and only enter this area as a last resort. What makes an ordinary pirate crew dare to appear here?

However, it was precisely this pirate crew's unusual behavior that aroused suspicion in Captain Airland of the White Agate, leading him to decide to report the matter to the navy and the church. But the ship lacked radio equipment, so they could only return to Damir Island or dock at the nearest Bansi Island to communicate with the navy through the telegraph office there.

The White Agate changed its itinerary. Originally scheduled to depart from Damir Island and arrive at Tiana Island after three days, they arrived at Bansi Island on the evening of the second day and then encountered a series of tense and exciting accidents.

On the surface, everything seems reasonable.

However, Klein, who suffers from the aftereffects of the '0-08' incident, has developed some PTSD regarding 'coincidence', which is why he is able to clearly realize the massive amount of 'coincidence' involved in the series of events that are currently unfolding!

A pirate crew with a captain's bounty of only 900 pounds coincided with the appearance of Damir Island in the waters near the island. Coincidentally, because of the presence of the great pirate Danitz, whose bounty was 3000 pounds coin, they were forced to abandon their plunder.

All of this "coincidentally" led the White Agate to Bansi, where it encountered a series of unexpected events.

It was on Bansi Island that Klein learned from Danitz that Bansi's ancient name was Binsi, and from Binsi he connected it to Medici, and then to the underground ruins. This made him realize that his memories had been 'tampered with'—someone had altered his memories, causing him to subconsciously blur the existence of the underground ruins.

But what if Danitz's behavior was also a "coincidence"?

He 'coincidentally' wanted to show off his knowledge in front of Gehrman Sparrow, and 'coincidentally' accidentally let slip that the ancient name of Bansi Island was 'Binsi' while recounting the legend of Bansi Island. As a result, Klein also 'coincidentally' realized that his memories had been 'tampered with'!

If all of this is a coincidence, is his ability to realize this series of coincidences also based on coincidence? Does this mean he is still in the "story" carefully crafted by the mastermind behind the scenes?

Was it even a coincidence that he realized all this and then immediately passed the information to Ember?

That's why Ember went to the underground ruins empty-handed, because the other party had already achieved their goal. In fact, sending Ember to the underground ruins was the other party's goal in itself, so they needed to use him to accomplish all of this.

But how is that possible? He was able to do all this entirely because of the unique properties of the gray fog!

Klein had already tried, and even a true god would find it difficult to invade this space—

This conclusion was drawn by Klein based on his personal experience of being invaded by the two Sequence 0 True Gods, the Eternal Sun and the Goddess of Night.

No matter how powerful the person who fabricated all these "stories" is, it's impossible to include the Gray Fog Above in the story!

This is Klein's confidence, and also his arrogance!

It was precisely this arrogance that led Klein to mistakenly believe that his realization of the 'coincidence' was due to the work of those above the Gray Fog. But the reason he entered the Gray Fog was because he had already sensed something was wrong upon hearing the word 'Binsey'!

Klein's arrogance caused him to overlook this detail, and he prepared to report it to Ember without a second thought.

Klein, having turned back, realized the crux of the matter, which is why he stayed here to sort things out.

"My communication with Ember is based on the gray fog, but the other party cannot influence the gray fog, otherwise my actions on the gray fog would definitely be subject to strict 'control'."

"But the other party will definitely be able to guess that there is some kind of quick way for me and Ember to communicate, which is not an uncommon ability. After all, it's not just Mr. Azik who has a messenger; even Miss Daly, who was only Sequence 6 at the time, could summon a messenger. Our communication doesn't necessarily need to go through the Gray Fog; a messenger can do the job."

After sorting everything out, Klein finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Even though his voyage was indeed manipulated, it didn't deter his determination to find the mermaid. He didn't have the childish ambition of "I will make sure the sky can no longer block my view," but he also couldn't tolerate his life being arbitrarily controlled and manipulated!

If all the experiences along the way were coincidences, then the person who created these coincidences must be far more capable than Ince Zangwell, and their ability to fabricate stories must be far superior, making it difficult for anyone to detect any inconsistencies.

Klein didn't know to what extent he needed to grow to avoid being controlled by the other party, but he was definitely better the stronger he was.

Finding the mermaid and becoming a master puppeteer is the first step for him to become stronger!

"On the way ahead, I may encounter more 'coincidences' and 'unexpected changes,' and I may not be able to find the mermaid smoothly. But that's not necessarily true. After all, in the eyes of that 'mastermind,' I should just be a dispensable pawn, since he has always been targeting Ember."

"If I was the first level of being kept in the dark, then I was the second level when I heard 'Binsi' and realized it was a 'coincidence.' And now, realizing that all of this might be a coincidence, I should be on the third level, having already stepped slightly out of the story the other party has woven."

"Moreover, this is above the gray fog, and the decisions I made were based on my own thoughts and had nothing to do with 'coincidence'."

"Now that he has achieved his goal, it's unlikely he'll continue to weave 'coincidences' for me. His attention will probably be focused on Ember..."

Klein rubbed his temples, having already revealed all the information he knew, hoping it would be helpful to Ember. It probably would, since the 'mastermind' had chosen the underground ruins as part of their plan, meaning they were definitely connected to the ruins, or at least to the 'Blood Emperor' and the three Sequence 1 angels who had been 'sacrificed'!

If that's the case, then there's hope of finding clues related to the 'mastermind' from some subtle details. Although Klein still doesn't know what the other party's purpose is, at least he has done what he should have done.

Just then, Klein suddenly heard a series of illusory pleas...

-

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Steam trains billowing thick smoke sped along the tracks, heading west across the continent.

Inside a luxurious compartment of a train carriage, the girl lying on the bed slowly opened her eyes.

She almost subconsciously looked at the sofa in the room. Yu Jin, who had been lying there, slowly stood up and walked to the window, staring intently at the scenery outside.

Audrey composed herself and said softly:

"Ember, do you understand the meaning behind Mr. 'World's' words?"

Ember withdrew his gaze from the trees rushing past the window and said softly:

"He's reminding me."

"remind?"

Audrey blinked. After hearing 'The World's' words, all she could think about was things like 'Gods' War.' The reason she asked was to ascertain whether Ember also believed that the Black Emperor and the 'Blood Emperor' had both been promoted to Sequence 0 True Gods. After all, Ember, who had explored that underground ruin, should be able to discover more information.

But now it seems she's a bit out of touch with Ember.

What was the message "The World" was trying to convey?

"I didn't hear anything."

Audrey lowered her head silently and muttered something to herself.

She knew she must have missed some crucial information, preventing her from connecting the dots.

Why couldn't Mr. World have been a little clearer?

Even if they couldn't be too explicit due to concerns, they could have waited until everyone else left before requesting a private conversation with Mr. Fool! It couldn't be because he only knew this little bit of information, could it?

The thought had barely crossed Audrey's mind when she froze, somewhat incredulous.

"Could that really be true? But isn't Mr. 'World' a retainer of Mr. 'Fool'?"

(End of this chapter)