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

Chapter 240 I've Found You!

Inside the Earl Hall's luxurious villa in Queens.

Audrey sat in front of the dressing mirror, her brows slightly furrowed, as if she were pondering something thorny.

Suddenly, a woman in a black dress appeared in the mirror. She seemed to appear out of thin air in the room and walked without thinking to the luxurious soft bed that belonged to Audrey, covered with velvet bedding.

Audrey frowned slightly, turned around, and asked softly:

"What have you been doing lately?"

Karula flopped onto the bed, hugging the soft pillows, and muttered:

"You never ask about my affairs, so why are you suddenly concerned about this?"

Audrey noticed the weariness in her voice and, with a hint of doubt, said with unusual firmness:

"I must make sure what you're doing doesn't threaten my family."

Carla rolled her eyes and sighed helplessly:

"We've been together for so long, can't you trust me a little more? Sometimes I really suspect that you're the 'jealous' witch."

Audrey stared intently at her, answering her question with her eyes:

No.

She and Carla had a "three-point agreement": Carla could continue to follow her, since she had no right to refuse. But in exchange, Carla could not appear in front of her family. That's why Earl Hall and the others still didn't know about Carla's existence, because Audrey didn't want her parents to worry, nor did she want them to be involved in danger.

Karula agreed to the condition without hesitation, but instead of following Audrey around as she had promised, she would disappear from time to time, and each time she returned, she looked extremely exhausted.

This made Audrey feel uneasy, because she had no idea what Karula had done. If Karula were just an ordinary person, she wouldn't be worried at all, but Karula was a Sequence 2 angel!

Emotionally, Audrey was willing to believe Carula.

Because until now, Karula has never shown any threat to her, nor has she done anything detrimental to her. On the contrary, Karula helped her become a Sequence 5 Beyonder and told her many secrets that she shouldn't have known at her level.

From any perspective, Carla's behavior was impeccable, and Audrey had no reason to doubt her.

As an 'observer,' Audrey instinctively doubted everything. She didn't believe that someone at the intermediate level could see through Karula's disguise, so she couldn't be sure that everything Karula displayed was real.

Just like that famous quote by Emperor Roselle:

What you see may only be what others want you to see.

Audrey is now in this predicament. Everything she knows may only be what Carla wants her to know! She has no ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood and can only rely on intuition to make judgments, but even she herself cannot trust the results of her judgments.

So rather than saying Audrey didn't trust Carula, it's more accurate to say she didn't trust herself.

Because Audrey couldn't see through Carla, couldn't discern the truth of everything, and was overwhelmed by the despairing disparity in their strength, even though Carla appeared incredibly sincere, and even though everything she said was true, she still couldn't gain Audrey's trust.

Audrey understood this principle and knew that her vigilance was probably meaningless, but she could never let down her guard.

That's why Carla called Audrey the "witch of jealousy"—

I don't love anyone, and I'm not loved by anyone.

I trust no one, and no one trusts me.

Of course, this statement is somewhat biased.

After all, Audrey wasn't incapable of being trusted; she just couldn't let her guard down.

And all of this might not be without the deliberate influence of Carula—

Audrey was also able to realize this.

Perhaps it was because she had already advanced to Sequence 5, or perhaps Karula deliberately let her see through her.

"Alright, alright, since you're so eager to know, I'll tell you."

Carla succumbed to Audrey's resolute gaze, letting out a helpless sigh as if she were about to give in, but her tone remained nonchalant as she lazily said:

"Didn't I tell you? I've been avoiding promotion to Sequence 2 until now."

Audrey nodded silently. She did remember Carula saying that, but she didn't quite understand why.

She initially thought Karula was worried about the risk of losing control, but with her Royal Soul, she could easily complete the advancement without any concern about going out of control. In that case, wouldn't it be better to advance to Sequence 2 sooner?

"In this modern age, promotion to Sequence 2 is, in a way, a curse."

"Because once you advance to Sequence 2, you will inevitably attract the attention of certain entities. And these entities will often 'intervene' during your advancement, which means that those who do not have the protection of a major power and advance to Sequence 2 alone will only suffer a miserable fate..."

Karula gave a meaningful smile, and almost immediately, the words "contamination" and "out of control" flashed through Audrey's mind. Observing Audrey's reaction, Karula continued:

"Among these, the 'Apprentice' path is the most severely affected. Other paths, with the protection of other angels, can largely avoid the dangers posed by these gazes during their advancement. But for the 'Apprentice' path 'Planetary Planeswalkers,' the 'gaze' they endure is several times, or even dozens of times, greater than that of other paths."

"Unless a true God personally provides protection, one will almost certainly be affected by this gaze."

But Audrey quickly seized on the loophole in Carula's words and countered with:

"But this isn't a problem for you, is it?"

Since Karula possesses the King's Soul, and can avoid losing control and becoming corrupted by its power, she doesn't need to worry about the risks of advancing to Sequence 2 like others. This cannot be a reason for her to avoid advancing.

"Pollution is certainly not a problem."

Karula rolled over, stretched out her arms and her graceful body, and said lazily, "But it will inevitably attract the 'attention' of some people, which is the most troublesome thing. So I originally planned to collect enough extraordinary characteristics to advance to Sequence 0 and then advance all at once."

Audrey remained silent, though there was a suspicion of exaggeration. But having witnessed the 'miracle' displayed by the King's Soul, Audrey had no doubt whatsoever about Karula's words.

However, even if we can't gather all the extraordinary characteristics required to advance to Sequence 0, can't we at least get Sequence 1?

Seemingly noticing the girl's confusion, Carula explained to herself:

"Two of the three Sequence 1 Extraordinary traits of the 'Dreamer' pathway, along with the uniqueness, are in the possession of the same person, and I have been trying to find His location by following the traces He left behind. Before I advance, He will not pay special attention to my existence because I am only a Sequence 3 and pose no threat to Him. This gives me the opportunity to find Him, but unfortunately He has always been quite cautious, and I cannot find any traces He left behind at all."

"Now that I have been promoted to Sequence 2, I have naturally been included in His threat list and have received His special attention, making it even more difficult to find Him."

"The 'Writer' of the 'Audience' pathway is definitely one of the most difficult Sequence 1s to deal with. This is because the 'Writer' has the characteristic that everything it says will be known, and it also has the ability to turn the stories it writes into reality. Even the true god may not be able to catch it."

Carula clicked her tongue, seemingly annoyed, and then said:

"Besides that, the remaining portion is in the hands of the Church of the Night, but its whereabouts are now unknown."

Audrey remained a silent and attentive listener; all of this was still too far removed from her life.

However, according to Karula, she was actually quite unlucky because the path to advancement through the "Dreamer" route had been completely blocked, and she had almost no chance of advancing to Sequence 1!

"Of course, I don't either."

Audrey muttered to herself.

Although she wasn't even a demigod yet, the inability to glimpse higher levels still left her with some regret. She didn't aspire to become a true god of Sequence 0, but being an angel of Sequence 1 was actually quite good.

Of course, this isn't necessarily a good thing. After all, once someone becomes a Sequence 1 angel, they're forced to fight each other to become a Sequence 0 true god. Because to become a Sequence 0, one must collect all three Sequence 1 extraordinary traits, which means they must kill other Sequence 1 angels who have achieved the same path…

Even if they don't have the ambition to become Sequence 0, they are forced to get involved in this endless battle in order to protect themselves.

However, since Karula knew that becoming a Sequence 2 would make it even harder to find 'His' location, she still chose to advance. This suggests that she has something more important to do, and that she can only do it after completing the advancement. This might be the reason why Karula has been frequently 'disappearing' lately!

"You got promoted just for what you're doing now?" Audrey couldn't help but blurt out.

"almost."

Carula gave Audrey a meaningful look, then readily admitted it, saying casually:

"If I had to summarize what I'm doing right now in a simple way, well, just think of it as a dream."

"dream?"

Audrey paused for a moment; this answer was somewhat beyond her expectations.

Is promotion to Rank 2 just a pipe dream?

For most people, becoming a Sequence 2 is already a pipe dream, right? And what kind of dream would require reaching Sequence 2 to even dream about?

Audrey almost instinctively thought Carla was teasing her, but reason told her that Carla had no reason to do so.

After all, Carula has already said all this, so what reason would he have to lie to her?

"What kind of dream?" Audrey couldn't help but ask.

"A dream that encompasses the entire world." Carol stretched out her slender white index finger, then touched her red lips, and whispered:

"Hmm~, in a sense, it's just like the dream that Adam, the organizer of the Twilight Hermits, had."

"The Twilight Hermits' Society..."

Audrey's mind subconsciously flashed back to the mysterious organization that secretly manipulated the trends of the times, and also subconsciously to Mr. Fool's admonition—

Whatever is said will be known!

Do not mention this organization in any way in real life, otherwise the other party will become aware of it.

Audrey felt inexplicably nervous, as if she could sense someone watching them from the shadows… She instinctively wanted to remind Karula of Mr. Fool's warning, but when she looked at Karula, she noticed the corners of the woman's mouth slowly curling up. In a daze, a figure appeared before Audrey's eyes.

He wore a simple white robe, had a light gold beard that covered the lower half of his face, and had clear, innocent eyes like a baby. He wore a series of cross pendants around his neck, looking like the most ordinary priest.

But Audrey found this man's appearance somewhat unbelievable, because although she clearly saw the white-robed priest, she couldn't pinpoint his location at all. He was clearly there, yet he wasn't in her sight, nor in this room; it seemed as if what she was seeing was just an illusion!

In her daze, Audrey suddenly saw Carla standing in front of her, in front of the white-robed priest, her eyes filled with mockery:

"Found you!"

In the blink of an eye, the white-robed priest before Audrey vanished without a trace, as if he had never existed. At the same time, the lady who had been lounging on the bed had also disappeared.

This series of unexpected events caught Audrey completely off guard, and what followed was not only a sudden realization but also a deep sense of fear.

The departure of the white-robed priest made her suddenly realize many things. Scenes from her actions over the past few days flashed through her mind, and details she had previously overlooked were now coming to mind!

Something's not right, something's very wrong!

She's been acting very strangely lately!

The girl's face paled slightly, but then an annoyed voice suddenly rang in her ears:

"Tsk, this damn caution."

Audrey looked up and saw Karula's figure again. She was lying on her side on the bed, in a languid posture, as if she had never left.

"Don't you have anything you want to ask?" Karula met Audrey's gaze and asked with a smile.

Audrey pursed her lips and asked softly:

"What exactly happened just now?"

"In short, you're being watched."

"Who...who is he?"

Faced with Karula's still nonchalant answer, Audrey, eager to know the answer, couldn't help but press for more details.

"Don't you already have the answer?"

Karula asked in return with a smile.

"Adam".

Audrey parted her lips slightly, but did not utter the word.

The mastermind behind the Twilight Hermits, the owner of two Sequence 1 extraordinary traits and uniqueness, the person closest to Sequence 0, and also the goal that Karula has been pursuing all along!

"When did He...?"

Audrey opened her mouth, but then hesitated and stopped herself from speaking.

Don't worry.

Kalu stretched lazily and said in a languid tone:

"Although he has been influencing you for a long time, he has always manipulated things through 'coincidences' and dared not be too obvious, otherwise he would have been exposed long ago. This time he was a little too hasty, which is why I caught him out, but now it seems that this was just a test on his part."

(End of this chapter)