Astonishment

The window was closed. Neo and Karen leaned back against opposite sides of the frame. Neo spoke up. "To think he slew a god, step by step, all for a woman he never possessed..." Unlike the captain's sentimental sigh, what echoed in Karen's mind was the curse the Sea God had uttered before his fall. The Raniedal of the past had been soaring with ambition and pride, brushing off the divine curse with contempt, spitting back a disdainful "Childish." He just wondered what Raniedal was thinking when Grandfather Diss and Mr. Hoffen joined hands to seal him inside a dog's body. For a long time, Karen had maintained his guard against Kevin. Just like what Mr. Hoffen had written in his notes regarding how to break the seal: *Are you insane?!* An evil god was, after all, an evil god. Even if labeling him "evil" lacked fairness... turning even an ordinary person into a dog would make them fight you with their life, let alone an evil god. Yet after pushing open those three windows today, Karen had gained a deeper understanding of Kevin. As for guarding against him, that would certainly continue; no matter what, Karen would never truly let down his guard against the big golden retriever at home. Still, on top of that foundation, there seemed to be more topics they could communicate about. Regardless, judging from the eventual outcome, the Sea God's curse seemed to have come true. Neo spoke again: "I really find it hard to imagine this feeling. How on earth did he pull it off? I even suspect Goddess Mills didn't even know his name before she attained godhood." "Because Goddess Mills was the moon. Though the evil god never possessed the moon, her light once shone upon him." "I really didn't expect a pathetic, one-sided unrequited love could be described so decently by you." "Captain, it is inherently a kind of beauty. After all, everyone has a different definition of beauty. And some things don't require resonance or empathy from others at all; they only need to move oneself." "Sigh, I just really didn't expect an evil god would have such a side. It makes one rather sigh with emotion. A pity outsiders can't enter this place. Otherwise, if it could be replicated in reality and opened as a former residence of a celebrity, visitors would surely flock here in droves." "If that happened, the evil god would die of fury." "Heh." Neo looked around once more. The humble furnishings in the room couldn't conceal anything good at all. Most importantly, even if there really were something valuable, it wouldn't be physical and couldn't be taken out. Oh, the vast area between the two doors did hold an incomparably precious presence, but that was wisdom. Even the Church of Order didn't dare dissect it, let alone the two of them. The two stepped out of the wardrobe, passed through the field of starlight once more, and arrived before the initial red door. Neo reached out and pulled at the door, but it remained firmly shut. Then, Neo took Karen's hand and walked out through the red door. Once outside, Neo turned back and pulled at the door again. It wouldn't budge. Karen said, "Since there is a door on the outside that outsiders can never enter, there was no need to lock the inner door. In any case, if one forced the door open, everything inside would be destroyed along with it." Neo nodded. "Actually, you don't need to go out of your way to explain." "Understood, Captain. Um, are we heading back now?" Inside this castle, the two had already witnessed the true secret, but it seemed this secret held no practical value that could be cashed in. Therefore, staying any longer made little sense. Neo didn't answer Karen's question right away, instead asking, "By the way, when you came in, what state was that newcomer in?" "Mr. Aisen was also sleeping." "Meaning he entered as well, but I haven't seen him here." "Yes, I originally thought you and Mr. Aisen came in together, Captain." "Hand in hand, together?" "Uh..." "Before going to sleep, I left you a hinted gesture." "In fact, Mr. Aisen did the same thing." "He knew you had a mask too? Oh, right, you were the one who helped him get Lemar to make his mask. But here's the question: according to normal human thinking, after re-entering this realm of consciousness, the first thought would definitely be to check out this castle. Yet he didn't come here. "This means that in this consciousness realm, there are other places worthy of attention—places more worth noticing than this castle. If we compare this castle to an operating hub, there must be another place that serves as the control hub." "Captain, you think Mr. Aisen went there?" "The Guman family's standing is higher than you imagine. For families with genuine capability and heritage, their influence can no longer be measured merely by priest ranks. "At the very beginning, I realized the environment I was in wasn't real, but he seemed to have seen through the scam long before that. His understanding of this place goes a layer deeper than mine." "Then... should we go look for him now?" "Of course. After all, after reading the secret diary buried deep in this evil god's memories, we still have plenty of time. Are we really going back to sleep? "Besides, a team member suddenly vanished. As captain, I definitely need to find him and bring him back safely. Never abandoning anyone is our Hound Squad's creed, right?" "You're right, Captain." "Now the question is: aside from the castle, where else in this area is suitable as a control hub?" "Captain, I think we can change our angle. We're currently standing at Alais Castle, but in reality, Alais Castle probably wouldn't look like this, nor would it have this red door. "So, where the control hub actually is might not be something we can guess based on specific physical locations." "You mean, start from the traces?" "Yes." "Oh, I see. You're quite right. In a place like this, it truly is your specialty. So, have you found anything?" "Found it. Smoke. It was what that fake you used to guide us. But I don't know if it's still there now, or if we can find it in time." "Smoke?" Neo walked to the east side of the castle and opened a window. It served as high ground. Scattered around the castle, quite a few Whip of Order squad members were currently 'swimming.' Further away on the highway, five people were gathered together, smoke coiling around them. "What a coincidence. It really is there." Karen also walked over, looking at the white mist. "This smoke is actually the most effective, but also the most conspicuous, method of suggestion. I think it's only used against 'stubborn elements,' causing them and anyone they dragged along to get lost again in the fracture of time." "Meaning the arrangements inside the castle were designed well in advance, but outside, they didn't design much, so this smoke is more of an external patch-up method." "Yes, Captain. In the smoke, people easily get lost and influenced. I imagine someone in the control hub is using their consciousness to affect the targets." "Then that must be it. Your guess is correct. Remember the secret chamber where we were sleeping, the one with the Whip of Order sculpture carved on the ceiling?" "I remember. I heard Fanny say that it should be an interrogation room of the Whip of Order." "Yeah, that's right, an interrogation room. The environment inside an interrogation room can change—that's the effect of the Wall of Judgment. Every major district has them, distributed to various departments that need to use them." "Wall of Judgment?" "Not the name of a spell of the same name, but a divine artifact. In the last era, there was a God of Judgment who wished to become the mediator and judge among the various factions of the gods, wanting to end the unending wars between the gods that way. "However, during a mediation of a crusade launched by the God of Light, our God of Order intervened and suppressed the God of Judgment. His divine artifact, the Wall of Judgment, also fell into the hands of our Church of Order. Naturally, not only this divine artifact, but his entire heritage was absorbed by our Church of Order. The eventual formation of the Inquisitor sequence might even owe something to his dedication and contribution." "Captain, how do you know all this?" "That night, I suddenly realized I had some gaps in my knowledge in this area. I used to dislike flipping through books, let alone memorizing them. Besides, sometimes when you read what's recorded in books, you know full well it isn't the truth. "Yet that's where the problem lies. If you don't fill in this knowledge, it becomes rather embarrassing when you need to use it—especially after exchanging secrets with you, that feeling of awkwardness became all the more pronounced. "So lately, I specifically combed through the relevant memories of that other 'him' inside my soul. The results were remarkably good. I can even recite *Light Era* backwards now—and the unabridged version of *Light Era*, at that." "Captain..." "Are you worried he's using this method to preach to me?" "Yes." "If he can spare me the trouble of memorizing books, I'm willing. After all, any convenience or shortcut comes with a price. "All right, let's head down and track the reverse trail of the smoke while it hasn't dispersed yet." Karen and Neo left the castle and stepped outside. The dense clusters of smoke and where they led weren't their goal; what they focused on was the direction the smoke originated from. It was very faint and subtle, but it still existed. With Neo in front and Karen behind, the two jogged along, ultimately discovering that the smoke was wafting out from beneath a road sign. The road sign was marked: "Alais Castle." Neo crossed his arms. "All right, now the question is back: how do we get in?" Karen reached out and touched the sign. No reaction whatsoever. Neo shook the sign, but nothing happened either. Just then, a plume of blue smoke drifted out from within the road sign. Neo and Karen instantly snapped on guard. Within the blue smoke condensed the silhouette of a man wearing a silver mask over his face. Seeing the two in front of him, he reached up, took off the mask, and revealed Mr. Aisen's original face. "Mr. Aisen," Karen said in surprise. Mr. Aisen nodded to Karen, then looked toward Neo and asked, "Captain, are you trying to go inside?" "Yes. Have you already been inside?" Neo asked. "Mm. I was just preparing to head back to the secret chamber to sleep after coming out." "What's in there?" Neo asked. "Inside, it's very dull. Like a swarm of fireflies holding a meeting." Neo frowned slightly. "Fireflies... holding a meeting?" Karen said to Neo, "Captain, you don't need to look for deep meaning in Mr. Aisen's words. He likes to state things literally." Neo looked at Karen and asked, "Still, can your mind picture a scene of fireflies holding a meeting?" "Uh..." Karen shook his head. "So, how do we get in?" Neo asked Mr. Aisen. "Do you want me to bring you in to take a look?" Mr. Aisen asked. "What else?" Neo asked back. "Then you can just say so directly next time, Captain." "Fine, noted. Now, I order you, my team member Memphis, to take your captain, me, and your teammate, Karen, inside." "Understood, Captain." Mr. Aisen bent down and drew a simple formation on the ground. "What kind of formation is this?" Neo asked. "A very simple formation." "Could you be a bit more specific?" "Like a key. Secret locations of certain special departments in the Church use it as a key. However, people in those departments are usually quite lazy and rarely change the keys. "I tested several keys I previously knew in sequence, and succeeded on the second try." "All right, talking to you is exhausting." The corner of Mr. Aisen's mouth curved slightly. "Yet I quite like the atmosphere of your squad. On this mission, I've gained a lot as well, understanding my son better." "That's truly a good thing." "Yes, a good thing." Mr. Aisen nodded. With the simple formation completed, Mr. Aisen straightened up and said, "All right, I'm going to activate this formation now. Afterwards, I will enter with you, since I'll need to bring you back out." "Actually, no need. I've already learned your simple formation. You can actually just go back to the secret chamber and really sleep," Neo said. "All right." Mr. Aisen stepped out of the formation circle. "Then I'll activate the formation for you." "Wait!" Neo suddenly raised his hand. It seemed he had thought of something, and asked, "A swarm of fireflies holding a meeting... so inside is a pure space of conscious order?" "Yes." "A primitive state presented under the collective measure of faith, consciousness, spirit, realm, and aura, is that it?" "Yes, precisely. This is a confidentiality measure for meetings of special departments, because members within certain special departments cannot reveal their identities to one another either, so they can only use this method to communicate and hold meetings." "In that space, everyone is a ball of light, right? That's why you said it was like a swarm of fireflies holding a meeting?" "Yes." "What colors are there?" "From grey to black, then gradually to red, primarily in shades of red and black. In addition, their sizes vary. The redder the color, the larger it generally is, and the higher the status inside. "When I went in just now, someone even greeted me." Mr. Aisen was a Jurist, so the grade of the light orb he manifested was definitely not low. Once inside, even though they didn't know one another's true identities in the Church, their hierarchy and status were clear at a glance. "Then I can't go in. Heh." Neo stepped out of the formation circle. "Understood, Captain." Aisen nodded, not asking why the captain couldn't go in. Mr. Aisen had no interest in prying into the captain's secrets; he was largely uninterested in anything outside his duties. However, Karen knew why the captain had suddenly changed his mind: the captain was worried that after entering, while everyone else would be red or black light orbs, he would end up being pure white. Because the power the captain currently used belonged entirely to the Light attribute. Even when he fought, he always first converted Light power into Order power. Bertha hadn't mistakenly assumed the captain was a Light-attribute powerhouse; in fact, the captain *was* a Light-attribute powerhouse, through and through, genuine and unadulterated. Mr. Aisen looked at Karen. He stepped back into the formation circle and said, "Then I'll take Karen in to take a look." "Mm, fine." Neo nodded. "Take Karen to broaden his horizons." "Stand firm," Mr. Aisen said. "Once we're inside, no need to be nervous. There are many powerful beings in there, and even more ordinary ones. Your tier in there won't be very low either." "All right, I understand." Mr. Aisen activated the formation. Blue light enveloped Karen and him together, and in the next moment, their silhouettes twisted and sank into the road sign in front of them. ... Karen opened his eyes to find a space framed by chains. Within the grid surfaces formed by the chains, images were displaying, monitoring every single person in real time—or more precisely, every marked person. Unmarked people would not appear inside, because in this consciousness realm, being unmarked meant you did not exist. This was also why Karen hadn't been discovered when that 'swimming' Whip of Order member 'swam' past him. By the same logic, it was precisely because they 'did not exist' that the captain had been able to guide him through the entirety of Alais Castle. Within this space, there were several hundred light orbs, varying in size and color. At the very center, seemingly the place where orders were issued, were a dozen or so large red light orbs. The ring around them consisted of medium-sized dark red orbs, further out were deep black orbs, and the outermost perimeter held small, grayish orbs, which were also the most numerous. Yet what surprised Karen was that the instant he entered, all the light orbs seemed to halt whatever they were doing. The whispering ceased, and everyone's gaze converged on him. Although they were all orbs of light, this 'gaze'—or rather, the perception of 'attention'—was all the clearer and more pronounced. In this state within this space, one was stripped of bodily constraints, making all communication far more direct and concise. Sneaking in only to immediately become the focus of all eyes, Karen instantly grew nervous. He began looking around for Uncle Aisen's figure. Didn't he say everything would be normal inside and wouldn't attract attention? Wait. Where was Uncle Aisen—no, where was his light orb? Karen searched around, and finally, down below, Karen spotted a black light orb hovering very close to him. Why is Uncle Aisen's light orb so small? No. Wait! Karen finally realized: it wasn't that Uncle Aisen's light orb was small, but that he was currently too enormous! He had forgotten that he was wearing the mask left behind by Grandfather Diss! Karen began to 'observe' himself. He finally realized just how massive he was right now. Every other light orb in this space—even that cluster of red orbs at the very center—seemed minuscule against his stature. Moreover, the color of his light orb wasn't merely red; it was rimmed with gilded gold, appearing incomparably ancient and majestic. The next moment, after a brief storm of emotions—shock, disbelief, incomprehension, yielding to undeniable fact—all the light orbs projected reverent thoughts toward Karen, as though bowing in worship, crying out in unison: "Greetings, Temple Elder!"