Alfred was in there, yet he was not in there, for inside the workshop there was only a dim yellow halo. It was weak, like a flickering candle flame, yet exceptionally resilient.
Leaning against the doorframe, Karen crossed his arms over his chest. Listening to the prayer echoing from that tiny halo of light, he smiled.
"Heh... heheh..."
As he laughed, Karen let out a long breath.
The daze in his head that had nearly crushed him—no, had already crushed him—finally vanished completely in this moment.
When lost in confusion, even if accompanied by only a single lamp, one would feel warmth; looking up into the dark night, even if only one star shone down upon you, one would feel beauty.
Life was like sailing a boat upon the open sea. In truth, on most people's boats, there were neither sails nor oars; they merely drifted along passively with the currents.
At such a time, if an anchor could be dropped, even a fleeting moment of stillness was enough to arouse envy, enough to evoke gratitude.
Karen looked around. He finally understood why this illusion was so agonizingly difficult: because the one who built this cage was, in truth, himself.
In the ordinary sense, being clearheaded, looking something in the eye, and conquering it was a challenge launched by oneself as an individual against an opposing party.
Yet here, your sobriety toward yourself, your facing yourself, your conquering of yourself... were tantamount to your own confusion, your own avoidance, and your own defeat.
Aisli's father, Mr. Santos, had put it quite well in his diary: *When it appears alive, it will be everywhere.*
This sentence summarized Puxien's ability with extreme precision. With oneself as the baseline, then one truly was... everywhere.
It was just that this phrasing was a bit too concise, even ascending to the level of ultimate philosophical enlightenment. Without having experienced it or truly walked through it, one simply couldn't comprehend the true meaning of those words.
"So, when writing a diary in the future, it's better to use plainer language, and ideally add annotations."
Karen turned to leave, waving back at the faint light behind him.
Coming up from the basement to the first floor, the Throne of Order was still resting upon the mortuary slab.
Karen stepped up the dais and walked to the throne. Without hesitation, he sat straight down.
"I've sat down, but why am I still not the God of Order?"
No voice answered him.
Karen ran his hands over the throne's armrests, feeling their exquisite texture.
"The throne itself has no meaning at all. Whether one sits in it or not makes no difference. The reason it is revered is not because it is the Throne of Order, but because it is *named* the Throne of Order—a chair the God of Order once sat upon."
Karen stood up and looked back at the throne behind him.
"The more delicate something looks, the less practical it is. It's not even as good as an armchair—no, a wicker rocking chair."
Stepping down from the mortuary slab, Mr. Hoffen was still sitting on the sofa by the coffee table, sipping tea.
Karen walked up to him, bent down, and said, "Grandpa Hoffen, it wasn't until I went out and broadened my horizons that I deeply realized just how incredible you were. What a pity you're dead, and even more of a pity that you were already Awakened.
"Otherwise, I really would return one day, dig you back up from the graveyard, and ask you about formations. I originally thought learning formations would be as simple as learning spells, but now it seems I was being naive.
"Even though I have the Key to the Rubik's Cube, studying formations is still a complex, lengthy process. If you were still around, I could have come specifically to ask you to teach me.
"Never mind, though. You passed away quite peacefully and freely, without leaving any regrets behind."
With that, Karen reached out and adjusted the hat on Mr. Hoffen's head.
Then Karen climbed the stairs. The golden retriever was still there, sticking its tongue out with a goofy grin.
Karen rested his hand on the golden retriever's bald spot and rubbed it, saying, "There's something I've always been curious about, but felt embarrassed to ask: was there ever any real affection between Goddess Mills and the Sea God?"
The golden retriever kept smiling foolishly, but the smile stiffened slightly.
Karen stepped over the dog and went upstairs. The black cat was still sitting there. Karen naturally reached out and scratched the soft fur at Purr's neck, saying, "When I get back, I'll cook fish for you. No matter how large Allen Manor is, there isn't a chef who can make fish the way you like."
The black cat's tail stood erect, and that pure white finger seemed poised to point at Karen again.
Karen reached out and caught the finger, saying, "Don't worry. One day, I will go to the place where the Allen family found your finger to look for you. I hope you left more things behind there, so I won't have made the trip for nothing."
Karen released the finger and walked toward the study. At the door, he raised his hand and knocked.
*Knock, knock... knock, knock...*
"Enter."
Karen pushed the door open and looked at Diss sitting inside.
"Grandpa."
"Mm?"
"I know you're tired and want to get a good sleep to rest. You go ahead and sleep; I'll wake you up when I get back.
"I can sense your pride. Down to your bones, you are just as proud as I am, which is why our love and hate are so unconstrained.
"Purr once said that you saw a reflection of your younger self in me.
"In truth, I have always been learning that pride and free-spirited nature of yours.
"I was very fortunate. When I opened my eyes in this world, I had an elder like you.
"I believe you truly cherished me as your grandson,
"because
"I have long considered you my real grandfather."
Having said his piece, Karen backed out of the study and closed the door.
As he passed by the windowsill, he found that the other "Karen" was still standing there, though this time facing him rather than the window.
"I saw your past torment through Mr. Aisen, which is why I believe death was actually a release for you. I didn't steal your body, nor did I drive you out of this home. When I arrived, this house was already vacant.
"I won't say things like I will bear your responsibilities for you, because I *am* Karen now.
"By the way, your constitution is weak. Don't stand at the windowsill so often; the wind is strong there."
Right after, Karen pushed open the bedroom door. Inside, Uncle Mason, Aunt Mary, Aunt Winnie, and the others were still present.
Opening his arms, Karen embraced Uncle Mason. "Uncle, I miss you. You are a humorous and witty elder, and you taught me so much about how to conduct oneself in life."
Karen then embraced Aunt Mary. "Aunt, you truly are beautiful. I've always thought Uncle was exceptionally lucky to marry you."
After that, Karen embraced everyone. Finally, looking at them, he said:
"Grandpa asked me several times if I had truly thought it through. Back then, my mind was set on going out to see the world.
"If everything could start over now and Grandpa were to ask me the same question again, I don't know if I would still have the heart to leave home, leave Inmeles Funeral Parlor, leave Mink Street.
"I miss you all. Very, very much.
"I will return,
"once I am strong enough."
*After this, there will no longer be any voids in my heart.*
Karen lifted his head, raised his hand, and snapped his fingers by his ear.
*Snap!*
...
Karen opened his eyes. Beside him, Aisli stood motionless with her eyes closed. The rest of his squad members were also standing there, frozen still.
Not only his squad, but everyone from the other three squads was standing completely motionless as well.
Slowly, Karen turned his gaze toward Puxien, the giant walnut.
Inside Puxien's heart was pure despair.
Illusionary beasts possessed intelligence as well. Although their species lacked human ethics and social concepts, they possessed the instinct for self-preservation.
What Karen saw, Puxien saw as well.
Puxien could only curse fate. Fate had given it a one-in-four chance, and it had been assigned right here.
Why did it have to be it, and not the other three Puxiens?
Karen looked down and saw a white silk thread attached to his wrist, its other end connected to Puxien.
Looking closely, one could see that everyone had a white thread tied to them, linking all the candidates within each respective barrier.
With his other hand, Karen untied the white thread and grasped it in his palm.
Puxien could neither speak nor move, but from the white thread, Karen sensed its pleading.
It was not begging him to spare its life; they had known all along that being sent up here meant an overwhelming probability of death, as they were expendable consumables for this trial.
It was begging not to be punished in ways more terrifying than death.
Karen opened his hand, and the white silk thread snapped back into Puxien.
*Wuuuuuu...*
A sound resembling a steam whistle issued from Puxien, filled with relief and gratitude.
And then,
*Boom!*
The giant walnut blew apart.
It chose suicide, and it did so without hesitation and with frantic urgency, as though terrified Karen might change his mind.
After the explosion, the others did not awaken, because Puxien's ability was merely a catalyst; their mental reactions had not yet concluded.
Karen guessed that something had likely gone wrong on his end, resulting in issues for both himself and this Puxien.
As the first person to "awaken," Karen chose to sit quietly and wait in silence.
Five minutes later, the second person to wake up appeared: the sleepy girl next door, Philomena.
Upon waking, the Puxien on her side dove straight into the ground and vanished, giving her no chance to attack. Like Karen, she severed the white threads on her teammates, yielding the same result: her teammates did not wake up because of it.
The sole value of doing so was stripping Puxien of its ability to monitor the contents of the illusion, effectively providing timely privacy protection.
Of course, if one could seize the opportunity to kill that Puxien, it would count as completely eliminating the witness.
On another side, Muri, the captain of Squad 1, flashed forward in an instant and appeared beside his Puxien. A blast of Order flame struck the Puxien directly, incinerating its body on the spot.
Immediately after, the bald captain Kane also awakened. He prepared to strike at the Puxien, but his Puxien dove underground ahead of time.
At that moment, Punk's voice rang out:
"One hour remains. Within this hour, the top three squads with the highest number of awakened members will qualify for the final round of testing.
"If the last two squads have an equal number of awakened members, then all four squads will advance to the final round together."
Ten minutes later, Bart woke up.
A few minutes later, Ventura woke up.
Then came Mars and Blanche, while Aisli did not wake up until nearly half an hour later.
The situation was much the same for the other squads, but because Karen's squad had expended the least energy and maintained the best condition, their overall awakening speed was much faster than the other three squads.
Karen once again confirmed one thing: he truly was an extreme outlier.
He believed that if the other candidates had received the same treatment he had just experienced, most of them wouldn't stand a chance of waking up, and having their self-consciousness sealed away for the rest of their lives would be the most normal outcome.
Furthermore, Karen could see that this Puxien trial was less a weeding-out test and more of a benefit granted by the organizers—an opportunity for the youths who had made it this far to elevate their self-awareness. The difficulty was actually quite reasonable.
Therefore, Puxiens must be exceptionally expensive, perhaps not even prepared in large numbers. That was why they had administered stimulants to the previous round's illusionary beast to eliminate more squads beforehand.
By the fifty-fifth minute, all members of Squad 1, Squad 3, and Squad 7 were awake.
In Philomena's squad, however, three people had yet to awaken.
Their injuries were generally severe and their condition was too poor, leaving them unable to digest even this benefit.
From the look of things, Philomena's squad was about to be eliminated.
Just then, Philomena walked over to two teammates who had yet to wake up. Resting a hand on each of their shoulders, she closed her eyes.
Two minutes later, the two teammates opened their eyes and woke up.
Philomena then walked up to her last teammate, resting her hand on his shoulder. At the final moment—literally within the final minute—her last teammate awakened as well.
The members of the other three squads watched Philomena's actions in astonishment. She had actually used soul bridging to forcefully enter their soul consciousness and wake them up.
Karen, recalling her habit of falling asleep even while walking, wondered if she had entered via some sort of "dream transmission."
Ultimately, with Punk's announcement, all four squads advanced together to the next round.
*Pfft!*
Upon hearing the confirmation of their advancement, Philomena spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed onto her knees, blood oozing from the corners of her eyes, nose, and ears. Evidently, waking her teammates had cost her dearly.
In truth, there was little point in what she had done. While this round was a bonus stage, the final round certainly would not be, as the selection could only conclude once just two squads remained.
Her squad, including herself, was in an unimaginably wretched state, making it utterly impossible for them to pass the competition of the next round.
Actually, Philomena herself was well aware of this, but she simply refused to resign herself to it.
Her unwillingness did not stem from a desire to prove anything to Karen, but from her sheer pride. Even knowing there was no chance in the end, she would still force her way into the final round, even if it meant paying a heavy personal price.
Even Karen couldn't help but admire this. Although she was unsuitable as a teammate or a friend, her pride and strength truly made her an opponent worthy of serious respect.
Above, dark clouds gathered once more, heralding the countdown to the next round.
Karen looked at his squad members and noticed their spirits were somewhat low. The other squads were largely in the same boat; having just emerged from a state of "self-reflection," their moods were bound to hit a trough.
"Snap out of it, everyone!" Karen clapped his hands. "Letting emotions take hold is instinct; casting them aside is skill! At a time like this, wasting energy on useless feelings is the stupidest thing you can do!"
In the end, it fell to him as captain to rally their morale—ironic, considering he had shouldered the greatest pressure earlier.
"Yes, Captain!"
"Yes, Captain!"
The members responded with loud shouts and straightened up one after another.
"Mars, activate the Mind Bridge Formation right now and connect all of us!"
"Yes, Captain."
Mars took a deep breath and activated the formation. Standing within the formation, everyone's minds were linked, allowing them to sense each other's emotional fluctuations. When the assault from the divine artifact truly struck, it could coordinate a collective mental defense.
Squad 1 also activated a similar formation, and its members stepped inside.
Seeing this scene, Kane, the bald captain of Squad 7, slapped his bald head and cursed, "Just picking on us because we don't have an array master, huh?!"
At present,
Squad 1 and Squad 3 had made preparations to face the arrival of the divine artifact; Squad 7 was swearing up a storm; and Philomena's squad didn't even have anyone standing—practically all of them were lying flat on the ground.
However, as the dark clouds were on the verge of dispersing and a rift appeared above once more, beams of light emerged from bald captain Kane of Squad 7. Spreading his arms, he took hold of two teammates' hands, and the others held hands in turn, forming a circle.
They were gambling—gambling that the divine artifact's power was purely spiritual in nature.
Because a divine artifact was simply too powerful; if it unleashed its full might, every squad present would be wiped out.
Therefore, this team-building style of defense had a high probability of actually working.
At this moment, an archaic aura seeped out from within the rift.
It hadn't even fully emerged from the rift, yet the terrifying pressure of the divine artifact poured down, accompanied by a mental storm akin to an appetizer.
Even shielded by their formation, the members of Squad 1 still showed looks of agonizing struggle. Though their voices couldn't be heard, their misery and pain could be felt.
The members of Squad 7 went from holding hands while standing to holding hands while crouching, tears and snot streaming down from sheer agony.
Philomena's squad of troublemakers was judged by the array master overseeing their sector to have lost the ability to continue competing, and was teleported out of the barrier.
Meanwhile, the members of Karen's squad looked at one another, then glanced over at the other two squads, puzzled expressions spreading across their faces. Why didn't they feel anything at all on their end?
A possibility struck them all!
Aisli turned back to Mars, who was maintaining the formation, and marveled, "Mars, it turns out you were the hidden master all along!"
The rest of the squad cast admiring looks at him. In any case, having a hidden big shot in the team suddenly reveal their true strength at the final moment to carry everyone through was a delightful surprise; no one was going to blame him for keeping it under wraps before.
Mars: "Huh?"
Facing the praises of his teammates, Mars was the most bewildered of all. Leaving aside the fact that he hadn't concealed his abilities, even if he had, what did this have to do with him?
The formation he had set up hadn't encountered the slightest shred of a mental storm—not even the brush of a gentle breeze!
"Karen... Karen..."
Because of the Mind Bridge, everyone's minds were connected to a certain degree, allowing this spiritual cry to reach the ears of every squad member.
Ventura asked in confusion, "Who's calling for the Captain in their mind right now?"
Bart turned his head toward Aisli and Blanche and cautioned, "You two need to control yourselves right now. Don't call the Captain so tenderly in your heads—we can all hear it."
Because the voice was female.
Aisli immediately shook her head. "It's not me!"
Blanche also shook her head immediately. "It's not me either! Really, it's not!"
"Really not you two?" Bart remained skeptical.
Aisli fumed, "No! I said it's not me! Even if I wanted to think about the Captain, it wouldn't be right now! Can't a person think about him lying in bed after returning home once the selection is over?!"
Blanche nodded. "Exactly, exactly!"
Bart asked in bewilderment, "Hey, if it's not you two, then who could it be? Ventura, Mars—which one of you has a woman inside your mental world?"
Mars spoke up: "The voice isn't coming from inside the formation. It's transmitting in from outside."
"Outside the formation?" Bart grew even more bewildered. "How is that possible? Did you forget? We're inside our squad's barrier. Sound can't penetrate, and neither can spiritual power—unless it's that div—"
Ventura picked up, "Unless it's a mental transmission sent by that divine artifact."
"Brother Karen... I miss you so much... Brother Karen..."
Everyone: "..."
Chapter 323