With Klein's explanation and reassurance, Allen felt more at ease and decided to observe for a few more days to see if similar nightmares would recur. After smiling and sending the well-known surgeon out the door, Klein's expression suddenly grew serious, as though pondering something. His interpretation of the dream was sound—the dark, towering spire, the thick walls and gates blocking the way, and the silver-white serpent indeed symbolized Will. Aonsedt's current state of being threatened by something, and his fear of helplessness, his instinct to retreat behind layers of protection. Yet the key issue was that this likely wasn't an insight spontaneously arising from Allen's spiritual awareness. Otherwise, he wouldn't have waited until last night, until he unearthed the thousand-paper crane, to have this dream. Such a development should have occurred much earlier—well before Will Aonsedt was discharged, and even before his spiritual unconsciousness had begun to sense something unusual. Therefore, Klein suspected that the dream had been implanted into Dr. Allen by someone else, mediated through that crane paper crane! Klein had opened his "clairvoyance" to carefully examine the handicraft, yet found no spiritual radiance in it. Yet his intuition and inspiration consistently pointed to something extraordinary about the crane—something deeply intangible, elusive, and worthy of profound reverence, perhaps even relating to fate itself. The child named Will O'Connell was no ordinary figure... It seemed that the truly magical might not be the tarot cards after all, but rather the child himself. The silver-white giant serpent symbolized danger, and this theme was intertwined with elements of misfortune and fortune—was it perhaps the "Mercury Serpent," the "Monster" sequence 1, the "Mercury Serpent"? Klein's thoughts flowed freely, yet he remained uncertain about any specific conclusion. He then turned his attention to analyzing how the dream had been implanted. Given Klein's current mastery of mysticism, this is far from a complex or difficult concept—he quickly formed a clear plan: "First, we can rule out the influence of wailing spirits. Such spirits would tint Dr. Allen's aura with either a light or deep greenish hue, but I didn't observe any such indications. "There are essentially two methods by which a dream's content can be subtly conveyed to the dreamer without causing any disturbance. One involves an extraordinary ability akin to 'night terrors,' such as the captain's, who achieves their goal through gentle guidance—yet remains sufficiently detached so as not to leave a trace themselves. The other method is more refined and sophisticated. "The principle of dreaming is that celestial spirits journey through the spiritual realm, transforming otherwise unnoticed details into meaningful insights through external stimuli, or directly delivering insights that are personally relevant to the dreamer. These insights are then communicated to the dreamer's spirit and the spirit itself. Since the dreamer is asleep, these insights manifest as dreams." "So the second method is to infuse inspiration through the spiritual realm! First, use certain magical means to generate the very insights one needs, then naturally allow the target's stellar spirit body to absorb them while traversing the spiritual realm, and return the insights afterward. In this way, the target will dream of scenes others wish him to dream of—without any trace visible externally. This is currently something I cannot achieve, even with a spirit state capable of slightly influencing the subtle forces above the gray mist." No. It was the vampire, the passionate doll enthusiast Emlyn White, who recognized him—not the muscular, giant-like Father Utelovski. Klein pulled himself back, considering what to do next. He decided to wait and assess the danger level from the gray mist above. If it proved acceptable, he would then infiltrate Doctor Allen’s home tonight, using "dream incantations" and other means to observe covertly, determining whether the dreams originated through direct guidance or were instead fabricated indirectly. However, given Klein’s strength and standing, detecting traces of the latter proved quite difficult, and he himself lacked much confidence in this regard. It wasn’t simply enough to sit beside Doctor Allen and meditate; the celestial bodies would not automatically share the same spiritual realm with him—sufficient alignment and positioning were required. According to the description in The Book of Secrets, the spiritual realm is remarkably奇妙, completely overlapping with the physical world—fully and entirely overlapping—so that everyone can continuously receive insights from it. Yet, the spiritual realm has no concept of up, down, left, or right; past, present, and future can all converge here, resembling an unusual ocean composed of countless streams of knowledge, information, and ethereal spirits, fundamentally different from the conventional notion of a "world" based on normal concepts and logic. Precisely because of this, the insights received from the spiritual realm are always symbolic rather than direct answers. Therefore, the specific portion of the spiritual realm that an individual's stellar spirit body explores is not only related to their geographical location and the time they are in, but also closely tied to their current physical and mental states. Without a corresponding positioning method, it is impossible to lock onto and locate someone's stellar spirit body within the spiritual realm—even if you are physically beside them. Precisely for this reason, the star-spirits' journeys across the spiritual realm are limited—they dare not venture too deeply. Should they lose their way and fail to return to their physical bodies, the owner will gradually become demented, and in severe cases, may even lapse into a vegetative state. To have the physical body enter the spiritual realm as a stepping stone for transportation is even more challenging; a slight misstep and one may become permanently lost, never returning to the physical world, eventually decaying and dying. Ah—Klein exhaled, temporarily setting the issue aside. He pulled out his watch, checked the time, and realized he had been thinking too long, allowing his breakfast to grow cold. Michael, the journalist, had not yet arrived, indicating that the commission would likely be postponed by a day. Acting with a spirit of efficiency, Klein finished the remaining food and then performed a divination atop the gray mist, to his surprise, receiving a clear message of no danger at all. Having completed all this, the agreed-upon time had passed, and he no longer hesitated. He donned a thick jacket, put on a baseball cap, took his vocabulary notebook, and left No. 15 Minsk Street. Klein looked directly at the lower berth of the innermost double bed and called out, "Old Kole." With a sudden movement, Old Kole sat up, leaning eagerly against the doorframe, surprised: "You've finally come! As soon as I delivered the letter to you yesterday, I knew you'd be coming today. So I didn't go to the dock—I've been waiting at home the whole time." Well then, I don't need to think of any excuse to explain why I came straight here... Klein glanced around and then said, "Old Kole, with your current income, you could certainly afford a better room and a better location. Why settle for just a double bed instead of a loft bed?" "Most of that money goes toward gathering information for you," Old Kole smiled. "And I'm no longer young. I need to save for when my body eventually gives out." Klein paused for two seconds, then said: "You might want to consider purchasing some insurance—such as the 'Care for Isolated Elderly' policy—which ensures that, once you truly grow old, you'll receive at least a weekly stipend sufficient to eat and stay comfortably in your room." Insurance in this world has been taking root since the Fourth Age, and under the impetus of Emperor Rosel, it has now matured into a well-established system, primarily offering maritime trade-related policies, fire insurance, personal injury coverage, and various forms of pension plans—overall more focused on the wealthy and the middle class. "I know that," said Old Koller. "Even when I was still a worker, I paid three pence weekly for insurance. But later, I lost my income..." Now his greatest concern is the instability of his income, uncertain when the retainer payments from the detective will finally cease. Klein couldn't offer any guarantees, and instead pointed outside: "Let's go to Liv's house and return the word book to that girl." "Out of the room, Caine casually remarked, 'It's truly ridiculous—I only yesterday said I'd volunteer to help locate Daisy. Yet yesterday, she was sent back by the police. From now on, please don't mention this matter. I'd rather not be laughed at myself.' 'Understood,' said Old Kole, who first agreed before adding, 'Your kindness and generosity will never be laughed at.' Walking through a series of dirty streets, they arrived at Liv's home. Caine saw the young woman, just rescued, now constantly pressing clothes that seemed to burn her hands. As he watched the clothes hanging out, one after another slowly drooping and dripping water—no different from before—he found himself at a loss for words. 'Daisy,' he finally said after a while, 'your vocabulary notebook.' Daisy's eyes lit up, but she didn't want to leave just yet. After being busy for a while, she finally stopped working and went to the door, continuously saying, "Thank you." When Liv and Freya also set down their tasks and came over to express their gratitude, Caine repeated what he had just told the old Kole. After receiving a positive response, he produced the 2-pound note he had prepared in advance and handed it to Liv: "A journalist will be coming to interview Daisy tomorrow. This is the advance payment he's arranged, but please don't mention it in front of him—otherwise, things might get complicated. He might even give more tomorrow, but that's all there is." "That's not necessary, no, I'll expose that villain's misconduct without any payment!" Daisy shook her head vigorously. Caine smiled: "This is the rule—we can't break it, understand?" Then he turned to Liv and said, "Please take it." "You're absolutely right. Only Daisy and Freya have learned more words and absorbed more knowledge. Only then can you all break free from your current situation." He had intended to say many more things—had even planned to suggest that Liv's family move to the edge of the eastern district, since customers who could afford laundry services didn't live there—but ultimately said nothing at all. He had meant to offer more help, yet restrained himself. There were thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands—maybe millions—of families like Liv's in the eastern district alone. Individually, no one could make much of a difference, not even a major banker. And this was just the eastern district; above it lay the entire Beckland, and then the kingdom of Roon. "Thank you," Liv said after a moment of silence, accepting the money. Crane didn't linger. He left quickly, as though something ghostly were hiding here, ready to consume his very soul. After walking out with the older Kole, he turned back and suddenly exhaled, speaking softly, "There has never been any savior..." PS: Urgently seeking monthly subscriptions in the last few hours. Also, there will be an extra update at midnight, and one on October 1st.