Before his mind went blank, Klein managed to catch two thoughts: "Stronger than he could possibly resist... 'I wonder if there's still a chance to revive after this kind of death...' As his thoughts began to stir, darkness enveloped him completely—his consciousness faded entirely, as if he had slipped into the deepest sleep without any dreams. Unknown how long it had been, the silent, featureless darkness suddenly began to shift, and he sensed faintly, vaguely, a cool breeze brushing against him. Gradually freeing himself from the stillness, Klein opened his eyes slowly and saw a mist above him, through which the crimson moon rose and faded, appearing and disappearing intermittently. Had he revived? Or had he entered the Underworld? Even for the latter, the situation wasn't too serious—perhaps he could enlist the help of the Bone Messenger to contact Mr. Azk, though he'd have to transition into an immortal or spirit-being thereafter... Klein's thoughts remained heavy, as though someone had poured糨糊 into his head, causing his ideas to drift and expand spontaneously. Gradually, he began to sense his body and heard the steady thump of his heart. His mind soon cleared, and he felt a strong sense of revival—perhaps even that he had been tossed to some remote, rural location. *Crack!* Klein's joints creaked as he suddenly sat up and sprang to his feet, pausing only briefly to check his condition before turning his attention to the surroundings. What met his eyes first were the mist drifting all around and the deep, cool night sky, and not far off, there lay a small town. The most prominent building in the town is an ancient spired church, entirely black in color, without a bell tower, its black crows circling and lingering at the summit. Surrounding the church are numerous buildings—ordinary two-story homes, simple wooden cottages, a bakery with a sign, and a gray-white mill powered by a waterwheel—but no one is moving; it seems as though everyone has fallen asleep during this quiet, serene night. As a "seer," Caine immediately feels a strong familiarity with the town, as if he has seen it before. After a brief recollection, he remembers what it signifies. This is the source of danger in the night-time remnants of the Divine War! After entering the easternmost region of Sunya Sea, if anyone fails to sleep or enter the dream world and simply waits until dawn and noon arrives, they will be found silently vanished. Once, while the "Saint of Black" awoke from a dream, Klein observed a mysterious, eerie misty town nestled in the distant reaches of the sea, under a tranquil night sky. He even began to suspect that all beings who disappeared during the nights at the sites of the divine wars had ended up there. Now, standing just under a hundred meters outside this very misty town, he himself had arrived! Something connected to night—beings vanish as if erased. The church's high-ranking figure didn't directly annihilate adversaries, but rather transported them here? Were the beings who disappeared at night in the divine war sites also experiencing the same phenomenon? It was said that divination could not reveal their whereabouts, only suggesting that they might still be alive... Of course, perhaps it was my own resurrection that brought me here... As thoughts raced through his mind, Caine withdrew his gaze and, using the "Clown's" ability, assessed his own condition. Though he had returned to his original appearance as Caine Moretti, he still wore the black robe of an internal ward officer, and there were no visible marks of injury upon him. With a wealth of experiences behind him, Caine quickly regained composure. He reached into his coat pocket, opened the iron cigarette box, and removed the folded human skin gloves, placing them on his left hand. After confirming that the "craving hunger" remained functional, Caine took up the Azk copper whistle, brought it to his lips, and blew once. Yet, in the swift vision he had just activated, the bone messenger did not appear. Regarding this situation, Kline didn't feel particularly surprised—rather, he found it entirely normal. After all, the people who had vanished during the nights at the easternmost divine war ruins of Sunya Sea had never been found. Given the years of accumulation, there should have been no shortage of extraordinary individuals capable of summoning messengers—such as members of the Spirit Monastic Order. Had the area been completely isolated from the Spirit Realm? In that case, "travel" would no longer be possible. Indeed, it was no surprise that such high-ranking officials dispatched by the Church to address the Beckland Great Fog incident had chosen to send their targets here—effectively, this was eternal exile and imprisonment. With ordinary means, communication with the outside world would be impossible, and escape would be an uphill struggle, even for saints. Kline remained calm and confident. He immediately placed the Azk copper whistle back into its iron cigarette box and began preparing to reverse his four-step progression. He would use the method of traversing beyond the gray mist to break through the "imprisonment" of this mist-covered town! “Fu Sheng Xuan Huang Xian Zun…” “Fu Sheng Xuan Huang Tian Jun…” “Fu Sheng Xuan Huang Shang Di…” “Fu Sheng Xuan Huang Tian Zun.” Drawing upon his own esoteric knowledge, he initially suspected that the misty town before him was likely connected to the True Deity, as only such a connection could explain the inability to penetrate the gray fog. This place is deeply intertwined with night; I myself was brought here through encounters with the church's upper echelons... Could it be that the goddess herself has constructed a "prison"? It's possible—she is the "Mother of the Hidden"—perhaps she can directly transform people and objects into a state of concealment, making them forever invisible to the real world. After carefully pondering this, Caine decisively decided to explore the misty town, believing it to be the most likely place where a means of escape might be found. By this point, he no longer worried about whether he would have time to summon the Tarot Circle. Of course, there’s no need to worry about this issue for now—he had already canceled his tarot reading scheduled this week, as the operation to steal the Antigonus family’s records was both risky and unpredictable. Klein suspected he might not survive it at all, and even if he did, he might not make it back to life in time to attend today’s session. So he simply offered a plausible excuse, asking everyone to prepare for an extra week. Once he made up his mind, he immediately summoned the “ghostly spirit” within him to manifest beside him. The condition of this “secret figure” was now quite poor—its stillness and coldness felt tangible, making even the subtle manipulations drawn through the “spirit lines” somewhat sluggish. Fortunately, it would still be usable for a few days at least. Moreover, A先生 had also been erased by that high-ranking church official—perhaps he now lived somewhere nearby and needed to be watched closely, almost like a madman. Klein transformed himself into the appearance of Germán Sparrow, and had the “General of the Blood,” Senyor, walk ahead, leading the way toward the misty town. He himself adhered to the established "Master of Secret Doubles" guidelines, trailing behind by at least 110 meters. ——After this period of adaptation, Caine's operational limit for manipulating secret doubles had extended to 120 meters, and the time required to initially control a target through the "Spirit Thread" and fully transform it into a puppet had also been significantly reduced: from 16 seconds to four minutes, depending on the opponent's spiritual strength. In the quiet, soundless mist world, Senior, the "Spirit Wraith" wearing an old triangular hat and a dark red coat, entered the strange and enigmatic town without much delay. Within the town, many houses still had their doors open, as if welcoming guests from afar. Using the secret doppelgänger's vision, Klein observed half-eaten white bread on the tables, glass cups filled with red wine, and scattered silver cutlery—everything suggesting that someone was enjoying dinner. Yet no one was present. The household owners had seemingly vanished from daily life. Evaporated… The word suddenly surfaced in Klein's mind. He promptly instructed Senior to direct his gaze toward the gray-white mill. At the mill, the stone mill, powered by the wind, continued to turn silently, yet no flour was being discharged—instead, flour had spilled across the floor. This scene felt familiar. I seem to have heard of something like this before… Klein furrowed his brows slightly, leaning on the doppelgänger as he carefully examined the surroundings and recalled similar instances. As he was pondering whether to use "dream divination" to seek answers about his own spirituality, the corresponding response was finally uncovered: Similar scenes had been found in the ancient ruins at the summit of the Honegich Mountains! According to records, the buildings within preserved their furnishings and arrangements in excellent condition, with frescoes remaining undamaged; some tables even still held numerous plates, showing signs of dry rot and decay. In certain rooms, half a bottle of wine had transformed almost into clear water. The discoverer noted that when he first saw these scenes, he had initially believed the inhabitants had vanished instantaneously. Could there be a connection between this enigmatic town and the ancient ruins at the summit of the Honegich Mountains? Surely not—after all the winding paths, they had encountered this once again? Klein's facial muscles involuntarily twitched twice, and for a moment, he hesitated to believe his own thoughts. Of course, the mere similarity of the scenes was not sufficient to support such a conclusion. Inhaling deeply and then exhaling slowly, Caine forced himself to remain calm, continuing to guide the "spirit of resentment" Senyor deeper into the misty town. At that moment, he heard a faint footstep. Caine's heart tightened, so he hurried into the mill and paused the secret figure. In just a few seconds, the spirit Senyor saw a woman stepping out from a nearby alley. The woman wore a long white robe, her hair loosely gathered, with a long, fair neck and an exceptionally radiant appearance. PS: First bonus update of last month—please support with a monthly subscription!