Klein lowered his gaze to his palm, and in his eyes, the image of the coin appeared: facing upward, it revealed the king's portrait. This was a clear affirmation—Klein should now use the eyes of the secret companion to examine himself! Yet, even after receiving this insight, he remained hesitant, pondering whether to perform a ritual to bring the secret companion, Enzo, to the realm of misty gray fog, where, in a safer environment, the injuries and contamination affecting the spirit could be completely eliminated. Still, he doubted the ritual would yield any result, for the extraordinary beings of the "Fate" path inherently perceive the mysterious space as it projects onto reality; once they reached the misty fog, such peculiarities might vanish altogether—much like attempting to observe the elephant's external form by entering its very body. Gradually drawing his fingers inward and clasping the coin tightly, Klein remained silent for a long time, until he finally made his decision. He suddenly stood up, drawing out the ritual silver dagger and creating a "spiritual wall" that enveloped the entire room. This was to prevent any sudden, piercing cries or odd noises from reaching the outside! Immediately afterward, Caine arranged another ritual, offering the "creeping hunger" to the gray mist above. He feared that when his own condition began to deteriorate, the gloves might turn against him! —This was an inherent property of the "creeping hunger": once it went unsatisfied, and if it wasn't fed with a human being every day, it would consume the wearer. Caine had, in fact, starved it more often than he had fed it. With impeccable order and precision, he completed all the other preparations. Then, Caine reached out and took the "Blood" ring from Enzo's hand, bringing it close to his left palm. This would ensure that even if his body sustained serious injury, he could still recover. As he was about to place it on, Caine paused, took out a sheet of paper and pen, and wrote a sentence: "Remember to take the ring." He was worried that after the experiment concluded, the "blood's" effect on his intellect would diminish, and he wouldn't want to remove the ring. Perhaps then, a beautiful princess would need to kiss him awake—no, actually, she'd have to help him remove the ring. Klein chuckled to himself, exhaled, and shed his clothes, then slipped the ring onto his finger. Then he turned his gaze toward the new secret figure, "The Winner" Enzo. Though hesitation and inner reluctance were always inevitable, once he made up his mind, having endured so many experiences, he now moved forward with unwavering resolve and never faltered. After making a slight adjustment and entering a meditative state, Klein gently guided the secret figure to turn and face him. Through the eyes of "The Winner," he first observed a thin, slightly diffusing gray-white mist. Within the mist, a brilliant portal, tinged with a hint of dark green and black, was faintly visible. The light gate was composed of countless layered spheres, each sphere itself made up of dense, coiled, writhing worms. Some of the worms were transparent, others semi-transparent, bearing intricate, complex, or deeply symbolic patterns and motifs. Before克莱恩 could fully examine the specific details, his mind suddenly buzzed with a sharp resonance, and he lost consciousness altogether. I vaguely remember hearing a painful cry—was it mine? As Claine hurried to assess his bodily condition, he was stunned to see a series of gory, jagged wounds spreading across his skin, as though something had been tearing out from within. At this moment, the dense network of wounds was rapidly pulsing and reorganizing, seamlessly reforming into a unified whole. He then turned his gaze to the floor, where a distinct silhouette had been etched by blood from the spot where he had been lying. "Thank goodness I wore the 'Blood' ring; otherwise, I might have succumbed slowly to the catastrophic physical collapse. I wonder—upon resurrection—will my death be remembered as that of a human, or as that of a monster?" Claine raised his hand, rubbing his temple, and glanced around. While the tables and chairs had been knocked over, the 'Spirit Wall' remained intact. This finally gave him true relief, confirming that the anomaly had remained confined to his own body and a very localized area around him, without spreading outward. Based on the recovery of his wounds, Caine judged that he had been unconscious for no more than one minute. He lifted the chair and sat down, feeling as though he had forgotten something important, yet unable to recall what it was. It wasn't until he instinctively began attending to the scene and saw a note reading "Remember to take the ring," that he suddenly realized—he removed the golden ring set with a ruby from his left hand. More memories came flooding back, and Caine shook his head, both relieved and amused: "Sometimes luck truly matters. If the negative effect of the 'Blood' ring had landed at its strongest, I might not even have recognized the word 'ring,' and thus never have received the reminder..." Seeing that his wounds had mostly healed, he asked his secret companion, Enzo, to reattach the 'Blood' ring and removed the 'Green Flower' ring. Thanks to the latter's treatment, Klein no longer felt any discomfort and turned his attention back to the images he had previously seen—the ones the "Path of Fate" extraordinary beings had perceived in him: "a gate glowing with a hint of dark blue, countless spheres, translucent and semi-transparent worms coiled together, intricate symbols and patterns that held vast knowledge yet offered no clear feedback—what did these signify? Was this the mythical form corresponding to the mysterious realm above the gray mist? Of the kind belonging to the Sequence 0 Divine Beings? Because of the barrier posed by the gray mist, only the extraordinary beings of the 'Path of Fate' could directly perceive it, endure its impact, and remain unscathed? Likewise, due to the same barrier, the extraordinary beings of the 'Path of Fate' did not completely collapse as if gazing directly upon the gods, yet they also failed to gain any substantial knowledge." Klein pondered for a moment, beginning to interpret the symbolic meaning embedded in the image using techniques of divination: "The light gate somewhat resembles the symbol behind the apprentice's chair, yet it also seems to point toward the 'Gate' gentleman... The countless layered spheres align precisely with my meditative content, which in turn draws from mythological systems constructed within certain Earth-based novels... Is it my subconscious influencing my memory, selecting memories that are similar and close in resonance, or is my own choice, in reverse, shaping the form of the image as it appears within the gray mist? The distorted, translucent worms approach the mass of light on the great throne at the summit of the Honaquis Mountains, yet they are not quite the same—does this belong to the Sequence 0 'The Fool' in the path of the 'Diviner'?" The semi-transparent one wasn't clear enough to judge—difficult to determine... "Also, that deep green-black hue on the surface always reminds me of the mysterious space deep within, which I still haven't managed to reach. When I stood at the highest level of the luminous stairway, I could see a faint green-black shimmer hovering in the mid-air clouds." After thinking deeply, Kline couldn't arrive at an answer and thus temporarily set this matter aside, deciding to revisit it later when more information and clues became available. The wooden door creaked open, and the "Hanged Man," wearing a black cloak and a hood, stepped inside. Seeing his reserved attire, Gauthier pushed gently at the heavy glasses resting on her nose and smiled lightly. "With that appearance, you won't be out of the way for five minutes—you'll be surrounded by those who've learned from the storms." She didn't need to disguise herself, as she knew the fact that she'd secured General Gorman Sparrow's passage aboard the *Future* had already spread throughout the sea. The "Hanged Man" would easily recognize the "Keeper of the Stars" as the very woman known as the "Hidden One." Aljer didn't immediately respond. As he closed the door, pulled out a chair, and settled into it, he maintained his composure, saying, "You, too, would be surrounded if you stepped out like that." "He meant that, among the seven Sea Lords, the 'Lord of the Stars' ranks just below the 'Lord of Hell,' and is reportedly closely tied to Germaine Sparrow, making him a primary target for multiple factions—including the Storm Church and the Night Church—whose bounty has now reached 45,000 pounds. Once recognized in any city, without disguise, it means a host of complications will inevitably follow. "Countess Galadriya placed her right hand on her left elbow and said, 'I'm curious—given your current strength and the resources at your disposal, you should be able to handle the "craftsmen's" issue even without my assistance. So why have you come to me specifically?' Aljere was well-prepared and replied simply, 'I don't wish to become a topic of conversation for others.' Galadriya seemed to grasp the underlying meaning, and after a moment of thoughtful silence, said, 'I need more information.' Aljere nodded gently. 'Based on my observations and speculations, the "craftsmen" are being controlled by those who hold the faith in the "Primordial Moon"—a group that originally existed on the southern continent, not rebels from the Life School.' Galadriya's expression remained unchanged, and after a brief pause, added, 'Why haven't you sought out the "Moon" himself? He should be particularly interested in such matters.'" Alger gave a slight curl to his lips and replied in his usual tone, "If we can't resolve it ourselves, perhaps I'll take that step."