At the same time he obtained the
As the coin tumbled, the revelation he had gained through "divination" naturally surfaced in his mind: It was an exceedingly deep and dark gorge, at the bottom of which stood a massive, broad building constructed layer upon layer in "gray-white."
Every detail was reconstructing what Klein had once seen at
Using the technique of "dream divination," he reproduced the images he had seen in his mind.
The moment this scene finished taking shape, the gemstones embedded in the Staff of the Stars emitted a faint glow. Klein's projection through the historical void vanished instantly, only to reappear above that gray-white building.
In just one second, Klein had traveled from the easternmost part of the
This was one of the primary abilities of the Staff of the Stars: if a scene that surfaced in the bearer's mind truly existed and still existed, the staff could carry him across all obstacles, no matter how vast the distance, directly to the destination.
Of course, the prerequisite was that the visualized scene had to be absolutely correct, with not the slightest visible difference from the original.
The reason Klein had chosen the deep gorge where Chernobyl was located, rather than the wasteland shrouded in grayish-yellow mist, was that he knew once the giant king's youngest son—the "God of Glory" Bradel—shook off the curse and departed for good, that place would definitely undergo significant changes. The only thing that might remain unaffected was the mysterious Chernobyl, which the
This wasn't to say that the deep gorge and the gray-white building definitely wouldn't have any visible changes—Klein had actually prepared himself for the possibility that the "teleportation" might fail and the destination be unknown. After all, the body was fake, the items in hand were fake, so there was no regret if they were lost.
Suspended in midair, Klein—who was holding the Staff of the Stars—hadn't yet had time to assess his surroundings when he suddenly lurched downward, plummeting toward the ground.
Without wearing Wriggling Hunger and without having transformed into an avian creature, he currently had no ability to fly.
So, despite how eerie and terrifying a demigod of the Seer Pathway might seem, they still had their ordinary human side.
In the flash of a racing thought, Klein manifested a Beyonder power in his mind.
The Staff of the Stars responded by blazing with different-colored radiance, sending gust after gust of violent wind howling through the surroundings.
The winds wrapped around Klein, causing his black trench coat to billow loudly as his body slowly descended.
During this process, Klein gave a flick of his right hand, returning the Staff of the Stars' historical void projection to its normal position, lest his subconscious imagination conjure certain scenes and cause trouble.
Right after that, his left hand pressed down on the silk half-top hat on his head, and just as a bolt of lightning in the sky faded, he pulled a lantern out of the void.
In the dim yellow glow of the lantern, Klein's unbuckled leather shoes planted firmly on the ground at the bottom of the deep gorge, the endless darkness around him seeming to conceal monster after monster.
Before him stood the Chernobyl built up layer by layer in "gray-white."
Under the combined illumination of the lightning high above and the lantern in his hand, Klein quickly noticed something: This massive, broad gray-white building had no doors!
Hmm, every part of it is sealed shut... I remember the Ancient Sun God opened an illusory fissure in the gray-white wall... Klein thoughtfully found the spot in his memory and began reciting the Honorific Name of "The Fool."
At the easternmost edge of the Forsaken Land of God, near the
Within that deep, dark chasm and the wasteland with its lingering gray-yellow fog, there was not a single Amon.
As for Chernobyl itself, even with the "True Vision" provided by "Sefirah Castle," Klein could not make out what was happening inside: Beneath layer upon layer of "gray-white" lay what seemed to be absolute void, without any color.
Truly not simple... worthy of being the place the Ancient Sun God, the Creator of the
Klein outside Chernobyl regained consciousness and reached into the air to produce "Lemano's Travel Notes."
He quickly flipped to a particular page, preparing to use the "Apprentice's" "Open the Door."
Such an action was actually somewhat reckless for Klein, but considering this was merely an image within a historical pore, he figured it didn't matter.
Beyonders of the "Seer" Pathway truly possessed both caution and recklessness as attributes—cautious during preparation, reckless once prepared, displaying a caution-recklessness duality... Klein muttered to himself as he passed through the barrier without a sound and entered the interior of Chernobyl.
After "opening the door" time and again, he finally left the place encased in "gray-white" and saw ahead of him a half-open, heavy iron door.
This iron door was not particularly tall—roughly two and a half meters—clearly made for humans.
In front of it lay two blackened stains and two firearms that had more of a sci-fi aura than any weapon of the current era.
These two firearms bore some resemblance to ones Klein had seen flipping through certain magazines in his previous life, but he wasn't an enthusiast in this area and couldn't be certain.
Klein did not pick them up, nor did he attempt to study them, because his spiritual intuition told him that these gun-shaped weapons had been completely corroded—that the slightest touch would cause them to instantly disintegrate into foam.
After a brief look, Klein dismissed "Lemano's Travel Notes," held up his lantern, passed between the two blackened stains, and arrived behind the iron door.
Here there was a wide corridor, with rooms of varying sizes on both sides. The tables, chairs, and objects inside were overturned in some, undamaged in others, and missing half in yet more. Black marks covered the walls and floor everywhere.