For a moment, Klein thought he had traveled back in time, but the elegant gas lamp encased in a brass grid and
Was Emperor Roselle, that fellow time traveler, truly a compatriot? Had he used simplified Chinese, which didn't exist in this world, to record his secrets? With an indescribable feeling of "meeting an old friend in a strange land," Klein quickly scanned the three pages of manuscript in his hands:
"November 18th. What a remarkable thing. A whimsical experiment and an accidental mistake allowed me to discover a poor fellow trapped in a storm, lost in the darkness. He can only slightly approach the real world during the full moon each month, and yet he still cannot project his cries inside. He is lucky. He met me, the protagonist of this era."
"After writing the above passage and reading it over, I suddenly felt a bit wistful. Even using Chinese characters, I involuntarily adopted a strong translationese tone. Forty years pass in a flash. Past memories truly are like dreams now."
"January 1st, 1184. Grand New Year's party. Mrs. Flonar is truly a delightful creature."
"January 2nd. The gentlemen of my diplomatic committee are all donkeys!"
"January 3rd. My initial choice was too rash. Looking back now, whether it was the 'Apprentice,' the 'Seer,' or the 'Marauder,' they all seem better. A pity, there's no turning back."
"January 4th. Why are my children so stupid? I've said it a thousand times: don't be fooled by those charlatans! No, the charlatans themselves might be fooled. The key to the potion is not mastery, but digestion! It's not excavation, but acting! And the name of the potion is not only its core symbol but also a concrete image, and even more so, the 'key' to digestion!"
"September 22nd. A coalition against me is forming. From northern Feyasac, eastern Loen, to southern Feneport, my enemies have finally come together. But I am not afraid. I will let the facts tell them that the gap in weapons and knowledge cannot be made up by numbers or low-sequence Beyonders. Besides, I have my own high-sequence ones. And as for the highest... Hah, have they forgotten who I am?"
"September 23rd. I've lost contact with the ship searching for the 'Land Abandoned by the
"September 24th. Miss Ithaca is even more charming than Mrs. Flonar. Maybe I am just nostalgic for my youth."
Because it was a copied reproduction, the size of each character was enlarged due to the complexity of Chinese characters. Consequently, the content on each page was not much. To preserve and study them, the back was blank. Even so, Klein's heart raced with excitement. Emperor Roselle's description of the key to potions, in particular, made him feel an ecstatic joy, as if he had found the "key to the problem" and grasped a priceless secret.
"Perhaps this is the guiding light for my future Beyonder pathway!"
"Hmm, the three pages are diaries from different periods. It seems Emperor Roselle had a habit of only writing the year at the beginning of the year. The entries for November and September can't be dated for now..."
"Who is the poor fellow he discovered?"
"What exactly do digestion and acting mean?"
"Where is the Land Abandoned by the Gods?"
……
One question after another, mixed with surprise, boiled in Klein's heart. He wished he could collect all of Emperor Roselle's diaries and read them from beginning to end at once!
"Klein?" Old Neil, sitting across from him, spoke with a puzzled look at that moment.
Klein snapped back to reality and quickly concealed his thoughts with a smile.
"I thought I was the most special one, so I wanted to try deciphering and interpreting it."
"You're just young," Old Neil said, nodding with a hearty laugh. "I once thought I was the most special one too."
Klein flipped through the three pages of manuscript, confirming he hadn't missed anything, then handed them back and asked nonchalantly:
"Is this all we have?"
He wanted to see more of Emperor Roselle's diary!
"Did you think there would be a lot?" Old Neil rubbed the manuscript, a deep sneer on his wrinkled face. "There aren't that many Beyonder-related or mystical incidents each year. Sigh, it's mainly because the supernatural species on the Northern Continent have gradually died out. Without them, there are no more potions, so Beyonders are becoming rarer. Sigh, over the past few centuries, dragons, giants, and elves have all become records in books. Even the ocean races no longer appear in the coastal seas."
Hearing this, Klein suddenly remembered a meme and said with a smile:
"I think it's time to establish a 'Dragon and
Old Neil listened, completely baffled. It took him a while to understand the joke. Once he did, he lightly slapped the table and laughed quite heartily, not quite like a gentleman:
"Haha, Klein, you're truly a humorous man. It's a tradition of our
"No, no, how can we forget those poor plants?" Klein shook his head.
At this, he and Old Neil exchanged a look and said in unison:
"Mystical Creature Protection Association!"
As soon as they spoke, they exchanged a knowing smile, and the previous awkward atmosphere between them dissipated significantly.
"Young men as interesting as you are getting rarer... Where was I?" Old Neil's face crinkled into a smile. "Ah, I remember! There aren't that many Beyonder and mystical incidents each year. And fools who worship Emperor Roselle are a minority within a minority. For us to get three pages of manuscript is already quite good... Hmm, other cathedrals or dioceses should have some too..."
He muttered a few words, picked up the "requisition slip" Klein had placed on the table, glanced at it, and asked:
"Are they pistol bullets, rifle bullets, or high-pressure steam gun bullets?"
"A revolver," Klein answered truthfully.
"Alright, I'll go get them. Ahem, do you have an underarm holster? As a gentleman, one shouldn't appear in public with bulges at the waist or below," Old Neil joked, a man's joke that everyone understood.