Damn! Controlled by a puppet!
The captain and the others are either unconscious… or haven’t recovered yet, unable to even get up… simply no time to… wake me up…
No… must… save myself!
Everything Klein saw turned into slow-motion footage of his previous life, while his joints and thinking brain seemed to be increasingly filled with glue.
He had absolutely no interest in becoming a real-life puppet. Seizing the opportunity before he was completely controlled, he desperately looked for a way to save himself.
Hitting myself… definitely… won’t work… need… external force…
External force… try it… no time to delay, no time to think, Klein grasped an inspiration in two or three seconds, driving his “rusty” knee joints to take a step counterclockwise.
At the same time, he didn’t try to break free from the invisible rope “stuck” in his throat, only silently recited in his heart:
“Fusheng… Xuanhuang… Xianzun…”
He wanted to use the mysterious world above the grey fog to awaken himself and escape the assimilation of Sealed Artifact “2-049”!
Creak, creak, Klein’s knees and ankles simultaneously made harsh, grating sounds. In a slow and twisted posture, he took another step counterclockwise:
“Fusheng… Xuanhuang… Tianjun…”
His thoughts became more and more sluggish. Klein, like a computer with every software suite and security guard installed, lifted his left foot jerkily, moving towards the predetermined position:
“Fusheng… Xuan… Huang… Shang… Di…”
The thoughts in Klein’s mind grew increasingly stiff and slow. He took the final step purely on instinct.
At this stage, he knew he was almost completely controlled. Even if Al Haazen woke up in time and rushed over to save him, it probably wouldn’t be enough to awaken him.
But a strong will to survive still made him silently recite the final incantation:
“Fu… sheng… Xuan… huang… Tian… zun…”
The moment the silent recitation ended, the chaotic to the extreme, insane to the extreme shouts and whispers suddenly resounded, instantly scattering Klein’s frozen thoughts, shattering them into countless uncontrolled trains of thought.
Klein’s mind became a pot of boiling porridge. He dazedly felt his “body” become lighter, and his spirituality floating away.
The boundless grey-white mist and the deep crimson stars at various distances once again appeared before his eyes: empty, mysterious, blurry, and hazy.
Klein’s chaotic thoughts quickly settled down. He finally regained the ability to think and saw the towering, magnificent temple.
“Phew… Luckily it worked.” He whispered in fear.
Based on previous observations, he understood that once deeply trapped by Sealed Artifact “2-049”’s control, it was basically equivalent to death. Under normal circumstances, there was no medicine or method to save him.
Fortunately, his “Fortune-turning Ritual” and the mysterious world above the grey fog were not within the normal scope!
Pacing back and forth a few times, Klein began to think about his current situation:
“I can’t just stay here forever, can I?”
“When the captain and the others wake up or come closer, things won’t be explainable…”
“The current ‘me’ should only have a physical body left, more like a living corpse than a living corpse…”
“But if I take the risk to go back, I can’t guarantee safety… What if I’m controlled by ‘2-049’ again?”
…
Amidst the flood of ideas, Klein suddenly slapped his forehead and laughed quietly:
“Looks like I haven’t truly adapted to my identity as a ‘Seer’!”
As his voice trailed off, his figure had already appeared at the head of the bronze long table, sitting upright on the high-backed chair with strange symbols.
Klein reached out and picked up the fountain pen that appeared out of thin air before him.
Scribble, scribble, he wrote a sentence on the illusory white paper:
“It is safe to return to the real world.”
Immediately after, Klein took out the projection of the “pendulum” here—after several gatherings, he discovered that as long as it was an item he carried with him, it could be projected onto the grey fog, but it would be relatively more illusory.
Holding the silver chain in his left hand, Klein let the yellow crystal pendant almost touch the paper, touch the “event”.
The swaying subsided. He half-closed his eyes, calming his mind, and silently recited the words on the white paper:
“It is safe to return to the real world.”
…
“It is safe to return to the real world.”
…
Time and again, Klein conducted a divination using the complete “pendulum method” without omitting any steps.
Opening his eyes, he saw the pure yellow crystal pendant slowly swaying, driving the silver chain to rotate clockwise.
Clockwise is affirmative, counterclockwise is negative… It is safe to return to the real world… Klein breathed a sigh of relief, habitually put away the silver chain, and then, he expanded his spirituality, wrapped it around himself, and simulated a state of plummeting downward.
The hazy grey fog and deep red stars quickly became illusory, rushing upwards. Klein soon saw himself standing frozen in place, saw the brownish puppet half-suspended outside the iron box, and found that the sealed artifact seemed to have stopped all movement.