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At 2 King's Avenue, Royal Museum, Leyton stepped out from a shadow that rippled nearby.
He then took out a roughly cut paper figurine from his Arms, extended a finger, and drew a symbol of Concealment on the paper.
A dim light flickered on the crude paper figurine, then vanished, and its presence seemed to be reduced to an extreme.
Then, with a gentle toss, the paper figurine was sent into the Spirit World and floated towards a pre-set coordinate.
Upon reaching the destination, the paper figurine fell out of the Spirit World, landing precisely on the stack of Roselle's manuscripts.
This was a coordinate Leyton left when he visited that morning, subtly embedding the coordinate information in the corresponding Spirit World area of the exhibition hall, which is why it wasn't discovered and cleared by the security personnel.
As soon as the paper figurine landed, it seemed to come alive, shaking its limbs twice before slowly standing up.
This was just an ordinary paper figurine, unable to bear too many spells, so it couldn't condense a form through illusions.
The symbol representing Eyes of Mystery Prying on the paper figurine flowed with vivid purple halos, eerily resembling a True eye.
Under Leyton's manipulation, the small paper figurine shook its head twice, raising its hand one moment and lifting its leg the next, as if adapting to the paper figurine's body.
The True situation was that Leyton found it quite amusing to control the small paper figurine from a first-person perspective and couldn't resist playing a bit longer.
After exercising its body, the small paper figurine calmly jumped off the manuscript, then turned, preparing to take out the bookmark from inside the manuscript.
A lady's figure appeared in its field of vision as the small paper figurine turned.
She was wearing a lady's shirt with a lace floral bow tie, paired with a knee-length gray skirt and long leather boots, and a soft hat with a fine black veil hanging down.
The small paper figurine seemed startled, retreating a few steps, but didn't notice the distance to the edge of the table and almost fell off the desk.
"Am I so surprising to you?"
Bernadette's voice echoed in the silent exhibition hall.
The small paper figurine didn't answer Bernadette's question but curiously looked around.
The Eyes of Mystery Prying ability grafted onto the paper figurine was limited; Leyton couldn't glimpse too much, only vaguely sensing that the space here had a certain separation.
Bernadette calmly watched the small paper figurine shaking its head in front of her, waiting for its answer.
The small paper figurine made a troubled gesture of scratching its head, seemingly struggling over what excuse would be best.
"You're too immersed in playing the paper figurine; even your personality is affected?"
Bernadette said, her tone still largely unchanged.
"Uh, of course not. It's just quite interesting to occasionally slow down my role and perspective."
Leyton answered very honestly.
Bernadette narrowed her eyes slightly and uttered a word made up of Intis:
"Role-playing?"
"A very apt description."
Leyton controlled the small paper figurine to nod continuously, as if he hadn't heard the probing in Bernadette's words.
Bernadette, who had been watching the small paper figurine's every move, tilted her head to look downstairs.
The small paper figurine also glanced, then said in a tone of watching a show:
"A thief has paid a visit!"
Then, propping itself on the opened manuscript, the small paper figurine jumped back onto the manuscript.
"Aren't you the thief?"
Bernadette didn't care about the small paper figurine's movements; in her eyes, a tiny paper figurine couldn't make any waves.
"Uh, if you put it that way, aren't you too?"
The small paper figurine looked up at Bernadette and said.
Then, seemingly finding the upward gaze too tiring, it simply lay down on Roselle's manuscript.
"Me?" Bernadette uttered noncommittally but didn't finish her sentence.
Taking the Card of Blasphemy in front of Bernadette was impossible; he could only see Klein's next move.
With the goal unattainable, Leyton simply controlled the small paper figurine to ask a question he was curious about:
"Does Oravi Island have Steam's support and willingness in its confrontation with Moses Ascetic Order?"
"Why do you have such a thought?"
Bernadette's gaze at the small paper figurine became slightly more serious.
The small paper figurine crossed its legs very presumptuously and said:
"Some guesses."
"Oravi Island and Moses Ascetic Order's confrontation might be due to your differing philosophies, but as the earliest Concealment organization of the Fourth Epoch, Moses Ascetic Order, for you to achieve your current success so quickly, there must be support from other forces, among which Steam is the most suspicious."
Bernadette's expression only changed slightly, quickly returning to calm.
Her calm gaze fixed on the small paper figurine, slightly surprising Leyton, who was Concealment in a shadow outside the Royal Museum; he felt her gaze penetrate obstructions and coverings to see him.
"Do you think Hidden Sage can outcompete Steam?"
Bernadette ultimately only said this one sentence.
Then she stared intently at the small paper figurine, and at Leyton behind the small paper figurine.
Leyton controlled the small paper figurine to be a riddle-teller for once:
"Steam's luck is very good, or rather, too good, but all gifts bestowed by fate have already been marked with a price in the dark!"
Bernadette's brows gradually furrowed, and her gaze became more solemn:
"What do you know?"
The small paper figurine flipped over and said nothing. Klein had already arrived; a nearly invisible, vague human face outline suddenly protruded from the ceiling above.
The eerie human face looked down at the exhibition hall, completely failing to see Bernadette and the small paper figurine conversing below, as if the two were not in the same space-time.
Klein's spirit body rapidly descended, simultaneously extending two hands to take different bookmarks; one of the hands reached for the bookmark in Roselle's manuscript where the small paper figurine was located.
Klein's actions naturally couldn't escape Bernadette's notice. Leyton had to control the small paper figurine to say something that would attract Bernadette's attention, at least enough for Klein's spirit body to touch the Card of Blasphemy.
"The apocalypse is coming. Everyone, human and non-human alike, must make their final preparations. The gods are no exception."
"Wah! Wah! Wah!"
A shrill infant's cry suddenly sounded, echoing within the exhibition hall.
The small paper figurine was instantly covered in cracks, and Leyton's control over it became intermittent, as if he might lose contact at any moment.
Klein, in his spirit body state, seemed frozen, unable to make any movement.
Black cracks split open in the void, and bloodshot eyeballs drilled out.
With the appearance of these eyeballs, everything around them solidified, even the illusory spirit body unable to penetrate.
"Why do you only take the bookmark?"
Bernadette calmly, emotionlessly, stared at Klein's spirit body.
It seemed that if he didn't give a satisfactory answer, this fragile spirit body in front of her could be torn apart at any moment.
Bang!
Outside the Royal Museum, Leyton, Concealment in a shadow, snapped his fingers.
In the exhibition hall, the small paper figurine, covered in cracks, suddenly burst into flames, exploding before Bernadette could throw it away.
But it didn't cause too much fluctuation; the small paper figurine's self-destruction was channeled by Bernadette into the Spirit World, leaving only tiny golden sparks flashing for a moment.
Klein's spirit body seized this opportunity, returning to Gray Fog with the two bookmarks he had just enveloped within his spirit body.
The illusory, almost transparent spirit body instantly vanished from Bernadette's sight.
There was no emotion in Bernadette's eyes; she simply stared quietly at the spot where Leyton's small figurine had self-destructed.
Before the Machinery Hivemind members arrived to investigate, Bernadette's figure disappeared from the exhibition hall.
Outside the Royal Museum, the shadow where Leyton had been hiding rippled, then returned to calm, but it was already empty.
By moving through the shadows, Leyton quickly moved away from King's Avenue.
He then emerged from the shadows, glanced at the crimson moon overhead, and sighed helplessly:
"Bernadette will probably think I'm with that strange spirit body!"
"Klein took the Card of Blasphemy, but Bernadette's attention was on me."
Leyton shook his head helplessly. He knew Bernadette would appear in the museum, but he didn't expect to fall right into her sight when he went there.
"Perhaps she had already foreseen this!"
"She is a genuine Clairvoyant!"
Leyton muttered a few words under his breath, walking aimlessly on the empty street.
He performed a divination on Klein's location, only to find that Klein was moving.
Tsk~ I wonder if Klein can encounter it. I'm waiting for him to deliver himself so I can teleport over and collect the characteristics!
Leyton stepped into the Spirit World, then quickly pursued Klein's direction.
In a house somewhere, Klein held a citrine pendant in one hand and the Master Key in the other.
He had to perform a divination every time he touched a door before deciding whether to enter.
At the same time, he also had to constantly use divination to discern directions, ensuring he didn't get lost and return to the Kingdom Library.
Klein pressed the ancient-looking Master Key against the wall, gently twisting it, and invisible ripples spread out.
He didn't enter immediately but first held the citrine pendant in his hand, preparing to perform a divination.
This was a side effect after being tricked by the Master Key several times.
If it weren't to minimize his suspicion and prevent Machinery Hivemind from tracing him through checking people traveling at night, Klein w
ouldn't want to use this mystical item with absurd side effects at all.
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