Lex felt a chill run down his gun-wielding arm, and his hand was involuntarily pulled up and slapped against the wall.
Only then did he see clearly: a chef's boning knife had cut his arm, pinning his sleeve to the wooden wall of the cabin.
He quickly grabbed the boning knife with his other hand, trying to pull it out, when a sharp voice rang in his ears. After the fallen male servant, a thin man wearing a chef's hat rushed over.
The ship's chef had been silent until now, standing behind Jack, only launching his attack at this moment.
Illuminated by the Sea of Light from the hurricane lamp, Lex saw his bloodshot eyes, his twisted features, and his chilling white teeth, like a beast about to devour someone!
The chef pounced on Lex in an instant.
Lex's mind went blank with a buzzing sound, but his body reacted on its own. He exerted force on the hand holding the boning knife, pulled the knife from the wooden wall, and used the hilt to strike the chef's face.
Amidst the dull thud, Lex saw the chef's head snap back, his face blooming with blood that gushed from his nose.
But this did not make the chef afraid or retreat; instead, it triggered a reactive response from him.
The thin man, whose chef's hat had long fallen to the ground, leaped up, grabbing Lex's shoulders and cheeks with his hands, pulling them apart forcefully, exposing Lex's neck to his gaze.
He lunged to bite like a mad dog; Lex could smell the foul odor from his mouth, see the splashing spittle, and his dark esophagus.
Just as he was about to bite Lex, the chef's movements suddenly stopped. A boning knife was thrust upwards from his chin, piercing through his mouth and deep into his head.
The madness in the chef's eyes rapidly faded, losing its luster. Under the force of inertia, he crashed into Lex, and then both of them slid to the ground.
Sitting on the ground, Lex took a deep breath, and his stiffened thoughts finally resumed activity.
He quickly pushed the chef's corpse away, looking at his formal attire stained red with blood, astonished and bewildered.
What was wrong with him?
He knew that the original owner, being a nobleman, had received training in marksmanship and combat.
But whether it was shooting that male servant or taking out this chef with a boning knife, he performed too skillfully, didn't he?
Lex pressed his forehead, massaging both sides of his head, recalling the sequence of events.
In both attacks, as someone who had lived and grown up in a stable society, he had no idea how to react; his mind was a complete blank.
Yet, his body reacted driven by instinct. Such decisive and direct attacks aimed at vital points could no longer be explained by mere training.
It was almost as if the original owner had considerable experience in killing!
Lex couldn't connect a degenerate nobleman with a killer. Before he could ponder further, he heard a splash, and then a familiar voice vaguely reached him.
"Help, I..."
A young man with blond hair and an aquiline nose flashed through his mind—it was Joyce. Had he fallen into the water?
Lex quickly put away his revolver, ran out of the cabin. The battle outside had already moved away, and there was no one nearby.
On the deck not far away, a fire had broken out. Using the firelight, Lex saw someone bobbing in the water below the ship.
Lex quickly took off his coat, kicked off his shoes, and leaped over the ship's rail.
He plunged into the icy seawater and swam towards the person who had fallen. As he got closer, he saw that the person's blond hair was completely soaked and plastered to his face—it was indeed Joyce.
Joyce saw someone and shouted, "Please help me, I have a cramp in my leg. Mr. Lex, it's you."
Lex said in a soothing tone, "Stay calm, I'll be right there."
He swam behind Joyce, supported him under both armpits with his hands, and dragged the blond youth towards the ship using a backstroke, found a boarding ladder, and climbed up.
Back on deck, Lex pulled the blond youth up. Soaked all over, his legs gave way, and he also sat down.
Joyce panted, looking at Lex, and said sincerely, "Thank you so much, Mr. Lex, I thought I was going to die in the sea."
Lex was too weak to reply, only waving his hand. At this moment, a cheer came from the upper deck, and then someone shouted.
"Eunice is dead, Eunice Gold is dead. The Captain finished him, we won."
Eunice was a villain, he even committed the atrocity of throwing babies into the sea.
He led those mad beasts, slaughtered a large number of people on the ship, and occupied the bridge.
His death was significant!
Hearing this news, Joyce, who was almost out of strength from struggling in the water, also excitedly raised his head: "We won? Oh my god, the disaster is finally over!"
Wearing soaked clothes was not a pleasant experience, but Lex was willing to endure it. He was now at the entrance of the second-class cabin where he had previously discovered anomalies. Using the excuse that 'there might be lingering madmen in the bedrooms,' he easily persuaded the Captain to organize a team to inspect the rooms and bedrooms.
Shortly after the Captain and his men went in, Lex, waiting in the corridor, heard gasps from inside. The situation in the bedroom was probably very bad, but the absence of fighting sounds surprised him somewhat.
A moment later, the Captain, wearing a peaked cap, walked out. Under the dim Sea of Light of the hurricane lamp, his face did not look good.
Then two Sailors carried out a stretcher, on which a corpse was presumably lying, covered with a white sheet, and hastily carried it out of the cabin.
The Captain tapped his hat with the barrel of his revolver and glanced at Lex: "That corpse is in a very bad state, it's missing some flesh."
Missing some flesh. Lex tried his best not to think about where the missing flesh had gone.
It seemed the Captain was unwilling to discuss this further. He said to the people around him, "Everyone is tired tonight. The madmen on the ship have received their due punishment. Everyone can choose a clean room to rest."
"Tomorrow, we will discuss the path we need to take next."
The crowd dispersed.
Lex, guided by 'memory,' found his former first-class cabin.
This was a room that could accommodate three servants, had a private chef, a dining room with a view, a dedicated cigar room, and a place for gatherings and card games.
However, now, it was just a sufficiently spacious room.
Lex took off his soaked clothes, took a shower, and then threw himself onto the bed.
In a short while, he had fallen fast asleep. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the white sky outside the window.
It was already the morning of the next day.
Lex opened the wardrobe and found his shirt, vest, formal suit, trousers, semi-tall silk top hat, and a gold-inlaid ironwood cane.
He dressed, picked up the heavy cane, walked to the living room, and sat on a sofa.
"Let me think, what exactly did I do to cause me to Transmigrate so inexplicably?"
Lex crossed his legs, his hand resting on the armrest of the sofa, his five fingers rhythmically tapping the armrest.
Memories, like boiling water, bubbled to the surface one after another.
"Hmm, during this time, because I read the great work 'Lord of the Mysteries,' I developed a strong interest in mystical magic."
"I collected a lot of information on this topic, and even found a copy of 'The Tree of Life Kabbalah' on a certain online marketplace."
"Oh, I remember now. I received an email that described an ancient ritual. Out of curiosity, I performed this ritual, and the result was..."
Lex stood up.
If I Transmigrated because of this ritual, then what would happen if I performed this ritual here?
At worst, he wouldn't be able to go back, forever stuck in this world of the Lord of the Mysteries. How much worse could it get!
Lex put down his cane, found a dagger left by a bodyguard in the room, and found several candles. Recalling the contents of the ritual, he lifted the carpet and began to carve on the wooden floor with the dagger.
To facilitate his work, he took off his jacket, wearing only his shirt, and lay on the floor, carving out a somewhat uneven hexagram.
Next, on the outside of the hexagram, he carved two concentric circles, and then on the 'ritual path' between the two concentric circles, he carved 12 symbolic representations of natural elements such as 'earth, water, fire, and wind,' arranging them like the 12 marks on a clock face.
Finally, Lex took out three lit candles and placed them respectively on the three star points at the left, right, and bottom.
Having completed all this, he stood in the center of the hexagram.
Adjusting his mind with his breathing until he felt completely calm, Lex softly said, "Let's begin."
He solemnly raised his left hand, palm upwards, and softly chanted, "All-Knowing Eye."
Then he raised his right hand, palm upwards, and chanted again, "God who overlooks all things."
He exhaled, joined his hands, and sincerely murmured, "You are the controller of knowledge, you mock fate, you toy with time."
Finally, he spread his hands, as if to embrace the morning light: "You are the witness of truth, the uncrowned king above the starry sky!"
The ritual ended.
Lex looked around.
Nothing happened.
Was it a failure? Or no reaction?
A wave of frustration surged within him. Lex sighed and was about to leave.
Suddenly.
He saw the window in front of him, the curtain lifted by the morning breeze, lingering and not falling for a long time.
He saw the dust in the morning light, as if frozen, quietly suspended in mid-air.
He saw the colors of the surrounding objects gradually deepen: reds became redder, blues bluer, yellows yellower. The scene before him seemed to transform into a vividly colored oil painting.
At this moment, he felt a heavy sensation in his hand. A thick tome emerged from the Void Realm, illusory, shimmering light outlining patterns, and an eye gazing at a stable triangle appeared on the cover.
Following that, a line of information appeared below the pattern: Knowledge Authority - 9.
Above this tome, there was also a pair of illusory hands, covered with various strange patterns and symbols, slowly receding and disappearing into the Void Realm.
Lex merely glanced at one small pattern on those hands inadvertently, and an inexplicable fear and panic arose within him.
Unable to look directly, he quickly shifted his attention to the tome in his hand, unconsciously forgetting the scene he had just witnessed.
The tome emerging from the air, the book summoned by the ritual.
So eerie, so mysterious.
Lex was dumbfounded. Wasn't this the 'book' he had seen last night when he first woke up?
Upon closer inspection, Lex noticed that on the cover, around the eye, there were seven blurred symbols. Now, one of them was becoming clear.
The mist shrouding the symbol gradually dissipated in the morning light, allowing Lex to see it.
It was an open book, surrounded by many illusory and ethereal eyes. They circled the book, as if observing, as if reading!
Compared to last night, this book had clearly changed. With anticipation, hidden fear, and suppressed unease, Lex reached out to touch the cover.
His fingertips felt a firm, solid touch, as if it were a real object. He gritted his teeth, opened the cover, and saw a white quill pen on the slightly yellowed paper.
Lex tried to pick up the quill pen. It felt light, but he definitely had the sensation of holding a real object.
Suddenly.
His pupils widened slightly.
He saw that the information on the first line of the paper had changed, and there was a lot of content on the paper that he hadn't seen last night!
Collection: 1+
Record: Your Adventure Biography has received more than 1 collection/attention, you have met the conditions to Release it.