Oh no! The puppet is controlling me!
Either the team is in a coma... or they haven't recovered yet and can't even get up... there's no time to... wake me up...
No... we must... save ourselves!
What Klein saw before him all turned into a slow-motion replay of his previous life. Every joint in his body and the part of his brain used for thinking seemed to be filled with more and more glue.
He had no interest in becoming a real-life puppet. He seized the opportunity that his control hadn't been completely taken over yet and desperately searched for a way to save himself.
Hit himself... definitely... no... must... external force...
External force... try it... there's no time to waste, no time to think too much. In two or three seconds, Klein grasped an idea and drove the "rusty" knee joints to take a counter-clockwise step.
Meanwhile, he didn't try to break free from the invisible rope that was holding his throat, only murmuring in his mind:
"Fusheng... Xuanhuang... Xianzun..."
He wanted to use the mysterious world above the mist to wake himself up and break free from the assimilation of the "2-049" seal!
Gaaahahah, Klein's knees and ankles simultaneously emitted a harsh and strained sound, moving in a slow and distorted manner, and took another counter-clockwise step:
"Fusheng... Xuanhuang... Tianjun..."
His thoughts became increasingly sluggish and delayed. Klein was like a computer with all the family chips and all the security guards installed, lifting his left foot one card at a time, moving towards the predetermined position:
"Fusheng... Xuan... Huang... Shang... Di..."
The thoughts in his mind became increasingly rigid and sluggish, relying only on instinct to take the last step.
At this stage, he knew that he was almost completely controlled. Even if El Hassen woke up in time and ran over to rescue him, it was estimated that he couldn't complete the awakening.
But the strong desire to survive still made him murmur the last incantation:
"Fusheng... Xuan... Huang... Tian... Zun... ..."
As soon as the silent chanting ended, the chaotic and extreme screaming and murmuring suddenly rang out, dispersing Klein's frozen thoughts and fragmenting them into countless uncontrollable thoughts.
Klein's mind turned into a pot of boiling porridge. He vaguely felt his body getting lighter and his spirit flying.
The boundless gray-white mist and distant red stars appeared before his eyes again, empty, mysterious, blurry, and hazy.
The chaotic thoughts of Klein rapidly settled, finally restoring his ability to think, and he saw the magnificent and grand temple.
"Whew... It's good that it worked." He muttered in regret.
Based on his previous observations, he understood that once one was deeply controlled by the seal "2-049", it was basically equivalent to death. Normally, there was no medicine that could rescue them.
Fortunately, his "transformation ritual" and the mysterious world above the mist were not within the normal scope!
After taking a few steps back and forth, Klein began to think about his current situation:
"I can't just stay here forever, can I?"
"Wait until the team wakes up or approaches, then things won't be explainable..."
"The 'me' now should only be the physical body, more like a dead person than a living one..."
"But if I take the risk to go back, there's no guarantee of safety... What if I'm controlled by '2-049' again?"
...
As ideas were swirling around, Klein suddenly slapped his forehead and chuckled softly:
"It seems I haven't really adapted to the role of a 'diviner' yet!"
Before he could finish speaking, his figure appeared at the head of the bronze long table, sitting in the high-backed chair with strange symbols on it.
Klein extended his hand and picked up the pen that appeared out of thin air in front of him.
With a swish, he wrote a passage on the illusory white paper:
"Returning to the real world is safe."
Immediately after, Klein took out the "spirit pendulum" projection here from his pocket - after several gatherings, he discovered that any item he carried with him could be projected onto the gray fog, but it would be relatively less real.
Holding the silver chain in his left hand, Klein let the yellow crystal pendant almost touch the paper, touching the "event".
The pendulum settled down, and he half-closed his eyes, calmly reciting the words on the white paper in his mind:
"Returning to the real world is safe." ...
"It's safe to return to the real world." ...
Over and over again, Klein used the complete "Spirit Pendulum Method" without any reduction of steps for divination.
With his eyes open, he saw the pure yellow crystal pendant slowly swinging, driving the silver chain to rotate clockwise.
Clockwise meant affirmation, counterclockwise meant negation... Returning to the real world was safe... Klein let out a sigh of relief, habitually putting away the silver chain, then, he activated his spirituality, wrapped himself up, and simulated a state of rapid descent.
The hazy gray fog and deep red stars rapidly vanished and rushed upwards. Klein quickly saw himself standing still, saw the brown puppet with half its body hanging outside the iron box, and discovered that the sealing object seemed to have stopped all actions.
The sensory perception of his body entered his mind. He was about to move his arm to confirm his own state, when suddenly a voice hidden in the wind's sound came to his ears:
"Do you want to be awakened? As long as you promise me one thing, you can be rescued."
"This thing is to help me pick up that Antigonus family's notebook."
"Agree and nod. I know you can still perform this action now."
Who? Hmm, "2-049" seems not to have tried to control me anymore... Also, it won't continuously affect the same person, there will be intervals... Klein was startled, but on the surface, he remained calm.
At this time, that voice quickly added a few more words:
"If you can complete this task, you will also receive additional compensation. I know you are a 'Divinationist', and I also know that the Night Goddess's Church doesn't have sequence 8, but our Secret Order can give you it."
"Huh, frankly speaking, I used to be a 'Divinationist', otherwise I wouldn't have dared to return. To let you see my sincerity, I'm telling you now, the sequence 8 corresponding to 'Divinationist' is 'Clown'."
"Clown"? The Secret Order... Klein almost couldn't maintain his "puppet-like" state.
He never expected that "Divinationist" would be associated with "Clown".
Could it form a circus duo?
"Alright, make your decision. Believe me, you don't have much time to waste now." That voice came again with the wind, Dunne and Lorcata were still unconscious in the distance, Borgia seemed to be seriously injured, groaning but not moving, El. Hazan and Leonard Mitchell were relatively better, trying to turn over and sit up.
Why are they looking for me? The Secret Order... Is that the man in the tailcoat clown? After he fled, he quietly returned, attempting to take advantage... But why ask me for help? He could easily deal with all these people here... When hearing the other person's words, doubts flashed in Klein's mind one by one.
Since the other person said they were "Divinationists", Klein began to try to analyze it with the thinking style of "Divinationist":
"He returned, it must be because the 'hope' in the divination was confirmed, believing that the monster Ber will be eliminated, believing that we will suffer a heavy blow."
"He didn't go to get that notebook himself, didn't directly confront us, probably because the divination indicated that this matter contains great risks, so he suspected that the captain and Ms. Lorcata were pretending to be unconscious, suspecting that this was a trap set for him."
"He didn't do more divination, didn't confirm my current state. Maybe it's because there wasn't enough time, if we wait any longer, Mr. El. Hazan and the others will regain some combat strength, or it's also to underestimate me, thinking it's unnecessary."
"He knows 'Divinationist' very well, must believe that I can't escape the control of the puppet... He's using me as a dummy to test the trap... "
"This from another aspect indicates that the external manifestation of the 'Transformation Ritual' is almost normal..."
Without any delay in his brain, Klein felt that his thoughts were smooth in the past and present, roughly grasping the thoughts and purpose of the tailcoat clown.
As for the other person's promise, he didn't believe it at all. "Dummy" has no rights!
Thoughts flashed through his mind rapidly. Klein controlled his neck and made a difficult, awkward movement.
While making this gesture, he truly confirmed that he had broken free from the control of the seal object "2-049".
Just as he nodded, a transparent "curtain" suddenly fluttered a few meters to his side, outlining a figure dressed in a tuxedo and with clown makeup on their face, precisely the member of the secret order who had previously fled.
At this moment, Klein, due to his previous attempt to turn around in the opposite direction and try to escape the influence range of "2-049", was facing the black iron box and the puppet with his back, while the clown in the tuxedo was right in front of his side. To avoid the seal object and the gun barrel, he was being cautious.
The clown in the tuxedo pulled out a long piece of paper from his pocket and suddenly flung it, making it straight and resembling a wooden stick.
He held this "wooden stick" and, at a distance of two or three meters, poked at Klein's shoulder, attempting to wake him up.
This guy knew "2-049" very well. He knew the places where the descendants of the Antigonus family still had residual traces, and the puppet would become violent and control two people simultaneously... He also knew that hitting with a stone wouldn't work? At least I haven't seen the team leader and them try something similar before... Although Klein didn't understand why "2-049" didn't try to assimilate him again, he didn't dare to stay within five meters for too long, so he raised his heart and waited for the opportunity.
The "wooden stick" made from the note was about to touch his shoulder when Klein's left hand suddenly lifted, grabbed the top of the "wooden stick", and pulled it back sharply.
The clown in the tuxedo was caught off guard, his body being pulled directly forward, staggering forward. The distance between them was once again shortened to less than two meters.
At the same time, Klein, who had prepared his right finger for a long time, forcefully pressed the trigger of the revolver.
Bang! Bang!
He fired two shots, but not at the clown in the tuxedo, but at his back, at the side where he was away from the seal object "2-049"!
Before the gunshots rang out, the clown in the tuxedo had voluntarily changed from staggering to rolling, instinctively avoiding it.
Klein released his hand holding the "note wooden stick", stomped forward, and ran several meters away, out of the "danger zone".
The clown in the tuxedo had rolled for two circles when it suddenly felt a buzzing in its head, and its thoughts quickly became sluggish.
Oh no!
He deliberately forced me to... go... in the direction of the "Antigonus puppet"!
I'm within five meters... range...
How... could he... not be... controlled by... "Antigonus"... "puppet"...?
...
The somersault of the tuxedo clown stopped. His joints, like rusty hinges, were trying to crawl outwards.
At this moment, Klein had turned his body and held the revolver in both hands, aiming at the slow-moving target.
In his eyes, this was equivalent to shooting at a stationary target.
— Because Klein had witnessed the battle between the tuxedo clown, Dunn, Al, and Lorcata before, he knew that the opponents were agile and skilled at somersaulting. So even though the distance between them was only a few meters, he carefully avoided direct shooting and instead forced the opponent to retreat towards the "home ground" he had anticipated, near the "2-049" seal!
And if the puppet didn't work, the tuxedo clown would also realize that he had fallen into a "trap". The counterattack was only for escape and did not pose a real threat.
Bang!
In the incomprehensible gaze of the tuxedo clown, the man in black formal attire calmly pulled the trigger.