Mysteries: Arcana Wars

Chapter 428 Ancient Insects

Backlund time, 21:00

There are 23 hours left until the outpost launch.

Almost as soon as he received Klein's call, Leonard set out immediately and arrived at Klein's apartment as quickly as possible.

Hearing the words "urgent, come quickly", Leonard was just one step away from reaching the target from a stealthy distance.

As soon as I opened the door, what I saw was a messy room with all kinds of debris scattered all over the floor, as if a huge explosion had just happened.

"Wow, what's going on, Klein?" Leonard frowned, "Did your house get robbed?"

"...What kind of robber can get into my house!"

Klein complained.

"I was hoping that there would be robbers coming, so that I could come to your Sivellas field to collect some bonuses and improve my life."

As he spoke, Klein hastily tidied up the room and made room for Leonard to sit.

"How come your box is broken like this?"

Leonard was shocked by the extent of the damage to the wishing machine. He couldn't help but touch it, and frowned at Klein's simple and rough repair method.

"Didn't you say you got this from Rorsted a few days ago? How come it's become waste in just a few days?

"…Wait, no, man, you just tied up your wishing machine like that?"

"if not?"

Klein grabbed a chair and sat down.

"Don't scratch it. The rope tied to it is much more valuable than your wolf claws."

Leonard withdrew his hands after feeling the electric shock and returned the big wooden box to its original owner.

Klein was too lazy to play tricks on him anymore, so he simply put the wishing machine down and opened the wooden box, revealing a giant doll of Alice surrounded by a pile of debris and servers, and got straight to the point.

"Do you know this puppet?"

"Yes! I know him very well!"

Leonard stuck his head out to take a look, a look of delight immediately crept up on his brows, and he slapped his thigh.

"Isn't this the clone you use most often?"

Leonard couldn't help but walk forward and circled the big wooden box again and again, showing an appearance that was so familiar to him that he would never forget it even if it was burned to ashes. He even couldn't help but reach out his hand to knock on the doll's hard face and pull at its big flowery skirt.

Leonard was obviously very excited to see the doll again. Perhaps it was because of the excitement of meeting old things again in this era. Leonard felt indescribable relief and peace, as if he had finally found the anchor in his memory in this lonely and helpless journey.

It was still the doll and the colors in his memory. It turned out that this strange and alien world was still his familiar home.

Everything under his feet was real and full, and never collapsed. It was just that the passage of time and the script of God had cast a hazy veil over it, making Leonard unable to see the city under his feet clearly.

Now, as the performance gradually reaches its climax, the blurry curtains are removed layer by layer, and the real world gradually comes into Leonard's sight, proving that his existence is eternal.

"...You finally found it! My goddess, where did you hide this clone..."

Before Klein could speak, Leonard began to chatter excitedly.

Amid the noise, Leonard was surrounded by a sense of security, but Klein felt a chill that penetrated his soul, passing through the layers of joy and pulling Klein's thoughts away from this world.

Cheers, mechanical sounds, voices, all the sounds became blurred and faded away, and in the end only a pale and sharp whistle remained.

"...Klein? Klein...

"Klein!"

The loud roar woke Klein up and brought him back to reality. He stared at Leonard with dull eyes and asked in disbelief.

"What did you just say it was?"

"It's your clone!"

Leonard was very worried about Klein's reaction, but he looked confused by these strange questions. He frowned and scratched his hair, trying his best to describe the story of the past in a language that Klein could understand now.

“This thing was one of your most commonly used clones.

"It's called a clone, but to put it bluntly, it should be considered one of your...secret dolls?

"Its function, most of the time, is to look after the house. In the Sixth Epoch, you liked to open a small shop and sell things, so this clone stayed in the shop most of the time.

"Its identity and background... are not fixed. It depends on what story you make up for it, or what kind of store you open, such as friends, brothers, father and son, etc.... Generally, every time you open a store in a new place, the identity of this secret doll will change.

“…Well, actually this mainly depends on your mood.

"When you are in a good mood, you play the role of a father, a legendary father taking care of his son with cerebral palsy; when you are in a bad mood, it plays the role of a father, a genius filial son accompanying his mentally retarded father.

“But you were always crazy at that time, so you also liked to make this secret doll crazy.

“Sometimes your real body is not in the store, or your identity as [Manager Klein Moretti] is not in the store. If we have any problems, we can come to this puppet for help.

"I remember what this clone was called... Ava... Irene... Ellie...

"Ohhhh! I remember now, its name is——"

“Alice!!”

Klein blurted out.

"Yes, yes, yes! That's the name—Hey, Klein, how did you know? Have you started to recover your memory?"

Klein ignored Leonard's sensitive and accurate suspicions. He just rubbed his fingers nervously and remained silent.

It...is...me?

Since waking up, when he first learned of the existence of Alice Moretti, Klein was told that she was a real Outer God who was sealed in this absurd body.

This was clearly a fact, an indisputable truth. From the narration of the phantom Melissa, to his own flashing memories, and those extraordinary objects that left him speechless, all the evidence loudly declared to Klein that Alice's phantom was true.

Yes, Mad God Alice is real. How could it be anything else but real? Could it be a lie I made up? With all this glaring evidence before me, it would be ridiculous to deny it!

Thinking of this, Klein suddenly laughed dryly twice, and the weird smile jumped on his face like fireworks.

But some irresistible thoughts are like hard thorns. Even if they are pressed under layers of icebergs, they keep squeezing out cracks in the soul until they reach the distant water surface.

The ugly smile was cut short by this untimely crack.

After hesitating for a long time, Klein carefully pulled aside the puppet's long and dense straight hair and carefully felt around the spherical joints.

The dense hair was like a thick quilt, wrapping Klein's hands until the touch on his hands changed slightly. His fingers immediately and accurately hooked out the strange silk thread and pulled it upwards with force.

Click——

The puppet is pointing upwards and floating in the air.

Many hidden black threads floated out from the joints of the puppet, stretched upwards under the pull of an unknown force, and disappeared into the air.

This is definitely not a real spiritual thread, Klein can guarantee it. In comparison, these threads are more like counterfeits made of puppet hair. They are "fake" spiritual threads.

Klein flicked his fingers, and the puppet floating in the air turned its head and waved at him exaggeratedly.

Now, Judge Klein, who is lying?

Is it the illusion of Melissa or the reality of Leonard?

Amidst his complicated thoughts, Klein suddenly grabbed the puppet roughly and tore off the back of the puppet's head as Leonard screamed.

A plump and rich swarm of insects wriggles in the skull.