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34 "034"

Thinking about the possible rumors and the consequences of being involved with Alice, Klein decisively stopped, turned his head to look at Alice, and reminded her:

"You hide for a while."

Alice realized the current situation belatedly, and she obediently disappeared from the spot.

So, Klein walked out the door and instructed Richardson, the personal servant standing outside:

"Bring me another serving of ice cream."

After a pause, he looked back at the empty ice cream cup on the table and continued,

"Remember to change the flavor."

As an experienced valet, Richardson did not ask any further questions, but humbly replied,

"Yes, sir."

As he said this, he entered the room through the space that Klein had made way for, took away the cup and spoon on the table, and glanced at the second extra chair and the clock in the room with a slightly puzzled look.

——It was obviously still a long time before 3:45.

But Richardson didn't ask anything. He just took the things and left. A few minutes later, he brought a new ice cream. Then he left the room, closed the door, and stood at the door as before.

It was not until this time that Alice reappeared. She murmured to Klein:

"Oh no, he seems to have discovered something is wrong..."

"I noticed that, too." Klein replied calmly.

Alice was stunned for a moment, then she realized that Klein was not referring to the fact that he had discovered something wrong, but that he had discovered that Richardson had discovered something wrong.

She shook her head, but soon became excited again and asked with great interest:

"Are you going to kill someone to silence him, Mr. Sparrow?"

Dawn Gehrman Klein Mingrui Zhou Moretti Sparrow Dantes glanced at Alice coldly and said in a cold and emotionless tone:

"Eat your ice cream."

Alice obediently lowered her head to eat her ice cream.

Klein stayed where he was and watched her eat the ice cream, not disturbing this rare warmth and tranquility until Alice quietly and quickly finished her ice cream. Just as he was about to speak, Alice disappeared from the spot, leaving behind only a cup full of ice cream.

——Everything returned to the way it was when the ice cream was first brought in, except that Alice was not here.

Klein stood where he was. He was no longer angry at Alice's behavior. He just felt indescribable speechlessness. He shook his head and, with the mentality that it should not be wasted, he went over and picked up the cup of ice cream.

Klein slowly finished the entire cup of ice cream and put it back on the table. Then, the cup returned to his hand, and the ice cream he had eaten returned to the cup mouthful by mouthful, and everything returned to the way it was at the beginning.

"?" After standing there in a daze for a moment, Klein's speechlessness instantly turned into anger towards Alice. He shouted angrily, "Alice!"

"Hehehe~"

The cheerful laughter of a young girl rang in the air. Nothing seemed to have changed, but Klein instinctively sensed that something was different. He picked up the cup of ice cream for the second time.

This was confirmed when Klein put the ice cream back on the table for the second time. Looking at the empty cup that did not return to his hand, Klein shook his head and went out to let Richardson come in to clean up.

…

"Golden Dream", inside the captain's cabin.

Edwina exhaled and took down a sealed box from the altar.

It is impossible to judge the material of the box by its appearance alone. All you can see is that it is exquisitely made and has densely packed runes on it.

Recalling the knowledge she had just acquired, Edwina chanted a few spells and repeated a few actions. Then she successfully opened the box, revealing an exquisite feather pen.

The feathers on this quill pen are a beautiful crimson color, and it is impossible to tell from the outside what kind of bird it belongs to. The pen holder is made of transparent crystal, appearing dark blue under the light, with runes related to fate flowing on it.

"0-34..." Edwina murmured in a low voice.

She looked dazed, as if her mind had been sucked away, and reached out to touch the feather pen, but when her hand reached into the box, she shuddered all over and abruptly retracted her hand.

After this experience, Edwina was covered in cold sweat. She hurriedly covered the box and sealed it again. Then she leaned back in the chair with a pale face, gasping for breath with lingering fear.

After a while, Edwina found some letter paper and started writing:

"To Gehrman Sparrow..."

After a pause, Edwina picked up the pen and crossed out the line of words, then glanced at the sealed box and frowned.

Suddenly, she had an idea, her eyes moved back to the letter paper, and she whispered to herself:

"In the previous "Travels of Groselle", the situation was special, and her own position was not right...

"If she has come back, it is said that she should be an angel..."

After taking another look at the box, Edwina closed her eyes and resolutely recited a passage of honorifics:

"Forever innocent child,

"The embodiment of luck and miracles,

"The origin of disaster and chaos,

"..."

…

Alice sat up in bed.

For an angel who was not preaching, it was a very strange thing to hear unfamiliar prayers - just like Alice now.

She instinctively thought of the new holy book of the church, but not to mention that the holy book had not been compiled yet. Even if it was compiled, in Alice's impression, the saints in the holy book would not have their honorific names filled in.

Alice doubtfully reached out her spiritual sense and "looked" in the direction of the prayer sound - she saw Edwina.

Alice was familiar with the background where Edwina was. It should be the captain's room of the "Golden Dream". She had been there many times.

Alice remembered that she had indeed given Edwina her own honorific name, and Edwina's belief in the God of Knowledge and Wisdom was very flexible, so it was not strange that she prayed to herself.

But Alice instinctively felt that there seemed to be something attracting her here.

...What is it?

After searching the entire ship, she fixed her "eyes" on the sealed box.

Her intuition told her that what attracted her was in the box.

After a brief hesitation, Alice appeared in the captain's room of the "Golden Dream", behind Edwina.

She thought for a moment, then patted Edwina on the shoulder from behind. Edwina turned around without much surprise, exhaled towards Alice, and said before she asked:

"I have something to ask of you."

"What?" Alice blinked and subconsciously glanced at the box.

Edwina didn't say anything. She glanced at Alice who was standing, then looked around the captain's room where there was no second chair. She stood up first and gave her chair to Alice.

Alice looked into her eyes in confusion. After a few seconds, she understood what Edwina meant and replied after a brief silence:

"...Please sit down.

"I like standing."

But Edwina did not sit back. She shook her head, pointed at the box and said to Alice:

"I would like to ask you to help seal a '0' level seal."

Alice paused for a moment, instinctively wanting to run away.

This sentence brought back some bad memories for her. She remembered that Charlie King had said this at the beginning - Will Auceptin hoped that she would help seal a "0" level seal in the future.

Now, after a long time, Charlie King shot herself and turned into the "0" level seal object, and Will Auceptin was reincarnated.

Obviously, there was no happy ending for the three people in this story.

Alice tried hard to suppress the urge to run away. She stood where she was and asked Edwina calmly:

"Who told you to do this? The church's top brass? Or..."

She paused and did not say the name of the god of knowledge and wisdom, but both of them knew the name well, so Edwina nodded and said,

"It comes from Lenburg."

Alice exhaled, feeling that her heart was finally at peace. She asked sincerely,

"...Are you sure that He doesn't intend to turn me into a Sealed Item, right?

"I'm probably useless to Him, right?

" "I'm probably not edible, right?"

"Uh..." Edwina looked a little confused, and it seemed that she couldn't understand Alice's behavior. "I don't know what you think of this, but this... this should be a gift."

"Gift...?" Alice frowned slightly.

Edwina handed over the box without saying anything, and Alice subconsciously reached out to take it.

After taking her hand back, Edwina looked at the box, took a deep breath, and then said:

"It contains a '0' level sealed object, which looks like an exquisite feather pen..."

"...0-08?" Alice blurted out.

Edwina paused for a moment, and after recalling the information she had read in her mind, she denied it:

"No, it's numbered '0-34'..."

"Okay," Alice nodded, "Go on."

Then Edwina let out a breath and continued to describe the function of the quill:

"As I just said, this quill was once a '0' level sealed object stored in Lunburg, and its number was '0-34'.

"It is speculated that the quill came from a 'prophet' who could draw pictures of the future.

"But once you hold this quill, you will uncontrollably draw the first picture of the future, which is also a dead end for the person holding the pen - this is also a side effect of '0-34'.

"Once a dead end is drawn, it will definitely happen, even if you give '0-34' to someone else.

"Therefore, we considered '0-34' unusable and kept it sealed.

"The method of preserving '0-34' is very simple. Although it has a slight demagogic effect, as long as it is sealed, no one will be attracted to it.

"Just like what you see now.

"But, as I just said, it can only be sealed and cannot be used..."

Alice nodded thoughtfully.

Giving her a sealed item that cannot be used or cannot be used in the short term to please her is indeed in line with the style of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom - this can make friends with her without causing any harm to oneself, and she has no clear enemies...

There are no clear enemies at the level of true gods.

After learning about the Old Ones and the Pillars, Alice realized that this phenomenon was normal - except for the awkward situations of Will Ausiden and Ouroboros, as long as she changed sides in time, strictly speaking, she did not have any mortal enemies on Earth.

All this is thanks to the "Key of Light" - fortunately, He is a single-path olden day, and the power in his hands is still only destined to play a supporting role.

In this regard, the competition in the "Destiny" path is much weaker, far inferior to the "God" and "Lord of Mysteries" next door.

Thinking of the "Ancient Sun God" who was betrayed by the Angel King under her seat, Alice shook her head and said to Edwina:

"So, you brought it to me as a gift?"

Edwina remained silent.

Just as she had tried to tell Alice in a tactful way at the beginning, she had not actually intended to state her purpose so directly.

This is obviously not the style of high-sequence socializing.

But Alice seemed to react too strongly to the statement of "helping to seal a '0' level seal", as if she had some serious psychological trauma about the matter, and Edwina had to give a straightforward explanation.

Anyway, the result was good. Alice poked the sealed box in her hand and asked Edwina:

"This is something from your church, right? How do I open this box?"

Edwina just remembered this matter. She glanced at Alice hesitantly, as if she didn't expect her to ask such a question - theoretically speaking, an angel could break this fragile seal even if he smashed it.

Alice saw the meaning in her eyes and explained with a frown:

"I don't like violent solutions. If you have a way to open the box, I would prefer to use your method."

It made sense. Edwina's instinct as a teacher came back to her mind. She glanced at Alice and said calmly and confidently,

"It's very simple. All we need to do is..."

After memorizing a long string of spells and gestures in a daze, Alice raised her head and asked Edwina sincerely:

"Do we have different understandings of the word simple?

" "No, I shouldn't ask that...

"You, the people of the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, have a different understanding of the word simplicity than ordinary people?"

The ordinary person Alice shook her head twice in pain, looked at Edwina with a resentful expression, and said sincerely:

"I would have smashed it open..."

Edwina looked at Alice hesitantly.

Although she was not specialized in this kind of potion, in Edwina's impression, the Beyonders of the "Monster" Path were not bad in terms of memory. Moreover, she was an angel...

She really just hates studying, right?! (End of this chapter)

35 The Scene of Death

Alice, exuding an air of dislike for studying, left the Golden Dream with the box in her arms.

Mythical creatures are the evolution of the life level, an all-round improvement. Although IQ is difficult to define, at least their memory has been improved.

What's more, the path of "fate" does not actually involve the question of whether or not you can remember it...

Returning to Backlund, sitting in the study, Alice opened the box according to Edwina's instructions.

According to Edwina, this box has double insurance. Even if the box is opened, when you reach out to take the feather pen, you will feel a biting cold.

This is a second reminder to prevent someone from accidentally holding the quill just by opening the box to check the condition.

However, Alice felt that this hasty sealing method should not be used within the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. It should be a temporary container taken into consideration for Edwina's safety.

As for whether she was taken into consideration - it's hard to say, and it doesn't matter much.

After listening to Edwina's description of the effects and side effects of "0-34", Alice had a bad feeling.

If "0-34" really comes from the extraordinary characteristics of the prophet, then the "picture of the future" it draws is probably not the real "picture of the future", but people think it is the "picture of the future", so it becomes the real "picture of the future".

Therefore, the dead end depicted in the first painting is probably not a real dead end.

If this is true, Alice has to doubt one thing - the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, the symbol of "omniscience" in "omniscient creator", could He not know about this?

This is difficult to determine, because with Edwina's authority, it is definitely not enough to know the true function of "0-34", and she can see... No, wait, she can see it!

The major churches have a tradition of informing each other of "0" and "1" level sealed objects. Although the notification content only includes the number and does not contain specific effects and side effects, since the things have been given to her, she can apply to the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom to retrieve the information.

…That should be possible, right?

…Go back to the church and ask.

This was one of the rare things Alice wanted to know urgently, because whether the God of Knowledge and Wisdom knew about it would determine whether she had done it or not - no matter how she calculated, she didn't think she could hide it from a true God who symbolized "omniscience".

Just like before, Alice had wondered how Emperor Roselle created the "Card of Blasphemy" that could deceive the true God?

Indeed, until today, Alice already knew that Emperor Roselle was promoted to the Sequence 1 "Emperor of Knowledge", and the "Card of Blasphemy" was most likely his work after being promoted to the "Emperor of Knowledge".

In other words, Emperor Roselle, through the authority of the "Emperor of Knowledge", used the powerful knowledge to complete the creation of the "Card of Blasphemy".

This was reasonable. Alice didn't care about this. What she really cared about was always the same - how could Roselle, a Sequence 1, hide from the True God?

You know, Emperor Roselle didn't even accommodate the "Hidden Sage" - he probably didn't.

As for what can be made after accommodating the "uniqueness" of other pathways, that's even more impossible. After all, the adjacent pathways of the "Secret Peeper" pathway have been occupied by the God of Steam and Machinery, and if you want to jump to an unrelated pathway...

Alice never believed that Russell was a madman when he made the "blasphemy card".

Speaking of which…

If Emperor Roselle really jumped to another path and became a god, then the final assassination... couldn't he have arranged it himself?

... Could he really crawl out of the grave? !

Alice thought of the two diaries she had continued to write, and swallowed in horror.

She shook her head, hurriedly clearing away the messy thoughts in her mind, and reached out to touch the feather pen.

When Alice put her fingers into the box, she really felt a biting coldness just as Edwina said.

The cold couldn't actually hurt her, but Alice quickly withdrew her hand and shook her body.

This is a habit of being a human being.

Alice, who still retained these habits, took a deep breath and reached out her hand again after preparing herself mentally.

Braving the cold, she took "0-34" out of the box and held the quill.

——Although Alice had basically determined that the "future picture" was a false prophecy before verifying the information, she was still curious about her own "dead end".

After all, she was going to die once, and if she knew how she would die, or even the time and place of her death, she would be able to replicate that scene.

She looked at the quill, did not resist, and followed the guidance of the quill to draw a picture on the paper.

This was a very magical scene. She obviously didn't dip the brush into ink, let alone paint, but the painting flowed out from her pen like a river, even in color.

"0-34" first guided her to leave a gloomy and dark environment on the paper. Alice thought it was indoors and should be the background. She felt that she was somewhat familiar with it, but she couldn't remember where it was for the time being.

On top of the slightly pointed roof, a giant white, scaleless snake appeared, hovering. Its pupils were a cold and ruthless red, and its open mouth had no teeth, only a glaring blood red.

Alice was stunned for a moment, and then she saw a blonde girl in a white robe, looking up at the top of the tower.

The paintbrush stopped at this moment, and Alice's eyes successfully turned cold.

This result was not too surprising, as she had even dreamt of the scene in the picture before - this was exactly the dream that the three of them had shared.

What shocked Alice was actually something she had not noticed before.

Before, she thought that this dream was a revelation, indicating that as long as she experienced death and then came back again, this would be her chance to become a god.

At this moment, Alice suddenly discovered something.

Just like what "Sun" Derrick had asked her when she mentioned this matter at the Tarot Club, in this dream, she actually only saw her future death, but did not see the possibility of returning.

The reason why she didn't think of it until today was entirely because of Klein's reminder. It seemed like someone had forced the answer into her mind.

Even her current doubts seemed to be - after all, she had never doubted before, right?

For problems that she couldn't figure out, Alice's choices were always decisive, and she chose to give up.

Alice dropped "0-34" back into the box and sealed it again, then turned her attention to the painting.

After staring at the picture for more than ten seconds, Alice finally couldn't help but glanced at the sealed box in confusion, then looked back at the painting and murmured in a low voice:

"How does a quill pen create watercolors..."

Unable to comprehend, Alice shook her head, fetched a match, and burned the picture.

She certainly wouldn't leave behind a prediction of her own death.

But this painting did serve as a reminder to Alice. As she watched the blazing flames devour the "picture of the future" bit by bit, she let go of the burning paper as the flames crackled restlessly.

"Maybe, I should spread the prophecy of my return after death... Damn it!"

The flame went out before it touched the ground because it lost its attachment. The ashes from the burnt paper spread out on the ground, causing Alice, who was originally in a trance, to jump up suddenly.

In the blink of an eye, as if time had gone back, the dust on the ground rekindled its flames, floated in the air, and pieced together the paper bit by bit.

Soon the painting reappeared in Alice's hand, and in her other hand she held a box of matches.

Alice shook her head, walked over to the trash can, and relit the painting.

This time, everything went smoothly. Every bit of ash from the burnt paper fell into the trash can, and not a single bit was left outside.

After doing all this, Alice stepped into St. Samuel's Cathedral carrying the box containing "0-34".

Archbishop Anthony had long been accustomed to Alice's sudden arrival. He was not surprised by the extra person in the room. He just calmly put down the pen in his hand, raised his head from the desk piled with documents, and asked gently,

"What's wrong?"

Strictly speaking, this was not the first time Alice had encountered such a scene, but after listening to the description of the work of the saints by the protagonist Anthony last time, she couldn't help but scan the documents and measure their height in her mind.

She didn't say anything, so the atmosphere around her became quiet, until there was a knock on the door. Alice came to her senses and looked at Anthony hesitantly.

She instinctively thought that she should avoid it, even though her identity no longer had much hidden meaning at this moment, but her confidentiality level was not high enough.

Anthony smiled and waved his hand at her, indicating that she didn't need to do anything, and then raised his voice and said:

"Come in."

Someone pushed the door open, and Alice turned her head to look over, frowning at first sight.

The man was wearing a black windbreaker and a pair of red gloves. He looked to be in his forties, with soft features and long dark hair.

Alice didn't know this man, but the black cane inlaid with gold in his hand and the exaggerated hat on his head made Alice doubt his aesthetic level.

The man noticed Alice's presence almost as soon as he came in. He closed the door and glanced at Alice, but did not ask any questions. Instead, he looked at Archbishop Anthony with a questioning look in his eyes.

Alice saw Anthony nodded and said nothing, so the man seemed to understand something and began to report his work.

Alice began to feel sleepy as she listened. She looked around and carefully moved towards the wall closest to her. Archbishop Anthony seemed to have noticed and turned his head to look at her, which successfully made her stop and stand straight.

This also made the ostentatiously dressed man look at Alice. Alice noticed that his gaze stayed on her face for a moment, and there seemed to be a flash of doubt in his eyes, but he didn't ask anything in the end, turned around and continued to tell the story.

Unable to run away, Alice tried to focus on what the man said. Soon she understood what he said. It seemed to be about a "devil" case. They had temporarily used several sealed objects during the investigation and arrest, and now they were re-storing them.

Alice suddenly remembered her purpose. She wanted to speak, but she felt it was not nice to interrupt others, so she could only stand there and endure it.

Alice lowered her head and regarded the floor beneath her feet as her enemy. After fighting with the floor for hundreds of rounds, she finally heard a voice that made her feel as if she had been granted amnesty:

"Okay, no problem."

Alice raised her head excitedly, looked at Anthony with a grateful look, then looked at the strange man, successfully making the man look at her hesitantly and then look away, and said to Archbishop Anthony with a hint of impatience:

"In that case, I'll leave first."

Anthony did not let him leave immediately, but said gently:

"I think I should introduce her to you, otherwise you may keep thinking about this issue when you go back today, and then you may not be able to sleep... although you don't really need sleep.

"This is the church's new saint, Her Excellency Alice Kingsley."

The ostentatiously dressed man immediately looked at Alice, with surprise and realization flashing across his eyes, but there was still a hint of unresolved doubt.

Anthony didn't care, and looked at Alice again, saying to her:

"This is the captain of the Red Gloves team currently in Backlund.

"His name is Soest, and he is a 'Requiem Master'... maybe he will soon be a 'Spiritual Wizard'."

Alice successfully remembered the second thing she came to the church for - about the digestion of the potion of the "Mage of Doom".

She did not mention these two things immediately, but first looked at Soest, raised her hand tentatively and shook it twice, greeting him:

"Hello?"

This action is too inappropriate for adults, and it exudes a childish tone overall - the greeting between adults at this moment should be a handshake.

But this behavior is very suitable for Alice's age. Soest's eyes did not look too strange. Instead, he smiled gently in realization and waved his hand.

"Hello, sir."

He didn't address Alice specifically, but simply called her "Your Excellency" because he wasn't sure what to address her.

After they finished greeting each other, Anthony said to Soest at the right time:

"You go back first."

Then, Soest tactfully left the room. After he closed the door, Anthony looked at Alice and asked,

"What's wrong?"

Alice immediately turned her attention back and told the purpose of her visit:

"I, I came here to ask for help.

"Well... first of all, is the relationship between the church and the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom good?"

(End of this chapter)