After a moment, Zaratul waved his hand and took the notebook from Roselle, then muttered a few words and leaned back, entering the dream divination. /E`Z^小+说¢汪* ′首¢發~
In the blurry and hazy world, he saw a pitch-black peak, a hidden palace, and a man with dark eyes full of vicissitudes of life and tufts of thick black hair on his cheeks. The man opened his eyes and saw the madness in his pupils.
"!!!"
Zaratul's real body, who was hiding in a secret room a thousand meters away, opened his eyes with horror. The wriggling maggots on his body were crawling out frantically, trying desperately to escape from his body.
He quickly pulled out a historical projection of the audience's path and tried to comfort himself. It took him a while to recover from the brink of losing control.
As the last maggot retracted into his skin, Zaratul's eyes wavered slightly:
"Finally found it."
The Russell family's wine cellar.
Seeing the middle-aged man (Zaratul) suddenly tremble violently, Roselle quickly retreated to the exit and injected spirituality into the extraordinary items on his body, "Hey, I didn't do anything, don't try to scam me."
After a while, Zaratul finally regained his composure. He slowly opened his eyes and casually threw the notebook back to Roselle.
"???"
Russell was stunned, "What do you mean?"
"I've run out of it."
Zaratul said calmly that if it were another time, he would naturally leave the notebook behind, but now there are too many unknowns and risks. Since he has achieved his goal, there is naturally no need to keep it.
"ah?"
Roselle said quickly, "But I've already got the stuff for you. You can't break your promise to me. It's about that organization and that god." He paused, "Also, you have to provide me with corresponding help in the future."
Zaratul nodded slightly, "I will tell you everything you want to know, but not today."
"Why?"
He did not answer but said calmly, "Next time we meet, we will have enough time to talk slowly. Oh, remember to help me deal with this secret doll, bye. Tian Xi Xiao said! The latest news has been published."
"Hey, you're too..."
Before Roselle could finish his words, the middle-aged man's secret puppet collapsed to the ground and turned into a corpse.
"Fuck, the secret doll is thrown away just like that, isn't that too cautious?"
"Damn it! On my precious daughter's birthday, they brought me a dead body. Isn't that a bit too much? It's really unlucky."
As he spoke, he took a bottle of red wine and walked out quickly, then found Green in the garden, gave him a few instructions, and joined the birthday dinner as if nothing had happened.
Edward held the wine glass and looked at Russell thoughtfully: It was already abrupt enough for him to suddenly ask to get wine at the critical moment of the birthday party, and he took such a long time. What was he doing just now?
His mind moved, and he suddenly thought of a possibility: Could it be that Zaratul had come? Then had Zaratul already obtained the Antigonus family's notes?
I hope so.
Since no other aristocratic guests were invited, this birthday dinner did not last long. After all, everything centered around Bernadette.
After showing everyone the prepared surprises, giving out the gifts, and dividing the cake, the cocktail party was basically over.
At this moment, Russell took out the camera he had been working overtime for several days and said with a smile, "Come on, come on, everyone, come over here and try out my new gadget."
The first camera in the mysterious world "invented" by Russell is much smaller than the behemoth first camera in modern times, but it is also a big guy.
After he set up everything, he called the smartest servant in the house to take charge of the final step, and then pushed everyone to line up, "We will all shout 'Qiezi' (Chinese pronunciation) together in a while."
"eggplant?"
Du Bois frowned and asked, "What weird words are you using again?"
Bernadette suddenly realized something and turned her head to look at Edward, just in time to see him make a "hush" sound and mouth the words: "Secret."
"Okay, stop talking nonsense. Everyone, look at that thing. I'll count to three, two, one. +Micro-fun little¨tax? vain¨ \ chase, the most* 譆+cockroach¨ conclusion+"
"Three! Two! One!"
Bang!
With the roar of the spotlight, the first photograph of the mysterious world (not counting the previous Polaroid cameras) was born, recording this moment forever.
"Roselle, what was that just now? It almost blinded me."
"Hey, you country bumpkin who has never seen the world!"
Russell smiled complacently and said, "Wait a few days, I'll develop the photos and you'll know."
He clapped his hands, "Alright, everyone go back to your own homes and find your own mothers."
Bernadette bowed to everyone and thanked them: "Thank you everyone!"
Then he winked at Edward and said, "Thank you, Mr. Sparrow."
Edward knew she was talking about the early morning at sea, so he winked at her too.
Then Roselle quietly stood between him and Bernadette, with an attitude that said, "Don't even think about exchanging secret signals in front of a father like me." He patted his daughter on the head and said, "Okay, go to bed. Staying up late is not good for a girl's skin."
"oh."
Edward turned around and was about to leave when Dubois suddenly walked over quickly and whispered something. Edward nodded and smiled, "Okay, I'll go back by myself. You two good friends can chat slowly."
Roselle picked up a bottle of wine on the table, gulped it down, then walked up to Matilda and whispered, "Matilda, I'm going out tonight."
Matilda was stunned: "Where to?"
"Ahem, I have an appointment with Count Orthea to discuss my joining the army. I will probably be back tomorrow."
Matilda looked at him steadily for a while, then said gently, "Okay, be careful."
"Hahaha, don't worry."
Russell took another sip of his drink and laughed.
He didn't know why the president above the gray fog asked him to steal the notebook and give it to Zaratul, nor did he know if the president really would not do anything, so he decided not to stay at home at least tonight.
Maybe there is no point in doing this, but... it's better than doing nothing.
Russell turned around and wanted to say goodnight to his daughter, but saw Dubois coming over with a bottle of wine. He chuckled and said, "Why, do you want to have a drinking contest with me?"
Dubois shook his head and said seriously, "Roselle, I want to talk to you."
"Oh? You want to chat with me so late at night? Hey, you don't have any improper thoughts about me, do you?"
"Oh, you wish."
Dubois smiled and said, "Come on, it won't take up too much of your time."
Russell pouted and followed: "Tsk, so mysterious."
The two came to the quiet back garden one after the other. Du Bois walked straight to a fruit tree in the yard, sat down and leaned against the trunk.
"There are so many rooms here, why do you come here so late at night?"
Having said that, he also sat down. The two of them sat side by side against the tree, looking up at the starry night sky, as if muttering to themselves:
"If possible, I would rather go back to the place where we grew up together and talk to you again."
Chapter 616 Dubois and Russell
Russell raised an eyebrow, "Why, reminiscing about the past?"
"I guess so."
His smile is full of memories: "We often played together until very late. We were worried that our father would punish us when we got home, so we would find a tree nearby and lean against it until dawn. Time flies."
As Dubois described, intermittent images appeared in Russell's mind, but to him they did not seem like memories. Instead, they were video images that had nothing to do with him and that he could not relate to - those were things that happened before he traveled through time.
He shook his head, picked up the wine and clinked it with the bottle in Dubois's hand, "Okay, it's all in the wine."
"Um."
They both looked up.
Russell took a small sip, but Dubois drank almost half the bottle in one breath.
Russell asked in confusion, "What's wrong with you tonight? You look so worried?"
Dubois put down the bottle and wiped the corner of his mouth casually. "You know, I have been waiting for this day for a long time."
"Waiting for what?"
He looked at Russell quietly, with a gleam in his eyes, as if brewing complex emotions.
"Fuck!"
Roselle quickly moved his butt back, "You...you're not going to confess to me, are you? Although many nobles have this fetish, I don't! My sexual orientation has not changed since I was a child. I like beauties with long hair, big breasts and long legs..."
"Is he okay?"
Dubois suddenly asked in a difficult voice.
"???"
Russell was startled, "Who?"
"Roselle Gustav."
Roselle's heart skipped a beat, and he said in astonishment, "What nonsense are you talking about? Am I not Roselle Gustav?"
"I'm talking about... the original Russell." Dubois looked into Russell's eyes calmly, "The one who played with me since childhood, the one I always protected, the silly Russell."
"…"
Russell was silent. Perhaps it was because he had met people one after another who knew that he was a time traveler. When Dubois said in a confident tone that he was not "Rossel", Huang Tao was very calm, without the slightest worry or fear.
He looked directly into the other person's eyes without any hesitation, "I am the Roselle you mentioned."
Dubois nodded slightly and took another sip of blood wine. "Is it that time... when you fell off the mad horse and were unharmed? But in fact, he had already died at that time, and you showed up right after that."
Huang Tao shook his head, his tone revealing helplessness: "Dubois, you think too much, there is no such thing as what you said." He grinned: "Hehe, I think you just can't accept that I suddenly become smarter than you and do better than you."
"To be honest, it's a little hard to accept."
Du Bois was very frank, "So at first, I also thought that all the inconsistencies and strangeness I saw in you were due to jealousy."
"So I reflected on myself for a long time and came to Trier with you. I watched you become more and more like the Roselle I remembered, and gradually the sense of strangeness and disharmony disappeared. At that time, I was relieved and felt that I had overthought."
Huang Tao said calmly: "You just think too much."
"But..."
Dubois closed his eyes, then slowly opened them again: "No matter how much you become like Russell, you are not him after all. Every time I see you... I feel like I see a stranger in his skin, which scares me from the bottom of my heart. So I chose to part ways with you."
"No wonder."
Huang Tao picked up a weed and threw it out. "I was wondering why you suddenly turned against me because of a socialite."
"So, I really want to know, was he really dead at that time? Was he really gone a long time ago?"
Huang Tao rubbed his forehead. He didn't know if it was because of the alcohol or Dubois's question, but his brain was sore. However, he raised his head and took another sip of wine. "He... No, of course I'm not dead."
"I am Roselle Gustav, but something unexpected did happen to me. You can understand it as... I awakened some memories of my past life. So... maybe I have become different, but I am Roselle, the real Roselle!"
Dubois looked at him for a long moment and said, "I understand."
"Here's to you, Roselle."
He clinked the bottle with Roselle again, drank the rest of the blood wine, and then stood up shakily, "Tonight...everything we said will be forgotten after we sober up tomorrow."
He took a step back and bowed, "Good night."
Then he staggered away holding the empty bottle.
Russell watched Dubois's back gradually disappear into the distance, his emotions calmer than ever: if it were before he met the president and the priest, he felt that he would probably do something "rational": like killing Dubois!
But now, it seems that it doesn't matter.
Just as he told Dubois just now, in his case, it can be said that Huang Tao's soul traveled through time to Russell and inherited his memories; it can also be said that Russell awakened Huang Tao's memories.
In fact, the person who really died was Huang Tao from Earth, not the real Roselle Gustav.
"Heh.! Xin. Finished\ ¨ +鰰¨戦! ¢追,最~Xin.章-结\"
He threw the bottle away and stood up with the help of the tree. "That grandson of Dubois... is really my good friend. Even my parents didn't realize it, but he actually found out."
Roselle took one step forward and one step back: "This world is indeed real. How can an NPC have such true feelings? This feeling is really..."
"Ugh...yue!!!"
...
Why did Du Bois choose the audience approach?
Because this method can accurately tell whether other people are lying and see their true thoughts. Especially after being promoted to a psychologist, you can even give psychological hints to make their eyes do what you want.
That's right.
This was his intention from the beginning.
But when the day finally came, Dubois did not use any psychological hints on Russell - he didn't know why he made this decision, was it because he was worried, afraid, or unwilling to hear the expected answer?
He looked up at the red moon in the sky and said, "Now that I've asked you this, let's leave it at that. From tonight onwards... I'll slowly forget about it."
Perhaps, what Russell said was true, and he just awakened the memories of his past life.
He is still the same Russell.
perhaps...
Du Bois sneered, tapped his forehead lightly, and used psychological suggestion on himself.
...
Zaratul was very hesitant at this time.
After breaking off contact with the secret doll, He fled Trier immediately.
Along the way, He constantly concealed and counter-divinated, and traveled through the spirit world many times through the traveler's secret doll, making many detours and changing more than ten places.
It was not until the next morning that I looked back at the arrangements of that night: nothing was triggered, nothing happened, no one was fortune-telling for me, and no one was looking for me.
So, I spent the whole night battling wits and courage with the air?
Was it really just a coincidence that Russell got the notebook?
His intuition told him that there was no such a coincidence, but the facts were before him.
After several consecutive divinations to confirm that there was no problem, Zaratul finally stopped on an isolated island in the foggy sea and thought about the whole thing from beginning to end.
The result is that I successfully wasted several hours and still got nothing.
So Zaratul was in a dilemma. Should he go to the main peak of Honachis according to the result of divination from the Antigonus family notes?
Of course you have to go.
After all, it is impossible for me to stay at Sequence 2 forever, so the question is... when should I go?
If the Antigonus family notes were really a trap set by someone else, since the other party did not take action when he got the notes, they would most likely take action when he was on his way to the main peak of Honachis - digging the trap in advance and waiting for him to step into it.
So should you drag it out for a few years or even decades, and wait for the other party to let down their guard before suddenly sneaking past them; or should you act decisively and catch the other party off guard?
bite.
Zaratul flipped a coin: It is dangerous to go to the main peak of Honachis now.
The head facing upwards indicates affirmation.
He was not surprised. It would be strange if there was no danger when he went to Antigonus to snatch the Beyonder characteristics of Sequence 1.
After closing his eyes and thinking for a long time, He suddenly stretched out his hand and pulled out his own historical projection. After a few brief seconds, the historical projection, which had originally had a dull look in its eyes, suddenly became smart, and Zaratul's real body entered "standby mode".
This is the characteristic of the historical projection of the fortune teller's path: "uniqueness of consciousness", that is, there can only be one consciousness in the same time and space. A single projection has no consciousness. If you want consciousness to descend upon the projection, the entity will lose consciousness.
After switching consciousness, the historical projection once again pulled out the historical projection of a traveler, and took him into the spiritual world. After a moment of traveling, when he stepped out again, he had arrived in front of a black mountain:
This is Mount Hornachs.
...
No. 28 Feicui Street.
Edward crossed his arms and crossed his legs on the desk, his face full of surprise.
When Dubois reported to him that he was going to have a "secret meeting" with Russell, Edward's "childishness" was aroused, so he followed quietly with a funny mentality of watching a show, intending to see what this pair of middle-aged friends were talking about late at night.
Then he witnessed the scene that happened not long ago.
Dubois had actually discovered the secret that this "Russell" was not that "Russell" a long time ago, so he suddenly broke up with Russell and refused to accept any kindness from Russell no matter how badly he had been doing for many years.
It seems that he chose the audience path and hurriedly advanced... just for this conversation tonight?
However, in the end, he did not seem to use any psychological suggestion, nor did he get an accurate answer from Russell and left alone.
Is this a "reconciliation" with Russell, or a reconciliation with himself?
After Du Bois left, Edward paid special attention to Russell's reaction. Judging from the characteristics he showed in the original book, facing the crisis of his identity being exposed, a person like him would definitely do something to prevent future troubles.
But the expression on Russell's face at the time did not show any such thoughts at all. It was unclear whether it was Rosell's original thinking that was affecting him, or whether Rosell really didn't care.
Regardless, it was a good show.
Chapter 617 Action Begins
Pop.
Just when he thought of this, he patted himself on the face and said, "It's already this hour, why are you still in the mood to think about these messes?"
If Zaratul really got the notebook at the birthday dinner just now, then He should have known by now that His chance to advance to Sequence 1 is at Mount Honachis.
Zarathu, ah Zarathu, you must act quickly.
In the early hours of the morning,
Edward was awakened by a noisy prayer. He looked up and saw that it was pitch black outside the window. There was no moonlight or starlight. This was one of the few times he was awakened in the middle of the night, but he had no complaints at all.
He jumped off the bed, walked four steps backwards and entered the Source Castle. As expected, he saw the crimson star that symbolized Roselle expanding and contracting and flashing.
Amon hung his head and buried it in the feathers as if he was sleeping. Edward couldn't help but be surprised: Does Amon need to sleep?
"Of course I don't need to sleep."
He raised his head quietly, "But maintaining an ordinary person's daily routine, eating, drinking and sleeping, is a very good way to maintain humanity. Didn't you inject humanity into me? I like it very much, so I followed your example."
He yawned as he spoke, "But it feels a bit lacking that I can't eat or drink water here. Remember to bring it to me next time."
Edward thought for a moment, reached out and grabbed a handful of rice from the suitcase under the table, and sprinkled it into the birdcage, "Eat it."
He pecked at it casually for a few times, shook his head and said, "I prefer to eat insects, such as spirit insects, time insects and star insects."
"Next time, for sure."
Edward injected spirituality and clicked on the "message" sent by Roselle:
"Mr. President, Zaratul came to see me tonight. But He did not take the notebook away. He just used it to do some divination and then returned it to me. However, He told me that it had been used up."
Didn't take it away?
Edward was a little surprised, but he immediately understood: Zaratul wanted the Antigonus family's notes not for the contents recorded in them, but to use it as a medium to find Antigonus. He really only needed one divination.
So he asked, "Did He say anything else?"
Russell quickly replied, "No, He left very quickly and only told me to come back next time and answer my questions. Oh, and He also left the secret doll that He used to meet me."
Why?
Edward couldn't help but glance at Amon: Zaratul, you also like to throw secret dolls around, be careful that Amon will come to you one day.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"For a secret puppet like Zaratul that was voluntarily abandoned, do you have a way to find Him?"
"It's difficult."
Amon shook his head. "Since someone like Little Zaratul took the initiative to throw away the doll, it means that he must have completely cut off the connection with the doll and would not give others the opportunity to find it. He is not stupid."
"All right."
Edward leaned back in his chair and said to Russell, "You're doing great. Wait for my news."
Throwing the screen into the crimson star, he cut off contact with Roselle.
Amon then asked: "Does Zaratul already know where Antigonus is?"
"Nine times out of ten."