13 Mink Street

Alfred was inside the room, yet he was not. That was because all that was inside the workroom was a dim yellow halo. It was very faint, like a flickering candle flame, yet it was also exceptionally tenacious.

Leaning against the doorframe, Karon folded his arms and listened to the prayer coming from that tiny halo. He smiled.

“Heh, heheh...” As he laughed, Karon let out a long breath. The groggy feeling that had nearly crushed him earlier, no, that had truly crushed him, finally vanished entirely.

When one was lost, even if there was only a single lamp by one’s side, it would offer a feeling of warmth. When one looked up at night, even if there was only a single star shining upon them, it would look beautiful. Life was like sailing across the sea. In truth, most people’s boats had neither sails nor oars, and they merely drifted passively along with the direction of the current. At a time like this, if an anchor could be dropped, even a moment of stillness would be enough to make others envious and grateful.

Karon looked around, and finally understood why this illusion had been so difficult: this was a cage that he had built himself. Normally, clarity, confrontation, and conquest meant standing as an individual and challenging another, but here, being clear with himself, facing himself, conquering himself... was the same as being lost in himself, avoiding himself, and being defeated by himself.

Ashley’s father, Santos, had described it very well in his diary: when a Psyen appears, it is everywhere. That sentence captured a Psyen’s ability with frightening precision. When the source was Karon himself, he truly was... everywhere. The problem with that description was that it was too concise, sounding almost like a final philosophical revelation. Without experiencing it firsthand, there was no way to understand what those words truly meant.

“So, when writing a diary in the future, it’s better to use plain language. Ideally, add annotations, too.”

Karon turned and left, at the same time waving at the faint light behind him. After coming up from the basement and walking to the first floor, the Throne of Order was still atop the mourning platform. Karon walked up the steps and approached the throne. Without hesitation, he sat on it. “I’ve already sat down, but why am I still not the God of Order?”

No voice answered him.

Karon rubbed his hands over the armrests, sensing that delicate texture. “The throne itself holds no meaning at all. Whether one sits on it or not makes no difference. The reason it is revered by others is not because it is the Throne of Order, but because it is called the Throne of Order, and because it is the chair that the God of Order once sat upon.”

Karon stood up and looked back at the throne behind him. “The more exquisite something looks, the less practical it is. It’s not even as good as an armchair. No, a rattan rocking chair.”

After walking down from the mourning platform, Karon saw that Mr. Hoffen was still sitting on the sofa beside the coffee table, drinking tea. Karon walked over to him, bent down, and said, “Grandpa Hoffen, it was only after I went out and broadened my horizons that I truly understood just how formidable you were. Unfortunately, you died. What is even more unfortunate is that you were Awakened after that. Otherwise, I really would have gone back one day in the future, taken you out of your grave, and asked you some questions about arrays. I originally thought that studying arrays was as simple as studying Arts. Now it seems that my thinking was too simple. Even though I have the Cube Key, studying arrays is still a complicated and long-term process. If you were still around, I would be able to come specifically to ask you to teach me. But it’s all right. You left quite freely, and you didn’t leave with any lingering regrets.”

After saying this, Karon reached out and adjusted the hat on Mr. Hoffen’s head.

Then, Karon walked up the stairs. The golden retriever was still there, tongue out and a silly smile on his face. Karon placed a hand on the dog’s bald head and rubbed it. “There’s something I’ve always been very curious about, but was too embarrassed to ask you. Between the Goddess Mios and the Sea God, was there actually any affection?”

The golden retriever continued to smile foolishly, but the smile grew a bit stiff.

Karon stepped over the dog and went back upstairs. The black cat was still sitting there. Karon naturally reached out and rubbed the fur around Pu’er’s neck, saying, “After I get back, I’ll cook fish for you. No matter how big Allen Manor may be, none of its chefs can prepare the fish that you like to eat.”

The black cat’s tail stood up, and that pure white finger seemed to want to point at Karon again.

Karon reached out and grabbed that finger. “Don’t worry. One day, I’ll go to the place where the Allen family discovered your finger to look for you. I hope you left even more things there. Don’t make me go there for nothing.”

Karon released the finger and walked toward the study. At the door, he reached out and knocked. Knock, knock... knock, knock...

“Come in.”

Karon pushed the door open and looked at Tiz sitting inside. “Grandpa.”

“Hmm?”

“I know you’re tired and want to have a proper sleep. Go ahead and sleep for now. When I return, I’ll wake you up. I can sense your pride. Deep down, you are proud in the same way I am, so both of us are casual about what we love and what we hate. Pu’er once said that you saw your former self in me. In truth, I have always been learning that pride and ease of yours. I was very lucky. The moment I opened my eyes in this world, I had an elder like you. I believe you truly treated me as your grandson and cared for me, because I have long since regarded you as my real grandfather.”

After saying this, Karon exited the study and closed the door.

When he passed by the window ledge, he discovered that the other “Karon” was still standing there. However, this time, he was facing him, not the window.

“I saw the pain you once suffered from Mr. Eisen, so I feel that death was actually a kind of release for you. I did not take over your body, and I certainly did not drive you out of this home. When I arrived, this place was an empty house. I don’t want to tell you something like I replaced you or helped you to shoulder your responsibilities, because I am Karon now. Oh, right. Your body is weak, so stand at the window less. The wind is strong there.”

Immediately afterward, Karon pushed open the bedroom door. Inside, Mason, Aunt Mary, Aunt Winnie, and the others were all still there.

Opening his arms, Karon hugged Mason. “Uncle, I miss you. You are an amusing and humorous elder, and you also taught me many principles about being a person.”

Karon then hugged Aunt Mary. “Aunt, you really are amazing. I have always felt that Uncle was truly lucky to have married you.”

After that, Karon hugged everyone. Finally, he looked at them all. “Grandpa asked me several times whether I had truly thought it through. Back then, all I wanted was to go out and see the world. If everything could start over now, and Grandpa asked me the same question again, I don’t know whether I would still be willing to leave home, leave Immers Funeral Home, and leave Mink Street. I miss you all. I miss you all so, so much. I will come back when I am strong enough.”

After this, there will be no more cracks in my heart.

Karon raised his head, lifted his hand, and snapped his fingers beside his ear. Snap!

***

Karon opened his eyes. Beside him stood Ashley, her eyes closed and completely motionless. The other squad members also stood around completely motionless. It was not only his own squad. Every member of the other three squads was also frozen in place.

Slowly, Karon lowered his gaze onto that giant walnut, the Psyen.

The Psyen’s heart was filled with despair. Illusion demons were intelligent creatures. While their species did not possess humanity’s ethics or social views, they possessed the instincts of living creatures. What Karon had seen, this Psyen had also seen. The Psyen could only curse the fate that had forced it to choose one out of four and that it had selected this team. Why had it been itself, and not one of the other three Psyens?

Karon lowered his head and saw a white thread around his wrist. The other end connected to the Psyen. If one observed carefully, they could discover that everyone had a white thread tied to them, and that these were also connected to all the selection participants within their respective barriers. Karon used his other hand to untie the white thread and then held it in his hand.

The Psyen could not speak or move, but through the white thread, Karon sensed its pleading. It was not pleading that he spare its life. The illusion demons had known clearly that after being sent to this place, there was a very high chance of death, because they themselves were considered consumables for this trial. It was pleading that Karon not punish it with some method that was even more terrifying than death.

Karon released his hand, and the white thread quickly retracted into the Psyen’s body.

Woooo... A sound similar to a steam whistle came from the Psyen, filled with relief and gratitude. Then...

Boom! The giant walnut exploded. It chose to commit suicide, and it did so without the slightest hesitation, impatient to the extreme, as if afraid that Karon would go back on his word.

The explosion did not wake the others, because the Psyens’ ability was only a catalyst. Their reactions had not yet ended. Karon guessed that perhaps some error had occurred on his side, causing both himself and the Psyen to suffer. As the first person to “awaken,” Karon chose to sit down quietly and wait in silence.

Five minutes later, the second person woke up. It was the sleepy girl, Philomena.

As she woke up, her Psyen simply burrowed into the ground and vanished, not giving her any chance to attack. Like Karon, she also severed the white threads connected to her teammates, and she received the same results as Karon. Her teammates did not wake up after being disconnected. The only value in disconnecting them was that the Psyen lost the ability to monitor the content of the illusions, which meant that this granted the participants a bit of privacy. Of course, if one could seize the opportunity to kill the Psyen, that would thoroughly destroy the one who had witnessed the illusions.

On the other side, the captain of Squad 1, Murray, suddenly flashed and appeared beside his Psyen. A flame of Order struck the Psyen, immediately incinerating it.

Immediately after that, the bald captain, Kane, also woke up. He prepared to attack his Psyen, but the creature had already hidden underground before he awoke.

At this moment, Varg’s voice rang out, “There is still one hour. At the end of one hour, the three squads with the highest number of members who have awakened will qualify to advance to the next and final test. If the final two squads have the same number of awakened members, all four squads will enter the final round.”

Ten minutes later, Bart woke up. A few more minutes passed, and Vintral woke up. Then came Mars and Blanche, while Ashley only woke up nearly half an hour later. The other squads were in much the same situation, but Karon’s squad was still in the best shape, so they generally woke much faster than the other three squads.

Karon confirmed once again that he really was an extreme outlier. Had the other candidates gone through the same experience as him, most of them would never have woken up. It would be expected that they would spend the rest of their lives sealed within their own consciousness.

In addition, Karon also realized that the Psyen’s stage of the selection process was not so much a test to eliminate teams as a bonus offered by the organizers. This was an opportunity given to the young people who made it far enough through the selection to improve their self-awareness. The difficulty was actually very appropriate. Therefore, Psyens were likely very expensive, and there might not even have been very many prepared. That would explain why the illusion demons in the previous round had been given stimulants, as that had helped to eliminate more teams.

At minute fifty-five, Squad 1, Squad 3, and Squad 7 all had every member awake. Meanwhile, there were still three people in Philomena’s squad who were unconscious. Most of them had quite severe injuries, causing their conditions to be too poor. Because of that, they were unable to digest even this kind of opportunity at this moment. From the looks of it, her squad was about to be eliminated.

But at this moment, Philomena walked over beside two of her teammates who were not yet awake and placed hands on their shoulders. She closed her eyes. Two minutes later, the two people opened their eyes and woke up. Philomena then went over to her last teammate and placed a hand on his shoulder. During the very last minute, she managed to wake her last teammate.

The members of the other three squads all watched Philomena’s actions with great surprise. She had actually used a soul-bridging method to forcefully enter her teammates’ consciousnesses and awaken them. As for Karon, he attributed her success to her habit of being able to sleep even while walking. Had she “entered their dreams” to wake them?

In the end, under Varg’s announcement, all four squads collectively entered the next round.

Pfft! Once their advancement was confirmed, Philomena spat out a mouthful of blood and dropped to her knees. Blood seeped from the corners of her eyes, her nose, and her ears. Clearly, she had paid an enormous price to wake her teammates.

There was actually little benefit to what she had done. This round had been more of a reward than a real trial, and the final round would not be so forgiving. The selection could only conclude when just two squads remained. Her squad, Philomena included, was in such terrible condition that there was no real chance of them making it through the next round.

She understood this perfectly well herself, but simply could not accept it. This was not because she wanted to prove anything to Karon; It was because of her pride. Even knowing that she stood no chance, she still needed to force her way to the final round, even if it meant paying a heavy personal price. Even Karon had to admire that. She was not suited to being a teammate or a friend, but her pride and strength made her a respectable opponent.

Above them, dark clouds gathered once more, signaling the countdown to the next round. Karon looked over his team members and saw that they were all somewhat dispirited, and the other squads were much the same. After being forced through that kind of self-examination, it was only natural for their spirits to have fallen.

“Get your spirits up!” Karon clapped his hands. “Anyone can wallow. The real skill is pulling yourself out of it. Right now, wasting energy on useless emotions is the stupidest thing you can do!”

In the end, he still had to be the one, as the captain, to raise their morale, despite the fact that he had been the one under the greatest pressure earlier.

“Yes, Captain!”

“Yes, Captain!” Everyone shouted in response and straightened their bodies one after another.

“Mars, activate the Mental Bridge Array now and connect all of us together!”

“Yes, Captain.” Mars took a deep breath and activated the array. Everyone standing within the array was connected on a mental level, allowing them to sense each other’s emotional fluctuations. When they truly encountered the attack from the divine artifact, they would also be able to drive the overall defense on the mental level.

Squad 1 activated a similar array, with all of their members standing within it.

When Kane, the bald captain of Squad 7, saw this, he slapped his shiny head and cursed, “Oh, so we’re getting punished for not having an array master, are we?”

At this moment, Squad 1 and Squad 3 had made preparations to welcome the descent of the divine artifact, Squad 7 was cursing, and as for Philomena’s squad, they did not even have anyone standing anymore. They were all basically lying down.

However, just as the dark clouds were about to disperse and another crack opened above them, a beam of light appeared around Kane, the bald captain of Squad 7. He spread his arms and grabbed the hands of two teammates, while the rest of the squad quickly linked hands as well, forming a circle. They were taking their chances, hoping the divine artifact’s attack would be purely mental. After all, any divine artifact was simply too powerful. If one were allowed to attack freely, every squad present would be eliminated. So as ridiculous as this team-building exercise looked, it might actually succeed.

At this moment, an ancient aura seeped through the crack. The divine artifact had not even passed through, yet terrifying pressure was already pouring down, followed by a mental storm that was only a small appetizer. Even inside their array, the members of Squad 1 still looked to be strained and in pain. Their voices could not be heard, but their misery and agony could be felt. The members of Squad 7 went from standing hand in hand to crouching hand in hand, tears and snot dripping down their faces in pain.

Philomena’s squad of misfits, meanwhile, had already been determined unfit to continue by the array master responsible for them, and they were transported out of the barrier.

As for everyone in Karon’s squad, they glanced at each other, and then at the two squads beside them. All of them revealed puzzled expressions. Why did they not feel anything here?

Everyone thought of one possibility!

Ashley turned around and looked at Mars, who was presiding over the array, and exclaimed in amazement, “Mars, so you were the one hiding the deepest all along!”

The other members of the squad all cast admiring glances his way. In any case, at the final moment, the hidden big shot in the team suddenly revealing his strength to protect the entire squad and get them through was a pleasant surprise. No one would blame him at this time for deliberately hiding it earlier.

Mars said, “Huh?”

Faced with the praise of his teammates, Mars was the one who was the most confused. Forget not hiding his level, even if he really had hidden things, what did this have to do with him? The array he had set up had not encountered even the slightest bit of a mental storm. Not even the edge of a tiny breeze had brushed against it!

“Karon... Karon...”

Because of the Mental Bridge, everyone was connected on the mental level to a certain degree, so this mental call was also transmitted to the ears of every team member.

Vintral asked in confusion, “Who’s calling the captain in their heart at a time like this?”

Bart turned to look at Ashley and Blanche, reminding them, “You two need to control yourselves right now. Don’t call upon the captain so gently in your hearts. We can all hear you.”

He turned to them because the voice they all heard was female.

Ashley immediately shook her head. “It’s not me!”

Blanche reacted the same. “It’s not me either. It really isn’t!”

“It isn’t you two?” Bart still did not believe them.

Ashley angrily shot back, “It’s not!. I already said it’s not. Even if I wanted to think about the captain, would I do it at a time like this? Wouldn’t I wait until the selection ends and I got home and was in bed?”

Blanche nodded. “Exactly, exactly.”

Bart wondered, “Huh. If it isn’t you two, then who could it be? Vintral, Mars, which one of you is a girl in your mental world?”

Mars said, “The voice isn’t coming from inside the array; It’s being transmitted in from outside.”

“From outside the array?” Bart grew even more confused. “How is that possible? Did you forget? We’re inside a squad barrier. Sound can’t be transmitted in, and mental power can’t be transmitted in either, unless it’s that div—”

Vintral picked up, “Unless it’s a mental message from the divine artifact.”

“Big Brother Karon... I missed you so much... Karon...”

Everyone: “...”