Chapter 693: Attempt

After putting down the fountain pen in his hand, Klein removed the

spirit pendulum from his left wrist, holding it in one hand and letting

it hang down over the paper in close proximity.

"Edwina is in the story of this book," Klein closed his eyes and

silently repeated the divination statement.

After he recited the statement, he opened his eyes and saw the topaz

pendant spinning clockwise.

This meant that Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina was inside Groselle's

Travels!

*It really is a world inside a book... Furthermore, the situation inside

is very special. Without new characters, the story isn't able to

continue...* Klein indiscernibly nodded. Wounding the silver

chain and the topaz pendant around his wrist again, he picked up a dark

red fountain pen and wrote a new divination statement: "The method to

entering Groselle's Travels."

This time, he used dream divination. In the gray, hazy world, he saw

indistinct figures.

The figures were of varying sizes, some huge, others slender. The thing

all of them had in common was that they held a book with pages of

yellowish-brown goatskin.

The following developments branched off into two scenarios. A number of

them vanished silently with Groselle's Travels on them. The others would

accidentally or deliberately drip their blood on the cover while

carrying Groselle's Travels with them before suddenly vanishing!

The scene shattered and Klein opened his eyes to see the mottled table

in front of him. He frowned as he made an interpretation.

*To enter or activate Groselle's Travels, it either needs prolonged

contact with it to a certain extent, or you would need to drip one's

blood onto the cover?*

*Isn't that too simple? Perhaps... it's really that simple. In the

story, the Loen soldier's first appearance was as an ordinary person who

didn't know mysticism. With the help of his companions, he slowly became

a Disciplinary Paladin... Therefore, the activation method isn't too

complicated. An ordinary person is able to accomplish it.*

*A small number of researchers before this, including Vice Admiral

Iceberg Edwina, were Beyonders with sufficient amounts of mysticism

knowledge. They knew not to rashly drip their blood; otherwise, death

might occur without them even knowing it. This is akin to ordinary

people using the correct form of magic mirror divination. It's very easy

to provoke a powerful existence or secret existence. It's why no

problems happened to them...*

*Furthermore, Edwina keeps Groselle's Travels in the collector's room

most of the time and only interacts with it occasionally. As such, it

was only when she recently had a new research concept that she had

prolonged contact with it, completing the condition required to activate

the book?*

*Yes, even Arrodes only knew that there's something strange with the

book. Many of the past owners had vanished, and it's suspected to have

something to do with the dragons and City of Miracles, Liveseyd. This

means that Groselle's Travels will interfere with its surroundings when

being activated; therefore, most of the collectors in the past do not

know of its problem and had no thoughts of studying it.*

*The owners who disappeared likely aren't limited to the ones in the

story. The others might've died for all kinds of reasons, failing to

leave their names in the book.*

Klein focused again and made another divination, hoping to obtain the

method to leave Groselle's Travels.

This time, he saw a more tempestuous blizzard in the gray, hazy

dreamscape. He saw a gigantic figure at the top of an ice peak.

It was a translucent dragon who remained nearly five meters tall while

standing on all fours. It resembled a lizard's cousin and had an ugly

face with eerie blue eyes. It had a thick, powerful tail and a pair of

gigantic wings covered in a skin membrane on its back. It seemed to blot

out the sky simply by spreading its wings.

Its scales resembled ice crystals as they swirled with a crystalline

glow. It was the most beautiful and dreamy part of its entire body.

Suddenly, the dragon which resembled an ice sculpture raised its neck

and body, and it let out a terrifying roar that penetrated through the

blizzard.

At that moment, it reached ten meters tall by standing up on its hind

legs.

King of the North... That frost dragon... Klein left the dream

and tapped the armrest of the high-back chair.

His interpretation of the divination revelation was that the key to

leaving Groselle's Travels lay with the King of the North!

Klein's initial guess was that only by helping the main lead, Groselle,

accomplish his goal---slaying the frost dragon---would the story come to

a complete "end," opening a passageway to exit the book.

*However, I can also attempt to see if I can forcibly break open the

barrier between the world in the book and the real world...*

Klein relied on his rich experience to quickly come up with an attempt.

He first picked up the Black Emperor card which was facing down, and he

infused it into his Spirit Body.

Suddenly, Klein's body was covered in black full-body armor. On his head

was a heavy crown as his aura became majestic and dignified. It exuded

an awe-inspiring vibe.

Following that, he stirred the powers of the mysterious space above the

gray fog to the limit, making them surge over like a tidal wave.

Upon seeing this scene, Klein didn't hesitate to summon the Sea God

Scepter from the junk pile before he infused his spirituality within.

The blue gems on the end of the bone scepter lit up one after another,

emitting a blinding luster.

Countless silver bolts of lightning surfaced as they zapped about the

grand palace as though they were forming a sea of lightning.

Finally, Klein used the suppressive power and balance from the Black

Emperor's loftiness to infuse the stirred powers into the Lightning

Storm.

Rumble!

Thunder resonated above the gray fog and into the distance as thick

bolts of lightning smote down, striking Groselle's Travels.

Blinding light enveloped the entire palace for a full twenty seconds.

After everything was over, Klein looked at the target again and

discovered the mottled table was in shambles. As for the dark-brown

leather book, it was completely unharmed. Only its ends curled up a

little.

*It's far more impressive than I imagined... That's right, how can an

item which can create a whole new book world be simple... Heh, I

wouldn't have made a loss buying it for 8,000 pounds back then. It can

be used as a shield. It can definitely defend against attacks from

Saints. The only problem is its tiny size. It won't be able to shield

much...* Klein's thoughts raced as the bronze table was quickly

restored to normal.

Since there was no way to forcibly tear open the barrier between the

world inside the book and the real world, he could only consider how to

enter it according to the normal procedures.

*Get some blood, bring it up here and smear it across the cover, and

then enter as a Spirit Body with the Blood Emperor card and Sea God

Scepter? This way, I don't have to worry about encountering King of the

Five Seas, Nast, as there's no way he can sense it. He won't be able to

enter the world inside the book either. But the problem lies in the fact

that rescuing Vice Admiral Iceberg this way will allow her to determine

that Gehrman Sparrow is Hero Bandit Black Emperor.*

*Yes, there's a more important problem. Entering with a Spirit Body

means that the body is still in the outside world---the captain's cabin

of the Golden Dream. I have no idea how time flows in the world inside

the book. It might easily be a few days. That way, my body might meet

with an accident since it lacks protection. I'm in unfamiliar territory

as well. When the time comes, I might rescue Edwina, but I would find

"myself" gone. That would be fun.* Klein quickly rejected the

idea of entering as a Spirit Body.

He didn't trust most of the people on the Golden Dream, and he also felt

wary of the Strongest Hunter, Anderson.

His attempt to divine if it was dangerous to enter the book to rescue

Edwina was met with failure. Klein thought deeply for a moment before

returning to the real world. Then, he unhurriedly brought back

Groselle's Travels and removed the traces of the ritual.

Looking out the window at the impending dusk, he walked to the captain's

cabin's door, unlocked the door, and opened it.

Gourmet Bru Walls, Singer Orpheus, and company were all outside. None of

them had left. There were even sailors who peeked their heads out from

the staircase.

"Any clues?" Bru Walls blurted out his question, but he didn't hear his

voice because everyone at the door was asking the same question.

Klein swept his gaze and nodded.

Instantly, he heard sighs of relief, then he saw all kinds of happy and

excited expressions.

If I were to vanish one day, who would act like that... Klein

focused his thoughts and said to Danitz, "I need an assistant."

With that said, he turned to walk to the desk.

"Alright!" Danitz hurriedly followed and familiarly locked the door.

"Is there anything you need of me?" he hurriedly asked. He looked as

though he could already see his captain being rescued through his hard

work.

Klein stood by the desk and solemnly said, "What happens next will be

very dangerous."

"Very dangerous?" Danitz instinctively gritted his teeth.

"You might vanish or even die immediately." Klein told him the worst

possible outcome.

Seeing how serious the madman, Gehrman Sparrow, was, Danitz instantly

understood the gravity of the situation. His heart sank as he

subconsciously became frantic.

"W-what does this have to do with rescuing Captain?"

"It's directly related," Klein answered succinctly.

Danitz's expression twisted as he fell silent for two seconds.

"What will happen if nothing is done?"

"Your captain might be left there forever, or she might die in the next

second," Klein said truthfully.

Danitz turned agape as he closed his mouth in silence.

His eyes turned adrift for a few seconds before they focused back on

Gehrman Sparrow's face. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Let's begin."

"Dogsh\*t!" he softly cursed himself.

Klein picked up the pen and paper on the table, scribbled a note, and

folded it into a square before handing it to Danitz.

"Put it into your pocket. Read it after you enter."

"Enter?" Danitz asked, puzzled and clueless.

As he spoke, he automatically took the paper slip and stuffed it into

his trouser pocket.

Klein didn't reply as he pointed at Groselle's Travels.

"Smear some of your blood on the book's cover."

This... As Danitz made a vague guess, he picked up the bronze

dagger beside him and nodded heavily.

"Alright!"