LotM: Surviving as a Marionette

Built from blue-gray stone bricks, the wide and towering building allowed colorful sunlight to stream through the stained glass windows into the hall-like spacious interior. The classical style revealed tranquility, with uniform tones and bustling crowds of students. The aroma of food wafting through the air and students engaging in playful banter created a relaxed atmosphere that left the Abrahams in a daze for a very long time.

This place was completely unlike the world they inhabited.

The students were modest and friendly, the professors were approachable and erudite. Their faces bore neither the panic and numbness of the lower classes, nor the confusion and uncertainty about the future. They had idealistic and aspirational goals, the drive to constantly strive for them, and everywhere you could see people discussing various things they had never heard of. They seemed like living beings, their enthusiasm radiating with the unique brilliance of life, causing everyone to unconsciously blend into this atmosphere.

But Olsen and the other Abrahams were also definitively told:

"That's right, they're all marionettes."

All marionettes...

Whether it was more surprise or understanding, this place seemed less like the interior of some Sealed Artifact that could kill at any moment, and more like an ideal utopia created in a corner forgotten by the gods.

Enthusiasm, hope, kindness... emotions were contagious things. Under the impact of so many positive emotions, even the extremely experienced Abraham Elder Holloway couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed upon learning that all of this was merely a puppet show, a fleeting dream.

After all, it was simply too beautiful, as beautiful as if the Evernight Goddess had granted them a wonderful dream, yet She was ultimately the Empress of Misfortune and Horror as well.

It was truly like a little joke played by a deity.

No one could imagine such a place existing. Humans cannot imagine things they have never seen; only by witnessing them firsthand can they truly experience certain things they had never considered or felt before.

Using marionettes to perform this vivid and lifelike tableau was shocking enough, and could also be seen as flexing muscles to them... but this could also work in reverse, allowing them to indirectly glean the mindset, emotions, and experiences of the manipulator behind the marionettes from the various details.

Elder Holloway let out a long breath in his heart, simultaneously dropping most of his guard against the person before him.

But the necessary caution still remained; he couldn't be certain whether what the other party was displaying was merely a temporary illusion to deceive them.

The first time entering this place brought caution, vigilance, wariness, and fear that this was a trap targeting the Abrahams. Now came the intertwining emotions of feeling like a lifetime had passed, shock, and disappointment. They were used to being cautious. Ever since the War of the Four Emperors, the Abrahams had continuously suffered from the terrifying ravings of the full moon, with high-sequence Beyonders in the family going mad and dying one by one. Next to be affected by the full moon ravings would be Sequence 5, Sequence 6...

They lived every day under the mental pressure of "When will I die? When will I lose control?" If the Psychiatrist sequence didn't exist to alleviate this terrible mental pressure for them, they might have completely lost control and gone mad on some day, even if not due to the full moon ravings.

The anxiety and panic found a bit of peace in this place that seemed completely immersed in some peculiar atmosphere (after all, there was the influence of the Darkness Pathway powers)... If such a university truly existed, it could probably be called one of the greatest miracles of the current epoch.

Olsen had experienced the Theater With Curtains That Never Draw; he naturally understood very clearly that this current situation was very likely sourced from that terrifying Sealed Artifact.

"Mr. Lamud." Elder Holloway coughed, his graying hair making the wrinkles on his face even more prominent. "What kind of price do you want the Abrahams to pay?"

But from the change in address, one could judge that in this Abraham's heart, Don's weight was constantly rising.

Being able to wield such a Grade "0" Sealed Artifact, and the high-sequence Beyonder behind him that Olsen Abraham had revealed, all made this Abraham elder cautious and unwilling to offend.

As an Astrologer, in his view, the anomaly of the "sky" here—the giant curtain covering the sky, the countless "stars" dotting that curtain hiding incomparable power, isolating pollution, isolating the Spirit World (deliberately revealed by the theater)—all of this was significant.

The Abrahams could no longer afford any problems.

For this reason, paying some price was worth it, even if that price was some of the Abrahams' secrets, or certain Sealed Artifacts they possessed.

Don was equally straightforward: "The Abraham problem, as you can see, I can solve. At the same time, I hope the Abrahams can cooperate with me."

"As for the cooperation content," he smiled, "what do you think of this place?"

Elder Holloway fell silent.

The Apprentice pathway and the Seer pathway were adjacent pathways. Some secrets of the Seer pathway and the Marauder pathway should also be recorded within the Abraham family, which possessed the Apprentice pathway.

As an Angel family, gaining the support of the Abraham family would be of considerable help to him, even if this Angel family was gradually declining.

But a starved camel is still bigger than a horse!

Sending charcoal in snowy weather was much more meaningful than adding flowers to brocade.

"This place is very good," Elder Holloway pondered for a moment and affirmed, "Very good indeed."

He sensed what Don was about to say.

"I hope that such a place, such a school, can truly appear before people."

A true cradle of academia, a driving force of science, the center of world culture, a happy homeland for Beyonders and investigators.

"Ordinary people, Beyonders—this is a place where everyone can join, following the tide of the times, exploring ancient mysteries, excavating ancient civilizations, creating miracle after miracle that could change the world..."

"Not just Tingen, Backlund, Constant, but even Intis, Lenburg, Feynapot—all could, on some future day, think of this place when mentioning the transformation of the epoch, think of this place when mentioning every change in the world, every decision, every transformation."

As for painting dreams, within reasonable bounds, the bigger the better, naturally.

[Host, this dream of yours... so filling, glug glug, need a sip of water...]

'Get lost.'

Elder Holloway was, after all, a Beyonder with sufficient experience. His face showed nothing, and several other older Abrahams also looked at each other without speaking. Only the young people nearby were looking somewhat flushed and excited—imagining in their minds, then getting excited.

Youth was wonderful; terracotta warriors like him at his age wouldn't be so easily moved emotionally.

This big dream would stuff him to death if he tried to swallow it, but these young Abrahams were just right for it.

Don observed the expressions of all the Abrahams, finally looking toward Elder Holloway, who could decide this matter.

Olson was somewhat tempted, but ultimately pressed his lips together tightly, saying nothing.

He trusted his friend, but he couldn't make this decision for the family.

Elder Holloway didn't answer immediately. He looked around at the bustling crowd of people... marionettes, then at the younger generation of the family, and finally at Olsen.

"Olsen, what do you think?"

(End of Chapter)