Chapter 536 The Power of the Secret Puppet Master
"After being promoted to Sequence 5, besides my previous Beyonder abilities being greatly enhanced, the only new ability I gained was the ability to see and manipulate spirit threads.
"With the help of the Spirit Thread, I can cause the target to enter a state of stagnation after a period of time, making their hands and feet stiff and their thinking slow. The lower the target's sequence, the faster the control speed and the better the effect.
"If the target doesn't break free in time, they'll become my puppet, or a 'secret marionette', after I completely control the spiritual thread. This change is permanent. The target is equivalent to being dead, but under my control, they can still maintain their pre-living form, even maintaining their sequence and being able to use extraordinary abilities."
In his room, Klein sat on a chair, closing his eyes and gradually controlling his overflowing spirituality as he began to explain.
Angel sat on the bed, nodded as if he understood, and suddenly said:
"How far can it be controlled? How long will it take? Once you start controlling the spirit thread, can you stop midway?"
These contents belong to the core secrets of the "Master of Secret Puppets". If it were someone else, Klein would definitely not say a word, but the person in front of him was Angel, so he would not hold back.
"Currently, it can only be effective within a 5-meter range of the target. It's estimated to take about 20 seconds to master. Before that, the target will hardly be aware of it.
"After initial mastery, the target can sense it, but it has already entered a stagnant stage. It takes about five minutes until it is fully mastered and becomes a secret puppet. Before this, control can be interrupted by violent movements, and can also be stopped voluntarily."
He explained, noticing Angel's curious look in front of him.
"Well, do you want to give it a try?"
She suggested.
Try...try it?
Klein immediately understood what she meant, but he felt a little hesitant.
For Angel, this was like having his life placed in his own hands. Although the other party was also a Sequence 5 and should have other ways to avoid being completely controlled, this mentality made him feel touched but also a little angry.
"I just want to understand the effects of the 'Spirit Thread' in advance to avoid being ambushed by other Puppet Masters."
Seeing Klein's uncertain expression, Angel quickly explained.
"That's true. In Backlund, Rosago easily controlled Miss Sharon through the Faceless Man and the Spirit Thread. This shows that this ability is indeed difficult to defend against. It would be helpful for you to experience it in advance." Klein frowned and thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
"Rosago?"
"He's just a Puppet Master who generously gave his life and Beyonder characteristics."
Seeing Klein agreed, Angel immediately entered stealth mode, moved slightly, and hid next to the wardrobe in the corner of the room.
But seeing Klein's gaze following her closely, she knew that being invisible in front of him was useless, so she spoke:
"Let's get started."
Klein took a deep breath, his spiritual power spreading as he reached out to the illusory black lines extending from Angel's body and "grasped" them.
Although the Puppet Master can see the lines of spirits within 100 meters, he can only operate them within a range of 5 meters from himself.
1, 2, 3...
Klein began to count silently in his mind, but after a few counts, he noticed that the black lines spreading across Angel's body began to move.
She found out? So quickly?
It was completely different from what he had expected, and Klein was a little confused.
…
Boom, boom, boom.
Angel's heart was beating rapidly, and the surface of the magic mirror hidden in her chest turned cold, reminding her of the coming danger.
She subconsciously moved her position, and then she realized that it was a warning from her own spirit that the "spiritual line" was being manipulated.
Klein said it wouldn't be discovered before the initial control... Is it limited to Beyonders who don't have the ability of prophecy or divination?
She understood this and stopped struggling, allowing the spiritual thread to be initially grasped. Soon she felt that all the parts in her brain began to rust, her thinking became slow, and the joints of her limbs felt as if they were filled with lead, heavy and stiff.
Very similar to... 2-049...
She thought of the sealed object she had come into contact with in Tingen City, the "Antigonus Puppet". It could periodically put people around it into the same state. If they were not awakened by their companions, they would fall into a deep state of stagnation and eventually become motionless.
So... that... is... the Secret Puppet... Master...
Fortunately, he soon understood this... Angel's slow mind directed his spiritual power towards the "hypocrisy" ring on his finger. He tried to use "Flame Jump" to try to break free from the control, while his eyes looked at the wall clock.
It's been... thirty seconds?
Not daring to delay any further, she immediately used Fire Jump, aiming for the oil lamp next to Klein. However, her sluggish thoughts and slow movements caused her to fail twice. It was only on the third attempt that she found the correct position and jumped out.
Seeing this, Klein stopped manipulating the "Spirit Thread." Angel's dull brain became clear again, and her movements returned to normal. She appeared from a height of one meter next to the oil lamp, fell to the ground, and stood firmly - she still had some problems judging distance and height.
“…very impressive.”
After a moment of silence, Angel commented.
After being initially controlled and entering a stagnant state, it took her two or three seconds to understand that the "Spirit Thread" had a similar effect to the Antigonus puppet, but in reality, half a minute had already passed, which meant that her sluggish mind was almost unable to control her body and analyze intelligence normally. If the Puppet Master pulled out a gun and shot himself within these thirty seconds, or had a companion to assist in a direct attack, she would inevitably be seriously injured.
Of course, judging by the use of "Flame Jump", "Mirror Stand" can also prevent the attack from directly killing her, but if the opponent is prepared and jumps synchronously to the position where the "Stand" appears, and continues to control the spirit line, she will still not escape the bad luck.
"However, control requires being within five meters, and your spirituality will also give you warnings. I'm afraid it won't be easy to turn a Beyonder of the same sequence into a puppet... Either you need to interfere with them in some way until you're able to initially control them, or you can do it after they're unconscious or seriously injured."
Klein shook his head, believing that the "Spirit Thread" still had many flaws.
However, as a new attack ability obtained after being promoted from "Magician" to Sequence 5, he was still very satisfied.
"Spiritual warnings stem from the subtle changes I perceive and the information I'm exposed to. If the enemy were to take on the appearance of you or someone I'm familiar with, and then approach me to manipulate me, I might not be able to detect it..."
Angel pursed his lips, and after a moment his eyes lit up.
"How about you design a little action? If you don't make this action when you get close to me, I'll think you're pretending."
Wouldn't this be a bit troublesome... Klein wanted to refuse, but then he thought, if he really encountered other Puppet Masters, or even Beyonders of a higher sequence, this "little secret" might be able to save Angel's life, so he became interested.
After discussing for a moment, the two decided to "prove that Klein is Klein" by pinching the right collar with three fingers of their right hand.
“Like this…”
Klein reached for his collar and suddenly realized that he wasn't wearing the only formal suit, but a round-necked shirt in the local style. It didn't have a real collar, so he could only grab the collar and pull it as a gesture.
This antics made Angel laugh, but soon a thoughtful look appeared on her face again.
"What if you have no clothes on?"
“…”
Faced with this kind of question, even the "Master of Secret Dolls" fell silent for a moment.
————
After completing the most important task of this trip, the "Future" turned its bow and headed towards the exit of this sea area without hesitation. Since it was familiar with the nearby sea conditions on the way here, it returned much faster. The "Admiral of the Stars" estimated that it would be able to leave after about two more day and night exchanges.
"So, excluding the dangerous detours along the waterway, the entire journey to the 'God War Ruins' took less than two days, much faster than expected... Of course, this is also related to the fact that the 'mermaids' are not powerful supernatural creatures and have not been able to penetrate deep into the ruins. It is said that many exploration ships can spend more than half a month here, exploring several parts of the ruins that have been judged to be safe, which means there are still many places worth exploring deep inside..."
Angel stayed in his bedroom, taking the time to rest and summarizing the experience of this journey.
Especially her use of the "disease" ability and her battle against "Admiral of Hell" Ludwell.
"The effect of combining a disease with a specific poison is much stronger than simply being 'sick,' but the strongest effect is achieved through direct contact with the poison and then spreading it. If one simply memorizes the poison's properties and generates it on their own, the effect won't be significant.
"The power of the 'Disaster' spell still seems unable to reach areas beyond reality. This is true in the 'Spiritual Realm' and also in the realm opened up by the bronze gate. It seems that changes will only occur after Sequence 4...
"Half of the Black Tulip was blown up. I'm afraid the bounty will change again. My reputation is terrible now. The pirates from the Future treated me like the Admiral of the Stars himself, but I know that wasn't respect. It was flattery, hoping I'd leave quickly.
"The origin of the 'mirror image' I killed in the dream remains unknown. After leaving here, you can ask Mr. Azik or the strange Mirror of Arrodes. Regardless, that battle allowed me to completely digest the 'Pain' potion, and my advancement to Sequence 4 is on the horizon. I still need the complete venom sac and stinger of the Black-Striped Shadow Giant Scorpion. The latter will have to be obtained by Mr. 'Sun' in exchange for merit in Silver City. I'm afraid I'll have to find a way to obtain the former myself...
"Anderson is a Sequence 5 Reaper. You can try to buy the Sequence 6 potion formula from him and then sell it to Elaine. Well, although the Redhead has made a lot of money in the past two months, she'll probably have to continue selling on credit."
As she was thinking about this and that, she suddenly realized that the midday sunlight outside the window disappeared quickly as if the lights were turned off, and was replaced by the dark night sky.
It's night again...without any warning. If it had suddenly gotten dark when we were fighting the "Admiral of Hell" before, would we have continued fighting or just lay down and taken a nap?
Muttering silently, Angel lay back on the soft bed and closed his eyes.
…
In this almost "last dream", Angel was finally no longer alone in a strange corner, but came to the front door of the black monastery, which was also the area he saw next to the floor-to-ceiling window of the library when he first entered this dream.
Across the cliff was the ever-changing projection of the Giant King's Court. On this side, a huge rock stood on the edge of the cliff. "Admiral of the Stars" Cattleya sat on it, hugging her knees, gazing into the distance without saying a word.
Angel, who learned from Klein that he would act like a sulking girl in his dreams, did not disturb her. Instead, he walked around the boulder, came to the gate of the monastery, and slipped in through the crack.
Passing Frank, who was wielding a shovel to dig holes for his plants, and the pirates who were singing and drinking around the fire, she came to a hall with huge murals in the monastery.
"A sea burning with golden flames, Ouroboros, the Tail-Swallower, parting the sea, a long procession of pilgrims... Is this a depiction of the journey from this sea into the Giant King's Court?"
Finally witnessing the "unlucky mural" that Anderson had always spoken of, Angel didn't dare to look at it any longer. He just took note of the details and quickly looked away to avoid becoming as unlucky as Anderson.
Only then did she realize that the "strongest hunter" Anderson had gotten a recliner from somewhere, and was lying on it with his legs crossed, admiring the mural with a satisfied smile on his face.
"Ha, as long as I leave this sea area, my bad luck will end."
Seeing Angel looking at him, the blond hunter said proudly while rocking the recliner.
Snap——
With a crisp sound, his wooden recliner broke into several pieces right before Angel's eyes, causing the unsuspecting hunter to fall to the ground with a heavy fall.
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