After the black giant cocoon split open, it quickly vanished, contracting into a necklace inlaid with five gemstones.
"Fallen Morningstar"! Klein, who had used this necklace before, recognized it at a glance and swiftly scooped it up.
"Luckily this item wasn't destroyed by the lightning strike. Otherwise, if it had been completely lost, Mr. Fool would really have lost face!" Klein muttered to himself in self-deception, then shifted his gaze toward the feather pen soaking in the black-and-red viscous liquid.
He hesitated for a moment, but still forced himself to suppress the nausea and reached out to grab it, continuously performing mental conditioning: This is just a spirit body… this is just a spirit body…
But to Klein's surprise, the moment his fingers touched the feather pen, it vanished without any warning, as if it had never existed at all.
"What's going on?" Klein froze briefly, then immediately reacted. A Grade 0 sealed artifact wouldn't just disappear for no reason—someone must have swapped it earlier while we were fighting Ince Zangwill!
Although this result was somewhat regrettable, Klein didn't feel much disappointment. He knew very well that even if he obtained "0-08" now, he wouldn't be able to keep it.
"Then the only gain from this battle is Ince Zangwill's beyonder characteristic…" Klein thought, but after sweeping his gaze over the black-and-red sticky liquid, he found himself hesitating again.
It was obvious that Ince Zangwill himself had been completely destroyed by the "Lord of Storms'" lightning, blasted apart to the point of becoming "gaseous"… It was only due to the power of "Fallen Morningstar" that he had been "liquefied" again, turning into his current state…
And Ince's beyonder characteristic had naturally "dissolved" into this pool of viscous liquid.
If Sharron were to "possess" this disgusting substance, the characteristic should precipitate out quickly… but Klein wasn't very willing to let Sharron do that… he felt reluctant.
Just as he was caught between choices, he suddenly received the digestion completion and corresponding feedback of the "Marionettist" potion.
Klein froze for a moment. Before he could think about why, Ebner—appearing as "Doctor Strange"—suddenly appeared before the three of them.
He first said to the "magical girl" and "Iron Man," who were warily sizing each other up, "Grab my arm."
Only then did he turn to Klein. "Go back to your body first. I'll come pick you up shortly."
"Alright!" Klein didn't ask for an explanation. After seeing Mr. "Tower" use a container to store away that disgusting pool of "bloody liquid," he canceled the summoning of his spirit body and vanished.
Unlike in the original timeline, where Klein hadn't considered taking Ince Zangwill's beyonder characteristic because it belonged to the Church of the Evernight Goddess and he, as a former Nighthawk, found it inconvenient to claim, the current situation was different.
This was Feysac—territory of the Church of the God of Combat. If they didn't take Ince Zangwill's beyonder characteristic, wouldn't that just benefit the Feysac authorities? And Klein had no relationship with the Church of the God of Combat anyway.
On the other side, Leonard and Dunn also recognized Ebner's voice. Coupled with the hero bandit "Black Emperor's" attitude, they chose to trust him and stepped forward to grab his arm.
After packing up that pool of "liquid," Ebner teleported away from Oates Street together with them.
They first arrived at the café restroom and picked up Madam Daly, who had been hiding there remotely controlling undead. Then they went to Klein's hiding place, bringing along Klein—who had just returned from above the gray fog—and Sharron, who had been guarding him, and transported them all into the villa within "Alvin's Mobile Palace."
It was worth mentioning that so-called "Alvin's Mobile Palace" was actually a miniature "spaceship" that Alvin had replicated after visiting the "Ghost Empire." Much like the Ghost Empire itself, it could roam between the "doors" of the Mirror World, traveling to any location that had a reflective surface.
The previous "gold-rimmed glasses" had merely been one of its docking "ports"… After Ebner reclaimed full authority over the Mobile Palace and allowed it to "navigate" freely, there was no longer any need for that item as an entrance.
Inside the lavish, resplendent hall of the Mobile Palace's villa, Klein—restored to his original appearance—didn't even have time to exchange pleasantries with his former colleagues. He immediately seized the time to take out the "true soul body of the Spirit World Plunderer" and the "primary eye of the Tricksy Aberration," along with numerous auxiliary materials he had long prepared, and began brewing the "Miracle Invoker" potion, completing his advancement before the ritual's effects faded.
Meanwhile, Sharron stood motionless like a "doll" in front of Klein, watching everyone else and preventing any accidents from occurring.
At this moment, Madam Daly was the first to recover from her shock. She curled her lips into a smile and teased, "When I first met Gehrman Sparrow in Bayam, I thought he looked somewhat familiar… I never expected it to really be him!"
She paused, then sighed emotionally, "It hasn't even been a year. That clueless young man who first stepped into the beyonder world is already pushing open the door between mortal and demigod, becoming a truly influential figure."
Clearly, through Klein's signature items—"Creeping Hunger" and "Death Knell"—she had recognized his identity.
Dunn, standing to the side, already knew Klein was still alive, but this was also the first time he learned that Gehrman was Klein. Thinking back to how wary he had been of Gehrman's displayed "madness" in Bayam, he couldn't help but say, "For him to make such progress in just one year, he must have paid an unimaginable price…"
Just thinking about Gehrman's terrifying deeds made it obvious that Klein's past year had not been easy.
Seemingly feeling that the topic had grown too heavy, Daly abruptly changed direction and joked, "I just wonder whether those rumors about him and those female pirates are true…"
But before she could finish, she keenly sensed the gaze of the young lady who resembled a finely crafted doll settling on her, exerting immense pressure.
Daly blinked, wisely cut herself off, turned toward Leonard, and greeted him with a smile while teasing, "Leonard, long time no see… Why haven't you removed the effect of the extraordinary item yet? Don't tell me you're quite satisfied with your current appearance?"
Hearing Madam Daly's question, Leonard finally snapped out of his shock and asked incredulously, "Madam Daly… why are you here?"
Then he suddenly reacted and blurted out, "Wait… how do you know it's me?"
My current appearance is completely different from before!
Madam Daly covered her mouth and laughed. "You're a bit prettier, but your facial features haven't changed that much. Strangers might not realize it, but how could those of us who know you well fail to recognize you?"
This was a lie—or rather, not the whole truth. In reality, she and Dunn had made their judgment through some of Leonard's unconscious little gestures.
Leonard's face instantly flushed red. Being seen in such an "embarrassing" state by people he knew was far more humiliating than simple cross-dressing.
He had still harbored a sliver of hope before—who would have thought Madam Daly would expose him on the spot… And if Daly could tell, then there was no need to mention Klein, and…
Thinking of this, Leonard's gaze toward "Iron Man" grew complicated.
He wasn't foolish. Combining what Klein had told him—that Madam Daly and the previous Dawn Dantès had gone to Feysac on a mission—with Daly's former intimacy toward Dawn…
How could Leonard fail to guess that the so-called "Iron Man" was actually the previous Dawn Dantès, and moreover, his most respected captain of the Tingen Nighthawks—Dunn Smith!
With a soft sigh, Leonard suddenly felt that his act of seeking revenge against Ince was somewhat laughable, because the man hadn't truly managed to kill anyone…
Of course, that didn't mean he regretted it… On the contrary, even if he had known in advance that Captain Dunn wasn't truly dead, he would still have sought revenge against Ince.
After all, Ince really was the culprit who destroyed the Tingen Nighthawks. Even if Klein and Dunn had "revived," they must have paid enormous prices… After all, even he, a living person, was no exception!
As these thoughts churned, Leonard removed the effect of the "Transformation Wand – Earth," and his body returned to its normal size…
But suddenly, he sensed something wrong. His expression changed abruptly. He stepped forward a few paces to Ebner's side and, disregarding the latter's identity as an old monster, lowered his voice and asked urgently, "What's going on? I clearly removed the transformation effect—why haven't I completely changed back?"
Ebner looked at Leonard with a playful expression. Naturally understanding what he meant, he explained with a straight face:
"A change in gender isn't something that can be completed in a single step. Not even a Faceless One can do that… So, you still need to maintain your current gender for 24 hours before you can change back."
"Only 24 hours?" Leonard let out a breath and finally relaxed… without thinking about why his earlier transformation had seemed to happen "in one step"…
(End of the chapter)