Being noticed by a mysterious existence could be either trivial or serious.
Some mysterious beings merely glance at you by chance and soon move their gaze away. They have no reason to keep staring at you.
But some mysterious beings are far more terrifying. The moment they notice you, they have already regarded you as prey, or as a sacrifice waiting to be offered.
Many ordinary people who come into contact with mysterious incidents encounter situations like these, and their endings are often tragic.
"Surely not." Leonard spoke, interrupting the thoughts surging endlessly in his mind.
"We should still be careful. The Church is taking this matter very seriously. There must be details behind it that we don't yet understand."
"You mean the Church knows which mysterious existence is behind the nursing home?" Leonard asked in a lowered voice.
"Shh. We should talk less about such things, in case we attract that mysterious being's attention again."
Klein's cautious attitude made Leonard feel tense as well.
It wasn't until daylight the next morning that the fire at the nursing home was completely extinguished.
After half a day of counting that morning, the number of casualties was determined: 8 dead, 17 severely burned, 26 who escaped the nursing home in time, and 2 missing.
Both Klein and Leonard focused their attention on the two missing people, Chief Reed and his wife.
They were also the primary subjects of observation at this nursing home.
This was certainly not a coincidental accident, but a deliberate act, with the purpose of helping Chief Reed and his wife escape the nursing home.
Leonard sighed. "Looks like we're going to be busy again."
"Let's hope everything goes smoothly."
Klein wasn't optimistic about this incident either. He could only have the officers continue investigating the true cause of the fire at the nursing home, while he and Leonard went to question the survivors from the fire last night, hoping to obtain some useful information.
After being busy for most of the day again, Klein and Leonard finally compiled a report on the nursing home incident.
Some survivors indeed saw the Reed couple last night. They said the two of them could use magic. They simply walked through a mirror woven from flames and left the place.
A mirror?!
Leonard was very familiar with that object. The last time he entered Chief Reed's dream, he saw countless mirrors of light. Crossing one felt like stepping into another world.
If the witness testimony was true, then Beyonder factors existed behind the Reed couple leaving the nursing home, and most likely it was that mysterious existence.
Another witness claimed that the fire at the nursing home last night was not caused by a gas pipeline rupture. Instead, a huge fireball suddenly exploded in the small courtyard near the Reed couple.
The flames ignited the gas pipeline, which then caused the entire nursing home to fall into a blaze.
Based on these two points, Klein and Leonard began reasoning and analyzing, concluding that this was most likely what had actually happened.
A fireball that appeared out of nowhere transformed into a mirror surrounded by flames, guiding the Reed couple away from the nursing home, then exploded and destroyed the entire nursing home.
Klein carefully reviewed the testimonies of the two witnesses and said uncertainly, "Don't you feel that something is off?"
"Hmm. If that's really the case, why would these two witnesses survive? They should have died in the fire."
"That's what I think too. But the way they look doesn't seem like they're lying."
Leonard was silent for a while before saying, "Could it be that part of what those two people saw was an illusion? The Reed couple didn't actually pass through the flaming mirror to leave. Instead, they hid among the chaotic crowd last night and escaped from the nursing home?"
"You mean the Reed couple are still in Backlund?"
"I'm only making a reasonable guess. I'm not completely certain."
"The more I think about it, the more possible it seems. That would also explain why those two witnesses managed to survive."
Klein's eyes lit up, and he began mobilizing officers to conduct a detailed search of all nearby areas.
....
The sea, aboard the Black Emperor.
Hastur was reclining sideways on a lounge chair. To his left stood a sun umbrella blocking the gradually setting sunlight. To his right was a small square table holding several bottles of wine and roasted dried fish.
Ariella was also enjoying the delicious dried fish with him, occasionally letting out happy meows.
Since chatting with Nast yesterday, Hastur had been receiving special treatment on the Black Emperor. As long as his requests were not too unreasonable, the crew would try their best to satisfy them.
During conversations with them, Hastur finally understood just how great a reputation the High-Dimensional Overseer had built on these seas.
Originally, there were four Pirate Kings on these seas.
At the top was the King of the Five Seas, Nast, followed by the Queen of Mysteries, the King of Immortality, and the King of the Black Throne.
Now the King of Immortality had become a subordinate of the High-Dimensional Overseer. Nast had also met the High-Dimensional Overseer and publicly admitted he was no match.
The King of the Black Throne was hiding and dared not appear, while most of his crew had already been absorbed by the High-Dimensional Overseer.
Only the Queen of Mysteries, Bernadette, was currently on the Southern Continent, conveniently avoiding the High-Dimensional Overseer's edge.
Not only pirates suffered losses, even the Royal Navy of the Kingdom of Loen had been dealt with several times by the High-Dimensional Overseer, contributing two ironclad ships to him.
The Church of Storms, which had always run rampant across the seas, had also been repeatedly targeted by the High-Dimensional Overseer. At present they were basically blocked inside the Abyss of Storms and did not dare to come out.
The most common legend about this uncrowned king was his ghost-like speed.
He might be in the Desi Bay in the morning, yet suddenly appear outside the Abyss of Storms by the afternoon.
Some people speculated that he possessed a mystical item capable of crossing space.
Others guessed that this uncrowned king had the power to travel through time and space.
There were even rumors spreading from inside the Church of Storms saying that the concept of space itself had no meaning in front of the uncrowned king.
Hastur showed great interest in this. The actions of the High-Dimensional Overseer had always been difficult for him to understand. Listening to more stories about him could help him better grasp his true personality.
The only thing that worried him somewhat was whether the High-Dimensional Overseer would be able to see through his true identity if he suddenly appeared in front of him.
After thinking it over repeatedly, Hastur believed that the strength of a mere avatar of the High-Dimensional Overseer would not be enough to see through the double disguise covering him, the concealment of secrecy and the masking of Fate.
As long as he didn't enter the Hall of Stars in front of that being, the High-Dimensional Overseer wouldn't be able to discover him.
"Who would have thought that I'd spend such leisurely days aboard the Black Emperor." Hastur drank another cup of wine and watched the sunset being swallowed by the sea.
The sun was always like this, rising and setting, repeating the cycle endlessly.
Perhaps one day, the sun that sets today will not be the same sun that rises tomorrow.
....
Prince Port, formerly known as Drink Port, was originally named to commemorate the former Duke of Southville County.
Not long after the current Duke of Southville took office, he renamed the port Prince Port.
It was now one of the three important ports of Southville County. Directly to its south lay Belenes Port on the Southern Continent.
Today a medium-sized fishing boat sailed across the sea and arrived at Prince Port.
As soon as the fishing boat docked, waves of excited cheering erupted from inside the cabin, yet no one dared to come out. Only when the captain personally came from the captain's room and respectfully escorted a young man from the VIP cabin did they send him ashore.
"Finally arrived in Southville County. This journey was quite exhausting."
"Ariella, you must also be tired of eating dried fish all the time on the ship. Next, you should try eating some vegetables for a change."
"Meow?!" The young man held a small black cat with deep blue pupils in his arms.
After the young man walked far away, the other passengers rushed out of the cabin like prisoners just released from a cage.
....
Southern Continent.
The war that had been brewing for more than half a year had finally begun to burn.
West Balam and East Balam, who had never gotten along well, joined forces under the slogan of restoring freedom and peace to the Southern Continent, launching a purge against the personnel of the Seven Churches and related forces from the Northern Continent.
The flames of war spread mercilessly and soon engulfed the entire Southern Continent.
The cause of the war was that the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun discovered a base of the Rose School on an island.
After searching for a long time, the clergy of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun immediately launched a fierce attack with the combined forces of the other churches upon discovering the place.
At first, the Rose School retreated step by step, withdrawing into the deepest part of the island. Just as the members of the Seven Churches planned to flatten the island in one strike, the center of the island suddenly split open and a sun rose from within.
When that sun rose into the sky, its dazzling light illuminated the entire island, and the members of the Seven Churches suffered heavy losses.
At the critical moment, the archbishops of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun actually summoned a divine descent.
Another equally dazzling sun descended from the sky. The two blazing suns clashed, causing the nearby sea to boil.
The aftershocks from their confrontation turned into rings of heavenly fire that swept across the entire coastline.
Fishing villages and ports along the coast suffered disasters of heavenly fire, resulting in severe losses.
Along with the two suns shining against each other, the rapidly rising temperature formed waves of scorching wind that burned inland from the coastline. Fires spread continuously, forming terrifying mountain wildfires.
Plantations of grain and cotton even ignited spontaneously under the merciless heat.
The losses and impact were enormous.
It was under these circumstances that East Balam and West Balam announced their cooperation, vowing to expel the Seven Churches and restore a peaceful land to the Southern Continent.
And thus, the flames of war began to spread.