In Backlund, at a hotel in the North Borough.
Klein tidied himself up and prepared to meet, one by one, the people who had participated in hunting down Ince Zangwill the previous day, so he could thank them in person. After that, he planned to visit Miss Justice so she could perform a psychological counselling session for him.
The "truth" he had witnessed above the grey fog had shaken him to the core. But with the chain of events that followed immediately afterwards, he had not had the time to deal with his own emotions.
Now that everything had momentarily quieted down, Klein's mood still failed to settle. Every time he recalled the modern humans sealed inside those cocoons above the grey fog, an intense confusion and hollowness surged within him.
Based on his later deductions, considering the time difference between his own transmigration and Emperor Roselle's, it was highly likely that from the moment he left Earth and crossed over into this world, at least two hundred years had passed—possibly even several thousand.
Even if he someday found a path back to Earth, it would no longer be the home he remembered. The barrier created by time was far more despair-inducing than the gulf of space.
If he truly could never go home…then what was he supposed to do with the rest of his life?
This question tormented Klein throughout the entire night, leaving him unable to sleep. The more he thought about it, the more chaotic and fearful his mind became.
Still bewildered and lost, Klein settled his bill at the front desk and had just stepped out the hotel doors when his spirituality suddenly throbbed violently, frantically warning him of imminent danger.
Klein immediately attempted to switch positions with Qonas' Marionette—without hesitation—but nothing happened. He remained right where he stood.
The space around him suddenly twisted and warped, as if someone had forcibly peeled this entire section away from the street and transported it—along with Klein—into some unfamiliar domain.
Klein snapped his fingers repeatedly, trying to escape via flaming jump, but again he failed.
His heart sank, yet he did not give up. He quickly struck a series of matches, creating multiple ignition points around him so that he could use them for flame jumping at a critical moment. At the same time, he activated the newly gained illusion abilities from his Bizarro Sorcerer advancement to conceal himself.
He darted rapidly among the small flames, focusing entirely on locating any surrounding Spirit Body Threads that might offer him an opening.
Weee-woo. Weee-wo. Weee-wo.
A sharp, piercing siren suddenly echoed across the distorted space.
Klein's heart lurched. This…isn't this the police siren from my previous life? Why?! Why would I hear something like this here?!
A massive shadow soon enveloped the area.
Klein looked up—and saw the familiar flash of red and blue lights. Suspended above him was a strange, saucer-like silver object. The siren and lights blared from its underside.
"An…UFO?!"
In that instant, Klein's thoughts mirrored almost perfectly what Roselle had once felt when faced with a similar scene—overwhelming disbelief, suspicion, and the absurd sense that someone was playing a joke on him.
As he wondered whether he was dreaming, a golden beam shot down from the UFO and illuminated the ground beneath it. Moments later, two figures stepped out of the light—both wearing sleek, silver-white uniforms and visored helmets, exuding an unmistakable futuristic aura.
One carried a high-tech rifle.
The other held a handgun—and a photograph of Klein.
"Zhou Mingrui-Klein Moretti," the one with the photo announced. "We are officers of the Temporal-Spatial Special Investigation Unit, badge numbers 9527 and 1386. You are hereby arrested on 3,256 counts, including illegal transmigration, illegal interference in world development, illegal residency, and illegal impersonation of a deity. You have the right to remain silent, but anything you say may be used as evidence against you!"
Illusion. Illusion!
It must be an illusion!
Klein screamed inwardly, repeating to himself over and over that this had to be the hallucination of some pathway's Beyonder ability—yet how could he explain the UFO, something that did not exist in this world at all?
And more importantly…how could he explain hearing his real name from his previous life?
Worst of all, the photo in the man's hand—
It was unmistakably his appearance from Earth.
The officer holding the photo raised his handgun toward Klein. "Zhou Mingrui-Klein Moretti, are you resisting arrest? If so, I am authorised to terminate you. This is your first warning."
Klein swallowed hard and blurted out, "I—I'm not resisting! I think this might be a misunderstanding. I truly don't know anything about transmigrating. I just woke up and found myself here."
"Apologies," the officer replied coolly. "Those details are irrelevant to us. We are only responsible for apprehending you per orders from above."
"T-Then may I ask…after arresting me, what do you plan to do? Will you send me back to my original world? Or execute me?"
"According to temporal-spatial law, you will be sentenced to 36,200 years in prison for illegal transmigration, illegal interference in world development, illegal residency, and illegal impersonation of a deity. After you complete your sentence, you will be returned to your original world."
Klein froze. "Th…thirty…thirty-six thousand years?!"
A sudden thought struck Klein, and he asked, "Is it the kind where I serve a sentence of over thirty thousand years, but in my original world, only a moment passes?"
"Of course not. Time is synchronised."
F—!
Klein cursed inwardly. Without hesitation, he fired several air bullets at the two officers while attempting to manipulate their Spirit Body Threads.
But before he could complete the manipulation, a laser shot struck him squarely. Klein felt his body grow heavy, his vision blur. When clarity returned, all the Spirit Body Threads in his sight had vanished.
No—
It wasn't only that he could no longer see them.
His extraordinary abilities, his spirituality—everything—had disappeared entirely.
He was once again nothing more than an ordinary human. Just as powerless as he had been when he first transmigrated into this world.
One officer strode toward him, snapped a pair of handcuffs onto his wrists, then lifted him by the back of the neck like a helpless chick.
"Very good," the man said coldly. "Attacking temporal police during an arrest has added yet another charge to your case. Due to the egregious nature of your actions, the temporal law's collective-punishment protocol will be triggered."
Klein froze. "Collective…punishment?"
"No—Benson and Melissa are innocent. They know nothing about any of this."
"You misunderstand," the officer replied icily. "The ones affected by the collective-punishment clause are not people from this world. They are from your previous world."
He pressed a button near his helmet's ear. "Requesting authorisation to execute Protocol No. 5: completely annihilate Earth—the world Zhou Mingrui-Klein Moretti originated from prior to transmigration—to enforce collective punishment and maximise deterrence against all potential resistance to the Temporal Police Department."
"!!!"
Klein's pupils contracted violently. He shouted in panic, "No! You can't do that!"
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
Before Klein's eyes, a familiar blue planet appeared—Earth.
A golden beam shot down from space, piercing straight into the atmosphere. In an instant, it hit the planet.
The next second, Earth shattered silently—
Exploding into flames, ashes, and countless fragments that scattered across the void…
Slowly fading…
Until they became nothing more than cosmic dust.
"No!"
"No!!!"
Klein jolted upright in bed, drenched in cold sweat, gasping in terror, despair flooding his eyes.
"A dream…It was just a dream?"
He pressed a hand to his forehead as exhaustion washed over him. "Thank goodness…just a dream."
It must have been "daytime thoughts bleeding into nighttime dreams." His fears about transmigration and going home had been transformed into such a bizarre nightmare.
Huu—
If anything, if true temporal police really dragged him back one day, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing—Well, assuming they didn't actually make him serve a thirty-thousand-year sentence. Otherwise, by the time he got back, Earth might not resemble anything he remembered.
Klein climbed out of bed and splashed cold water onto his face in the washroom. But when he looked into the mirror, he suddenly froze.
Was that really just an ordinary dream?
He was, after all, a demigod-level Seer. Dreams were often deeply tied to divination. Could the dream have some special significance? Was it hinting at some omen?
He took out a coin and flicked it.
"The experience just now was merely a dream."
It landed heads up—affirmative.
Yet unease still lingered. After confirming via divination that there was no immediate danger, he quickly walked backwards four steps and ascended above the grey fog, seating himself upon the bronze chair that symbolised Mr. Fool.
He manifested pen and parchment, prepared to write a divination sentence—but froze, uncertain.
Directly divining the meaning of the dream likely wouldn't yield a reliable answer. Then what should he write?
Supporting his chin, tapping the table lightly in habitual thought, he suddenly heard a soft tapping echoing by his ear.
"I haven't knocked yet…" he thought.
Just as that idea surfaced, Klein felt his spirituality jolt violently. He raised his head—
And froze.
Across the bronze table sat a human figure—mirroring his posture—chin propped up on one hand, the other lightly tapping the tabletop.
Then he noticed another figure seated in the once-empty chair on his left.
Both figures wore sleek silver-white suits with futuristic designs—
Exactly like the two "temporal police officers" from his dream.
"!!!"
When—
When had they appeared here?!
And how had they entered the space above the grey fog without his permission?!
Terror surged through Klein. His first instinct was to assume he was still dreaming, but his spirituality screamed the opposite—everything before him was real.
The figure across from him smiled and said, "Zhou Mingrui-Klein Moretti-Mr. Fool. Surprised? Delighted? Still think what just happened was only a dream?"
"…"
"We've known about this place above the grey fog for quite a while. We came here specifically to wait for you!"
"…"
Klein's pupils tightened.
They…they even know I'm Mr. Fool?!
Then—
Were all the things they said earlier true?
Were they truly temporal police, here to apprehend "transmigrators"?
Was everything about him completely transparent to them?
But if they really could arrest him—why didn't they do it earlier, when he was outside? Why did they wait until he ascended above the grey fog?
Unless…they came precisely for the grey fog.
The more Klein thought, the more terrified he became. The Worms of Spirit inside him quivered violently, on the verge of losing control and dissolving him into a puddle of clear maggots.
Yet perhaps it was the subtle stabilising influence he had accumulated from long-term occupancy of the Fool's seat, but after taking a slow, deep breath, he managed to calm himself.
Then, adopting an easy, composed tone, he said, "Gentlemen, what business brings you to my Divine Kingdom?"
"Your Divine Kingdom?"
The figure across from him chuckled.
"Isn't your Divine Kingdom located in the washroom?"
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.