This point in the story isn't late, but in the grand scope of Mysteries history, it's practically the endgame. Most of the Seer pathway's high-sequence Beyonders from the three families have already been wiped out by Amon.
Luo Lin carefully recalled the original novel. At this stage, the Apprentice pathway had only Mr. Door, trapped in some other dimension, and a traitor who abandoned the Abraham family for the Aurora Order. No other high-sequence Apprentices remained.
The Seer pathway was no better—Klein Moretti and Antigonus were locked up together in Foggy Town. Beyond them, no high-sequence Seers existed.
The Parasite pathway? Amon had ravaged it, leaving only a few stragglers like Pallez hanging on.
"Am I supposed to scam some lonely old man's feelings?" Luo Lin mused, rubbing his chin. "Not entirely impossible, right?"
"V-me-50, and tomorrow I'll make you the Lord of Mysteries. Kidding about the Lord part, but if Grandpa Pallez invests a Worm of Time in me, once I'm high-sequence, I'll definitely take him to beat Amon." Luo Lin pondered, finding the idea somewhat plausible.
Even if he couldn't trick Pallez into giving up a Worm of Time, building rapport might let him borrow the old man's Shadow of Time.
"And Sefirah Castle-related items should count as high-sequence for the three families. Klein's Paper Angel might work, but waiting for it to come online takes too long…" Luo Lin's thoughts trailed off as he froze, turning his head.
A figure had appeared out of nowhere—a man with black hair, black eyes, dressed in a postman's uniform, sporting a crystal monocle.
The moment Luo Lin saw him, he knew: Amon.
Luo Lin: …What kind of hellish start is this? Can't I get a moment to grow?
As he inwardly cursed, Luo Lin felt something trying to parasitize his soul, meddling with his mind. He blinked, not even having time to panic, when the invading Worm of Time went silent, instantly trapped in the soul prison crafted by Yog-Sothoth for Nyarlathotep. In a blink, Nyarlathotep's power devoured the worm completely.
Luo Lin almost felt a pang of regret—free Worm of Time material, gone just like that.
Digging through the original owner's memory fragments, Luo Lin finally understood why Amon was here.
His current identity was "Luo Lin Zoroast," alias "Luo Lin Yaso," a direct descendant of the Zoroast family—Pallez Zoroast's great-great-great…-grandson. Due to Amon's persecution, "Luo Lin Zoroast" lost his parents young, was raised by a butler, and lived incognito, moving every few years to evade Amon.
Though aware of the Beyonder world, "Luo Lin Zoroast" never resolved to become one. After his butler passed, he chose to live as an ordinary person—until Amon struck.
The original owner's memories were sparse after seeing a crow with white eye circles yesterday morning. What followed were blurry, painful fragments filled with fear and resentment toward death. Luo Lin hadn't initially realized the original owner had been targeted by Amon. Reading about it in a novel was one thing; connecting text to reality was another. He'd even wondered if the young original owner had died from sudden collapse.
Now it clicked: Amon had consumed the original owner entirely, body and soul, turning him into an Amon clone. Luo Lin hadn't transmigrated into "Luo Lin Zoroast"—he'd transmigrated into an Amon clone and replaced it.
This Amon clone must have sensed something wrong with its counterpart and came to check.
Luo Lin: …No wonder there's a monocle. I thought it was the original owner's quirk. Damn it!
Amon, too, noticed his dispatched Worm of Time lose contact the moment it entered this kid's soul.
Raising an eyebrow, Amon looked at Luo Lin with interest. As their eyes met, he adjusted his monocle, smiling. "Hello, little Zoroast. Care to explain how you did that? It's my first time seeing someone turned into me regain their own consciousness."
"Your soul should've dissipated entirely," Amon added, his expression genuinely puzzled and curious.
"Sorry, my dad told me not to talk to strangers," Luo Lin shot back, his mouth faster than his brain. In the next second, he reached into the air, pulling out a figure.
He hadn't been idle when the Worm of Time was devoured. Using Amon as a medium, he summoned a related Shadow of Time.
Amon watched with amusement, but when the figure fully materialized, even he was stunned.
It was an all-too-familiar presence: black hair, golden eyes, a silver cross hanging at the chest—the Ancient Sun God, Amon's father.
How could this be? Even if this kid was an Ancient Scholar, how could anyone pull his father's historical projection?
Amon, for once, questioned his knowledge of historical projections. Then something even more shocking happened: the Ancient Sun God's projection opened its eyes, looking at them with confusion. Its gaze settled on Amon. "Amon?" it said, uncertain.
Unlike typical historical projections, this one had self-awareness.
"…Fascinating," Amon muttered, adjusting his monocle to mask the storm in his eyes. He'd come to investigate a glitch in a consumed Zoroast descendant, not expecting such a massive surprise.
Luo Lin, seizing Amon's shock, spoke rapidly: "Here's the deal, Mr. Sun God. I'm Luo Lin, it's thousands of years in the future, and your son Amon's hunting me down. I need your help, or we all go down with this world. You can tell I'm capable of it."
(Chapter End)