Klein's gaze lingered on Roselle for two seconds, then he reached out and patted Emlyn's shoulder, saying, "You don't need to apologize."
Emlyn was a bit confused, but instinctively felt that the other party was right. He didn't dwell on the topic and instead said, "To the east, I just felt a very strong pull. My body seemed to want to fly there on its own, and that feeling, full of majesty and oppression, definitely doesn't belong to a Sanguine."
"It seems there's no mistake. There shouldn't be any angels from the Castiya or Augustus Family in this sea area."
Roselle nodded with satisfaction, his tone very certain.
Klein asked doubtfully, "Why wouldn't it be the 'King of the Five Seas'?"
"Nast's 'Black Emperor' is docked at the Paz River Valley port. The previous battle caused some damage to that ghost ship, and it's currently undergoing repairs."
Leyton explained briefly, then led the others to transform into a torrent of information again, rapidly surging eastward across this sea area.
After heading east for about twenty minutes, the surging torrent of information quickly converged, re-forming Leyton and the others, who floated silently in mid-air.
Thin mist began to spread over the surrounding sea, and the crimson moonlight became hazy, leaving only the undulating waves and mist, making it difficult to discern direction.
After glancing around, Klein spoke cautiously, "When did this mist appear? I don't seem to have noticed it?"
After a brief silence, Leyton shook his head and said, "Some of the knowledge I activated earlier lost connection, and it was in this direction."
Compared to the sudden mist, he was more curious about what kind of power had erased some of the knowledge he had activated earlier.
Roselle squinted, looking around for a while. He suddenly laughed and said, "Friends, be bold. Perhaps, we have already arrived at the 'Specter Empire'."
Leyton thought of something and asked curiously, "Has it merged with this sea area?"
Roselle nodded, then shook his head, and calmly said, "Perhaps it's not this sea area, but any sea area. Otherwise, it's hard to explain why the Church of the Lord of Storms people haven't discovered this place. Of course, it's also possible they discovered it long ago but kept the news under wraps."
"The true 'Specter Empire' should be heavily polluted, and the higher the Sequence, the stronger the corruption."
"I can feel that the core running this mechanical puppet seems to have some issues. I probably won't be able to enter the 'Specter Empire'."
Leyton nodded, not surprised by this outcome. He turned his head to look at Roselle and asked, "Can you exit this sea area on your own?"
Crimson light flowed from Roselle's eyes as he looked around for a moment, then quickly reined in his aura, shaking his head and saying, "I'm afraid not. The environment here suppresses me severely, especially when using Beyonder abilities. The erosion flowing directly from the Beyonder characteristic is very severe."
Speaking of this, he suddenly smiled, not too concerned about his own problems, and said, "I'll send you into the true 'Specter Empire' first. As for my problems, there's nothing that dying once can't solve. Anyway, I haven't truly revived yet; I'm just a mechanical puppet, so it's not a loss."
Leyton and Klein exchanged glances, then both nodded and said, "Alright."
"You didn't even try to make me stay or say anything sentimental. You're really heartless."
While complaining, Roselle clenched his fist, covering it with a layer of light mixed with red and black, which directly conveyed a sense of power and strangeness.
Under the gaze of Leyton and the others, he punched the void in front of him.
Tear! Tear!
Illusory shattering sounds appeared in layers around them, and the surrounding light and shadows continuously stretched and distorted, revealing errors in the rules and order covering the area.
After a sensation of weightlessness, Leyton and the two others appeared in a seemingly prosperous city. The architecture here still belonged to the late Fourth Epoch style, but everything appeared exceptionally regular, as if pursuing extreme symmetry.
From the overall layout of the streets and buildings down to the clothing of pedestrians, the pruning of street trees on both sides, the decorative patterns ubiquitous in the city, and even the text typesetting.
But upon closer inspection, one would find that this symmetry had many problems, seemingly long unbalanced and appearing extremely uncoordinated.
Emlyn repeatedly scrutinized his surroundings, then spoke with some hesitation, "This place... it seems somewhat similar to the capital of the Fourth Epoch Trunsoest Empire."
Klein glanced at Emlyn, and before he could ask, Emlyn provided an explanation: "There are quite a few records about the Trunsoest Empire among the Sanguine. This belongs to a glorious history, and I've seen some circulating paintings. The city in them looks very similar to this place, but it also seems a bit different. I'm not entirely sure."
"However, building the 'Specter Empire' to look like a city, wouldn't that be too extravagant? Weren't those nobles fleeing for their lives at the time?"
Leyton's gaze calmly swept over his surroundings, quickly absorbing the information from this city, and at the same time, he said, "Perhaps this city evolved later, or perhaps an angel from the Trunsoest Empire at that time directly uprooted a city and transformed it into a floating island that could move on the sea."
"No one stipulated that the 'Specter Empire' had to be a ghost ship. It's just that people at the time uniformly called anything that could carry people and move on the sea a ship."
"That possibility cannot be ruled out." Klein nodded in agreement, then said with a serious expression, "The people here have no spiritual lines on them, and there isn't even a single spiritual line visible in this city."
Leyton mused, guessing, "They are not living beings, but rather a part of the 'Specter Empire'. They are a whole, and the 'Specter Empire' has not fully come alive, so there wouldn't be any spiritual lines."
As his words fell, his appearance, image, and demeanor rapidly changed. His eyes turned crimson, and his temperament became quite noble, making him look more like a Sanguine than Emlyn.
The style of his clothes also became ancient, perfectly blending him into the walking crowd around him.
Seeing Leyton's action, Klein seemed to think of something and also began to change his appearance. He reached out and wiped his face, immediately transforming into the likeness of a Sanguine Count. His hair was lighter, almost silver, his eyes were crimson, like hidden blood, and his figure became tall and slender, very upright.
Emlyn couldn't help but exclaim in surprise when he saw Klein's transformed appearance: "Count Mistral! You've met Count Mistral?"
"Evidently so." Klein replied with the Count Mistral's usual arrogant tone.
Emlyn awkwardly averted his gaze. "Their disguises are too similar. I feel like they look more like Sanguine than I do, a genuine Sanguine."
He cleared his throat, collected his thoughts, and asked, "Cough~, where do we go next?"
"Towards the center of the city. Since this place is very similar to the former capital of the Trunsoest Empire, that area should be the Imperial Palace, which would be the core of the 'Specter Empire'."
Leyton briefly explained, then directly stepped forward, blending himself into the bustling crowd on the street.
Emlyn and Klein immediately followed, curiously and cautiously observing their surroundings while staying close behind Leyton.
As they walked, Leyton used his control over information to create some information, activate it, and then disperse it.
His forward movement suddenly paused as he noticed some subtle changes in the environment. In just a moment, his movements became continuous again, and at the same time, he spoke in a relaxed tone, "Try not to interact with the people and objects here. We and the people on the street are in two constantly overlapping and separating dimensions. Once interaction occurs, we will be subjected to invisible erosion and gradually become one of them."
"This city has extremely strict laws, but as long as we don't interact with it, we won't be greatly affected."
"The underlying rules and order here are somewhat different from the outside world; I haven't been able to fully analyze them yet."
As Leyton's voice fell, Emlyn and Klein exchanged glances. No one spoke, and they walked forward tacitly, worried that their own communication might also interact with the surrounding environment.
After about five or six minutes, Emlyn frowned, looking around, and said with some hesitation, "Have you noticed that we've been walking for a long time, but it seems like we've been staying in the same place?"
Klein froze for a moment, stopped, and carefully observed his surroundings. The houses, streets, lampposts, and moving figures around him became increasingly familiar, until they completely overlapped with the initial images in his mind.
"This..." He looked at Leyton in astonishment, only to find that Leyton and Emlyn had already distanced themselves from him.
What's going on? Is something wrong with me?
As thoughts floated through his mind, Klein saw the moving figures around him suddenly stop. They all turned in unison, looking at him, staring blankly, without blinking.
Klein stood still, stunned, his body and consciousness seemingly separated. He only felt that the figures around him were magnified several times, becoming extraordinarily tall, as if they could control his life. An inexplicable fear arose in his heart, making him want to lower his head, to prostrate himself, to listen to his judgment.
This isn't right, it shouldn't be like this, where did something go wrong? Thoughts flashed through his mind, and even his breathing became rapid. Klein felt himself constantly sinking into an invisible swamp, the more he struggled, the deeper he sank.
Less than half a meter behind him, Emlyn also stood still, bewildered, with shock and panic in his eyes.