‘Creeeak~'

The door opened. It was small inside, empty, and the faintly present Han stepped forward, lifting his head:

"Mother, the items sent from the ant world are all quite small. I can enlarge them for you. What do you want to see?"

"What's there?" Chen Xiang asked in return.

Han surveyed the empty room, counting on his fingers:

"There's a pair of shoes for Chi; a hammer for Yu; and an eye for Da..."

Dum-dum had also entered at some point, interjecting:

"Most of the items are problematic. The good eggs from the ant world must not have known, as they bear the marks left by the traitors. So we locked them away in here!"

"Marks left by the traitors?"

Chen Xiang's heart raced:

"Are there any on the mirror?"

"Not that I can see," Dum-dum adjusted his glasses, "nor on the eye given to me."

Just then, Han picked up a tiny particle and blew on it gently. The tiny particle expanded into a bloodied eye covered in tentacles...

"Mom! Do you want it?" Han offered eagerly, but Chen Xiang jumped back:

"No! Don't give me that!"

The appearance of the eye was disgusting and frightening, with its bloody tentacles twisting grotesquely...

Dum-dum said solemnly:

"Mom, I've read about that eye. It belongs to a traitor, one that corresponds to me. I think it's called..."

He struggled to remember, finally pointing to a nearby stone tablet labeled "Ha Ha Ha Valley":

"I just can't recall; that tablet suppresses me..."

Chen Xiang furrowed his brow, feeling the situation grow stranger. Suddenly, he remembered a secret Li Dongyun had told him.

"Nine outer gods stole the powers of nine ancient rulers..."

Chen Xiang glanced around, relieved to see only seven little dwarfs.

What if there were nine...?

A vague, terrifying thought crossed his mind.

"Is the Emperor Titan mentioned in the prayers referring to me?"

"Emperor Titan... Titan. Could the dwarfs be the ancient rulers?"

"If so, then I am... above the ancients? The Creator Titan?"

Chen Xiang trembled, finding it absurd, but with the bizarre dream and the layered prayers...

It shouldn't be.

After all, there were only seven dwarfs, while the ancient rulers numbered nine.

"What's the use of that eye?" Chen Xiang suppressed his swirling thoughts and asked softly.

Dum-dum pondered for a moment before answering:

"Knowledge—endless knowledge, which can be seen through that eye, as long as you fit it into your eye socket!"

Fit that eye into his socket?

Chen Xiang glanced at the eye with its twisting tentacles and decisively rejected the idea.

He asked again:

"Are there any safe items in here, something similar to the mirror?"

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Dum-dum scanned the area carefully and finally pointed to an empty space. Han stepped forward and blew again, causing two tiny particles to expand into a staff and a vintage monocle.

Dum-dum explained:

"According to the ants, this staff is called 011. It used to belong to the Hourglass."

"Hourglass? That big traitor?" Chen Xiang's heart stirred. From what the dwarfs described, the Hourglass, the Book, and the Loom were major traitors, and under them were nine minor traitors...

"The mirror is called 009, the staff 011... sounds like a ranking. The Hourglass must be quite powerful. If this is his staff, why is it ranked after the mirror?"

Dum-dum shrugged:

"I don't know, but the staff is damaged. You broke it back then; that could be why?"

Chen Xiang pondered:

"Damaged, yet still useful?"

"Yes!" Dum-dum examined the staff as if reading, then said: "The wielder governs time, history, and epochs, but that was before it broke; now it's much weaker."

Chen Xiang's eyelids flickered. Time, history, epochs...

Those terms were too lofty.

"And what about the monocle? What is it?"

Dum-dum replied softly:

"Mind Mentor... yes, that's its name."

"What's its specific use?"

"Emotional insight, spiritual perception, dream weaving, and..."

Dum-dum gazed at the lens, as if reading its manual:

"...and mysterious shrouding."

Chen Xiang took the monocle. It felt smooth in his hand, with a clear lens and a slightly dark frame, featuring a silver chain that hung lightly on the right side.

He put on the monocle:

"Can you know the specific effects?"

"I'm suppressed and can only read the most basic information."

Chen Xiang nodded, clutching the staff, holding the mirror, and wearing the monocle:

"Da, you're different from the other little guys."

"Yes, Mommy." Dum-dum nodded seriously: "I enjoy thinking, and I can see and know more."

He stepped forward, lifting his head and speaking cryptically:

"Mommy, you will ultimately reclaim all the lost powers and return to your rightful throne..."

"Before that, we must still lie low."

Chen Xiang wanted to say something, but his vision blurred and darkened suddenly.

He woke from the dream.

The clock ticked steadily, clearly displaying the date.

May 7, 1518, Monday, 7:45 AM.

The boy woke up, with the monocle, staff, and mirror lying beside him.

A surreal feeling enveloped him.

"I need the truth; I need to confront the truth."

Chen Xiang opened a hidden compartment and took out the token. According to the mirror, if the token's owner truly died,

the fragmented spirit merged within it could...

become a new member of the Old Council.

Recalling Wei Qingqiu's invitation, Chen Xiang's gaze deepened.

"Time to go to school."

Today, there's a class on "Mysteries of Societies and Secret Cults," where they'll discuss the Old Council. After class, he needs to decide whether to accept the invitation to become the so-called Old Messenger...

If he becomes the Old Messenger, can he also serve as an Old Council member?

If so... he would need two identities.

Chen Xiang put on the monocle called the "Mind Mentor." His right eye's perspective blurred slightly, revealing a thin veil of mist surrounding him, slowly rotating and isolating everything.

"Is this the ‘mysterious shroud' Dum-dum mentioned?"

He glanced at the full-length mirror in the secret room, where he appeared very blurred; the mist was deep and hazy, with a faint dark hue, barely allowing him to see the monocle on his face, but his features remained indistinct...

He looked like a villain from a movie.

Well, that's not too bad; everyone needs a disguise in life.

Chen Xiang picked up the staff, but this time he felt nothing unusual.

"Mirror, can you talk now?"

"I'm here, I'm here; I've always been here." The mirror replied respectfully.

Chen Xiang scrutinized the cracked mourning mirror thoughtfully:

"You seem to have the ability called mirror-world duplication, and there's a world inside you?"

"I really don't know." The mirror responded earnestly: "I'm crazy... I'm not lying to you!"

After a pause, it hesitated and added:

"However, I do seem to have some impression of the mirror-world duplication... I remember now."

Chen Xiang gazed at the mirror:

"I'm listening."

The mirror trembled slightly, then stood upright on its own:

"I am a mirror; everything has a counterpart in the mirror, and I seem to govern the world within the mirror..."

Chen Xiang pondered:

"So?"

The mirror replied honestly:

"So, everything that exists in reality should have a corresponding entity in the mirror... that might be what duplication is?"

As it spoke, the cracks on the mirror shimmered slightly, revealing an unfathomable depth, as if a complete world was indeed gestating within...

"I'll try it tonight."

Chen Xiang gently patted the mirror:

"If it's truly useful..."

He glanced at the wooden box and the relics, his gaze flickering:

"One worry less."

With that, Chen Xiang placed the wooden box and the monocle into the hidden compartment, leaving the mirror and staff in the corner, and slowly exited the secret room.

"Today's to-do list is quite long..."

He muttered as he walked into the living room and turned on the TV as usual.

"Eight Ring News!"

The red-haired host wore an exaggerated expression, gesturing animatedly:

"Today's top news, the real top news!"

"Our famous Wu Manor has experienced a biological leak; the official report states that the owner, Wu Jinlu, died within. The entire manor has now been sealed off..."

"Who is Wu Jinlu? Do I need to explain?"

"This time, the sky over Eight Ring has truly changed!"

"In short, today will be another beautiful day..."

"Good morning, welcome to the Great City!"

Chen Xiang chuckled, left the TV on, and didn't bother moving the wardrobe and refrigerator blocking the door; he simply jumped out the window.

"Good morning, Great City."

Smelling the peculiar sour stench of the alley, Chen Xiang stretched lazily.

"Today will be another beautiful day."