In the old bookstore.
The dim lights flickered. Mei sat in a chair, rhythmically glancing at the book in her hand.
The atmosphere in this bookstore was very strange. From the table to the bookshelves, every item seemed to be integrated into a single entity.
There were some empty spaces on the shelves, but soon, a book appeared on the empty shelf.
Mei glanced at the book that appeared out of nowhere, but she didn't pay any attention.
After a period of experimentation, Mei successfully transformed the great serpent's life form into a library.
Yes, it was not limited to just a bookshelf.
This entire library was transformed from the great serpent.
The name of this bookstore was: The Library of the Exiled.
From the outside, this might seem like an ordinary bookstore. But when someone tries to push open the door, they find it impossible to open it.
Perhaps this library doesn't exist in this place.
It might be in Asia today, and tomorrow in Europe. Its location is constantly changing. It could even be in space, in the void, in the sea.
It has no fixed location, and thus no fixed entrance.
An interesting point is that after transforming into a library, the great serpent still has its splitting ability, but the items it splits are only books.
Of course, these aren't ordinary books. These books contain abilities or characteristics.
For example, the black-covered book in Mei's hand, called "The Book of Necromancy".
The cover depicts several large crimson characters like molten lava, burning, yet full of filth and contempt.
The knowledge contained in this book, even a single chapter, is enough for a normal person to study their entire life.
Even if you gave the entire book to a normal person, they wouldn't be able to finish reading it in several lifetimes.
This isn't just because the knowledge contains the past and the future, revealing truths both obscure and mysterious, it's also because reading itself is an act of madness.
A few lines might be enough to cause a mental breakdown, driving someone to insanity.
Similar books can be found everywhere in this library.
They not only contain ancient and forbidden knowledge but also possess the great power of destruction and regeneration.
"Eternal rest is not death. In the mysterious eternity, even death itself will disappear."
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"Death itself…"
"The final chapter of the Book of Necromancy is the power to erase even death… I seem to have created something terrifying."
Mei casually took out a notebook and wrote down a series of numbers.
After the angel 023, this is the number Mei has written down after many months.
Number 024: The Library of the Exiled.
A library with the innate traits of immortality and eternal existence, possessing its own consciousness.
It forms its own space, which can expand infinitely, becoming an endless corridor.
024 evolved from the great serpent. It retains its splitting ability, but the items it splits are books containing mysterious powers.
And it can only split books.
024 itself can't move, but it passively and randomly appears in any corner of the world.
Apart from that, the newly split items from 024 can be at least 1st Step, and at most 4th Step level.
This combat power level is determined by the knowledge contained in the different books.
As for 024 itself, it doesn't have any combat ability, nor any means of attack, and can't even move.
Its single combat power rating doesn't even reach 1st Step.
That is to say, an unprecedented 0th Step.
...
On the street.
A middle-aged man was walking when he noticed a bookstore.
When did this bookstore open?
The man walked forward and tried to open the bookstore door, but no matter how hard he pushed or pulled, he couldn’t move the door.
Hm?
The middle-aged man looked inside the store. A white-haired woman sat inside, quietly reading a book.
“Hey, owner, is your door broken?”
The woman inside the store didn’t respond. The middle-aged man tried again, shouting, “Hey, your door is broken!”
Hearing the middle-aged man’s voice, Mei closed her book and walked to the door. “This place is only for those who are destined.”
Then, Mei waved her hand.
A second later, the bookstore instantly disappeared.
The middle-aged man was stunned. A flowerpot suddenly fell from the building, narrowly missing him.
“Did I… have a hallucination?”
The middle-aged man scratched his head and looked at the flowerpot next to him.
There was a bookstore here just now, right?
...
Europe, Serpent’s Hand headquarters.
Thump, thump, thump.
A dense sound of footsteps echoed. A group of black-robed people suddenly burst into the headquarters.
Without saying a word, they killed everyone they saw.
They charged through the Serpent’s Hand headquarters, but in the deepest part of the headquarters, there was no one.
Shino scanned the area. Aside from stone statues, there was nothing.
Too late.
After the incident where Vespa infiltrated the Serpent’s Hand headquarters alone, the Serpent’s Hand decided that their base wasn’t safe enough, so they temporarily changed locations.
The Serpent’s Hand members they encountered before were the cleanup crew responsible for dealing with the aftermath.
A Dagon Priest stepped forward. “There are no Ancient Artifacts. They took all of them.”
Seeing this, Shino put on his hood and prepared to leave. But at that moment, a Priest suddenly noticed a Fish-Man statue.
“Hm?”
“This is….”
Shino stopped and turned around. He saw the Priest slowly walking in front of the Fish-Man statue.
“Petrification curse?”
The Fish-Man Priest took out the frog-skin book and flipped through it. He quickly found the corresponding Ancient Artifact. “The Unripe Apple, the Ancient Artifact that curses those who eat it to be unable to meet people.”
Shino walked forward. “You mean, these statues were cursed and turned into stone?”
The Priest nodded. “Yes. But rest assured, there’s a way to lift this curse. The frog-skin book contains the incantation to lift the petrification curse, but it requires a certain material…”
“What material?”
“Serpent’s tears.”
“Do serpents cry?”
“They do, but no one has ever seen a serpent’s tears.”
“And finding a serpent’s tears now would be quite difficult, so there’s another method.”
“What method?”
“Find… your brother. Yes, find the Sea King. The Horse is the nemesis of curses and diseases.”
“As long as there’s a Horse, the petrification curse can be lifted.”
Shino looked at the Fish-Man statue. “Bring him along.”
The Fish-Men nodded and lifted the stone Fish-Man statue.
Only one Fish-Man Priest in the headquarters knew about the origin of this Fish-Man statue.
It was a Fish-Man she personally transformed, a man with superhuman will to survive, named Vespa.