Mystery: A Spark

Without needing to be reminded, all the extraordinary individuals present knew that this was the gateway to the outside world.

“We…succeeded.” Shatas landed beside Arthur from the sky and murmured.

She looked at the young man beside her and sincerely praised him:

"You are very good."

Upon hearing this, Mobert, who was walking towards them, unconsciously touched his black, stiff hat, feeling that it seemed to be changing color.

The Cyclops Grosser strode over, looked at Arthur, scratched his head, and chuckled憨厚ly:

"We did it! We can get out now! Thank you, Arthur, you're a great comrade."

However, Arthur calmly poured cold water on his enthusiasm:

"No, you can't go out yet."

Upon hearing this, the crowd that had gathered fell silent.

"Why?" Shatas asked directly.

But she wasn't angry, because after fighting side by side once, she had developed a great deal of trust in the young man.

Mobert frowned, his gaze becoming thoughtful.

"Because of time, even the youngest of you, Long Ze'er, has been here for nearly two hundred years. You were able to maintain your sanity because of the special power of the world in the book."

“But if you go out now, you will lose the protection of this power and die in a very short time because you have to repay a lot of time,” Arthur explained, looking around at everyone.

He had brought up this topic before, but everyone else completely ignored him.

This time was different. After he said those words, the faces of these people showed varying degrees of realization and contemplation.

“No wonder you went out of your way to invite the old man over.” Mobert gave a wry smile. “I was wondering where I got such influence that the old man would wait for me outside.”

“You’re mistaken about that. You don’t really have that much influence over the old man these days.” Arthur glanced at Mobert.

"What?" Mobert's expression changed instantly. "What has happened to my family in recent years?"

"That's something you two will have to discuss yourselves when the time comes," Arthur said, looking at everyone. "Gentlemen, I promise you that I will do everything in my power to get you out alive and enable you to live in the outside world. Please be patient and wait, okay?"

The Cyclops scratched his head and said with a憨厚 smile:

"You are my comrade-in-arms, and I believe you wouldn't lie to us."

“I can wait too.” Snowman made the sign of the cross on his chest and then walked back towards the cave he had just entered.

“We’ve been here long enough, a little longer won’t hurt.” Shatas turned and followed Snowman into the cave, pulling Mobert along with her.

"Then I'll wait for you. Let my old man think of a solution!" Mobert shouted as he was being pulled away.

Longzel gave Arthur a Rune salute, then left in silence.

"Phew, ma'am, let's go." Arthur let out a soft breath and then said to Edwina beside him.

However, to his surprise, Edwina shook her head at this moment and said:

"No, I won't leave for now."

"Huh?" Arthur looked at her in surprise, only to find that she was looking at the ice and snow gate not far away.

“I feel that this door could allow me to make a breakthrough in my research on your knowledge of 'teleportation' magic, so I want to study it here first.”

"Anyway, you'll still have to come back and take them out later, won't you? Besides, it's not convenient for me to be present when you're talking to that gentleman outside," Edwina said softly.

“Well… that’s fine. I’ll work with that person to come up with a feasible solution as soon as possible.” Arthur didn’t hesitate. He immediately walked to the door, pushed it open, and went inside.

Without a sound, Arthur found himself in a room.

And in front of him stood Leonard and Arthas.

"Arthur, you're out. How's it going in there?" Arthas was the first to ask.

"We'll talk about that later. The main problem right now is how to get them out." Arthur then briefly explained the situation of everyone inside.

"Grandpa, do you have any good ideas?"

“Yes, and more than one,” Pales’s aged voice rang out at this moment.

Chapter 261 Solutions and Comradeship

That's why people say that big shots have a different way of speaking.

What was a difficult problem for Arthur, Palles had multiple ways to solve.

Of course, this is partly because Arthur's extraordinary path is more focused on combat and less adept at the uncanny.

Simply put, a brute can't pull off fancy tricks.

"Old man, tell me more about it," Arthas asked curiously.

“The first method is to temporarily allow them to move around in the outside world. That is, to use deception to make them remain in the same state as in the book after they come out, so that they will not immediately make up for the time they owe,” Pales said in an old voice.

"This works?" Leonard was deeply shocked.

Isn't this a rogue move?

"You're right, this is indeed shameless. In fact, it's not just thieves; anyone who rises to a high position through extraordinary means has their own unique characteristics and can do many unbelievable things."

"For example, Arthur takes the hunter path. After advancing to a higher level, he can lend his power to others, even ordinary people, as long as they are recognized by him."

"In this way, a formidable army can be assembled instantly. Ordinary individuals who are not good at escaping will only be crushed in the face of such an army."

"And the Dark Path you're in isn't exactly a high-quality Extraordinary Path either. Back then, your goddess... cough, I won't go into details." Pales seemed to suddenly remember something, and his previously eloquent voice abruptly weakened.

Leonard opened his mouth, instinctively wanting to clarify the topic, but he was also afraid of hearing something blasphemous, so he was stuck in a dilemma, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"Well, let's continue with other methods. Besides the method of using fraud to get them to temporarily come out and move around, there are two other ways that can completely solve their problem."

Pales somewhat abruptly steered the conversation back on track:

"As you all know, the fundamental problem for those people inside is a lack of time. So we just need to make up for the time they owe. However, the time gap for these people is too large, and it will be difficult in the short term."

"The second method is to directly exchange their fate with others, so that the fate of being deprived of time can be borne by others. However, in my current state, it is still difficult to do this unless I can obtain a 'Destiny Trojan Horse' trait."

Arthur listened quietly, then said thoughtfully:

"In other words, each of these three options has its own problems. The fraud scheme is only temporary and doesn't address the root cause. The time-gain scheme doesn't offer enough time, and you're not yet capable of implementing the final option of exchanging fates, is that right?"

“That’s right, so I suggest you combine the three plans. That is, first take them out of the book in case something goes wrong, and then solve the problem slowly,” Pales said, explaining his idea.

"You still prefer to have your traits fully restored, don't you?" Arthur said knowingly.

“Of course, but it’s not urgent. After all, there are very few thieves with high-level characteristics outside. Most of them are just clones of that person. I’m in pretty good shape right now, so there’s no need to take any risks. I actually prefer to collect time.” Pales chuckled.

Even the fact that he refrained from taking the Sequence One item from the Yagg family treasure in Backlund, which Arthur told him about, shows how cautious and patient he was.

What a true man! No wonder he's managed to escape from Amon's clutches so many times... Arthur thought to himself.

"Wait a minute, what exactly do you mean by 'collecting time'?" Leonard suddenly asked at this moment.

"What do you think?" Arthur gave a heartwarming smile.

"Don't you dare do anything reckless." Leonard's expression immediately turned serious. "If you indiscriminately kill innocent people, I'll arrest you."

"Look at what you're saying, do you think I'm that kind of person? How long do ordinary people live? Of course, it's more efficient to kill those extraordinary beings burdened with sins." Arthur laughed and patted Leonard's chest, signaling him to relax.

“Well, among the extraordinary creatures that still exist today, vampires have the longest lifespan. You could consider them, especially those who worship the ‘Primordial Moon’,” Pales offered his opinion at this moment.

“I understand, but sir, how do I collect their lifespans?” Arthur asked.

“I’ll give you a Time Worm. You can seal it away normally and release it when you find suitable prey. However, you’d better not use it in battle. Although I’ve been in much better shape lately, losing a Time Worm is still a hassle,” Pales replied.

After he finished speaking, a translucent worm with many transparent rings on its body, making it appear to be divided into many segments, appeared from Leonard's body.

Arthur reached out and took the Time Worm, stroked his chin and thought for a moment, then handed the little worm to Arthas.

Arthas glanced at the Time Worm in Arthur's palm, then opened his mouth and, like slurping noodles, swallowed the little worm into his stomach.

“You’re really creative, kid,” Pales couldn’t help but say.

"Hehe." Arthur chuckled dryly twice, then changed the subject:

"On the other hand, if we were to make up for all the lost time, it would probably take quite a while."

"It's not as scary as you think. Don't forget, although they've been inside for a long time, the giant and the elf are immortal beings. After all these years, they've basically digested the potion."

"So if they can advance to demigods, their lifespan will increase dramatically, and the time required will be greatly reduced. If we also give them some life-extending potions, we might not even need to help them make up for lost time," Pales explained.

"I see. So how long does your deception ability last?" Arthur asked.

“Given my current condition, I can guarantee they won’t have any problems for three months. If I recover quickly enough, that time can be extended indefinitely. But if something happens to me, then it’s hard to say,” Pales replied.

“I understand. I’ll go and get them all out now,” Arthur nodded.

He wasn't worried that the portal in the book had disappeared, because Edwina was still inside studying it.

As a "prophet," if there were signs that the door was disappearing, then Edwina would definitely have come out by now.

"Wait a minute, let Leonard find another place first. This small room probably can't fit all these people," Pales reminded him.

“Oh right, we need to find another place. At least that giant definitely can’t stand here.” Leonard immediately started putting on his jacket.

"So, what brings you here? This isn't Backlund, is it?" Arthur asked curiously.

“That’s not it. We Red Gloves are on a mission recently, that’s why we’re here.” Leonard didn’t explain further, and after putting on his coat, he stood by the table waiting.

“Then I’ll go in first.” Arthur cut his finger with a knife and smeared the blood on the surface of Grosser’s Travels again.

In the blink of an eye, he found himself back in the icy wilderness, near the icy gate.

Beside the gate, Edwina was observing intently, occasionally jotting something down in her notebook.

"How's the research going?" Arthur asked.

“I’ve made some progress, which might be helpful for my future research on the ‘portal’ spell,” Edwina said without looking up. “Has the problem been solved?”

"It's temporarily resolved, but some follow-up work is still needed. I'll go and call them all over." Arthur turned to look at the cave, only to find the members of the dragon-slaying team walking towards them.

"Hehe, Long Ze'er was keeping watch at the door just now and happened to see you come back," Mobert said with a smile. "So? The old man should have a plan by now, right?"

"Well, I've come up with some ideas. You should be able to leave without any problems now. Let's go." Arthur walked to the ice gate.

The Cyclops Grosser immediately strode toward the gate, followed closely by the others.

When Arthur passed through the gate again and returned to reality, he found himself on the roof of a house.