Steampunk: Sixth Era Chapter 1577: The Meaning of Whisper

Chapter 1577: Chapter 1577: The aning of Whisper

Shard, still feeling dizzy, stared blankly at the strange spiritual light. It wasn’t the Spirit Rune itself that surprised him, but he vaguely understood sothing:

"Whisper - End... Whisper Elent, it can only appear on Relics or related powers. But right now I haven’t touched any Relic other than the Black Ti Key, and that key is not the source of this Spirit Rune. The Spirit Rune cos from the world of this Space-Ti. Whisper... Whisper... does the Relic and Whisper Elent really represent the ’Darkness of the World’ that Dr. Schneider told

about (Chapter 14)?"

He took a deep breath of the choking air and recalled another description the doctor initially gave about the "Whisper Elent" — "Whisper is almost a natural phenonon, resonating throughout the entire Material World."

"Does Whisper represent the echoes of the world about to perish? Then, are Relics actually the world’s... but that doesn’t make sense. The appearance of Relics began in the Second Era. Moreover, shouldn’t there be more Relics closer to the ultimate death of the Sixth Era?"

The more Shard thought about it, the more sothing felt wrong. The Spirit within his soul also stirred violently with his thoughts. Eventually, Shard clutched his chest, spat out a mouthful of blood, and then wiped his face, realizing that his nose, ears, and eyes were bleeding.

Although there had been no combat, he was already in a severely injured state. Knowing he couldn’t continue to ponder, Shard stopped thinking and suspected that this dying world was luring him towards ultimate death as well.

Feeling sowhat recovered, he took the ti to examine his surroundings. Of course, doing this also helped distract him from those strange thoughts.

The windows in the living room were boarded up, making the place so dark that there was almost no light. There was an astonishing lack of furniture in the living room; not even Shard’s Knight Sword, shield, or honorary degree certificate were here, nor were the coat rack by the door or the cabinet by the wall.

The few pieces of furniture remaining were covered with white cloth, placed on the dirty floor covered with white ash and mold. The only piece not covered was the couch in front of the fireplace.

Shard was very familiar with the style of that fabric sofa; it was the one in Sparrow Hamilton’s living room when he passed away. During the Outlander’s arrival, this old sofa had already been replaced by Lecia and moved to the basent:

"Indeed, in the Bygone Era: Sixth Era, I do not exist."

Shard thought to himself. Actually, the last ti he saw that his forr side room didn’t even have a bed and was being used as a storeroom for miscellaneous items, he had guessed this (Chapter 1154).

In the Sixth Era where the Outlander had not arrived, Sparrow Hamilton had not even t the original host, that Blind Foolish individual...

"Hmm?"

He tilted his head slightly; sothing seed off. The Outlander’s awakening should coincide with the day Detective Sparrow died, and history before that should not be affected by the Outlander’s arrival. Therefore, even in the Bygone Era: Sixth Era without the Outlander, that side room should have had an owner.

"Although I can’t explain this situation, the change must have happened in the spring of 1853, which is half a year before my awakening. What exactly happened at that ti?"

He muttered softly, waited for a mont without hearing "her" voice, and then continued to look around.

"I know this isn’t my ho, but such a filthy floor, the peeling walls, and the choking, moldy air... it’s really unbearable."

Because his stay was not ti-limited, Shard didn’t need to race against the clock as he had when using the Ti Key before. He glanced around, then walked to the sofa, sat down slowly, and let out a long breath:

"First of all, what is the specific ti now..."

Using the Arcane Technique [Contact with the Father of the Infinite Tree], the answer was quite surprising:

[There is no current ti point; ti is also shattered.]

In previous tasks involving the Ti Key, although there was no specific ti, at least when using the key there would be reminders like "spring, sumr, autumn, winter." This ti, it only ntioned the "Final Era" at the start, so Shard could guess certain things:

"Is this the Apocalypse? Everything ceases to exist, and ti and space are completely disordered."

And the disorder in ti also suggests that Shard really couldn’t et that long-haired Luviya.

"Is there anything active nearby?"

Shard asked in his heart.

[No.]

"Alright, let’s begin the exploration."

If he could, Shard would have liked to use the Dream of the Moon on this sofa to sleep for 4 hours to recover his spirits. But this world continued to show him, unreservedly, the terror and malice of the Apocalypse. So even though there was no ti limit and a small rest was possible, Shard felt it best not to linger too long in this place.

Last ti during the Year-End Festival in his dream, he had encountered the silver-eyed little Mia on the second floor and then chased the dream cat all the way to the third floor, into the attic, and then onto the rooftop, so Shard hadn’t actually explored this house thoroughly.

Now that there’s an opportunity, he walked down the stairs, planning to check everything from the basent upwards. Of course, he also kept in mind to be on guard for the appearance of a "strong enemy."

Interestingly, just as the stairs connecting the second floor to the third were patched with several doors glued together by so sticky spell, in this apocalyptic ho, the originally sealed brick wall on the first floor had also been opened.

However, it was evident that the user of the Bygone Era: Sixth Era house did not consider this as their ho, as there wasn’t a single piece of furniture on the first floor either. The windows were similarly boarded up, the ground stacked with white ash, and underneath the ashes was a wet, mold-corroded floor.

Upon entering the basent, the items Shard originally stored there, including his Magic Potion workshop and Alchemical Workshop, were indeed absent. There were only things left over by previous owners, things that had already been there when Shard had first opened up the basent.

But Shard wasn’t concerned about that. With his fingers lit by Moonlight, he went to the deepest wall of the basent, and the Ring of Fate slowly erged behind him.

Whether the Outlander was there or not, the hidden basent wall existed. After all, the first ti he entered the space beyond the hidden wall, the contents already indicated that at least hundreds of years ago, forerunners of the Guiding Light Hermitage had found this place.

As the Spirit Rune of [Space] shimred with spiritual light, that light cast upon the wall and, as Shard expected, the wall disappeared.

He smiled and stepped forward to enter the black corridor ahead, only to run into an unseen transparent wall.

"Oh, my nose!"

[Outlander, a ssage from the Father of the Infinite Tree.]

[You may not leave the area of Saint Delan Square.]

"I know, but does the area beyond this wall not belong to Saint Delan Square?"

Shard complained softly, holding his bruised nose, receiving in return only her light laugh.

Since the Spatial Labyrinth still existed, Shard naturally thought of the other doors in the house. Among them, the basent’s [Dark Dungeon] required the "Impermanence: Darkness" to open, and the second floor’s [Hall of the Keeper of Secrets] required the "Aikenora - Arrow of the Chosen One" to manifest.

Thus, Shard could only investigate the basent’s [Heart of the Earth Furnace] and the third floor’s [Soul Graveyard].

He was surprised to find that both these special spaces actually existed. The [Soul Graveyard] was present because it arose from the appearance of the "Edge of Life and Death" previously existing within the house, thus its location remained in the third-floor corridor. Although the [Heart of the Earth Furnace] was still in the basent, its location had shifted from the side of the stairs to the center of the basent, yet it still existed as a trapdoor.

Of course, Shard still couldn’t enter either of these places and could only watch the doors manifest before him.

"In the Bygone Era: Sixth Era, soone placed many doors at No. 6, Saint Delan Square, just as I did."

Apart from those doors, there were no other noteworthy clues in the house. Other than Sparrow Hamilton’s original living quarters in room one on the second floor, other areas didn’t even have furniture and remained in an unrepaired "Haunted House" condition.

Shard opened every room and recalled the various things he had experienced in the different rooms, further making it difficult for him to accept that No. 6, Saint Delan Square ended up like this.

He had thought he might find old newspapers or similar things to understand news he hadn’t experienced, but there was nothing here. Instead, he found his ntal state deteriorating due to staying too long at this ti point.

"The roof is the only place left."

With the last bit of hope, Shard climbed to the attic. But instead of imdiately heading to the small door leading to the roof, he approached the decorative wall in the attic, used the spell "Fossil to Mud" to insert his hand into the wall.

Soon, he pulled out a small box. Inside were travel postcards and old photos from all over the Old Continent, with only landscapes and no people.

"Sure enough, this is here as well."

This was discovered by workers inside the wall when Shard renovated the house after Detective Sparrow’s death (Chapter 463). Shard speculated at the ti that these were souvenirs from the "grey-headed eagle" left during missions across the Old Continent. Now that these photos were also present at this ti point, Shard could be certain that the history of Detective Sparrow having owned this house once still existed.

"So, the difference between this place and the ti point I’m in should have appeared in the spring of 1853."

He placed the box on the floor and finally opened the small door to the roof and jumped up.