When the plot-skips players into the game world

The "Mirror Hall" has no doors.

Because a threshold implies sealing, and sealing is a form of silence; while a key implies opening, and opening becomes a wound.

Beauty would wither in silence, and a wound would disrupt aesthetic. Thus the Mirror Hall has no grand doors, only windows — the windows are eyes, mediums for observing beauty.

Therefore, every painting on the outer wall is a mirror, a window.

Aiwass led Arsene to the painting closest to them.

—It was a religious painting, with a dark red hue, set in a wall of red jade.

Aiwass had indeed seen this painting—it was painted by an acquaintance of his.

It was the work of a former Vice Principal of the Spirit Summoning Tower, Adolf Von Menzel, who used his entire life, soul, and memory to create the "Pale White Extremity" series.

This painting was called "Iron Rolling Factory," an oil painting.

He painted almost perfectly the scene of workers in a steel factory, focused on work under harsh conditions. In the dark red factory, the glowing hot metal was so bright, shining like the sun. Just by looking at it, you could feel a blend of heat and vitality, mixed with the smell of burning and dust engulfing you. The workers' actions were filled with strength, as if they were moving... the clanging sounds of knocking and people discussing filled the air.

These were not just exaggerated descriptions.

The closer they got to the painting, the more real it became.

The stimulating smell of the factory grew stronger, and the void heat scorched Arsene to the point where he felt his cheeks burning.

And when they got close enough...

Arsene, in a daze, realized he was somehow already in that factory.

—The painting had become a real-world existence!

He was no longer looking at the painting but dressed in worker's attire, walked within it!

The clanging ensued with the screech of machines filling the space. The workers' chatter, arguments, and curses were unending, reminding Arsene of the harbor.

He instinctively took half a step back but did not exit the painting. He merely felt he lightly bumped into a wall.

Arsene's heart skipped a beat, looking back. Yet he saw nothing.

Behind him was a wall.

A wall with no windows, no doors.

At that moment, Arsene broke out in a cold sweat.

"—Follow me."

But Aiwass said skillfully.

As if he'd been here before, he walked in a certain direction without hesitation.

He probably... had really been here before.

After all, being a former Pope, he might be familiar with the Gemini Mirror...

Arsene followed behind him, thinking.

"Inside the Mirror Hall..."

—Is it all such painted worlds?

Arsene initially wanted to ask.

But Aiwass quickly stopped him: "Shh."

Realizing it was inconvenient to talk here, Arsene immediately shut his mouth.

Aiwass first walked to the end, then without hesitation chose the left side from the two descending staircases.

Here, the workers' voices gradually faded away.

But after following Aiwass down the stairs, he somehow found himself in front of the sacred Pure White Cathedral, with burning heat coming from behind him.

Arsene recognized this cathedral, it was called the Holy Candle Cathedral.

This was the most famous cathedral on West City Island—because the relationship between the Irisflower People and the Holy Nation was not great, and there were not many Irisflower cathedrals. It could even be the largest cathedral among the Irisflower. Compared to the ordinary Nine Pillars Divine Church, this cathedral more serves in worshiping Candle Master itself... It was run by three pure-blooded Elf Bishops and one Elf Archbishop, entirely unrelated to the Irisflower People in management.

But also, because the Holy Candle Cathedral is one of the few "adequate churches," Candle Master, in turn, became the sole belief for many Irisflower People, especially those on West City Island—other places' churches couldn't possibly heal too many people. And since West City Island's population is small, the clergy quality is relatively high, medical resources are quite abundant, and there are never hauntings. Many hence call West City Island the "real capital of Irisflower."

And about twenty years ago, a painter, due to the lack of inspiration, consumed the "Mental Core Spirit"—a supposedly clairvoyant, truth-revealing magic potion that was once popular in Irisflower.

It was sold under the guise of an Alchemy Compound, and indeed had transcendent efficacy... only it belonged to a witch's magic potion and was entirely unsafe.

Once taken, there was a 30% chance of hallucination, a 30% chance of foreseeing the future, and a 40% chance of falling into a coma and having an absurd dream. But because it was impossible to distinguish between foreseeing the future and hallucinations, the prophecy ability it brought became extremely dangerous... some might mistake hallucinations for the future; some would deem future as hallucinations.

This was even more fatal than not prophesying!

It gradually brought chaos, eventually halted by the joint force of the four Dukes. But before that, many avant-garde artists had tried this potion.

This painter was one such representative.

He created a piece called "The Complete Destruction of the Holy Candle Cathedral."

In the painting, the Holy Candle Cathedral was burning fiercely, disintegrating. Countless scarlet bats flew, dyeing the entire sky red.

Because of the transcendent status of the Holy Candle Cathedral, whether this painting was a hallucination or a future sparked fierce debate among people. Next, "bats" became the second focal point, even leading people to discuss if the fire was set by the Son of the Moon.

All for the nonsensical content of a painting, bearing the brunt of an event that never happened—this was as absurd as a couple quarreling to divorce over how to spend jackpot winnings hypothetically.

The Sons of the Moon, of course, wouldn't accept this. They've always caused others distress, and since when had they suffered such grievances themselves?

So later, this painting was banned by the Sons of the Moon for "failing the art ethics examination." However, in Irisflower, the more something is banned, the more widely it spreads...

When Arsene saw the cathedral, he immediately realized—he had appeared in another painting!

He suddenly understood the mechanism here.

"No wonder this palace is called the Mirror Hall..."

"You finally understand."

Aiwass nodded in satisfaction.

—Here, any mirror, painting, window, staircase... apart from "doors" as connectors, could potentially be the bridge between two paintings. Through these "bridges" in one painting, they could enter another painting. Repeating this cycle, eventually, one could reach any location from any painting.

"...Is this world only paintings?" Arsene asked.

"Not possible; plays, poetry, sculpture, music... anything is possible. It's just that 'related items' tend to be close to 'related items.' For instance, these two paintings are both artworks, and both are in red-black shades, so they are closely linked.

This domain is the ultimate core of the world's 'man-made beauty'—as long as beauty is created with wisdom, it may possibly appear here."

Aiwass said with a grin: "And the Gemini Mirror, Playful Sky Department, Song Celestial Marshal, and their Angel Envoys, may all play someone in a particular space. Perhaps in that steel factory you passed by, some were hidden inside watching the show."

As for himself—he certainly was not afraid of these things.

He had run this instance so many times, he was already well-versed with the Mirror Hall's mesh grid map and the edge-finding logic. Even running to a place never seen before wasn't difficult.

Arsene's information was quite clear, Sherlock was in a building resembling a brownish library, with a black candle and a white candle on the table before him, suggesting the painting would be quiet and luminous, with an overall brownish tone and not easy to enter from other paintings.

—Therefore, similarity needs to be found!

As long as the spaces on the way become increasingly similar, it means they are getting closer to Sherlock's possible location!