As Loren was examining the dilapidated palace not far away, a palace that had weathered who knows how many years, a strange intuition suddenly arose in his heart.

"Everything around here seems to be welcoming him..."

The drifting mist, the decaying twilight, the broken palace, and the large stone floor beneath his feet...

Every existence within this ancient ruin was humbly, wholeheartedly welcoming Loren's arrival!

"Mr. Loren, what you need is at the center of the temple."

"There, you will find everything you wish to know."

"At the same time, there also lies the lingering obsession of a group unwilling to fall..."

That voiceless "voice" sounded again deep within Loren's heart.

As this "voice" echoed, a small portion of the mist lingering before Loren rapidly retreated, revealing a path leading to the broken white temple...

The dusky twilight rays of the setting sun also, at the opportune moment, bathed this path after the mist faded, expressing their meager "gesture of welcome."

This was a broken road overgrown with moss.

The ground leading to the white temple was not just covered with patches of moss; even some of the stone floor tiles paving the ground were shattered beyond recognition... 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

As if they had been violently ravaged by some existence...

The stone floor tile Loren was standing on also gently floated up into the low air, carrying Loren along this broken path bathed in twilight, flying towards the direction of this white temple...

The stone floor tile flew at a height of only a few dozen centimeters, and its speed was extremely slow.

As if carrying Loren's body had already exhausted all its strength...

Standing on the flying stone floor tile, Loren, seeing this scene, remained quite cautious and refrained from making any comments.

His understanding of this ruin was incomplete; he only had some guesses in his heart, and even those were only guessed with the help of "Fortune"...

-------------

Federal Calendar 7708, December 27th, midnight.

After enduring a journey of "hardships" to obtain that special stone slab, Loren finally arrived at the entrance of this dilapidated white temple.

Upon reaching the entrance, Loren jumped off the stone floor tile he was standing on with a look of disdain.

For no other reason than the stone floor tile flew too slowly, failing to satisfy Loren's urgent desire to see that "special stone slab"!!

From Loren's previous standing position to the entrance of the white temple, it seemed like a mere 99-meter distance.

Yet, for this short distance, the stone floor tile beneath his feet took a full "two minutes" to fly...

Due to the peculiar nature of this place, Loren felt he had only flown for "two minutes."

What he didn't know was that during the two minutes he just experienced, Cook P. Jones and the others in the outside world had already passed a full day!

Moreover, after Loren disdainfully jumped off that stone floor tile.

This stone floor tile, which had carried Loren part of the way, after completing its mission, as if unable to bear the burden any longer, shattered into pieces the next moment.

It transformed into tiny white stone fragments, scattering at the entrance of the white temple...

At the same time.

That voice that had resounded twice in Loren's heart sounded once more.

Only this time, Loren heard it with his ears...

"Mr. Loren, as a floor tile laid on the temple's periphery, my mission should have ended over a hundred thousand years ago..."

"Due to some accident even I am unaware of, I have been hiding and dodging with this ruin left behind by the 'God' who created me for over a hundred thousand years..."

"And finally waited for your arrival..."

"I was not entrusted by the 'God'!"

"But I am the existence that ultimately fulfilled the 'God's' final wish."

"As a peripheral floor tile, I wasn't even qualified to be given a name!"

"Yet even I, like this, finally waited for you! Mr. Loren!!!"

"But at the same time, I should also perish..."

"The power left by the 'God' was exhausted after pulling your true body into this ruin..."

"I truly miss those days when I was stepped on by the 'God'; I only had to be a 'floor tile'..."

"As a 'floor tile,' I bore a mission not meant for me for over a hundred thousand years..."

"I am too tired, and too lonely... Mr. Loren, do you understand?"

"Oh, right, I gave myself a name!!!"

"It's called 'The Floor Tile Stepped on Countless Times by God'!!"

"Is it nice..."

After listening to the long-winded series of words from that voice, Loren was stunned.

He, who had been examining the entrance of the white temple, turned around, lowered his head, and looked at the shattered white stone fragments on the ground...

For a moment, the scene was somewhat speechless.

So it was you speaking...

I thought it was some "existence similar to a divine doppelganger or lingering obsession"...

After silently shrugging his shoulders, Loren bent down, picked up a piece of the white stone fragment from the ground, and spoke somewhat awkwardly:

"Rest now, Mr. Floor Tile, the name is very nice..."

After saying this, Loren casually placed this white stone fragment into the "Crimson Tear" hanging around his neck, treating it as a nice "souvenir"...

After storing away a piece of "Mr. Floor Tile's" remains, Loren turned around and smiled as he looked at the white temple before him.

He gently lifted his leg, stepped over the white pillar that had fallen at the entrance of the white temple, and walked into this dilapidated white temple...

----------

Federal Calendar 7708, December 27th, one minute past midnight.

Driven strongly by "Fortune" and following the guidance of his intuition all the way, Loren finally walked into this white temple that housed that "special stone slab"!!!

The interior of the white temple was extremely vast and empty.

The murals on the walls of the dilapidated temple had also become blurred and indistinguishable under the grinding of endless years...

On the floor inside the white temple, only the twilight light spilling from the temple's roof brought a sense of desolation and decay...

In the vast interior space, only at the central position stood a "T"-shaped giant white stone platform. Apart from that, there was absolutely nothing else in the entire temple interior...

Standing at the entrance inside the white temple, Loren, seeing this scene, silently pulled out the Federation Coin from his chest and tossed it into the air...

"Is there danger here for me? If yes, let the coin land heads!"

1.5 seconds later.

The coin fell, tails!

The corner of Loren's mouth curled upwards into a smile.

"Good luck..."

Then, he tossed the coin in his hand once more.

"Is there any other consciousness or existence here? If yes, let the coin land heads!"

Another 1.5 seconds passed.

The coin quietly fell back into Loren's hand...