Chapter 6 A Small PromiseTitle of the Book:Mystery: From Apprentice to High-Dimensional OverlookerAuthor's name: BambooChapter word count: 3509 wordsUpdate time: 2022-09-18 01:32:31
Verity Cotton woke up before seven o'clock. She looked at her friend Joanlin Pryor who was still sleeping beside her, then she climbed out of bed quietly and went to the bathroom to get herself ready.
Mr. and Mrs. Prior had not yet gotten up. Verity returned to Jonlin's room and sat alone at the window, looking out. There were few pedestrians on the street. The early morning public carriage ran briskly along the road. The driver yawned and tightened the reins from time to time to control the speed of the horse. The bakery across the street had already opened its storefront. The owner was busy polishing the window and putting up the sign with the price. In the distance, the towering bell tower of St. Samuel's Church was so eye-catching.
She stayed at the Qionglins' for a week and still loved looking out the window. In the East End, in her own home, whenever she looked out, she saw only a gray, choking fog and dead narrow streets.
But this is not her home after all. At about 7:30, Verity heard footsteps in the corridor and knew that the Pryor couple had woken up. After a while, Qionglin turned over in bed, then slowly sat up, with a little confusion in her eyes.
"I admire you, Verity," she murmured sleepily. "You always get up so early. I can't do that."
In the East District, you have to get up even earlier because it takes about an hour to walk to school... Verity smiled and said, "Good morning, Qionglin."
Joan Lin responded vaguely, walked to the bathroom like a sleepwalker, and came out fully awake. She helped Verity pack up her things, and they chatted for a while. At this time, the aroma of frying bacon was diffused in the air. Mrs. Pryor called them in a somewhat shrill voice: "Good girls, come down to eat!"
The table was filled with soft toast, which could be paired with butter, cream or jam, and fragrant black tea to relieve the greasiness of bacon and sausage. Piet Pryor, who was sitting at the other end of the table reading the Backlund Daily, nodded to them with a smile, while the hostess Mylene Pryor, who was directing the maid to put a fried egg on each person's plate, touched the top of Verity's head with extra pity.
"Eat more, dear." She tucked a strand of light golden hair behind Verity's ear. "You are too thin. You need adequate nutrition..."
Verity hurriedly thanked Mrs. Pryor for her kindness and sat down at the dining table to finish her hearty breakfast. Today was Sunday, a day of rest, and she stayed in the living room with the Pryor family. Before the church clock struck nine, she picked up the newspaper that Mr. Pryor had finished reading and quickly flipped through it.
Before she finished reading the investigative report on "The sudden outbreak of infectious disease on Lily Street", the doorbell rang.
The maid went to greet the door, while Verity collected the newspapers, folded them and put them back in place. Qionglin approached her reluctantly, took her arm and whispered, "It's your 'brother' again?"
Verity knew that her friends, or rather the Pryor family, had a bad impression of her guardian, and that this bad impression was not entirely unfounded. She smiled helplessly: "He is my family, Qionglin. Well, I have to go, see you at school tomorrow."
The Pryor couple and Joan Lin walked her to the door. Douglas was waiting there as promised, fiddling with an old cap. Verity saw the white gauze bandaged on his forehead and couldn't help but feel nervous. Fortunately, he looked fine and the injury didn't seem serious.
Seeing them coming out, Douglas stopped unnecessary movements, bowed slightly to the Pryor couple, and then glanced at the two little girls. Qionglin tried hard to resist the action of leaning towards her mother, but Verity suddenly felt that Douglas seemed... a little different today.
"Thank you for taking care of Verity," the man extended his hand to her, smiled slightly, and then turned to the Pryor couple, "I think she has caused you a lot of trouble..."
The Pryor couple were rather indifferent to his polite words, and only responded with a few polite words. Verity certainly knew the reason, a bounty hunter from the East District would never be a guest of honor at the Pryor family.
And if she herself had not been a friend of Joan Lin and Piet Pryor had not been their teacher at the Nursing School, and had not fully understood Verity's character and talents, she would probably not have had the opportunity to step into this house.
She followed him to say goodbye to Qionglin, thank the Pryor couple, and then left behind Douglas. She couldn't help but feel fortunate that the expenses for this week's board and lodging had been paid at the beginning. She thought that the Pryor couple would not be happy to calculate money with a bounty hunter at their doorstep, which would damage their dignity.
The two walked slowly along the street. Verity's hand suddenly felt light, and she turned her head to see that Douglas had picked up the cloth bag containing books and some clothes for her.
She looked at his actions in surprise. The man seemed a little embarrassed by her stare, and quickly turned his eyes away, whispering: "Well, let's not go home yet. This commission is more troublesome. I will book a room in a nearby hotel, you stay for two more days, and wait for me to deal with it..."
Verity grabbed his sleeve and opened her eyes wide: "Stay in a hotel? No, I can..."
"Hey, hey." Douglas raised his hand to interrupt her, "Believe me, this is necessary, don't worry about the money. This is for your safety... Verity."
For some reason, she felt that Douglas seemed to hesitate when he pronounced her name. At this time, Douglas took her to a hotel with ordinary decoration and said to the front desk: "Open a room."
The front desk clerk looked at Douglas, who had short black hair and light brown eyes and was obviously an adult, and then looked at Verity, who had long light blond hair and dark green eyes and looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, and asked tentatively, "Excuse me...what is your relationship?"
Douglas was suspiciously silent for a second, and Verity hastily made up an answer before the waiter's face became more interesting: "He is my uncle."
The front desk clerk seemed to be struggling to convince himself to accept this answer, but as Douglas expressionlessly took out a roll of banknotes, he was obviously convincing himself a lot faster, and soon opened a single room facing the street for them.
Douglas left two days' room fee and a half-sole tip, thought for a moment, and asked the front desk to send a breakfast including coffee to the room before taking Verity upstairs.
The single room was not big. Verity looked at Douglas who pulled a chair and sat down, and asked, "You don't live here?"
The man raised his hand and pressed his temple, then laughed dryly and replied, "No, I don't want to be handcuffed to the water pipe in the police station overnight."
Verity approached him, brushed aside his messy hair, checked the wound, and after confirming that he was not seriously injured, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She raised her hand and pointed a few stars on her chest: "Praise the Goddess... Douglas, if, I mean, if this mission is too dangerous, you should have given up on it earlier. If the money you spend on medical treatment and security is more than the reward for the mission, it is obviously not worth it."
"Of course, I know basic math." Douglas muttered, tilting his head back to distance himself from her. "There are only a few trivial things left, and I'll be done in two days... Uh, I still have to clean up the house."
"What's going on at home?"
"Some items were damaged..."
"Is that why you didn't take me back? Someone found our house?"
"I'll take care of it." The man avoided her gaze and tilted his head to look out the window. "It's not safe for you to stay alone in the East District. It's much better here, and you're closer to school... Oh, Bat."
The last sentence seemed like a stiff change of subject, but when Verity looked over, there was indeed a bat outside the window, hanging upside down on the protruding eaves, dangling, its little black eyes looking at the two of them.
"Are you scared?" Douglas said, standing up. "Let me drive it away."
She immediately grabbed his arm, shook her head and said, "No, wait, what if it flies in when you open the window? Just leave it there."
"Well, you're right..."
At this time, the waiter knocked on the door and brought breakfast. Verity sat on the bed and watched Douglas wolf down his meal, took a few sips of the coffee, paused for two seconds, and then put the tin cup away with a subtle expression.
The church bells rang ten times from a distance. Douglas listened attentively to the bells, and finally turned around and smiled at her: "I should go now. You stay here, don't go too far if you go out, and lock the door by yourself... By the way."
He seemed to have remembered something and hurriedly took out the roll of banknotes from his pocket, took a few for himself, and stuffed the rest into Verity's hands.
"It's not safe at home, so I brought the money out. I'll leave it here with you. Take it."
Verity clenched the crumpled stack of bills in her hand and watched Douglas put on his coat and cap and walked out the door. Some kind of melancholy of unknown origin rose from the bottom of her heart: Douglas was standing here, just talking to her, just holding her hand, but she felt that the man who took her and her brother home, paid for their schooling, buried her brother with her, and placed a bunch of wild flowers picked by the roadside in the cemetery every year was not here.
"Douglas." She couldn't help but call him.
The man stopped at the door and turned to look at her. Verity looked into those familiar hazel eyes and said tentatively, "I think you are... a little different today."
The eyes blinked, and the man looked at her, seeming to spend some time looking for the right words: "Oh... I think, after experiencing some big things, a person's character will always change in some way..."
She interrupted him hastily: "You can confide in me, I... I mean, you shouldn't hide it from me at this time. You are in trouble, right? What happened?"
"... Verity." Douglas raised his voice helplessly and called her name. He left the door, walked back and gave the girl a somewhat awkward hug, stroking her hair with his palm, "Don't be so excited... Well, it seems that I made you feel uneasy. I apologize to you."
He thought for a moment. Verity felt the man's fingers gently run down her hair to the ends, and then the hand patted her back soothingly. He said, "How about we make a deal? When my mission is over and we get home, I will answer these questions. I swear."
Verity held his wrist, feeling the warmth of a human being against her palm, feeling the secret pulse pulsating between her fingers, and couldn't help feeling ashamed for her inexplicable panic. What was she thinking about? Wasn't Douglas just standing here?
In order to hide her embarrassment, she hurriedly nodded and agreed to the other party's words: "Okay, it's settled... I, I'm just a little worried when I see you're injured..."
"I understand." Douglas smiled, pulled his hand back, took two steps back, turned around and walked towards the door again.
The door opened and closed before her eyes. Verity rubbed her eyes and walked around the room twice, not knowing what to do. Finally, she returned to the window and looked out at the scenery of Backlund.
Then she noticed that the bat that had landed outside the windowsill had flown away.Chapter 7 Sealed Object "2-061"Title of the Book:Mystery: From Apprentice to High-Dimensional OverlookerAuthor's name: BambooChapter word count: 4244 wordsUpdate time: 2022-09-19 15:57:39
Friedman Miller got up a little late today. He rubbed his forehead and rang the bell to call the waiter to deliver breakfast to the room.
As a Briber of Sequence 7 in the Lawyer pathway, he had a strong physique brought by the potion, and he shouldn't have felt tired from staying up all night to investigate such a trivial matter. But last night, his investigation in the East District attracted the attention of the Aurora Society members, and he had to spend a lot of energy on getting rid of the tracking and eliminating the traces.
Two days passed and Friedman had not gotten any clue about the whereabouts of the items. The only consolation for him was that the Aurora Society, which tried to steal the items, also got nothing.
But this was not enough. Friedman knew that the Aurora Club in Backlund was much stronger than what he had encountered so far, and had a large number of subordinates who could provide intelligence. If the Aurora Club got the clues to the item before him, he would have no choice but to give up.
Damn Thomson, he had to make things so complicated... Friedman cursed silently. His main mission in Backlund was to establish a base here, secretly develop power, and train some extraordinary people to work for the organization. The investigation of Thomson should have been just a small part of it, which was not difficult.
Through some intelligence, they learned that a seal suspected to have been held by the Church of the God of War had been found in the underground market of Backlund. In order not to attract the attention of other forces and the official church, they specially asked Thomson, who was still an ordinary person, to buy it. Unexpectedly, Aurora would also get this information later and send out tasks to find the item in multiple underground Beyonder gatherings.
Thomson, who heard the news, delivered the message by telegram, and mentioned in it that in order to cut off the clues, the seal was temporarily entrusted to a Beyonder who was good at hiding for safekeeping.
Now, the Aurora Society's subordinates and Friedman have personally experienced how good the extraordinary person who holds the Sealed Object is at hiding - in the past two days, no one knows where the "apprentice" named Douglas is.
The last piece of relevant information was in the early morning of the 20th, when thugs hired by the Aurora Society found Douglas in the Backlund Bridge area, but he eventually managed to escape and has been missing since then.
Even a curly-haired baboon wouldn't make such a brainless decision to let ordinary people deal with the Beyonders who passed by the "Apprentice"! Friedman felt that the Aurora Club was extremely useless, but at the same time he was glad that the other party made a stupid mistake, so that the matter didn't end early.
Friedman, who had just arrived in Backlund on the evening of the 19th, could only follow the footsteps of the Aurora Society and reluctantly left his contact information at a base somewhere in Douglas, hoping to rely on Thomson's connections to successfully "lure" the target out.
After a quick brunch, the clock just crossed ten. Friedman usually did not go out in the morning, but used this time to rest and sort out intelligence: in addition to Thomson's troubles, he also had to worry about other tasks of the organization, such as socializing with some declining nobles or newly rich people and building connections.
Fortunately, there was no annoying party at noon today, so Friedman had half a day off and did not plan to go to the East District to provoke the Aurora Club in broad daylight. Just as he was about to ask the waiter to bring him some tea and newspapers, he heard a gentle knock on his door.
He stood up cautiously and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Sir, I'm sorry to bother you." The waiter's voice sounded outside the door, "Here is an urgent letter for you."
Letter? Friedman frowned and asked, "Who sent it?"
"The sender is Mr. Peter Thomson. His servant is waiting downstairs for your reply."
No, Thomson is hiding in Pritz Harbor now... Friedman suddenly realized something. He opened the door, gave the waiter a tip of one soli and used the "bribe" ability to make sure that the waiter had no intention of harming him before accepting the envelope.
The extraordinary man's spiritual intuition allowed him to immediately recognize that this was the envelope he had left at the Astronomical Observation Enthusiasts Association. Friedman opened it on the spot and saw the message from the elusive "apprentice":
"I still have the stuff. I think we need a meeting. You can choose the time and place, but it's best to be far away from the East End. The sooner the better. Douglas."
The fish has taken the bait... Friedman's mouth curled up and he smiled. He thought for a moment, wrote down the time and address on the note in the room, folded it in half and handed it to the waiter, then returned to his room to think about his next plan.
After finding Douglas himself, the simplest way to do it was to kill him and then communicate with him. Unfortunately, Friedman's own sequence was not good at ritual magic such as communication, and the other party was also a Beyonder, so the communication would most likely fail.
Besides, the benefits of killing someone to silence them are too low... This guy can also be used as bait against the Aurora Society. Let him die at the hands of the Aurora Society, and then attract official Beyonders to attack the Aurora Society. This way, my presence in the incident can be eliminated...
Friedman felt a boot drop to the ground and relaxed his thoughts. As a "lawyer", he had good eloquence and was very good at guiding others' thinking. It was easy for him to convince a Sequence Nine who had no mental resistance bonus. The key to the plan should be to set a trap for the Aurora Society. As long as the lunatics in the Aurora Society made enough noise, there was no need to worry about the official Beyonders not getting involved.
This is the capital of all cities, Backlund!
-
"Captain, this is the on-site investigation report sent by Isengard Stanton."
At the bottom of St. Samuel's Cathedral, Soest, who had been promoted to "Spiritual Wizard", took the investigation report from the team members and asked while flipping through it: "How is the investigation of Sealed Artifact '2-061' going?"
Cindy, who was in charge of this matter, took a half step forward and reported: "Last night in the East District, members of the Aurora Society had a small-scale conflict with a Beyonder of unknown origin while pursuing Sealed Artifact '2-061', and the latter managed to escape. Through means such as entering dreams, it can be determined that the latter belongs to the 'Lawyer' path and has demonstrated abilities no lower than Sequence 8. Neither side obtained Sealed Artifact '2-061'."
After a pause, she continued with some embarrassment: "The night watchmen who are currently investigating in the East District have not found any clues about Sealed Artifact 2-061. Well, in the East District where thieves are rampant, there are countless cases of lost items. It is difficult to determine whether any of them are caused by the side effects of Sealed Artifact 2-061."
Soest turned his eyes away from the investigation report and tapped lightly on the table with his red-gloved right hand. "Well... there's no need to investigate the theft case. We need to change our thinking."
He handed the investigation report to the team members and asked them to read it. Bob flipped through a few pages and quickly grasped the key point: "So, the sudden outbreak of infectious diseases on Lily Street really came from Sealed Artifact '2-061'?"
"This is the result of the deduction of a 'Keeper.'" Soest did not say it for sure. "Of course, combined with the clues from the side, it can be basically confirmed that on the evening of the 19th, when the holder of Sealed Artifact '2-061' clashed with the members of the Aurora Society near Lily Street, he intentionally or unintentionally used Sealed Artifact '2-061' and released the 'plague' of the witch's ability, which led to this result."
"In this case, the holder of Sealed Artifact '2-061' would not have survived. Even if he escaped the ambush of the Aurora Society at that time, he might have died from the negative effects of the Sealed Artifact and the 'Plague'." A team member raised the problem.
Everyone's faces darkened when they thought of this. If the owner died somewhere in the East District, their workload would probably increase exponentially.
"Hey, there is a gathering of Beyonders in the underground of Lily Street that is not on the monitoring list..." Bob, who was flipping through the report, continued to read out the following content, "Esinger speculated that the holder might want to use the Sealed Artifact at this gathering, but was interfered by the Aurora Society and failed... The identities of five of the participants in the gathering have been confirmed!"
Soest nodded: "Focus on the two suspected Beyonders. Next..."
Before he finished speaking, someone suddenly knocked on the door of the conference room. After the team members opened the door, a night watchman greeted several red gloves and walked quickly towards Sost, leaning over and whispering, "The messenger of the Church of Mother Earth is waiting for you upstairs."
Sost raised his eyebrows. In the aftermath of Lily Street, the Night Watchers applied for assistance from the Earth Mother Church, which was good at preparing medicines and treating diseases. At the same time, they passed on some information about the Sealed Artifact "2-61". Of course, only bishops and Beyonders above the level of team leader could read it.
The possible harm caused by a very dangerous sealed object circulating in the underground market is something that no church wants to see. In this regard, they have sufficient reasons to cooperate and it does not constitute a leak.
Sost signaled the team members to continue the discussion. He stood up and followed the Night Watchman, leaving the basement of the church and went to the reception room to meet the extraordinary person from the Church of Mother Earth.
He was a young gentleman with long cheeks, deep brows and elegant clothes. His scarlet eyes made Soest realize immediately that he was a vampire who had lived for who knows how many years.
Ever since Feynepott defected after the God War, the fact that the blood race submitted to the Church of the Mother Earth was no longer a secret among the official Beyonders... Sost nodded calmly and gave a brief self-introduction:
"Soest, the leader of the Red Gloves team responsible for the Sealed Artifact 2-061 incident."
"Russ Bathory." The other party also raised a decent smile, "The Mother Goddess's 'Reaper'. Hehe, we got some information about the '2-061' incident."
"Speaking."
Russ leaned back in his chair, looking very relaxed: "Well, first of all, we found the Beyonder who previously held Sealed Artifact '2-061'."
Soest's eyes lit up: "Are you sure?"
"Yes. He is an Apprentice-level Beyonder from the East District named Douglas." Ruth nodded, and as if he had thought of something, he revealed a slightly amused expression. "He, um, hid in our Harvest Church for two days."
"..." Soest was stunned for a moment, "What?"
"Please allow me to explain from the beginning." The vampire touched his chin and summarized the matter in simple language. "On the morning of the 20th, our clergy found him fainted in the South District of the Bridge and took him back to the church for treatment. On the 21st, we received your request for support and learned about the information of Sealed Artifact '2-61'. We found that Douglas was a big suspect. His physical health was good, but he suddenly developed a respiratory disease. The symptoms were similar to the 'plague' on Lily Street. We have reason to suspect that he was a participant or witness of the incident."
"But there was not enough evidence at the time. To avoid interfering with the investigation, we did not report it, but only left a 'mark' on him. I have been monitoring Douglas' whereabouts since he left Harvest Church on the 22nd."
As he spoke, the vampire count lifted his cloak slightly, allowing Soest to see a small bat hidden in the shadow of the clothes.
"My informants told me that Douglas seemed to be hiding from something. He also went to the Astronomical Observation Enthusiasts Association in Cherwood District. Combined with the investigation of another group of our personnel, Peter Thomson, who was suspected of buying the Sealed Object 2-061 at the underground auction, was a member of the association."
Peter Thomson, Douglas... Soest, who had just finished reading the investigation report, immediately remembered that these two were participants in the underground extraordinary gathering on Lily Street!
"Douglas obviously got a clue there. On the 23rd, that is, this morning, he went to the Carpenter Hotel in the West District and contacted Friedman Mill in Room 226 by sending a letter. In the message he delivered to Friedman Mill, he mentioned, 'The thing is here!'"
The clues began to connect gradually. Soest thought for two seconds and said, "Where did you get the information about the auction? Is it credible?"
This is related to the whereabouts of the sealed object "2-061", he must confirm it.
Ruth nodded casually. "One of our vampires is the guarantor of the auction. Through relevant items, we have confirmed that the smell and mystical revelations all point to Peter Thomson."
Smell... Soest continued to ask: "Regarding Friedman Mir, do you have any idea about his identity?"
"Not yet. I only know that he is from Jianhai County. Well, this person is most likely also a Beyonder."
"He may belong to the 'Lawyer' path, Sequence 8 or higher." The Red Gloves did not hesitate to share the information. "He should be the other party competing with the Aurora Society for the Sealed Artifact. It is not certain which secret organization he belongs to."
"I think we'll know soon." Russ spread his hands. "Douglas and Friedman are planning a meeting to trade. Perhaps tonight, the Sealed Artifact '2-061' will appear."
"Is it still impossible to confirm the whereabouts of the seal?"
"Douglas doesn't have it with him, and he hasn't shown any intention of going anywhere to retrieve the seal. He might be trying to use it to blackmail the other party and gain some benefits."
"Where was the transaction?"
"It's not clear yet. I will continue to monitor and notify you if there is any news."
Soster nodded, stood up and shook hands with Ruth: "Thank you for your hard work. I will mobilize the personnel to prepare."
The vampire nodded slightly arrogantly and said, "I believe this cooperation will yield results that will satisfy both of us."
After seeing off the distinguished guest, Soest thought about the other party's so-called "satisfactory cooperation" and felt that it was a veiled request for compensation from the Church of the Dark Night. Perhaps the Church of the Mother Earth wanted to obtain the custody of the Sealed Artifact "2-061"?
He thought about it casually and put it out of his mind: he was only responsible for getting the things back, and the specific distribution of benefits was not the responsibility of the Red Gloves team as a fighting force. Soster strode into the meeting room, clapped his hands to attract the attention of the team members, and began to arrange the next action.Chapter 8 - Suler's BribeTitle of the Book:Mystery: From Apprentice to High-Dimensional OverlookerAuthor's name: BambooChapter word count: 3684 wordsUpdate time: 2022-09-18 01:34:38
Douglas arrived an hour earlier than the agreed time and sat in a private room in a coffee shop with a low-key yet elegant décor, resting his chin on his hand in deep thought.
This was the location Friedman had booked. He claimed that he would send someone to book Room 2 in the cafe and meet at 1:30 p.m.
Faced with such a simple and straightforward way of meeting, he almost wanted to report to the church: Someone, there is a secret organization contact here!
The only problem is that not only does he have no evidence, he's even more suspicious than the successful businessman who can afford to stay in a fancy hotel.
So after Douglas tossed the coin and did the insurance work, he simply came over early to wait. He was now in a state where he had nothing to do and nowhere to go.
"I should have made some preparations for my own safety...but I don't dare go back to the East District. I can't get a gun, and even if I did, I wouldn't have the guts to shoot..."
"Douglas should have had a few talismans bought from the underground market, but I don't know whether he used them during the two days of amnesia or lost them. He doesn't have any self-defense items in the occult..."
"Alas, I simply washed my neck and offered myself to someone... I can only use the 'Son of Heaven' as a threat to control the princes. If that homeless guy has sent the message out, the people chasing me should be active today... I will use this excuse to explain why I didn't bring the things..."
"By the way, this is going so smoothly that I didn't even have time to investigate which force was chasing me... But since I have the relationship with Thomson, it's better to return the things to their original owners and let them worry about it..."
He let out a long breath, leaned back, and yawned in the comfortable soft seat. Last night, he secretly ran to someone else's kitchen and barely slept for three or four hours. If he wasn't so nervous now, Douglas always felt that he would fall asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.
Seeing that the time was almost up, he twisted his arm and grimaced to sober up a little. Soon, his spiritual intuition was slightly touched, and Douglas heard several footsteps approaching. He slowly stood up and moved silently to the wall leading to the outside world, ready to leave at any time.
The door of the private room was opened, and the waiter walked in front. She was totally surprised to see a silent person poking at the corner of the room. It seemed that he wanted to leave to see if he had walked into the wrong private room.
Douglas didn't pay much attention to her, and focused his eyes on the tall man behind him. The man was dressed like a gentleman in a white shirt, black vest, and dark windbreaker, with brown hair, blue eyes, thin lips, and a look of arrogance mixed with harshness.
The man switched his cane to his left hand, patted the waiter's shoulder with his right hand to signal him to calm down, and looked at Douglas sharply, introducing himself: "Friedman Miller."
Douglas nodded and introduced himself. He watched Friedman give the waiter a soli tip and send him away, then closed the door and slowly returned to his previous seat.
Friedman sat down opposite him and looked around without disguising his gaze: "It seems you didn't bring anything with you."
"It's safe, but I didn't have a chance to get it out." Douglas leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on the table, and recited the excuse he had prepared skillfully, "Unless you can help me solve the problem in the East District."
He had already thought about it. He was not good at testing each other with words. He was afraid that after a long and roundabout speech, the other party would not understand him. It would be better to come straight to the point and take the initiative to see what the other party's attitude was.
"I don't see your sincerity." Friedman maintained a leisurely tone.
"Taking the risk to come and see you is my greatest sincerity."
"No, you came to see me because you had no choice. It's already a hot potato, and you're anxious to see me just to get rid of it as soon as possible."
Douglas's eyebrows jumped, and he tried to maintain a serious and gloomy expression: "You also know that many people covet that thing. It is not difficult to get rid of it."
"Really?" Friedman narrowed his eyes and smiled mockingly, "It seems that you don't know the identities of those people..."
The man leaned forward and chuckled, "A word of advice, my friend. Do not try to make a deal with the Aurora Society. They are all crazy."
He was satisfied to see that Douglas frowned instantly, and his eyes showed uncontrollable surprise and uneasiness. Through a "kind" reminder, he successfully weakened Douglas's vigilance and hostility towards him.
Douglas didn't realize the subtle change in his attitude, and was still complaining in his mind: Damn, Backlund is so big, why, why did it have to be the Aurora Society?
Given the original owner's special experience, the last people he wanted to confront were the Aurora Society and the Spiritual Knowledge Society.
At this time, the waiter knocked on the door of the private room and brought a pot of tea and some snacks. Friedman softened his tone and said, "You don't have to be so nervous. After all, according to Emperor Roselle, we are now crossing the river on the same boat, so we should help each other."
As he spoke, he poured two cups of tea himself, picked up one cup first and took a few sips naturally.
But the other party did not pick up the cup as he wished. He just glanced at the table and his expression was no longer as tense.
It is common sense not to eat food given by strangers when you are out, Douglas thought.
And why do the words of Emperor Roselle sound so familiar?
Simply weakening hostility is not the same as gaining trust. Friedman continued to maintain a friendly attitude and persuaded: "Friend, let's be honest. I want to take back what belongs to me, and you want to get rid of the trouble it brings. There is no contradiction. You just need to cooperate with me to do something."
Douglas gave up his threatening attitude, leaned back on the soft cushioned chair, and hummed, "What do I need you to do?"
The brown-haired, blue-eyed man kept trying to gain Douglas' approval through words: "We need to make a plan. As you know, the Aurora Society has a great influence in Backlund. We can't act blindly."
"That's right."
"The key is how to make Aurora give up the item on its own initiative. Otherwise, even if the item is no longer in your hands, they will continue to arrest and torture you for clues. You don't want to live in fear in the future and don't want to fall into the hands of those lunatics, right?"
Douglas seemed to have imagined some tragic ending. He shook his head slightly and looked at Friedman: "What do you think we should do?"
"Here's what I think." Friedman's smile deepened. "Take me to get the things. Well, I can protect you closely during the process. After I get the things, I will immediately report the actions of the Aurora Society to the official church. You will be responsible for leading the people of the Aurora Society to a specific location and let them enter the sight of the official Beyonders!"
"This way, they will be busy dealing with the pursuit of the official Beyonders and will no longer have the energy to pay attention to you and me."
After Douglas heard this, he looked thoughtful and puzzled: "This..."
Friedman raised his hand and made a soothing gesture: "You see, this is the reason. I am a successful businessman. Obviously, it is easier for me to report to the authorities and get them to take it seriously, right?"
This was obvious, so Douglas nodded in agreement.
"And you are a Beyonder who is good at escaping. Haha, Thomson has told me that you are an 'apprentice', which allows you to easily escape pursuit. Just like the past two days, no one could find you." Friedman struck while the iron was hot and convinced the other party by adding examples. "Also, the focus of the Aurora Society has always been on you. It is easier for you to achieve the goal of luring the enemy than for me."
"Um..."
"Similarly, that thing can only be kept by me. This way, even if you are noticed by the official Beyonders, there will be no suspicion on you. You are just an innocent bounty hunter who was accidentally affected by the Aurora Society. The official Beyonders have always attached great importance to the Aurora Society and will not pay much attention to you. If you are detained in the police station, I will bail you out immediately. My identity can do that."
Every word he said made sense and was achievable... Douglas unconsciously felt a deep sense of identification with Friedman's words and quickly agreed: "Okay, let's do this."
Friedman, who had anticipated this, took out the prepared map and began to discuss with the other party the location to lure the enemy.
——He gained Douglas's approval through some realistic and difficult-to-refute remarks, and then used his extraordinary abilities to gradually "distort" this approval, causing Douglas to change from "acknowledging the facts stated by Friedman" to "acknowledging what Friedman said."
As long as his words are self-consistent, not outrageous to a certain extent, and not in too great a conflict with reality, the effect of this "distortion" will continue.
Therefore, Friedman's first half of the plan was sincere and true until the moment of luring the enemy. He wanted to ensure that Douglas would not feel uncomfortable with the whole plan.
The only part that was different from the plan was that he would not attract the official extraordinary people, but would kill Douglas first after Douglas attracted enough attention from the Aurora Society, and use an extraordinary item of the "Death God" path that he owned to destroy the opponent's soul.
In this way, Douglas' death would be blamed on the Aurora Society, and it would be difficult for the authorities to obtain any valid information from the broken soul, and Friedman's figure would completely disappear from this incident.
Of course, after this, he also had to deal with Thomson to prevent the official extraordinary person from finding out his identity from this side.
But he wouldn't need to spend so much time and effort to kill an ordinary person.
With Douglas's "cooperation", they quickly selected a suitable "luring enemy" location and agreed on a place and time to meet in the evening. After seeing Douglas leave through the wall, Friedman stayed for a while before getting up and leaving the room. He found the waiter who led him and served him tea, and bribed her with a tip to keep the secret of the conversation between the two people he saw today.
Douglas left the cafe, took out a baseball cap from his bosom, put it on, lowered the brim, took the steam subway from the West District back to the North District, then walked to the junction of the North District and the East District and chose a shabby little hotel.
Before leaving, Friedman "thoughtfully" told him to find a place to rest for a while, stay alert, and not walk around casually to avoid accidents.
This was also what Douglas wanted: he really needed a good night's sleep to be ready for action.
He walked into the hotel lobby and tapped the wooden counter with his fingers, waking up the guy who was dozing behind the counter: "Open a room."
The waiter was startled and fumbled for a key and gave it to him: "One soli and ten pence. Well, dinner service will cost another soli..."
Douglas felt the money in his pocket. He had left most of it to Verity, and had spent some of it on the carriage and the subway today. Now he had only three one-sole bills, a five-sole bill, and a ten-sole bill, all crumpled together.
He unfolded them, smelled the distinct scent of ink, and saw the serious and prim George III with his mustache on the banknotes...
Then Douglas discovered that under the noble face of the former king, there was a line of handwriting heavily outlined in red ink that appeared extremely clear.
The words read: "You can only protect yourself by either holding the entrusted items or reporting it in person! If Friedman wants both, he is deceiving you!"
His eyes suddenly opened wide.
-- ----
I will never write a script again, I just can't come up with one. Your brother Yao is really good.
Shang Jianyao (starting the reasoning clown): You see, you and I both have extraordinary abilities; we both know Thomson and have a good relationship with him; and now we have a common enemy...
Douglas (suddenly realizing): I understand, brother, let's go and take down the Aurora Society today!
Friedman: ?Chapter 9 PretendingTitle of the Book:Mystery: From Apprentice to High-Dimensional OverlookerAuthor's name: BambooChapter word count: 3923 wordsUpdate time: 2022-09-19 15:57:11
Sitting on the creaky old chair in the cheap hotel, Douglas held the banknote with mixed feelings.
This was an insurance policy he took for himself before meeting Friedman.
After all, this is a world with extraordinary abilities. Combined with the original owner's memory, Douglas couldn't help but think, since wall-penetration exists, why can't brainwashing exist? Hypnosis? Psychological suggestion?
Although he was not sure that he could contend with such extraordinary power, he had to make preparations. It is better to be prepared than to be wrong.
So he wrote down the two most important points in the entire negotiation on a piece of paper money that he would never throw away and would definitely take out and use no matter what the circumstances.
Of course, if the other party could read his mind and hypnotize him to confess all his plans, Douglas would have no choice but to admit defeat. This simple measure is completely about doing one's best and leaving the rest to fate.
Fortunately, fate seemed to be kind to him.
After briefly reviewing the conversation with Friedman, Douglas wished he could travel back an hour and slap himself in the face.
"The first few sentences sound reasonable, but the rest are just nonsense... I am not agreeing with them..."
"If you easily hand over the entrusted item, I will lose my only useful value. No matter what the plan is, no matter what the negotiation result is, I should stick to this bottom line and let the other party know that the only way to get the item back is to protect me..."
"If the other party refuses to cooperate, I should consider how to bring in official forces to resolve the issue..."
"I only heard a few words... This, this should be the other party's extraordinary ability? Which channel is this?"
"Hmm, it's weaker than the brainwashing I imagined... It didn't directly change my mind, but more like induction. It needs constant language to pave the way for me, and it can't be too detached from reality. At the same time, it's not hidden, and it can be broken with just an external reminder..."
"Fortunately, it's not that kind of unreasonable control... Damn, if I hadn't found out, would he have planned to kill me after getting the thing? Should I take him with me according to the 'plan'? If not, what should I do next?"
"If I miss this opportunity, I probably won't have the chance to cooperate with Friedman anymore. I'll be attacked from all sides... Uh, what he said about using official power to curb the Aurora Society is probably true. Then, then I'll be in trouble on all sides?"
"...Damn it, is it too late for me to take my stuff to the Aurora Club and surrender and go offline?"
Douglas took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He endured it again and again, but finally, he clenched his fist and pounded on the table in anger, almost breaking the wooden furniture that was far beyond its service life into pieces.
He began to feel tired.
What sins did I commit in my previous life that I have to face this kind of life-and-death choice after traveling through time? He stared at the gradually darkening sky outside the window, thinking in a somewhat divergent way. Is this a ghost's fate? Otherwise, if I try to lie down and die, will I be able to travel back directly?
...I'll pray to the Mother Goddess of Earth later, and ask her to give me a painless death?
Just as he was lost in thought, a dark shadow suddenly appeared in his sight, blocking out the last bit of sunlight and startling Douglas.
When I looked closely, I realized it was just a bat that had landed outside the convex window?
Bats again? Douglas stood up and approached the window, habitually complaining in his heart: Could this flying rat be the mascot of Backlund? In other cities, white pigeons fly, why do you only have this thing flying here? There is no activity to eliminate the four pests in the other world?
He bent his knuckles and knocked on the glass to try to scare it away. The bat hung upside down on the metal window bar, motionless, looking at him with its head tilted, as if it was familiar with him.
Douglas stared at it expressionlessly for a while, then took a step back and decisively closed the curtains, trying not to look at it.
His originally messy thoughts were interrupted by this little episode, and because of the bat, Douglas naturally thought of the little girl Verity who was waiting alone in the hotel for things to be over.
She knew nothing, she was just simply hoping that he would finish his mission as soon as possible so that they could go home together.
The feeling of suddenly realizing that someone cares about me and that I have a home to return to silently flowed through my heart, diluting the negative thoughts that originally occupied my mind.
Douglas stood there with a struggling look on his face, and suddenly wanted to smile bitterly.
I can joke about life and death when I have nothing, but I don't have the courage to disappoint others' expectations…even if the person she is expecting is not "me".
He gradually calmed down, sat back at the table, supported his chin with both hands and continued to think about possible turning points.
About ten minutes later, Douglas went to the front desk to get the hotel's paper and pen, changed the ten-sol note into change, sat in the lobby and quickly wrote four letters with slightly different contents, dried the ink, and put them away one by one.
Then he went to the street and stopped four coachmen nearby, paying each of them three solas and asking them to deliver the letters immediately to the Harvest Church of the Church of Mother Earth and the nearest Church of Night, Storm and Steam.
"I'm an informant for the Church of Night/Storm/Steam." Douglas lied to every coachman with his eyes wide open. "There is important information inside. It must be delivered to the bishop on duty immediately."
In a world where people generally believe in a certain god, this statement is still quite intimidating. Besides, there is money to be made, so it would be a waste if not to do it. The drivers whipped their whips and set off.
"Okay." Douglas stood on the street, watching the passers-by coming and going, and whispered to himself, "Now that the chips are on the table, let's have a good gamble!"
-
"It's right down here." He pointed to the heavy manhole cover embedded in the ground with great certainty.
"Down there?" Friedman frowned. The turbid air and dirty environment of the East District made the gentleman feel a little uncomfortable.
Douglas nodded affirmatively and explained, "There is a section of sewer pipe collapsed below here. No one repaired it, so a semi-enclosed space was formed. Well, wait here for a moment. I'll go get the things up."
As he spoke, he took out the crowbar he had prepared from behind his back and pried open the manhole cover. A foul smell mixed with sourness and decay came straight at him. Friedman immediately took two steps back, covered his mouth and nose, and said in a deep voice: "Hurry up, I'll keep watch for you."
"Okay." Douglas nodded casually, supported himself with his hands and jumped down. Friedman listened to the echoing footsteps that came and went, and quietly pulled out his revolver, pointing it at the wellhead, his finger vigilantly on the trigger.
"Friedman?" a muffled voice came from below. "I'll throw the stuff up first, otherwise I won't be able to climb the ladder. You take it!"
As he spoke, a wooden box no bigger than a cigarette box was thrown out. If the potion had not given Friedman much sharper eyesight than ordinary people, he would have almost failed to distinguish the outline of the box in the dark.
After catching the wooden box without any danger, Friedman stepped back further and watched Douglas climb out of the sewer and put the manhole cover back in place, with the muzzle of his revolver pointing at the other's back under the cover of night.
"I didn't feel any fluctuations of extraordinary power." He said in a low voice with a frown.
Douglas seemed to think about it for a moment: "Look at the words engraved on the box."
"Engraving?" Friedman confirmed through touch that there were indeed irregular dents on the lid.
"'Open, touch'." The bounty hunter replied with a smile, "It should be these two words. Well, it was already there when Thomson gave it to me. It should be the method of using the items inside. I didn't have the time to open it."
Friedman hesitated for a few seconds, but still walked slowly towards the light, always facing Douglas sideways. Douglas didn't notice anything unusual, and walked in front, constantly looking around, as if he was alert to his surroundings, and said with a complaining tone: "Open it and check the goods, then we can proceed to the next step. I'm really tired of hiding here."
Well, it seems that the effect of "distortion" is still maintained... Friedman quickly confirmed under the dim light that the words on the lid were indeed "open" and "touch", so he opened the lid and saw an ordinary badge the size of an eyeball lying inside, with symbols symbolizing fate and secrets engraved on the front.
Friedman's spiritual intuition began to buzz. He took a deep breath, stretched out his hand nervously, and touched the badge.
At this moment, all the information about this seal flooded into his mind.
"Sealed Artifact No. 2-061, 'Thief's Badge'."
"Effect: After the badge is covered with the spreading spirituality, it can be used to steal other people's extraordinary abilities, memories, or abstract concepts such as distance. The seal will store the stolen things and randomly release the previously stolen things during the next theft."
"Negative effects: 1. When using a Sealed Object, the user will also randomly have their extraordinary abilities or certain abstract things stolen, such as memory or life. 2. Anyone who comes into contact with it, regardless of whether they are protected or not, will have their life gradually stolen. 3. The Sealed Object has certain living properties. After being used many times, the living properties gradually increase, and it will begin to try to parasitize the user. 4. After losing contact, the user will gradually forget the specific information about the Sealed Object, just like their memory being stolen, and the written records of the Sealed Object itself will gradually disappear."
"Sealing method: avoid contact and use, and try to ensure that there are no objects around that can be parasitized. Try to record the things that the sealed object has stolen. Update the written records related to the sealed object every ten days."
Friedman shuddered, immediately retracted his spiritual power, and moved his fingers away.
At the same time, he was keenly aware that his memory of the information about the Sealed Object "2-061" was fading little by little. Perhaps in just five minutes, he would forget that he had ever come into contact with it and understood it.
This... is indeed a Level 2 Sealed Artifact! Friedman no longer had any doubts and was convinced that this was what the organization needed.
"How is it?" Douglas asked with interest as he saw his expression changing.
"No problem." Friedman nodded calmly, closed the box, sealed it with the spiritual wall for safety, and put it in his pocket. With the thing in hand, his attention immediately focused on how to get out of this situation. He smiled and took the initiative to walk towards Douglas, extending his hand to him, "Now that the thing is in my hands, you will no longer be their target. I will immediately set off for the nearest church, and I will leave it to you from now on."
Douglas shook his hand and looked relieved: "Okay, I can finally get rid of it."
Friedman watched with satisfaction as the other party turned away, exposing his back to him without any defense. He had just activated his ability and used the fact that "the trouble was caused by the entrusted item" to "distort" the other party's thoughts again, making Douglas believe that "losing the entrusted item can solve the trouble", deepening his trust in the plan.
Next, he would rush to the so-called "decoy" location chosen by Douglas himself and kindly send the enemy on his way.
Everything is going as planned.
Very good. Douglas walked away quickly with his eyes fixed on the front, but the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.
His first bet was whether Friedman would take action immediately after receiving the goods. Now, he won the bet.
"As a member of a secret organization, he should be like me, unwilling to be exposed to the official sight and unwilling to provoke the Aurora Society..."
"So, instead of killing me directly, he is more likely to use me to divert the attention of the two parties so that he can get away without attracting attention!"
Of course, surrendering to the Aurora Society was another option. But after coming here in advance to confirm the horror of this extraordinary item, and the influence of the original owner's memory, Douglas felt that it would be better to bet on Friedman's IQ than on the madness of the Aurora Society.
The next step is to gamble on his luck.
In order to disrupt Friedman's subsequent actions and put him to death here, Douglas wrote four letters of complaint, trying to include several nearby blocks in the official investigation. He also found a few homeless people to pass the message to One-Eyed Ford, actively revealing his whereabouts tonight, and preparing to summon the Aurora Society.
What we want is chaos! Let's make chaos! Then what I have to do is to compete with Friedman to see who can survive longer!
As he turned the corner while thinking, his steps suddenly froze for a moment.
After seeing the figure standing in the middle of the road in front of him, Douglas' spiritual intuition suddenly exploded, clanging in his mind.
The man was a young gentleman, tall and slender, dressed neatly and elegantly, and he looked out of place in the dirty streets of the East End. He was holding a piece of paper in his hand and seemed to be reading it sentence by sentence. When he heard the footsteps, he raised his scarlet eyes and looked at Douglas with interest.
Douglas didn't hesitate, he turned and ran.Chapter 10: Don't gamble your life if you are not a rich manTitle of the Book:Mystery: From Apprentice to High-Dimensional OverlookerAuthor's name: BambooChapter word count: 3549 wordsUpdate time: 2022-09-19 15:56:56
Friedman ran away at full speed.
The messy buildings and narrow roads in the East District helped him a lot. The Punisher behind him had to take the people into consideration and could not control the strong wind to catch up quickly.
Damn it! He cursed angrily, and threw himself to the side in a panic, rolling on the filthy ground, barely avoiding a wind blade that cut through the air.
Even though he had used his abilities to "weaken" the opponent during their first encounter and he also had a very strong defense, Friedman did not want to take the attack from Sequence 6 head-on.
Fortunately, this is the border between the East District and the North District, far enough away from the Sotak River, otherwise the attacks of the Punishers would be even more intense.
But this also limited Friedman to fleeing deep into the East District. The North District had the Church of the Night's St. Samuel's Church, and a conflict there would definitely attract the Night Watchmen of the Church of the Night.
Friedman had not yet realized the change in the situation. In his opinion, his encounter with the Mandated Punishers was completely accidental, because the Mandated Punishers' target at that time was the members of the Aurora Society.
It was normal for official forces to hunt down the Aurora Society, but Friedman felt that he was very unlucky because the lunatics of the Aurora Society seemed to want to take him hostage, and flesh and blood magic was whistling at him across two streets.
He had no choice but to hide, and he had to use his extraordinary abilities to dodge. As a result, the Punishers who were chasing after him discovered his identity as a wild extraordinary person.
Fortunately, the Punishers had to deal with a half-crazy "Rose Bishop" and only sent one member to capture him.
Despite this, Friedman's spiritual intuition still vaguely sensed that something was wrong. For example, if there was a mission, was it necessary to send out a Sequence 6 "Wind-loving One" to capture him? Shouldn't such a strong person stay and fight the "Rose Bishop" head-on?
Or was it because of that attack that the Mandated Punishers thought he was someone from the Aurora Society sent to pick him up, and therefore took him seriously?
Having said that, the attack by the "Rose Bishop" was also a bit strange. Although we cannot guess the thoughts of a madman, there were many civilians who were closer at the time. Why did that guy lock onto me who was two blocks away at a glance?
The more Friedman thought about it, the heavier his expression became.
Something must have gone wrong. But before Friedman could think about it, a deep voice floated over, chanting a melodious and peaceful melody:
"Ah, the threat of fear, the crimson hope!
One thing at least is true: this life flies by…"
Amid the chanting that was full of peace and soothing meaning, Friedman's frantic pace gradually slowed down, his eyelids trembled uncontrollably and gradually closed, as if he was about to fall asleep in the next second.
At the same time, the bone-white ring he wore on his right index finger began to glow with a dark blue light as his spiritual energy covered him. A bone-chilling chill immediately spread along the ring to Friedman's entire body, waking him up from his drowsy state.
"Nighthawks!" Friedman opened his eyes wide in disbelief and saw several figures in windbreakers appearing in the alley ahead.
There were wolves in front and tigers behind. Friedman didn't have time to think. He had already reached into his pocket and grabbed the wooden box containing the sealed object "2-061". He was about to open it, use the sealed object to steal distance and escape from here.
But the next moment, his own shadow under his feet suddenly rose up, forming chains made of pure shadow that spiraled up along his legs and firmly locked the movement of his arms.
Before Friedman could use his great strength as a "barbarian" to break free from the chains, one of the night watchmen stepped forward, pressed his hand to his forehead and lowered his head slightly.
The endless night grew thicker, and Friedman, immersed in it, felt his rebellious emotions fading rapidly, and his soul began to yearn for tranquility and comfort.
He once again used the "Spiritual Ring" and took advantage of its negative effects to become sober. Then he successfully broke free from the chains and used the seal to escape from here.
At this moment, Friedman felt a pain in the back of his head, as if he was hit hard with an iron rod. The illusion was shattered, but before he could react, he was hit again. He was unable to organize a defense and fainted.
The Wind-Follower knocked out Friedman from behind, who was dragged into the dream, and threw him towards the approaching Red Gloves, saying impatiently, "There is also a 'Rose Bishop' from the Aurora Society over there."
Soest tapped his teeth, asked a nature spirit to catch Friedman, and nodded to the Wind-loving One: "My team will go over to assist you."
"Then follow me!" The irritable Mandated Punisher didn't say anything more, and turned around and rode away in the whirlwind. The Red Gloves team immediately sent out several members. The Beyonders of the Night Path were definitely not slow in running at night, and they followed the Mandated Punisher away.
At the end of the team, a pretty woman with black hair and scarlet eyes came forward and watched Soster take the wooden box out of Friedman's pocket.
"Is this the Sealed Artifact '2-061'?" She curiously walked behind the other person and looked at the small badge in the box.
"Yes."
Soest glanced at her. This was Antina Saiens, the helper sent by the Earth Mother Church tonight, so he did not hide it. After a brief response, he commanded the nature spirit to pick up the badge for him and transfer it to the sealed container prepared by the church.
"Huh." Antina Sainz suddenly raised her eyebrows, reached into the wooden box, and took out another small item. "What is this?"
Pinched between her slender fingers was an ordinary button that seemed to be stained with some dark stains.
Soest frowned. Although he didn't sense any spiritual light from the button, there was no telling if something was strange about it being placed together with the sealed object. Antina's move was a bit reckless.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to remind the other party, he saw the young vampire put the button close to his nose and sniffed it, then laughed heartily: "Haha, I didn't expect he had made such preparations?"
Noticing Soest's accusatory look, she handed the button to the red glove and explained with a smile, "It's okay, it's just an ordinary button. It's just that the blood on it belongs to that little 'apprentice', um, what's his name?"
"Douglas." Hearing this, Soest took the button and looked at it. He couldn't help but give a lecture, "You should be more cautious when dealing with items stained with Beyonder blood. Blood is a powerful medium and often contains curses or pollution."
Antina looked at him, silently conveying with her eyes, "I am a noble blood who has lived for eighty years and I am older than your father. Why are you lecturing me?" Soster pretended not to notice and changed the subject, "Why did he put the bloody button together with the seal?"
"You can ask him yourself." Antina stretched out her hand to smooth the ends of her slightly curly hair. "According to the agreement, we will bring the relevant personnel to St. Samuel Church for you to interrogate."
"Have you caught the 'apprentice'?"
"Yes. Antonia is waiting for us at the church."
Soest nodded and began to call on his team members to clean up the scene, appease the people, and prepare to withdraw. He, Antina and Friedman boarded the carriage and returned to the church first. For the red-gloved team leader, the work was far from over.
-
——I am indeed a fucking non-African.
This was the first sentence that popped into Douglas' mind when he woke up and found himself tied to a chair, unable to use his extraordinary abilities, with two people wearing red gloves staring at him.
He even said he wanted to test his luck, but who would have thought that he would be pressed to the ground just after taking a few steps.
Although I wrote four letters... Douglas thought angrily: You didn't have to come so quickly?! Is this the efficiency of the Great Church in the Other World? With such efficiency, there are still people like the Aurora Society surviving?
For a moment he didn't know which side to admire more.
The Red Gloves, a mobile team directly under the Church of Evernight, are secretly called "the running dogs of the Goddess" by the wild Beyonders, and they are avoided as much as possible.
Being guarded by two red gloves like this, Douglas was sure that he was inside the St. Samuel Church and would probably be thrown into the sea to be fed to the Sealed Object soon.
He didn't make this up out of thin air: led by the "Made Punisher" of the Storm Church, the official church particularly likes to use wild Beyonders to test the strength of seals. It would be a waste to not use the guinea pigs that are delivered to the door.
Inevitably, Douglas felt waves of despair. Being in the base camp of the Nighthawks and the Red Gloves, there was no way a Sequence 9 like him could escape. Putting aside the events he was currently involved in, he also had the great secret of "travelling through time".
According to Douglas' stereotype of the witch-hunting by the church in the Middle Ages in his previous life, if the church found out that he was a "time traveler", he would definitely be killed without leaving any trace.
I don't know if there is such a thing as leniency for those who confess in the other world... Douglas felt that the only thing he could do now was to organize his thoughts and suicide note. Oh, as a new believer in the Mother Earth, he could also pray, which was better than nothing.
While he was daydreaming, the door of the room was pushed open, and a man in his forties with soft features and long hair on his temples walked in while adjusting his red gloves. Douglas saw the two red gloves guarding him greet each other, and saw the man pull a chair and sit opposite him, and immediately realized that this might be the person who was going to interrogate him.
And judging from the two empty-handed postures, it must be an interrogation involving extraordinary abilities.
Douglas lowered his head in silence and tried to sit up straight in his chair. The man sat opposite him, his hands folded on his knees. His posture was not oppressive. He just looked at him calmly for a while, and suddenly said, "You are better than most people who come here."
"…" Douglas raised his eyes slightly and did not respond, but only expressed his willingness to listen.
"Many people who are caught will beg for mercy, cry, and confess their crimes. But when they find that they cannot be forgiven, they start to curse and insult the gods." The man simply gave an example, "Of course, some cult members are even crazier than you can imagine."
The craziest thing I can imagine is my time travel… Douglas muttered to himself, tentatively meeting the man's gaze.
The other party's expression was very calm, and it didn't look like he was interrogating a prisoner, but rather like he was talking to a friend.
He opened his mouth slightly, unsure if he was allowed to speak. The man noticed this and smiled briefly: "You can ask questions, but whether you get answers is up to me."
"I have a..." Douglas considered his words, "a family member. She is still a minor, a believer of the Goddess of Night, and is studying at the nursing school affiliated with the church. I want to know if my situation will have an impact on her. I mean... can she still continue to go to school, or something like that."
We have already reached the steam age. I hope there is no collective responsibility system in this world... Verity is miserable enough. If I replace her as a guardian and she is implicated by me and cannot go to school, I will really feel like a sinner for all eternity...
Well, although I didn't do anything... Thinking of this, Douglas blinked a little aggrievedly.
The man seemed to think about it for a moment: "This matter may depend on your next performance."
That is what will affect… Douglas leaned back in annoyance, tapped his head against the back of the chair to help himself calm down, and replied: "Okay, I have no problem."
"Well then," Red Gloves also leaned back, assuming a listening posture, "let's get started."