join p atreon.com/KeyofStars for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr
Backlund, East Borough, Red Brick Lane.
Klein covered his mouth and nose as he stepped off the public carriage. He had already covered a good portion of the East Borough that morning, issuing bounties to many well-known bounty Hunters for the capture of the swindler, Lanevus.
On the night he first arrived in Backlund, he had divined Lanevus above the gray fog, knowing that the fellow still had residual corruption from the True Creator and was currently staying in the East Borough, absorbing various negative emotions just as he had done to Megose.
His high collar obscured most of his vision. Klein quietly activated his Spirit Vision, scanning his surroundings intentionally or unintentionally. For some reason, ever since he left home today, he had felt as if he was constantly being watched.
Is this Beckham's subordinate, or did what I said when I reported to the police yesterday attract the attention of official Beyonders?
Recalling the dream content he obtained from his divination last night, Klein's expression remained unchanged, but his mind grew tauter, wary of a possible attack.
Suddenly, his steps faltered slightly. He saw the congested crowd at the corner and several police officers maintaining order, and further away, a collapsed section of buildings.
This!
Klein's pupils contracted slightly. He had only learned through communing with Meursault that this was a secret stronghold of several high-ranking members of the Zmanger Gang, storing a large amount of ill-gotten wealth accumulated by this notorious gang, as well as many confidential documents.
Having already arrived here, turning back now would be too deliberate. Pushing up his gold-rimmed glasses, Klein took out a notebook from his pocket, a smile on his face, and leaned towards a police officer maintaining order, asking with a smile:
"Hello, Officer, I'm a reporter from the Tussock Post. Is it convenient to disclose what happened in there? This is for your interview fee."
The police officer, who had initially looked impatient, subtly accepted the 1-pound banknote from Klein's hand, then whistled, his attitude becoming extremely amiable:
"My name is Yiskor. As expected of someone in this line of work, you reporters are really well-informed. If you're asking about what's inside, it should be an explosion caused by a gas leak. Many people died, even including the notorious leader of the Zmanger Gang in the East Borough."
"But I suspect it's more likely a gang war, hehe. A fierce gunfight happened here a few days ago, and the Zmanger Gang made a big commotion with another gang in the East Borough."
"Uh, that last part is just my own guess. If you insist on writing it in the newspaper, I hope my name doesn't appear."
Realizing he had said a bit too much, Yiskor coughed lightly, pocketed the banknote, gave a warning, and then left.
Pretending to put away his notebook, Klein frowned slightly. This must have been Beckham's doing, and his move was a direct kill to silence witnesses.
This matter cannot be delayed any longer. The Zmanger Gang is finished, so the next one could very well be me…
A sense of urgency rose in his heart. Klein slowly moved away from the noisy crowd. At the corner, he saw a little boy, less than ten years old, wearing clothes that were a bit too large, with a pile of Tarot cards scattered in front of him.
For some reason, upon seeing this little boy, the feeling of being spied on immediately disappeared. Klein's steps stiffened, and after his gaze met those somewhat unique silver eyes, fine beads of sweat unconsciously seeped from his forehead.
"Sir, would you like to try my Tarot divination?"
"The first divination only costs one gold coin!"
The almost stagnant air, accompanied by a slightly smiling voice, returned to normal. Klein used his Clown ability to control his facial muscles, walking calmly to the little boy and sitting down opposite him, a little stiffly.
Glancing at Klein, Will Auceptin gathered the scattered Tarot cards, fanning them out in his palm face down, and said with a grin:
"You can call me Will Auceptin. My divination is very simple; you just need to draw one card from these."
Suppressing his Clown intuition, which was wildly warning him, Klein forced a stiff smile. While contemplating countermeasures in his mind, he bit the bullet and drew a card from the pile of Tarot cards.
Klein subconsciously focused his gaze, discovering that the card depicted a silver ring covered in mysterious patterns.
This is the upright Wheel of Fortune card!
A smile appeared on Will Auceptin's slightly childish face. He put away the remaining Tarot cards, stood up, and said:
"Congratulations, favored by fate. Your luck will be very good for a while. That Tarot card is a gift for you."
Looking at Will Auceptin, who had already walked to the alley exit on his own, Klein, somewhat confused, subconsciously asked:
"Is that your divination?"
"Yes, but you can also take it as a blessing."
A blessing? While Klein was momentarily stunned, the boy who called himself Will Auceptin had already disappeared. His right hand, extended to his pocket to pay for the divination, stiffened slightly. The "Lucky Gold Coin" he had always kept close to him was gone!
Is this the so-called reward? But this also indicates that the boy just now—well, it's highly probable he's a powerful figure from the Life School of Thought. Can the Monster Pathway reverse aging after reaching a high Sequence?
Klein looked at the Wheel of Fortune card in his hand with a conflicted expression. Staring at the silver wheel on the card for a long time, he felt as if an eye was staring back at him.
Recalling his current predicament, Klein still silently put away the card, intending to go home and perform a divination above the gray fog after blocking all interference.
Will Auceptin stood at the alley entrance not far away. The passing crowd seemed not to see him but actively avoided his position. Watching the troubled Klein board the public carriage, he murmured to himself:
"Any gift of fate comes with a price marked in secret…."
His right hand, not holding the Tarot card, held a dull, ancient gold coin and a black iron worm in its palm. He watched as the gold coin turned into silver starlight and vanished, then casually crushed the iron worm into dust.
Just as he was about to leave, Will Auceptin's ear twitched slightly. He couldn't help but pinch his brow, sighing lightly:
"Every time I hear that guy's voice, it's never good news…."
Although he was complaining, an Ouroboros appeared in his eyes, and silver ripples spread into the distance.
…
In a secret underground chamber somewhere in the East Borough, Rosago opened his eyes in confusion. The mark he had left on the little detective had lost its connection. After some thought, and a cautious divination that confirmed no danger or trap, his figure slowly disappeared.
-----------------
Caesar Port, north of the Star Plateau, west of the Paz River Valley, part of the Intis colony.
Audrey looked at the surrounding buildings, a mix of Byronese and Intis styles, her eyes curving into crescent moons. She looked at Aaron, who stood beside her, and asked curiously:
"Was that the Spirit World just now?"
"Yes, the 'Necklace of Secrets' I gave you also has the ability to traverse the Spirit World. As long as you master the correct Spirit World coordinates and have ample spirituality, traveling from the Southern Continent to the Northern Continent might only take ten minutes or even less…."
While explaining the precautions for Spirit World traversal to Audrey, Aaron took out a somewhat worn paper crane from his pocket and wrote a sentence on its edge:
"For the next few minutes, grant me enough luck!"
Under Audrey's somewhat puzzled gaze, Aaron closed his eyes, silently chanting Will Auceptin's honorific name in his mind. Only after receiving a response did he reopen his eyes.
The moment Aaron arrived at Caesar Port, he had already used the True Vision that came with the Nation of Disorder to scan the surroundings. To prevent any abnormal movements from the Sealed Artifact core, he had deliberately avoided the central Eternal Blazing Sun Church.
However, the area that True Vision could cover was limited. For a large place like Caesar Port, scanning inch by inch with True Vision would still be a considerable burden, even for the current Aaron.
Moreover, the Blasphemy Card itself possessed anti-divination and anti-prophecy abilities, and since it hadn't been activated, Aaron was also skeptical whether he could detect any abnormalities relying solely on True Vision.
Not wanting to exhaust himself with a laborious search, Aaron decided to take a shortcut and try his luck!
"I am already a Sequence 3 Chaos Hunter. Coupled with the resonance between the Nation of Disorder and the Black Emperor card, my current sensitivity to the Justiciar card has reached its peak."
"If I'm lucky, maybe the next teleportation will bring me near that Blasphemy Card."
"With enough luck, it can at least greatly help me narrow down the search area. At worst, I'll just use True Vision to search inch by inch at the end."
Having made up his mind, Aaron took Audrey's hand and once again stepped into the opened "Door of the Spirit World." Unlike before, this time he did not use his spirituality to express specific Spirit World coordinates; it was a random teleportation!
The richly colored abstract world faded, and a dense, dark golden mist suddenly appeared before Aaron's eyes. A strange sense of agitation surfaced in his heart, indistinguishable between desire and hostility.
A sound similar to breaking glass and Audrey's surprised whisper came simultaneously. Aaron sharply turned his head and saw an extremely peculiar lady.
She wore a long dress split into two parts: one intricate, one simple; one encompassing multiple colors, one pure black.
Even her boots were mismatched: one with a long, pointed, upturned toe, and the other similar to the currently popular round-toed boot, as if belonging to two different people.
Such an asymmetrical outfit instinctively reminded Aaron of the asymmetrical trend popular during the Fourth Epoch Solomon era.
Aaron's pupils suddenly contracted. He saw faint, pale white mist spewing from various parts of the strangely dressed woman's body. The source of the mist was the broken narrow-necked bottle on the ground.
Not good, she's escaping!
His pupils instantly turned crimson gold. Aaron directly activated his "Domain of Judgment," covering the room, wherever it might be. After protecting Audrey by his side, the "Ring of Mysteries" glowed, and the historical projection of the "Crown of Stars" appeared above Aaron's head.
"No teleportation allowed here! No connection to the Spirit World allowed here!"
After laying down two laws in ancient Hermes, Aaron urged the "Crown of Stars" to seal off the space where her body had completely disintegrated into an unknown white mist.
But those wisps of white mist seemed to ignore the chains of order, simply vanishing into thin air in an unbelievable manner.
Looking at the empty space in front of him, Aaron's expression was solemn, as he examined a faint, thin, almost illusory wisp of mist remaining on his fingertip.
The woman's face appeared in his mind: a high nose bridge, full lips, and rare dark gray eyes that lacked expression, not like a real person, but closer to a wax figure!
-----------------
After transferring to a public carriage, Klein returned to 15 Minsk Street by noon, only to find a police officer in a black and white checkered uniform standing at his doorstep. This was the police chief who had questioned him at the police station last night.
Recalling the collapsed ruins in Red Brick Lane, Klein vaguely guessed the other party's purpose, but his face showed a surprised expression:
"Good afternoon, chief Fascin. Is there something you need me for?"
Fascin took off his hat and said with a serious expression:
"The higher-ups sent me to tell you to be careful tonight and tomorrow, and to watch out for strangers."
"Alright." Klein nodded solemnly.
Fascin ran a hand through his short hair, lowering his voice:
"Also, there are some other arrangements. I'll explain them to you in detail, and you can make your own decision."
His gaze turned towards the door.
Klein politely gestured for him to enter, leading chief Fascin inside and closing the door. They walked to the sofa and sat down.
He was waiting for the chief to finish speaking as soon as possible, so he could quickly go above the gray fog to divine the reason for his unease today and the terrifying little boy.
Klein's vision suddenly blurred, his head felt numb, and he felt as if a thick layer of glass surrounded him.
He saw chief Fascin's mouth open and close slowly, and found his own thoughts gradually becoming sluggish.
This feeling was so familiar. Klein immediately thought of the Puppet from the Antigonus family back then, Sealed Artifact "2-049"!
That tuxedo Clown… Intis… Bakerland
Klein instantly realized, but his body was already stiff. He could only watch helplessly as chief Fascin's facial muscles began to strangely Creep.
He quickly transformed into a black-haired, blue-eyed gentleman with a handsome face and faint stubble.
He said with a smiling expression:
"Given enough time, this is one of the most difficult abilities to deal with below high Sequence."
"My name is Rosago. You should be glad you can become my Puppet. If it weren't for those damned MI9 ruining all my Puppets, a mere Sequence 8 like you wouldn't even qualify to be my Puppet."
Watching Klein's eyes tremble violently, the smile on Rosago's face grew even more sinister. He took off Klein's outer coat, reaching into his pocket to find the iron worm that had lost its connection, to see what was going on. As he fumbled, he chuckled sinisterly:
"This is what happens when you provoke us. Don't worry, I'll make your corpse put on a good show in front of those MI9 dogs."
His right hand, fumbling in the coat, paused slightly. Rosago surprisingly withdrew his hand, finding his index finger seemed to have been scratched by something, seeping blood. The crimson blood soaked into the Tarot card in his hand.
For some reason, the Seer's spiritual warning seemed to have coincidentally failed at this moment. Rosago didn't feel any danger warning and subconsciously lowered his head to examine the Tarot card in his hand.
At this moment, on the card face, a bloody color emerged in the center of the silver ring, as if an indescribable existence had opened its eyes, revealing cold pupils.
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr