On Friday afternoon, Angel had dinner in advance, put on light clothes and pants, and placed Magician Pocket Watch, three Slumber Charm, and several sets of spare pistol bullets in different pockets on his body. The pistol and dagger, wand and Magic Mirror were also where they should be.
"It looks like we are about to go to war..."
After looking at himself in full-length mirror, Angel put on his cloak, took out the document bag containing Difference Engine Manuscript from the study, and left home.
Instead of taking a hired carriage, she walked to East Borough's Dominic and Sonia's home, firstly to digest the dinner she had just eaten, and secondly to record the route in detail and understand the surrounding environment.
During the day, East Borough looks a little more "peaceful" than at night. The homeless people in the street corners and alleys are driven to invisible corners by the patrol policemen who occasionally appear with batons. Stores facing the street will also clean up the stinking garbage, making East Borough, where the poor gather, still look a bit like the capital of the kingdom.
But at night, the ubiquitous wanderers will pour out from everywhere, looking for any place to rest, anything to eat, anything to exchange for money...
This is East Borough of Backlund. The population is several times that of Tingen City, but it is more like an area composed of countless Tingen City of Iron Cross Street.
No, Iron Cross Street at least there is order and some hope... Angel reminds me of the young female worker who lives in the lower street, Tromi. She should still be working as a maid at Moretti's house and learning cooking. I don't know how many dishes she has learned...
Walking through these streets filled with despair, Angel felt that his heart was gradually becoming numb, until he saw the weird-shaped apartment, climbed the stairs, and arrived at the door of Dominic's house on the third floor.
"Dong dong——"
Not long after knocking on the door, the face of Dominic, which she had always felt was a little unbeatable, but now looked extremely vivid, appeared in the crack of the door.
"So early? Wait a moment, I'll change clothes."
The door was closed again. About five minutes later, Dominic, wearing a cloak, walked out of the room and locked the door with his backhand.
"Where is your Sonia? Isn't she going?"
Angel asked curiously. She remembered that this guy just said two days ago that he didn't dare to leave the incompetent "Seer" alone at home.
"Now I feel that it is more dangerous to be with you than with East Borough. She is resting in another place."
This "Provoker" returned to his true colors and said with a sarcastic expression.
Another place? You guys lived together before...
Angel guessed that Dominic had found another safe house in the past two days and placed Sonia there to avoid the embarrassing situation of not being able to fight or run away the night he seized the manuscript.
Maybe I also need to rent a house in a place like East Borough, which can be used as a hiding place or an apparent residence when necessary to prevent the 20 pounds of rented accommodation from being exposed...
As her thoughts surged, she watched Dominic take out two masks made of cardboard and coarse cloth from under his cloak, and handed one of them over.
"Take it, you'll need it later, this is Sonia, don't break it."
Angel took the mask and saw that several holes were cut out of the cardboard in the same position as the facial features. A cute cat face was painted on the front, and two big ears were even cut out on the top. There were cloth strips tied on both sides of the cardboard, which could be tied behind the head to fix the mask.
This should be drawn by Sonia for herself.
What Dominic is holding is a clown mask painted with red and green oil paint. The face is Distortion. The color is weird. It's self-evident who made it.
Are you planning to hide your identity at the rally? That's right, it would be very troublesome to be targeted for a transaction involving thousands of pounds...
Angel guessed, followed him downstairs, left the apartment, and took Steam Subway to the northwest Empress Borough.
Following the crowds who left the subway station after get off work in the evening, when they returned to the ground, the dilapidated streets had turned into magnificent Loen trend-style buildings, among which there were many large Gothic-style buildings.
"I originally thought that this kind of gathering should be in a dark corner of East Borough or Docklands, or at least a place like the bridge South District with a large population and easy to hide. I didn't expect it to be in Empress Borough."
Walking on the spacious street, Angel felt that the cloak she was wearing was a little conspicuous in the strange glances from Passerby from time to time. She said to Dominic with some dissatisfaction.
The latter didn't care about other people's eyes, straightened his back and answered:
"I didn't expect you to be so ignorant. This is a high-end gathering. Otherwise, no one would be willing to spend 2,000 pounds to buy this kind of complex mechanical design manuscript from me that may not be built in reality for decades."
The 2,000 pounds is mine!
Angel retorted silently in his heart and closed the document bag under his cloak.
Bypassing the busy streets and entering a quiet residential area, the two came to a building that was indistinguishable from the houses next to it. It was equipped with an independent garden and fence, but there were no guards or servants.
Arriving at the side door of the house, Dominic signaled Angel to stop, took out the clown mask and put it on carefully before knocking on the door.
Three long, then two short...
Angel was wearing a kitten mask while writing down the password for Dominic to knock on the door.
The door was opened from the inside, and the two squeezed into the crack of the door one after another, and came to a wide hall. There were already many people sitting scattered in it. Some of them were covering up like her, or wearing strange masks, or covering their faces with cloaks. Some people showed their true faces and didn't care about other people's eyes.
"There is no fixed place here, you can sit wherever you want. Let's go to the corner and wait."
Dominic whispered, leading Angel around some seated chairs or sofas, and found two empty chairs in the corner of the room to sit down.
Angel Only then did he have time to carefully observe the meeting venue.
There are more than 30 chairs in the room, and the number of people is only about 20. Most of them have their faces covered, wearing cloaks or large windbreakers. Even their gender is difficult to distinguish.
The chairs were arranged faintly around a single sofa, on which sat a man in black robes, most of his face hidden in the hood. He slowly moved his eyes and stared at each visitor, like a condescending noble looking down on the civilians he looked down on.
"That is the organizer of the rally, a powerful Beyonder," Dominic sat down and leaned forward, approaching Angel and whispered, "I estimate that he has at least Sequence 6, maybe Sequence 5. I heard from other participants that there have been several times when some Beyonders who attended the rally have maliciously targeted him, and some Beyonders of Sequence 7 have even tried to gang up on him, but the result was the same, and no one has ever seen them again."
"Sounds very strong, so what is he Pathway?"
Angel also imitated him, lowered his body and lowered his voice and asked.
"Ha, if I had known, I would have been lying rotting in some stinky ditch like those brainless challengers." Dominic relapsed and sneered, replying, "After the deal with him is over, you can try his Beyonder Ability. Don't mention that you were with me when you were tortured and killed by him."
Ignoring the barbed part of the words, Angel asked in surprise:
"Is he planning to buy the manuscript for 2,000 pounds?"
"Yes, it was 1,000 pounds at the beginning, but no one knew where the manuscript was, and the price gradually increased to the current 2,000 pounds. If I were not in a hurry for money, I would have delayed it even longer. Maybe I could wait until Mr. A issued a higher reward."
A... A what the hell?
Angel felt cold sweat break out on his back, and the man in black robe in the center of the room glanced at him from time to time as if he had some hidden meaning.