"Cheers to everyone's escape from death!"
Raising the glass of amber champagne, Angel touched the glass with the three Detective and Caslana's assistants, then took a small sip, letting the slightly irritating bubbles flow down the throat into the stomach, and burped lightly and silently.
It was already noon when Machinery Hivemind were sent back to Isengard's home. The servants and chefs hired by the old Detective had not yet returned to work, and they needed to solve their own lunch problems.
What makes people feel embarrassed is that the cooking task can still only be handed over to two men. Angel feels that his stew is not very good, while Caslana and Lydia said that they usually eat out and rarely cook by themselves.
Fortunately, Isengard knows a lot of Lenburg-style dishes, and Sherlock can also make self-improved Loen-style dishes. The two quickly prepared a lunch that was not sumptuous, but enough to fill everyone's stomachs. Isengard also opened a bottle of champagne. They temporarily put aside their worries about the future and enjoyed the food happily.
Of course, "Desire Apostle" Jason Beria is still at large at this time, but Ikanser is very confident in Nighthawks's Sealed Artifact. This good attitude has also infected several worried people, and finally they have seen a glimmer of sunshine in their mood that has been shrouded in dark clouds for many days.
"And a toast to the victims."
Before the lunch ended, Isengard suggested, and several people raised their glasses again and drank the remaining champagne.
There are four known victims in this incident, including Isengard's young assistant, and three family members of Detective who were found dead at home this morning. Compared to the assistant who died accidentally during the battle, those family members died at the hands of "Desire Apostle" because they refused to accept protection for various reasons. It was a bit sad that the murderer was murdered on the eve of being solved by the official Beyonder.
After drinking and eating, they returned to the warm living room and started chatting by the fire. The topic changed from Desire Apostle to the Beria Family, and finally returned to the deceased.
"Actually, when I first received the threatening letter, I thought it was just a prank. It wasn't until the police came to my door and those 'Machinery Hivemind' appeared that I realized that things were not that simple..."
Sitting on the sofa, Caslana took the coffee Lydia had brewed and put it aside and said.
Isengard also expressed emotion:
"The three people who refused to accept protection should have a similar mentality. They thought it was just a malicious joke. At most, it was an act of incompetence and rage. Unfortunately, fate will not give them a second chance..."
"They don't know what extraordinary powers can do, so they don't realize the danger, and I... last night was the most worrying and frightening night I've had in years, because of the battle during the day, and because of the evil thoughts I had at that time..."
Caslana The pessimism that had almost disappeared returned to her, making her words tremble.
"I was thinking at that time, if I die in the hands of 'Desire Apostle', my tombstone should have this sentence engraved on it," she pursed her lips and paused for a moment before continuing, "She had a Great Mother."
Angel almost thought that another Seed of Fear was about to explode in her heart, so she quickly spoke to comfort her:
"Ms. Caslana, Jason Beria will be solved by Nighthawks soon. I believe you will all return to normal life and regard this experience as your own valuable experience instead of a lingering nightmare."
Although she said this, she was not sure in her heart. After all, "Desire Apostle"'s ability to bury fear and detonate emotions left a deep impression on her as Sequence 6. Caslana, who was dominated by fear and almost killed his teammates, must be even more fearful and unforgettable.
Sherlock sitting opposite her smiled slightly, and then the female Detective continued:
"Actually, I have had similar thoughts. Of course, not only in this incident, whenever I encounter danger, I will be like Ms. Caslana, thinking about the scene of my death, and, um, the funeral, such as being buried in a sunny position. It is best to have woods around, the body should be intact, and flowers should be placed in front of the tomb..."
He rambled on about many requests, and finally concluded to himself. "In short, I hope it won't be cremated. I'm more afraid of fire."
This sentence successfully amused several listeners and made Caslana feel relieved from his depressed mood. Perhaps this was the real purpose of young Detective, but Angel always felt that what he said about "being afraid of fire" seemed to have a meaning, so he kept a straight face and did not laugh.
After getting rid of the pessimism, everyone quickly entered a situation where there was nothing to talk about. As the fatigue after the meal appeared, Angel even wanted to go back to the second floor to take a nap to make up for the sleep she had lost last night. Unfortunately, the sound of the doorbell disrupted her plan.
Standing outside the door were Heart of Machinery Deacon and Ikanser Bernard who had just parted ways with everyone.
"Everyone, let's go in and talk."
Ikanser came here alone and even acted a little sneaky, which made Angel wary. She had seen Ms. D use the Grazing soul of "Faceless" to completely transform herself into another person, so she kept a close eye on the deacon until he came to the living room and found a sofa to sit down.
Fortunately, Ikanser soon revealed his true face: he opened the secret pocket under his windbreaker and took out the Sealed Artifact silver mirror, Arrodes.
"My team members are still waiting for me on the carriage outside the door. I'll keep the story short," he first said that he had not violated the rules of use of Sealed Artifact, and then continued, "First of all, Mandated Punishers has found 'Desire Apostle' Jason Beria, and the arrest operation is in progress."
"Mandated Punishers? How are they involved?"
Isengard asked with a solemn tone.
The Beyonders of Church of Storms follow the principle of violence management and catch all unofficial Beyonder first before asking questions. This gives them the name "Tyrant" among the people. It is understandable that Isengard has such a reaction.
"Because two of the deceased this morning were believers of Lord of Storms, which involves the principle of jurisdictional division of Three Great Churches, they were naturally involved in the incident."
Ikanser explained.
"During the operation at noon, the Mandated Punisherss used a certain Sealed Artifact to locate the location of Jason, but at the same time, they also made the opponent sense the danger. They broke through the blockade before the encirclement was formed and killed three Mandated Punisherss from a whole team., they were led by Sequence 7's 'Seafarer', and the other two were also Sequence 8. They all died in less than a minute... I hate to comment like this, but their performance was not even as good as yours yesterday."
Seafarer sounds like Sequence, which is better suited to perform in the sea and underwater... But Mandated Punishers, which can instantly deal with an entire team of fully equipped players, could it be that "Desire Apostle" recovered so quickly from the injury he suffered yesterday?
Angel was analyzing it secretly while listening to Ikanser's words.
"After the death, Church of Storms was very angry. Backlund Diocese's Archbishop, 'Spellsinger of God' Ace Snake left Saint Wind Cathedral and tracked him personally. He is Sequence 4's Demigod and one of Church of Storms's Cardinal Bishop. When you go out now, you can even feel the strong wind caused by him flying across the block. With this Demigod taking action, I don't even think there is a need to find Nighthawks to join up and use this silver mirror."
Ikanser placed the silver mirror Arrodes on the coffee table in front of him, with a bit of joy on his face.
"You also said in the morning that there is Sealed Artifact of Nighthawks, and Jason Beria will be eliminated soon, but he killed three Mandated Punishers at noon."
Sherlock pointedly pointed out the deacon's fluke, and then looked at the silver mirror, obviously very interested in this Sealed Artifact that could divine by itself.
"Ahem, that's why I brought it. Your analysis this morning makes sense. Maybe Jason Beria is really planning to lure away the official Beyonder to achieve a certain purpose." Ikanser felt a little embarrassed. He coughed lightly and pushed the silver mirror forward, bringing it closer to Sherlock. "You can ask it questions, I won't mind."
In his previous use, Angel has seen a certain characteristic of this silver mirror "Arrodes": after answering a question of the user, it will ask the user a sharp question. If he answers Error or lies, he will be punished.
Although I haven't seen its punishment method yet, it must be a punishment that has given the church the code name Sealed Artifact. This kind of punishment is not that light.
Moreover, will it ask questions such as "Do you believe in some secret god?" and "What is Tarot Club?"
Angel looked at Sherlock, who was staring at the silver mirror on the table, obviously having similar concerns.
He stretched out his hand and lightly touched the surface of the silver mirror, as if testing the temperature of the bath water. He weighed it lightly and immediately withdrew his finger. But then, his eyes suddenly widened slightly, and then quickly returned to normal. This made Angel think that something was displayed on the silver mirror, but the mirror that could vaguely reflect the surrounding scene was empty and there was nothing.
"Well, I guess I could give it a try."
After a moment of silence, Sherlock actually nodded in agreement.