Blackthorn Security Company

North Borough, Tingen City, Zouteland Street.

A four-wheeled police carriage emblazoned with "crossed swords beneath a crown" slowly rolled into the parking area beside the Police Station.

"Do you work inside Tingen City's Police Station?"

Angel put on her hood properly before stepping down from the carriage. She looked around. The parking area was beside the North Borough Police Station, where five identical black four-wheeled carriages stood neatly parked, with plenty of empty spaces between them. Clearly, the actual number was far greater than these.

"Of course not. We're only borrowing the police carriages. They can't handle Beyonder cases, so we often have to go out on assignments." Dunn Smith jumped down from the driver's seat as he answered. Seeing the coachman who guarded the parking area approaching to take the horses, he abruptly changed the subject. "Our 'company' is at Number 34, in that three-story building diagonally across from here."

The coachman seemed familiar with Dunn and the others. He greeted the Nighthawks, did not even glance at Angel, and went straight to tend to the horses.

The four of them left the parking area, with Dunn leading the way. Daly, holding the wine cup, came next, followed by Angel, who looked around curiously. Leonard brought up the rear.

The North Borough truly deserved to be called Tingen's busiest district. It was also the busiest time of the morning, and carriages frequently passed back and forth along Zouteland Street. After waiting for a while, they finally found a chance to cross together.

The first floor of "34 Zouteland Street" was a street-facing shop, but its doors were shut tight, and there was no signboard anywhere nearby. It looked as though it had been closed for a very long time. Dunn and the others led Angel up the stairs beside it, around a corner, and onto the second floor.

A vertical sign hung on the wall: "Blackthorn Security Company."

This was the name Dunn had mentioned before. It seemed the Nighthawks' base was here. The name had a classical mercenary-company feel to it. Considering the Church of the Evernight Goddess's long history, perhaps the name really had been in use for many years.

Dunn Smith pushed open the front door and only closed it again after the others had entered.

What appeared before Angel was a rather spacious reception room. Compared to the shabby sign outside, the interior was quite luxurious. On the reception desk directly opposite the entrance were paper and pens for guest registration, along with scattered documents and newspapers. To one side stood a natural-wood tea table, surrounded by a set of sofas and upholstered chairs. A large gas lamp overhead cast a soft glow. If there had not been anyone missing from behind the reception desk, she might have thought she had entered the lobby of some upscale hotel.

"Today is Sunday. Otherwise, someone would be on duty at the front desk." Seeing Angel staring blankly at the reception room, Dunn explained, "So you'll have to make your own tea."

He then turned to Leonard, who was following at the back. "Take the Sealed Artifact downstairs first. Then go to Frye's and Royale's homes and notify them. There's an operation tonight. Their leave has been canceled."

The young Nighthawk nodded, took the copper wine cup known as the Sealed Artifact from Daly, circled around the hall, and left through a side door.

"Daly, what are your arrangements? You don't need to join tonight's operation..."

"I'll stay here with you tonight, but I need to get some proper rest during the day. I don't have the privilege you Sleepless have of not needing sleep." The black-robed Spirit Medium, Daly, yawned. Once she handed over the copper wine cup, her exhaustion became plain.

Dunn nodded in agreement. "Then go rest in the duty room on the third floor. I'll wake you before the operation."

After Daly left through another door, only Angel and Dunn Smith remained in the hall.

"As for you..." Dunn seemed to have only just remembered there was someone beside him. He patted the police cap on his head and said to Angel:

"Before we carry out the operation to capture Madam Sharon, you'd better not leave this place. That will ensure your safety to the greatest extent. Even if Madam Sharon escapes capture, she won't dare come to the Nighthawks' base and cause trouble."

He pointed toward the partition in the middle of the hall. "Past that is a room in the middle of the corridor, the lounge. There aren't many people there on Sundays, so you can rest on the sofa bed. I'll have a female Nighthawk keep you company shortly. If you need anything, ask her. But don't wander into the other rooms. The other Nighthawks don't know you, and if they mistake you for an intruder, they might cause you unnecessary harm."

Keep me company? More like keep an eye on me, right?

Angel muttered inwardly, but she still nodded to show that she understood.

Seeing that Dunn had nothing else to say, Angel prepared to leave the hall and head for the lounge he had mentioned to catch up on some sleep during the day.

"Wait, there's one more thing!" Just as Angel reached the door on the left, Dunn called out from behind her.

"I nearly forgot. Tell me first about Madam Sharon's Beyonder Abilities that you learned from Cole Granger. Tell me everything you can remember."

Dunn Smith took out a palm-sized notebook from his police uniform pocket and dropped onto the sofa in the reception room.

"Not discussing it in a dream? You trust me that much?" Angel returned to the center of the reception room and sat opposite Dunn. Leaning back against the soft sofa, she relaxed completely.

Dunn's gray eyes watched her as he slowly said, "I do trust you. Besides, our interests align. You don't want Madam Sharon to escape justice either, do you?"

Trust me, or trust that Sealed Artifact from earlier? I'm still in the dark...

From Leonard and Daly's reactions in the carriage, Angel had guessed that the copper wine cup called a Sealed Artifact likely functioned something like a lie detector. It could allow its holder to judge whether the person before them believed what they were saying was true, at the very least.

However, she had no intention of lying now. Dunn's judgment was correct: Madam Sharon was indeed their common interest. But there was also a point of disagreement. For the Nighthawks, capturing Madam Sharon alive was undoubtedly the best outcome. Not only would it deal with a Beyonder who existed outside the law, but they could also obtain information about the Demoness Sect from her. Perhaps they could even uncover more of her accomplices and destroy every plot the Demoness Sect had in Tingen.

But for Angel, Madam Sharon being captured alive was no good thing.

The worst outcome was Madam Sharon escaping during the Nighthawks' siege. Although that possibility was extremely low with a Beyonder like Dunn Smith involved, if it happened, Angel would inevitably face endless retaliation from Madam Sharon and the forces behind her.

The next worst outcome was Madam Sharon being captured alive, just as the Nighthawks hoped. With only a little questioning, the fabricated identity of "Angel Granger" would surely be exposed. What awaited Angel afterward would be an uncertain and shadowy fate.

The best outcome was Madam Sharon dying while resisting capture.

This was extremely common in conflicts between Beyonders. Once both sides stopped holding back and fought with all their strength using Beyonder Abilities, it usually ended with one side dead.

That was also why Angel had tried to take part in the battle. With Storm Convergence bullets and an Assassin's combat abilities, she could not control how the battle unfolded, but she could still find an opportunity to kill Madam Sharon as it neared its end.

Unfortunately, the Nighthawks did not seem to want her involved in the operation to capture Madam Sharon. Perhaps they did not want the "witness" to be harmed, or perhaps they simply did not trust outsiders.

In that case, she could only settle for the next best thing and make sure Madam Sharon did not escape.

If she held anything back and caused the capture operation to fail, not only might these Nighthawks who fought evil suffer casualties, but the retaliation lurking in the shadows afterward would also be more than Angel could bear.

"I don't know whether she has concealed any abilities, so I can only tell you what Cole once saw." Angel gave Dunn a warning first, so he would not put too much faith in her information and encounter an accident during the battle.

Dunn Smith nodded, his expression turning serious as he listened attentively.

"First, she advanced from Assassin, so she possesses all the Beyonder Abilities of an Assassin, and they would have been strengthened through her advancement. That includes darkvision, enhanced eyesight, nimble limbs, a light body, and explosive killing power in close combat. If your Nighthawks don't have members equally skilled in close combat, you'd better not try to fight her hand-to-hand."

Dunn carefully recorded everything in his notebook, occasionally asking about a particular ability and having Angel explain it in detail.

"Next is Instigator. It does not grant additional combat ability, only enhances the abilities inherited from Assassin. But an Instigator excels at Charming and misleading others, using eloquence to sow discord, stir up the desires buried in people's hearts, and create conflicts between them. If she has the chance to fully use those abilities, your team members might end up turning against each other. Hmm... you're asking how to deal with it? You don't need to worry too much about that. It isn't very useful in a direct battle. Just keep her busy dealing with the fight and give her no chance to speak. Can't you enter other people's dreams? Trap Madam Sharon directly in a dream, then have your other members sneak into the room and put seven or eight bullets into her head. No Provocation or misdirection will matter then."

As they spoke, Angel recalled the many bloody crimes Cole Granger had caused through the abilities of an Instigator. Her hatred for the dead Cole and the still-living Madam Sharon deepened further, and some emotion inevitably crept into the end of her explanation of an Instigator's abilities.

"Ahem... Nightmare's abilities aren't that powerful. Still, thank you for the suggestion. It gave me quite a few ideas." Dunn Smith's expression turned strange, as though he had remembered something unpleasant. He froze for a moment before picking up his pen to write again. "Please continue."

So the name of your Potion really is Nightmare... Is it Sequence 8 or Sequence 7 of Sleepless?

Angel pondered for a moment, then continued introducing Madam Sharon's abilities under Dunn's urging.

During this time, the young Nighthawk Leonard Mitchell returned to the reception room from next door. He was very interested in their conversation and tried to listen in, but Dunn sent him off to gather the other team members. Leonard looked lively and full of energy, without any of Ms. Daly's fatigue after staying up all night. In fact, he resembled Dunn. Angel guessed that he too belonged to the Sleepless Pathway, and staying up all night to handle cases was routine for him.

"Then there is Sequence 7, Witch. For the Assassin sequence, this stage is a qualitative transformation. You can tell from the Potion's name alone that it grants all kinds of mystical offensive and defensive abilities. Madam Sharon once demonstrated the ability to form a spear from Frost in her hand and hurl it using the physical enhancements of an Assassin. Its power was formidable. Then there are invisibility and Mirror Substitution. The method of casting them is still unknown, so their uses can only be guessed from the names. A Witch is also skilled at casting curses through another person's blood or hair, though that requires prepared materials, so it should not be very useful on a direct battlefield..."

By Sequence 7, Angel—or rather, Cole Granger—knew very little about Madam Sharon's abilities. After all, Cole had merely been Madam Sharon's Apprentice and bedmate, not an evenly matched opponent. Madam Sharon rarely displayed high-level combat abilities in front of him.

Finally, Angel concluded, "That's all. But Madam Sharon was already a Sequence 7 Beyonder before Cole knew her. It's very possible that she is now close to, or has even advanced to, Sequence 6. You'd better treat her as a Sequence 6 Beyonder. Don't take any chances. She's very dangerous. Bring more people..."

Dunn Smith finished writing the last few lines with a scratch of his pen, closed the notebook, and smiled. "Thank you for the reminder. We'll be careful in battle. In fact, I planned from the beginning to deal with Madam Sharon using measures suited for a Sequence 6. We'll dispatch four Nighthawks and bring appropriate Sealed Artifacts. We'll make certain to bring her to justice. Please wait for the good news with confidence."

Why does that make me even less confident?

Angel had hoped that tonight's news would be something like, "Madam Sharon was unfortunately killed while resisting arrest"—the real kind of good news. But she could not say that aloud, so she could only give a bitter smile.