Clovin

"O-officer, Jeffrey... what exactly happened here?"

Vanason summoned his remaining courage to ask, his gaze involuntarily drifting toward the study, which looked like a gateway to hell.

"Did a fire break out in that room? But this fire is so abnormal; why was it confined strictly to that one room?"

Prompted by the man's gaze, Vanason sat on a sofa in the living room. He felt all the strength drain from his body; his legs felt as if the bones and tendons had been removed, and he could barely stand there any longer.

His question did not immediately receive an explanation from the three men. The leader looked at Vanason with a chilling gaze, causing the latter to clamp his mouth shut once more.

Just as Vanason regretted his loose tongue, he heard the man speak of his own accord.

"Professor Jeffrey was involved in a highly classified research project, and unfortunately, an experimental accident occurred."

The man's tone was devoid of any inflection, as if he were stating a matter that had nothing to do with him.

Vanason felt a wave of dizziness.

An experimental accident?

A historical archaeologist, in his own study, caused an "experimental accident" that carbonized everything while leaving the exterior completely untouched?

Thinking of Jeffrey's past, Vanason did not believe this explanation at all. He wondered if the people from Clovin were deliberately concealing the truth, including the real cause of Jeffrey's death.

Then, Vanason recalled how Gallo had explained, after reviewing Jeffrey's research materials, that Jeffrey believed the final collapse of the Askia Dynasty might be related to some kind of supernatural phenomenon. Combined with the scene he had just witnessed—everything in that study completely carbonized—it made Vanason feel how absurd all of this was.

A cold voice interrupted Vanason's thoughts. "All related matters, including subsequent handling, have been taken over by us.

What you need to do is forget everything you saw today, forget you came here, and forget that 'Clovin' ever appeared here."

The man leaned forward slightly, his gray eyes like cold probes piercing into Vanason: "Furthermore, I hope that after you return to the university, you will keep your mouth firmly shut.

And do not investigate anything related to Jeffrey Gito. Curiosity sometimes leads to consequences you cannot bear.

You may continue your daily work and your academic research... as for Jeffrey, you can consider him a bubble."

Vanason nodded blankly, indicating that he understood everything.

Then the man continued: "We will send the official documents regarding Professor Jeffrey to the university administration. Let us hope we do not meet again in 'Lepest'!"

"Lepest"! The headquarters of Clovin, a place that made the people of the Iron Glory Empire and even politicians tremble with fear.

"I... I understand, officer." Vanason lowered his head, not daring to meet those eyes, his voice as dry as if it were rubbing against sandpaper.

He promised: "I don't know anything. I... I was never here today."

"Very good." The man nodded slightly. He reached into his coat and took out a brown, palm-sized notebook, then handed it to Professor Vanason.

"You once co-authored a book with Professor Jeffrey, and you are an authoritative professor in the history department at Imperial Industrial University.

I think you should be able to decipher the contents of this notebook quite easily."

He forcefully shoved the palm-sized notebook into Vanason's hands, not allowing him to utter a single word of refusal.

"I specialize in historical artifacts, architecture, ancient ruins, and archaeological excavation and preservation." Vanason swallowed hard, trying to explain to the man as calmly as possible.

"The interpretation and translation of ancient hieroglyphs were Professor Jeffrey's specialty. I can only understand a very, very small portion, usually the hieroglyphic symbols or patterns carved on certain vessels."

The man did not care at all; instead, he said with interest: "This was found on Professor Jeffrey.

Flip through it and take a look. You might find Professor Jeffrey's last words and the true cause of his death."

Vanason was stunned. Could this notebook have been written by Professor Jeffrey before he died?

And what did he mean by "true cause of death"? Didn't you just say that Professor Jeffrey was conducting a highly classified experiment, which led to this outcome?

And with such a terrifying fire, how could such an intact notebook be found on the corpse of Jeffrey, who had been burned to carbon?

Vanason took a deep breath. He did not dare to question the Clovin agent to his face, but the man's words made him deeply suspicious.

However, the reputation of Clovin forced him to suppress this doubt and open the notebook in his hands.

It was a notebook with a leather cover, and there was no text on the cover. The paper inside felt like parchment, and all the text was written in red ink. But what surprised Vanason even more was that all the text and symbols were written in the ancient script of the Askia Dynasty.

It seemed this was truly the work of Professor Jeffrey. Within the entire Iron Glory Empire, the only person with such a high level of research into the ancient hieroglyphs of the Southern Continent's Askia Dynasty, and who could write them fluently, was Jeffrey Gito—at least within the academic circles he knew.

Vanason flipped through a few pages, then sighed and said to them, bracing himself: "I'm sorry, I can only recognize a very few ancient characters and symbols, but this is meaningless. I cannot decipher this notebook at all.

Unless..."

Seeing the dissatisfied look in the man's eyes, Vanason hurriedly added: "Unless there are Professor Jeffrey's research materials on Askia ancient hieroglyphs to serve as a reference.

I think I would be able to decipher the contents on this quickly."

"Heh..." The man let out a meaningful, cold laugh and said to him: "They're all gone, burned up. In that room, you saw it yourself just now. Aside from the study, you won't find a second piece of paper anywhere in this apartment."

The man stood up and looked down at Vanason, who was sitting on the sofa, and said coldly: "It seems you are of no use at all, Professor!"

"Wait! There is someone else who can decipher this notebook! Yes! He definitely can!" Vanason almost screamed at them, fearing that the next moment they would drag him straight to Lepest.

As the man waited, Vanason continued to explain: "At the Moonlight Cafe on Lubo Lane, there is a young man. He is amazing; he has a photographic memory and a superb, rapid reading ability. His learning ability is terrifyingly beyond that of an ordinary person.

And he once read the entirety of Jeffrey's research materials on Askia ancient hieroglyphs. If it were him, he would definitely be able to unlock the contents of this notebook."

The latter, after hearing this, calmly stated a name: "Gallo Channing!"

Vanason felt even more nervous; the fact that the other party even knew about Gallo proved that Clovin truly lived up to his reputation!

The apartment fell silent for a brief moment before the man stepped aside to clear the path to the door, saying to Vanason, "You may leave now, Professor."

"Remember what I warned you about just now. If you feel afraid, go home and rest for a few days. Try not to see anyone, and only return to work once you have prepared yourself."

Vanason felt as if he had been granted a pardon; he scrambled out of the apartment, using his hands and feet, and even forgot to put on his hat.

As he inhaled the cold air of the hallway into his lungs, he felt as though he had just escaped the lair of some monster.

He glanced back at the tightly shut apartment door, feeling that everything that had just happened was so surreal, yet far more terrifying than any nightmare he had ever had.