The Clown

"Wei En, the things you picked... aside from that ring, the other two weren't much good."

After they returned to Investigation Division One, Marco sighed. "If it were me, I'd have chosen those mechanical puppets in there. They were just too cool."

Wei En smiled but said nothing.

Before, he had indeed been thinking of picking only the expensive ones, not the right ones.

But after what had happened over the past two days, strength was what he needed most.

Gold pounds and the like might be able to exchange for some basic knowledge within the school.

But a handbook left behind by a mechanical wizard was not something money could buy.

"You won't get the chance." Lacy glanced at him. "Hurry up and hand over this morning's report. I need to find Yegor and 'discuss' the preparations."

"It's already done."

Marco handed her the investigation report on the Church of Dawn's Forbidden Object and said with a shameless grin, "Officer Lacy, any other orders?"

"Get lost!"

"Right away." Marco cheerfully scurried back to his desk and started fussing with his hairstyle in front of a mirror.

Seeing that Lacy had no other instructions, Wei En returned to his seat as well and studied the Wizard's Handbook.

Originally, he had still wanted to think a little more about the runes branded onto the Origin Sub-entity, but now he felt there was no need to wait any longer.

One would be the necromantic spell system of the Specter School, and the other would be the mechanical wizard system... This should be the fastest choice for improving his strength right now.

At this moment, in the Detention Zone of the Secret Investigation Bureau, on the lowest level.

"Heehee, hahahaha..."

A short figure wearing a clown mask laughed wildly. In the piercing shrieks, there was deep pain and madness.

And along with her smile, the white paint on the mask, the red spherical nose, and the blood-red lips all became twisted and evil in the shadows.

"Praise the Dawn, heeheehee hahahaha..."

A strange red light flickered in her eyes, as if flames were burning. Her gaze was filled with cruelty and savagery, without any human emotion at all.

Her body was like that of a rubber person, able to stretch, contract, and twist at will. Her movements were light and agile, seeming to suffer no restrictions from any bones.

She held two sharp daggers in her hands, either waving them or tossing them up and down like a juggler. As the blades sliced through the air, they let out hiss after hiss.

"Praise Orpheus, heehee haha..."

The clown shouted the Lord of Dawn's name in a mocking, jeering tone, thick with malice, as if issuing a vicious curse.

Above the clown, two figures dressed in the red uniforms of the Secret Investigation Bureau's upper ranks watched it quietly. One of them was none other than Deputy Director Baratz.

"Alais, how long has it been?"

"Five hours, thirty-seven minutes, forty-two seconds. Forty-three, forty-four..."

"Stop." Baratz looked at him helplessly. "Your tastes are still as nasty as ever."

Alais took a drag of his cigar, his voice carrying a trace of exhaustion. "You know, I don't have much time left. Counting the seconds as I wait for death to arrive is the only thing I can do."

"Is there really no way? Even if..."

"Put away those boring ideas of yours. What difference is there between fleeing death and those fools from the Eternal Life Society?"

Alais wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief and said softly, "I only hope that before I leave, I can do a few more things."

Baratz turned his head away with an expression of pity and looked at the figure below. "Then what about her?"

"This time was only an accident..."

"Alais, you shouldn't be so merciful."

"Perhaps."

Alais took another drag of his cigar. "We both know she shouldn't exist in this world, but without her... back then, the entire Secret Investigation Bureau would have perished."

"But you trust her that much to control the clown?"

"Other than that, do you have a better way?"

Baratz drew in a deep breath. "Then what about him? That young man named Wei En?"

Alais said thoughtfully, "He doesn't look like someone short-lived. Let him keep Tina's contract for now."

"Do you need me to pay special attention to him?"

"Not for the moment."

Alais shook his head. "If he doesn't go through some hardships, then no matter how good the resources and conditions he's given are, he'll still be trash. Let's leave it at that..."

The clown seemed to have heard him. Her silver-white long hair stretched and lengthened outward, and as her body flipped and darted about, it was like she was performing a gorgeous, graceful dance.

"Wei En!!!"

Wei En carried the silvery-white case and left the Secret Investigation Bureau with an easy expression.

The contents of that Wizard's Handbook were even more comprehensive than he had imagined.

Jerry Akram—that was the name of the mechanical wizard. He claimed to be the most outstanding, most genius mechanical wizard of the Mechanics School, possessing profound knowledge and a mechanical talent beyond ordinary understanding...

A whole heap of praise took up roughly one-tenth of the handbook.

It was the first time Wei En had seen someone this narcissistic—this shameless—and the sheer number of things he wanted to roast about it nearly made him curse out loud.

But putting aside all those irrelevant flourishes, the contents of the handbook were indeed exactly what he urgently needed.

The entire handbook could be divided into three parts. The first part covered the apprentice period, which was also when Jerry Akram had been at his most low-key.

He had only written "genius" thirty times, "outstanding mechanical talent" twenty times, and "I'm too amazing" seven or eight times.

Compared with the wizard period in the second part, which was more than ten times longer, that was already pretty good.

The third part consisted of some experiments and research related to machinery.

After a brief skim, Wei En gave up on reading the latter two parts. They were simply too profound, and far too complicated.

In particular, those experiment notes were mostly written in Gonzalez Language he could not understand.

Fortunately, he still had quite a long way to go before reaching the wizard stage, so he was not in that much of a hurry.

On the way back, Wei En indulged for once and went to a bakery in the middle of Dumitru District, where he bought some cheese and butter.

As for the price... don't ask. If you had to ask, it was not something ordinary people could afford.

Though compared with these things, he preferred steaming, boiling, stir-frying, and stewing, his limited time made him unwilling to waste any of it on enjoyment.

Especially now that he had an additional Wizard's Handbook, as well as the knowledge of the necromancy spell system he would exchange for later... there was far too much he needed to learn.

"Good afternoon, Uncle Yuan. This is a gift I prepared for you. Please accept it."

Wei En took out a beautifully wrapped present. It was a hat he had specially chosen for Doctor Yuan, and it had cost nearly five shillings.

"Oh?"

Yuan accepted it in surprise, opened it for a look, then took it out and put it on. The corners of his mouth stretched into a grin. "Not bad. This hat goes perfectly with that formal suit of mine."

Wei En smiled as well. "Thank you for recommending me to work at the Secret Investigation Bureau. I hope you like this green hat."

Thinking of the terrible experiences he had gone through at the Secret Investigation Bureau over the past two days, he felt heartfelt gratitude—gratitude toward Doctor Yuan for everything he had done for him.

So when he saw that bright green hat, he had felt as if he had lost his soul, and absolutely had to buy it to give to Yuan.

Even though he knew perfectly well that Yuan was a single dog...

But what if?

P.S. Thanks to the big shots Fengliu, Nanke, and Book Friend 20200305182741884 for the tips.

P.P.S. There's still one more chapter, but it won't be posted until around one o'clock. I still overestimated my own speed.

Even though today's writing went very smoothly, in six hours, I only managed to finish seven thousand words...