Mission

Madam Sharon paid no attention to Trissy's suddenly flushed cheeks or her clenched, bulging-veined hands. She pulled over a chair and sat down as if nothing had happened. Compared to the tense Trissy, she looked more like the owner of this place.

"Did you come to see me for something?" Trissy took a deep breath, suppressing both her anger and the grievance of being forced to undergo a sex change, then asked coldly.

She didn't believe Madam Sharon would sneak into her safehouse over some trivial matter!

"Relax, child." Madam Sharon picked up an apple from the fruit platter on the table, turned it over in her hands for a while, then set it back down. "There's just a very simple task I need you to do."

"What task?" Trissy replied irritably.

"The Demoness Sect has a Grade 2 Sealed Artifact... Hmm, that's what their church calls it. In any case, a Beyonder item has fallen into the hands of a Mandated Punisher. You need to find out where it is from him and look for an opportunity to retrieve it." Madam Sharon casually laid out the entire assignment.

"...So this mission is asking me to kill myself?" Trissy gripped her dagger tighter. The girl quietly retreated two steps until her back pressed against the window, ready to flee at any moment.

"Why would it be? We wouldn't deliberately harm our own members... I think you misunderstood. I'm not asking you to attack the 'River and Sea' Church, nor am I asking you to provoke the Church of Storms and confront a Mandated Punisher squad." Madam Sharon wore a helpless expression, and that charmingly innocent look would have driven many men mad. "That item was not sealed away in the 'Azure Door.' It was kept as his private collection. The Church of Storms definitely doesn't know this Beyonder item exists. Besides, that Mandated Punisher retired long ago and is only at Sequence 8. You don't need to be so nervous."

"...Tell me where that Mandated Punisher lives, what his name is, and I want information on that Beyonder item." After several seconds of silence, apparently weighing the difficulty of the mission in her heart, Trissy finally spoke.

"All the information you want is here." Madam Sharon had come prepared and handed over a document envelope. Trissy took it and quickly tore it open.

She wasn't afraid Madam Sharon would play dirty. If Madam Sharon truly wanted to make a move against her, she had no way to resist anyway.

The moment she opened the envelope and pulled out the photograph inside, Trissy saw the Beyonder item's name and appearance:

The photograph showed a pair of white gloves, with its name written beside them in small print:

[Evelyn's Kiss].

"Remember to keep flexing and extending your arms. It's for your own good." Dunn Smith instructed him sternly. "That will let us discover in time if you've been affected by 2-049."

"Yes, Captain." As Klein followed him down the stairs, he became curious about what exactly Sealed Artifact 2-049 was.

They soon arrived at the guardroom door. The instant Dunn pushed it open, Klein felt his mind suddenly go numb, as if his processor had abruptly lost power.

Everything in his vision slowed down, including the motion of his own arm bending.

Dunn noticed Klein's abnormality and came over to shove him. Only then did Klein return to normal.

"That's a little strange." Leonard, inside the room, used the same method to rescue another Nighthawk who had fallen into sluggishness. He glanced at Klein without concealing his curiosity. "Doesn't 2-049 only affect one person at a time?"

"Normally, yes. But under certain circumstances, it enters a berserk state and affects two people at once." The black-haired female Nighthawk glanced at Leonard thoughtfully. "Ael, do you remember what circumstances those are?"

Ael Hasson, dressed in a gray double-breasted trench coat, answered without much thought, "The most common is when it encounters a descendant of the Antigonus Family. Aside from that, it has entered a berserk state several times before, but because we lacked opportunities for comparison, we were unable to determine the other conditions that cause 2-049 to become berserk."

"None of us here can possibly be descendants of the Antigonus Family." Leonard flexed and extended his arms as he let out a meaningful laugh. "If there really were one, that notebook wouldn't have needed to travel all the way to Ray Bieber."

Compared to the several Nighthawks in Tingen City, Ray Bieber's home was the farthest from Iron Cross Street.

Furthermore, this disturbance from the Sealed Artifact had clearly been caused by the two people who had just arrived.

Dunn Smith was a veteran Nighthawk of many years and could basically be ruled out. That left only one possibility: Klein Moretti, who had once come into contact with the Antigonus Family Notebook.

When Klein noticed everyone's eyes turning toward him in unison, he could only give an awkward laugh, unable to say anything.

"Ahem, these are all Nighthawks from the Backlund Diocese: Miss Lorotta, Ael Hasson, and Borgia..." Dunn introduced the unfamiliar faces to Klein while continuously flexing and extending his arms.

Leonard said nothing further. His green eyes remained fixed on Klein, his brows slightly furrowed as though puzzled.

"Alright, brother, sorry for the trouble, but can you tell me where around here I can find one of those... Hmm, gatherings for people beyond the ordinary?" Aster, disguised as Claude Chapman, was waggling his eyebrows as he sought information from a tall, burly man.

"At the end of this street. Red Moon Bar. Ask for Boss Rawlins." The battered, bruised man spoke in a trembling voice, pouring out words like beans from a sack. "When you get there, tell him Black Wolf sent you. He'll understand."

"Alright then. Since it's so late, how about you get some sleep first?" Aster smiled and patted the burly man's shoulder, then stood and kicked him squarely in the forehead, knocking him unconscious.

"Ah, youth is wonderful. Fall over and you're asleep." With a sigh, Aster rose and walked out of the alley.

If he hadn't needed to separate Claude's identity from Beyonders, why would Aster have needed to personally carry out such primitive interrogation? Knocking someone out or killing them and then using Spirit Channeling would have been far more convenient.

At first, he had wanted to clear the way with money. However, seeing that Aster did not look particularly sturdy and spent lavishly, the gangster had lured him into the alley in an attempt to rob him.

The result was obvious. As a Sequence 7 Beyonder, Aster could beat up an ordinary person like a grandfather beating a grandson even without using any Beyonder Abilities. Furthermore, he had previously played Pathways skilled in combat, such as Warrior, Storm, and Hunter. Before transmigrating, Aster himself had also been an expert in his school's fighting club.

With the physical enhancement brought by being a Spirit Medium, I probably couldn't beat other close-combat classes, but beating an ordinary person shouldn't be a problem... Aster pushed open the doors to Red Moon Bar and, amid the surrounding patrons' unreadable stares, brazenly sat on a bar stool at the counter. "Is Boss Rawlins here? I have something to discuss with him."

The moment they heard he was looking for Rawlins, the drinkers who had been observing Aster withdrew their gazes and relaxed, continuing their conversations and laughter.

Were they afraid of Rawlins, or were they relaxing because I was only here to see Rawlins? Probably the latter... Aster swept his gaze around and took in everyone's reactions, but he had no intention of stirring up unnecessary trouble.

Aster had limited time. Even if there were additional side quests here, they would have to wait until he found Lanevus.

And since Lanevus had come to Kuman City, even if only for self-preservation, there was no way he would avoid contacting local Beyonder gatherings! Whether he had come to swindle people or evade pursuit, he would definitely attend underground Beyonder gatherings to look for opportunities to cheat others and materials needed for his advancement!

The bartender polishing glasses looked up at him, then ignored him.

If Aster had still been the Storm Pathway player he used to be, he would definitely have pressed the bartender's head into the counter with a vicious grin by now. Unfortunately, he was currently Claude Chapman—a normal person who wanted to learn about the Beyonder world and was only somewhat good at fighting.

So, Aster took out a one-soli note from his pocket, pressed it onto the counter, and pushed it over. "One glass of Southville Beer. Keep the rest as a tip."

The bartender deftly slipped the banknote into his pocket. "The boss is resting in the second-floor lounge. He rarely sees people. If you have something to discuss, you can tell me directly. I have some authority as well... If I can't help you, I'll go disturb the boss."

Taking the glass of Southville Beer handed to him, Aster considered for several seconds before quietly saying, "I want to know where I can get in touch with those people beyond ordinary humans... Particularly powerful freaks."

The bartender fell silent for two seconds, his expression turning somewhat cold. He stared intently at Aster's face for a while, then resumed polishing his glass. "You came at the right time. Tomorrow night at eight, come to this bar—take a lap around it and enter through the back door."

"Uh, isn't there some sort of password?" Aster was somewhat surprised. In the Beyonder gatherings held by NPCs that he had attended in Backlund, there had always been recognition codes, such as a particular number of knocks or special passphrases.

"Heh. If you can find this place, what's the point of having a recognition code?" The bartender sneered, turning away and ignoring him.

A gathering with a lot of savagery and aggression... Aster stood, turned, and left directly, without touching the beer on the table.

This gathering clearly offered no protection to its participants. It might even encourage them to fight one another... Anyone who could get the location of this gathering from any person could join directly... If such a gathering had existed for too long, it would become dangerous and full of unknowns... Why hadn't the official Beyonders wiped this place out?

Aster left Red Moon Bar with his doubts. After walking roughly thirty meters, he took off the pendant around his neck, held it in his hand, and murmured:

"The bartender just now bears ill will toward me."

"The bartender just now bears ill will toward me."

After repeating it seven times, Aster opened his eyes and saw the pendant spinning clockwise.