The Watcher in the Shadows

Inside Detached House converted from an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the East Borough.

A slender, but sharp-eyed young man with short hair strode into the room, glanced around, and finally settled on the Single Sofa.

He lowered his head and said in a short, forceful voice:

"Found it!"

On the Single Sofa, an elderly man in a tuxedo, over 60 years old, with gray hair and an upright posture, suddenly paused, his gaze flickering, and he nodded slightly:

"Explain."

The short-haired youth took a deep breath and exhaled forcefully, saying in a deep voice:

"I found a Vagrant whose nails were obviously well-trimmed, and with a few soli I got a Gang leader out of him. Then I used some tricks to find out from the Gang leader who issued the commission."

"Her name is Xio Derecha, and she's a well-known Bounty Hunter in the East Borough."

"Xio Derecha..." the elderly man in the tuxedo murmured in confusion.

Why is she collecting these fingernails?

He clearly held a high position of authority among the group, and when he was thinking, the others tried to remain silent for fear of causing unnecessary interference.

However, at that moment, a sneer came from beside the dining table:

"Madness."

Upon hearing this, the group, led by the short-haired youth, immediately glared at each other angrily.

"Say that again?!"

"I'm telling you, you're all idiots," a middle-aged man shrugged dismissively as he leisurely sipped a green cocktail at the table.

He wore brown trousers that stood out from the others, a flamboyant shirt, and his right hand, which held a wine glass, was adorned with numerous gold or gemstone rings.

"Grass!"

The short-haired youth's expression changed, and he pulled a dagger from his waistband.

The old man in the tuxedo, his face full of anger, hissed:

"Shut up!

Do you want to rebel?

He glanced around, his gaze sweeping over the several disgruntled young men. "Anyone who dares to disrespect Mr. Gallows again, get out of the line!"

After speaking, he looked at the man in the floral shirt at the dining table and nodded slightly.

I'm sorry you had to see this.

The elderly man in the tuxedo sighed, ostensibly apologizing but actually pleading:

"These lads have been staying on the plantation ever since they were adopted by the Baron. They rarely go out and have little experience. They don't know the power of someone like you."

"I hope you will be magnanimous and not take it to heart."

"They can't out-argue me, nor can they beat me. What's the point of arguing with these brats?" Gallows, his hands adorned with expensive rings and exuding the air of a nouveau riche, said this, deliberately giving the short-haired youths Provocation look before laughing at their furious but hesitant expressions.

He clicked his tongue twice, put down his wine glass, and looked at the old man on the Single Sofa:

"To be honest, I admire you."

"If I were you, I definitely couldn't do that—that's probably the most important reason why we're willing to help."

At this point, he added with a smile:

"Of course, the fact that everyone is related is also very important."

uuɡu. First update, no typos. You won't see the pinyin suffix in the address input. You can then access the first update site.

"Yes, and that sum of gold."

"Alright, I'll stop teasing you." Gallows, the man in the floral shirt, cleared his throat, his entire demeanor a complete contrast to before.

He tapped the table twice with his fingers, signaling everyone to listen carefully:

"You lot lack imagination. As Emperor Roselle once said: 'Hypothecate boldly, verify carefully.'"

"I've seen the information provided by your deceased Parliamentarian, and if I remember correctly, Xio Derecha was Fors Wall's roommate."

"And the Little Pickpocket you're after, who's presumably already dead, met Fors Wall under the alias ' Raven ' when he was trying to evade your master's capture. In the conspiracy that the dead Parliamentarian tried to kill the Little Pickpocket to silence him, the two of them were the only survivors, right?"

"This is all the data..." Before the short-haired youth could finish speaking, he saw Gallows's eyes sharpen, and then he felt a dark shadow fly over his head.

Buzz!

The knife, stuck in the wooden door, trembled slightly.

At this moment, the few strands of hair that had fallen from the short-haired youth slowly drifted down.

"If you don't need it, I can shut up," Gallows said nonchalantly in his floral shirt, "But I don't like the questioning of idiots, understand?"

He deftly toyed with a dinner knife between his fingers, and hummed:

"If it weren't for your commendable loyalty..."

Without continuing, Gallows returned to the main topic:

"Currently, there are still three useful clues in that document."

"First, the nail clippings are an auxiliary ingredient in the ' Marauder ' Potion. Our Formula comes from you, so you must know this better than anyone else."

"Second, the data shows that Xio Derecha is most likely Beyonder through the ' Arbiter ' Pathway, while Fors Wall's situation is unclear."

"But my intuition tells me that she must have been Beyonder long ago, and that Xio Derecha's purpose in collecting the nail fragments was not her."

Third, aside from their identities as Bounty Hunter and Bestselling Author, Xio Derecha and Fors Wall had relatively simple social circles.

In other words, they don't have many friends.

"A Little Pickpocket counts."

Based on this known information, I have a very bold guess.

He paused briefly, looked around, and then said:

What if the Little Pickpocket hadn't died?

"Since he can evade capture by using the identity of ' Raven,' why can't he fake his death again, change his identity, and start living an open and honest life again?"

These two sentences rang out like thunder in the ears of the old man in the tuxedo and the others. They looked at each other with surprise and uncertainty, and saw similar expressions on each other's faces.

The elderly man in the tuxedo frowned deeply.

"But Parliamentarian Begat's file says that MI9 found the Little Pickpocket's head and, through divination, confirmed that he was dead."

"Divination is not a panacea."

Gallows dismissively said, "You might as well take ' the Little Pickpocket isn't dead' as a condition."

"This explains many things."

"For example, perhaps Xio Derecha's purpose in collecting nail fragments was because further Advancement in the ' Marauder ' Pathway required more nails?"

"Anyway, I can guarantee that she didn't collect these to cook."

"Of course, I'm just here to help. Whether you listen or not is your business." He chuckled, said nothing more, and picked up his cocktail to continue sipping.

"After all, the dead man's surname Percival, not Sauron, right?" He took a sip of his drink and added slowly.

Upon hearing this, the old man in the tuxedo's features Distortion, his eyes seeming to Burning with Flames, and he asked in a deep voice, "Then what should we do now?"

"Send people out, starting with investigating Xio Derecha?"

"Bounty Hunter aren't that easy to track down," Gallows Sauron retorted casually. "Besides, wouldn't it be better to let her come to us herself?"

He smiled knowingly and looked at the short-haired youth:

"Go and kill that Vagrant. You can make the death a little more elaborate, but don't make it too gruesome, so as not to attract the attention of Beyonder. Then spread the word that this man died from some kind of curse..."

"The prey will come to you."