"Another case of worshipping the Moon and disrespecting the goddess?" Klein couldn't help but show a thoughtful expression.
He had heard of such things before when he was learning about the School of Life, but he never expected that a Warlock King lived in the Southern Continent, where birth, aging, sickness, and death all occurred, would hold similar views.
--After the "Pale Age" at the end of the Quaternary Period, the Raging Sea truly lived up to its name, thus isolating the Northern Continent from each other. The School of Life, which took shape in the early Fifth Period, obviously could not have developed to the Southern Continent before Roselle sent people to find a safe sea route.
Warlock King Calamity also belongs to the early period, and his active era was more than a thousand years after the invasion of the Northern Continent kingdoms.
In other words, two extraordinary "forces" belonging to the Northern Continent respectively, and unable to communicate or exchange ideas, chose to worship the Moon itself and ignore the Evernight Goddess around the same time.
Such a coincidence makes one wonder why.
Could it be that a new deity has been born, taking away the authority related to the Moon? But as a deity, He shouldn't be so obscure... Or perhaps, although the goddess has taken away the authority of the Moon, some followers of the original moon god have survived, passing down from the Fourth Age, or even the Third Age, and after the separation of the Northern Continent, they blossomed into two branches, one the Warlock King, and the other the School of Life? Klein made some rough guesses, but struggled to narrow down the possibilities without corresponding clues.
He temporarily abandoned his thoughts and, seizing the time, quickly browsed the contents of the Book of Secrets.
In the preface, the Warlock King Calamity states very directly that many of the rituals, incantations, Astrology practices, and summoning spells in this book originate from primitive the Moon worship, and describes in detail the corresponding deities:
"The unique red moon, a symbol of life and beauty, the mother of all Spirituality powers."
It actually has a name! But it lacks a more common description like " Evernight Goddess " or " Earth Mother "... If there really is such a Concealment deity, its followers would surely have developed a simpler name more suitable for verbal praise, rather than replacing it with primitive the Moon worship... Klein noticed something strange and began to analyze it using his knowledge of occultism.
"Moreover, using ' Lady of Crimson ' to hold the ritual would obviously point to the goddess, but using a very similar but more detailed and specific name would bypass the goddess and point to their source of power, to that so-called the Moon Primordial... I wonder what kind of strange existence that is..." Klein thought with a mixture of curiosity and dread.
Because he didn't have much time, he only quickly skimmed through the subsequent details and found that, just as the Warlock King Calamity himself had described, many secret contracts and rituals pointed to the Moon.
For Klein, this wasn't something to worry about too much. He wouldn't copy those things and provoke the unknown the Moon Primordial. What he wanted to learn was the overall structure, design concepts, and details of those incantations and rituals.
Only by grasping the hidden laws can he create his own secret contracts, rituals, Astrology methods, and summoning spells that point to the " King of Yellow and Black ".
Perhaps much later, I will have my own unique occultism... Klein removed the pendulum from his wrist and finally confirmed the authenticity of the " Book of Secrets ".
After receiving a positive answer, he didn't rush to use the Werewolf's Beyonder Characteristic to Divination, since he wasn't going to sell it anyway. For the same reason, he planned to wait and then investigate the origin of the Biotoxin Bottle.
He quickly returned to the real world, drew back the curtains, and saw the Sun, which had failed to illuminate the earth; it was hidden behind clouds and smog, appearing somewhat pale.
Achoo!
Suddenly, Klein covered his mouth and nose with his hand and sneezed.
It was only then that he realized he had a headache, felt feverish, and lacked energy; he thought he might have caught a cold.
As a Sequence 7 Beyonder, I've actually fallen ill... Klein pulled out a piece of paper and snorted.
He thought about it carefully and quickly understood the reason:
The negative effect of the Biotoxin Bottle is that it gradually weakens the holder, eventually leading to illness!
If it is carried for any longer, it may even lead to death.
This cannot be eliminated by Spirituality shackles!
Last night, despite being Spirituality depleted and physically weakened by poisoning after the great battle, Klein still hid in the " Leverage Church " for half an hour, carrying Biotoxin Bottle...
Adding to the time spent returning to Minsk Street, he shamefully fell ill.
"Luckily it's not serious... it won't affect anything..." Klein sneezed again, then tidied up and went to take a hot bath.
After washing up, he fried an egg to treat himself, and it smelled delicious.
"A copy of the Warlock King's ' Book of Secrets,' a magical item no less valuable than the Sun Brooch— Biotoxin Bottle —and a Sequence 7 ' Werewolf's ' Beyonder Characteristic. I've made quite a bit this time... It's just a pity I didn't get the ' Living Corpse's' Beyonder Characteristic..." Klein sat down at the table, eating and calculating his gains.
What pained him even more was that it took a full 11 extraordinary bullets, each worth nearly 10 pounds!
In other words, I burned about 100 pounds... truly throwing money around... No wonder most mid- Low-Sequence Beyonder are so greedy for money... Klein glanced down at his breakfast.
They're only worth a few pennies all together!
After finishing breakfast, Klein leisurely read the newspaper, occasionally sneezing and wiping his mouth and nose with a tissue.
The church bells had barely stopped ringing at 8 o'clock when his doorbell was already being rung.
Klein unsurprisingly saw Mike Joseph, a reporter from the Daily Observer.
The reporter, with his beautiful Blue Eyes, a small mustache, and rather rough skin, removed his hat in greeting before getting straight to the point:
" Detective Moriarty, do you have time to take my case?"
Although he had a bit of a cold, he figured that taking on Toby less suspicious... Klein chuckled, having just pulled off a successful heist.
"I'm slightly ill, but that won't affect my fighting and shooting."
Mike immediately smiled and said:
Thank you for your help.
Let's set off now.
"Um, Detective Moriarty, have you had breakfast? I'd like to offer you my meal; as your employer, it's my duty to provide it."
"Will you have breakfast with me?" Klein paused for a moment before replying.
"I just finished eating."
"However, I suggest you have breakfast in the East Borough. You'll see a lot more that way. Just give me a cup of coffee then."
"... No problem." Mike pointed outside. "The carriage I hired is waiting."
Klein looked him up and down and said:
"Sir, you'd better dress worse, otherwise my work will be very busy."
Mike glanced down at his wool coat and said with a sudden realization:
"This is too eye-catching?"
"That's how it is in the East Borough," Klein said, gesturing inside. "I have some specially prepared clothes, um, we're about the same size."
Mike couldn't help but exclaim in admiration:
"You're really professional."
"Professional crime?" Klein thought to himself.
After changing their clothes and becoming ordinary workers, the two boarded a carriage and headed to the edge of the East Borough.
Achoo!
Klein pulled out another tissue to wipe his mouth and nose, and snorted some snot.
Since there were no trash cans nearby, he folded the paper and put it back in his pocket.
"The food at this cafe is alright, of course, relative to the residents of the East Borough," Klein said, pointing to the slightly greasy cafe on the street corner.
He occasionally ate breakfast here when he stayed in a nearby one-bedroom apartment.
"It seems to be considered one of the better restaurants around here." Mike didn't think it was a coffee shop.
It was already past nine o'clock, and there were very few customers in the coffee shop—residents of the East Borough usually finished breakfast around seven o'clock and started working or looking for work.
After ordering beef stew with potatoes, bread, coffee, and other food with Mike, Klein looked around, searching for a seat by the window.
At that moment, he saw a familiar face—the middle-aged man he had previously helped while pretending to be a reporter.
He was the one who brought me here in the first place... Why is he only having breakfast now...? Klein's thoughts shifted, and he said to Mike:
You have an interviewee.
As he spoke, he carried his coffee cup toward the "homeless man."
The other person was still wearing the same thick jacket as before. His slightly graying hair looked rather greasy, and his beard was quite noticeable, but the weariness in his eyes and brows was gone, and his complexion was no longer so pale and frightening.
"Good morning, we meet again." Klein sat down opposite him, greeted him, and noticed that his breakfast consisted of black bread with a large cup of cheap tea that cost a penny.
The middle-aged man raised his head, took a closer look, and exclaimed with delight:
"Mr. Reporter, is that you?"
... Klein chuckled twice, then pointed to Mike beside him and said:
"This is my colleague; he wants to conduct a more in-depth investigation into my previous interview."
Mike, an experienced and knowledgeable reporter, didn't say much upon hearing this, but simply smiled, nodded, and greeted him.
As for Detective Moriarty posing as a reporter, he didn't just find out today; the other party had borrowed a fake press pass from him before!
"So you really are a reporter!" the middle-aged man exclaimed in surprise. "But that doesn't stop you from being a kind and compassionate person."
Klein smiled and asked in return:
How have you been lately?
The middle-aged man took a sip of tea and said:
"With your help, I finally got a good night's sleep, ate my fill, and am no longer so weak."
"I the Original wanted to find a job like the old-fashioned shoemaking, but they wouldn't hire me, saying my hands were shaking..."
He chuckled softly, then skipped this part:
"Later, I went to the docks and found some work. It was tiring, but at least I could earn money. I rented a room on the floor in someone's house, which only cost 6.5 pence a week. Of course, I could only sleep at night."
"Well, that's how it is working at the docks. I went there very early today, didn't eat anything, and stood there with my hand raised, shouting my name and the supervisor's name, but I still wasn't selected, so I had to come back here."
"Fortunately, there's still a chance this afternoon. Those people from this morning might be busy until late, so they won't compete with us."
Klein listened quietly, occasionally taking a sip of his cheap coffee, while Mike took out a pen and paper and quickly began taking Record.