"Yes, a little over a month ago." Allen adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and gave an affirmative answer.
More than a month ago? Wasn't that when you were plagued by nightmares about Will Auceptin? Klein was both surprised and puzzled, but he didn't let his emotions show on his face.
In an instant, he recalled the two Divination he had performed:
Will Auceptin was in a dark room, with the sound of running water outside.
Could that be a sign of amniotic fluid or blood? Klein felt a chill run down his spine, and then it dawned on him.
When he looked at Doctor. Allen again, his expression was quite complicated.
He suspected that the other woman's wife was pregnant with Will Auceptin, a Mercury Snake!
In occult symbolism, the Mercury Snake, head to tail, devours its own tail, implying Fate Loop... Will Auceptin proactively and covertly initiate a new cycle to avoid his enemies? Klein speculated based on his current knowledge.
Doctor. Allen, completely unaware of the abnormality he was trying so hard to conceal, smiled and said:
"He'll be a lovely fellow. When he's born, I'll throw a feast to celebrate his arrival, Sherlock. Don't refuse my invitation."
"Maybe it's her," Klein replied with a smile.
To be honest, he was a little curious and wanted to see what state the newly born Mercury Snake was in.
However, he also felt some fear and worry. After all, the Mercury Snake was Sequence 1 of the " Monster " Fate Pathway, and it involved the struggle for the position of god. No one could be sure that the road ahead would be smooth and peaceful.
For Doctor. Allen, it's hard to say whether it's a stroke of luck or misfortune... Whether Will Auceptin is kind is one thing, whether the Mercury Snake will discover it is another... And Will Auceptin hasn't done anything yet, informing the Nighthawks seems a bit cruel. I've always understood wild Beyonder... Quietly observing the development, not interfering, not exploiting, is the best choice... Perhaps I'm Error, thinking too much? Perhaps Will Auceptin isn't the Mercury Snake at all! Perhaps Doctor. Allen's wife's child is perfectly normal! Klein suddenly had many thoughts flashing through his mind.
"Her? That would be even better," Allen said with great anticipation.
Klein for a moment and then asked:
Have you been having nightmares lately?
"Occasionally, but they're all normal nightmares Will Auceptin, Sherlock, thank you for your guidance," Allen said sincerely.
No, no, no, that's not normal. As a keyboard warrior, my limited psychological knowledge tells me that occasionally dreaming about Will Auceptin. This is a standard reaction after being stimulated. Since the other person has caused you so much trouble and left such a deep impression, it will definitely be reflected in your Dream Divination. Therefore, the correct change is that you will still occasionally dream about Will Auceptin, but the dreams will be less clear, and you may even forget the specific content as soon as you wake up, only knowing that something like that happened... Klein became more certain.
Just then, he heard a whooshing sound.
He subconsciously looked out of the hall and saw that the dimness in the air was blown away by the strong wind, and the thin, pale yellow mist was swept away.
The leafless branches swayed and trembled, leaving a clear trail in the wind as they headed southeast.
A few seconds later, everything returned to normal, calm as before.
"It's rare to see such strong winds in Backlund winters; at least I don't recall ever seeing any," Allen remarked, gazing out the window.
This isn't normal wind... What happened? Suppressing his doubts, Klein made an excuse to go to the restroom for a routine Divination, but received no effective guidance.
He temporarily put the matter out of his mind and prepared to go to the underground shooting range to practice shooting.
But at that moment, a waiter in a red vest walked through the warm, spring-like hall and came to his side, saying respectfully:
"Mr. Moriarty, your friend is looking for you."
"Who?" Klein asked, slightly taken aback.
"Mr. Ikanser Bernard," the waiter in the red vest replied.
That butler who's always getting "haircuts"... Why is he suddenly looking for me? Has he discovered something new? Klein immediately went to the club's reception hall.
Ikanser adjusted the hat that was sticking out of her head from her fluffy hair, and came over, lowering her voice to say:
" The Mandated Punishers has found Patrick Jason Beria."
"How did you find it?" Klein asked, half surprised and half curious.
According to the revelation he received from Divination, Jason Beria has always been wearing a human skin; his true appearance and aura are not what has been determined, making it almost impossible to find him so easily!
Ikanser looked around and said:
"I don't know, I just received this message."
He pointed to a small, white bird perched on a tree outside the door.
The little bird was leisurely preening its feathers with its beak.
Before Klein could ask any more questions, Ikanser gave a brief account of what had happened:
" The Mandated Punishers found a clue and pinpointed Jason's whereabouts, but this Devil sensed the danger beforehand and, before the encirclement could close in, forcibly killed two Mandated Punishers and escaped. This greatly angered the higher-ups of the Church of Storms. ' Songster of God ' Ace Snake. You should have seen a strong wind just now; that was caused by him. He is the Archbishop of the Backlund Diocese of the Church of Storms and one of the Cardinals of the entire Church of Storms."
It sounds normal, but it feels strange... According to Mr. Isengard and my guess, this can also be interpreted as Jason, the " Apostle of Desire," drawing away the High-Sequence powerhouses... Klein asked cautiously:
"Is it confirmed that Jason Beria was the one who was discovered?"
Ikanser's expression immediately turned serious, and he replied in a rather strange tone:
"I'll give it a try."
He gestured for Klein to follow him outside, and they boarded a spacious carriage parked on the side of the street, where two other members of " Machinery Hivemind " were also present.
Ikanser took a breath and took out the ancient silver mirror with its strange patterns from a specially made pocket inside his clothes.
After completing the preliminary work, he said with a dark expression:
"Dear Arrodes, my question is, what is the current location of Patrick Jason Beria?"
The surrounding light suddenly Distortion, like lamplight after rain, and a scene quickly appeared within the silver mirror:
It was an inland riverboat with its sails raised Jason Beria, with high cheekbones, grey blue eyes, and neatly combed hair, pressed down his baseball cap, turned up his coat collar, and hurriedly and discreetly entered the cabin.
"He really is fleeing Backlund! The ' Songster of God ' seems to be heading towards the Dock Borough..." a female member of " Machinery Hivemind " exclaimed in realization.
"Wasn't this too easy to expose?" Klein wondered.
Ikanser ignored all of that; all his attention was focused on the surface of the silver mirror.
This time, the only option is to answer the question; Error or lies will result in terrible punishment.
Soon, the mirror outlined words as bright red as blood:
If the man you like were covered in bumps, or had his skin peeled off, leaving only flesh, or turned into Monster, but could still communicate, would you still like him?
What an embarrassing question... Wait, a man? Klein almost turned his head to look at Ikanser.
Ikanser slowly exhaled and said:
"Yes, but I will kill him with my own hands."
"Very honest." A new combination of words appeared on the surface of the silver mirror.
... This quiz game is practically public execution... Klein really wanted to cover his face.
He glanced at the other two " Machinery Hivemind " members, who showed no unusual expression, or rather, pretended to be unaffected, and hesitated before saying:
"I always felt it was too easy; maybe that wasn't the real Jason Beria?"
"But Jason Beria was pointing at him." Ikanser intended to lose the Silver Mirror.
Klein thought for several seconds, organizing his thoughts as he said:
"No, what I really mean is that we must abandon some of our preconceived notions. What we are looking for is that ' Apostle of Desire,' not Jason Beria. The two are not necessarily completely equivalent."
"This is something I, as Detective, must raise."
On the King's Avenue, a luxurious carriage departed from the Kingdom's Parliament.
The carriage was carpeted and furnished with beds, sofas, tables, and other furniture, making it like a mobile room.
Duke Negan Pallas of Bennegan, dressed in a dark blue admiral's uniform, is drinking blood-red Ormir wine from a crystal goblet.
As he savored the wine, he pondered and said:
"I'd like to invite Earl Hall to visit tomorrow. I want to discuss with him raising factory workers' wages, improving their working hours, and revising the Poor Law —these are proposals he's been pushing hard for lately, and he should be very interested. Ah, why is the Church of Evernight suddenly interested in these matters?"
"When extending the invitation, you can first inform Earl Hall of the matters I wish to discuss: property restrictions for elections are essential and cannot be lowered, otherwise those who command large numbers of workers will inevitably occupy more seats. Also, suppress the recent attacks on invalid constituencies..."
The secretary beside him quickly Record Duke Negan's instructions.
After saying this, Duke Negan sighed and said:
"I did this for the sake of the noble status, but there are more and more useless people among us, and quite a few even owe money to those wealthy people."
At this point, the carriage did not turn towards Queens Borough, but headed straight ahead.
As the highest-ranking landed noble besides the king, Duke Negan had many mistresses. However, in the relatively conservative Kingdom of Loen, this was a place where he could easily be attacked by political enemies. Therefore, even as a duke, he had to sneak around when visiting his mistresses, but this seemed to give him more pleasure.
Today he's going to see his mistress, whom he's favored for the past two or three years—a young woman who's just turned twenty.
After taking out a bottle of potion made from mummy powder and drinking it, Duke Negan couldn't help but touch the ornament hanging around his neck, a dark blue, thumb-sized conch shell.
It was a magical item specially provided by the Church of Storms after the last assassination attempt on Qilangos. As long as Duke Negan blows it, Ace Snake, the " Songster of God " in the Saint Samuel Cathedral, can hear the sound and pinpoint the location.
To protect himself, the Duke Negan even moved the residences of several of his mistresses to the Cherwood Borough, not far from Saint Samuel Cathedral.
The carriage moved slowly and arrived in front of an extremely luxurious house. At first glance, there was a glass greenhouse in the garden, which was full of bright red roses.