Inside the carriage outside the Cragg Club.
"' Apostle of Desire ' doesn't necessarily mean Patrick Jason Beria? Do you think we might be misled?" After listening to Klein's words, Ikanser didn't scoff, disdain, or belittle him; instead, he seriously discussed the issue with him.
"A decent butler... but perhaps it's because he frequently uses that Magic Mirror called Arrodes; even the worst and sharpest temper would be smoothed out..." Klein secretly praised, nodding sincerely.
This is my personal opinion, expressed out of caution.
"Verification is simple: ask the Magic Mirror for the location of the ' Apostle of Desire,' not the location of Patrick Jason Beria."
Ikanser adjusted his hat and said:
That makes sense.
His expression turned serious again, and his gaze fell upon the Magic Mirror in his palm.
" Ikanser Ikonser, if you get any clues here, that Devil will definitely notice," Klein warned from the side.
"Indeed." Ikanser turned to his two teammates and said, "You two continue to protect Mr. Moriarty in secret. Even if that ' Apostle of Desire ' attacks, the three of you working together should be enough to hold him off for a long time, and there are military personnel nearby."
"Yes, Deacon!" the two members of " Machinery Hivemind " answered without hesitation.
Ikanser immediately left, heading towards the location of the Nighthawks, which was around Isengard Stanton.
The " Songster of God " has been diverted, and the Sealed Artifact of the Church of the Goddess have been deployed... If the " Apostle of Desire " is to take any action, it will surely be this afternoon... Hopefully, we can make it in time, and hopefully the Magic Mirror will provide the correct answer... But in that case, I won't have the chance to get involved, I won't be able to witness the death of the Devil who is harming everyone, and I won't be able to touch his briefcase filled with banknotes, gold bars, gold coins, and jewelry... Klein sighed and looked at Ikanser's retreating figure with a sense of loss.
But he quickly regained his composure:
That's fine, at least I don't have to take any risks, and I can safely resolve this crisis.
Moreover, " The Machinery Hivemind " will certainly not treat me unfairly. If it succeeds, my views and suggestions will undoubtedly be in a very important position. Furthermore, I am a believer in the God of Steam and Machinery, and according to the practices of the major churches, I should receive a share of the spoils... Given the premise of 50,000 pounds, it certainly won't be too little...
Thinking about this, Klein couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
But he won't risk getting involved.
Magician don't perform unprepared acts!
It was too rushed and too tight, and I didn't have time to plan at all... Klein nodded to the two " Machinery Hivemind " team members, got off the carriage, returned to the Cragg Club, and, just in case, asked the waiter to open a lounge for him.
Inside the living room of Isengard Stanton in the Hillston Borough.
Leonard Mitchell smoothed his slightly unruly black hair and, following Captain Soest's instructions, with the help of the other Nighthawks, laboriously put on the silver full-body armor stained with large patches of blood.
He pulled down his visor, hiding his emerald eyes in the deep darkness, then extended his left hand, gloved with silver metal, and took the Magic Mirror from Ikanser.
Within the Church of Steam and Machinery, this silver mirror was designated "2-111".
"It's only a 'Level 2' Sealed Artifact?" Soest asked, slightly surprised.
Ikanser nodded:
"Yes, its harmfulness is not high."
Towards the end, his tone suddenly became somewhat resentful, as if he were gritting his teeth.
"So, in other words, it meets the standards of a 'Level 1' Sealed Artifact in all other aspects?" Soest asked thoughtfully.
Ikanser gave him a wary look:
"Only in certain aspects."
He declined to provide further information.
At that moment, Leonard gently stroked the surface of the silver mirror with his right hand, and the living room suddenly fell silent.
After repeating it three times, he spoke in a low voice:
"Your Excellency Arrodes, my question is, where is the ' Apostle of Desire ' who attacked Isengard Stanton?"
The entire house suddenly darkened, as if a dark cloud had just drifted by.
The surface of the silver mirror shimmered with water, quickly forming a slightly blurry image:
It was a luxurious villa-style house with a large garden right in front of the windows.
In the center of the garden, there is a glass greenhouse where one after another bright red roses are in bloom.
Looking up from the glass greenhouse, you can see the pale the Sun through the thin mist.
"Right in Backlund!" Isengard Stanton immediately calculated the location depicted in the image based on the viewing angle and the Sun's position in the sky.
"This is completely different from the answer we got when we asked Jason Beria about his location! We've been misled!" Ikanser said in a deep voice.
" The Spirit Warlock " Soest exhaled and said:
"How cunning!"
Who is Jason Beria, the one being hunted by the ' Songster of God '?
"Hey, there's no time to discuss this. Let's first outline the general area based on the information in the footage, and then take action immediately. I suspect that ' Apostle of Desire ' is about to cause a major incident!"
At this moment, the silver mirror called Arrodes had lost its image and instead displayed words.
It required Leonard Mitchell to answer a question, and he would face severe punishment if he lied or refused to answer.
Leonard became inexplicably nervous, abandoning his usual nonchalant attitude and quietly awaiting the questions.
A few seconds later, he saw the blood-red words change, taking shape one after another:
"Does something reside within you...?"
Leonard's pupils contracted rapidly as soon as he finished half of the question; his back was tense and cold sweat poured down his forehead.
If it weren't for the blood-stained silver armor that concealed his condition, others would have already noticed his abnormality.
Just then, his left palm trembled inexplicably.
The silver Magic Mirror trembled slightly, and the bright red words were eerily and subtly tinged with a hint of green. Unless one was staring intently at the mirror, it would be difficult for others to notice the extremely subtle change in color.
The words continued to move, changing the previous problem:
Do you have any untold marks on your body that you can't tell others about?
"Yes, that mark exists in my memory," Leonard replied calmly, but his body, encased in blood-stained silver armor, exuded a weariness that came from sudden relaxation after intense tension.
This mirror is too dangerous... it detected it right away! Thankfully, after so much time, the Old Man has recovered a little... he thought, his lips dry.
Soest took out his pocket watch, opened it, glanced at it, and said to Leonard, who was inside the blood-stained silver armor:
"There's still time. You take the lead in the next phase of the operation!"
"Yes, Captain Soest." Leonard secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Dock Borough, Backlund Dockyard.
Patrick Jason Beria entered his reserved cabin.
He looked out the window, observing the sky shrouded in a thin mist, and silently calculated the time.
After a while, he quickly took off his hat, took off his clothes, and then reached out and pulled off the outer layer of human skin!
Beneath the human skin was a stunningly beautiful woman in her early thirties with deep-set eyes and brows—not the brown-haired, brown-eyed man Klein had seen in the " Dream Divination "!
The woman took out her clothes, put them on methodically, and quickly transformed into a charming and alluring beauty.
Finally, she rummaged through the bottom of her suitcase and found a fist-sized stone statue. She wrapped it tightly with the shed human skin and tied it in a knot.
Having done all this, the riverboat had traveled some distance when she opened the window and threw Patrick Jason's skin, along with the stone statue, onto the river.
thump!
The human skin, bound with heavy objects, sank rapidly.
The woman clapped her hands, closed the window, picked up her suitcase, and moved to a prepared cabin.
Then, she sat down by the window of her new cabin, propped her elbows on the table, rested her chin on her hands, and leisurely gazed outside.
She didn't know how much time had passed when she saw a strong wind blowing in from mid-air, dispersing the thin mist.
A smile crept onto her lips.
Inside a luxurious villa-style house not far from Saint Samuel Cathedral in the Cherwood Borough.
The overweight Pallas Negan, embraced his approaching mistress, a beautiful young girl whose face still held a touch of innocence.
Two people accompanied him. One was a middle-aged man in a black tailcoat, with brown hair and Blue Eyes, and little expression. He was Beyonder Guardian provided by the Church of Storms, a Sequence 6 " Wind-blessed ".
The other was Duke Negan's secretary.
He was a slender, handsome blond young man who appeared refined, calm, and reserved. His biggest flaw was that his hairline had receded beyond his years.
As for the other guards, or security personnel, they were scattered outside the building.
Upon reaching the second floor, the " Wind-blessed " rushed in and quickly inspected the bedroom before Duke Negan could enter, while Duke Negan's secretary searched the surrounding rooms.
After confirming that there were no problems, they nodded to Duke Negan, indicating that he could continue.
"I've almost calmed down," Duke Negan said, half-jokingly.
His mistress responded happily:
"That way we can have a good chat. I'd love to hear about your experiences at sea."
"I hope you'll have that spirit in the end." Duke Negan led his mistress into the bedroom and closed the door with his heel.
His secretary and " Wind-blessed " entered the rooms on either side, remaining vigilant without the slightest relaxation.
Inside the attic of this house.
A man in a dark coat sat in an old chair, his eyes half-closed, seemingly sensing something, occasionally smiling and shaking his head.
His brown hair was slightly curly, and his brown eyes were cold; he was the very person Klein had seen in the " Dream Divination "! But one of the suitcases beside his feet was missing.
"Truly valiant, such intense desire... This doesn't match my assessment of him. It seems he's been taking the appropriate drugs... This is so perfectly coordinated... Heh, how could they have imagined that Patrick Jason Beria is two people..." The man tilted his head slightly, as if in a state of ecstasy.
"Almost there... it's almost time!"
His right hand suddenly clenched, as if he had tightly gripped someone's heart!