"It's nothing," Klein said with a gentle smile.
He seemed completely unaware, but his mind was racing, trying to figure out what that fleeting change meant:
Previously, the internal guards all went upstairs via the nearby stairs, suggesting they reside there, which matches the location where the change occurred... The internal guards' behavior isn't quite right, so the probability of them going out of control is higher than that of a normal Beyonder. Could they suddenly display malice and evil intentions?
And this was forcibly suppressed or pacified by the sealing core deep underground behind the Chanis Gate?
If this is the case, there are two possibilities. One is that the sealing core behind the Chanis Gate can sense all the abnormal changes inside the Saint Samuel Cathedral and thus react instinctively. The other is that the internal guardians, in the course of their years of duty, have been constantly eroded by the power of the sealing core and have become part of it to some extent, or have acquired certain special qualities. Once an anomaly occurs, it will immediately attract the intervention of the main body.
If it's the former, it means that when I knock out the inner guardian to take his place, the sealing core behind the Chanis Gate is likely to detect it, causing it to change as before, and the plan will fail before it even gets off the ground. If it's the latter, my disguised inner guardian will inevitably be rejected when entering the Chanis Gate...
We must first figure out the problem before we can come up with a targeted solution...
Stealing Sealed Artifact from within various churches is really difficult; no wonder almost no one is willing to do it...
While Klein was lost in thought, he listened attentively to Bishop Electra recounting the experiences of Saint Samuel and the letters he left behind, until it was almost time for him to take his leave.
Back at 160 Böklund Street, he had just handed his top hat and cane to Richardson when the butler came to greet him.
"Sir, are you planning to host a dance or dinner party next weekend and invite the neighbors?" Walter asked, not in a suggestive tone, but rather as if he were simply asking.
However, Klein knew very well that since the butler had brought it up, it meant it was time to do it.
He nodded slightly and said:
Saturday night, the dance.
"I'll need you and Taneja to make some preparations in advance."
"Do you have enough money at home?"
As he spoke his last words, Klein turned to look at the housekeeper.
Taneja nodded seriously and said:
That's enough.
"The variety of alcoholic beverages in your wine cellar is enough to handle several banquets."
When they moved to 160 Böklund Street, Klein gave her £1,000 in cash for household expenses, which, even if she needed to replenish items such as wine, tea, and coffee beans, would certainly not be used up in a month.
The gold pound is still holding strong... Klein nodded and smiled, saying:
"Don't open anything too expensive for the first time; Loen is known for being reserved."
"Yes, sir." Although Walter knew exactly how to organize a ball, he listened very attentively to his employer's instructions.
He paused for a moment, then said:
"You only need to do two things: first, with our assistance, draft a guest list and come up with a greeting for each person that is appropriate to their status and experience; second, order a formal suit for the ball."
What a hassle... When I greet Hibbert, could I possibly say something like, "The sewers here are cleaner than the plazas of the Southern Continent?" Klein sighed and muttered to himself, nodding slightly as he spoke.
"No problem."
In the stillness of the night, with the red moon high in the sky and the smog thinning considerably, Backlund presents a serene beauty.
In Dawn Dantès ' master bedroom, Klein set up a ritual and summoned himself.
Tonight he's going to enter the sewers to confirm whether Trissy has left, and then head to the fork in the road she described to explore the so-called Concealment passage and see what he can find.
Klein wasn't hoping for any extra gains; he was simply worried that the secret hidden in these sewers was a hidden danger that could one day be detonated, potentially implicating Dawn Dantès, and ruining his attempt to Stealing the Antigonus Family Notebook.
In matters like this, one cannot bury one's head in the sand and pretend not to see anything... Discovering problems as early as possible, before they fully erupt, is the most effective way... Of course, one must also be careful enough not to let one's own exploration become the fuse... Klein's spirit emerged from the candlelight, and with the help of Azik Copper Whistle, possessed the body of Dawn Dantès, Manipulation him to walk to the edge of the " Wall of Spirituality " and sit in the armchair.
From an outsider's perspective, this is equivalent to a millionaire falling asleep while reading the newspaper and forgetting to go to bed.
The feeling of a summoned soul possessing one's body is indeed quite different from that of a soul returning directly to the body; there's a noticeable sense of separation... Klein compared the experiences, floated back to his desk, tidied up most of the items on the altar, leaving only the candle that sustained the summoning, letting it burn quietly.
Having done all this, Klein, wearing " Creeping Hunger," which incorporated the Azik Copper Whistle, the " Death Knell " revolver, and the Senor Gold Coin, flew out of the master bedroom, took off from 160 Böklund Street, and disappeared into the sewers.
As soon as Klein entered the damp and filthy environment, he immediately released the " Wraith " Senor, Manipulation the Marionette to distance itself from himself and turn into the hidden side path where Trissy had previously recuperated.
This time, he saw that the area, which was so clean it didn't look like a sewer, had become stained and rats were appearing.
"It seems Trissy really is gone..." Klein, trailing far behind, breathed a silent sigh of relief.
As a spirit, he doesn't need to breathe or walk on the ground, so he doesn't care how harsh the environment in the sewer is.
" The Wraith " Senor turned back and left the area, continuing forward until he found the sixth fork in the road leading left. Klein, meanwhile, maintained a distance of more than 50 meters from him, fully Acting the role of the Manipulation.
At the end of that fork in the road was a wall covered in moss and clearly Corrosion. At first glance, there was nothing unusual about it. If Trissy hadn't mentioned it, Klein would never have allowed the Marionette to explore every inch of this place in detail.
A few minutes later, Senor, wearing a dark red coat, suddenly straightened up, stepped forward, and walked into the wall.
After passing through the thick barrier, Klein's vision suddenly opened up, and with the help of the Marionette's vision, he saw a semi-natural, semi-artificial cave. It was less than 1.8 meters high and about 3 meters wide. On the ground were tools such as shovels wrapped in oilcloth, piled with a lot of soil and gravel. In front of him were two Concealment passages extending diagonally downwards.
The one on the left is only five or six meters deep, and the one on the right is nearly ten meters deep, but there is nothing there, so it seems that they are still digging.
This was all Hibbert's doing? By day, she's a haughty young lady from high society, but by night she becomes a tunnel digger in the sewers, carrying buckets of dirt and rubble? Her wandering is to find the exact location, and digging is the next step? There should have been a hidden door in that wall... Klein leaned against a secluded spot outside the fork in the road, Manipulation Senor to carefully look around.
Next, he led the " Wraith " into the Concealment passage on the left, leading it all the way to the end of a dense, impenetrable layer of mud and rocks.
Senor's figure gradually faded, losing its physical presence, as he moved through the soil ahead in this form, exploring deeper into the earth.
But even as he approached the hundred-meter limit, he didn't find anything noteworthy, only some ordinary insects.
Klein then had the Marionette change direction and "swim" around in the sea of mud, but still found nothing.
The " Wraith " Senor quickly returned to the cave he had just entered, and entered the Concealment passage on the right, unaffected by any obstacles.
"Still nothing unusual... Trissy's judgment that a specific method or possession of a specific item is required is not without reason... Hmm, she must have been exploring using the invisible threads of the ' Demoness of Pleasure '... It's a pity that my ' Kindling ' gloves are lost... I wonder if my Gray Fog aura will work; it seems to attract Beyonder using the ' Marauder ' pathway..." Klein muttered to himself, wanting to take advantage of his current spirit form to personally explore the two Concealment passages that Hibbert had allegedly dug out.
However, he restrained himself from the impulse, because he was now a " Marionettist," and it would be against the rules of Acting if he didn't have to go out in person.
"It's alright even without the Gray Fog aura. Tomorrow afternoon at the Tarot Club, I'll just ask to buy a magical item from the ' Marauder ' pathway. It doesn't need to be too expensive, just something corresponding to Sequence 9 or Sequence 8... Hmm, that badge of Lanarvus is just a signal receiver, it doesn't belong to this pathway... Without knowing what's hidden deep within the Concealment passage, rashly using my own spirit to explore might attract some High-Sequence Monster... Caution and carefulness are never outdated self-requirements..." Klein sighed slowly and withdrew the " Wraith " Senor.
He wasn't worried that Hibbert would come again soon. Until a solution to the previous situation was found, no human with normal intelligence would continue to come!
Hibbert had any contact with the Beyonder circle, even if she had, obtaining items from the " The Sun " realm wouldn't be easy, after all, Backlund is the territory of the Church of Storms... I do have one that I don't use often, hehe, maybe I can sell it to her and then use it to hurt my Marionette? Klein made a self-deprecating remark, then shook his head with a smile.
He immediately ended the summoning, returned directly to the Gray Fog, and disappeared into the sewers.
On Monday morning, bright sunshine pierced through the thin clouds and shone on every corner of Backlund.
Emlyn White pulled his silk hat down a little, and as he left the carriage and walked toward the Harvest Church, he muttered with his eyes half-closed:
The weather is terrible...
" Backlund's worst season is almost here..."
Just as he was about to step onto the steps, he suddenly saw a newsboy approach and hand him a copy of the Tussock Times, saying:
"Sir, here's the newspaper this morning!"
Emlyn was about to refuse, but then he noticed a small note pressed between the fingers of the other person holding the newspaper.
Emlyn calmly took out a penny and handed it to the other man, then took the copy of the Tussock Times and the note.
Before entering the Harvest Church, he quickly unfolded the latter and browsed through it:
"We have a lead on the person you're looking for. Please come to the Bravehearts Bar."
P. S.: Please vote during the double reward period!