At 7 Pinster Street, Leonard Mitchell walked to the desk and unfolded the letter.
He then picked up the round-bellied fountain pen, lowered his wrist, and prepared to write.
However, he had just made a small dark blue dot when the pen stopped, his wrist tried to move several times, but then returned to stillness.
Leonard raised his wrist, lowered the pen, and repeated the same action over and over again until finally, his wrist froze in mid-air.
Thud! Leonard dropped his pen, crumpled the letter into a ball, and tossed it accurately into the trash can at the foot of the table.
At 160 Böklund Street, Klein took the thin letter from the mouth of one of the heads of the messenger girl Reinette Tinekerr.
He weighed it in his hand, and only when his Spirituality intuition gave no warning did he open the seal and take out the paper inside.
The paper was only one page, on which two lines of words were written in neat handwriting:
"I need your help with something; we can discuss the details in person."
Sharron
It was a letter from Miss Sharron... Klein's doubts were cleared up. He casually took out a gold coin and performed a simple Divination in front of Reinette Tinekerr. Then, he took out another sheet of paper and wrote a single word:
"Tonight."
He folded the paper, handed it to the messenger, and asked:
"Is it still possible to locate the sender?"
If that doesn't work, he will provide Sharron's email address:
Mrs. Maria, 126 Garde Street, Hillston Borough.
"Okay..." one of Reinette Tinekerr's blonde, red-eyed heads responded.
She immediately opened her mouth and bit the folded letter.
Once the messenger disappeared from the room, Klein immediately began the ritual, preparing to bring " Creeping Hunger " back to the real world from above the Gray Fog, and then " Travel " to various archipelagos to find the lucky pirate.
" Creeping Hunger " has not yet been sealed and still requires one person to be fed every day. Klein can only use it with difficulty, taking it out and feeding it whenever needed, and throwing it back into the Gray Fog when the time is almost up, since it won't make up for the difference in the middle.
"If ' Creeping Hunger ' dares to cause trouble, feed it mushrooms!" After finishing the ceremony and cleaning up the scene, Klein put on the thin human skin gloves, and his figure quickly faded into transparency and disappeared from the spot.
After having dinner, and waiting for the " Creeping Hunger " to finish its "dry howl" above the Gray Fog, Klein pretended to have an upset stomach, went into the washroom, retrieved it again, and used it to " Teleportation " to the outside of the " Bravehearts Bar " in the Backlund Bridge Area.
During this process, he naturally changed his appearance, becoming the great Detective Sherlock Moriarty with black hair, brown eyes, a beard, and glasses.
Bending down, rolling up his trousers, Klein chuckled self-deprecatingly, pulled his hat down low, pushed open the heavy wooden door, and entered the bar.
After asking the bartender, he grabbed a glass of Southville beer, went outside the number three billiard room, and lightly knocked on the locked door.
With a rhythmic thud, the door creaked open a crack.
Ian, with his bright red eyes, peeked out and immediately smiled.
"Sir, please come in."
As the weather got hotter, he stopped wearing his old overcoat and simply put on a linen shirt.
Klein nodded with a smile, then darted into the billiard room, quickly taking in the scene inside:
Maric, with slightly messy hair, was wearing a white shirt, black vest, and black trousers, holding a long cue stick and bending over to play billiards.
Perhaps deeply impressed by the chaos caused by Sherlock Moriarty, he did not summon his Living Corpse to play cards this time.
"Long time no see," Klein greeted him first.
At the same time, Sharron, wearing a small black soft hat and a matching court dress, appeared on the other side of the pool table, sitting quietly on a high stool.
"Good evening, madam." Klein shifted his gaze, smiled, and gave a curtsy.
Sharron stood up as if floating, lifted her skirt, bowed slightly, and responded politely. Maric put down his golf club and said in a low, slightly hoarse voice:
"It seems you're still stuck in Backlund."
His face was still pale, but the malice hidden in his brown eyes had faded considerably, as if his restraint during this period had been quite effective.
It's clear that acquiring the " Crimson Moon Corona " has saved him from nearly collapsing every time there's Full Moon, and he even has to frequently switch to new types of sedatives.
Klein didn't directly respond to Maric's words. He walked to the pool table, put down his beer glass, smiled, and said:
"I'm sorry, I could have sold you a copy of the ' Wraith's' Beyonder Characteristic, but unfortunately it's lost."
Sharron's azure eyes remained unmoved; she didn't inquire into the reason, but simply asked:
Are you alright?
She knew that the " Wraith " Beyonder Characteristic that Sherlock Moriarty spoke of belonged to " Admiral of Blood " Senor, who in Admiral of Blood was Sherlock Moriarty's Marionette. The disappearance of the " Wraith " Beyonder Characteristic meant the destruction and loss of the Marionette, which was no small matter for the corresponding Beyonder.
"Fortunately, at least I wasn't seriously injured," Klein sighed with a smile.
"No wonder I didn't see Senor this time..." Maric murmured with a hint of realization.
Neither Maric nor Miss Sharron seemed to care much about the Beyonder Characteristic of that " Wraith "... Did they have another channel, or rather, a different method? Klein, keenly sensing the situation, turned and asked:
What's going on this time?
Maric immediately glanced at Ian, who, though still a composed young man, didn't ask any further questions, quickly left the billiards room, and casually closed the door.
Sharron's Puppet -like face remained expressionless as Maric spoke:
"The day after tomorrow, a ship from the Southern Continent will arrive in Pritz Harbor. It has close ties with the Loen military."
"This ship was loaded with a lot of treasures and artifacts plundered from the Star Plateau, the Paz Valley, and the Hagati Grassland. Among them was a mummy, the nineteenth king of the ancient Highland Kingdom, Tutanssess II."
"The original language of the Southern Continent did not originate from the Ancient Feysac. It had its own structure. In the Ancient Highlander, the king was also called ' Kadavre,' which was a proprietary word. It was translated by Emperor Roselle as 'Pharaoh,' and I don't know what he was thinking. Also, he named 'mummy.' In short, 'Pharaoh' means the son of the gods and the king of mankind."
" Tutanssess II was once High-Sequence powerhouse, but after his death, his corresponding characteristics were recovered, leaving only his body, which was then made into a mummy."
"To other Beyonder, this is Spirituality potent material, an excellent subject for creating Living Corpse. But to us, it holds additional significance, a very important significance. Our goal this time is to obtain this mummy of Tutanssess II."
Additional significance? What additional significance does the corpse of High-Sequence powerhouse without Beyonder Characteristic have besides being used as material? Klein's heart stirred, and he suddenly thought of the " The Hermit " lady's behavior of seeking a drop of Mythical Creature's blood.
Could it be that the ritual for advancing from Sequence 5 " Wraith " to Sequence 4 " Puppet " requires it? Did Miss Sharron already have the recipe and digest the " Wraith " Potion? Judging from her usual lifestyle, she's practically always Acting a " Wraith," so perhaps she's already digested it... However, the words of that Evil Spirit in the underground ruins seem to indicate that Miss Sharron didn't have the " Puppet " Potion recipe at the time. Well, everyone has their own circle; it's not too surprising that Miss Sharron managed to get it... Klein glanced thoughtfully at Sharron, not noticing any significant changes compared to before. She still resembled Puppet more than a living person, yet there were no signs of her becoming more sinister.
Sharron sat there quietly, watching Sherlock Moriarty and Maric intently, listening to their conversation.
"If it's just High-Sequence mummy without Beyonder Characteristic, the level of protection won't be too high. Even if it's just the two of you, you should be able to steal it without too much difficulty," Klein pondered, raising his question.
In his view, Sequence 5 could already be considered a near-powerful being. Unless the ship was guarded by Demigod, it would be difficult for someone of the same level to effectively stop Miss Sharron, whose target was just a mummy. After all, the Beyonder in charge had too many important items to protect, and they might be scattered in different cabins due to different preservation methods.
This time, it was Sharron who provided the explanation, and she stated it as succinctly as ever:
"We fear that the Rose School of Thought is setting a trap for us."
"If not, 1000 pounds. If so, we'll draw attention to the mummy, and you can take it; depending on the danger, it could be anywhere from 5000 to 10000 pounds."
I see... Klein didn't respond immediately. After thinking for a moment, he asked instead:
Do you know about the Spirit World Plunderer?
" Wraith " are also a type of Beyonder that can effectively operate in the Spirit World.
Sharron nodded slightly and said:
"I can offer gold pounds combined with information about the Spirit World Plunderer as payment."
Klein hummed in agreement.
I'll think about it and reply to you before midnight.
As a skilled " Seer," he had to go above the Gray Fog to assess the level of danger, no matter what. However, he was now certain that this was definitely not a trap aimed at him, because he had no need for mummies.
"Okay," Sharron said, her expression unchanged.
Klein didn't say goodbye directly. He walked to the door, beckoned Ian to come in, and casually asked:
What noteworthy news has been circulating recently?
Ian thought for a moment and then delivered one relatively important message after another:
"... Someone is inquiring about an organization that believes in ' The Fool '..."
Klein smiled, slightly taken aback:
"A young man with black hair and green eyes?"
He suspected it was Leonard Mitchell.
Ian shook his head:
No, black hair and black eyes.
"Which gentleman from the Aurora Order?" Klein considered for a moment and said:
Can you draw it?
"..." Ian paused for a second, then said with a self-deprecating laugh, "Then you might never recognize who he really is."
At this moment, Sharron spoke up:
"I can help you."
"Okay." Ian breathed a sigh of relief, then followed the instructions and prepared a rather simple ceremony.
Then, while possessed by Wraith, he completed a sketch, trembling and convulsing:
He was a young man with slightly curly black hair, a broad forehead, thin cheeks, deep black eyes, and wearing a monocle.
Ah, Amon!
" The Blasphemer " Amon!
P. S.: Thanks to loyal servant Wangcai for the silver reward!