After leaving the local " Nighthawks " hideout disguised as a private Detective agency, Leonard looked at Daly Simone had offered to team up with him, and said:
Where should we begin? Do you have any suggestions?
Dressed with an alluring and mature beauty, Daly pulled up the hood of her Spirit Medium robes and glanced at Leonard Mitchell:
This is the time to demonstrate gentlemanly judgment and style.
Leonard glanced at the Red Gloves on his left hand and said carefully:
"Let's proceed as Captain Soest has instructed. This might uncover some clues, but it may not be useful. I suspect that Lord ' Eye of the Goddess ' also knows this and is simply giving us something to do to mislead Ince Zangwill."
"Why do you say that?" Daly wasn't joking; her expression was unusually serious.
Leonard glanced around, his voice unconsciously becoming lower:
"As far as I know, '0-08' has the characteristic of 'if you know it, it knows you.' Although we don't know its real name and abilities, and only use a self-designated codename, we should be unaffected and on the periphery of its attention. However, as the ' Red Gloves ' team investigating the Spirituality Religion's affairs, and the ' Red Gloves ' team that has discussed the Ince Zangwill issue many times, I think our situation may have been discovered by '0-08 Ince Zangwill could know that his abnormal state has been exposed, and thus consciously create coincidences to evade detection."
Daly recalled the information related to Ince Zangwill and nodded:
" Soest also raised this issue at the beginning, but not as clearly and explicitly as you have. He was still in the stage of working backward from the failure to deduce possible factors."
"So, while ' Eye of the Goddess ' had us investigate the surrounding area for ' Hunter's ' Beyonder and materials, pretending things weren't settled yet, he was already preparing to use the appropriate items to set traps, waiting for Ince Zangwill to reveal himself when the Evil Spirit gained the upper hand?"
Leonard turned around and said as he walked:
"That's roughly it, but I suspect it might not be able to hide it from '0-08'..."
Daly followed diagonally behind, and said thoughtfully:
"I believe there is still hope for success. Don't forget, one of the goddess's titles is Mother of Concealment."
"This can restrain '0-08'? Does the church have high-ranking members or Sealed Artifact that can restrain '0-08'? No wonder '0-08' was once obtained by the church and sealed at the bottom of the Holy Cathedral..." Leonard's green eyes lit up, and his spirits suddenly lifted.
Daly nodded slightly, her expression softening.
A few seconds later, her eyes narrowed suddenly, and she blurted out:
Will '0-08' find out about our discussion?
Leonard paused, unsure whether to shake his head or not. He and Daly looked at each other, and for a brief moment, no one spoke.
In a room, a slightly pale hand turned the notebook on the desk to the front, browsing through the pages one by one:
"... After leaving Bansy Harbor, Sauron Einhorn Medici, having obtained a certain item, was no longer just a fanatic, no longer instinctively weaving conspiracies Ince Zangwill reached a preliminary reconciliation with him, and even decided to cooperate to a limited extent to fulfill their respective wishes."
"For a ' Red Priest ' pathway Evil Spirit, such a promise is not guaranteed to be effective, but Ince Zangwill had no other choice."
"In his view, there are many coincidences in this series of events, but in essence, it is inevitable Sauron Einhorn Medici's ability to construct a story is several times that of his."
"... After confirming that his destination was the East Balam of the Southern Continent, Ince Zangwill sailed to the Raging Sea... Each time, he would enter the Intis colony islands, recklessly provoke official forces, hunt down Beyonder on the ' Hunter ' path, and regain his senses in time before danger arrived, cover his tracks, and escape to a distant place."
"This seems like a coincidence, but the problem is, isn't it too much of a coincidence that it's always the same coincidence?"
"Logically speaking, too many coincidences mean that some factor or pattern exists in the shadows. The reason Ince was able to do this is because he wrote the above passage, using the power of the ' Alzuhod's Pen ' to naturally switch between the states of 'possessed by Evil Spirit ' and 'self-centeredness.' What a cunning fellow! This refers not only to Ince Zangwill also to Sauron Einhorn Medici. They are clearly living in peace, yet they pretend to be contradictory, as if they have achieved some kind of balance through external forces."
"... Ince Zangwill made a perfectly reasonable purchase of the extraordinary materials for the ' Bard ' and ' Warrior ' pathways, as he wanted to cover up the fact that the Evil Spirit had used him to collect various items for the ' Hunter ' pathway, and to prevent others from discovering that all of this was done with his tacit approval and without any attempt to resist. In addition, both the ' Bard ' and ' Warrior ' pathways have the ability to fight against the dead and exorcise Evil Spirit. A smart person, upon careful consideration, would undoubtedly discover this, thus confirming their judgment that Ince Zangwill was possessed by Evil Spirit."
"... After numerous provocations, Tony Twain of the Iron and Blood Cross Order finally located Ince Zangwill. During this process, this ' War Bishop ' who aspired to become the ' Conqueror ' made no attempt to conceal his abilities. Especially when a storm happened to interrupt his pursuit, he made a grand entrance in front of a ship full of ordinary people and exposed the guy impersonating Ince Zangwill."
"It's a bit of a coincidence, but not surprising, because the Iron and Blood Cross Order's philosophy is to transcend the ordinary and be above ordinary people Tony Twain is arrogant and always uses his abilities to break through other people's doubts. He has an extremely strong sense of self-confidence, so there's nothing wrong with his performance."
Similarly, he was too confident, overlooking the possibility that Ince Zangwill was also on that ship, which didn't quite align with his hunting instincts, but everyone makes mistakes in this world!
"When Ince Zangwill disembarked at Midseashire Island, he noticed the stares from the first-class passengers, but he didn't care. This was exactly the effect he wanted; it was perfect that some of the passengers recognized him! Yes, perfect timing..."
"... Not too early, not too late, before the Soest ' Red Gloves ' squad could take action, Ince Zangwill met with Palenc Eggers, ' Pale Hand,' of the Spirituality Religion ' Artificial Death Faction, hoping to get their help in exorcising the Evil Spirit..."
(Smearing off the crossed-out marks)
"... Things have developed in a strange way. Before Soest's ' Red Gloves ' team, Daly Simone and Leonard Mitchell, a conclusion seemed to have been reached—from a letter delivered by Reinette Tinekerr..."
"What exactly went wrong?" Ince Zangwill. In his opinion, unless Palenc Eggers or other key members of the Spirituality Religion could be directly apprehended, no one could draw a conclusion so quickly.
This made his preparations a bit rushed, but fortunately, the result was what he wanted.
"... The ' Red Gloves ' team, led by Soest, discovered Ince Zangwill. Based on this, Daly Simone proposed the hypothesis of Evil Spirit possession, which gained considerable acceptance."
She claimed it was a reasonable guess, but she actually knew something from Leonard Mitchell, who had a ' Parasite,' and Leonard Mitchell's information came from a letter sent by Reinette Tinekerr. Who could the sender be?
Meanwhile, Leonard Mitchell and Daly Simone were already suspecting that the Evil Spirit possessing Ince Zangwill belonged to the ' Hunter ' pathway...
"But is this the truth? Will everything unfold as Daly Simone, Leonard Mitchell, and Soest's ' Red Gloves ' team predicted?"
"... After discussing with the person in the Serenity Cathedral, Ilya, the senior deacon of the Church of Evernight, believed Daly's guess and decided to use a ' Hunter ' pathway 'Level 1' Sealed Artifact as bait to lure Ince Zangwill, who was possessed by Evil Spirit, into walking into the trap."
To cover up this purpose, she had Soest's " Red Gloves " team continue investigating the relevant leads.
"Unfortunately, they all misunderstood a premise: although Ince Zangwill was indeed possessed by Evil Spirit, his actions were not affected by it! Everything he did before was an act, a performance based on Sauron Einhorn Medici's advice, to mislead the Church of Evernight and to make Ilya attack blindly. And a ' Red Angel ' Evil Spirit willing to help and cooperate was enough to change the course of the battle."
" Ince Zangwill's real purpose in coming to the Southern Continent was actually:"
"Hunt down Ilya, the high-ranking deacon of the Church of Evernight, to acquire her Beyonder Characteristic and prepare for your own advancement!"
He wanted to prove to everyone how foolish the Church of Evernight had been to abandon him!
"Of course, before launching this operation, Ince Zangwill had to satisfy Sauron Einhorn Medici's desire for High-Sequence Beyonder Characteristic in the ' Hunter ' pathway. For secrecy, he did not intend to hunt locally, but planned to go to a more distant place."
"When the undead nature of the Evil Spirit, the status of the ' Red Angel ', and the special nature of the ' Gatekeeper ' are combined, Ince Zangwill possesses the ability of ' Spirit World Traversal ', High-Sequence of the ' Death ' pathway, which allows him to travel to distant places and return in a short time. He had deliberately concealed this ability before."
Once he had satisfied Sauron Einhorn Medici, Ince Zangwill decided to start by killing Daly Simone and Leonard Mitchell, pretending to have vaguely sensed the Church of Evernight's arrangements, launching a forced counterattack, and then losing his mind and heading towards the 'trap'.
"He has no intention of leaving any destabilizing elements; all the avengers who emerged from Tingen must die!"
The notebook was turned to a blank page. A pale hand picked up a quill pen and added a sentence:
Everything will go smoothly today.
West Balam, Northern State, Kukwa City.
"Your investigation isn't over yet?" Anderson asked Danitz, who was walking beside him, with a bored expression.
"Almost there!" Danitz replied, slightly distracted. "What's up?"
At this moment, Anderson took out a map and a stack of documents, and said with a smile:
"I have determined the approximate location of an ancient tomb. According to the customs of the West Balam, it must contain a great deal of treasure. Here, death is not the end, but only a new beginning, hence the abundance of burial goods."
Danitz paused for a moment, then asked in astonishment:
"Don't you not understand Dutanese?"
How did you collect the information?
Anderson chuckled, raised his left hand (wearing a black glove), and stretched out his fingers, saying:
"I don't understand it, but I can temporarily Stealing their language skills until I've collected all the information."
"... I knew you wouldn't be completely without options!" Danitz said through gritted teeth, then pointed to the main street next to the square. "Goodbye!"
Anderson didn't stop him, but smiled and watched him stride away.
Just then, the two of them noticed a figure walking towards them from another direction.
The figure held an antique quill pen, wore a black clerical robe, had dark gold hair without wrinkles, and features like a classical sculpture. One eye was deep blue, almost black, while the other was covered with tiny veins. He was approaching Anderson and Danitz step by step.
Anderson didn't recognize the middle-aged man, but his body inexplicably trembled, as if he were facing a natural enemy.
A sense of impending danger exploded in his mind, and his pupils dilated sharply!
Suddenly, a gentle voice rang in his ears:
Don't be nervous.
Who... Anderson turned his head blankly and saw that a figure had strangely appeared beside him in a place that was previously empty.
The figure seemed to have always been there, but was always overlooked.
He wore an unusually simple white robe, had a light golden beard that covered the lower half of his face, and his eyes were clear and innocent like a child's, with a warm and reserved expression.
Looking at the quill pen in Ince Zangwill's hand across from him, the middle-aged man dressed as an ordinary priest half-closed his eyes, raised his right hand, and tapped it four times in front of him.
A silver cross pendant hung there.
P. S.: I used some content from before, so I wrote a bit more. It's a long chapter of nearly 4,000 words! Please vote for me! Last day and a half left, please vote for me!