Leonard, who was wrapped in bandages and could only rely on crutches to stand, stood blankly at the intersection of Narcissus Street, his green eyes vacant and lifeless.
"Old man, tell me in the end, what happened after I fell into coma? Why did Ince Zangwill enter the company?"
"Promotion is what normal extraordinary people would pursue. If it weren't for insurmountable difficulties, most people would yearn for power and immortality. Isn't that why Ince Zangwill escaped from the Church of the Night?" Old Man
The voice lingered in Leonard's ears, and the soothing tone guided his thoughts to gradually rise and fall.
"But how did he do it, why was it so coincidental..." Leonard's left hand holding the crutch twisted and exerted force, the fingertips gradually turned white, and the nails exploded into bright red spots on the palm of his hand.
The cold wind left "gullies" on his formal clothes. This time, Pales Zoroaster did not respond immediately.
After a long time, this old monster with unknown origin sighed and gave his answer:
"Do you still remember the 0-08 that Ince Zangwill took with him when he defected from the Church of the Night?"
"That is a special level 0 sealed object. It is the remains of an ancient god. It has the ability to arrange the direction of life. Its characteristic is that it uses various coincidences to make reality move into tragedy. It is a powerful thing that caused the fall of angels.
Sealed object."
The angel fell... Leonard, whose brain was originally dominated by sadness and anger, suddenly went blank, and for a moment he felt that his emotions had no meaning.
After being silent for a long time, he showed his inspector's ID card, declined the "kindness" of a police officer, and limped to a bench nearby, his crutches casually placed next to the dark gas street lamp.
"Old man, if I rely on the method you mentioned, what are the chances that I can be promoted to a high sequence and become a strong person?"
"Ah, high-sequence, strong." Pales's suddenly rising voice rumbled in Leonard's mind, "It depends on your definition of strong, what is the so-called strong."
"In the Fourth Age, most extraordinary people know the existence of the 'acting method', but not many people can achieve demigod status, either because of the lack of potions or the failure of rituals, but more people are
Because there is no corresponding talent and no blessing from a great being."
"The strong men you see now were, at best, high-level cannon fodder for the gods' games in the Fourth Age. They were consumables that could be replenished at any time."
"If you don't become an angel, it's hard for you to have a real voice in this world."
Leonard, who usually sits in a sloppy posture and is used to refuting Pales' words, has a serious expression at this time, with his right hand covering his face, making it difficult to see the expression behind him.
"If I want to take revenge on Ince Zangwill, what sequence do I need to reach?"
"Are you sure you want revenge?" Pales seemed to have heard a joke, and the questioning tone in his tone was almost substantive.
Leonard nodded and pursed his lips slightly:
"Sure."
After two seconds of silence, Pales's voice was a little low:
"At least Sequence Four, you can give it a try. If you perform now, you might be able to be promoted in about three years."
Leonard, who was still like a statue, did not respond. The wind blew through his hair, from the dark sky to the orange-red sky.
If there was a being who could see through Leonard's astral body at this time, he would definitely find a group of worms dotted with golden patterns rotating erratically in his heart, emitting layers of colorless energy outwards.
Wave light.
Pales, who was floating in the ocean of spirituality, temporarily blocked the connection between himself and Leonard. The symbol of authority of the 'decryption scholar' changed rapidly, and the arrangement corresponding to various situations was constantly reorganized, trying to restore the ethics of this morning.
Everything that happened after Nader fell into coma.
The element of "secretness" and the one-second observation gap that appeared when the mysterious being just arrived have become barriers to "decryption", even surpassing the interference caused by the filthy breath of the true Creator to Pales.
"The only ones who can do all this are those who have reached the top level of control of 'secret'."
"'Night' and 'Mystery'?"
"Alas." Pales sighed, his old voice even weaker, "I will be more careful in the future..."
............
"Today is an opera performance. You might want to follow Klein's suggestion and wear some brighter clothes." Benson sat next to Melissa and looked at his sister with a smile as he kept checking two tickets for "The Return of the Earl."
The body posture is naturally relaxed, as if you are several years younger.
Melissa, who was sitting on the single sofa, did not directly refute her brother's suggestion. Instead, she carefully folded the three color-printed tickets in her hand and put them into her pocket. Then she raised her face and said very seriously:
"I think the opera singers on the stage are already wearing enough gorgeous clothes. Considering the most popular aesthetic balance now, what I am wearing now is the most suitable for tonight."
Popular aesthetics... After hearing this, Benson looked at his sister in surprise, seeming to have realized some changes that he had ignored, and said with a dumb smile:
"Indeed, I've always been like a curly baboon in terms of aesthetics. Maybe I should learn from Klein on this point. When we chatted before, he told me that he occasionally read "Lady's Aesthetics" and said that it would be better this way.
interact with customers more effectively.”
"Klein really said that?" Melissa, whose face had become relatively rounder than in the past few months, opened her mouth into an O-shape, unabashedly showing her surprise.
Benson, who was sitting opposite, looked at his sister's girlish behavior, and the smile on his face became even deeper.
He had rarely seen this expression on Melissa's face since his mother's death. Over the years, he had always tried his best to prevent his younger brothers and sisters from worrying about the hardships of life, but he still found that they had long been hiding behind the scenes that he could not see.
The place grows, becomes mature at the cost of losing happiness, and loses the agility that young people should have.
Suddenly, Benson felt his nose was a little sore. Just as he was about to find an excuse to calm down, he heard the clear ringing of the doorbell at the door.
"I'm going to open the door!" Melissa, who saw that her brother was showing some emotions, took the job without waiting for permission and trotted towards the foyer, "It's probably Klein. When Bella was cleaning up his room today, she found him
I forgot my key, it must be him."
The bright-faced girl explained to her eldest brother and opened the door lightly.
Squeak.
The brown eyes of the same color as Klein reflected a tall and erect young man with a messy beauty, but a gloomy young man with scars all over his body, giving him a morbidly beautiful look.
"Excuse me, who are you?" Melissa looked at the young man with dark hair and blue eyes in front of her, feeling a little confused for a moment.
Leonard, who was on crutches, used his free right hand to awkwardly straighten the folds of his black formal suit, his voice choked with sobs:
"I am your brother Klein's colleague."
Melissa's heart suddenly sank. Looking at the good-looking man in front of her, but his face was extremely pale and his body was even in a plaster cast, she couldn't help but think of the Zotlan she saw when she returned home. A violent sound came from the direction of the street.
This independent and strong girl's lips trembled, she staggered forward two steps, and found that there was no other figure behind the young man, her voice couldn't stop trembling:
"Where's Klein?"
Leonard, who had been imagining this scene and imagining that he was going to announce the news of Klein's death to Klein's family, suddenly forgot his preparations and even lost most of his ability to organize words, and said intermittently:
"Today, a group of terrorists attacked Tingen. Your brother, Klein, unfortunately died fighting against the terrorists. He defended Tingen with his own life. He is a true hero."
Snap!
The crutch under Leonard's left arm fell to the ground, and at a speed unsuitable for a wounded person, he supported Melissa, who was almost unsteady and fell.
"fine......"
Leonard's concerned words suddenly choked in his throat. He saw the tears falling on Melissa's cheeks and was once again enveloped in sadness.
............
On the ground floor of St. Samuel's Church in Backlund, Dailey Simone tidied up her newly assigned office and carefully pressed a stack of envelopes with rough edges behind the photo frame on the table. A little bit different.
Some of these letters were packaged in Nighthawk inner envelopes with black lines, and some were ordinary off-white envelopes, but without exception, the sender of these envelopes was signed cleanly by Dunn Smith.
Dai Li stared at the black-and-white photo in the frame, and added in the color of the frozen scene little by little according to her memory, recalling her last night before being transferred away from Tingen.
At that time, he pretended to be drunk and tricked Dunn out, hoping to take advantage of this opportunity to express his feelings.
She had already given up the house she rented in Tingen, so she was staying in a hotel temporarily so she wouldn't have the embarrassment of bumping into her neighbors.
She remembered that they walked through the municipal park and the cemetery where she was saved by Dunn and the others, but finally walked to Zotland Street and the entrance of the company.
But in the end, the two of them did nothing, just hugged each other, and then went their separate ways.
To be honest, she was scared at the time, afraid that Dunn would question her past in bed and think of her debauchery.
Of course, she knew that Dunn was not such a person, but she could not forgive herself, so she took advantage of Dunn's retreat, hid herself in the shadow of inferiority, and left without saying goodbye.
"Don't recall the beauty in bloom when it is withering. In life, you should have the courage to tear down the beauty, instead of secretly regretting the withering." Dai Li silently recited this famous line from Russell's collection of poems, her eyes gradually became distracted.
Ta-ta-ta!
"Daly!" Deacon Sorens, a "Red Glove" who also had some interest in Daly, suppressed the urge to run and rushed into the office, holding a telegram in his hand.
"What's wrong, Captain Solons, today is not a good day to eat." There was no trace of displeasure on Dai Li's face when she was disturbed, but her face with light blue eyeshadow was full of indifference, and the word "reject" was on her face.
It's written on the surface.
Solens, who came in a hurry, ignored Dai Li's misunderstanding. A trace of sadness flashed across his face, and the corners of his mouth twitched a few times. He silently walked to her table, put the telegram in his hand on the table, and then
Quietly withdrew.
Solons Daly looked at this inexplicable action, and an unbelievable guess suddenly appeared in his mind.
This experienced "psychic" who took a dim view of life and death slowly lifted a corner of the telegram, and the black print gradually occupied her sight.
As a layer of mist blurred her eyes, the telegram sheet with only a few lines of words was crumpled with trembling fingertips, and the fonts on the white paper were distorted.
"The captain of Tingen City's Nighthawks Squad, Dunn Smith, team member Klein Moretti, underground watchers..."
"The loyal believers of the above three goddesses were brutally murdered by Ince Zangwill yesterday and returned to the Deep Dark Heaven."
"Asshole..." Dai Li clutched her face tightly, her muffled sobs and painful whimpers echoing in the empty office.
On the other side of the wall, Solens, who was leaning against the wall, sighed and left here silently.
............
"So, it was your daughter who killed Mrs. Sharon that day?"
"A, uh, a half-giant?" Klein looked in disbelief, as if he couldn't understand this strange father-daughter combination.
To be honest, he had seen the soft-featured and handsome face that "Secret" presented in his diary, and had also seen the so-called giant sketches in some mythology books. He really couldn't understand the inevitable connection between the two.
Beauty and the Beast?
Although "Secret" is a man, his face, which is full of elf characteristics and has a superb appearance, looks more like a beauty in comparison, while his daughter corresponds to the position of a beast.
Seeing Klein's constipated look, "Secret" was not angry because his adopted daughter's identity was not understood. He just talked about the past in a calm voice.
"Angelboda is a malnourished giant. In other words, she was born without corresponding extraordinary characteristics, so she is not a giant in the traditional sense, nor is she a born extraordinary creature."
"I happened to be conducting some experiments at sea at that time, and I picked her up on a desert island due to a storm."
"To be honest, I was indifferent to human nature at that time, and I urgently needed to play some roles to use my own experiences and memories to stabilize my human nature and maintain my condition. This was also my motivation for adopting her."
"Keep it up?" Klein caught a word that he cared about.
The "Secret" whose words were interrupted thought for a moment and explained in a steady tone:
"The strength of a god depends on the degree of digestion of the potion, but more importantly, his mental state. If either humanity or divinity gains the upper hand, his state will inevitably slide into the abyss of control."
"So gods also have to play roles?" This brand-new information caused Klein to think about higher-level existences, and he unconsciously compared true gods with ordinary extraordinary people, looking for similarities.
The "Secret" sitting opposite him seemed to be happy to see Klein behaving like this. The corners of his mouth naturally turned up for the first time, looking a little happy.
"Yes, after all, the system of potions determines everything. Even the true gods cannot transcend it."
"You must always remember that nothing is free. Madness and chaos are the background of this world. This truth will stay with you for a long time."
"Just like your captain said, we are just poor people in a crazy world. In this regard, everyone is the same."