Chapter 366: The Hanged Man’s Ambition
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
After a thorough inspection, Klein confirmed that there was nothing odd about the White family and that the couple didn’t even leave a single strand of hair behind, apparently to prevent anyone from tracking them down using divination.
He returned to the bedroom filled with dolls, took four steps counterclockwise, and went above the gray fog, intending to use divination to for a final confirmation.
However, before he got down to business, he conjured the female figurine who was nearly his height, and just like how he had done a divination for the Mutated Sun Sacred Emblem in Tingen City, he picked up a dark red fountain pen and wrote a sentence on the yellowish-brown goatskin: “Its origin.”
Putting down the pen and holding onto the piece of paper, Klein leaned back in his chair and began to mumble as he slowly adjusted his mental state into a Cogitation state.
After repeating this seven times, his eyes turned dark, and his eyelids drooped as he entered a deep slumber.
In the gray s.p.a.ce, he saw the puppet craftsman working with extraordinary concentration. He saw the red-eyed “girl” being placed in the room of dolls and Emlyn White fis.h.i.+ng out his wallet with his eyes fixed on her.
Finally, the scene stopped inside the bedroom where Klein was presently located. The proud vampire, Emlyn White, with his hair combed back diagonally, looked handsome but slightly delicate. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the doll affectionately, along with all the other puppets of different sizes.
He truly is a fanatic of figurines… Klein opened his eyes and facepalmed.
Soon after, he waved his hand, causing the puppet that he conjured to vanish from the s.p.a.ce above the gray fog.
When he was done, he picked up his fountain pen again and wrote another divination statement: “Scenes of death in the last ten years in 48 Riverbay Avenue.”
According to the statements from the residents, the White family had been there for no more than ten years, so Klein was able to lock onto a specific area, and he believed that if the White family were just superficially good monsters who were actually making disappearance cases all the time in order to suck warm, delicious blood, then it was impossible to not have any happen at home.
In a period as long as ten years, there would always be a few accidents as long as they didn’t stop!
After carefully checking the divination sentence, Klein recited it and entered Cogitation again, rapidly falling into a dream.
In the dusky world, his vision was sometimes pitch-black, sometimes dotted with snowflakes, and sometimes splintered. However, no scenes appeared.
This was the result of the divination: nothing!
No one had died in the last ten years at 48 Riverbay Avenue!
By taking into account all the factors involved, it’s possible to make a preliminary conclusion that the White family was a law-abiding vampire family, other than a few instances of petty theft… As Klein looked at the long, mottled bronze table in front of him, he wrapped himself with his spirituality and plummeted into the gray fog.
Returning to the real world, he carefully removed the traces he had left behind and left 48 Riverbay Avenue.
Instead of making his final conclusion, he took a detour to the Riverbay Police Station, where he easily sneaked into the archives by mixing himself in among the thieves and drunkards, allowing them to serve as a foil for his disguise. There, he boldly lit the gas lamps inside.
Then, Klein pulled out the last ten years of missing persons records and paged through them.
From time to time, the police officers on duty would pa.s.s by the door, but their eyes didn’t notice any light leaking out from the archives.
There’s nothing suspicious at all… After an unknown period of time, the black-gloved Klein placed the docket back.
Then, he turned off the gas lamp, took off his hat in the darkness, pressed his hand to his chest, and bowed towards the lobby.
On his way back to Minsk Street, Klein took a shower, changed his clothes, sat down at his desk, and spread out the map of Backlund that he had first bought on the steam locomotive.
The first thing he did was find Rose Street, which was on the south side of the bridge where the Harvest Church was located. This was where Father Utravsky was the bishop of the cathedral and had Emlyn White imprisoned in his bas.e.m.e.nt.
Soon after, Klein’s gaze moved as he familiarized himself with the names and layout of the surrounding streets.
A performance can’t be done too hastily or with an excessive thirst for success. One has to slowly immerse the audience into the act… Klein whispered, unfolding a piece of paper and lowering his pen.
“Dear Detective Stuart,
“I wonder if you’ve found Emlyn White? I’ve been keeping an eye out for you lately, and one of my informants told me today that he has seen this man on Tuteva Street in the area south of the Bridge. Of course, he simply said that the person he saw looked similar to the man in the portrait.”
…
Putting down the pen, Klein folded the letter neatly, stuffed it into an envelope, and affixed a black stamp worth one penny.
…
Above the vast, boundless Sonia Sea with undulating waves churning beneath it.
The Blue Avenger advanced forward steadily without any signs of shaking.
Alger Wilson sat in the Captain’s cabin with a bra.s.s s.e.xtant in his hand, but his eyes were closed.
Without a sound, a smile suddenly appeared on his face.
I’ve finally digested it… Alger opened his eyes and raised his hands, causing the surroundings to glow with an azure light.
The azure lights intersected and turned into a huge wave that swept forward.
Alger pressed his hands together, and the wave disintegrated, turning into countless raindrops that fell onto the deck.
After nearly four months, his Seafarer potion had finally been digested!
During this period of time, not only had he spent a long time wandering the seas, completing all the missions a.s.signed to him by the Church, but he had also deliberately sought out new sea routes and sought out undiscovered islands. After a few setbacks, he was finally met with success.
This, in turn, led to the digestion of the potion, allowing him to figure out his principles as a Seafarer.
The core principle involved being intimate with the sea, to masterfully grasp information regarding sea routes and the weather, as well as exploration and discovery!
The always heavy Alger couldn’t help getting out of his seat. He paced back and forth in the Captain’s cabin, thinking of the future he longed for.
After obtaining the potion formula for the Wind-blessed and finding the corresponding Beyonder ingredients, he would hide his advancement to Sequence 6 from the Church. Then, he would repeat the same process again, striving to become a Sequence 5 Ocean Songster within three years.
During this process, he had to serve as the captain of the Blue Avenger and avoid entering the Mandated Punishers with its complicated social relations.h.i.+p so as to prevent his secret from being exposed…
Once I’m promoted to Sequence 5 and gain sufficient strength, I’ll be able to secretly return to that place… Alger subconsciously looked to his right.
His gaze seemed to pierce through the planks of the s.h.i.+p and the vast sea, and onto an ancient and hidden island.
Alger wasn’t worried about his future advancement within the Church. Once he fulfilled his wishes, he would be able to fully focus on seeking a higher position in the Church!
At that time, he would continue to disguise himself as a Sequence 7 despite being a Sequence 5 and drink another Wind-blessed potion!
This would increase his Beyonder characteristics, strengthen him, and slow his digestion, but it wouldn’t endanger his own safety.
For the same reason, after Sequence 5 was completely digested, he could imbibe another Ocean Songster and repeat the normal process. This would only push him closer to losing control, but he also had solutions to that.
It was to find a woman to marry and transfer the extra Beyonder characteristics to his children.
After doing this, I’ll be able to move closer to the level of a Cardinal and approach the level of a High-Sequence Beyonder! This is my chance in such an era! In his mind, Alger had already sketched out the image of himself wearing the robe of a Cardinal as he occupied a high position in the Church and had many Mandated Punishers under his control.
After being intoxicated for a moment, he withdrew his gaze and regained his senses.
… What follows will increase in difficulty with each step. Fortunately, I have the Tarot Gathering and Mr. Fool. Although there are dangers underlying it as well, any path to improving myself will involve risk!
I have to try to gather those Roselle diary pages as quickly as possible. I should grab the chance to raise a question and understand what that card beside Mr. Fool’s hand is — the one which only shows its back.
It wasn’t there previously.
Card… Roselle’s diary… Could it be the item I’m thinking of?
Alger’s eyes narrowed as his pupils constricted.
…
15 Minsk Street. Klein yawned, switched off the gas lamp, and slipped into bed.
He originally had another plan. He had wanted to use divination to grasp the origin of the Biological Poison Bottle and obtain the first three potion formulas for the Sequence from the Werewolf Beyonder characteristic.
But after a busy night dealing with the matter regarding Emlyn White, he felt a little tired and decided to try again the next day above the gray fog.
Just as he lay down and closed his eyes, Klein suddenly felt that something was wrong.
This was the spiritual intuition of a Seer!
It has already been several days since I obtained the Werewolf Beyonder characteristics and the Biological Poison Bottle. It’s not like I haven’t been in a good mental state during this period of time; yet, I have been repeatedly delaying the divination. This is very abnormal! Klein sat up, carefully thought about it, and recalled a similar incident.
The first time he met Megose, he had wanted to directly use his Spirit Vision to observe her mental state, but he naturally ended up missing the opportunity due to momentarily being taken aback. It was only at the end that he found out that it was because Megose had an evil G.o.d’s sp.a.w.n in her stomach. His spiritual intuition as a Seer had stopped him without leaving a mark, preventing him from losing control and collapsing right on the spot.
It’s very similar, and this time, it’s even more obvious… I remember that Miss Sharron mentioned that the Rose School of Thought’s control over their members far exceeds my imagination. Everyone’s body and soul seem to be bound by something, which is also the reason why information regarding the Mutant Sequence is rarely leaked out… They believe in the Chained G.o.d… So, when using the Beyonder characteristic of a Werewolf to deduce the corresponding potion formulas, it would directly involve this evil G.o.d and bring about consequences that I don’t wish to bear?Klein thought about it seriously and felt that there was something suspicious about it.
Back when I divined the Mutated Sun Sacred Emblem and the “ear” left behind by the Listener, my spiritual intuition hadn’t stopped me… Could it be that the Chained G.o.d is stronger than the Eternal Blazing Sun and the True Creator?
Or could it be that “His” nature allows him to restrain the gray fog and even be able to effectively invade it?
Of course, the source of the danger can also be the Biological Poison Bottle…
Thinking of this, Klein, who was always cautious, decided to attempt divining the Biological Poison Bottle tomorrow and see if his Seer’s spiritual intuition would stop him.