Volume 7: The Inverted Man Chapter 30: Astronomy Enthusiasts

　　Eric had become a Red Glove captain late in the war and had been promoted to Sequence 5, Spirit Witch.

　　Having witnessed the deaths of his predecessors and former captains, he knew that higher ranks were not the first guarantee of safety, but rather caution and prudence.

　　For the elite “Red Gloves” of the “Night Watch”, this is a philosophy that almost all of them believe in, because what happens to the ordinary “Night Watch” may only seem like a transcendental event. Because ordinary “night watchmen” may only encounter ordinary problems that look like extraordinary events, and occasionally there are oversights, there is a great probability that they can rely on their own extraordinary ability to turn the situation around, while the “red gloves” who are chasing various important cases, the potential targets must be quite dangerous things.

　　At this moment, Eric stood on the fourth floor of the apartment building at No. 14 Playa Street, facing the closed dark brown wooden door, looked around and said:

　　”Two ‘night watchmen’ have already disappeared here, we definitely can’t be careless.”

　　In the beginning, it was several residents of this apartment building who called the police to report a foul odor coming from room 403, and, moreover, the tenant of room 303 would often hear heavy footsteps ringing out overhead.

　　The police in the corresponding area dragged their feet for two days before coming to investigate, and then never came out of room 403 again.

　　After the police department determined this, they immediately referred the case to the Church of the Night, but the two “night watchmen” who came to deal with the case also disappeared, and the door to Room 403 remained closed.

　　Based on this premise, the Archbishop of the Black Night Church of Makai County entrusted the matter to Eric’s team and allowed them to apply for a Level 1 Seal to assist them.

　　”Yes, captain.” The members of this “Red Gloves” squad either nodded their heads or opened their mouths, giving their responses one after another.

　　Without saying any more, Eric stood in front of the closed dark brown door of Room 403, raised his red-gloved left palm, and tapped his fingers on one of his teeth.

　　A blurry silhouette suddenly appeared in front of him, penetrating into Room 403 through the doorway as if it had no thickness.

　　Eric’s expression was unusually focused, as if he was observing the room through that blurry silhouette.

　　It was a not so powerful but special ability nature spirit that he had driven, usually residing on his left incisor.

　　Under the current circumstances, Eric felt that he couldn’t just barge in, and that it would be best to do some reconnaissance first – even if his squad had a reasonable mix of abilities and powerful seals to assist them, he had to be so cautious.

　　If he could initially figure out the situation inside and prepare more purposefully, he believed things would be quite a bit easier.

　　Just at this time, within Eric’s eyes, one tiny blood vessel after another protruded out, and some of them even directly exploded.

　　As his vision went bright red for a moment, Eric heard a heavy creaking sound.

　　The closed dark brown door slammed open!

　　Inside the room, there were a total of six figures, three dressed in black and white checkered police uniforms, sitting on reclining chairs, high stools, and sofas, two wearing half-height bowler hats and black trench coats, one standing by the door, and one standing on a platform behind a convex belly window, pressing his face to the glass surface, seemingly gazing at the street below.

　　Still another figure sat on a high stool at the edge of the balcony, with an elaborate astronomical telescope before him.

　　The skin of all six figures was swollen, as if they had had a lot of gas poured into them, and in some places it was even cracked and highly corrupted, but it still had not dried out, and was held up with a greenish-black glossiness, and oozed a pale yellowish-blackish liquid.

　　Noticing the opening of the door to the room, the six figures turned their heads one after another, looking towards Eric and the others.

　　The first was the former “night watchman” standing by the door, and the last was the man in the cotton shirt sitting behind the astronomical telescope, one of his black and white eyeballs was still stuck on the lens, and he could only use his remaining eye and the black hole to scan over the “red glove” team outside the door. “The Red Glove team.

　　A faint stench entered Eric’s nose, and an indescribable chill filled the surroundings.

　　Eric instinctively wanted to raise his hand to knock his teeth to release more spirits, and then use the extraordinary ability of the “nightmare” to drag all the targets in front of him into the dream world.

　　However, no matter how he tapped his teeth, no spirit was released, and his extraordinary ability related to the “Spirit Witch” seemed to have disappeared all of a sudden.

　　At the same time, one of the “nightmares” in the “Red Gloves” team was also surprised to find that he could not drag people into the dream!

　　At this moment, apart from the physical enhancement brought about by the magic potion that still existed, their extraordinary abilities all disappeared, strangely disappeared.

　　”Get out of here!” Eric did not hesitate and gave the order in a low voice.

　　This bizarre situation was something he had never encountered before, and he could only have the squad evacuate first, and then select the seals to deal with in a targeted manner later.

　　However, his and his teammates’ feet did not move as a result, as if they were no longer under the command of their own consciousness.

　　Eric instinctively looked down, looking at the lower half of his body, and saw that both of his legs were already swollen, holding up his pants to the point of splitting.

　　In addition, he could clearly feel his skin decaying, rotting, and oozing pus.

　　Before he and his Red Glove team made real contact with their target, they were caught in a lucid “nightmare” of watching themselves die and swell and rot, and it was hard to break free.

　　At that moment, Eric’s bloodshot eyes reflected an ordinary palm, which gripped the handle and gently pulled it outward.

　　Clang!

　　The dark brown door to Room 403 closed once again, isolating Eric and his Red Glove team from the creatures within.

　　They instantly regained control of their bodies, except for their legs, which seemed to be badly injured, making it difficult for them to lift their feet or bend their knees.

　　Eric didn’t bother to check his injuries, and was too busy turning his attention to the palm that closed the door to the room and its owner.

　　It was a young man wearing a classical bowler hat and black robes, his features were ordinary and prevented one from creating a deep memory that would be forgotten upon turning one’s head.

　　”I sincerely suggest that you go back now and leave the matter in the hands of the Archbishop or the High Deacons, but of course, you have another option, and that is to make a wish on me, I am a wandering magician called Merlin Hermes, and I am best at granting other people’s wishes.” Klein wasted no time in compelling others to grant wishes to himself.

　　Just now, when he saw the rotting face on the convex belly window, he suddenly had a bad premonition, so he specifically came over to confirm what had happened.

　　Fulfillment of wishes …… Eric instantly recalled the education he received during his training in the sanctuary:

　　Some High Sequence Extraordinary Beings may be in a state of being detained and sealed, and they will pretend to be magical items that fulfill wishes to lure you into helping him out of his predicament, and the corresponding examples are: the Divine Lamp and the Wishing Pool that can fulfill three wishes ……

　　Is this a High Sequence Extraordinaire? But he doesn’t look like he’s in a captive and sealed state …… Eric glanced around, deliberated for a few seconds, and asked tentatively:

　　”If we don’t grant you a wish, will you not resolve the anomaly in the room?”

　　As soon as the words left his mouth, he saw the wandering magician who called himself Merlin Hermes fall into deep thought, revealing some bitterness.

　　After a few seconds, Klein raised his hand and stroked the high bowler hat on top of his head, half-smiling and half-sighing:

　　”Even if you don’t make a wish, I will still try to solve it.”

　　”Does …… wishing upon you require you to recite your honorific or real name?” Eric asked after exchanging glances with his teammates.

　　Klein shook his head:

　　”No, just say your wish.”

　　It wouldn’t make an occult connection …… Eric tried, in a joking tone:

　　”Then I wish that the anomalies within this room are resolved and no longer have an effect on the surrounding area.”

　　Klein sketched a smile and clapped his palms lightly:

　　”Your wish will be granted.”

　　Not waiting for Eric to respond, he chuckled:

　　”The anomalies inside can suppress extraordinary characteristics and disable the corresponding abilities, but this is not absolute.

　　”Usually when encountering this kind of situation, my advice is ……”

　　As he spoke, Klein grabbed with his left hand and took out an eyeball-shaped glass ball, and obediently twisted the handle with his right palm, leaving the door of the room open a little.

　　Then, he threw that glass ball into the interior of Room 403 through the gap.

　　As this glass ball flew, it continuously absorbed the surrounding light and blossomed into a brilliant, pure, extreme sunlight, just like a miniature sun.

　　In the next second, Klein closed the door of the room with a right palm, lest the eyes of Eric and the others could not bear it.

　　”My suggestion is to do a covering purification with a ‘1’ level seal from the ‘sun’ field.” While finishing that sentence just now, Klein remembered the “Mutated Sun Holy Emblem” behind the door of Tingen City’s Charnis, which was only a ‘3’ level seal, but given enough time, it could just as well take care of the decaying creatures inside.

　　Eric was about to say that we had brought a similar seal, but didn’t have a chance to use it, when he saw Mr. Merlin Hermes reopen the door to Room 403.

　　The six figures inside had evaporated out of thin air, different extraordinary characteristics were slowly coalescing, while the original cold stench was completely melted by the warm and genial feeling.

　　”Solved?” Eric asked hesitantly.

　　Klein smiled and shook his head:

　　”No, the root of the problem remains.

　　”Have you done an identity check on the owner of this place?”

　　Eric answered instantly:

　　”He calls himself John, an astronomy enthusiast who likes to study the starry sky at night with a specialized telescope.”

　　Study the starry sky …… Klein did not move and walked into the room, casually instructing:

　　”You guys search the place for any clues that might exist.”

　　For some reason, Eric suddenly felt that Mr. Merlin Hermes was like the captain he had been when he first joined the Night Watch, professional, calm, and trustworthy.

　　He nodded to the members of his squad, signaling them to do as they were told.

　　He himself remained at Klein’s side, both offering assistance and taking necessary precautions.

　　Krynn didn’t bother with him, and with a sweep of his gaze, approached the elaborate astronomical telescope before bending his back and bringing his eyes to the port.

　　This may be dangerous …… Eric was going to make a reminder, but thinking that the other party showed a rather high level of bitterness and hierarchy, he reclosed his mouth.

　　At this time, Klein saw through that astronomical telescope a brilliant and dreamy deep dark night sky, where every star was twinkling slightly.

　　Suddenly, his field of vision was taken up by a huge eye.

　　The eye seemed to be attached directly to the lens at the other end of the astronomical telescope, with a grayish-white background and a pale yellow pupil, and a single blood vessel swelled up inside, seeping out disgusting translucent pus.