Part 1 The Joker Chapter 129 – The Loser
Out of control? Klein’s heart tightened and he nearly took off his mouth to ask a rhetorical question.
Although Dunn and Old Neil often emphasized the danger of losing control and the probability of its occurrence in front of him, this was still the first time he had encountered something similar, and for a moment there was some trepidation, some bewilderment, some fear, some sadness, and a very complex feeling.
”A quarter of the incidents dealt with each year are the loss of control of extraordinary people …… and within that quarter, a large portion are our teammates ……” Dunn’s words once flashed in his mind, making his reactions seem to be slowed down.
It was Old Neil, who had experienced too many similar events, who immediately spoke up and asked:
”Where is the Runaway? What do we need to do?”
Klein was stunned for a moment, he thought that Old Neil, a slippery and lazy “semi-retiree” would find an excuse to reject Svein’s request or extort a large amount of favors before attempting to help, but he did not expect that the other party did not hesitate at all, and directly entered into a state of participation, not caring at all about the difference between the night watchman and the vicarious punisher.
Looking at the old Neil with a serious expression, Klein suddenly understood one thing, that is, regardless of the Night Watchers, Substitute Punishers, or members of the Mechanical Heart, the goal is to stop the transcendent forces from harming the innocent, and to maintain the peace and stability of Tingen City, and if one encounters a dangerous and urgent situation, the duty is on one’s shoulders, and it is incumbent upon one to do so!
At that moment, Svein replied unusually briefly:
”Be my aid!”
Without explaining why he lost control, or where the person who lost control was, he quickly walked towards the exit.
The former “Punisher” captain was obviously just an old man addicted to alcohol, but Klein realized that he couldn’t even keep up with the other party’s pace, and had to jog to keep up with him.
He glanced sideways at Neil, and saw that the “secret peeper”, whose body was showing signs of aging, had also begun to run.
Not caring about the stares of the guards along the way, the three of them, one clad in an outdated naval officer’s uniform, one in a dark classic robe, and one in a knee-length black trenchcoat, stomped out of the pool room and out of the Dragon Bar.
The patrons, who were sipping their drinks and placing bets and refueling, instinctively averted their eyes from the rat-catching canines and glanced at Klein and the others for a few moments.
”Is that Boss Svein?”
”What’s he doing out in such a hurry?”
”Someone reneged on a debt and skipped out?”
……
In low murmurs, some of the drinkers returned their attention to the cage, refueling and shouting again to vent the depression of the day, while others were more alert and vaguely uneasy.
Stomp!
Klein and Old Neil ran after Svein across the road and into the actual dock area.
”That ship.” Svein slowed down and pointed to a river freighter docked a short distance away, “Two members of the Substitute Punisher crew are up there circling that runaway, stopping him from getting into the Tasok River, so you guys help me influence him, control him, and I’ll take care of things after that.”
Old Neil said as he took a few breaths like he was pulling a bellows:
”Okay, but, but you need to give me a minute, phew, a minute to get back in shape.”
Svein nodded, and without further ado, snatched up that freighter and joined the fight.
Listening to the thumping sounds of the fight above, Old Neil glanced at the slightly nervous Klein and pulled out a silver piece the size of a baby’s palm from a hidden pocket on his waist, handing it over and saying:
”Sleeping Charm, the opening incantation is the ancient Hermetic word for ‘night’, after reciting the incantation, imbue your spirituality into it and throw it at the target within three seconds.”
”Hmm!” Klein reached out and caught it with a burst of emotion.
The front and back of this rune were engraved with incantations written in Hermetic language, as well as symbols, corresponding spirit numbers and magical markings, and he didn’t need to turn on his psychic vision, relying solely on his inspiration, he was able to perceive the hidden, serene and deep mysterious power.
Old Neil straightened up and took the same silver rune out of his dark pouch and held it in his palm, joking as he walked towards the freighter:
”Don’t be nervous, relax and think about other things, for example, that rune was lent to you by me, if you use it up, remember to recreate a new one and return it to me, of course, you can wait until next month when the material quota is restored, then you can do this again.”
This …… no less experienced old Neil …… Klein put the charm in his left pocket, reached down and removed the revolver in his armpit gun pouch, adjusting the firing position and trigger.
”I don’t think I’m nervous …… anymore,” he said, holding his gun in one hand and his staff in the other, as he and Old Neil both made their way through the gangway and steadily boarded the freighter.
The freighter had obvious signs of its time, although it was steam-powered and had an extra chimney, it still retained its masts, sails, and other configurations of days gone by, and it only had a metal casing on the surface, with steel used in parts, and still built of wood in many places.
The thumping and thumping of the fight intensified, and Crane and Old Neil were about to find an entrance into the cabin when they suddenly heard a loud clunking noise interspersed with clicks.
The side of the cabin made of wood instantly cracked, splinters flew about, and a figure fell out and crashed into the side of the ship.
Klein didn’t care to look at the silhouette’s injuries, his gaze was completely focused on the monster that was darting towards the rift.
This monster was over one meter eight in height, wearing a shirt and pants that were tattered beyond recognition, the exposed areas were covered with dark green scales, and the seams of its hands and feet were covered with a leathery membrane that resembled the webbing between the toes of some aquatic animals.
It had a wrinkled head, vaguely human-like, while the scales were dripping with mucus that was dripping down.
Zi Zi Zi!
Those dark green slime slightly corroded the deck, leaving stark marks.
Bang! The monster that tried to rush out of the rift was given a punch from the side by Svein, causing it to move two steps sideways.
Bang Bang Bang! The exaggeratedly muscular Svein’s strength was clearly inferior to the monster’s, and his punches and kicks clearly struck the other party, but he couldn’t break the scales, making it difficult to inflict any substantial damage, and for a moment, he was very woeful and staggered.
If it wasn’t for his amazing balance, if it wasn’t for the other vicarious punisher moving along and shooting to hold back, Klein suspected that the blue-eyed old man would have been killed alive by the monster.
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Svein kept backing up and moving forward, like a moth that knew it was a flame but fluttered over it.
But Klein could sense that he was building up to something, waiting for something.
Bang!
Svein was knocked back a few steps, also obscuring the other Substitute Punisher’s view.
The monster seized the opportunity and instantly rushed towards the rift.
It was going to escape the cabin and jump into the Tasok River!
Looking at the wrinkled head floating in slime, Klein raised his right hand and hooked the trigger.
Bang!
The silver demon hunting bullet struck the monster’s torso as he expected, but only broke the scales and embedded it halfway through.
The monster instantly let out an ear-piercing scream, and with both feet exerting force, it lunged out like the wind, pouncing on Klein.
A strong fishy odor drilled into the end of his nose, and Klein jerked his body short and rolled to the side.
Clang! He felt the hull of the ship shake as debris hit him.
At the same time, he heard a pale, low voice, an incantation recited in ancient Hermetic:
”Darkness!”
Crane rolled twice more, not bothering to pick up his cane, and scrambled to raise his rifle and look up, only to see old Neil calmly throwing the charm in his hand, not far from the monster.
The silver flake was quickly enveloped in dark red flames with a slight explosion.
Deep, serene power instantly dispersed, and the monster, which had nearly crashed through the side of the ship, appeared to sway for a moment, and its movements became sluggish.
At this time, Svein ran out from the cabin, approached the monster, twisted his waist and swung his arms, and swung several punches in a row like a machine gun, all of which hit the opponent’s head with a thud.
However, he could only hit cracks, unable to inflict fatal damage, but Klein could sense that the blue-eyed old man’s buildup was about to reach its peak.
Bang! The monster seemed to recover, flinging his small arm back and swinging Svein back five steps, each step crunching on the deck.
Seeing that the monster was about to turn back and jump off the cargo ship, Klein hurriedly pulled out the “Sleeping Charm” from his pocket with his left hand.
Immediately after, he skillfully pronounced a word from the ancient Hermetic language:
”Darkness!”
Suddenly, Klein felt that the silver spell in his palm became cold, like the accumulation of snowflakes.
Without much thought, he infused his own spirituality into the sigil and pulled his shoulder, flung his arm, and threw it at the creature.
At this moment, the fishman-like monster had jumped into the air.
Dark red flames lit up the surrounding darkness at once, and a slight explosion sounded like a hypnotic prelude as it flew and rippled out.
Bang!
The monster fell straight down onto the dock, dropping into a shrunken ball and briefly entering a semi-sleeping state.
Klein was about to snatch up beside the side of the ship and shoot the monster in the head when he suddenly saw Svein, whose naval officer’s uniform had been lost somewhere, rush out and jump down after him.
He adjusted his posture in mid-air, the muscle mass of his body bulging.
Something repressed to the core exploded in Klein’s inspiration, and Svein fell from the sky, smashing into the creature, then straightened his back and swung heavily downward, hitting the other man in the head.
Ka-ching!
The monster’s head split apart, spilling dark red blood and grayish brain tissue all over the ground, accompanied by dark green slime.
”Is this one of the abilities of the ‘Fury Folk’?” Klein stood beside the shattered side of the ship and muttered silently to himself.
Old Neil covered his left hand and leaned in close, peering down with him.
At that moment, Svein straightened up and stood there, gazing deeply at the lifeless monster at his feet.
He pulled out a deflated metal flask from somewhere, ripped off the lid and gulped down a small amount, then tilted the top of the flask and aimed it at the monster, spilling all of the remaining spirits onto the other man.
After doing this, Svein seemed to grow old all of a sudden, his back hunched a few inches.
The old Neil sighed, looked down at the scene below, and whispered to Klein:
”I know this out-of-control vicarious punisher, he has followed Svein for twenty or thirty years, and has cleared out the water spirits that came ashore to kill people, and captured the evil extraordinary people who tried to dive and escape from the Tasok River ……”
He did not go on, but Klein could hear his latent meaning:
Such a “guard” who had done a lot of work and killed a lot of monsters, but eventually turned into a monster.
And this is not an isolated case, it is a possible ending for many Night Watchers, Substitute Punishers, and members of the Mechanical Heart.