Part 1 The Joker Chapter 184 Behind the Door
”Come in.”
Dunn Smith’s mellow, warm voice came out.
Crane twisted the knob and pushed open the door to his room to see the captain enjoying his breakfast, with richly scented coffee to his right and white bread, toast and bacon on a plate in front of him.
Dunn put the remnants of his buttered toast into his mouth and wordlessly gestured to the chair across the desk.
Without interrupting the captain’s meal, Klein held a smile and sat down, waiting patiently.
Seeing that he wasn’t in a hurry, Dunn relaxed his straightened back and picked up his coffee, taking a sip and swallowing all the food in his mouth into his stomach.
He drew out a soft tissue and wiped the corners of his mouth and said:
”Something wrong?”
Klein nodded seriously:
”I’ve met Duster Guderian, the madhouse doctor, a member of the Psychological Alchemy Society.”
As he spoke, he glanced out of the corner of his eye and realized that the captain still had a spread magazine in front of him.
”What information did he offer?” Dunn asked indistinctly as he crossed his arms.
Klein described it briefly, “He told me that before Hood Orgen went mad, he used to be visited frequently by someone named Lanlus.”
”Lanlus ……” Dunn raised a hand and rubbed the corner of his forehead, “I seem to have heard that somewhere ……”
”The same swindler who rolled up at least 10,000 gold pounds.” Klein reminded.
Dunn thought about it with a serious expression and shook his head to show that it didn’t ring a bell.
Captain, you’re not sensitive to money at all! Klein made a belly laugh and picked up the highlights of the Lanlus-related matters and recounted them:
”This swindler falsely claimed to have explored and purchased a high-grade and high-collection iron ore mine, and privately raised funds to develop it in Tingen City, and rolled up more than 10,000 gold pounds, and a friend I met at the Divination Club suffered a loss, and in addition, there was also a girl who was tricked into being engaged to him and pregnant with his child.”
”He visited the Hood Eugen before he went mad several times ……,” Dunn mused, “Sequence 8 Extraordinary ‘The Swindler’? ‘Stealer’ that way ……”
Captain, you have a good memory when it comes to similar things …… Klein said with amused emotion, nodding softly:
”That was my guess as well.”
”Because the steel company set up by Llanerus is in the Southern District, and there are all kinds of faiths among the deluded, so this matter wasn’t transferred to us in the end, and even if the police department did find some transcendent traces, it was handed over to the ‘vicarious punisher’ squad.”
Dunn finally understood what happened and looked at Klein with his dark gray eyes:
”What do you want to do?”
Ahem, captain, don’t be so keen …… Klein replied in a serious manner:
”I want to communicate with Hood Orgen with the help of a psionic ritual, to figure out what Llanerus is looking for from him, and to figure out if this is part of the direct cause of his madness.”
Dunn nodded slightly:
”Even if you don’t apply, I’ll make a similar attempt when it’s confirmed that Hood Orgen is truly insane.”
”However, Daley has told me that such a thing carries a fair amount of risk, are you sure you’re sure? Alternatively, I’ll request assistance from the Diocese of Berkland, and a few days’ delay shouldn’t be a problem.”
Klein’s main motivation for becoming an Extraordinary was to study the occult and find a way to return home, and being able to have the opportunity to do the practice and having a strong confidence himself, he was naturally reluctant to give it up:
”Captain, I’ve already mastered the knowledge in this area and have some certainty about it.”
”Of course, I need the assistance of ‘Amanda’ pure dew, ‘Spirit’s Eye’ potion and ‘Serenity Potion’.”
”Tranquility Potion ……” Dunn chewed on the name, confirming Klein’s expertise.
He remembered Daley saying that it was one of the more obscure but very useful potions in the psionic realm.
After a dozen seconds of deliberation, Dunn Smith leaned back in his chair and said:
”Then you write an application, go to the back of the Channis Gate to receive the corresponding potion, er …… I don’t know if there is still a finished potion, if not, then receive the corresponding materials, and concoct your own refining.”
”Okay.” Klein replied joyfully.
But he didn’t get up on this, his buttocks sitting firmly on the chair.
Seeing this, Dunn raised his hand and rubbed the corner of his forehead, thinking carefully:
”Starting in the afternoon, it happens to be my turn to monitor the madhouse …… We can’t go directly to Hood Ogan, who knows whether there are still members of the Psycho Alchemy Society hidden in the doctors, nurses, handymen and patients of the madhouse, and who knows whether the Psycho Alchemy Society is also secretly monitoring Hood Ogan, our operations must be stealthy enough not to reveal that Duster Guderian has become our informant.”
”…… We’ll go at dawn and sneak in secretly.”
”Well, I’ll keep watch in case of accidents.”
It was for the best! If Hood Ogan is just faking madness and I use a psychic ritual on him, wouldn’t it be the same as tumbling into a zoo and dancing in front of a tiger …… Klein put his heart down and said sincerely:
”Aye, Captain!”
He stood up and turned toward the door.
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he swept the title of the contents of the magazine spread out in front of the captain:
”The sap of the Dorningsman tree within the rainforests of the southern continent has a significant hair growth promoting effect.”
…… Klein withdrew his gaze in pity and pulled the door shut to walk out of the captain’s office.
Suddenly, a fun idea flashed through him:
In fact, the Extraordinary One doesn’t need to be so troublesome, if the old Neil was still around, he would most likely suggest designing a ritual magic for hair growth, and by doing so, he would pray to the goddess for assistance, and whether or not he would end up growing body hair and turning into a curly haired baboon would be a different question …… And what would the goddess’s reaction be? In my place, I would have said, MMP ……
The thought instantly colored Klein’s happiness with sadness, and the sadness with a sense of wryness.
When Dunn-Smith had signed and stamped it, he took the application, went deeper into the earth, and walked step by step down the aisle illuminated by the glow of the gas lamps to the Charnis Gate.
It was not until this time that a thought occurred to Crane:
This would be the first time he had entered that mysterious door afterward!
”I wonder what it will be like behind the door ……” He quickened his pace with veiled anticipation, and came to the great black iron gate that opened on the opposite side and gave the impression of looking up.
After first handing his application to Siga Teang, who was manning the place today, for registration, Klein retrieved the document with an extra signature and thumped on the Charnis door, only to find the echo inside hollow and distant.
After a few dozen seconds of waiting, he saw the folio doors, inscribed with the seven Dark Sacred Emblems, open heavily and creak without hearing footsteps.
The Charnis doors opened until only one person could pass through and then stopped, and Klein saw the scene nearer by the light of the gas lamps on either side of the corridor.
Behind the door stood an old man with deep wrinkles and thinning hair, dressed in a classic black robe and carrying a marquee.
The dim glow of the candle shone through the glass, illuminating the old man’s expressionless face in a mixture of light and dark, and his light blue eyes as if they had been frozen in ice for a thousand years.
”Papers.” He spat out a single word hoarsely.
Klein had seen the old man before, for at the end of every twilight, he and his companion would emerge from inside the Charnis Gate, pass the watch room, and turn toward the Church of St. Selene.
They were the old going night watchmen, the volunteer interior watchmen.
As far as Klein knew, there were five such watchmen.
”Here’s my application.” He handed the paper in his hand to the old man in front of him.
The internal caretaker with a pair of light blue eyes raised his horse’s lamp and carefully looked it over, confirming that it was correct before stepping back to the side and letting Klein pass.
Kline slowly entered the Charnis Gate, and before he had a chance to survey his surroundings, he felt an unspeakable chill.
It wasn’t the scorching cold of winter, but an icy cold that made even one’s spirituality tremble.
Raising his eyes, Klein saw a candelabra on the wall, saw a silver candle carved with a pattern, and the flames they burned all took on an ethereal blue hue without the slightest wavering.
Creak!
The watchman closed the Charnis Gate, and all around him at once became quiet in the extreme.
Before Klein’s eyes was a wide aisle, paved with ancient stone slabs.
On both sides of the aisle, there was a stone door labeled “Materials”, “Potions” and “Information”.
At the end of the aisle, there was a staircase going down, which extended into the darkness, as if leading to an abyss.
There it should connect the different sealing points of different seals, and it is said to be divided into several layers …… I don’t know which layer St. Selene’s ashes are placed on …… Klein had just adjusted to the brightness behind the door, when he suddenly felt that there were invisible things in the air scraping across his skin, a strip, cold to the bone.
He shivered and couldn’t help but turn on his psychic vision.
Then, he saw his surroundings, saw that the whole behind the Charnis Gate was filled with a thin black line, which gently swayed, sometimes hugging, sometimes extending, densely packed, leaving no gaps.
This …… is the sealing power behind the Charnis Gate? Klein nodded his head imperceptibly, collected his thoughts, and followed the caretaker into the “potion room” behind a thick stone door.
Soon, he found “Amanda” pure dew, “Spirit’s Eye” potion and “Serenity Potion” according to the initials.
The first two he had seen before, but the latter was his first time to come into contact with them, only to see the translucent glass vials, there was a blue liquid gently rippling, just to see it, it was as if one had returned to his mother’s embrace.
There was also a label attached to the bottle, indicating the date of production and a hint that it was valid for six months.
Fortunately, it can be used …… Klein put away the three vials of potion and left the Charnis Gate accompanied by the watchman, detaching himself from the feeling of being cold to the depths of his soul and the eerie experience of being swept by a black line.
When the Charnis Gate closed, he couldn’t help but look back there and mutter darkly:
”Staying inside for a long period of time, whether it’s the body, or the soul, it will be affected, right?”
”No wonder the caretaker must volunteer ……”
……
In the wee hours of the morning, Klein counter-locked his bedroom in a special way, pushed open the window of the convex belly window, and leaped downwards.
The height of the second floor was not the slightest danger to him now, and he stood firm and unshaken.
And the carriage of the night watchman’s party was already parked across the street, waiting for him.
Without unnecessary exchanges, Klein quickly reached the Tingen City Lunatic Asylum in the North District, and following his cue, he rounded the corner of the fence without streetlights and saw Dunn Smith waiting there.
”Let’s go in.” Dunn nodded gently, “I made sure there was no one around here.”
”Okay.” Klein leaned in quickly.
Going in …… as “The Joker” and entering an insane asylum …… It always reminds me of the famous saying: it’s like going home… …he quipped to himself.
Following closely after Dunn, he tumbled lightly and quickly into the madhouse with the help of certain bumps in the wall, moving with agility and excellent balance.
Dunn glanced back and nodded gently in approval.
Crouching low on their backs, the two men made their way through the shadows and secluded areas across the lawn and event plaza, among other things, and into the three floors of the asylum to Hood Orgen’s room, which was located somewhere on the top floor.
Because Hood Orgen was somewhat aggressive when he was mad, he had been placed in a single room, and the night watchman, whose surveillance had not been in vain all this time, had long since duplicated a key.
Click!
At the slight sound of the door opening, Dunn entered first, and Crane’s eyes crossed to see a man sitting on a bed.
Hood Orgen had a long, thin face with deep-set eye sockets, and his light yellow hair was worn in disarray.
He was looking out the barred window with gray-blue eyes at the Crimson Moon.
Klein closed the door to his room and gave a laugh, asking casually:
”Why aren’t you asleep?”
Dunn was stunned for a moment, then remembered that the other man was now the Joker of Sequence 8, so he kept quiet and stepped back into the corner.
Hood Orgen turned his head, looked at Klein, and giggled:
”I’m waiting for my cake.”