Part 1 The Joker Chapter 71 Stagging Phenomena

　　Flexing his arms and stretching them out, Klein repeated the process over and over again as he watched Dunn half-side-step and push open the door to the watchroom.

　　The captain’s caution, high level of vigilance, and ridiculous “protective maneuvering” made his thoughts extremely tense, just as it had when he was a child walking past a graveyard at night.

　　”Class 2″ seal, dangerous, must be utilized with caution and restraint …… The official members of the Night Watch are not aware of the details …… do not know how dangerous it is! …… Amidst the tightness, Klein could hardly contain his thoughts.

　　Just then, his head suddenly went numb, as if the processor had cut off power for a moment.

　　Everything slowed down in Klein’s vision, even the movement of his own flexed arm.

　　He saw Captain Dunn stop in his tracks and lean in, in slow-motion, frame by frame, and saw the other man slowly reach out with his palm and nudge his shoulder.

　　In a flash, Klein’s thoughts and vision returned to normal at the same time, as if he had just been hallucinating.

　　”What happened?” He asked in a low voice that was still a little shocked in its bewilderment.

　　Dunn shook his head at him and said in a deep voice:

　　”Keep your eyes peeled.”

　　As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he turned his body and walked into the watch room, followed by Crane, who saw four men sitting or standing.

　　One of them was Leonard, the Midnight Poet, and the other three, whom Klein had never seen before, had one thing in common, and that was that they were all doing the “flexed arm stretch” without relaxing in the slightest.

　　”Klein Moretti, there is a marvelous induction between the notes with the Antigonus family.” Dunn gave a cursory introduction.

　　Then he pointed to the three strangers:

　　”These ladies and gentlemen are counterparts from the Diocese of Berkland, escorting seal ‘2-049’ over, and this is Ms. Loretta, Sequence 8 ‘Gravedigger’ and also a marksman. ”

　　At this point, the dark-haired lady in her early to mid-thirties nodded kindly to Klein.

　　She had good looks, wore no hat, and was dressed in menswear-like clothing, a black jacket, white shirt, tight black pants and leather boots of the same color, with a slight upturn at the corners of her mouth.

　　Waiting for Klein to say hello, Dunn pointed to the man sitting behind the desk:

　　”Al Hassan, same old guy as me.”

　　No sooner had he said that than Klein saw Mr. Al Hassan, in his gray trench coat with lapels, his “flexed arm extension” become as stilted as a cog that was missing lubrication or a joint that had grown rusty.

　　What is the situation …… Klein was dumbfounded, saw Loretta pushed Al Hassan, so that gentleman’s movements returned to normal.

　　Did I just look similar? Klein was stunned at first, and then realized:

　　This is a sign that the seal “2-049” is leaking dangerously!

　　If not awakened in time, what will happen?

　　Will it turn into the “living dead”?

　　With one doubt after another, Klein greeted Al Hassan, who had the charisma of a middle-aged man.

　　”Borgia.” Dunn pointed to the last of the night watchmen.

　　It was an aloof man with knife marks on the side of his face, his tawny eyes as keen as an eagle’s, surveying everyone present without interruption.

　　”Let’s get going, gentlemen, and finish up and seal ‘2-049’ as soon as possible.” Al Hassan, a handsome-looking but middle-aged gentleman who already had wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, said as he rose.

　　Hmm, what about ‘2-049’? Klein looked around curiously, and found no sign of the seal, but of course, he couldn’t see it without his “psychic vision” turned on where it was hidden by the table.

　　”Good.” Dunn turned his head sideways and said to Leonard Mitchell, “You’re in charge of driving, it’s best to keep Sizzle out of this kind of thing.”

　　The Sizer he was talking about was the civilian in charge of requisitioning and purchasing supplies for Tingen City’s Nightwatchman Squad, and the other party was also a part-time coachman, the same one who drove the car when Klein went to Welch’s residence to meet “Psychic” Daley.

　　”No problem.” Leonard put away his levity and nodded solemnly.

　　At this time, Klein saw Al Hassan bend down and lift an iron-black chest from the place covered by the table.

　　That chest was inscribed with a brilliant star and a scarlet full moon, and an invisible sealing sensation overflowed around it.

　　Inside is the seal, right? I wonder what “2-049” looks like……. Klein looked at the box curiously.

　　Dang!

　　Dang! Thud!

　　The iron black chest was suddenly pounding so hard that the surface of the chest was bulging again and again.

　　Dang! Dang! Knock!

　　It was as if something horrible had awakened inside that box, where it slammed the door so violently that, one by one, it smashed into the hearts of everyone in the duty room.

　　Alive? As soon as Klein’s mind wandered, he saw Captain Dunn’s “flexed arm extension” stutter and his joints harden as if they were filled with glue.

　　Borgia, the night watchman from Birkeland, pushed Dunn’s shoulder and restored his movement to normal.

　　The state after being affected by “2-049” is very much like dancing a robot dance …… If all of them were affected, it would not be an awkward dance troupe …… Fortunately, fortunately. “2-049” seems to be able to affect only one person at a time …… Klein relieved his inner tension by spitting, and did not dare to slacken a little on the curling and stretching of his arms.

　　He followed Dunn’s example, leaving his cane behind, and followed the five night watchmen through the tunnel and up the steps to the second floor of Blackthorn Security.

　　Because of Leonard’s quickened pace and advance notice, Roxanne and the others had taken refuge on the third floor for the time being-something similar wasn’t exactly common for them as clerical staff, but it definitely wasn’t unfamiliar, either-while the other Nightwatchman, Cohen Leigh, had gone to watch the Charnis Gate in Dunn’s place on a temporary basis.

　　It wasn’t until they were in the carriage that Crane, relieved to be there, looked out the window quizzically and said:

　　”Won’t ‘2-049’ affect the ordinary people on the street?”

　　Just on the way from the ground to the vicinity of the carriage, the seal “2-049” caused six retardation phenomena, of which he himself got two, which were awakened by Captain Dunn and Leonard Mitchell respectively, this frequency can be said to be quite alarming!

　　”Don’t worry about it, ‘2-049’ will prioritize humanoids within five meters of it, the closer you are, the more likely you are to be selected by it, and as long as we keep at least three of us around it, then anyone passing by outside the wagon will be unaffected.” The pretty-looking dark-haired lady Lolota explained in a languid tone.

　　Strange sealing object …… Klein, who was making a flexing arm movement, once again let out a similar sentiment.

　　On the way to Riel Bieber’s house, Dunn and the others didn’t say a word, keeping a close eye on each other’s status, and only Lolota was full of unconcern, admiring the not-so-clean roads of Tingen from time to time and praising the sewer system of Berkland for a few moments.

　　It didn’t take long for the familiar building to appear in Klein’s eyes, and the group of six, watching each other, made their way to the third floor.

　　The door to the Reel Beebe house was labeled with a Tingen Police Department sign indicating that no one was allowed to enter.

　　Dunn stretched his arms, took out his key and unlocked the new lock, then turned his body sideways to let Al Hassan, who was carrying an iron black box, enter the house first.

　　Dunn!

　　Dunn! Knock! Knock!

　　Once again, the seal inside the iron black box began to slam, even more furiously than before, which made Al Hassan’s arms begin to sway from side to side uncontrollably, making Klein even suspect that the box would be punched right through.

　　Dang! Dang! DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!

　　Klein keenly saw Captain Dunn’s flexing arm movements become arduous, and was about to go and nudge the other man awake when his own head buzzed, hog-wooded, and the scene in his eyes instantly turned into slow-motion.

　　Isn t it said that it only affects one …… person at a time …… Klein s thoughts flew dull.

　　At this time, Lolota and Borgia, who had been prepared, pushed the two men respectively.

　　The ability to think was restored, and the sight returned to normal, and Klein looked left and right in fear, almost asking a question out of his mouth:

　　Doesn’t it say that “2-049” can only affect one person at a time?

　　It’s a good thing I didn’t stop flexing my arms!

　　”Seal ‘2-049’ has entered a berserk state, affecting two people at a time, and it can be confirmed that Rielle Beebe is a descendant of the Antigonus family.” El Hassan described in a mechanized way.

　　For her part, Loretta laughed softly and looked at Klein:

　　”As long as it meets a descendant of the Antigonus family, even if there is only a breath residue, ‘2-049’ will become very excited, and its ability will follow suit with a significant increase, I think you should be able to understand its mood.”

　　Not understanding …… Klein asked curiously:

　　”So it’s a creature?”

　　Lolota smiled and didn’t answer positively:

　　”You’ll find out later, as long as Riel Bieber hasn’t escaped Tingen City, ‘2-049’ will lead us to him.”

　　Klein had to put away his other questions and follow a couple of the night watchmen around the room.

　　At the sound of thumping and pounding, they locked the door to the room, walked down the stairs, and returned to the wagon.

　　El Hassan glanced out the window a few times to make sure there were no pedestrians five meters around, then placed the iron-black box on the floor and twisted the mechanical switch to unlock the psychic shackles.

　　The ferocious pounding stopped abruptly, and the entire compartment was so quiet that the snuffling of everyone could not even be heard.

　　Klein held his breath as he saw the iron-black chest slowly open with a creaking, ear-sore sound.

　　Clang!

　　The box tipped over and a thin, tan arm reached out, only the length of a child’s finger.

　　The two arms took turns pressing forward, and a tan section of a normal human palm-sized thing appeared before Klein’s eyes.

　　It had pronounced elbow, knuckle, and knee joints, it was wrapped in tan oil-stained cloth, and it had reddish-yellow clown greasepaint on its face.

　　It was a grotesque-looking puppet!

　　”2-049″ raised its head and looked up at Klein with pure black pupil-less eyes.

　　It slowly grinned a clownish smile at the corners of its stiff mouth.