Part 2 The Faceless Man Chapter 34 The Origin of the Thing
The figure in the mirror was clear, but the woman in the black court dress from earlier was no longer there; she never seemed to have appeared.
Klein quietly turned on his psychic vision, but found nothing.
I wouldn t have hired a female ghost as a bodyguard, right? This is even weirder than a female ghost …… At least Spirit Vision is able to see ghosts …… Klein thoughtfully touched the Aztec copper whistle in his coat pocket, only to find that the coolness and coldness remained the same, and there was no additional change.
Unaffected by the copper whistle …… It doesn t seem to be a necromantic fellow …… However, it is not certain that the copper whistle followed me to the grave in the first place, but the dead in the circle around me did not appear to be abnormal …… Because the those buried in the cemetery had been subjected to the requiem of priests and bishops? When exactly does it work and when does it not …… When the ambassador’s business is finished, if I am still alive, I will go to the cemetery to do the test, trying to figure out the scope and limitations, can not always be the same as carrying a time bomb …… Klein washed his face, turned around and out of the washroom.
He had just grabbed the newspaper in the living room and was about to go flip through it in the living room or bedroom when he suddenly heard the doorbell being pulled.
At the sound of the jingle, Klein suddenly tensed up and, unusually alert, put on his coat, which had a variety of materials, and marched toward the door.
He well remembered that danger would come in the last few days!
Standing behind the door and waiting for a while, the scene outside naturally appeared within Klein’s mind.
A red moon loomed in the sky, elegant gas street lamps on both sides of the street illuminated the wet road, and the boy in the old overcoat stood there, his bright red eyes deep with a hint of confusion.
Ian Wright? Why had he appeared? Wasn’t this the image I saw in my dream divination? Is this a harbinger of danger to come? Klein pulled open the door to his room and took two wary steps backward.
”Detective Moriarty.” Ian said as he removed his brown yarmulke and owed his body, “I’ve come to say I’m sorry, I’m sorry for getting you involved in such a dangerous incident.”
Klein frowned slightly:
”The best thing for you to do is to go to the police station.”
Ian looked around and buried his head slightly:
”I just got out of MI9.”
Huh? That’s the name of that special branch of the military? Klein moved out of the way and pointed to the living room:
”Perhaps we could have a chat.”
I have to at least know what I’m in such a passive position because of …… He sighed inwardly.
Without being polite, Ian followed Klein into the living room and sat in the same spot he had last time.
He was about to open his mouth when Klein suddenly added:
”If what you want to say will put me in a bigger crisis, then you don’t have to speak.”
”It won’t, it’s almost over.” Ian had a composure that belied his age.
Relieved, Klein asked suspiciously:
”So, what exactly happened?”
Before he could say anything, he suddenly saw a silhouette emerge from the convex belly windowpane across the living room: a black court dress, long hair tied in a pale blonde bun, blue eyes, delicate features, and a pale face, the same woman who had greeted Klein in the wash mirror earlier.
This woman seemed to find an illusory high-backed chair and sat down, her left palm propped up on her right elbow, her right hand resting on her cheek, putting on a listening appearance with little expression.
…… Klein was momentarily at a loss as to how to react.
At that moment, Ian, who had been silent for a few seconds, whispered:
”In fact, Detective Zerrill is a spy for the Forsak Empire, he adopted several stray children and taught them the skills of gathering intelligence, which includes me.”
So this is the case …… I’m involved in a big spy case …… Klein was dazed for a moment.
Ian eyed the coffee table and continued:
”We have the advantage of age, often unnoticed by others, and can gather a lot of useful information, and two weeks ago, I stumbled upon a clue to the Hermosuin manuscript.”
”Hermosuin?” Klein thought that the surname sounded somewhat familiar.
Ian raised his head, looked at him, and explained:
”Turani von Helmershoin, the greatest scientist after Rossel the Great, mathematician, mechanic, and the father of the second generation of differential machines.”
So it was him! Klein instantly remembered the relevant introduction:
This was not only a great scientist, but also a mad scientist, he believed that there was an intrinsic flaw in mankind, and that the ultimate truth could only be obtained with the help of a machine, he had a passion for eating sugar, and seemed to have used this as a source of his own energy, mysteriously disappeared while researching the third generation of the differential machine, and was an important figure that various countries had endeavored to find.
”His manuscripts? Manuscripts involving third generation differential machines?” Klein asked tentatively.
A differential machine was a mechanical device used for calculations that could effectively increase the efficiency of scientific research and various projects, in Klein’s opinion, it was an alternative computer of the steam era, of course, it only had the ability to calculate at the moment.
Ian shook his head:
”I’m not sure, I didn’t actually see it, maybe there are some related thoughts.”
He paused, once again talking about what happened:
”I reported it to Detective Zerrill, who was very pleased and told me to follow that lead and investigate, while he immediately reported it to his superiors.”
”It took me some time to finally determine the whereabouts of the manuscript, but fearing the danger, I didn’t go straight to steal it, and decided to return to Detective Zerrill, and after that, which is what I told you about, Detective Zerrill’s home was infiltrated, many of the small organs were not recovered, and he didn’t respond to my request for a contact, and the Zimmerg party tried to catch me even more ……”
”Through your help, I confirmed Detective Zerrill’s death by taking a denture from his body, well, after we parted ways.”
”Detective Zerrill had told me that the denture was inscribed on the inside with a way to contact his superiors in an emergency, a way that even he didn’t know about, and that it would only be removed if an accident occurred.”
Klein nodded softly:
”So you sent the telegram?”
Ian said with a rare flash of consternation:
”Someone from MI9 told you that?”
”No, a friend of mine happened to see you in Branham Street.” Klein made up a casual excuse.
”Hmm.” Ian nodded in frustration, “I contacted Detective Zerrill’s bosses in Berkland via telegram and agreed in secret message the time, place and manner of meeting, but soon after, I was approached by the Zimmangans, no, Intelligence agents from Intis to be precise, that’s what I was told by someone from MI9.”
”Fortunately, the MI9 men arrived in time and the two sides got into a melee, which I took advantage of to escape.”
”However, when I met with Detective Zeruel’s superior this afternoon, I once again encountered an ambush by the Intelligence officers of Intis, and was unfortunately captured by them, I, being afraid of death, told them everything I knew, however, they didn’t keep their promise, and still wanted to kill me, and at this time, MI9 finally came looking for me.”
This kind of time, you are only like a fifteen or sixteen year old big boy ah …… Klein just had feelings, suddenly thought of a problem from Ian’s words just now:
Previously, when he realized that there was still an important item left on Zeruel’s body, and that Ian had taken it away without any problems, he only thought that the extraordinary person on the other side was not of a high level, his strength was not good, and that the effect of the “psychic” was not good, so he failed to get a lot of useful information, and thus made a mistake or omission.
However, after confirming that the ambassador’s subordinates have a “soothsayer” path of the middle sequence of people, this matter has become very strange, under the powerful “psychic”, it is impossible that the false teeth have not been discovered.
And the fact that the body was dumped in such a remote and hard to find place did not seem like a pre-determined trap.
Combined with Ian’s description, the answer was obvious.
Klein nodded and said:
”Have you ever thought that there are betrayers around Zeruel’s superiors, betrayers who defected to the Intelligence Agency of Intis?”
”That’s why Zeruel was exposed and died after getting a clue to the manuscript, and why you were ambushed.”
It was precisely because the Intis ambassador’s side held the situation of Zeruel’s superior that he didn’t pay much attention to the emergency contact inscribed on the inside of his dentures!
Zeruel’s report to his superior directly led to his accident!
Ian froze for a moment as he listened, and only after a long moment of chagrin did he clench his fists and try to remain calm as he said:
”I can’t believe I didn’t think of that, you’re an excellent detective ……”
He exhaled quietly and turned to the description:
”I also told MI9 where the manuscript was, and everything else, and they mentioned in passing what happened to you, and heck, I’m surprised they didn’t suspect me of lying, and didn’t send anyone to guard me, they all went to grab the manuscript, but under that kind of pressure, no one can lie.”
With that said, Ian stood up and bowed deeply:
”Allow me to say sorry again.”
”I’m sorry for involving you in such a matter, in fact, there’s no need for you to hide anything for me.”
Klein, who understood the reason before and after, smiled and said:
”No, in this matter, it was mainly my own mistake that landed me in the current situation.”
He had just listened while reviewing the whole thing based on Ian’s description and his introspection over the past few days, confirming that he had made two mistakes:
”Discovering that the water of Ian’s matter is a bit deep, but still taking the commission, there is no problem, at that time, I just felt that it would involve the gangs, at best, at best, there are one or two extraordinary people in the shadows who do not dare to be exposed, and the divination lacks enough information, and the result is a failure …… This is in the realm of its own can be resolved, normally speaking. There won’t be any trouble, and maybe we can even take the opportunity to get in touch with the Extraordinary in Berkland.”
”After finding Zeruel’s body and determining that the water was deep, considering the sensitivity of one’s own identity, one immediately and decisively withdrew, leaving Ian to deal with the aftermath on his own, which was even less problematic, and quite a prudent choice.”
”One of the mistakes I made was that Merso didn’t decisively concede when he came to the door, shaking out the things related to Ian, but at that time, I only thought that the opposite side was a gangster, a few extraordinary people behind the gangster, who knew that it would involve a figure like Ambassador Intis, and even more unimaginable was the fact that Merso was so reckless, that after failing to delegate the task, he didn’t even do the threatening and intimidating, and didn’t go through any other process, and Directly came to my door to kill and sensitize me, not giving me a chance to back out at all, and my situation worsened from that.”
”So it wasn’t a mistake that was too subjective and too serious.”
”The one mistake that really caused me to be so passive was a small mistake at the very beginning, not making a disguise when renting and accepting commissions in the name of Sherlock Moriarty!”
”This led to the extraordinary person’s identity being exposed to the ambassador, not daring to escape, even after showing trepidation and panic and making MI9 and the police department think that my escape was a logical thing to do, fearing that the ambassador wouldn’t be able to find a target for retaliation, mentioning it in passing to the officialdom, and based on my experience as a night watchman, most of the ‘law enforcers’ ‘ are hostile to uncontrolled extraordinarys, and will certainly not ignore me because of the low sequence, and will inevitably launch an investigation.”
”At that time, my looks will be clear and crisp evidence that will be hunted down by the Goddess Church’s high Sequence powerhouses due to being involved in a Level 0 Seal and coming back from the dead.”
”This kind of thing can’t be pinned on the other party suddenly forgetting, or not putting it on their mind, one must plan for the worst in advance, if one waits until the ambassador’s side has taken some action before responding, it will definitely be too late, no matter if it’s an assassination, or if one is looking for a bodyguard, or if one buys an item, one will need enough time.”
”The only way I can solve this hidden danger is if the ambassador dies, and his aide dies with him, or turns his attention to investigating the cause of the ambassador’s death, his aide doesn’t have an official status and can’t be in direct contact with the officials, and it’s definitely not possible to go through all the trouble of reporting it for the sake of a tiny guy who’s a Sequence 9, or at most a Sequence 8, and who doesn’t know what’s wrong with him.”
”Of course, his death would be the best outcome, then there would be no hidden agenda.”
”Compared to getting help from Mr. Aztec, being back in the sights of ‘0-08’, and being hunted down by a high Sequence powerhouse, assassinating the ambassador is the relatively easiest option …… If he fails, he’ll only have to live with one of these two outcomes ……”
”Hey, everything stems from a small oversight at the very beginning, I just thought that after arriving in a metropolis of more than five million people, a metropolis where not many people recognize themselves, and avoiding the night watchmen, there’s no need to be in disguise every day, it’s rather easy to be able to see the problem, and as a result, in order to make such a small mistake, in the end, I have to pay a price of more than 10,000 gold pounds, and it may not be resolved ……”
”Really like a clown, ah, make a mistake, cause a chain reaction, and then try to struggle and try to balance, so as to please the audience ……”
”This is eating the loss of inexperience, this is the first time in my two lives combined that I’ve been a ‘fugitive from justice’.”
”When this matter is completely resolved and the identity of the Extraordinary One is exposed, it won’t be so dangerous, they’ll only think I got the magic potion during my recent search for a bodyguard, instead of suspecting the problem of my origin, of course, after that, I’ll have to get used to wearing glasses and growing a beard, so that those around me will gradually become accustomed to my new image, and then when I’m asked about it in the future, they’ll only be able to think of an image like this. ”
Thinking the whole thing through, Klein smiled more and more obviously, smiling in a way that made Ian feel weird.
”I should go, I’m going to disappear for a while or I’ll probably be thrown in jail.” Ian put on his hat and excused himself.
Without stopping him, Klein watched him disappear into the scarlet moonlight, and the lady on the convex belly window had somehow faded away.