Part 2 the faceless man chapter 89 the clue
It was not long after Crane and the others had lunched that the detective who had taken his leave returned to Green Park Street, which meant that the commission he had received came to an end.
Because of the marked improvement in Atru’s condition, Logo Carrowman had been quite generous in settling his payment, at a full fifty percent premium over the ten pounds.
”Worthy of being a jeweler, really generous, however, compared to others in the West End and Queens, he is not so rich, Green Park Street is close to the suburbs, and even not far from the cemetery, I can reach …… in ten minutes with a full run, Miss Bodyguard, no, Miss Sharon, the probability of is a Sequence 5 powerhouse, charging a rate of a thousand pounds for three days, while I, as a Sequence 7 Extraordinary, am only fifteen pounds a day, the gap is still a bit big ah ……”
”Of course, if I can have such a task every day, my annual income will be more than 5,400 pounds, belonging to the top of the middle class, the first manager of the Bank of Birkeland is only 5,000 pounds per year …… Oh, this is just pure fantasy, for most detectives, it really is a week without opening and Open and eat for a week …… And the extraordinary materials I need to advance to Sequence 6 definitely add up to more than 3,000 pounds, which gives you a headache just thinking about it, and that’s a huge amount of money for the average person, a huge amount of money that can sustain a decent life for the rest of your life!”
”The good news is, even if I master the playing method, it will take six months to three years to digest the magic potion of Sequence 7, even if I can quickly summarize the rules of ‘Magician’, it will still be at most one or two months ahead of the minimum, I still have enough time to save up and gather clues for the materials ……”
”Wait, it seems Miss ‘Justice’ still owes me, er, my dependents, 5000 pounds ……”
”But her finances haven’t been too good lately, it’ll be hard for her to come up with such a large sum of money again in a few months ……”
Crane left the West End with the three five-pound denomination bills in his hand and his thoughts very much dispersed.
On his return to Minsk Street, he hurriedly burned the used papier-mâché and made up two extra ones.
Waiting until late in the evening, he took the steam subway to the Birkeland Bridge area and knocked on the door of the party house, following the figures given in the paper.
As he had done several times before, he donned an iron mask that only covered the upper half of his face, put on a black robe with a hood, and was led by the attendant into the sitting room where only a single candle burned silently.
At a glance, Klein realized that there were close to half as many Extraordinary People at this gathering as there had been in the past.
I’ve come at the right time, the others are this late? Klein didn’t bother to change his walking posture or habitual movements this time, picking a seat in the corner and slowly sitting down.
After a few minutes, Mr. Wisdom Eye cleared his throat and said:
”Let’s get this party started, I don’t think anyone else is coming.”
Speaking of this, he explained slightly:
”Because that serial murder case has never been able to find the murderer, most of the extraordinary people from the Night Watchers, the Substitute Punishers, the Mechanical Heart, and the MI9 have been sent out and are doing large-scale elimination and searching.”
”In this kind of situation, it’s normal and understandable for those friends to be reluctant to go out and participate in the party.”
”Frankly speaking, more people came today than I expected.”
As expected, the Circle of Extraordinary People is not isolated, and is equally affected by current events …… Klein looked around and saw that the chubby pharmacist was not absent, and his heart relaxed a lot.
The pharmacist pushed the iron mask on his face and shouted without much hope:
”Seeking the purchase of the Elven Fountain’s medullary crystals, the price is negotiable.”
”I have it.” Klein spoke without hesitation.
He was worried that others had found this extraordinary material as well, thus backlogging his goods.
-While extraordinary materials were scarce and duplicates rarely appeared in separate circles, this kind of thing was not to be feared.
”Requesting the Elven Fountain’s medullary crystals ……” The apothecary didn’t seem to hear anyone responding.
Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly froze and jerked his head around to look at Klein, his eyes blazing as he asked offhandedly:
”You have?”
”Yes.” Klein was a bit unable to withstand the other man’s fiery gaze.
As he made an affirmative reply, he rolled up his black robe and took out an iron cigarette case.
Snap! Klein opened the cigarette rolling box and let the faded egg-like Elven Spring Medulla Crystals inside unfold.
”If you’re not sure, you can have old Mr. ‘Eye of Wisdom’ do an appraisal.” Klein added in a deep voice.
This wasn’t really necessary, as it was obvious at a glance whether it was an extraordinary material or not, and after getting his hands on it, whether it had been contaminated or not was also something that could be quickly discovered.
However, if the knowledge of the occult wasn’t rich enough, extraordinary people could easily mix similar materials together, and at such times, identification was needed.
The pharmacist looked at the extraordinary materials in Klein’s hands as if he was looking at a beautiful woman he had been coveting for a long time, looking at them obsessively for several seconds before shaking his head:
”No, no need!”
”That’s it!”
”That’s it!”
Klein slightly hooked the corner of his mouth and offered a price:
”Three hundred pounds, and a clue to the Apothecary’s formula.”
”The clue to the Apothecary’s Formula …… It’s you!” The apothecary froze for a moment, finally realizing who the one across from him was.
It was the guy who had made him make an empty trip with the sedative!
Immediately, he exclaimed with pain to the core and regret to the core:
”You really are a lucky guy!”
”Why didn’t I choose that lucky path in the first place ……”
After all, I am the king of yellow and black who reigns over good fortune …… Klein spat to himself.
The apothecary let out a long sigh and changed his sitting position:
”That’s too expensive, 200 pounds plus the clue to the recipe.”
”The clue to the recipe is only incidental, as I can’t confirm its authenticity, so £300, not a penny less, and I think someone elsewhere should need it.” Klein smirked, “That’s actually a fair price, anyone else would probably offer £400, or even £500, and you’d probably take it all.”
”I wouldn’t be that stupid, I can still wait ……” the apothecary muttered twice, “The clues can be had for the old man, er, old Mr. ‘Wisdom’s Eye’ to appraise it.”
”It has to be something that exists objectively and in exhaustive detail for me to authenticate it, mere clues are not in that category.” “The ‘Eye of Wisdom’ old gentleman exited with a reminder.
And divination can roughly determine whether a clue is valid or not, without involving a power two or three levels higher than itself …… Klein muttered to himself wordlessly.
However, he would not reveal that he was good at divination at the gathering of extraordinary people.
”Well …… 300 pounds plus clues, you’ve earned it!” The apothecary sucked in his breath and rubbed it out, pulling out a thick wad of cash and counting out the corresponding amount before asking the attendant to fetch a pen and paper and burying his head in writing.
Brushing, he got the clues right, crumpled the paper haphazardly into a ball, and handed it to the attendant, along with the cash, and a few other items piece by piece.
When the waiter came over, Klein looked at it, and suddenly froze a little.
For in addition to the cash and the clues, there were four additional thin glass tubes filled with what looked like pure liquid.
”What’s this?” Klein asked, puzzled.
”Did you forget? The sedative you asked for, my special sedative, is ten sousler each, four for two pounds, so that makes the cash two hundred and ninety-eight pounds.” The pharmacist replied, “If you are unsure about my sedatives, you can request an appraisal.”
I really forgot …… I that was all to get Miss Sharon’s trust, and now she’s not here, well, it’s good to have a sedative always on hand to maybe deal with certain unforeseen circumstances …… Klein stopped talking, shook out the medullary crystals of the Elven Fountain, and took the things, and Counted up the cash in front of everyone and recognized the authenticity by the weak candlelight.
A total of 298 pounds …… pairs of …… Seeing that the money clip could no longer hold more cash, Klein had to roll up the bills and stuff them into his coat pocket.
After putting away the tranquilizer, he unfolded the note and glanced at the clue:
”Bridge South, Moonflower Street, Harvest Church, ask for Bishop Utravski. If you can help him with a quest, you may be able to get the Apothecary’s Formula.”
Harvest Church, this is the Church of Mother Goddess of the Earth in the Kingdom of the few churches, and this church holds the “cultivator” and “pharmacist” two extraordinary paths …… clues match very well! …… Klein thoughtfully refolded the note.
As the party progressed, the woman with the “artisan” behind her never spoke up, either because she didn’t show up or because she hadn’t gotten her new extraordinary weapon, so Klein’s expectations were dashed – he now had 509 pounds in cash, so he could think about his equipment! .
After many deals had been aborted, a man sitting on a high stool spoke up in a low voice:
”A friend of mine has unfortunately been caught in the middle of this sweep and has been imprisoned by the Substitute Punisher in the bowels of a certain storm church, and I’d like to enlist the help of a few to work together to rescue him.”
”Old Mr. Wise Eyes” responded instantly:
”‘Wild Dog’, abandon that intention! A storm church of vicarious punishers and seals is enough to destroy us all here.”
”Your friend’s end is already sealed, you must not put yourself in the same desperate situation.”
”Wild Dog” looked around the room and realized that no one was responding to him, and couldn’t help but pound his thigh and growl lowly:
”But what exactly did he do wrong?”
”He’s an excellent internist, he’s saved many patients, and he’s never hurt anyone! Just because he took a magic potion and became an Extraordinary, he has to be imprisoned to a place where he can never see the sun, or even be an experiment for the Substitute Punisher?”
”Why?”
”Why ……”
”Wild Dog” painful and desperate questioning echoed in the room, even the pharmacist who has always been unable to control his mouth kept silent.
Ai …… once official extraordinary person Klein can only in the heart long sigh.
In the case of not announcing the “play law”, the wild extraordinary person belongs to the time bomb ……
But if the popularization of the “play law”, the situation may be more chaotic, more bloody …… After all, the extraordinary characteristics of indestructible and constant ……
In this depressing atmosphere, the party came to an end, and Klein, who had nothing else to gain, spoke again:
”Does anyone have pistol bullets with different extraordinary effects attached to them?”
”Like, purification effects, demon hunting effects, etc., etc.”
He didn’t specifically ask for the caliber of the bullets because he didn’t have a gun right now, and it was perfectly fine to wait to configure the bullets once he bought them.
In a silence, a female Extraordinary who was also sitting in the corner responded in a low voice:
”I can ask for you and give you an answer at the next gathering.”
It seemed to be the lady with the “artisan” behind her …… Klein exhaled:
”Okay.”
When the party was over, he didn’t go straight back to Minsk Street, but went to the East End, changed his clothes, and headed to where the North End meets Hillsdon.
That was where Kopsti Reed, a suspected member of the Spirit Order, was renting a place.