Volume 7 The Inverted Man Chapter 70 Interaction
BECKLAND STEAM TRAIN STATION, platform three.
After talking with his parents and sister for a while, Alfred seized the gap before departure, left the train, came out onto the platform, and addressed a squire:
”Give me an East Byron cigarette.”
If the experiences of those years had affected him negatively in any way, it was only a few bad habits, aside from some mental anguish and pain.
After smoking a lot of “Dongbailang cigarettes” made directly from roasted tobacco leaves wrapped in spices and herbs, Alfred was completely uncomfortable with the paper cigarettes that were popular in the northern continent, believing that they were bland, tasteless, and just like watered-down spirits.
As for cigars, he thought it needed a good environment to savor, not suitable for now.
Of course, he was not a big smoker, and a “Knight of Discipline” had enough physical and mental strength to counteract the effects of this, and the reason Alfred came to the platform to smoke was because he found it too stuffy in the carriages, and his mother was always mentioning his marital problems.
When the squire had produced and lighted the “East Byron”, Alfred brought the burnt, blackened outer layer to his lips and inhaled deeply.
The strong flavor soaked into his body and lifted his spirits.
At that moment, he saw a classically sculpted blonde man leading his valet over to him.
Alfred hesitated, flashed a smile, raised his right hand and said:
”Hebert, I thought you wouldn’t return to East Chester.”
The visitor was none other than Earl Hall’s eldest son, Alfred’s brother, Lord Hibbert Hall.
Hibbert sketched out a smile that perfectly matched the etiquette and said:
”I’m only the Cabinet Secretary, not the Chief Cabinet Secretary, and won’t be so busy that I won’t even have a weekend.”
As a matter of fact, he wouldn’t be working as the Chief Cabinet Secretary either, his main purpose was to gain experience in different positions in several government departments, build up his own network resources, and prepare for entering the House of Lords in the future.
Alfred took another puff of his “East Byron cigarette” and said with a smile:
”Have a good weekend.”
After seeing Hibbert into the carriage, Alfred had a vague feeling that someone was looking this way, making a discussion:
”Why are there no passengers waiting on that train?”
”It doesn’t seem to be full.”
”Haha, that’s a special train, it was booked in advance by a big shot who spent a considerable amount of gold pounds, I know, you may not have seen a similar situation, but keep in mind that this happens from time to time in Bakerland, in large cities such as Constanton and so on, when those big shots go out with their families, they must all be accompanied by hundreds of servants, and maybe even pets, so how is it possible for them to squeeze in with ordinary people? A train ……”
”So ah ……”
”I wonder which big shot it is?”
Alfred looked over sideways, only to see dozens of people in gray and blue uniforms on the second platform quietly surveying this side across the tracks where no train had stopped.
The distance between the two sides wasn’t really that small, and if it weren’t for Alfred’s exceptional hearing, he certainly wouldn’t have been able to figure out what the men were discussing.
”They are?” Alfred asked his adjutant with a sideways glance.
He could only recognize that the uniforms those people wore belonged to the railroad company.
The adjutant immediately turned around, found the staff in charge of this station, and inquired.
Soon, he trotted back and whispered to Alfred:
”General, they are train dispatchers from all over the kingdom, and are receiving a short-term training in Beckland.”
Alfred nodded slightly and glanced at the second platform again.
The oldest of those train dispatchers already had gray hair, the youngest looked to be in their early twenties, most were middle-aged in their thirties and forties, and there was no lack of those with slightly graying sideburns.
……
Bayam, the “City of Generosity”, Sunyanakhai.
Verdoux, with a suitcase containing nothing of value, took a small boat out of the harbor at night, and boarded a pirate ship.
–Sequence 7 of the “Apprentice” pathway is not very good at fighting, and although Verdoux carries magical items, he is quite afraid of the negative effects, and is not willing to use them until the critical moment, so in order to avoid the danger, he tries not to bring things that are easy to arouse the greed of others, because of his lack of trust in pirates. cause other people’s greed for things.
The pirate on the deck swept Verdoux a glance, tsked and laughed:
”Don’t be afraid, we all keep our promises, as long as you pay enough for your ticket, we definitely won’t throw you into the sea. Here, you’re even safer than taking a passenger ship, at least you don’t have to worry about running into pirates.”
Seeing Verdoux keeping silent and looking a bit scared, this pirate proudly threw a key to him:
”Second level on the deck, that room at the very end.”
Verdoux took the brass-colored key, entered the cabin, climbed a flight of stairs, and traveled along the corridor to the deepest part.
This level seemed to be reserved for those who traveled on pirate ships for various reasons, and Verdoux encountered several passengers who didn’t look like pirates at all along the way.
Inside them were young ladies with slightly revealing clothes that looked like streetwalkers, middle-aged men with protruding bellies and oily faces, and extremely cold young men with trench coats and bowler hats.
”Want to stay at my place?” The woman asked with a winking smile when she saw Verdoux looking over, not knowing if she was planning to do some business on the way or just catching up while doing business.
Verdoux ignored her, withdrew his gaze and came outside his room.
The young man with a deep silhouette and cold, hard lines also stopped at the doorway diagonally across from him.
……
Berklander, West End, 9 Bellotto Street.
”Come in.” Hugh said as he straightened up from his wide seat.
The office door creaked open and two members of MI9 attached to Hugh’s unit walked in.
”Colonel, we’ve made some gains in our investigation of Utopia.” One of the men in a dark jacket handed a report to Hugh.
Hugh’s mind was slightly shocked while his spirit lifted:
”What is it?”
The man in the dark jacket said simply:
”During the last few days, taking advantage of the leisure that the last assignment had been handed over, we visited personally and through informants all the passengers of that steam train at Birkeland.”
No doubt he was referring to the steam train that had mistakenly stopped at Utopia.
”Hm.” Hugh nodded, signaling his subordinate to continue.
The man in the dark jacket pointed to the report:
”We have initially confirmed that those passengers who arrived at Berkland without incident are not abnormal, in good spirits, and have no cognitive problems.”
”However, one thing we have discovered is that not everyone returned to the train at that time; according to two passengers, their seatmates chose to remain in Utopia.”
”It was a lady who loved traveling and exploring, who had a deep love for unfamiliar places, and after seeing Utopia’s excellent wines, desserts, and unique sparkling iced teas, she decided to abandon her original itinerary and spend more time in this small city with a unique aura, to unearth even more beauty.”
”This was all known to the two passengers who were chatting with her, and not only did they share the same seat, but they chose to stay at the same hotel and had a rendezvous early in the morning.”
”That hotel was the same one our intelligence officer stayed at, called the ‘Iris’.”
Hugh said with a slow nod:
”Did you investigate the lady’s present condition?”
”What is her name?”
”No, we can’t determine if she has left Utopia by now.” Another member of MI9 with a small tuft of goatee replied, “The two passengers only knew the lady’s name as Monica, not sure of her last name or where she came from.”
Hugh let out a “hmmm”:
”Your mission after this is to investigate where this lady came from, find her family and friends, and confirm if she has returned.”
”Yes, Colonel.” The two MI9 officers saluted and exited Hugh’s office.
Hugh carefully read the report they submitted again and sighed silently.
She was actually closer to the truth of Utopia than her subordinates, already knowing that it was a ritual that had some connection with Germaine Sparrow.
However, she couldn’t report this information up and earn merit.
Leaving aside the source of the information for a moment, the most important thing for Hugh to consider was whether Gelman Sparrow would be willing to let this information leak out.
Perhaps one could try to contact Germaine Sparrow and ask for his opinion …… Hugh thoughtfully packed up her desktop and left MI9.
After changing her outfit, she returned to the East End and the Bridge, traveling like a bounty hunter to different bars and gathering all sorts of information from different acquaintances.
In the process, she did ask about Utopia in passing, but no one had heard of it.
Finally, Hugh entered a bar in the Bakerland Bridge area, sat down on a high stool at the bar, and addressed the bartender:
”Anyone suspicious lately?”
”A lot of people are quite suspicious, but they don’t have a bounty on them.” The bartender responded casually.
Hugh poked around the subject, asking for information, and at the end of the day, following the flow, asked:
”Have you ever heard of Utopia?”
”I’ve heard of it.” The bartender replied as he wiped his glass.
Hugh’s gaze, which was scrutinizing the bar table, lifted a little.
She looked at the bartender and said:
”Where did you hear about it?”
”A guest came in earlier and drank in moderation.” The bartender said with little concern, “I pitched him our specialty mixers and he said he had things to do and could only have one beer, I complimented him and asked where he was from and he said, Utopia.”
……
Wendell had just finished enjoying his breakfast when he heard the doorbell being pulled.
Through the cat’s eye, he saw a police officer in a black and white checkered uniform outside, and opened the door a bit suspiciously.
”Excuse me, what can I do for you?” Wendell asked politely.
This house was his assigned residence after arriving in Berkland, as he would be settling in this metropolis for the next not-so-short period of time, undergoing internal scrutiny and status monitoring.
The policeman was young, slightly green, and in his early twenties.
He piled on a smile and addressed Wendell:
”Hello, I’m Byers, a police officer, and there’s a case I’d like to ask you to testify in.”
”What case?” Wendell frowned slightly.
The young policeman named Byers said with a polite smile:
”The Tracy murder case in Utopia.”
”……” Wendell’s pupils instantly dilated.