Chapter 125: A Bold Idea

Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Five
A Bold Idea

Faced with that “inexplicable familiarity,” Beyonders of other Sequence 9s might have tried hard to recall it, or might have ignored and forgotten it. But a Seer was different.

Klein directly ended the ritual, removed the wall of spirituality, found paper, and wrote down a divination statement:

“The source of the familiarity just now.”

Immediately afterward, he sat on the edge of the bedroom bed, holding the paper while silently reciting the statement.

After seven repetitions, his eyes darkened. With the aid of meditation, he entered sleep and “communed” with his own spirituality.

Inside that blurry, distorted world, Klein saw a carriage. He saw a young lady wearing a grayish-white dress.

The young lady had smooth black hair and a rather round face. Her temperament was mild and sweet, while her body trembled unnaturally.

The image flickered. Klein then saw that young and beautiful lady in the underground market, crouching in a rather crude posture as she talked with someone.

The dream quickly lost color, and Klein awoke, now understanding why the image presented in the mirror had felt familiar.

He had seen her in reality!

“The first time I encountered her was on Daffodil Street, in the area close to Iron Cross Street. That evening, the Captain and the others were chasing Instigator Tris in Lower Street, Iron Cross Street… It seems there truly is some connection between the two…”

Klein pondered for several dozen seconds. Then he arranged another ritual, prayed to the Goddess, and drew the enemy’s appearance as it existed in his memory.

Dunn and the others quietly waited the entire time, not speaking at random. Only now did they gather around and examine the portrait.

“You have seen her before?” Dunn asked.

Klein nodded faintly and answered concisely, “Yes. On the night you were chasing the Instigator, I encountered her at the public carriage stop on Daffodil Street. That belongs to the area near Iron Cross Street.”

“Then she is very likely the enemy from just now, and the Instigator’s accomplice,” Dunn said with a thoughtful nod.

At that moment, Leonard suddenly gave a soft sound of surprise.

“Do none of you feel this portrait looks familiar? She resembles Instigator Tris!”

Klein froze, then immediately looked down at the paper and reexamined the portrait of the young lady.

“Mm, she really is similar. A rather round face, long narrow eyes, a mild bearing…”

The more he looked, the more Leonard’s words made sense. It was only that Instigator Tris’s features, when combined, had still seemed ordinary, while this young lady could be described as beautiful.

Klein raised his head and glanced at Leonard, discovering that the other man was giving him a raised-eyebrow hint.

What does that mean?

For a moment, Klein was entirely confused.

Dunn Smith thought for a while and guessed, “Perhaps she is the Instigator’s sister, who likewise joined the Gnosis Society or the Demoness Sect.”

Seeing that Klein had no tacit understanding with him at all, Leonard sighed inwardly. Then he said with utmost seriousness, “I have a bold idea.”

“What idea?” Dunn asked.

Leonard stated it directly.

“I suspect this person is Instigator Tris.”

“What?” Frye blurted in astonishment.

Dunn frowned slightly.

“You mean Instigator Tris was actually female? Or that the person just now was a man disguised as a woman? No—from the contact within the dream, I can confirm she was female.”

Klein, who had seen far too many bizarre ideas and all kinds of inconceivable plots, looked at the portrait again and immediately formed another guess.

“Could Instigator Tris have become a woman?”

If that were the case, many details could be explained. For example, why all clues to Tris had suddenly stopped, and why even divination could find no trace of him. That was because the target had undergone a fundamental change.

The only question was: how did he suddenly become a woman, and how did it seem so effortless? After becoming a “cross-dressing boss,” the other party actually looked pretty good. No—if he was honest with himself, quite good…

Klein’s thoughts wandered uncontrollably.

Leonard nodded in relief.

“Yes. That is my thought. This can perfectly explain the sudden disappearance of Instigator Tris, and it also fits the trait that the upper ranks of the Demoness Sect are all female.”

“…”

For a moment, Dunn and Frye could not speak.

Even though they had seen quite a few monsters and quite a few miraculous things, this was still the first time they had encountered a change like this.

“You mean that quite a few women in the upper ranks of the Demoness Sect were once men?” Dunn asked back. Without waiting for an answer, he continued on his own, “That is indeed possible to a certain extent… Perhaps this is a characteristic of their Sequence potions.”

Listening to this, Klein felt a chill in his lower body. The Demoness pathway’s potions were simply outrageous!

“I hope the Seer Sequence has no potion this cursed… No, it definitely does not. One is the Demoness pathway. The name alone shows something is wrong… But I do not know what Sequence 1 corresponding to Seer is…”

He subconsciously began praying to the Goddess.

“Can potions even accomplish something like this?”

Frye still asked with a hint of disbelief.

Leonard spread his hands and smiled.

“Even low- and middle-Sequence potions can bring miraculous changes to a person. After all, they all once originated from the Creator.”

At that point, Dunn turned his head toward Klein.

“Try divining the target’s current location.”

“All right.”

Klein came before the disorderly pile of dresses. With an extremely complicated feeling, he picked one up and spread it on the carpet.

He planted his cane upon it. While recalling the target’s appearance, traits, and corresponding information, he silently recited the divination statement:

“Tris—no, Trissy’s whereabouts.

“Trissy’s whereabouts.

“…”

After seven repetitions, Klein’s eyes changed from brown to black, and wind suddenly circled around him.

His left hand left the head of the cane, allowing that black, silver-inlaid cane to sway.

It wobbled again and again, but did not fall. In the end, it stabilized in its original place.

“There is interference,” Klein said in a deep voice.

Interference meant the direction itself was not wrong.

That lady just now was very likely Instigator Tris—no, Trissy!

Seeing this, Dunn gave an almost imperceptible nod.

“As expected of the Demoness Sect, which was already active on the continent’s stage during the previous epoch…”

Because Tris had become Trissy, he judged that the other party was not a member of the Gnosis Society, but belonged to the Demoness Sect.

Dunn looked around and sighed.

“We can investigate from other angles. For example, the origin of these dresses, the owner of this house, and have the police department dispatch personnel to search the steam train station and the docks.”

Those methods will indeed uncover clues, but by then Trissy will have had plenty of time to leave Tingen… Mm. I will return home and try above the gray fog…

Klein was full of wariness toward someone like Trissy, who would create a large-scale massacre at the slightest provocation. He wished he could find her immediately and execute her on the spot.

“Leonard, go to the police department and gather personnel to handle the follow-up. Klein, you may go home and rest…”

At that point, Dunn rubbed his temples and paused for a few seconds. Then, half testing and half instructing, he looked toward Klein.

“If you were in command, how would you have handled what happened just now? Assume your team members were me, Leonard, and Frye.”

Klein furrowed his brows and thought for over ten seconds.

“I would first use divination to confirm whether the ritual would take effect within a short time. If the answer were negative, then I would monitor the place without approaching, send someone to notify the police department and the nearby garrison, mobilize at least five cannons, and carry out saturating bombardment on this house. Directly flatten the altar. Directly flatten the place where Trissy was hiding.

“She would either hide inside and be blasted to death, or risk escaping under artillery fire. That would very easily expose her figure. Beforehand, I would have you, Captain, and the others guard different directions…”

The more Klein spoke, the more excited he became. He felt this method was simple and effective, rough and decisive, very safe, and very steady!

Dunn, Leonard, and Frye listened until they all fell into a daze. For a long moment, no one spoke.

“Uh, Captain, is this method not good?”

Seeing their reaction, the excited Klein suddenly felt a little uncertain.

Dunn was silent for several seconds before saying, “No. This method is very good. It simply requires one additional premise: confirming whether violently destroying the altar would cause an even worse result… Sigh. After being Nighthawks for a long time, we have often grown used to relying on ourselves, relying on extraordinary abilities, relying on corresponding firearms. We are also used to preventing ordinary people from coming into contact with supernatural incidents…”

All right. I have always been a loyal supporter of firepower coverage…

Klein silently added in his heart.

…

Beneath deep night, Klein and Leonard walked almost five hundred meters before seeing a public carriage stop.

After waiting a short while, they returned to Iron Cross Street. One went to the nearby police station; the other headed toward Daffodil Street.

Arriving outside his own door, Klein straightened his clothes and confirmed that nothing looked strange before taking out his key and opening the front door.

Inside the living room, beneath fairly bright gaslight, Melissa and Benson sat in warmth and quiet: one doing homework, the other reading.

Benson spent the entire day running everywhere outside. Even after coming home exhausted, he still insists on studying. He really is a man with perseverance… I cannot do that. Right now, I only want to lie down…

Klein glanced at his elder brother, raised his hand with a smile, and greeted them soundlessly.

Benson smiled.

“I now understand that generous salaries come with a price.”

“Everything in this world has a price. To gain something, one must give something.”

As Klein spoke, he set his cane upon the stand near the door.

“Emperor Roselle seems to have said that sentence?” Melissa stopped her pen and lifted her head.

Tingen Technical School differed from universities and public schools. Its summer vacation lasted only two weeks from late July to early August. Once the hottest period had passed, classes resumed immediately.

“Did he? I did not know…”

Klein’s expression became slightly stiff.

As he removed his hat, he walked toward the staircase, planning to go above the gray fog as soon as possible and divine Trissy’s whereabouts.

Suddenly, he heard his stomach rumble and felt powerful hunger.

“Ah, right. I have not eaten dinner yet… But in the note I left, I said the security company would provide a working meal, so there was no need to save food for me… The Captain, really, he forgot about that…”

Klein’s expression changed several times. He wanted to pretend he had already eaten his fill.

Just then, Melissa turned her head and glanced at him. She pointed toward the kitchen.

“I saved you a small lamb chop, a serving of vegetable soup, and several strips of bread.”

After saying that, she lowered her head again, turning her gaze back to her textbook. In a voice like she was talking to herself, she muttered softly, “I felt that working meals would not be very good. They would make people lose their appetite…”