Chapter 127: Laying the Groundwork

Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Seven
Laying the Groundwork

Light piercing through glass illuminated the guard room outside the armory. Old Neil finished reading the newspaper, took a sip of coffee, and lifted his head toward Klein.

“How do you feel now? Have you calmed down? Or do you need a cup of wine, an advance on your salary, or a leisurely day off?”

At that very moment, Klein, having completely digested the Seer potion, was attempting to use meditation to change the “switch” for his spirit vision and make it less conspicuous.

Now, he no longer depended on stimulating a few particular spots on his body to activate spirit vision. Therefore, he could accomplish the goal in a more concealed way—for instance, quickly pinching two joints of his middle finger with his thumb, or tapping the teeth on the left side twice in succession.

Considering that there would be times when he had to hold a gun in one hand and a cane in the other, while still needing to use spirit vision, Klein ultimately chose the method of tapping his teeth. Left side to open it. Right side to close it.

After repeatedly hinting at himself and completing the adjustment, he opened his eyes and said with a smile, “I was only too focused on the Captain and the others’ operation. I do not need to calm my emotions.”

At the same time, he lightly tapped the teeth on the left side of his mouth twice, trying to activate spirit vision so he could become familiar with the method as quickly as possible.

Cough, cough, cough!

Old Neil suddenly began coughing violently, coughing until his face turned scarlet like a boiled lobster.

“What happened?”

Klein froze for a moment and asked in concern.

He carefully examined Old Neil’s aura and discovered that the other man’s health colors were fairly normal. They were only somewhat weakened due to age.

Old Neil coughed for another ten or so seconds before finally recovering. He reached out, picked up his coffee, and slowly took a sip.

“Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. Cough. I choked on my own saliva just now… Shall we begin today’s mysticism lesson?”

“All right.”

Klein tapped the teeth on the right side of his mouth almost soundlessly twice.

Having digested the Seer potion one or two weeks earlier than expected left him both delighted and troubled. The delight required no explanation. Escaping the hidden danger of losing control, soon obtaining advancement, and mastering more extraordinary abilities were matters enough to make anyone happy and excited. The trouble lay in the fact that it disrupted his arrangements and plans.

Considering that he still needed to remain with the Tingen Nighthawks for a long time, Klein did not believe quietly becoming a Clown was a good choice. If he did, he would constantly worry about exposure, and during missions requiring cooperation, he would not dare use the corresponding abilities at all, thereby putting himself in even greater danger.

His plan was to imitate Spirit Medium Daly: submit a special application to the higher-ups, use accumulated merits to exchange for the formula and extraordinary materials, and openly become a Sequence 8 Nighthawk.

But there was a fundamental difference between “mastering” a potion in one month and mastering it in one year. Klein could bear a certain degree of attention from the Sanctuary, and was willing to become someone重点 cultivated. But he absolutely did not want to attract intense suspicion from the upper ranks. He needed to find a sufficiently convincing reason for his condition.

His original arrangement had been to use the period before the Seer potion was fully digested to gradually lay some groundwork with the Captain: for instance, mention that every trip to the Divination Club made his spirituality feel lively; pretend to casually describe the “Seer’s code” he had summarized through helping others divine again and again; and mention in advance that recently, he had basically stopped hearing sounds he should not hear or seeing things he should not see.

In this way, the Nighthawk higher-ups would believe that while completing his “mission,” he had unconsciously imitated Daly, and had even done so more thoroughly.

That would make them focus their attention on summarizing patterns and exploring in the direction of the acting method. It would greatly reduce their suspicion toward Klein, leaving only routine examination.

Mm. This can also remind the Captain and help him discover the acting method…

Klein silently added this sentence in his heart. To him, Dunn Smith was a very good captain. Aside from having a slightly poor memory, Dunn had no major flaws. Therefore, Klein hoped to reduce the hidden danger of losing control for him and make him stronger.

Of course, Klein could also choose to wait a year before submitting his special application. That would require no risk at all. But the continuous coincidences and the red chimney he had seen through dream divination forced him to improve himself as quickly as possible.

“Next, I will spend two weeks laying groundwork with the Captain three or four times. Then I will formally submit the application… At the same time, I can go to the underground market and see whether there are corresponding extraordinary materials… They will probably be very expensive…”

Klein quickly made his decision and returned his attention to the mysticism lesson.

Time flowed by second after second. Beautiful lunchtime gradually arrived. Old Neil finished the coffee in his cup and began tidying the miscellaneous objects on the table. With a smile, he said, “Your mysticism lessons are about to end. Judging from the attempts just now, you can already make charms for yourself.”

“That is precisely my arrangement for the next few days.”

Klein exhaled in satisfaction.

Charms differed from the amulets he had previously given Benson and Melissa. They had to be engraved with ritual assistance and possessed certain special abilities that could be used in intense combat.

But low-grade charms were likewise not omnipotent. The spirituality they contained would constantly decline. Every two weeks, they had to be “made” again, and they still required specific incantations to activate. They could not be used instantly whenever one wished.

In addition, the charms Nighthawks could master remained limited to the Evernight Goddess’s “domain.” At present, Klein could make only three kinds.

The first was a Slumber Charm, whose effect resembled Dunn Smith’s and Leonard Mitchell’s chanting that brought peace and induced sleep.

The second was a Requiem Charm, capable of soothing ghosts, shadows, zombies, and water ghosts, and of dealing with resentful spirits and evil spirits to a certain degree.

The third was a Dream Charm, which could help the caster enter a target’s dream.

These effects overlapped with the abilities of the Midnight Poet and Nightmare from the Sleepless Sequence. Therefore, Dunn, Leonard, and the others almost never used charms. It was Frye the Corpse Collector, as well as Sleepless teammates such as Royale and Kernli, who carried one or two on them. Even then, they were rarely useful in the long term and had to be “recharged” by Old Neil every so often.

At that moment, Old Neil glanced at Klein and smiled.

“I remember that because you practiced too frequently this month, your material quota is already gone. Are you planning to go to the underground market?”

Klein first froze. Then, heart aching, he nodded.

“Yes.”

He knew the price of those materials clearly. He could only hope to succeed on the first try and not waste anything…

After taking on the duty of sending lunch underground, Klein put on his coat, his hat, and took his cane, returning to Blackthorn Security Company on the second floor.

When he passed the entertainment room, he saw Leonard and the others had already returned and were eating.

Thump, thump, thump! He knocked on the Captain’s office door.

“Come in.”

Dunn’s mellow voice sounded from inside.

Klein pushed the door open, entered, removed his hat, and said, “Captain, did you catch Instigator Trissy?”

Dunn pinched his temples, looking somewhat tired as he shook his head.

“We did not find her at Tingen Station. But according to a telegram sent from Backlund, a passenger saw her in the first-class carriage of the earliest train. Unfortunately, she got off halfway.”

“That truly is regrettable.”

Having already mentally prepared himself, Klein sighed.

“Divination is not omnipotent…”

Dunn’s gray eyes swept over him.

“You do not need to feel dejected. A Sequence 7 Beyonder is not so easily caught. At least, we destroyed Trissy’s evil ritual, saved at least forty innocent lives, and grasped her current condition, preventing her from committing crimes as recklessly as before.

“If she wants to do something similar again, someone may notice her, discover her, and report her at any time. Sooner or later, she will be found by us Nighthawks, or by the Mandated Punishers, or by the Machinery Hivemind. She will be captured. Of course, death is more likely.”

“I hope so. May the Goddess protect us.”

Klein drew a crimson moon over his chest.

Immediately afterward, he paused. Carefully choosing his words, he said, “Captain, I have not heard sounds I should not hear or seen things I should not see for over a week. And this is under circumstances where I often meditate and frequently use spirit vision.”

“Mm?”

Dunn furrowed his brow slightly in puzzlement.

Klein immediately added, “I feel that I am not far from completely mastering the Seer potion, and this may have something to do with the fact that I often go to the Divination Club to perform divinations for others.”

“…Why would you have such a thought?”

Dunn shifted his sitting posture, showing an expression of confusion.

Klein deliberately answered with less fluency than usual.

“Every time—every time I go to the Divination Club, I feel my spirituality become lively. And every time I perform a divination for someone, my body, mind, and spirit feel much lighter afterward. I have also summarized a set of—mm—a set of Seer’s rules from those experiences and strictly followed them. It is like the Mystery Pryer maxim: ‘Do as you will, but do no harm.’ Heh. I drew inspiration from that phrase and tried to imitate it, formulating maxims for a Seer.

“I think this may be an effective method for helping Beyonders master potions more quickly and reduce the chance of losing control. Just like Madam Daly—she has always been acting as a Spirit Medium.”

At some point, Dunn had taken out his pipe and placed it near his nose, gently smelling it. He seemed to have forgotten Klein and fell into thought for several minutes before finally speaking.

“An interesting guess. A worthwhile attempt…”

This time, Klein’s purpose was only to point in that direction, to lay groundwork. Therefore, he did not elaborate further. Instead, half joking and half preparing Dunn in advance, he said, “Perhaps I will become the fastest member in Nighthawk history to master a Sequence 9 potion.”

“May the Goddess protect you.”

Dunn did not take the statement too seriously and gave a smiling blessing. Then he sank back into thought.

Seeing this, Klein stood, said farewell, and left the Captain’s office.

While helping pull the door closed, he suddenly thought of another difficult problem: how was he supposed to act as a Clown?

Do not tell me I have to join a circus? And Tingen does not even have a permanent circus. They are all traveling troupes…

Klein’s expression instantly turned bitter.

Being a diviner still has a certain style to it. Even if an acquaintance catches me, I can keep my head up. But going to be a clown has no dignity at all!

Perhaps—perhaps there are other ways to act. When the Blasphemy Slate appeared, there were no circuses and no clowns… Forget it. I will only have a chance to advance in another two or three weeks. No need to think about this problem yet…

Like someone fleeing from reality, Klein walked toward the reception-area sofas, toward Rozanne, Mrs. Orianna, Brett, and the others, toward the lunch that belonged to him and Old Neil.