Chapter 154: Sharing “Experience”

Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Four
Sharing “Experience”

Looking into Klein’s eyes, Dunn drew a breath, leaned back, and slowly exhaled.

“You are certain?”

His expression changed very little. It was as though he had long since prepared himself for a special application, merely not expected it to arrive this quickly.

Captain, why do I get the feeling that you just breathed out in relief and feel steadier now…

Klein did not conceal his smile.

“I am certain, Captain. When you have completely mastered a potion, you will feel something special and wonderful—an unmistakable certainty that you have truly mastered it.”

“Something special and wonderful…”

Dunn chewed over the phrase in a low voice, his brows slowly knitting.

Huh. During the Captain’s previous two advancements, did he advance before fully digesting his potions? That makes sense. Without understanding the acting method, truly digesting a potion is very hard… One can only rely on long years of grinding away at it, plus unconscious acting, to reduce the risk of losing control… Poor Captain…

Klein silently watched Dunn Smith. He did not speak, did not add anything, and allowed the man to think carefully.

Nearly a minute passed before Dunn’s deep gray eyes once more reflected Klein’s figure. Choosing his words, he said, “Perhaps waiting another year would be the better choice.”

Captain means that if I wait another year, it will not look too conspicuous. With Madam Daly as a precedent, the higher-ups will not pay too much attention to me. At most, they will place me on a further-observation list?

Klein thought for a moment, then answered candidly, “Originally, I planned to wait until next year before submitting a special application. After all, there are still many things I need to master—for example, I have only just begun learning combat.

“But, Captain, do you not feel that we have encountered too many coincidences over these last month or two? When we pursued the kidnappers, the Antigonus family notebook happened to be hidden in the opposite room. Sealed Artifact 2-049 was delayed in delivery, and Ray Bieber just so happened not to have fled Tingen, but instead began attempting to digest his power at the docks. I attended a birthday dinner, and it led to the Hynas Vincent matter. I went to the library to investigate, and on the spot, I encountered a member of the Aurora Order…

“I do not know what these coincidences mean, but they make me uneasy. So I want to strengthen myself as much as possible.”

Seizing this chance, Klein brushed against the matter of the mastermind behind the scenes. This had already been something he intended to place on his schedule: to remind the Nighthawk team without exposing his own special nature, so that they might find more clues from other directions. And in the eyes of others, what he had just said would lead only to one conclusion: sharp intuition and skill at sorting through events.

From the moment Klein said the word “but,” Dunn’s body had gradually leaned forward. By the end, his interlaced hands were pressed against his mouth.

His gaze was沉凝 and heavy. For a long while, he did not speak, as though thinking through what Klein had just said.

Several dozen seconds later, Dunn lifted his head. In a mellow, low voice, he said, “Very perceptive… Perhaps there truly is something hidden in the depths of darkness.”

Without waiting for Klein to respond, he turned the thought into an instruction.

“You may go write your special application.”

“All right,” Klein answered, the corners of his mouth rising.

He rose with a smile and walked toward the door. As expected, he heard the familiar supplement.

“Wait.”

Dunn called back the fellow who was about to open the door. Choosing his words, he said, “Pay attention to your wording.”

Do not worry, Captain. I care about that even more than you do!

Klein nodded in agreement, smiling all over his face.

He had originally thought Dunn might offer another solution: not going through the Sanctuary, but advancing privately to Sequence 8, then waiting three years before following the normal procedure. Yet after examining the situation carefully, Klein had realized that was impossible. Whether it was a special application or a normal application, the advancing member would have to pass an examination by personnel dispatched from the Sanctuary. One process was merely extremely complicated, while the other was rather simple.

By then, if he had secretly become Sequence 8, that would certainly be impossible to hide. It would implicate the entire Tingen Nighthawk team.

…

Leaving the Captain’s office, Klein, who had finished all his mysticism lessons, did not hurry underground to take over his shift. Instead, he slowly walked into the civilian staff office next door.

At this moment, one man and one woman sat inside the office. The man looked a little over thirty, the woman in her twenties. They were the two newly arrived staff members.

Seeing Klein enter, they first froze. Then they quickly piled on smiles, nodding in greeting while carrying both curiosity and awe toward a Beyonder.

Klein did not chat with them. He found an empty desk and began writing the draft for his “special application” with swift strokes.

Because he had long prepared the outline in his mind, he took only ten minutes to finish the initial work.

After reading it through several times and making multiple corrections, he sat before the Akerson 1346 mechanical typewriter and turned the draft into a formal copy.

Amid the tak, tak, tak of the keys, the two new civilian staff looked at each other. At the same time, they stood, left the office, and went to the reception hall to chat with Rozanne, leaving the room to Klein alone.

Very restrained, and very aware of confidentiality…

Klein glanced at their backs and silently praised them.

He withdrew his gaze and continued tapping at the keys.

Just as he was about to finish the special application, Leonard Mitchell emerged from the lounge. While buttoning his shirt, he looked around. His hair was messy in a way that carried unrestrained beauty.

“What report are you typing?” Leonard glanced into the civilian staff office, leaned against the doorframe, touched the floor with the toe of his right shoe, and asked with both hands in his pockets.

His green eyes examined Klein with interest.

Klein typed the final word and final punctuation mark, then turned his head and smiled.

“A special application.”

“A special application?” Leonard repeated, full of confusion.

Klein picked up the sheet of paper, quickly scanned it once, and explained as though mentioning it casually, “A special application to advance to Sequence 8.”

Cough! Cough, cough! Leonard suddenly coughed violently. It took a long while before he calmed down enough to blurt, “You have already digested the potion?”

Digested? My friend, you know quite a lot…

Holding the “special application,” Klein walked up to Leonard. He raised one eyebrow and said, “Yes.”

Then he stared into Leonard’s eyes, lowered his voice, and added with a chuckle, “I remember someone once told me that there are always people in this world who are rather special—people who can do things others cannot.

“For example, me.

“And also, for example, you.”

Leonard was blocked speechless at once. He could only change his standing posture, pull his hands from his pockets, and fold them across his chest.

He opened his mouth. At last, having organized his words, he asked in a deep voice, “Do you not think this is too—too risky?”

Since he knows about digestion, then he must understand that my advancement carries no risk on that front… Hm. Is he referring to the attention of the Church’s higher-ups?

Klein thought briefly, then explained, “Leonard, do you still remember the first mission we cooperated on? It was merely pursuing kidnappers, yet we discovered the clue to the Antigonus family notebook hidden in the room opposite…”

He repeated, word for word, the same matters he had just described to Dunn.

Leonard’s expression gradually turned grave. He nodded almost imperceptibly in agreement.

He muttered to himself, “Perhaps I should speed up as well…”

The moment the words left his mouth, he suddenly looked at Klein and revealed a brilliant smile.

“Are you not planning to share your experience with us? The experience of quickly mastering a potion and avoiding the risk of losing control to the greatest extent!”

This fellow changes faces so quickly…

Klein smiled.

“I am more than willing to share.”

He had intended to use today’s chance to hint at the other members of the Nighthawk team and lower their risk of losing control.

Of course, for his own safety, he could not speak as openly as he had to Dunn Smith. At most, he would describe the contents of his first round of groundwork—the part that could be shown to personnel sent by the higher-ups.

“Then do it now!”

Leonard could hardly wait. He pulled Klein toward the Nighthawks’ recreation room.

At that very moment, aside from Royale, who was on duty guarding Chanis Gate, the remaining Frye, Kernli, and Siga Teon were all there, leisurely playing cards.

“Everyone, everyone!”

Leonard knocked on the half-closed door and began speaking in a reciting tone.

“Allow me to solemnly introduce the gentleman beside me: Mr. Klein Moretti, who has completely mastered his potion in only a month and a half!”

…This guy is so exaggerated…

Klein suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

“What?” Siga Teon, the neither famous nor best-selling lady writer, tilted her head as though testing her own hearing.

“Leonard, stop joking. Your performances are always this flamboyant.”

Kernli helplessly covered the cards in his hand.

Frye held his cards, looked at Klein, and after several seconds of silence asked, “You have confirmed that you have completely mastered the potion?”

“Yes.”

Feeling the concern in the other’s words, Klein nodded with certainty.

“There is an obvious sign.”

“What? It is true?” Kernli shouted belatedly and stood up with a whoosh.

Leonard chuckled and pointed at the sheet of paper in Klein’s hand.

“This is his special application. His special application to advance to Sequence 8!”

“…How did you do it?” Siga Teon seemed to think of many things, but after drawing in a breath, she still asked only the question she cared about most.

Quiet and refined, even she found it hard at this moment to control the burning heat in her eyes.

Klein found a chair and sat down. His voice lowered somewhat.

“I drew inspiration from the maxim of the Mystery Pryers.”

“Do as you wish, but do no harm?” Leonard cooperated with great professionalism.

“Yes. Our internal materials show that Mystery Pryers who obey that maxim have a lower probability of losing control than normal.”

Klein repeated the information he had learned from Old Neil.

“After that, I had a further idea from Madam Daly’s case.”

“Daly the Spirit Medium?” Kernli asked back, seeking confirmation.

“Mm. Madam Daly also submitted a special application. In only two years, she went from Corpse Collector to Spirit Medium. She once told Old Neil that she wanted to be a true Spirit Medium.”

Klein explained in detail.

“Adding to that certain things I experienced at the Divination Club and the corresponding feedback I obtained, I gradually summarized a ‘Seer’s code’ and strictly followed it, attempting to become a true diviner… When I really did so, I discovered that my progress in mastering the potion became fast—very fast. It can hardly even be called mastering…”

After listening to Klein’s account, Frye, Siga, and the others all fell into thought. Leonard also pretended to think.

“I am going to submit the special application.”

Klein lifted the sheet of paper in his hand.

“If there are any questions, you can ask me privately later.”

“All right,” Frye replied, nodding with apparent coldness.

Leaving the recreation room, Klein knocked once again on the Captain’s office door.

He sat opposite Dunn’s desk, picked up a fountain pen and the ink pad, first signing his name and then pressing his fingerprint.

“Captain, my special application.”

After doing all of that, he held the paper in both hands and passed it to Dunn.

Dunn read it carefully, then set it down.

“I will send it to the Sanctuary as quickly as possible. Prepare yourself for the examination. It may be next week, or it may be the week after.”

“All right.”

Klein drew a breath and nodded solemnly.

He rose, left the Captain’s office, and casually pulled the door almost shut behind him.

During that process, he looked back at his application once. A thought rose unbidden in his heart:

I wonder what kind of examination I will face…