Chapter 208: Expensive Materials

Chapter 208: Expensive Materials

The front door of Patrick Jason’s house was suddenly pushed open, and a group of Nighthawks in black wool coats jogged inside.

Their expressions were vigilant and guarded, as though they were facing an enemy of extreme terror.

Thud. Thud. Thud. A silver full-body suit of armor walked in.

It gave off an unusually heavy feeling, and every detail followed an ancient style. From the left shoulder diagonally down toward the lower abdomen was a splashed patch of dark-red bloodstain that could not be washed clean. Together with the scattered red specks elsewhere, it formed an image with a strange, bewitching beauty, like a unique and magnificent decoration.

The Spirit Warlock, Soest, took out his pocket watch and glanced at it.

“Switch.”

The silver full-body armor stopped. It raised a hand and lifted its visor, revealing the wearer within: a rather handsome man with black hair and green eyes.

“Leonard, second-floor master bedroom washroom. Hot water has already been prepared. Do not delay, or you will only be able to return to the embrace of the Goddess,” Soest reminded him.

“Yes, Captain Soest.” With the help of the other Nighthawks, Leonard Mitchell removed the heavy bloodstained silver armor.

Wearing red gloves, he did not exchange greetings and did not hesitate. He went straight to the second floor and found the bathtub still giving off white steam.

Swish, swish, swish. Leonard rapidly stripped off his clothing and lay down in the hot water, not even leaving his nose above the surface.

His skin quickly reddened like a cooked lobster, while strange silver lines resembling wounds gradually seeped out across his surface.

Those silver lines were like pure, sharp sword-light, continuously diffusing outward and merging into the hot water.

In just over ten seconds, the white steam vanished, and a thin, transparent layer of ice even formed across the surface of the hot water.

Only once all the silver lines had dispersed did Leonard roll over and sit up, gasping for breath.

He tilted his head slightly as though listening to something, then lowered his voice and asked, “Old man, do you know the origins of 1-42?”

Immediately, a slightly aged voice sounded in his mind.

“You are growing more and more impolite.

“I do not know the origins of that strange armor.”

Before Leonard could ask again, the voice gave a heh.

“But I roughly recognize the owner of that patch of blood.”

“Who is it?” Leonard asked curiously.

The slightly aged voice spoke in a low tone.

“An ancient god from before the Cataclysm.”

…

South Borough of the Bridge, Rose Street, Harvest Church.

The moment Klein stepped into the quiet prayer hall, he saw Father Utravsky and the vampire Emlyn White sitting one behind the other, one tall and one short, with the fingers of both hands interlaced, palms loosely cupped before their mouths and noses.

This was the prayer posture unique to the Church of the Mother Earth.

At this very moment, Emlyn White’s expression was gentle and peaceful, with none of his former arrogance or frustration visible.

The corner of Klein’s mouth twitched slightly. Silently, he drew the triangular holy emblem over his chest.

He casually found a place to sit. Only after the prayer ended did he walk to Emlyn White’s side and say with a smile, “Today, you seem especially devout.”

“What?” Emlyn abruptly woke, his face turning pale as he muttered to himself, “What did I do? What did I do…”

His voice gradually lowered, as if he had already recalled what he had just done.

“Perhaps it isn’t a bad thing,” Klein said in a completely unconvincing attempt to comfort him. Then he sat beside the vampire.

“I don’t want to hear others say that, even if I myself feel my resistance becoming weaker and weaker…” Emlyn’s face was dark as he spoke in a tone close to mourning. “But I don’t want to betray the Moon!”

Klein did not continue that topic, which made the vampire sad. He asked casually, “Do your Sanguine worship the Primordial Moon, or a certain deity who represents the Moon? Or can the two be treated as equal?”

“Both.” Emlyn lifted his chin slightly. “For orthodox Sanguine, of course we believe in the deity who represents the Moon. Her name is Lilith. She is the progenitor of our Sanguine, an ancient deity. Sanguine transformed from humans are more inclined to worship the Primordial Moon. Under normal circumstances, the two can be equated, but at certain times they do not overlap and are distinct.”

“Sanguine transformed from humans?” Klein was not surprised that Emlyn White could say the name of the Second Epoch ancient god, Lilith. Instead, he cared more about so-called humans transformed into Sanguine.

This is the “Vampire” Sequence Mr. Azik once mentioned? he silently thought.

Emlyn’s expression turned somewhat complicated.

“Yes. There are two kinds. One is transformed through the First Embrace granted by powerful Sanguine. The other becomes Sanguine by taking the corresponding potion. The latter are the enemies we hate the most.”

“Why?” Klein vaguely guessed the answer.

Emlyn answered through gritted teeth, “Because the main ingredient for their potion is our blood essence.”

As expected… Klein could not help turning his head and measuring Emlyn up and down.

Emlyn, who felt strangely nervous under that gaze, gave a snort.

“You are already a Beyonder. You can no longer switch pathways!”

I was merely seeing walking—no, living—no, talking Beyonder material for the first time… But in a certain sense, every human Beyonder is also such a material… Klein had originally only wanted to make a casual joke in his heart, but intense sadness swiftly welled up.

At that moment, Emlyn glanced at Bishop Utravsky, who was carefully wiping the Sacred Emblem of Life, and lowered his voice.

“I have found two of the materials you wanted.”

“What are they?” Klein did not hide his delight.

Emlyn responded fluently, “The mutated brain pituitary gland of a Thousand-faced Hunter and its blood. The other party’s asking price is 2,000 pounds for the former and 300 pounds for 100 milliliters of the latter, for a total of 2,300 pounds.”

2,300… Klein blurted out, “Can it be cheaper?”

After retrieving his bail, all the cash he currently had totaled 2,185 pounds.

For someone of the middle class, that was already an extremely ample amount of savings. Some might need a lifetime to accumulate that much. Yet Klein discovered that it still was not enough…

“No. If not for me, he originally wanted 2,800 pounds. According to our agreement, you must also pay me an additional reward of 150 pounds, for a total of 2,450 pounds,” Emlyn said, shaking his head.

Glancing at Klein’s expression, he hurriedly added, “In this era, dragons are rare and seldom seen. Aside from the long-lived Sanguine, you would find it very difficult to obtain similar Beyonder materials elsewhere. Even if you did, they would be more expensive than this.”

Still short 265 pounds… I worked so hard to save this much money, and it’s about to be wiped clean, yet it still isn’t enough… I hope Mr. Hanged Man sells the Werewolf Beyonder characteristic soon… After this, there is still the Human-skinned Shadow’s characteristic and the Deep-sea Naga’s hair. They won’t be cheap either… Little Sun’s side still can’t be confirmed, and he needs to behave for a while. The payment he owes me would best be fulfilled through a method to remove the mental corruption of a losing-control Beyonder from a mystical item. That’s more discreet… Thoughts crowded Klein’s mind in an instant, and he felt as though even the light outside the window had dimmed.

He drew a deep breath and said, “All right.

“But the transaction has to be postponed for a while. I recently provoked a certain fellow and am under the protection of official Beyonders. I imagine you would not want the seller to be locked up beneath a church, would you?”

And I still need to gather the remaining funds… Klein slightly raised his head and looked toward the church dome.

“Official Beyonders?” Emlyn White was startled. He abruptly stood and looked left and right.

Klein glanced at him.

“No need to care. You are now a priest of the Church of the Mother Earth. You have a legitimate identity, and Bishop Utravsky will protect you.”

“I am not…” Emlyn’s denial was unusually weak.

He sat down again and suddenly had a wild thought.

“Can those official Beyonders solve the problem of the psychological cue?”

“Perhaps,” Klein nearly laughed aloud. “But in that case, there’s a high probability you’ll become a believer of the Evernight Goddess, the God of Steam and Machinery, or the Lord of Storms. Of course, you could also choose to become a member of a special military department. Perhaps they would send you overseas as a spy to seduce some noble lady.”

“I only like dolls and pure, beautiful maidens!” Emlyn emphasized at once.

One can see you are a little tempted—but only a little… Klein changed the subject.

“Do you know anyone from the Beria family? In Backlund?”

“Beria? That mad family that worships Demons? No, they themselves are Demons!” Emlyn blurted in astonishment. “Why are you looking for them?”

Klein said helplessly, “The one I offended is a member of their family, Patrick Jason Beria, because of a serial murder case.

“Help me ask around in your circles about his recent whereabouts and acquaintances. If there is definite news, I will pay you. The payment will depend on the importance of the intelligence.”

Of course, all of this can be reimbursed by the Nighthawks, the Machinery Hivemind, and the military… Klein thought in a relaxed manner.

Emlyn nodded thoughtfully.

“You actually dared provoke a true Demon.

“The moment you obtain definite information about him, he will know that you pose a serious danger to him.”

“It doesn’t matter. I am under the protection of official Beyonders,” Klein answered without much concern.

Emlyn was momentarily speechless. Only after several seconds did he say, “All right. I’ll try. The reward for information starts at a minimum of 20 pounds.”

After finalizing this matter, Klein did not linger. He rose and walked toward the church entrance.

His mind was filled entirely with the question of how to gather the money next.

Miss Magician’s new book has already been published. She should receive a decent guaranteed manuscript fee, and royalties later on as well. Perhaps I can sell her the Astrologer potion formula. But she still hasn’t gathered the materials for the Trickmaster potion… Miss Justice has joined the Psychology Alchemists, but I don’t have formulas to sell her either. Sell knowledge?

The Werewolf Beyonder characteristic will probably only bring in one thousand two or three hundred pounds, perhaps even lower… Do I have to sell a mystical item? Or find a way to make Emlyn White a believer of the Fool, removing the psychological cue in exchange for a donation…

Right. Jason Beria is carrying large amounts of cash, jewelry, and precious metals. If we can find him, perhaps I can get a share!

Amid a flurry of thoughts, Klein walked out of the church and saw the dim sky and thin fog.

He gave a light sigh.

“I’m short on money…”

…

After returning to Minsk Street, Klein took a thick stack of newspapers and entered the washroom, assuming a posture suitable for a long campaign.

He was going above the gray fog to divine the other party’s whereabouts with Jason’s handkerchief!