Chapter 221: The Mausoleum and the Bounty

Chapter 221: The Mausoleum and the Bounty

She knows? Klein felt his heart leap with joy and hurriedly asked, “Where?”

He had already prepared himself to pay a “consultation fee.”

Sharron sat there without any unnecessary movement, like a doll that could speak.

“At a gathering Maric attended, someone once discovered the mausoleum of an ancient noble. They explored its outer region and did not dare go deeper, but they found traces of a Human-skinned Shadow’s activity.

“They hoped to recruit a sufficiently strong team to fully excavate that mausoleum and divide the valuable items inside.”

Seeking helpers at a Beyonder gathering where neither side truly knew the other—what could they use to guarantee mutual trust? What if there was no mausoleum at all, and it was merely a prearranged trap? As Klein’s thoughts flashed, he cooperatively asked, “Did they succeed?”

“Yes,” Sharron answered succinctly.

This… Klein did not press into the details for the moment. Lowering his voice to avoid being overheard by the carriage driver, he asked, “And then?”

“Then they never appeared again,” Sharron calmly described. “One of the members was Maric’s friend. He also vanished completely because of this matter.”

Without waiting for Klein to ask again, she continued in that illusory, drifting voice, “Maric found some of his friend’s belongings. I used divination to trace them to White Cliff Town, where I discovered a hidden mausoleum entrance at a bend in the Stafford River. Maric’s friend was inside, but already dead.”

“You went in?” Klein blurted.

“No. I confirmed it by other means,” Sharron explained briefly. “That mausoleum made me feel very dangerous. I did not attempt to explore it.”

At this point, she looked directly at Klein with her blue eyes and said, “Without a Sequence 4 Beyonder or a Sealed Artifact of corresponding level as support, it is best not to go deep into that mausoleum.”

Even you think it is very dangerous. I don’t need to go above the gray fog for divination to know just how terrifying it must be… Klein lowered his gaze, looking at the carriage floor. After thinking for a few seconds, he asked, “Do you know which ancient noble’s mausoleum it is?”

Sharron answered without pause.

“His family name was:

“Amon.”

Amon? A member of the family to which that Amon belonged—the one who implanted an avatar inside Little Sun and nearly infiltrated the mysterious space above the gray fog? Klein used his Clown abilities to control the slight twitch of his eyelids and asked in puzzlement, “Are you certain?”

In that instant, an image appeared in his mind:

A black classical robe, a pointed soft hat of the same color, a broad forehead, a thin face, black eyes, black hair, and a monocle made of crystal.

Sharron’s pale-gold hair reflected the light that pierced the thin fog outside the window, like a painting drawn by a master. Her tone remained as calm as ever.

“Based on the items obtained during the initial exploration, a member of the gathering skilled in ancient history judged that the owner of the mausoleum belonged to the Tudor Dynasty of the Fourth Epoch, and that his family name was Amon.”

So it really is the Fourth Epoch Blasphemer family… This family does not seem to suffer from a curse like the Abrahams, nor was it directly destroyed by the Church of some deity like the Antigonus family…

Based on the uniqueness and power that Amon displayed in the City of Silver, the situation of this family can perhaps be compared to Zaratul’s side. They have continued their lineage in secret, have High-Sequence members, perhaps even existences at the level of angels, and guard some vital secrets, such as the “coordinates” of the Forsaken Land of the Gods…

The danger of a mausoleum left behind by such a family can easily be imagined. Perhaps that Amon might even borrow certain changes to cast his gaze over from the distant Forsaken Land of the Gods… One cannot use the condition of low- and mid-Sequence Beyonders to infer the terror of demigods and angels…

Klein did not ponder for long before denying any possibility of him exploring the Amon family’s mausoleum.

Slightly disappointed, he looked up at Sharron.

“Is that the only place with a Human-skinned Shadow?”

Sharron shook her head.

“No.”

“Mm?” Klein’s eyes brightened, and he assumed a listening posture.

Sharron’s voice did not change.

“At a gathering I attend, a Beyonder promised that as long as someone could complete the task she assigned, she would satisfy any reasonable request from that person. Regarding materials, the limit was ‘below High Sequence.’”

“In other words, any Beyonder material below High Sequence—she can provide it?” The first thought that surfaced in Klein’s mind was: Isn’t that just bragging?

Even the Church of the Evernight Goddess would probably need the Holy See—that is, the Church of Serenity—to have such a possibility!

And many materials would not be kept on hand at all, because they simply were not needed.

Faced with Klein’s doubt, Sharron calmly replied, “She is a High-Sequence powerhouse.”

A High-Sequence powerhouse? No wonder… Those are already the higher-ups of the major Churches and secret organizations. Even if she belongs to no faction, she would naturally draw people to herself and establish her own influence! Still, any Beyonder material below High Sequence definitely has some exaggeration to it… Thoughts surged in Klein’s mind.

Sharron added concisely, “She said certain materials would require some time.”

That makes more sense! Klein asked with interest, “What task did she give?”

Sharron had been sitting with dignified, perfect straightness.

“Investigate the true identity of the chivalrous bandit Black Emperor.”

…Klein believed that if he had been drinking water at that moment, he definitely would have sprayed it at the person across from him.

What did I do to deserve being targeted by a High-Sequence powerhouse? He first cried out inwardly in Chinese, then swiftly began analyzing the possible candidates:

A member of the Twilight Hermit Order? Because the chivalrous bandit Black Emperor killed the Apostle of Desire Beria?

A member of the Aurora Order? They connected the tarot card left at Capim’s crime scene to the Fool and decided to investigate the chivalrous bandit Black Emperor?

Members of the three Churches or MI9? Simply trying to uncover the truth behind the Capim incident?

Every possibility exists, and none of them can be ruled out! Klein showed no abnormality and asked after careful consideration, “Why is she investigating the true identity of the chivalrous bandit Black Emperor?”

“No one knows,” Sharron answered in the most succinct words possible.

Klein thought for two seconds, then organized his phrasing.

“What kind of person is she? I want to know whether I should take this task.”

Sharron remained silent for two seconds, seemingly recalling.

Then she described, “Female. Over 1.7 meters tall. Well proportioned. Chestnut hair. Disguised. Likes wearing black leather boots. Only attends gatherings occasionally. First appeared more than two months ago.”

Likes wearing black leather boots, female, High-Sequence powerhouse… Once these three keywords were linked together, they immediately tugged at a certain memory of Klein’s!

When he had gone to the kingdom’s museum to steal the Black Emperor card, inside the restored study of Emperor Roselle, he had encountered a High-Sequence powerhouse whose methods were mysterious and bizarre. The other party had only revealed both feet in black leather boots. After he escaped with the help of the power above the gray fog, because of the Master Key’s side effect, he had run straight into the demon dog and had no choice but to shout for help. Thus, as Sherlock Moriarty, he had seen that female demigod again.

Her? Why is she looking for the chivalrous bandit Black Emperor? She confirmed that the thief who stole the Card of Blasphemy was a spirit body and knows what changes would appear when a spirit body carries and accommodates the Black Emperor card. So she locked onto the chivalrous bandit Black Emperor, whose traits match? Klein quickly thought of a very convincing possibility.

The only thing he could not understand was how the other party knew what he had taken was the Black Emperor card and not some other card, such as the Abyss card or the Sun card.

Unless she herself came for that Card of Blasphemy and had already investigated in advance that it was the Black Emperor card… Mm. Miss Sharron said she first attended the gathering just over two months ago. That matches the characteristic of someone targeting the Roselle exhibition. Afterward, she attended occasionally and did not leave Backlund—or perhaps returned regularly—in order to search for the enemy who had taken the Black Emperor card… Klein’s thoughts raced. He smiled faintly and said, “I’ll keep an eye out for her. Hopefully there will be some gains.”

There will be no gains in this lifetime! he added without hesitation in his heart.

Sharron nodded almost imperceptibly and said no more about the Human-skinned Shadow.

Clearly, she only had those two clues, but even that was much better than the circles of the vampire Emlyn White and Eye of Wisdom Isengard Stanton.

Klein slowly breathed out, hiding the disappointment in his heart. In the manner of casual concern, he asked, “You and Maric haven’t been troubled by the curse again, have you?”

“There is only one Crimson Lunar Corona,” Sharron calmly replied.

The wearer of the Crimson Lunar Corona could become immune to the influence of the full moon. It was an item the Mutants yearned for in their dreams.

In other words, one of them is fine, and the other is as usual… When affected by the full moon, Maric becomes nearly insane, while Miss Sharron loses her powers. It seems Maric is the one using it… Klein thoughtfully changed the subject.

“Have you found a way to remove the mental corruption of a losing-control Beyonder left in Wraith Steve’s Beyonder characteristic?”

He was only asking casually and did not hold much hope. In his heart, he believed that Little Sun’s side was more reliable.

“No,” Sharron said as if speaking of someone else’s affairs.

Perhaps in the future I’ll sell that method to you. I hope you’ve saved enough pounds by then… Klein gave an “Mm” and suddenly did not know what else to talk about.

After a pause of several seconds, he asked, “Where is White Cliff Town?”

“In the outskirts of Backlund, south of the South Borough of the Bridge,” Sharron answered quite succinctly.

She once again looked into Klein’s eyes.

“Is there anything else?”

“No.” Klein first shook his head, then asked one more question. “May I tell someone else about that mausoleum?”

“Yes.”

The figure of Sharron, in her black court dress and small soft hat, swiftly faded and vanished from the carriage.

Perhaps to conceal herself, she had never had the habit of wearing perfume. She left behind only an empty environment once more.