Chapter 70: Dock Union

Chapter Seventy
Dock Union

Xio had been in the bounty hunter trade for a long time. Many things no longer needed thought; she could respond by pure instinct.

The moment she saw that the customer who had entered was almost two meters tall, she instinctively lowered her head and continued eating her pork sausage and fries as though nothing had happened.

Food entered her mouth, but she could not taste a thing. She endured bitterly for dozens of seconds before slowly lifting her head and pretending to casually scan the room.

Soon, she saw the customer who had just entered sitting at the bar, waiting for his beer and lunch.

Soft, slightly curled pale-yellow hair; dark-brown eyes like a wild beast’s; slightly drooping corners of the mouth; a withdrawn, fierce aura… Detail after detail entered Xio’s pupils, gradually overlapping with the image inside her mind.

It is him!

It really is that suspected murderer!

The murderer who killed Williams!

Xio lowered her head again and slowly stuffed the remaining food into her mouth.

Several minutes later, she brought her plate and beer mug to the bar together, then left the Workers’ Union Tavern without looking sideways or turning back.

Because her boots had been padded up quite a bit, she had effectively concealed her most obvious feature.

Once outside, Xio slowed her footsteps and found a secluded place nearby, where she observed the people entering and leaving the tavern.

After waiting for some time, she finally discovered an acquaintance: Burton, a skilled worker who lived in the East Borough and worked at East Balam Dock.

This young man liked giving himself a mug of cheap rye beer at noon or in the afternoon. His salary could only support this kind of beer, and even then he could not drink it every day.

Xio darted over nimbly, patted Burton’s shoulder, and lowered her voice.

“It is me. Xio.”

“Xio?”

Burton examined the short man beside and behind him from top to bottom. He almost failed to recognize that this was Xio Derecha, the Arbiter well known across certain streets of the East Borough.

“I have something to ask you.”

Xio pointed toward the corner nearby.

Burton followed with confusion. Only after reaching a concealed spot did he seem to realize something.

“You are working on a bounty?”

He had heard that Xio was also a bounty hunter.

“Mm.”

Xio perfunctorily nodded. She took out five one-penny copper coins, tossed them lightly, and asked, “Do you know that very tall man in the tavern?”

“You mean the one this tall, with pale-yellow hair, who looks very fierce?”

Burton gestured.

“Yes.”

Xio immediately took out the folded portrait, unfolded it, and said, “You must confirm carefully.”

“It is him. Recently, for the past two or three months, he often comes to the taverns around here. I had never seen him before that. He is very fierce, completely unreasonable, and extremely good at fighting. You had best not provoke him.”

Burton carefully glanced at the portrait a few times and sincerely offered advice.

Mm. When I saw that person just now, it was like meeting a wild beast as a child. I felt he was very dangerous, that I was not his opponent, and that I had to avoid him immediately…

Xio quietly exhaled and asked, “Do you know who he has close contact with?”

“I do not. He does not fit in. He rarely speaks, and no one even knows what his name is. We gave him a nickname ourselves. We call him Giant,” Burton said, shaking his head and curling his lip.

After thinking for a moment, Xio asked again, “Apart from the tavern, where else have you seen him?

“You may ask your friends the same question. Remember, they must be friends trustworthy enough.”

Burton thought back and said, “When I went to the dock union to handle business—mm, the dock union at East Balam Dock—I occasionally saw him appear nearby. Xio, why are you not part of the union? You are so fair, while those fellows not only take one and a half soli from us every week as membership dues, but when other docks go on strike and we have to feed our families, they also make us hand over half our wages!

“Lord, fine, all that is bearable. For a better life, we must help one another. But they had just organized a strike, only to immediately reach agreement with the lawyers sent by rich men. Our situation did not improve at all!”

“Stop. Stop,” Xio said, pressing her right palm downward. “Besides that, you have not seen that ‘Giant’ anywhere else?”

“No. I do not think my friends have either. We often discuss him privately,” Burton answered with great certainty.

Xio said no more. She handed over the five copper pennies.

“For your beer.

“Do not tell anyone what I asked just now. This will be very dangerous.”

Before her voice had fully fallen, she had already turned and left the corner, walking toward the dock union at East Balam Dock.

Ten or so minutes later, Xio saw the two-story yellow building.

She reversed the canvas jacket she wore, revealing the patches on the inside, instantly changing herself from a short worker into a homeless person.

Glancing at the homeless people curled up at the street corner, Xio pinched her nose and went over to sit with them. Her gaze swept intermittently across the dock union opposite whenever someone entered or left.

Time passed second by second. Xio endured the cold wind and the terrible environment, tirelessly observing the dock union and its surroundings.

She clearly remembered Williams’s persistence when it came to drinking, and she remembered even more clearly how she had felt when she saw the newspaper that day.

That feeling made her more patient than usual.

At that moment, seven or eight people left the dock union. In a group, they walked toward the café across the street, preparing to have lunch.

Xio narrowed her eyes, carefully sweeping over every passerby and confirming their appearance.

No suspicious person…

Xio prepared to withdraw her gaze and wait for the next group.

Creak. The café door was pulled open, and a wave of heat rushed outward. One man could not help removing his gold-rimmed glasses and wiping the mist from them with his sleeve.

Xio gave him a casual glance, only for her gaze to suddenly freeze.

Those eyes!

Those corners of the mouth!

That appearance, as though always holding a mocking smile!

Lanevus?

Xio abruptly turned her head, not daring to look again.

The man from just now had bronze skin and short, coarse hair. His face was sharply contoured, very different from the portrait. Only those eyes and those corners of the mouth gave her a familiar feeling.

A feeling of mocking everyone.

Is it Lanevus? Could it be Lanevus?

Xio lowered her head and stared at the stone slabs by the street.

…

Inside the Sammer household.

After the rich luncheon, the hosts and guests gathered in the sitting room to chat and agreed to play Texas Hold’em afterward.

Interesting rumors and amusing stories echoed intermittently. Klein maintained a smile, inserting a few words from time to time, while he watched the two children of the Sammer family lively running in and out.

Beside him, Jurgen Cooper’s expression remained solemn and serious. Occasionally, he offered legal opinions for everyone’s discussion.

Klein smiled, leaned slightly sideways, and asked in a lowered voice, “Do you feel bored?”

“No. Their topics are very interesting.”

Jurgen nodded seriously.

Klein was instantly stunned and blurted out another question.

“Then why are you not laughing?”

Jurgen frowned faintly, looking at him with puzzlement.

“Why should I laugh?”

“…”

The corner of Klein’s mouth twitched. For a moment, he actually did not know how to answer.

He had been about to make a joke, saying that the other party was very much like his cat Brody, forever so serious, when illusory, layered prayers suddenly sounded beside his ears.

Female… Miss Justice found useful information from the clue I provided this quickly?

Klein stood, bowed slightly, and said, “I am going to the washroom.”

After entering the washroom, Klein locked the door, walked four steps counterclockwise, and entered above the gray fog.

His judgment was extremely accurate. The prayer came from Miss Justice.

Klein suddenly became somewhat tense—half expectant, half grave. He extended his spirituality and listened to the other party’s words.

After the customary honorific name, Justice faithfully described, “They discovered the clue You provided at the Workers’ Union Tavern in East Balam Dock, Dock Borough. The person’s nickname is Giant.

“By following Giant’s patterns of appearance, they then discovered someone suspected of being Lanevus at the East Balam Dock union, but they cannot confirm it.

“For the time being, they dare not approach Lanevus because Giant is very powerful and very dangerous. They can only continue waiting for an opportunity.

“They also ask: after confirming that it is Lanevus, may they report it to the police department and claim the bounty?”

Lanevus has a very powerful and dangerous helper… Does he have other helpers? Is there some force behind him? Why did he kill in such an excessive way? What is he plotting inside the dock union?

Question after question flashed through Klein’s mind, making him feel the matter was far more complex than expected, filled with fog.

As for the final request, his answer was undoubtedly yes. He would even recommend that they report directly to the Church of the Evernight Goddess, because there was a possibility of leaks through the police department.

Having the Nighthawks of the Goddess’s Church kill Lanevus would also count as revenge!

Klein silently said this to himself. A powerful impulse surged inside him to immediately confirm whether that person was Lanevus, lest waiting too long lead to unexpected changes.

He inhaled, forced down his emotions, and removed the pendulum from his sleeve.

“Going to the dock union to confirm the matter of Lanevus is dangerous.”

After closing his eyes and reciting the statement seven times, Klein opened them and looked at the citrine pendant. He discovered that it did not move at all. It remained completely still.

The divination failed?

Klein instantly frowned.

He changed to other phrasings and other methods of divination, but the result remained failure.

After thinking carefully for a while, he found three possible reasons. First, the information was insufficient, making divination impossible. Second, Lanevus simply was not at the dock union, making the divination difficult to establish. Third, like Ince Zangwill, Lanevus possessed an item capable of blocking divination.

An item capable of blocking divination… A benefit he obtained from that ritual for the descent of the True Creator’s child? A trace of divinity from the True Creator?

After several seconds of thought, Klein decided that no matter what, he had to make a trip to the dock union.

Some things had to be done even when one knew they were dangerous.

Those two ladies can observe secretly without being discovered, so I can as well… I only need to meet Lanevus once, and then I can use divination to confirm…

Of course, I cannot be rash. I have to prepare in advance. For example, I should send the All-Black Eye above the gray fog and not keep it on me, lest the True Creator’s mental contamination resonate with His divinity. I should also pad my height so that Giant cannot recognize me from my build as the person who “passed by” last night. And I need a suitable, sufficient reason that will not draw suspicion. Mm. I can pretend to be a reporter going for an interview. Later, I will first ask Mike Joseph to lend me his fake press identification…

The corners of Klein’s mouth slowly lifted. With spirituality wrapped around himself, he fell back to the real world.