Chapter 52: Sudden Attack

Angel felt a little scared when its gaze swept over her. It was an instinctive fear of a mysterious object that she didn't understand, but she quickly suppressed the emotion in her heart and continued to swing her arms. This was the best way to deal with 2-049.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Lolota's arm beside her suddenly stopped in the air. She quickly reached out to help, but the next moment, her thoughts were quickly frozen. The outstretched hand moved forward frame by frame in her sight like a slide, but the speed was so slow that it seemed as if it would never reach her.

The negative effects are now stronger than before...

Such a thought flashed through her mind.

Klein and Borgia, who were sitting across from the carriage, were extremely alert and simultaneously reached out to free Lorota and Angel.

"2-049's negative effects have intensified. Find Riel Bieber as soon as possible and reseal it."

Luo Luota, who was rescued, breathed a sigh of relief and suggested.

2-049, the "Antigonus Puppet," standing in the middle of the carriage, saw that the humans around him were well prepared, and the corners of his grinning mouth retracted, returning to the strange expression he had just put on when he crawled out of the iron box. He tilted his head slightly, chose a direction, and began to slowly walk towards a corner of the carriage.

“Dongdong——”

Borgia knocked on the carriage, put his hand out of the small window, pointed in the direction the puppet was facing, and said, "It's moving. Go in that direction."

Leonard nodded outside the window. A few seconds later, the carriage started moving again, turning from the side of the street into a small road and heading in the direction chosen by the puppet. Borgia called out the direction from time to time to help Leonard, who was driving the carriage, make adjustments.

It seems this is the true function of 2-049...

Angel watched as the Antigonus puppet kept adjusting its direction as the carriage moved, and finally pointed to the front of the carriage - this meant that the current direction of travel was completely consistent.

Whenever it slowly walked to the edge of the carriage or under the seat, Borgia would grab it back and press it back into the middle of the floor. Often at this time, the puppet would grin and make a face, causing two people in the carriage to fall into negative effects at the same time, often including Borgia who caught it.

It seems that it will not control the same person continuously, but now it can control two targets. On the premise of a sequence, will it give priority to controlling the one it "hates the most"?

Angel recorded the targets chosen by 2-049 in his mind, trying to find a certain pattern.

When Borgia's shoulders were almost swollen from being beaten, the carriage finally drove into the dock area and arrived at a densely packed warehouse.

After changing directions for confirmation, everyone locked onto a gray-white warehouse hidden deep in the building complex. It was sparsely populated and not as busy as the warehouse near the Tussock River.

Borgia caught 2-049, which had run to the side of the carriage again. This time, instead of putting it back in the center of the carriage, he picked up the iron box again and stuffed the puppet into it.

He locked the mechanical switch again, infused his spirituality into the Holy Emblem of the Goddess of Night on the box, and sealed the sealed object in the box.

During this period, 2-049 also displayed a strong spirit of resistance, controlling Borgia five times. The other people in the carriage were not spared either. Klein, who was closest to Borgia, was selected three times. However, there were four people in the carriage, and everyone helped each other and successfully completed the re-sealing of 2-049 without any danger.

Only after picking up the box again did Borgia breathe a sigh of relief. He was the main target of 2-049. He had been hit on the shoulder no less than twenty times along the way. He was in great pain. Now that he had finally arrived at the destination, he was naturally the most active one.

"Come on, let's get off."

He couldn't wait to "escape" from the car with the box containing the Antigonus puppet.

Leonard tied the horse to a lamppost on the side of the road, and the others got off the carriage.

Strangely, 2-049 does not seem to have any negative effects on creatures other than humans. The horses pulling the cart sneezed and waited boredly by the lamppost, unaffected by the seal at all.

The six of them lined up again, waving their arms as if possessed, and walked towards the warehouse where Riel Bieber was hiding.

It was the busy hour at the dock area, but there were no workers working in this warehouse far away from the riverbank. Apart from the faint noise coming from the wind in the distance, the area around the warehouse was surprisingly quiet.

Angel looked around vigilantly. Ever since she got off the car, she felt as if someone was watching her, but after looking around, she couldn't find any trace of the watcher.

"Something's wrong."

After much hesitation, she decided to express her feelings. If she was wrong, it would only affect the efficiency of the operation. But if the team was indeed being followed, it meant that there might be a fierce battle ahead.

Dunn looked at her through his swaying arms and nodded after a moment: "It's really too quiet, but we have the 'Fortune Teller'."

He turned around and called to Klein, who was at the end of the team. "Klein, divine if there's any danger in the warehouse ahead. If so, try to determine the extent of the danger."

Lorota and Leonard moved out of the middle of the team and stood beside Borgia, keeping Klein away from 2-049's influence.

Fortuneteller Klein shook the pendant tied to his left wrist. The silver chain drooped, and the topaz at the end of the chain moved erratically.

After the shaking gradually subsided, he closed his eyes and entered into meditation, muttering softly, "There's danger in the warehouse ahead."

After repeating the divination seven times, the citrine pendant in Klein's hand began to spin regularly, clockwise!

Moreover, the amplitude of its rotation became larger and larger, and the force was rapidly increasing, and it even seemed to be pulling Klein's arm to move along with it.

"There is danger, and it's quite a big one." Klein came out of meditation, opened his eyes, and looked at the pendant in his hand. His face was a little pale, and it was unclear whether it was due to the exhaustion of divination or the unexpected result.

The others looked at each other and then looked at the warehouse in front of them.

"Dong, dong." The 2-049 in Borgia's hand knocked on the iron box again, as if reminding them that Riel Bieber was ahead.

"Leonard," Dunn frowned and thought for a few seconds before making up his mind. "You and Angel must get to the roof from the back of this building. If there's any danger in the warehouse, I'll need your long-range cover."

He pointed to a two-story house on the right. It was an abandoned residential building. The window glass on the wall facing the street was broken, leaving only the wooden window frames half-covered. Pipes perpendicular to the ground could be vaguely seen exposed on the side. It seemed not difficult to climb to the roof.

Crucially, the other side of the residential building was connected to a row of warehouses. If they climbed onto the roof from there, they could move along the top floor at any time, bringing the entire open space in front of the warehouses into range of their weapons. If Klein's divination was accurate, arranging the two of them to the rooftop for immediate support would be a very correct decision.

Leonard also figured this out. He nodded and looked at Angel. Seeing that the other party had no objection, he waved his hand and took the lead.

Aren't they worried that it would be dangerous for four people to carry 2-049?

Angel watched Leonard, who had walked around the corner of the residential building without even turning back, then looked at Klein, who was holding the pendant and preparing for the next divination, and the other three people who were surrounding 2-049 and helping him "take the bullet". He couldn't help but feel a little worried, but Dunn had already given the order, and he had no choice but to obey.

Suppressing the uneasiness in her heart, she reached out to confirm that the holster under her armpit and the pistol on the outside of her thigh were still in place, and quickly caught up with Leonard.

When he reached the side of the residential building, Leonard had already grabbed the protruding water pipe on the wall and climbed up to the second-floor balcony about three meters above the ground using his hands and feet. He flipped over the shaky wooden railing of the balcony and stood steadily on the inside of the balcony.

It seems that there is a reason why Dunn asked Leonard to climb the stairs. As an upgrade of the "Sleepless" sequence, the "Midnight Poet" has improved body coordination and melee ability as much as the "Assassin". Although he does not have the special skills of the assassin, it is not difficult for him to simply climb over the wall.

Seeing that Leonard had stopped, Angel also climbed up the water pipe.

Compared to sneaking into the Labor Mutual Aid Association headquarters in the dock area a few days ago, the balcony only three meters above the ground was a simple one. She used the water pipe as a leverage, kicked the pipe wall with both feet, grabbed the protruding floor of the balcony directly, and climbed up with a backflip.

The balcony should lead to the bedroom on the second floor of the house. The floor-to-ceiling windows were also without glass, revealing the messy interior. The two had no time to appreciate the dilapidated dock area, but continued to climb up to the roof along the balcony.

This time, Angel took the lead. She stepped one foot onto the shaky wooden balcony railing, pushed off the ground with the other foot, and leaped up with her light body, easily grabbing the edge of the roof.

Unlike the sloping roofs commonly used in residential buildings in the city, the buildings near the warehouses in the dock area have their roofs built as platforms for drying clothes. It was afternoon now, and the sun was shining on the roofs. A little stagnant water reflected the sunlight, and some moss could be vaguely seen under the water.

The stairs leading to the rooftop on the second floor are covered by a simple awning, becoming the only shady spot on the roof.

Looking back, Angel was about to help Leonard who was about to climb, but he heard continuous and loud gunshots coming from the direction of the warehouse.

"Bang! Bang!"

She couldn't help but look in the direction of the gunshot, but found that her sight was blocked by the roof. She could only vaguely hear shouting in that direction. It seemed that the four-member team in front had been attacked and was fighting in a panic.

"What's going on?"

Leonard, who was about to climb onto the roof, also heard the gunshots. He had one foot already on the railing, but now he no longer cared about climbing. Instead, he widened his eyes and asked anxiously.

"There should be a battle ahead. I can't see the details."

Angel knew that staying here any longer was useless and made a quick decision.

"You go down now and return the way you came to help the captain and the others. I'll go over to the roof and see if I can provide support from above."

Without waiting for Leonard to react, she pulled out the new revolver from under her arm and ran towards the source of the gunshot.