Chapter 797 Busy Leonard
Late at night, on the north bank of the Tussock River, which flows through the East Side, there was a riverbank full of garbage.
Leonard Mitchell, wearing a windbreaker with his collar turned up and no red gloves, stretched out his left hand, his fingertips resting on the chest of a translucent humanoid soul.
The wail of the wronged soul echoed far away on the wind, causing Leonard to frown. He was tempted to use the catchy slogan he had been thinking about for days:
"Appeasement failed, prepare for purification!"
...then pull out your revolver and use your exorcist bullets to cleanly and efficiently solve all your problems...
Unfortunately, he could only think about this kind of thing in his head. Whether it was for the purpose of acting or for covert action to avoid the existence of extraordinary power from being noticed by ordinary people, "appeasement" was the best option.
Fortunately, the wronged spirit in front of him soon calmed down, the violent and bloodthirsty fire in his eyes subsided, and then his figure faded and disappeared, restoring tranquility to the riverbank that had been echoing with strange cries and evil winds.
Drawing a crimson moon on his chest, Leonard turned around expressionlessly and left this haunted place.
Over the past six months, reports of hauntings and paranormal activity in the East District have surpassed those in all other areas of Backlund combined... That great smog killed so many people, leaving countless bodies uncollected. Normally, the bodies were mostly formed from the spirits of wild animals and spiritual creatures, but now, surprisingly, humans are the primary source. This has never happened since the "cemetery burial law" was implemented in the early Fifth Epoch...
Of course, in these events of comforting and purifying wronged souls, he also fully digested the magic potion of the "Requiem Master", and from time to time he had a feeling: when his other "Red Gloves" team members joined Lord Cesimar's team and went out of the city to search for a secret place all day, he was deliberately left behind by the Archbishop and assigned to various districts to carry out intensive "exorcism" tasks. Is there an element of "deliberate cultivation"?
Not sure, let's see...
Sighing silently, Leonard came to the street lamp, got on a two-wheeled carriage with a police badge on it, and drove it himself. He soon returned to the door of a brand new church of the Goddess of Night, and met his temporary partner, a young female "gravedigger", in the underground Night Watchman's station.
This night watchman, recently transferred from Pritz Harbor to the East District of Backlund, was called Rosa. Her facial skin had the rough texture common to coastal residents, but her deep blue eyes sparkled with curiosity. After Leonard handed her the document recording his evening's results, which he had crossed out line by line, in exchange for the autopsy report on the "East District Serial Murder Case," her gaze had been following Leonard's back.
"Mr. Mitchell, do you think this is really a continuation of the serial murders from last year?"
Rosa, who came here just after the heavy smog and therefore had not experienced that tense moment, finally couldn't help but express her doubts.
"Call me Mitchell, or just Leonard... The possibility you mentioned is very low, but we can't rule out the possibility that it's a similar case involving another Beyonder."
Leonard answered casually, glancing at the "gravedigger".
The other person's personality was completely different from the two ladies he had met on the same journey. Lolota, who was going to Tingen to support the "Antigonus Notes" mission, liked to wear men's clothes and had some strange hobbies, but was generally quiet and kind; Ms. Daly had a flamboyant appearance and would use dirty jokes from time to time to make men feel uncomfortable, but she was delicate and sensitive in her heart. It was not until the captain was "resurrected" that she unified her inner and outer qualities and became a complete character that was restrained and confident.
Rosa, on the other hand, is a bit...carefree.
This was his conclusion during two days of support in the East District.
Lolota has been promoted to a "psychic" and has her own team. Whenever she sees Leonard, she will express regret and nostalgia for Angel's "death". Ms. Daly is helping "Sword of the Goddess" conduct an investigation in the suburbs. I heard that the "Gatekeeper" has made a good summary of the rules for potion performance.
I'm behind schedule again... The strings in his mind suddenly tightened. He didn't bother to chat with Rosa. He quickly flipped through several autopsy reports, searching for the key points.
With the help of the "professional" report from within the church, which was different from the police autopsy report, the experienced Leonard quickly came to the conclusion he had long suspected from the photos, detailed written reports and analysis based on extraordinary powers.
"The perpetrator wasn't a Beyonder from the 'Criminal' path. The lack of internal organs and the time between death and the body confirm this," he said to the puzzled Rosa, not explaining the 'Devil's' ascension ritual in detail. "I believe this was the work of someone from the 'Assassin' path, possessing the Cursed Black Flame and skilled in concealment, assassination, and counter-divination techniques. Their Sequence 7, also known as 'Witches', are... a mostly evil group."
Unfortunately, simply confirming this point was meaningless. The other party was very good at counter-divination, and no "diviner" or "psychic" of the same sequence could do anything to her... Leonard sighed softly as he looked through the conclusions written by the East District Night Watchmen after their attempts.
Seals capable of breaking through anti-divination seals were not uncommon in the Backlund Diocese, but most were sealed underground within Saint Samuel's Church. Activating them required a valid justification, complex procedures, and the protection of a team of Night Watchmen, making them unsuitable for a "simple case" like this.
Should they wait until that "witch" kills a few more people, causing a major crime, before reporting to the Archbishop or Senior Deacon and requesting the use of a high-level Sealed Artifact? Even though the deceased were gang leaders or wild Beyonders with blood on their hands, that didn't mean the Church could just sit back and do nothing. This would be tantamount to challenging the Nighthawks' jurisdiction over the East District...
Leonard pondered this and suddenly recalled his time in Tingen City, collaborating with Angel and Klein to investigate a case of multiple mysterious deaths. He ultimately solved the case through field visits and logical reasoning. He scanned several files and came up with a plan.
At this moment, an endless gray-white mist suddenly appeared before his eyes, and within it, a figure bowed its head in prayer. The deep, hoarse voice of "World" Hermann reached his ears:
"Great Fool, please inform 'Star' Leonard Mitchell that Angel and I have new intelligence on 'Blasphemer' Amon. I would like to request a meeting between us in your kingdom to discuss the follow-up response. I hope you can agree."
Then came a voice full of majesty, but not serious:
"The 'immediate meeting' will be held in ten minutes. Also, there is no need to hide anything from Pallez Zoroast."
This is Mr. Fool’s instruction!
Leonard shuddered and stood up from his chair, causing the documents on his knees to fall to the ground, attracting Rosa's curious look as she was sorting things.
"Sorry, I'm going to the bathroom."
He thought quickly, forced a smile and said, then quickly left the Nighthawks' underground base, leaving behind the "gravedigger" who couldn't hold back his laughter.
This is a good excuse, but if I use it every time, people might think I have some hidden illness...
Leonard muttered as he walked towards the bathroom. Seeing that no one was around, he lowered his voice and asked:
"Old man, did you hear the sound and see the scene just now?"
"There's something unusual going on," the old voice in his head responded immediately, "but I didn't hear anything."
That's good... No, that's a shame... Leonard pondered and continued in a low voice:
"My two former colleagues said they found clues about Amon and invited me to Mr. Fool's kingdom to discuss. Do you have any good suggestions?"
This time, Pales remained silent for a while longer, until Leonard entered the bathroom, locked the door, and began to set up the spiritual wall. Then he spoke again.
"Tell them everything I've told you about Amon. Let them know the difficulties involved, so they don't act rashly... Unless there's the protection of 'secretness,' eliminating one clone will only attract more. Furthermore, even a minimal clone possesses Sequence 4 strength, coupled with His high status... If your colleagues can escape, it'll be considered a victory."
More clones… Leonard sniffed, feeling that the dust in the bathroom was hiding clones of the Blasphemer Amon.
————
A red light flashed, and "Star" Leonard appeared beside the long bronze table shrouded in gray mist. He subconsciously glanced around and found that compared to the "Tarot Club" a week ago, the spacious palace now seemed even more empty. Aside from himself, "Queen" Angel, and "World" Klein, the other nineteen high-backed chairs were empty. Even Mr. Fool was not there!
After confirming this, his somewhat reserved attitude began to relax. He swallowed the greeting to The Fool that was already on the tip of his tongue and casually sat down in a comfortable position, just short of putting his legs on the table like he usually did in Red Gloves’ office.
Klein, who had sensed Leonard's movements through his spiritual sense, gave him a cold look. Then he remembered that he was "The World" today, not "The Fool." He coughed lightly, his gaze softened slightly, and said, "I'm a fool!"
"Have you told Pales Zoroaster about this?"
He knows about the old man... well, that Dwayne Dantès knows about it, so the other followers of the Fool also know about it. Have they been sharing information?
Leonard thought about it and nodded.
"He asked me to remind you..."
After repeating the old man's words, he finally asked the question in his heart:
"What exactly happened? Did you encounter Amon's clone in Backlund?"
He naturally thought that the two of them would encounter at most one clone. After all, if it was the real person who came, the two figures in the meeting now might have been Amon in disguise... Thinking of this, Leonard glanced at the empty high-backed chair at the head of the long table.
"In fact, I encountered many..." Angel took over the conversation, repeating what he had said to Arianna earlier, "...the harvest was three 'Worms of Time' and the possible conspiracy of Amon's clones... They seemed to be searching for some key information and absorbing the 'Thief' Beyonder characteristics to increase their own growth."
No wonder the old man became silent during that time. He only became active again after I left Backlund for the Southern Continent on a mission. It turns out he was also worried about being found by Amon and having his Beyonder characteristics devoured... Wait, couldn't Amon's clone be looking for him?
Leonard asked the question after careful consideration, and then watched in surprise as Angel and Klein looked at each other, then turned their gaze to him.
"Leonard, haven't you always known that Pales Zoroast is a Sequence 1 of the Thief?"
After a moment, Klein placed his hands on his chin, lowered his eyes, and spoke in a low voice.
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