Chapter 342 Discussion
"Mr. Hanged Man, I have found Barron in the East District and obtained the information you needed through some means.
"Barron came to Backlund from Bayam in the Rorsted Archipelago to take over the business of the deceased human trafficker Capin. He continued to kidnap and capture the homeless and poor in the East District for certain individuals, and then transported them out of Backlund to unknown buyers. Most of them were taken overseas, but a few special ones remained near Backlund, reportedly to the northwest, beside the Tussock River.
"During the interrogation, a Sequence 6 'Judge' came to rescue him, but failed. According to my communication with him, they were employed by several mysterious individuals wearing golden masks, including a demigod of the 'Arbitrator' pathway. These characteristics overlap with those of the Loen Kingdom's military and royal family, but further clues are lacking.
"During the battle, I killed Barron and the 'Judge,' which may have alerted these people. If you have no objection, I will report this to Backlund's official Beyonders as soon as possible.
"Please reply as soon as possible."
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The next morning, before Angel woke up from her sleep, she "received" the message from the Hanged Man, which also came from Mr. Fool and appeared directly in her mind.
"Thank you, Miss Queen. I didn't expect the results to come so soon."
The Hanged Man, wearing a hood and completely hidden in a cloak, first complimented him and then quickly got to the point.
"The information you obtained is very useful. I will pay you the 500 pounds as agreed, but you'll have to wait a few days. I'm still at sea. Alternatively, I can use it to offset the 'contact fee' for crafting the magical item, which is also 500 pounds."
I choose cash...
Angel thought silently as she continued to look at the Hanged Man in the gray fog. She knew that the Hanged Man could not interact and was just a fragment of the other party praying to Mr. Fool.
"Regarding the report, I have no objection. Stopping this illegal and cruel human trafficking is imperative. But I must remind you that this matter may involve a wide range of parties. As you said, it's very likely that the Loen military or even a member of the royal family is behind this. Be careful not to expose yourself."
The gray fog dissipated, and the ceiling of Angel's bedroom appeared before his eyes.
"Mr. Hanged Man should be somewhere in the Sonia Sea. There's a time difference of several hours between him and Backlund, otherwise he wouldn't have replied to me so early... It's impossible that Mr. Fool just woke up now and passed on my report to him..."
Angel made an irreverent joke in his mind, quickly got up, washed, and made a simple breakfast. While stuffing bacon and fried eggs into his stomach, he flipped through the newspaper with one hand to see if there was any information worth paying attention to.
Mr. A's gatherings have indeed disappeared... I haven't been to that villa yet. Was it ransacked, or razed to the ground? Mr. Isengard Stanton's gatherings haven't happened in ages either. It seems that's because he's being watched by the Mechanical Heart, but isn't the Apostle of Desire already dead? There's still one gathering Miss Audrey took me to, the one at the medical school, but I don't have her contact information. I'll have to ask her when I get a chance...
She flipped through the newspaper, her eyes quickly glancing at the news items, and stopped when she came across a short report.
"A fire in the East District affected several old-style homes. Casualties unknown?"
Angel took a map of Backlund and studied it, finding the location of the fire. It was the house where she interrogated Barron and the psychic Heras last night.
It seems the forces behind them, those golden masks, acted quickly... As expected, yesterday's spiritual communication triggered someone's "Secret Guard," allowing them to discover Heras' abnormal state and quickly rush to the scene to destroy the body...
Therefore, reporting the matter to the official Beyonder would require caution. If it was delayed too long, the other party might have already dealt with everything about Barron and Heras, and even prepared a counter-divination, leaving the official Beyonder empty-handed. However, being too reckless would, as the Hanged Man said, expose one's own information, lead to retaliation, and even implicate others...
After thinking for a moment, Angel decided to consult with the person she trusted most before deciding what to do.
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As soon as the hired carriage drove into Minsk Street, Angel noticed a black two-wheeled carriage parked in front of Sherlock Moriarty's house, with the police system's emblem of a crown surrounded by two swords hanging on it.
"Sorry, I got the wrong place. Go one street ahead and turn right."
She spoke to the driver calmly, watching the scenery outside the window move backwards until the police carriage disappeared from her sight. Then she got off the car, paid the fare, and walked back slowly.
Angel watched from afar as Ikanser, the butler of the "Mechanical Heart", got on the carriage and directed the two-wheeled carriage to make a circle and leave Minsk Street. Only then did he walk to Sherlock's house and saw the latter preparing to close the door.
Seeing Angel coming, he raised his eyebrows in surprise, made a "come in" gesture, and made room at the door.
"I just saw the butler from the Mechanical Heart come looking for you. Is it about the Apostle of Desire?"
After sitting down on his own sofa, Angel looked at Sherlock who was busy pouring coffee and asked with a smile.
"Yes, he came to put an end to that matter. Not only did he offer a substantial reward for our assistance in tracking the 'Apostle of Desire', he also invited me to join the ranks of informants for the 'Mechanical Heart', just like Isengard Stanton did. He said that after this incident, many private investigators did the same."
Sherlock poured two cups of coffee and placed them on the coffee table, then sat on the sofa opposite Angel and answered.
"Us? Does he know you and I are connected?"
"Perhaps Isengard mentioned it, or perhaps he himself, uh, misunderstood our relationship. Anyway, he asked me to transfer your share to you. We have a total of 1,300 pounds, and 800 pounds belongs to you. Perhaps because you successfully blocked the enemy's attack at Isengard's house and even injured him, you got more."
When talking about "misunderstanding", Sherlock's mouth twitched.
But even if we knew each other, Ikanser wouldn't hand over 800 pounds so easily unless he could confirm that the money would reach me, such as by using that strange silver mirror Arrodes to divine... By the way, if the Mechanical Heart used Arrodes to divine us, would the "Secret Holy Symbol" be able to successfully counter it, or would "Arrodes" be able to successfully spy on us?
Several strange thoughts flashed through Angel's mind.
"I don't need this money right now. How are your preparations for the Faceless Man potion going? If you need the money urgently, take it first."
She hadn't digested her current Sequence 6 potion yet, and she had no clue about the Sequence 5 formula. Apart from needing to find the Hanged Man's craftsman friend to make magical items, she had no urgent need for money.
"I already know the potion formula. I should be able to get the two ingredients soon. One of them was provided by the vampire I rescued from the Earth Mother Church. The other one will probably have to wait for a member of the party to find it for me..." Sherlock waved his hand, indicating that he was not short of money. "Also, I found a Beyonder I've worked with before to sell the gold bars. I might be able to get the money this week. After deducting her commission, we should be able to get around 2,800 pounds."
2800... If we each split it half, that's 1400 pounds. Add to that the 800 pounds for helping track down the Apostle of Desire, and I'll be rich again...
Angel was thinking happily, and suddenly realized:
"she?"
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