Chapter 885 Action Begins
On Sunday, in a cafe on Bellotto Street in the West District, Angel, who had disguised herself to look like an inconspicuous young woman, found a seat by the window, ordered a cup of Southwell coffee and a cream donut, and savored them slowly, as if she was planning to spend a lazy afternoon here.
Of course, when no one was paying attention, her eyes would flicker from time to time. The nearby glass, mirrors, and even inconspicuous puddles became the eyes of this "ageless" witch, observing everything around her.
These "cameras" focused on an upscale restaurant diagonally across the street. A carriage with a flower and ring emblem just drove past its door. A middle-aged man got out of the carriage and entered the restaurant surrounded by two bodyguards.
That was Viscount Stratford, who knew certain secrets of the royal family.
Today, Angel and Klein will carry out operations simultaneously in two locations. One will be responsible for Stratford, who has been targeted for a long time, and the other will be responsible for the Deputy Director of MI9, Qonas Kilger, who has been invited to the Meige Manor in the suburbs to participate in the hunting activity.
Both of them were involved in clues about George III's creation of the "Great Smog." Although Angel already knew the king's true intention was to ascend the "Black Emperor" and become the first god of the Fifth Epoch, Qiunas mastered the method of entering those ruins, and Viscount Stratford was likely holding evidence of George III's violation of the contract. These were all targets that needed to be resolved before Hvin Rambis's death was exposed.
Becoming a god...
Thinking of this, Angel's hand holding the cream pie stopped in the air.
Even though she had gone to Mr. Fool's kingdom this morning and discussed with Klein what to do next and confirmed their ideas, she still felt a little confused.
She didn't know the role played by the Goddess of Night or even the seven gods in this matter, nor their true purpose.
Judging from the response of Ms. Arianna, the "Servant of Secrets", the church should be opposed to the occurrence of the "Great Smog" and opposed George III's violation of the contract and attempt to become a god. But as Catalina said, the attitude of the church and believers does not necessarily represent the attitude of the gods. The church opposed George III, but the goddess may have acquiesced to the occurrence of this incident.
But if the goddess really acquiesced, then why did she help me and save Klein during the "Great Smog"?
Thinking of the "Mother of Heaven" who appeared beside him when he was dying, Angel's firm belief was shaken again.
Could it be that He Himself, due to the attitudes of other gods, was unable to personally issue an oracle to stop George III, but He hoped that the church and His followers could do this?
So that's why Arianna actively participated in her and Klein's actions, and even agreed to provide assistance with her "stealth" ability today to ensure the smooth operation of both sides?
Angel looked up at the northwest direction blocked by buildings. That was the location of the Meige Manor purchased by Klein. The guests he invited were holding a hunting event.
According to the plan, soon, under Arianna's "secret", Qonas Kilger will become Klein's secret doll and reveal all the information in his mind. At the same time, Viscount Stratford will be attacked and disappear from under the nose of MI9.
Thinking of this, Angel's eyes flickered, and the scene in the private room of the high-end restaurant opposite was reflected.
…
"Sherman, so many days have passed, can't I prove my attitude?"
In the private room with two bodyguards guarding the door, Viscount Stratford, wearing a white wig and meticulously dressed, looked at the woman across the table with a look of deep confusion. The woman was wearing a conservative dress, an obsidian necklace hanging on her chest, and a sad yet resolute expression.
"I'm sorry, Stratford. I've realized that there's no chance of a relationship between us... You're a viscount, and I'm just a commoner. Many people have advised me not to harbor illusions, and I've already faced reality..."
Sherman, with her long brown hair tied back and her fair neck visible between her hair and collar, tilted her head slightly and averted her tear-filled eyes. Her grief, her fragility, her look that made one want to hold her in his arms and protect her, left Stepford stunned. He murmured,
"A commoner... No, I already have a plan. Once Backlund's current tense situation is over, I can find a businessman, or someone from a less prestigious aristocratic family, and adopt you as my daughter. Then..."
He kept talking about his plan, with doubts constantly popping up in his mind. He couldn't understand why Sherman, who had been so close to him not long ago, suddenly had such a drastic change in attitude and said she wanted to break up with him?
Although he knew that the other party had ulterior motives in approaching him, and that it was a "sugar-coated bullet" as Emperor Roselle called it, he was also dating Sherman with the sincere intention of taking the sugar-coated bullet, at least 30% of his sincerity!
And during the more than two months of interaction, he could be sure that this spy lady also had certain feelings for him, and definitely no less than his.
Seeing that the cooked duck was about to fly away, he didn't care about maintaining his noble dignity. He walked around the table and came to Sherman, who bowed her head and said nothing. He half-knelt down, held her soft hand, and said sincerely:
"Xueman, believe me, I'm dating you with the intention of walking into marriage with you. To do this, I'm willing to overcome all obstacles, whether it's my status or the opinions of outsiders... If you don't believe me, feel my heart!"
As he spoke, he pressed Sherman's hand to his heart, trying to transmit his body temperature and heartbeat to the other party.
At this moment, he felt like the romantic hero in a literary masterpiece.
…
Outside the private room, two bodyguards from MI9 listened to the sweet talk coming from the room, looked at each other, and saw smiles in each other's eyes.
Unexpectedly, the young woman who did not come from a good family and did not meet the nobles' standards for choosing a spouse, was completely fascinated by the captain of the palace guards, a noble viscount, who even promised to "overcome all obstacles to marry him."
Of course, the bodyguard, who had seen many dirty deeds of the nobles, could foresee that once Viscount Stratford really took action and "eaten" this innocent girl, he would most likely forget his current promise and abandon her with an irresponsible attitude.
But what does this have to do with the ruthless bodyguards?
At this time, a girl wearing a knight's training uniform and a cloak came from the other end of the corridor inside the restaurant. She was short and her cloak almost dragged on the ground, but she exuded a sense of majesty that made it impossible to look directly at her.
Both bodyguards knew this person and knew that she was one of the bodyguards on duty. Although she did not belong to MI9, she was also a peripheral personnel and was very enthusiastic about the mission. Therefore, they just nodded to her and did not stop her from approaching.
"The target has been in there for a long time and hasn't come out. What's the situation now?"
Hugh Dilcha came to the door and looked up to ask the bodyguards.
"The woman named Sherman is breaking up, and the Viscount is trying to save the relationship."
One of the bodyguards answered briefly, with a smile on his face and a very casual posture.
Breaking up...Xiu knew that Sherman had her own purpose in approaching Viscount Stratford, so she kept wavering between her mission and her attitude towards her friend. She was very conflicted, but she didn't expect that this witch would actually leave on her own initiative?
Will there be any problem... Her mind was full of thoughts. She chatted with the bodyguards perfunctorily for a few words and was about to return along the same route to continue hiding in the dark to protect and monitor the target. But suddenly she heard a slight sound in the room, like a wine glass breaking on the ground, and she stopped immediately.
"Something's wrong, go in and take a look!"
She held her breath and listened for a few seconds, then suddenly looked up and said to the two bodyguards who realized it later. Then, without waiting for their reaction, she kicked open the locked door, exposing the scene inside to the three of them.
The sumptuous food on the table remained untouched, the windows and the small door for delivering food on the other side were locked, and most of the chairs were neatly placed, except for a high-backed chair that was lying on the side, with a small pool of blood on the ground.
Apart from that, there was no one in the room, Sherman and Stratford were gone!
The two bodyguards finally recovered from their casual attitude. One of them quickly entered the room and searched every corner. The other looked at the doors and windows and found that they were all locked from the inside. He took out a small test tube and carefully collected the blood on the ground that had not yet dried up.
They didn't expect that right on the street where the MI9 headquarters was located, under their protection, Viscount Stratford, who was still saying sweet words to them the last second, disappeared in a closed room!
"Go to headquarters, they have a way to find the target based on blood!"
The two of them quickly left the room with the collected blood, and Xio, who was left like an outsider, stood there, frowning and looking around.
As an "interrogator" on the "arbitrator" path, she vaguely felt that some extraordinary power was at work in this private room not long ago, and that was probably the power that took Sherman and Stratford away.
Or maybe Sherman took Stepford away?
An idea came to her mind that she was not willing to believe, but was very likely to be true. Looking at the bodyguard hurriedly leaving outside the window, she made a decision in her heart.
————
In a dilapidated building near the suburbs of the East District.
A full-length mirror leaning against the wall of the living room suddenly became dark and illusory, with ripple-like patterns appearing on its surface, as if leading to an unknown world.
After a moment, the inside of the mirror seemed to be connected to a gray passage, and three figures gradually emerged.
The next second, the silhouettes of two women and one man appeared in the living room. The shorter one was Sherman, who looked a little tired. She pushed the taller man next to her to the ground, making him roll on the floor a few times and then lean against the sofa.
The latter seemed to have just come to his senses, his body trembled, and just as he was about to get up from the ground, countless spider silk appeared around him and bound him tightly, causing his limbs to quickly feel paralyzed. He was unable to struggle free and fell to the ground again.
Only then did the figure of the last woman become completely clear. She was wearing a black dress and standing barefoot in the middle of the living room, looking at Viscount Stratford with cold eyes.
"Triss...it's you. I felt something was wrong when William Sykes died, so I had MI9 strengthen its defenses. When Sherman approached me, I also wondered if she was you in disguise..."
Stratford said hatefully, his white wig tilted to one side, revealing his messy short black hair with a high hairline. His eyes lingered briefly on Sherman, but he couldn't help but be attracted by Triss's bare feet and white calves close at hand.
"So you admit that your previous feelings were all fake. That's good. It will save our little witch from being sad about what happens next..."
Triss chuckled, took a step forward, and was about to say something else when her spirit suddenly became alert. She suddenly stepped back, pulling the gloomy-looking Sherman backwards. At the same time, a bunch of black flames shot out, pointing directly at Viscount Stratford who was lying on the ground.
The latter's hands, hidden under his body, had been freed from the spider silk at some point. In his left hand, he held a black cufflink, and in his right hand, he held a copper-green cross ornament. It had spikes of varying lengths protruding from different positions, as if deliberately used to torture the wearer.
At this time, one of the thorns had pierced Stratford's finger, and blood flowed out, was absorbed by the thorn, and seeped into the cross.
The copper-green mottled marks on the surface of this strange ornament instantly peeled off and disintegrated, revealing a solid body made of dazzling gold underneath. The pure light it emitted instantly burned all the spider silk in the room, engulfed the black flames thrown by Triss, and caught up with the two dodging witches, as if to completely "purify" them.
"This place is shrouded in darkness, and the light is temporarily extinguished."
Suddenly, a cold voice came from behind Stratford, which made him startled involuntarily and look back as if attracted.
But before he could see the figure outlined by the drawn curtained window, the shining cross in his hand dimmed as if the fuel was exhausted. Although it still emitted a hint of golden light, it was only half a meter away from Stratford, depressing and desperate.
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