Chapter 575 Return to Hong Kong
Backlund North District, Saint Samuel Church.
At ten o'clock in the morning, the quietest time of the Church of the Night, the largest church in the Kingdom of Loen, a group of men and women in black windbreakers neatly walked through the gate and walked along the long and narrow aisle, surrounded by exquisite murals and stained glass on both sides, towards the large prayer hall.
The leader was a middle-aged man with long hair on his temples and soft features. He tucked a black straight stick inlaid with gold under his arm and carried a file box in his hand.
Behind him were three men and one woman, a total of four younger followers. They were also wearing windbreakers and walking quietly, their pace inadvertently becoming consistent.
This was a "Red Glove" team of the Nighthawks, led by Soest. They had just solved a serial murder case in Constanton and captured two members of the "Devil Family," allowing them to return to Backlund for rest and recuperation.
Since they were not working, they did not wear conspicuous red gloves. Instead, they quietly entered the large prayer hall, passed by the few believers, and walked towards the altar.
The last person in the team was a young man wearing the same black windbreaker as his teammates, with black hair, green eyes, and a casual hairstyle.
He straightened his windbreaker, which had only two buttons fastened, and casually glanced at the believers in the prayer hall. He sighed and said:
"I hope I can rest for a few more days in Backlund this time. Even the Sleepless One can't sustain this kind of exhaustion."
"It's hard to say. Maybe it'll take a week or two, or maybe we'll have to leave again tomorrow. You should have known this when you joined the Red Gloves, Leonard."
Soest, who was walking at the front of the team, chuckled and replied.
He dismissed the team and asked the other members to sit on the benches in front of the altar. They prayed to the goddess to soothe the fatigue caused by the mission and journey, and he hurriedly left the prayer hall through the passage behind the altar.
He wouldn't be going to look for Ms. Daly... Looking at Captain Soest's back, Leonard curled his lips slightly, sat down in a corner, away from the other teammates, clasped his hands together, and pretended to pray intently. He lowered his voice and said:
"Old man, you still haven't sensed anything about the 'Spark' gloves we sold to that vampire last time?"
"Why are you concerned about this again?" An old voice appeared in his mind. "The traces of me have long been erased. That must be a being you can't afford to offend. Don't think about it anymore. It's not like he didn't pay."
"I just want to take advantage of these few days to do some more research. Of course, I won't touch anything you don't let me touch."
Leonard answered perfunctorily, his green eyes fixed on the ground in front of him, wondering what he was thinking.
"Heh, if you could really be obedient, that would give me peace of mind. But I guess you want to investigate those two men and women who have been involved in so many incidents? I advise you to be careful. Backlund hides too many secrets. Don't let your curiosity get you involved with people and things you shouldn't."
The voice in his head immediately exposed his hidden thoughts.
"This is not like you before." Leonard lowered his voice with a hint of surprise. He caught a glimpse of Soest returning to the prayer hall from behind the altar, sitting among the believers with a disappointed expression, and quickly lowered his head.
The voice in his head was silent for a long time. Just when he thought the conversation was over, he heard another sigh:
"Raise your sequence as soon as possible. You should be able to be promoted to Requiem Master."
There was a hint of urgency in the voice that hadn't been there before.
————
In a flash, Angel was back on the snowy field where the cold wind was blowing.
In front of her was the still busy city, behind her was a huge double door, fine snowflakes were floating above her head, and under her feet was frozen soil.
"The wind and snow are a little lighter than last time. Could it be spring here too?"
She muttered, her eyes quickly scanning the surroundings, but she found no trace of the "Blood Admiral".
Nearly half an hour had passed since Klein smeared blood on the seriously injured pirate general and sent him into Groselle's Travels. Could he have recovered from his injuries? Where was he hiding?
Angel thought about it and walked around the gate to and from the world in the book, but did not find the expected bloodstains.
She thought there would be a battle waiting for her after she came in, which would be a good opportunity to test the various abilities of the witch of "Despair", but she didn't expect to come up empty-handed.
After waiting for a moment, the fully armed Klein appeared beside him, his face expressing the same confusion as Angel's.
"Perhaps he didn't enter through this door. After all, we are the 'warriors' who defeated the King of the North, and he did not participate in that battle."
Angel speculated.
"Fortunately, I have a backup plan."
Klein chuckled and pulled out a piece of deck wood from his pocket that was stained with the blood of "Blood Admiral" Senior. He used the divination rod to confirm it and found that Angel's guess was correct. The divination rod pointed to a location outside the city, not a densely populated city where it would be easier to hide.
According to the results of divination, they soon found the unconscious Senior outside the city beside a frost-covered forest.
The unfortunate pirate general fell headfirst into a deep pit covered in snow. The wound on his shoulder from Angel and the penetrating wound on his chest and abdomen from Klein's "Death Knell" had clearly recovered. At this rate, he would be able to wake up in an hour at most, climb out of the pit, and recover some of his combat effectiveness.
Angel used silk threads to pull Senior's limbs out of the pit. After testing him, he found that he would not wake up in the short term. So he looked at Klein and asked in a probing tone:
"Take it for the reward, or turn it into a secret doll?"
"I'm not sure if he can pass through that gate without going through the trial of the 'King of the North'. It's better for him to become a secret puppet. That way, he can attach himself to an object and be taken out by me."
Klein made a decisive decision.
After witnessing the battle between demigods, this "Master of Secret Puppetry" felt extremely eager to improve his combat capabilities. A powerful pirate general and a "ghost" with diverse abilities were the perfect tools for him to enhance his combat power and summarize the rules of role-playing.
Angel nodded and made way, watching Klein walk forward and quietly stand beside the unconscious Senior, his hands hanging down, as if in a daze, motionless.
A moment later, the unconscious body on the ground began to struggle unconsciously. Even though it was unconscious, the outstanding spirituality of the "ghost" made Senior feel a strong sense of crisis.
Unfortunately, he was seriously injured and was tied up by invisible silk threads again and again. He even entered the stagnant stage of "mystery puppetization". His struggles were slow and weak, and he gradually stopped moving.
A Sequence 5 "Ghost" had become a puppet, losing both its life and its identity... Angel watched Senior's stiff struggle with emotion, assessing the strength of his most important ability, "Puppet Master."
Of course, for me now, the "Spirit Thread" is no longer much of a threat. I use my full strength to cast "Disease", and it only takes a few seconds for Klein to lose his concentration. After ten seconds, he can't even stand steadily, let alone control the Spirit Thread... Not to mention, based on my experience in the previous sequences, the ability of "Despair" is probably not just what is obtained by taking the potion. More importantly, the extraordinary abilities that need to be explored and combined by oneself are the fundamental difference between different witches.
Suppressing the urge to "test out my abilities," Angel waited for Klein to gradually complete the final control, allowing Senior to stand up in an uncoordinated posture, moving his limbs, and slowly becoming lively and natural.
"It's done."
Senior spoke, his voice cold and emotionless.
"He still retains his previous habitual movements?"
Angel knew that "puppetization" was equivalent to death, and that all subsequent movements and actions were controlled by the Puppet Master, so he was very surprised at Senior's "degree of restoration".
"No, I can only rely on my guesswork and imitation. Of course, for a 'Faceless Man', this kind of imitation is not difficult."
Senior replied in Klein's tone again, and then his body gradually faded and disappeared. At the same time, the figure of the pirate general appeared on a gold coin that Klein took out.
"Let's go, let's leave the world in the book first. I always feel that if I stay here for too long, I will become a part of the story again."
Stuffing the coins into his pocket, Klein said, his tone unable to conceal his excitement and joy.
After obtaining a Sequence 5 Beyonder puppet, he finally felt that the distance between him and Angel had shortened a little bit.
Facing his strange smile, Angel tilted his head slightly, feeling a little confused.
————
The speed of travel in the spiritual world is a hundred times faster than that in the outside world. It didn't take long for the "Queen Anne's Revenge" to cross a distance of thousands of nautical miles and arrive near the island where Damir Port is located.
When she emerged from the spirit world, Anne released the "Red-haired Girl" who was swallowed by the ship. The three-masted sailing ship, which had gone through many hardships, was now in ruins. It could only barely use the half-high mast to pull up the sails and slowly sail towards Damir Port.
This time, the "Red-haired Lady" probably won't be able to return to the sea without a month of repairs. Fortunately, "Lucky William," who bravely followed Elaine to pick up Angel and Klein, did not show any other problems after waking up, highlighting the value of his nickname.
However, Angel discovered that this Beyonder from the "Monster" Path never dared to look Klein in the eye. This made her wonder whether the latter's "specialness" might have some adverse effect on this Path, so that they were always "lucky" enough to avoid such direct gazes.
The other brave sailors were not harmed either. Apart from being a little frightened by the vision before the arrival of the terrifying "black giant hand", they quickly returned to their posts in full vigor.
In order to prevent the disclosure of Anne's affairs, Anne, the angel of the "Arbitrator" path, used the contract to impose relevant restrictions on all crew members, including Elaine. According to her, she had asked many people to try to "kill her" on that nameless island before, and afterwards they used similar methods to avoid revealing their whereabouts, and the effect was quite reliable.
However, the angel's current mentality has changed a lot. Angel saw it and did not mention the agreement in her contract that she would "try to use the 'Disaster' spell again after being promoted."
"It seems that after meeting Bernadette, this ghost ship has taken on a life of its own. No, it has become a life of its own..."
She muttered softly, activating the wind-loving soul of the "Rose Necklace", blowing up a strong wind, trying to speed up the "Red-haired Girl" towards the port.
The sailboat, with its deck almost completely shattered and all three masts broken in the middle, passed through the ships entering and leaving the port at a speed exceeding that of a steamship, and approached the busy dock in a nearly ramming posture.
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