After hearing Klein and Frye's speculations, Leonard pulled at the collar of his shirt, paced back and forth a few steps, and said:
"Then we must investigate everyone that Sauls came into contact with in the workhouse, as well as everyone he met after he went bankrupt and was kicked out of the house. This is very troublesome. We must hurry up and split up to do a check here, then go straight to the third death in the West District and hand over the rest to the police."
“Okay.” Klein answered without hesitation.
Frye had no objection and turned to walk towards the few poor people who slept near Souls last night.
Klein was about to look for another target when he suddenly saw Leonard wink at him and point his chin towards the side hall of the workhouse.
What does that mean? He was confused for a moment, pretending nothing had happened, and walked around the mass hall for a while. Then, while Frye wasn't paying attention, he followed Leonard's footsteps, entered the side hall, passed through the partition, and came to a secluded corner.
"I have a guess." Leonard stopped in front of the shattered window and spoke suddenly and directly.
Klein looked around suspiciously and asked, "What guess?"
Leonard asked back with deep green eyes:
"If there were no supernatural factors, what do you think would have happened to Mrs. Lawes?"
Klein thought for a moment and said solemnly, "It's the same outcome, but it will be delayed by a week, two weeks, or a month. For a family like theirs, they won't go to a doctor until they can no longer support themselves. As long as the heart disease becomes serious, death may come at any time, and there will be no room for rescue."
"What about Sols? What would have happened to him if he hadn't been instigated?" Leonard asked again.
Klein considered carefully before speaking:
"From the information provided, it seems that Sauls has long been resentful of bankruptcy and extremely angry about not being rescued. I think he will take revenge sooner or later, but his targets will not be the rescued, but the boss of the company that caused his bankruptcy and the bank employee who took away his house."
"What will happen after he takes revenge?" Leonard asked.
"There is no doubt that he has already planned to end his own life. Regardless of whether his revenge is successful or not, he will die." Klein answered in the affirmative.
Leonard nodded slightly, showing his signature frivolous smile:
"Then can I say that Mrs. Lauvis and Sols are both destined to die in the near future?"
Klein is a "well-informed" keyboard expert. After hearing this question, he immediately made a guess:
"You mean, their deaths were artificially brought forward by supernatural factors? Why is that?"
"A more accurate description is that the 'life' they should have had was artificially shortened and stolen by supernatural factors, and 'life' has always been the best material for summoning evil gods, demons, and casting terrible curses." Leonard corrected Klein's guess with a slight curl of his lips.
"Summon evil gods and demons, and cast terrible curses." Klein stared at the other party's green eyes and said half questioningly and half speculatively, "You seem very sure? But we only have two investigation samples for the time being."
Leonard smiled cynically and said, "Klein, there is no need for us to pretend. I have witnessed you breaking free from the control of Sealed Artifact 2-04 and I know that you are special. You should also be able to vaguely sense that I am different from ordinary Beyonders."
He restrained his smile, met Klein's gaze and said:
"I once told you that there are many special people in this world who can always do things that others can't do, like you and me."
"This world has a long history, and there are all kinds of magical items. There will always be people who get them, master them, and become the protagonists of different dramas. There won't be too many such people, but there certainly won't be just one or two."
"I don't think that Beyonders who hide secrets are necessarily bad guys or villains. I don't think we have to figure out the source of their specialness or why they manifest themselves. As long as your actions don't endanger me, the Nighthawks, and the entire Tingen City, then you are still my teammate. Similarly, I hope you will treat me with a similar attitude. Of course, it's best not to tell the people above about this. Those guys are old-fashioned and conservative. They always think that special people like us will inevitably lose control and be seduced by evil gods and demons and fall."
However, I may have more secrets than you can imagine. Klein muttered to himself and said frankly:
"I do have this attitude. I only care about your behavior and purpose. I don't care about your specialness and I don't try to pry into your secrets."
After saying this, he silently added in his heart: No, in fact, I still care about it, and I am quite curious, but I can only endure it. Well, Leonard feels that he is the protagonist of a drama? What adventures did he get, and what kind of magical items did he have?
Leonard unbuttoned the collar of his shirt, chuckled and nodded:
“I’m glad we’ve reached a consensus.”
"In those adventures, this is called the meeting of two protagonists, and the wheel of history begins to roll forward."
Shameless! Klein smiled perfunctorily.
He knew clearly that "the wheel of history began to roll forward" came from Emperor Roselle
At this time, Leonard walked around quickly twice, his green eyes bright, and the corners of his mouth curled up as he said:
"Okay, to be honest, I have a strong suspicion that the protagonists of these deaths should have died within three months, but someone used various methods to bring their deaths forward to the last two weeks. The other party's purpose was to summon evil gods or demons, or to carry out a terrible, large-scale curse."
"It would be easy to cover up the fact by letting people who show signs of death die prematurely. It wouldn't attract the attention of the police so quickly, and it wouldn't be destroyed by the Nighthawks, the Mandated Punishers, and the Mechanical Heart during the preparation stage." Klein whispered to himself, analyzing the idea of the person behind the scenes. Nader smiled and agreed:
"Yes, if healthy, normal people suddenly die inexplicably, as long as there are more than three cases, it will definitely attract attention and will be routinely investigated."
"Then how do we find the altar for the ceremony? Whether it's to summon evil gods, demons, or create terrible curses, an altar and a ritual are needed, and the 'lives' that were harvested in advance must also be stored in a similar place." Klein believed the other party for the time being. After all, he didn't find any other clues and couldn't make another judgment.
There’s no harm in giving it a try!
Leonard chuckled and said, "Klein, shouldn't this be your area of expertise? Can't you imagine what the situation would be like around the altar during a ceremony like this?"
Without waiting for Klein to answer, he described it first: "The smell of death is strong. With the altar as the center, within a radius of 0 meters, there are no living creatures except the host of the ceremony. The surrounding temperature is at least 5 degrees Celsius lower than normal. There is a constant cold wind blowing through the altar sealed by the spiritual wall, and the 'life' of Mrs. Lawes and others has been taken away."
Having said this, he looked at Klein and said jokingly:
"I believe you can definitely divine the approximate location of the altar with these characteristics."
Klein frowned slightly and replied in a deep voice:
"As long as it doesn't go beyond Tingen City. In addition, I need an absolutely quiet environment where no one can disturb me, such as my home. Um, I also need the personal belongings of Mrs. Lauvis and others."
At the same time, he was worried that Leonard knew too much about this kind of dark magic and witchcraft.
"No problem." Leonard laughed, stepped forward, walked past Klein, and walked towards the mass hall without saying anything more.
This guy's style of doing things is really unique. Klein muttered to himself and followed him back the same way.
Leonard found Frye who was asking questions and taking notes seriously, and said with a serious expression:
"I have a guess and I plan to let Klein give it a try."
"What guess?" Frye asked in a seemingly cold tone.
"I'll tell you when I get the result. I don't want to be the object of ridicule by Roshan and the others." Leonard made up an excuse and brushed the matter aside.
Frye didn't ask any more questions. He followed the instructions and went to the nearby police station to borrow the personal belongings of Sols and Mrs. Lauvis, and then met up with his teammates at Klein's home.
"You guys wait in the living room. Don't let anyone disturb me." Klein took out his pocket watch, clicked it open, and took a look.
It was getting close now, and Melissa might be back at any moment.
"You can trust us." Leonard put his hands in his pockets and walked around the small living room, while Frye sat quietly on the sofa.
Is this guy ADHD? Klein curled his lips and returned to the bedroom on the second floor. He locked the wooden door and sealed the room with the spiritual wall.
Next, he set up the altar and prayed for the goddess' help to initially eliminate the interference.
Then, Klein wrote the corresponding "divination statement" on the paper:
"The location of the altar."
He gave very broad restrictions to avoid any mistakes.
After taking the paper and the deceased's belongings, Klein half-lay down on the bed, first recalling the scene Leonard described, and then silently recited the "divination sentence" seven times.
——He did not try to use the special power above the gray fog to complete it. First, because Leonard, this weird and mysterious guy, was downstairs, and no one knew whether he would notice anything this time. Second, he was a "fortune teller" who was about to digest the potion, and with the help of the ritual, it should be enough.
If there is really no result, Klein will consider finding another opportunity to go above the gray fog. After all, summoning evil gods and demons will threaten Benson, Melissa, and himself!
With the help of meditation, he quickly entered a dream state and "saw" blurry, hazy, unreal and fragmented scenes.
Soon, a picture appeared before his eyes.
It was a two-story gray-blue house bathed in the glow of dusk. The windows on the first floor were tightly closed, and the dark curtains had no gaps at all, but they expanded and contracted from time to time.
The soil near the house was dark brown, without any grass or flowers growing on it, and the surrounding garden seemed to be shrouded in shadow, dilapidated and dim.
Not far from this house, a river flows quietly.
After a while, Klein exited the dream without seeing any more images.
"If Leonard's guess is true, where would the house be? There are too many places with rivers in Tingen City, such as the southwest of the west district, the dock area, and the university area." He opened his eyes, rubbed his temples, and thought with a very serious expression.
ps: Tomorrow's two updates will be advanced, the first one will be at midnight