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Chapter 31 "Working Meal"

  Chapter 31 "Working Meal"

  After using up all the bullets on hand, the two left the Zotland Shooting Club.

  After returning from the smoke-filled shooting range to the sunny streets of Zotland, Angel took a deep breath of fresh air and exhaled slowly. Only then did he feel that the fatigue on his body was swept away.

  Klein also had a look of rebirth on his face. He looked around, took out a silver pocket watch from his pocket, opened the cover and glanced at it, and closed it with a "snap". "

  It's exactly twelve o'clock. I can still catch up with the working meal if I go back to the company now."

  He muttered to himself.

  "Working meal?" Angel repeated curiously, and then suddenly realized: "Oh, you mean Old Weir Restaurant."

  Blackthorn Security Company does not have its own kitchen, but due to the nature of the work, some staff members have to solve lunch and dinner in the company every day, so the nearby "Old Weir Restaurant" took over the task of providing meals.

  Every day at 10:30 in the morning, a waiter will come to the security company, ask who needs to order food, and deliver it at noon. At 3 pm, it is time to order dinner.

  Angel still remembered the lunch that the white-haired Ms. Xijia Teong brought her when she first came to the Blackthorn Security Company. It should have been ordered from the Oldville Restaurant. Although the portion was not large, it had meat and vegetables, and was barely enough to fill her.

  "Do you eat lunch at the company every day? I remember that there is more than one person in your family, why don't you eat at home?"

  Angel asked curiously. She knew that Klein had a brother and a sister, who currently lived with Klein at No. 2 Daffodil Street.

  She only saw the brother and sister once when Dunn and others took them back to the Blackthorn Security Company. The impression she had was a tall but slightly old man with short hair and a young and beautiful girl with the same black hair, with obvious family characteristics.

  "My sister, Melissa, is studying at Tingen Technical School. She has to go to class six days a week, and the lunch break is not long, so she eats at school; Benson works overtime every day, and sometimes he doesn't even come back for dinner. It's too troublesome for me to make lunch at home if I eat alone."

  "And the captain gave me a special task, patrolling nearby every afternoon, so it's better to eat lunch directly at the company. Now they will help me order lunch directly every day."

  Klein explained.

  Angel felt the same way: "It's really troublesome to cook for one person. If you cook too much, it will go bad easily in this weather, and if you cook too little, it's not cost-effective."

  She often eats out, but occasionally buys some bread and makes some soup and salad to go with it. In the summer without a refrigerator, unless you eat it all on the same day, the food will inevitably go bad the next day.

  The two of them had already walked along the other end of the street, and across the street was the Blackthorn Security Company.

  Since she didn't order lunch, she would definitely not have a share of the takeaway from the Old Weir Restaurant that would be delivered later, so Angel didn't plan to stay in the company, but planned to find a random restaurant on Iron Cross Street as planned.

  These days, she has visited almost all the restaurants on Daffodil Street, and her food search has expanded to Iron Cross Street.

  Fortunately, although there are no special foods in Tingen City, there are local restaurants on every street. As long as she looks carefully, she can always find food that satisfies her.

  But before taking the public carriage back, Angel plans to go back to the Blackthorn Security Company to replenish the bullets that she had just used up at the shooting range.

  "Well, these are consumables."

  Thinking of old Neil's earnest teachings, she found a legitimate reason for her excessive consumption of ammunition.

  Going up the stairs to the second floor, she pushed open the door of the reception room. Roshan and Brett, who were sitting on the newly purchased sofa in the reception room, glanced at the two people who came in, and their faces were full of disappointment.

  "I thought it was Old Weir's lunch." Roshan, who was wearing a breathable white dress, complained, "Why are they late today?"

  "Don't worry, Roshan, maybe they are too busy. You know, the police station across the street has been working overtime in recent days, and the delivery business of Old Weir's restaurant is much more popular than before."

  Brett, who had a thick beard, comforted Roshan. He was also one of the civilian staff of Blackthorn Security Company. Angel met him once when he came to report yesterday.

  Klein hung his hat on the coat rack, walked over to the sofa, found an empty seat and sat down. He also joked to Roshan, "Maybe we should write a letter of complaint to the restaurant. How can they let our beautiful ladies become thinner just to feed those rough guys in the police station?"

  "Really thinner?"

  Hearing Klein's words, Roshan subconsciously touched her belly, then her face turned bitter and she moved her arm away.

  She swept her envious eyes over Angel, "Hey, Angel, how did you get such a figure? Can you teach me?"

  In order to move conveniently and avoid hurting his still male self-esteem, Angel rarely chose feminine clothes. Instead, he wore a neutral outfit, a white shirt, a slim vest and trousers, and a thin windbreaker to cover up his proud figure built by the "witch" potion. Seeing that the topic suddenly turned to herself, she was stunned and didn't know how to answer for a while.

  "Well... diet and exercise?"

  After racking her brains, she came up with these few words.

  "No, I mean...oh, forget it." Roxanne blushed and waved her hands, indicating that Angel had misunderstood her meaning, but her eyes glanced at the other two men present, and after hesitating for a moment, she ended the topic.   

  "By the way, the captain just received a request for help from the Mechanical Heart and went to Hoy University to help investigate a case. Ms. Xijia Teong said that she was looking for materials for her novel recently, so she went with them." Brett saw that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, and pointed to the distant clock tower of Hoy University outside the window and said.

  "That means that the lunch they ordered may be wasted, so why not..."

  He looked at Angel.

  "Ah, that's right. Before the captain left, he said that the Mechanical Heart would eat outside after the work was done, so there was no need to save lunch for them. Angel, you stay for lunch, and I can give you two servings."

  Luo Shan took over the conversation.

  It was already past twelve o'clock. Even if the public carriage would arrive in a while, it would take more than one o'clock in the afternoon to take the bus back to Daffodil Street. It would be a bit late to find a place to eat lunch...

  Angel estimated the time and nodded: "Okay, then I will help the captain solve the problem of wasting food."

  Several people laughed.

  Since they decided to have dinner at the company, Angel was not in a hurry to go to Old Neil in the basement to get the bullets. Instead, he sat on the sofa. The four of them sat in a circle around the coffee table, drinking the coffee made by Roshan to fill their empty stomachs and chat.

  "A murder case happened at Hoy University last night. That's the area that the Mechanical Heart is responsible for, but they had some problems when questioning the witnesses, so they had to invite the captain over. Well, they went into the dream to solve the problem."

  "This kind of mutual help between churches often happens, but usually the captain is invited."

  Hoy University... Angel listened to Roshan's words and turned his head to look at Klein beside him - he seemed to be a graduate of Hoy University?

  "Does this murder case involve extraordinary powers?" Klein didn't notice Angel's eyes. He was more interested in the case itself.

  "Not necessarily. Maybe there are some clues, or maybe the police are too nervous. The cases they handed over are most likely false alarms and do not involve occultism, but each report still requires the Night Watcher or other churches in the corresponding area to send people to check." Brett replied.

  "The police are also in a state of panic right now. The number of murders that have occurred during this period far exceeds the average level of the city last year. Many of them do involve extraordinary powers, such as the son of banker McGowan and... Ah, Klein, sorry."

  Roshan suddenly covered her mouth halfway through her words.

  "It's okay." Klein forced a smile.

  Angel listened to the two people's enigmatic conversation, and recalled what Captain Dunn had mentioned before, the reason why Klein Moretti joined the Night Watchers, and he was thoughtful.

  The reception room fell into a brief silence.

  "Bang bang--"

  There was a knock on the door, and before anyone could respond, the half-closed door was pushed open, and a young waiter in a waiter's uniform, holding a stack of lunch boxes in his hands, entered through the crack of the door.

  Seeing that he couldn't free his hands, he should have "knocked on the door" with his feet just now.

  Brett got up from the sofa, took the lunch box from the waiter's hand familiarly, and put it on the coffee table.

  "I'm very sorry that the food delivery is a little slower than usual." The waiter apologized, but his expression didn't show that at all. His face was only covered with sweat and numbness after overwork. "You can pay for the food when you come to collect the food boxes in the afternoon. Enjoy your meal." After watching

  the waiter leave, the few people looked at each other.

  "It seems that Old Weir's Restaurant is really busy." Brett shook his head and said with a smile, "I'll deliver food to Coenli and Old Neil first. They must be waiting anxiously. You eat first and don't worry about me."

  He separated a pile of food boxes, took two of them, walked through the partition of the reception room, and went to the underground area of ​​Blackthorn Security Company.

  Old Neil was in the armory, so it was Coenli who was guarding the "Chanis Gate" today?

  Angel recalled Coenli White, a "sleepless person" who had only met him once.

  Klein and Roxanne had each taken their food boxes and opened the lids. Inside was the same set of meals: a palm-sized piece of oatmeal bread, mushroom soup, cubed lamb, and a small spoonful of cream.

  The faint aroma of oil immediately filled the entire reception room.

  "Aha, I feel so hungry that I can eat two servings." Luo Shan sniffed, a satisfied smile on her face. She took a big sip of the mushroom soup, skillfully spread the cream on the bread with a spoon, and ate quickly with the lamb.

  Appetite is contagious. Seeing Luo Shan eating so deliciously, the other two also felt their stomachs lurching. Klein handed the slightly larger lunch box that originally belonged to Dunn to Angel. The latter opened it and found that his lunch was slightly richer. There was an extra half fried sausage in the box, and the soup was also a chowder, with more ingredients.

  Angel was about to feast on the cream like Luo Shan did, when there was a knock on the door behind him.

  (End of this chapter)

Chapter 32 Commission

  Chapter 32 Commission

  Bang, bang, bang -

  there were knocks on the door of the reception room.

  Roshan, who was chewing bread, raised her head with an embarrassed look on her face: "Could it be the captain who is back... No, if it was him, he wouldn't knock on the door."

  She looked at the lunch that had been touched in front of Angel, blinked, and muttered as if to convince herself.

  "Please come in, the door is not locked." Klein put down the fork in his hand and responded to the knock.

  The door was pushed open from the outside, and a gorgeously dressed woman walked in. With her came a soft female voice: "Excuse me, is this the Blackthorn Security Company?"

  Seeing that three people were sitting around a table in the reception room with a half-eaten lunch in front of them, a trace of guilt appeared on her slightly plump face: "Sorry, I didn't disturb you to eat?"

  You have disturbed... Angel said secretly, she put the bread that she had not had time to eat back into the lunch box, wiped her hands with a napkin, and changed her sitting position on the sofa, facing the lady at the door.

  "This is Blackthorn Security Company. What can I do for you?"

  Hearing the affirmative answer, the lady breathed a sigh of relief and smiled again: "I have a commission and would like to ask you to find a lost item."

  Commission?

  Angel's first reaction to her words was to feel a little funny. The Night Watchers belong to the extraordinary force of the church and are under the jurisdiction of the church. They usually accept commissions from local police agencies, but they are not private organizations like private detective agencies or mercenary gangs. This lady may have found the wrong place.

  But she immediately realized that the other party might have come for the brand of "Blackthorn Security Company".

  Seeing the expectation in the lady's eyes, Angel did not answer, but cast his eyes on Luo Shan, wanting to see how the "security company" would deal with such an inadvertent client.

  Roshan had already stopped eating when the visitor pushed open the door and entered the reception room. She was not panicked when she heard that there was a commission. Instead, she replied in a businesslike tone: "The commission to find lost items costs between ten and fifty pounds, depending on the difficulty and the required time limit. You need to provide detailed information about the item. If it is a stolen item, the time and place of loss must be provided. The more detailed the information, the greater the possibility of finding it."

  "A 20% advance payment is required for the commission to recover lost property, and the balance will be paid upon success. However, we cannot guarantee that it will be found. If the commission cannot be completed, only half of the advance payment will be refunded."

  That is to say, regardless of whether the lost item is found or not, the client must pay at least 10% of the commission fee... Angel listened to this slightly harsh request and moved his eyes to the lady, but saw that she not only did not show dissatisfaction, but a smile appeared on her face.

  "It's a very reasonable request. Can you accept the commission now? I can sign the contract immediately."

  Luo Shan seemed to have not expected the other party to be so straightforward. Her face was obviously stiff, but her excellent professionalism played a role, allowing her to quickly adjust: "Please wait a moment, I will go to draft a contract, you can communicate with our security personnel here first."

  She reluctantly left her lunch and walked around the partition at the back of the reception room. Then the crisp sound of a typewriter came.

  The lady came to the sofa that originally belonged to Brett and sat down gracefully. She looked at Angel and Klein, as if evaluating who was the leader between the two.

  Klein took the initiative to ask, "What is your name? What kind of item are you looking for?"

  The lady answered quickly as if she had already prepared it in mind, "Just call me Mrs. Green. What I'm looking for is a gold ring. It originally belonged to my husband, but it was stolen a week ago. This ring is very important to me, and I hope you can find it as soon as possible."

  "Well, the gold ring... was stolen a week ago..." Klein nodded and repeated the key points in Mrs. Green's words, "What other characteristics does the ring have? If it's convenient, it'd be best to explain its importance in detail so that we can analyze its possible whereabouts."

  "The ring is not pure gold. It is harder than ordinary gold rings. The diameter is about this wide. One side is flat and has the word 'Green' printed on it in a convex shape." Mrs. Green gestured the size of the ring with her hand, "No need to analyze, I know where it is. You just need to help me find it."

  Listening to Mrs. Green's description, the shape of the ring gradually emerged in Angel's mind. It looked very much like a ring-shaped seal. But after hearing the last sentence, she couldn't help but interrupt:

  "You know where it is? Then why do we need to look for it?"

  Mrs. Green took out a folded paper from her handbag and handed it to Angel: "This is the report my private detective gave me yesterday. He has found the whereabouts of the ring."   

  Angel took it, opened the thin paper, and spread it on the coffee table. Klein also came over and looked at it curiously.

  This was an investigation report issued by the "Jules Detective Agency". It described in detail how they investigated more than a dozen witnesses and suspicious persons within three days, locked in the suspect of burglary, and then determined the method of selling the stolen goods based on the suspect's confession.

  When he saw the last part of the report, "Location of sale: Dock District Labor Mutual Aid Association", "Average time of selling stolen goods is ten days", and the red note "Suspected to be a gang organization", Angel frowned.

  She raised her head, looked at Mrs. Green with expectant eyes, and asked:

  "Since you have found the whereabouts of the suspect and the items, why don't you call the police directly? I think the Tingen police should welcome this kind of case with clear evidence."

  "The police won't care. These gangs have existed for so many years. Don't you think they don't know?" Mrs. Green obviously had a deep prejudice against the police. Then she changed her tone: "Besides, I don't want the police to intervene. They always act in a high-profile manner and are inefficient, but they can cause a lot of trouble."

  "Originally, I wanted to let Detective Jules get the ring back directly, either by stealing it or by negotiating with them to buy it back, but he was unwilling to continue after this investigation, and even my offer to increase his remuneration was useless."

  It makes sense. Since this so-called "Labor Mutual Aid Association" has a gangster background, the private detective must not want to get into trouble. Investigating and collecting evidence is one thing, and direct contact or even stealing things is another. The difficulty and risk of the latter are far higher than the few gold pounds that can be obtained.

  The same is true for the Blackthorn Security Company. When Mrs. Green first spoke, Angel thought the task was to find clues to stolen items and check suspicious persons. Unexpectedly, these tasks had already been done by Detective Jules, and the remaining step was the most troublesome.

  From Cole Granger's memory, it can be learned that although Tingen City does not have gangs in the open like big cities like Backlund, various "mutual aid associations" and "industry associations" have formed quasi-gang organizations that are legal on the surface but actually engaged in various underworld businesses by monopolizing or semi-monopolizing some industries and low-end labor. They usually collect membership fees, commissions, organize labor work, maintain industry rules, and even guard people's homes. When they encounter illegal businesses with high profits, they will pounce on them and take a big bite. The

  lack of police force makes the Tingen City police turn a blind eye to this gray area. As long as no one is killed and their claws are not extended to the dignitaries, they will not bother to deal with this mess.

  Seeing Angel's hesitation, Mrs. Green said anxiously, "I know this last step is a little difficult. How about this? I can double the commission amount to one hundred pounds, as long as you find a way to get the ring back."

  One hundred pounds, this is almost two years' salary for an ordinary person... Even if the ring is pure gold with diamonds, it is definitely not worth this price, not to mention it is just an impure gold ring. It can only have other values, such as being used as a seal, and Mrs. Green urgently needs to use it, otherwise the loss will be much higher than this hundred pounds.

  Angel did not rush to answer Mrs. Green, but scanned the information in front of him again and again, analyzing the feasibility of this commission.

  "This is already a very high commission price. May I ask how did you find us? Were the detectives introduced?"

  Klein asked.

  Mrs. Green smiled awkwardly and answered hesitantly, "Actually... Detective Jules did recommend several security companies. He thought that tasks involving gangs should be handed over to powerful security organizations."

  Seeing her vague answer, I'm afraid that the detective's recommendation did not include this. Was it because the "Blackthorn Security Company" failed in operation or was it too successful in hiding?

  "But those security companies have completely run out of people to take on this kind of task. Recently, several vicious cases have occurred in succession, including murders and disappearances. The wealthy people in Tingen have hired all the private detectives and security personnel. I came to you with a try-and-see attitude."

  No wonder the lady accepted the harsh request without hesitation when she heard that Roshan wanted to take the commission, agreed to sign the contract immediately, and even raised the price on the spot. Unfortunately,

  this hundred pounds is not so easy to earn. If it's just to find lost cats and dogs, it's okay. This kind of commission with stolen goods already in the pockets of the gangsters will cause disputes and even cause deaths. Angel didn't know what Captain Dunn, or the Nighthawks, thought about this high-risk commission, so he didn't dare to agree rashly.

  "Mrs. Green, we have accepted your commission. Miss Roxanne will bring out the contract later. The commission will take effect after you sign and pay the advance."

  Hmm?

  Angel looked at Klein in surprise. Klein stretched out his left arm at some point, holding a silver chain in his hand, with a yellow crystal tied to the end of the chain.

  "If your information is correct, you should be able to get the ring tomorrow."

  (End of this chapter)

Chapter 33 The Fortune Teller's Divination

  Chapter 33: Divination of the Diviner

  "You have integrated into the role of 'Diviner' so quickly?"

  After seeing off the satisfied Mrs. Green and enjoying the already cold lunch together, Angel, who felt blood stagnate in his stomach and felt lazy, leaned on the sofa and asked Klein.

  "This may help me master the power of the potion. You see, 'Diviner', isn't it supposed to be fortune-telling? To be honest, I plan to work part-time at the Divination Club... Well, mainly to monitor whether there are any suspicious people there, and be an amateur fortune-teller by the way."

  Klein took a sip of coffee and said with a smile.

  This is in line with the rules of "acting method" by accident, but it is also because the sequence of "Diviner" itself has convenient auxiliary capabilities. Other sequences, such as the "Assassin" potion, are extremely difficult to play openly...

  Angel looked at the silver chain faintly visible in the sleeve of Klein's left hand holding the coffee cup, and a little jealousy emerged in her heart - a person's success depends not only on his own efforts, but more importantly on whether the potion path he chooses is good...

  Just now when Mrs. Green was present, Klein threw out the yellow crystal hanging from the silver chain and performed the "Pendulum Method" divination on the spot. Angel thought he had even forgotten the confidentiality code. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Green was so focused on how to persuade Angel to accept the commission that she had no time to pay attention to Klein's strange behavior. After

  obtaining the divination results, Klein readily accepted Mrs. Green's commission to find the stolen ring. Although Angel was a little puzzled, out of trust in her teammates, she did not question it on the spot, but cooperated. After euphemistically suggesting "additional money", the commission contract was reached at 120 pounds.

  "I used the 'Pendulum Method' to divine, relying on the connection between the astral body and the spirit world and the starry sky to divine whether things are good or bad." Klein explained, "Clockwise represents affirmation, counterclockwise represents negation, and the content of my divination just now was 'there will be danger in retrieving the ring'."

  "At that time, the pendant was rotating clockwise at a very slow speed, and the conclusion is..."

  "There is danger, but not great?"

  Angel answered first.

  This is consistent with the investigation results of Jules Detective Agency. The ring was indeed sold to the gangsters by the thief, but it was only the gangsters, and no higher-level power was involved.

  For extraordinary people, ordinary gangsters are indeed not a big danger.

  "That's right. If the divination indicates that the danger is great, and it is very dangerous for extraordinary people, then it means that this matter is likely to be affected by extraordinary factors. Otherwise, it is an ordinary theft of items."

  "After confirming that it is the latter through divination, I think I can take this commission. After all, the other party has come to our door through the sign of Blackthorn Security Company. Whether it is for the maintenance of this disguised identity or for the help of ordinary citizens, this approach is reasonable."

  Klein explained with a slight smile.

  And he could earn a full 120 pounds...

  Angel gave him a reason.

  Thinking of the gold pounds that were about to be in hand, she asked Roshan, who was brewing the second pot of coffee next to her: "By the way, Miss Roshan, if we complete the commission, how will the 120 pounds be distributed?"

  Roshan tilted her head as she poured hot water into the coffee pot and answered:

  "According to the rules that have always been in place, half of the commission rewards need to be handed over to Mrs. Orianna as the funding for the entire team, and the remaining half will be distributed among the members of the commission according to their contributions, but they usually split it equally."

  Each member has different extraordinary abilities, and their contributions to combat or searching for items vary. It is indeed more appropriate to split it equally. If we hand over 60 pounds, each of us can get 30 pounds?

  Angel quickly calculated the rewards she could get. 30 pounds, this is 10 weeks of salary in the Nighthawks. It is said that it will double after becoming a formal member, which is also 5 weeks...

  She glanced at Klein, who was sitting opposite her, and found that his eyes were wide open, looking at Roshan, as if he didn't believe that he could get so much reward.

  "It's a pity that Klein is not an official member yet. He can only get about 10%. Well, it's 10% after half of it is handed over."

  "Huh?"

  Seeing the huge sum of 30 pounds turned into 6 pounds in an instant, Klein couldn't help but ask a question.

  His reaction almost made Angel laugh, but after all, she had received professional training, so she tightened her facial muscles to hold back.

  Judging from his clothes, he doesn't look like he is short of money... But during the previous chat, I learned that Klein has a brother who works overtime every day to make money, and a sister who is studying. Maybe the whole family is under great financial pressure?

  Angel thought to himself.

  Wait, an informal member...

  "But I'm not an official member either, Miss Roxanne."

  Angel reminded.

  "Huh, you were already a Beyonder before you joined the Nighthawks. I thought you already..." Roxanne raised her eyebrows in surprise. "In that case, it's another 30 pounds per person."

  ————————

  Perhaps to prove that he deserved half of the reward, Klein, in high spirits, immediately helped Angel with the follow-up divination. Roxanne, who was quite interested in the mysticism, watched from the side, while Brett went to help Mrs. Aureliana tidy up the finance office with a lack of interest.

  "The key to pendulum divination lies in the choice of divination content." Klein held the silver chain in his left hand and let the yellow crystal pendant hang naturally, almost touching the table. On the table was a white paper with the divination content he had just written. "If you use a question like 'Where is Mrs. Green's lost ring?', you won't get an answer, because the pendulum will only give two answers, 'yes' or 'no', and at most add an 'intermediate state'. Any more specific answer is beyond its scope."

  "But we can split the questions that need divination into simple questions that can be answered by 'yes' and 'no', and then divinate one by one to get the answer."

  Looking at the white paper on the table with "Mrs. Green's lost ring is in the Labor Mutual Aid Association in the dock area of ​​Tingen City", Angel was quite surprised. Is Klein really a new Beyonder?

  Klein closed his eyes and moved his lips, as if he was mumbling something.   

  After a while, he opened his eyes again and watched the pendant in his hand slowly rotate clockwise.

  "Confirmed, it seems that the conclusion of the investigation report provided by Mrs. Green is correct. The ring is in the dock area."

  "Can you narrow down the scope a little more?"

  Angel held the investigation report and scanned some key words.

  "I have some impression of the Labor Mutual Aid Association. It is an office area converted from a warehouse. There are usually not many people there, but there are many rooms and they are messy. It takes too much time to search one by one. Once the staff are alarmed, disputes are likely to occur."

  "You can't raise questions, you can only verify the authenticity." Klein reiterated. He held a pen and laid a new piece of white paper in front of him, but he didn't write anything. He was waiting for Angel to ask questions that needed divination.

  "What about eliminating them one by one? Try divination in each room?"

  "My spirituality can't support too many divinations. If the location is relatively small, it's okay, but if the scope is too large, I can't do anything."

  Klein rejected this method. He frowned and thought for a while, and nodded as if he had made up his mind.

  "How about this? I'll go to the dock area with you, and I'll use 'divination rod search' to find the ring."

  He picked up the cane beside him and explained this divination method to Angel and Roxanne.

  Unlike the "yes or no" prompts of the pendulum method, the divination rod search only requires you to silently recite the object that needs to be divined, such as "the location of Mrs. Green's lost ring", and stick the cane on the ground. The direction it falls is the approximate direction of the object.

  "It sounds good. Even if the range is not accurate, as long as you divination a few more times and use the triangulation method, you can always make up for the lack of accuracy."

  Angel was somewhat tempted, but she estimated the area of ​​the dock warehouse in her mind and shook her head.

  "It's not very useful. We have confirmed that the ring is in the warehouse of the Labor Mutual Aid Association. The area there is not small. The accuracy of your divination outside is not enough..."

  "Then go in together." Klein was quite interested, and he rubbed his hands and suggested.

  "Then it's not stealing, it's robbing." Angel refused. "I'd better act alone. It's better for me to go in alone with my skills as an assassin. If you follow me, it will easily alert the gang members."

  Without waiting for Klein to speak, she took the paper and pen, wrote a sentence, and placed it in front of Klein.

  "Come on, fortune teller, I have thought of a way. You try to tell this first."

  Klein, whose identity as a "fortune teller" was emphasized, could only smile bitterly. He took the white paper and took a look. It said "Mrs. Green's lost ring is being carried by someone." The

  counterclockwise rotating pendulum gave the result of the divination: negative.

  "The second one."

  When Klein closed his eyes and silently read the words on the paper, Angel had already written another paragraph: "Mrs. Green's lost ring is being properly kept." The

  topaz pendant rotated clockwise this time.

  This means that the ring is being properly kept.

  After completing two consecutive divinations, Klein put down the pendant in his hand, pressed his hands on both sides of his temples and rubbed them, and then opened his eyes.

  "I can only do two or three more divinations at most. Sorry, I just became a fortune teller. Continuous divination consumes a lot of spiritual energy."

  "It doesn't matter. It's enough. I have already got the answer I need."

  Angel laid out three pieces of paper with divination contents on the coffee table one by one, and drew the results of divination on them with a pen.

  Under the surprised eyes of Klein and Rosanne, she patiently explained: "First, we confirmed that the ring is indeed in the labor mutual aid association in the dock area as Mrs. Green provided." She circled the first piece of paper, "Then the second divination denied that the ring was being carried by anyone."

  A cross was drawn on the second piece of paper.

  "Finally, it was kept properly."

  After Angel drew the last circle, he looked up at the two people: "A gold ring that looks valuable, not carried by anyone, and kept properly, where should it be?"

  "The safe!" Klein and Rosanne answered in unison.

  (End of this chapter)

Chapter 34 Labor Mutual Aid Association

  Chapter 34 Labor Mutual Aid Association

  Taking the tram, Angel arrived at the dock area.

  Although it is called a "district", a large part of it is actually in the suburbs of Tingen City. The Tussock River and the Hoy River meet outside the city and flow to Backlund. A large number of passenger and freight ships flow downstream, allowing the docks in the suburbs of Tingen to develop rapidly and tend to be connected to the city.

  Just before getting on the train, Klein was still making his last effort.

  "Do you really not need me to go with you?"

  At that time, Angel was standing at the public carriage station on Zouteland Street, waiting for the arrival of the tram. Next to him was Klein, who was holding a gentleman's cane. He planned to wait for Angel to get on the train and then walk back to Iron Cross Street to complete his daily afternoon task: looking for lost notes along the way.

  "Didn't we discuss this just now?"

  Seeing that Klein was still eager to try, Angel shook his head.

  "It's just to steal, ahem, to get back Mrs. Green's lost ring. It's not convenient with too many people." Even

  though the two of them had just discussed how to "steal the ring back" for a long time, Angel still felt a little ashamed to say this word in public.

  We can only blame the Tingen City police for being lazy and unwilling to work. Even the citizens do not trust them, and instead look for private detectives and security companies to solve such problems.

  Angel found a good excuse for his behavior.

  "What if the ring is not in the safe, or there is no safe there at all?" Klein seemed to be a little hesitant. "If I also go to the scene to do divination, there will be a greater chance of finding the ring."

  "Even if the ring is not found, the worst case scenario is that we can go again next time. This time, we will just treat it as a scout. But if the two of us are discovered, there may not be a next time."

  Angel decisively rejected the request of his "diviner" teammate who had no combat ability. The probability of being discovered if he acted alone was very small, but it would be too difficult to bring a clumsy fortuneteller with him.

  Pulling his thoughts back to the present, Angel walked towards the warehouses in the dock area in the direction of his memory.

  It was about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the busiest time in the dock area.

  Sailing ships and steamships were anchored by the river. Simple cranes were loading and unloading cargo boxes non-stop. Porters carrying heavy objects and pushing wheelbarrows were shuttling along the narrow but interconnected roads like ants. The road paved with wooden planks has been trampled into potholes by them, and the stagnant water and garbage are mixed together. The stench makes it difficult to breathe in the open air.

  This is the area where the poor of Tingen City gather. There are jobs that can make money as long as you work hard and cheap housing. Countless people who can't stay in the city come here to make a living.

  This is also the area that the Tingen City police are most reluctant to come to. They would rather send out a whole team to protect the ball held by the mayor and line up in front of dignitaries than patrol the muddy trails at the dock for a quarter of an hour.

  Where the light cannot reach is darkness, it is natural for gangs to be born in such areas.

  In fact, the original intention of establishing the "Dock Area Labor Mutual Aid Association" was to fight against the exploitation of workers by other gangs. A group of dock workers who wanted to avoid protection fees and forced labor united and fought violence with violence, driving other gangs that exploited workers out of this area.

  Then, they inevitably became corrupt and degenerate, becoming the next oppressor...

  Of course, what they did was actually the same as the old gangs, monopolizing jobs, collecting protection fees, and selling some contraband items. They didn't do much bad things to the "members".

  It's not that they have a change of heart, but that there is really no money to be made from the bottom-level workers... The weekly salary of dock workers is generally only 10 soli, and the job is not stable. This salary is almost nothing except rent and daily life. After the repeal of the "Corn Law", although the cost of living will drop slightly, more farmers will flock to the city to compete for the already scarce job opportunities, and their salaries will only be further reduced due to vicious competition.

  From this perspective, the labor mutual aid association that monopolizes most of the dock work is actually conducive to bargaining for workers and avoiding the devaluation of labor caused by the bottomless price-cutting.

  At least Angel didn't see too many signs of "gang rampage" from the busy scene in front of her.

  Along the road beside the river, avoiding the crowded crowd, turning a few corners, she came to a group of warehouses.

  There were originally wooden houses here. After a fire burned them down a few years ago, the new buildings were all made of bricks and concrete, which formed a sharp contrast with the low wooden buildings in other suburban areas.

  Angel's target this time was a three-story warehouse, but the internal structure was only divided into two floors. There was a row of double arches on the front, and behind the doors were different small compartments separated by brick walls. The first floor was for storing goods, and the second floor was for office areas.

  Cole had been to this warehouse twice in his memory and had some impression of the internal structure.   

  At this time, most of the workers should have gone to the dock to move the goods, and they would not move the items that needed to be stored back to the warehouse until nightfall. But now the main entrance of the warehouse was crowded with people. Hundreds of men in various worker uniforms crowded at the door, surrounding a simple podium made of boxes in the middle.

  "Quiet, everyone, quiet!"

  A middle-aged man on the stage, also wearing a worker uniform, shouted with a tin horn.

  "I have received everyone's demands, but the president will not be back until two days later. Before that, please continue to work with peace of mind and do not delay our progress. When the president returns to Tingen City, a representative conference will be held immediately."

  "Don't even think about it! You said the same thing last time, two days after two days!"

  "Get out of here, you lackey!"

  "We want to see the president!"

  Several workers who were obviously taking the lead encouraged the crowd around them, and the effect was very good. The noise of hundreds of people immediately overwhelmed the shouts for maintaining order.

  Seeing the man standing on the platform sweating profusely, comforting the workers around him, and several tall and strong men around the platform, repeatedly blocking the workers who rushed in front of them, as if protecting the man who was shouting, Angel suddenly had an idea.

  This farce in front of him should not end in a short time. The people in the entire warehouse were attracted to the main entrance. Maybe now is the best opportunity to find the ring?

  Bypassing the noisy front door area, Angel came to the back of the warehouse.

  The surface of the building, which was only built a few years ago, is already full of traces of peeling wall paint, revealing the brick structure below. It can be seen that the owner of the building does not care about these "face projects". Along the wall, there is a row of narrow windows at a height of five meters, and the only available foothold is a row of beams protruding from the wall slightly below the window. No matter how

  agile the "assassin" is, it is impossible to climb the vertical five-meter-high wall without the help of tools. Fortunately, the second floor of the warehouse is an office area. Several gas and water supply pipes run vertically upward along the corner of the wall and penetrate into the wall at a position slightly lower than the window.

  Thanks to the man on the podium at the entrance of the warehouse shouting at the top of his lungs, and the workers' various abuses, everyone near the warehouse gathered in the direction of the main entrance.

  Seeing that there was no one around, Angel no longer hesitated. She walked to the corner of the wall, stretched out her hand to test the strength of the pipe, and found that it could bear the weight of a person without any problem, so she climbed up directly.

  Using her hands and feet, the physical fitness and extraordinary agility provided by the assassin's potion allowed her to quickly climb to the height of the second floor, and then she jumped up with the help of the horizontal pipe that penetrated the wall and jumped onto the beam under the second-floor window. When she jumped, the fixing screws at the connection between the pipe and the wall made an unbearable sound, which made Angel's heart tighten. After she stood firm, she looked around. There was no one behind the warehouse, and the workers farther away would not notice the small movement here.

  However, now that she was at a high place, if someone looked over from a distance, they could easily find the figure climbing on the outer wall, so Angel did not dare to stay any longer. She pulled the nearest window and found that it was not locked from the inside, so she gently opened one side, quickly glanced at the inside of the room, pressed the window sill with both hands, and flipped in through the window.

  This is a small file room. The wooden shelves against the wall are filled with file bags. From newer kraft paper to paper bags with damaged corners, stacks of paper documents are neatly arranged. There is

  a set of tables and chairs near the door. A registration book is spread out on it. There is also a cup of coffee next to it, with steam coming out of the cup.

  Perhaps because of the fear of fire, this room is not equipped with gas lamps, but relies on two windows to provide natural light.

  Angel quickly scanned the room and did not find anything that looked like a safe. She pulled out a stack of documents from the shelf and found that it was a warehouse in and out goods statistics, so she put it back.

  Gently pushing open the door, there is a long corridor outside. According to the location, it should pass through the center of the second floor. There are several gas lamps on the wall. It is daytime, but because there are only windows at the two ends of the corridor, the main light source still needs to be provided by gas lamps. There is a similar door every few meters on both sides of the corridor, some open and some closed. The door she just walked out of has a sign of "Information Room".

  At this time, the entire second floor was quiet, with only faint voices coming from the excited crowd at the front door of the warehouse. The workers were arguing with the warehouse manager and his bodyguards.

  It seemed that they had to hurry up. No matter which side won the fight, they might come to the second floor of the warehouse. They had to find the safe before that and "take" the ring away.

  Angel quickly walked through the corridor, checking the door numbers. If she saw an unlocked door, she would open it and stick her head in to take a look. If it was locked, she would knock on the door twice to see if there was anyone inside.

  She walked through the "tea room", "lounge", "assistant office" and other rooms in turn. Except for a big man lying on the sofa in the lounge and snoring, Angel did not meet anyone else. She

  walked through the stairs in the middle of the corridor to the other end, and searched a few more rooms. She finally found the door number with the words "President's Office". She

  pressed the copper door handle lightly, and there was a resistance, but the handle did not move at all.

  Angel was happy, it seemed that this was the room.

  (End of this chapter)

Chapter 35 Search

  Chapter 35 Search

  The door of the president's office was locked, which was within Angel's expectations. Klein's divination also clearly pointed out that the ring was being kept properly. If the door was wide open and the ring was placed on the table for anyone to take, she would doubt whether it was a trap.

  She took out a set of simple lock picking tools from her pocket. This was a must-have item for Cole Granger to travel in the underground world of Tingen City and kill people and rob. Because it was small and light, she always carried it with her. This was the first time she took it out and used it.

  The door locks of this era were not as complicated as those in her previous life. Angel, who inherited rich experience, used the wire in the lock picking tool to fiddle back and forth in the keyhole. The pick of the other hand reached into it to apply torque. Soon all the reeds were aligned. With a slight rotation, the door lock was opened.

  The president's office was twice as large as the other rooms, which could be seen from the distance between the door and the other rooms. She walked into the door, closed the door carefully, and locked it. In this way, no one could enter the room and disturb her search unless they had the key.

  The curtains of the empty office were tightly closed. After the door was closed, only a few rays of sunlight shone into the room from around the curtains. However, she had a dark vision that allowed her to see all the furnishings in the room, so she did not turn on the gas lamp, otherwise the light leaking from the crack in the door would definitely arouse suspicion.

  In the center of the office was a wooden desk, with a matching chair inserted in the recessed position of the desk. The

  edge of the desk was covered with leather and fixed with rows of decorative rivets. The small bookshelf on the desk took up one-third of the area, but there were only a few newspapers on it. It was obvious that the owner of the desk did not want to pretend to be a cultured person.

  Behind the desk was a window with curtains drawn. According to the location of the office, the window should be the main entrance of the warehouse. At this time, the noise below was clearly audible,

  separated by a wall. Unscrupulous swearing had replaced the original appeals and dissuasion. It seemed that the previous conflict had a tendency to escalate further. There was a single sofa by the wall by the window, and next to it was a low coffee table, with a small coffee pot and several upside-down cups placed irregularly. A black hat was hung on the top of the coat rack next to the sofa. It was covered with dust.

  Apart from that, there was no other furniture in the office. Even the common filing cabinets were missing. Only the paintings on the walls on both sides added a touch of color to the room. The whole room was more like the private lounge of the guild president than an office. There were no items that he didn't need, and he didn't even prepare a second chair for visitors.

  Angel came to the other end of the desk and opened the newspapers on the bookshelf. Several stacked newspapers were "Tingen Daily". The top one was dated a week ago. The front page published the news that the second son of McGowan, a banker in Constanton City, died in a home robbery in Tingen City.

  Reaching out and sliding his fingers across the table, Angel rubbed his fingertips. There was already a thin layer of dust on it.

  It seemed that the president had been away for at least several days, and because there was no key, others could not come in to help him clean.

  She moved the chair beside the table and looked under it. There were three drawers on each side of the table. She opened them one by one and checked them. She only found half a pack of cigarettes, about 1 pound of coins and a pile of documents that meant nothing to her.

  Looking around the room, there was no place to hide anything except the desk.

  This was a little different from what Angel expected. She was worried that there were too many rooms and the furnishings were too complicated, which made it difficult to find the ring. But she didn't expect that the overly simple room would be more troublesome.

  This time she missed Klein, the "fortune teller". If he were here, he could solve the problem with a divining rod. Unfortunately, he had been rejected by her and was walking on the street somewhere.

  Angel even pulled out several drawers to check if there was a mezzanine, but unfortunately she found nothing.

  In the end, she could only turn her attention to the paintings on the wall. If there was no result, she would have to retreat today.

  Both paintings were colorful oil paintings with a flamboyant style. They didn't look like they were from famous artists. They might be cheap decorative paintings. It can be seen that the owner of the room did not like art but had a contradictory psychology of decoration.

  The paintings were framed with wooden frames, and one of the paintings even had some paint peeling off.

  Hmm, paint peeling off?

  Angel walked to the painting, touched the missing part of the paint on the lower right corner of the frame, and gently pushed it to the left. As expected, the painting was pushed away along the fixed point in the upper right corner, revealing the wall behind the painting and a small gap in the wall.

  Sure enough, this was a secret "small treasury". Because the owner of the room had moved the painting away for a long time to use it, the paint on the part of the frame that was touched was wiped off.

  Supporting the painting with one hand, Angel looked into the gap. The inside was divided into two layers with a partition. On the upper layer were several rings, a diamond necklace, and a stack of gold pounds, all of which were old banknotes of low denominations. On the lower layer was a leather-covered notebook.

  They were all easy-to-carry items... small-denomination old banknotes were convenient to use, and jewelry could be sold or used for bribes when necessary. It seemed that this small treasury contained someone's "escape funds".

  First, she took the notebook and put it under her arm. Angel picked up the jewelry with her free hand, thought about it, and took out the stack of banknotes.

  After putting the painting back in place, she sat down at the desk, spread the jewelry on the table, and checked them one by one.

  The ring that Mrs. Green needed was indeed among them. It was consistent with her description. The ring had a golden surface, but the hardness was obviously not pure gold. One side was made into an oval flat surface with the cursive word "Green" embossed on it. There were also some stripes and symbols around it to verify the authenticity.

  The other two rings were ordinary gold rings, but they were inlaid with gems. The market value was estimated to be around 20 pounds. The diamond necklace could be sold for about 30 pounds. Together with the stack of old banknotes, the small vault actually stored more than 100 pounds of funds, and there was no chain installed. The president was really bold.   

  Or maybe he just used the paintings to cover the vault for easy escape, so that he could take it as he pleased, instead of using a complicated combination lock to protect his property?

  Angel put the property into his pocket without hesitation. As far as she knew, although the Labor Mutual Aid Association rarely killed people, it did a lot of things to steal money. From the fact that Mrs. Green's stolen ring appeared here, it could be seen that the money and property must have come from illicit sources.

  There were faint shouting and screaming from the window behind her. As expected, the two parties confronting each other outside started to fight. She quickly opened the notebook she found in the vault, ready to check it out and leave. The

  four corners of the leather cover were a little worn, but less than a quarter of the paper was used. It seemed that the notebook had been used for many years, but the owner of the notebook only recorded some important things.

  Angel quickly flipped through the notes. Most of the content in the notebook was the "gray business" of the Labor Mutual Aid Association, including the amount of protection fees paid by the industries "protected" by them in the South District adjacent to the dock area, the whereabouts of smuggled goods, etc., which were important information about the gray industry of the Mutual Aid Association.

  But Angel was not interested in this. She only came to retrieve Mrs. Green's ring, not to look for evidence of the gang's illegal activities.

  Besides, did the Tingen City police really not know about these gray industries? Why should she go to such trouble and make herself bored?

  Turning to the last few pages of the notes, she found some content that was different from the other records.

  "That guy contacted me again. This time, he not only bribed me, but also threatened me! I, Zeke, have worked my way up from the bottom. How could I be afraid of the threats from these villains in the shadows?"

  "We reached an agreement today. The Mutual Aid Association only needs to arrange the ships and workers, and we don't need to intervene in the rest. Humph, the police can't control us anyway, so it's a waste not to make this money."

  "What do you mean some people died on the way, and my boatmen made up for it? Only two-thirds of the people on the boat came back. How can I explain to my men? Don't these guys take me seriously anymore?"

  "After deducting the hush money for the families, each worker can save 20 pounds! Anyway, the population mobility in the dock area is so high, who can notice that a few people are missing?"

  "Let's go to Enmat Port next week. If we can manage it well there, we can also do a big job in Ston City!"

  Mixed in between these words are the departure and arrival times of some ships. Basically, they all depart from Limon City in Jianhai County, go along the Tussock River through Tingen City, and finally arrive at Pritz Port.

  This guy really dares to write everything up?

  Angel had already broken out in a cold sweat when he saw this. If he understood correctly, this man named Zeke should be the president of the Labor Mutual Aid Association. And in connection with the text before and after, he was actually involved in the business of human trafficking!

  Although the slave trade has been abolished in the northern continent, it is said that many factories and plantations still secretly use slaves for heavy labor. Where there is buying, there is selling. In the dark corners where the sun does not shine, this kind of human trade has become more profitable because of legal prohibitions.

  From the records, President Zeke should have been coerced and lured into the pirate ship at first, and it is even possible that he did not know the specific content of the business, but he was soon attracted by the high profits in his hands, and spontaneously participated in and expanded the scale of the business.

  This is different from the small fights of collecting protection fees and reselling stolen goods. Angel believes that as long as this notebook is handed over to the Tingen City Police, the Labor Mutual Aid Association in the dock area will inevitably be destroyed by the police in one fell swoop.

  This has to be reported...

  She closed the notebook, turned back and lifted a corner of the curtain, and looked downstairs. There were only a few people left at the main entrance of the warehouse that was originally bustling.

  Most of the workers left the scene. The platform stacked with wooden boxes was overturned. Several strong men who worked as part-time bodyguards had bruises on their faces and were disheveled. They seemed to have suffered a lot. However, judging from the look of the middle-aged man they were protecting, the conflict should have ended with the workers' compromise, or at least the conflict was postponed.

  It seemed that I had to leave quickly. Once the "performance" below was over, the staff on the second floor returned to the office, and it would be much more difficult to evacuate quietly.

  After lowering the curtains, Angel looked around the room and checked if she had missed anything. Then she scattered the newspapers on the desk on the ground, opened the drawer, and took out all the change inside, making the office look like it had been visited by thieves.

  In this way, even if the guy called Zeke came back, his first reaction would be that he was robbed by thieves while he was away. At most, he would think that someone came for the notebook, and would never think that the person came just to retrieve Mrs. Green's ring. The possibility of exposing himself or the Blackthorn Security Company was greatly reduced.

  After doing all this, Angel took her notebook and walked quickly to the door of the office. She first held her breath and listened to the movement outside the door to make sure there were no footsteps or breathing sounds. Then she gently unlocked the door, turned the handle and opened the door.

  At the moment when the light from outside the door shone in, she was inspired. The sense of crisis covered her whole body like ice water pouring down, and her steps stopped in mid-air.

  A dagger passed through the light like lightning and stabbed straight at her face.

  (End of this chapter)