20. Invitation

Zouteland Street, Blackthorn Security Company.

After several night-shift workers returned, the commotion downstairs quickly ceased. Dunn Smith presented his identification, and the policemen on the scene immediately began dispersing the gathered crowds. Learning that it was merely the security company staff forgetting to implement noise insulation measures during their training, the concerned residents of the North District gradually left, and the street regained its nocturnal tranquility.

"So, it was just the three of you who killed Mrs. Sharon?" Dunn Smith asked slowly, looking at the mess in the reception room.

Behind him, Frye and the others who had returned to Blackthorn Security Company could hardly believe that this was the same place they had left an hour ago.

The room, filled with the smell of gunpowder, had carpet scattered with bullet casings and broken glass, making it difficult to find a place to stand. The decorative mirrors on the walls were left with only their copper frames and the remnants of the mirrors chewed by dogs, the originally smooth walls were full of bullet holes, and the ice spears stuck in the sofa and overturned tea table had not yet melted, bringing gusts of cold air through the window, making everyone feel as though they were in the middle of winter.

The once warm and familiar reception room was now displayed before everyone like the ruins after a war.

In the center of the ruins lay a corpse on the carpet, the upper body covered with a tablecloth. From the perfect curve of the chest, it was clear that it was a woman, provoking thoughts of the wonderful sight hidden beneath the cloth.

Unfortunately, the dried blood stains that had seeped through the tablecloth quickly dispelled such thoughts. Only Dunn approached the body calmly, squatting down to lift the cloth for a look.

"Yes, thanks to Ms. Daly being here. Her seance successfully restrained Mrs. Sharon, otherwise we wouldn't have had a chance," Leonard said, standing by the window. The only intact sofa in the reception room was now occupied by Daly, and Leonard, too polite to argue over the remaining armchair with the tired Angel, maintained his gentlemanly demeanor by resting against the wall.

"Ms. Daly is just suffering from spiritual exhaustion and is resting. Apart from that, the rest of us are unharmed," Leonard explained, noticing Dunn's glances toward Daly lying on the sofa.

"Ah? Hmm... I'm just glad that Daly didn't go with you. Otherwise, if it were only the two of you here, it might have been difficult to confront Mrs. Sharon... By the way, where is Kenley White? He didn't come out from Channis Gate to support, did he?"

Hearing the captain awkwardly change the topic, Leonard gave Angel, who was sitting by, a knowing look, as if to say, "See, I told you so."

Under Dunn's stern gaze, Leonard quickly dropped his playful demeanor and seriously replied, "Of course not. I suppose the gunshots were heard, but as everyone knows, Channis Gate is more important than anyone. He wouldn't have come out to support."

"Good, now report to me what exactly happened here. Seeka, go across the street to the police station and ask Inspector Victor to come here. Tell him there's been a home invasion murder case, the intruder was killed before he could murder anyone, and hint that this involves many of Tingen's politicians. Royale, go to the armory to replace Hitte, and let him come out to clean up the reception room. Frye, take the 'Blood Vessel Thief' back to Channis Gate."

Upon receiving their orders, everyone left the reception room.

Dunn stood by the sofa where Daly was resting, listening to Leonard describe the battle process in detail, his gaze occasionally sweeping over Mrs. Sharon's corpse, the sleeping Daly, and Angel resting beside, his eyebrows sometimes furrowing, sometimes relaxing.

Meanwhile, Hitte and Frye, who had been sent to replace others, returned to the reception hall. Hitte, after exclaiming—"My goodness, what exactly happened here? Even robbers couldn't have caused such destruction!"—began sweeping up the broken glass on the floor with a broom. Seeka also returned to the reception room with a middle-aged police officer.

The officer was in uniform with two stars on his shoulder, tall but thin, with short black stubble.

Dunn greeted him as he entered, taking the initiative to say, "I'm sorry, Victor, to trouble you again today."

"It's as if there was a time you didn't trouble me... My God, what exactly happened here?" The inspector, called Victor, stepped into the reception room and immediately let out an exclamation similar to Hitte's.

"It's like this: late last night, we received a case transferred from the police station. Cole Granger, who lives on Daffodil Street, is suspected to be involved in more than a dozen murder and incitement to murder cases..."

Dunn briefed Inspector Victor on the whole matter and even took him to see Mrs. Sharon's body to "open his eyes."

Seeing only half of Mrs. Sharon's head left under the tablecloth, Victor's feigned composure finally cracked, revealing a ghostly expression.

"It really is Mrs. Sharon, that Sharon Khoy... I saw her at the mayor's charity gala, where she was the focus of the entire banquet. I never thought she was involved with a cult; those old folks will have nightmares."

"Let's hope Mrs. Sharon, with only half a head, doesn't disturb their nightmares."

Dunn said, making a chilling joke with a calm expression.

"Victor, you are the first to know about this apart from the parties involved. I think you understand what this means. Later, I'll have two team members accompany you to search Mrs. Sharon's home for evidence of her crimes. Leave matters involving supernatural powers to them, and you can include everything else in the report."

Inspector Victor listened to Dunn Smith's words, and his pale complexion quickly returned to normal. Perhaps only the prospect of imminent achievements and power could so quickly help a person overcome fear.

Angel looked on coldly. This Inspector Victor, who obviously often worked with night watchers and knew many things ordinary people shouldn't, was still surprised that a socialite like Mrs. Sharon was a high-ranking supernatural being. Dunn quickly took control of the situation, obtaining the results he wanted.

It seems you're more suited to being an instigator...

After quickly discussing everything, Inspector Victor was eager to leave. He needed to rush back to the police station to organize the force, to take control of any "evidence" in Mrs. Sharon's home before the news of her death spread.

Seeka and Frye followed behind Victor, joining the police back to Mrs. Sharon's residence to collect all items related to supernatural powers, preventing the police from coming into contact with these items and causing new casualties.

"This body... Mrs. Sharon's corpse, how should it be handled?"

Back at the entrance of the reception room, Inspector Victor seemed to remember this matter, stopping to turn around and ask.

"As per the norm, we will inspect it to ensure that the mystical forces do not pose a threat to ordinary people, and then hand it over to the police," Dunn answered without turning back, as he was crouching beside Mrs. Sharon's body, carefully examining the corpse.

"Okay, good, then I'll leave first, as tonight seems to be busy..."

Upon hearing "mystical forces," Victor's body stiffened, and after greeting, he quickly left the security company, his figure as if someone was chasing after him.

Dunn paid no attention to the hastily departing Inspector Victor, but continued to focus on Mrs. Sharon on the ground, his concentrated expression almost made Angel think the person lying there was Ms. Daly.

"Hitte, don't start cleaning yet. Make a pot of tea for the captain and us. We've been busy all night, and everyone's thirsty."

Upon seeing this, Leonard said to Hitte, who was still cleaning in the reception room,

"Your excuses are too clumsy..."

Angel knew that something must follow that ordinary people shouldn't see, which is why Leonard found an excuse to send Hitte away, but this did not prevent her from giving a poor review of the inferior performance.

After Hitte left, Leonard also stood next to Mrs. Sharon's body, with his arms crossed and head bowed in observation.

Although Angel did not follow, her gaze was also fixed on Mrs. Sharon, her curiosity piqued.

Under the watchful eyes of the three, specks of black light gradually appeared around Mrs. Sharon's body, floating in the air like dust, moving without wind.

These black "dust" particles became denser, gradually obscuring the body, and then seemed to be gathered together by an invisible hand, forming a spherical object the size of an eyeball.

No, this was an eyeball. Its outer sclera was milky white and covered with blood vessels, and the pupil, uncovered by eyelids, stared roundly, slowly rotating and sweeping over Angel, sending chills down her spine.

Fortunately, this was not a living evil creature. The "eyeball" rotated in the air a few times before losing buoyancy and falling directly onto Mrs. Sharon's graceful body, sliding to the ground, rolling a distance on the carpet, and was caught by Dunn, who had been squatting and waiting for a long time, through his gloves.

He took out a delicate wooden box from the inner pocket of his trench coat, carefully placed the "eyeball" inside, and the moment he closed the box, the chill that enveloped Angel disappeared.

This reminded her of the night she first awoke in this world, and the gelatinous mysterious object left in the Cole family's basement. Without a doubt, this was the Beyonder characteristic left by Mrs. Sharon of Sequence 6 after her death.

Unlike Cole's "death", what Mrs. Sharon expelled was not an amorphous gel-like Beyonder characteristic, but an "eyeball" that seemed to have life. Angel did not know which scenario was considered normal, so she had to temporarily bury this doubt in her heart.

She, too, was playing the role of a newly emerged Beyonder person, and timely asked, "What is this? Is it some kind of creature?"

"It's an Beyonder item left after the death of an Beyonder person... Well, if ordinary people accidentally come into contact with it, they might go mad or even die on the spot, which is also why I didn't have the police take away her body immediately."

After securing it to a wooden box, Dunn seemed to let out a sigh of relief, relaxed his body, stood up from beside Mrs. Sharon's body, and turning his head, he said,

"I had Frye and the others accompany Victor to search Mrs. Sharon's house also because I was worried that the police, in their search for evidence or other items of interest, would come into contact with Beyonder items and trigger additional incidents."

"Over the past year, most of the mystical cases we've resolved were inadvertently triggered by ordinary people. Attacks by Beyonder individuals like tonight's are actually very rare, at least we haven't encountered any this year,"

Leonard added from the side.

Dunn stood up from beside Mrs. Sharon's body, returned to the center of the reception room next to the sofa, and seeing nowhere to sit, simply stood and said solemnly to Angel,

"Mrs. Sharon is dead, but Cole Granger is currently unaccounted for. Tomorrow, I will contact the Sanctuary, the 'Punishers' and 'Heart of Mechanics' in Tingen City to issue a joint warrant. Now, let's discuss your options moving forward."

Options?

Angel felt a bit puzzled, she raised her eyebrows, waiting for Dunn to continue.

"For 'survivors' of Beyonder events like you, especially when this incident is likely related to the 'Demoness Sect', we usually suggest you change your name, sever contact with friends and family, leave Tingen City under the church's arrangement, move to another City, and start a new, worry-free life."

"The church's arrangement includes some counter-divination and anti-tracking measures, but these protections are not absolutely safe against Beyonder individuals with various means. There have been cases where the protected were found and killed by secf avengers."

Angel licked her dry lips, this was exactly what she was most worried about.

Dunn seemed pleased with her reaction, he smiled, slowed his speech, and continued, "Another option is to join us, become a Night Watcher."

Huh?

Angel was stunned.

She had been in this world for less than a week, and the succession of events had left her no time to think about long-term arrangements, especially Mrs. Sharon's "invitation," which had once made her consider abandoning her identity and residence to flee elsewhere.

Although she ultimately decided to confront it head-on and achieved a favorable outcome, Angel was still somewhat lost about what to do next.

Her identity had been forged for forty pounds, and "Wild Heart's Bar," Hagrid, had assured her there would be no problem, but it might not withstand the scrutiny of the Night Watchers. Joining the Night Watchers would inevitably subject her to stricter scrutiny, and any slight carelessness in revealing her identity could result in imprisonment at best, or the same fate as Mrs. Sharon at worst.

On the other hand, becoming an official Beyonder individual would not only provide protection from official organizations, deterring the Demoness Sect behind Mrs. Sharon, but also allow her to gain much non-public knowledge of the mystical world, which could help her return to her original world.

Moreover, even if she refused to join the Night Watchers, would she really not be subjected to official scrutiny? After the Mrs. Sharon incident, she would inevitably be on the Evernight Goddess Church's list, and moving to another City would only lead to endless surveillance and restrictions, perhaps even hoping the Demoness Sect would come after her, to continue their investigations.

As her thoughts flowed, Angel's gaze inadvertently fell on Leonard, who seemed to be enjoying the spectacle. She recalled his casual mention of "joining the Night Watchers" that afternoon, realizing he must have been informed in advance.

Indeed, from someone else's perspective, joining the Night Watchers was undoubtedly the best choice, offering official status, legitimate income, and protection from other Beyonder individuals, much better than living a life in hiding. Unfortunately for her, fleeing might be the only answer.

She was about to decline when she remembered the words of the mysterious visitor in the confessional of Saint Selena's Church after nightfall.

"Those who face their fears and dare to move forward will be rewarded."

Did he or she anticipate the choice she faces now?

Hesitating for a moment, Angel opened her mouth under the expectant gazes of Dunn and Leonard.

"Well...

"What about the salary and benefits?"

~~~

Priorities... Haha

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