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Chapter 1 Prologue Wake Up
Chapter 1 Prologue Waking up In
the dim basement, on the damp floor, a young girl lay.
She was about seventeen or eighteen years old, with long light golden hair scattered messily below her body. She had delicate features and a pretty face. The ill-fitting men's clothing could not cover her delicate and fair skin. However, a painful expression appeared on her beautiful face, and the skin between her tightly closed eyes was wrinkled in a "川" shape, changing in the swaying candlelight. Just
as the candle on the candlestick was about to burn out, the girl woke up.
Covering her forehead that seemed to be about to explode from the inside, she groaned and climbed up from the floor. The overly loose clothes exposed more skin during the movement, but the person concerned did not care at all - or did not notice it at all.
"I... am not dead? Where is this? Hospital, or church?" The girl muttered to herself, and then she was startled by her own voice, "My throat... cough——" She coughed a few times, but the sound was still different from before.
Looking up and around, the girl found herself in a strange and weird environment. The uneven floor was covered with dark red bloodstains radiating from her, mixed with several black unknown objects. The boxes piled in the corner were half-open, and there was nothing inside. The candlestick dripping with wax on the stone table was the only light source in the room. It seemed that there was wind blowing, shaking uneasy, and the various alchemical tools on the stone table were illuminated in an uncertain way. The crucible on the stove still emitted residual heat, and the only exit seemed to be a staircase going up. This couldn't be the hospital or church in her impression, but more like a secret cult ceremony.
She reached for her waist, and the holster that should have been there was gone.
Did she survive by chance, but was captured?
At this moment, the only candle finally burned to the end, and the weak but warm candlelight flickered and disappeared.
Strangely, the world in the girl's eyes was still clearly visible, as if there was an invisible light illuminating everything around her.
No, I must leave this weird place immediately.
The damp environment, the four walls without windows, and the only staircase leading upwards, this is obviously a basement, so the destination is very clear.
The girl gritted her teeth and endured the headache, stood up and walked towards the staircase she had just seen. On the way, the wide and ill-fitting pants tried to slip off her several times, so she had to hold the waistband with one hand and the damp basement wall with the other hand, slowly walking up the stairs.
It seemed that she was not used to the length of her limbs. After experiencing accidents such as tripping over long trouser legs and kicking her toes on the stairs, the girl finally walked to the top of the stairs and touched the trapdoor on the ceiling.
"Fortunately, it was not locked from the outside, otherwise it would be too difficult to escape without the right tools..."
Holding the handle on the door, the girl did not open it immediately, but cautiously pushed open a crack and looked out. It was consistent
with her guess. The current location was indeed a basement. The trapdoor faced a wall. The red light illuminated the wall. Except for some furniture on the wall, no human figures were seen.
Very good, I will sneak out first and find a chance to ask for help. At the very least, I will escape to an open area so that the positioning chip in my body can transmit the signal.
After making up her mind, she gently pushed open the trap door, flexibly climbed out of the basement, and put the door back in place with her backhand. She made no sound from beginning to end. If her other hand had not been holding up her pants, the whole process would have been smoother.
Without the trap door blocking her view, under the illumination of the crimson light, the girl could finally observe the whole picture of the room.
The trap door at the exit of the basement was located in the center of the room. On the wall facing it was a landscape painting. On the left was a closed door. The wooden door was actually equipped with an old-fashioned bolt. Next to the door was an unknown plant, which looked seductive under the red light. Opposite the door was a rather retro desk, on which was spread a large book with many rough notes on the pages. Pens, ink and other books were placed randomly.
Looking up, the girl realized that the source of the red light was not the light she imagined, but outside the window.
As if possessed, she didn't care about the lower garment that had been separated from her body as she moved. She crawled a few steps with her hands and feet to the desk, propped herself up with the desk, and looked out the window.
Outside the window was the street that was also dyed with crimson light. There was no one on the street late at night. The stone-paved street, the iron lampposts, and the row of buildings across the street were all covered with the same crimson "tablecloth".
In the dark night sky, the red "moon" was like a devil's eye, peeping at the street, the study, and the girl in the room.
"Ah-ah!" The headache suddenly became more severe. She could no longer stand. Her legs softened and she knelt down at the table. Only her slender arms were still clinging to the desk, using this little strength to prevent herself from falling completely.
As if she had time to observe at this time, she noticed her arms under the red moonlight, then looked down along her arms to her torso, and then her legs that had been freed from the restraint of her lower garment.
"No, this is not... How could it be!"
Angel, who was originally a man and a Templar, screamed in a voice as graceful as a nightingale, but unfamiliar to herself.
"...This is your only chance to become a 'Extraordinary'. Do you really want to give up..."
"...This mission is very risky. I suggest you..."
"...You don't think this is the end, do you? Obey the rules of the role. As your sequence is upgraded, you will see more..."
"...You are just the bait. If you don't want to, you can quit now..."
"...I didn't expect you to be promoted so quickly. It's time for me to fulfill my promise..."
"...The main force has not yet assembled. We can only hold it back..."
"...This is the material for the potion of Sequence 7. 'Witch', I hope you like your new identity..."
A series of words poured out from the depths of her memory, some resolute and resolute, some extremely tempting words echoing in her ears.
Soon, the whispers in her ears became smaller and smaller, and finally only the beating of blood vessels and the red moon that was getting bigger and bigger in her eyes were left.
"The Kingdom of Loen? Tingen City? What on earth is this place..."
This was her last thought.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 2 Templars Become Assassins
Chapter 2 The Templar Becomes an Assassin
"Wow—"
The cold water splashed on Angel's face, and then flowed down the smooth curve of her cheek, taking away the remaining fear and tension in her body.
In the mirror was a confused girl, about 18 years old, or maybe younger. She had long, straight, soft light golden hair, and her facial features were perfectly proportioned like a sculpture inlaid on her delicate face. Her deep purple eyes were like a pair of whirlpools, attracting Angel's gaze. The oversized, blood-stained top on her body could not hide her tall figure.
"This is me... No, this is not me..."
Looking at this perfect female face, she fell into confusion.
Before waking up in the basement of this building, I was a member of the Templar Knights of the church, and most importantly, I was a man at that time...
The knights were experienced in many battles, fighting ten to one, and fighting on the front line against pagans and evil forces since their formation. After the world situation changed, the armies and religious groups of various countries united to fight against the sudden emergence of evil forces. As the backbone of each force, they set up the last barrier to prevent evil from invading the world.
Unfortunately, all this is in the past. In the battle to encircle and suppress the superior demons, in order to protect his friends, Angel was pierced through the heart by the flaming spear thrown by the demon before his death. The last memory was that the team members surrounded him with grief, and then lost consciousness.
She slowly reached out her hand and touched the delicate face of the girl in the mirror. The girl in the mirror also reached out her hand and connected her five fingers. The girl seemed to have a strange attraction, and the pair of purple eyes seemed to suck her soul in.
"Assassin's path..."
After the initial panic, the "memories" of this body slowly emerged in her mind, and she also had some understanding of the current situation.
First of all, it is obvious that she is no longer in her original world.
Steam engines, magic potions, gods, curses... This is a world with a technological level between the two industrial revolutions, but there are also extraordinary powers. Mortals can have various special powers through "magic potions", but they also face crazy erosion and the risk of losing control at any time.
This is Tingen City, a medium-sized city belonging to the Kingdom of Loen in the northern continent, and "myself", Cole Granger, is an unofficial extraordinary person in Tingen City.
After her mother gave birth to her sister Lily Granger, she died of an epidemic soon. Her father, a sailor in an ocean-going caravan, raised Cole and his sister alone, and he died in a pirate attack on his way to the Balam Empire in the southern continent three years ago... Wait
, brother and sister?
Angel continued to dig deep into his memory, and then smiled bitterly.
Even if he had "crossed over" a day earlier, at least he would still be a man...
Just a few hours ago, Cole Granger took the potion he had prepared himself and tried to upgrade from Sequence 8 "Instigator" of the Assassin Path to Sequence 7 "Witch". He lost control at the last moment, causing the ritual to fail and he died on the spot.
In this world, failure to be promoted is often equivalent to loss of control or death. Relatively speaking, death may be a more fortunate ending.
The characteristics of the "Witch" potion will force the body of the person who takes it to become a woman. Although Cole Granger failed to be promoted, his body had completed the transformation before his death, which led to Angel, who "replaced him", becoming the weak female appearance he is now.
She raised her hand and looked at the flawless skin and slender fingers. It was hard to imagine that this perfect female body was actually a man before.
"You deserve to die, but it's a pity that you left me a mess..."
Angel did not feel sorry for Cole's death, because this guy was not a good person in any sense.
Cole Granger's initial pursuit of extraordinary power was entirely for the sake of a better life for his brother and sister. However, after taking the "Assassin" potion a year ago, in order to meet the requirements of the "mentor" and to master the potion as soon as possible, he began to constantly play the role of an assassin, and his hands were gradually stained with blood.
Then came the next sequence of assassins, "instigators".
Unlike assassins, instigators do not need to personally kill their targets, but hide behind the scenes, use language to induce evil thoughts in others, provoke conflicts, and create bloodshed. Cole was able to reach the stage of being promoted to "witch", and the various murders she carried were no less than those in the assassin stage. In her vague memory, Cole was at least related to several mass incidents of students at Tingen University, resulting in the death, injury and disappearance of many people.
At this stage, Cole Granger was completely lost and forgot his original intention of pursuing extraordinary power.
Being able to upgrade from Sequence 9 to Sequence 7 in a year shows that he is a very talented person. If such a person takes the right path and receives the right guidance in the Orthodox Church, he will surely be able to safely increase his strength and go further, rather than rushing to be promoted without being fully prepared and dying in his own basement.
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After getting ready, Angel Gray walked out of the bathroom.
The red moon unique to this world was still hanging high in the sky. This strange sight made her not rush out, but carefully inspect the building.
This is a building with two floors above ground and one floor underground. Judging from the building across the street, it should be a townhouse facing the street. There are two entrances and exits, one in front and one in the back. The main entrance opens to the living room, without a porch, and outside is the currently empty street; the study and dining room are at the two ends of the living room facing the street, and there is a kitchen, bathroom and storage room on the back side; the back door opens to the kitchen, leading to a narrow, dirty alley. On the second floor was another bathroom and four bedrooms. Two smaller rooms were probably used as storage rooms, with a lot of unused tools and broken furniture piled up there. The two rooms facing the street were in normal use, and the master bedroom also had a small balcony. The entrance to the basement when she woke up was in the study on the first floor. The gas lamp on the wall was not turned on, but she found that she could see the scene clearly in the dark.
"This body has night vision... This should be the dark vision that Cole Granger gained after taking the assassin's potion. It seems that I, or this body, still retains the extraordinary ability brought by the potion."
With the help of dark vision, she returned to the basement.
The radiating blood on the ground had long dried up, which was the ironclad evidence of Cole's failure to get promoted. The wide range and large amount of bleeding made Angel suspect that Cole had exploded into a ball of blood mist at that time, and she was actually a completely different person now, just appearing in the same place.
"This will be troublesome to clean up. Even if you rinse it with a lot of water, the bloody smell will not go away within a week."
Just as she was worrying about how to clean the basement, she found a piece of black jelly in the blood.
When she left the basement before, she didn't pay attention to it at all, and thought it was a piece of internal organs or a blood clot. Now in the dark vision, you can clearly see the difference between it and the surrounding blood.
This piece of jelly is about the size of an egg. Due to the effect of gravity, it is half spread on the ground. The color is close to purple-red. There seems to be light flowing on the surface, but the surrounding is a kind of darkness that seems to absorb the surrounding light, making the color of the jelly itself very prominent.
As he approached the jelly, Angel heard whispers in his ears, and his mood became irritable. It seemed that a desire to destroy and kill was surging in his heart, and the smell of blood in the basement became much stronger.
This is the Beyonder characteristic!
According to Cole Granger's memory, when an Beyonder dies, the power in his body will condense into Beyonder characteristics that match his own abilities and precipitate from his body.
This piece of jelly was obviously left behind when Cole died. Considering that he had only taken the three potions of "Assassin", "Instigator" and "Witch", Angel speculated that it should belong to the Beyonder characteristic of "Witch".
But in Cole's memory, the characteristics discharged by the dead Beyonder should be the complete Beyonder power of his life, which means that his body should no longer have the power of Beyonder, but the unique "dark vision" is definitely not something that ordinary people can have.
Maybe it's because I... No, it should be because Cole Granger is not completely dead?
According to the abilities I have, this body should be an "assassin" now?
Former Templar Angel Gray could only smile bitterly.
She did not rush to put away the valuable and dangerous Beyonder, but left the basement first and went to the study room above.
Under a floor in the study was a small secret compartment, in which was a small metal box that Cole had prepared when he bought potion materials before, which cost him 20 pounds. According to the seller, it can isolate Beyonder power and prevent the spirituality of the materials inside from being lost.
Unfortunately, Cole did not have any extra Beyonder materials, so this box had become his weapon storage box, and now it only contained a damaged revolver.
Although it was not known whether it really had such an effect or was just the vendor's boast, this small box was the most suitable container Angel could find for storing Beyonder. With the mentality of trying her best, she carefully picked up the Beyonder through her clothes and put it in the box, together with the revolver with a damaged hammer that was in the box before.
Fortunately, the moment the box was closed, the whispers in her ears and the smell of blood in her nose immediately disappeared.
Although it was not completely isolated, at least the side effects were within an acceptable range.
Angel put the box back into the secret compartment, put a few more books on it, and closed the trapdoor of the secret compartment. The whispers finally disappeared completely. After
dealing with the extraordinary characteristics left by Cole, she went to the second floor. Near the stairs was the second bedroom where Cole's sister, Lily Granger, lived. The decoration was bright and in line with the girlish style. There were dressing tables and fitting mirrors. The bedding was also lace, but they were all covered with dustproof cloth, with a thin layer of dust on it. It seemed that no one had lived there for some time. There were a few novels on the bedside table, and a buckled photo frame. Angel lifted the photo frame and, with the crimson moonlight outside the window, could barely see that it was a black and white photo of two people.
There were several height lines with age written on the side of the bedroom door. The highest height line had "18 years old, 156cm" written next to it.
Obviously, the clothes that a girl of 1.56 meters could wear were not suitable for this body...
Angel stood by the door and compared his height. He was more than a head taller than the 156cm line, which meant he was about 1.75 meters. It seems that I can only get a set of Cole's clothes to wear first. Although the size is not quite right, at least I can wear it, which is better than wearing little girls' clothes.
The master bedroom belongs to Cole Granger. The decoration style is simple and clean, with cold colors and no extra decorations. The closet is full of men's clothes, including two suits of the same color and several casual clothes. Angel picked up a shirt and measured it on her body. The size is the same as the one she is wearing.
She took out the shirt and a pair of casual pants, took off the blood-stained and hardened clothes, changed into clean clothes beside the bed, took the photo downstairs, returned to the relatively familiar study, turned on the gas lamp on the wall, and the dim and soft light dispelled the coldness brought by the red moonlight.
With the help of the light, Angel carefully looked at the photo frame in her hand. As she expected, the photo was a photo of a completely unfamiliar man and woman. The man was about 20 years old, with short blond hair, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and casual pants. He was tall and thin, with a delicate and soft face. The corners of his eyes and the bridge of his nose were very similar to Angel now. He wore black-framed glasses and had a slightly deliberate beard, trying to make his neutral face more masculine; the girl was about 16 years old, wearing a dress, with a round face and long blond hair tied into a single braid. She held a novel in both hands and snuggled up to the man.
Based on the girl's height and the novel in her hands that she had seen in the bedroom on the second floor, Angel concluded that this was the owner of the second bedroom where the photo was taken, "sister" Lily Granger, who had left Tingen a year ago to study in Backlund. The "
brother" next to her, whose face was three-quarters similar to her current self, was naturally Cole Granger when he was a man.
This was probably taken shortly after the brother and sister passed away. The two looked melancholy, which was inversely proportional to their bright clothing style.
When Angel was carefully studying the details in the photo, a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.
"Knock, knock, knock--"
Who is it?
(End of this chapter)
3. Chapter 3 Mrs. Sharon
Chapter 3 Mrs. Sharon
The knock came from the front door.
Do people in this world have the habit of visiting each other in the middle of the night?
Looking at the red moon in the sky outside the window, Angel hesitated whether to open the door.
First of all, she had to prepare a suitable weapon. She looked around, her eyes swept from the fire stick beside the fireplace, then looked at the flower bed placed at the door of the study, and finally returned to the desk in front of her as if attracted by a mysterious force.
Following the memory in her mind, she opened the desk drawer, took out a large dictionary, and opened the secret compartment under the drawer. Inside was a neat stack of banknotes, more than a dozen coins scattered, a pocket watch that looked valuable, a notebook with a yellowed cover, and a revolver lying quietly on the notebook.
Ignoring the other objects, Angel reached out and picked up the revolver. The wooden grip and metal gun body made her feel a sense of relief for the first time in a long time.
Time waits for no one. She quickly swung the revolver and confirmed that the magazine was full of five bullets, all of which were live bullets that had not been fired. Then she took out the bullets and estimated the weight and size.
"0.45 caliber, this is not suitable for women to use, the recoil may be a bit large." Angel studied the bullet in her hand, "but the hidden strength of this female body is no less than that of an adult male. Holding this 3-pound pistol in one hand is not a bit of effort, and even seems to be at ease." She reloaded the magazine and quickly changed several positions with the gun. She found that this slender arm was incredibly strong, and she had greater confidence in the battle that might happen next.
"Knock knock--" The knock on the door sounded again. Angel no longer hesitated, picked up the revolver and walked towards the living room. To be safe, she also took the fire stick.
Bypassing the bay window facing the street, she came to the front door. There was no sound behind the door, as if the visitor could not wait and left.
Angel was not deceived by such appearances. She recalled the basic ability of "assassin", or all extraordinary people, "clairvoyance".
She touched the lower left back molar with her tongue, and activated the clairvoyance ability that originally belonged to Cole Granger.
Extraordinary people who enter the state of spiritual vision can observe spiritual objects within their sight, including various extraordinary items, spiritual materials, and of course living things.
This spiritual light can even penetrate obstacles of low thickness.
Under spiritual vision, in the dim room, apart from the faint spirituality emanating from her body, there is only a dim white light behind the door that is enough to penetrate the crack of the door. After
confirming again and again through spiritual vision that the person who came was still standing behind the door, she quickly turned off the spiritual vision. In just a dozen seconds, Angel felt that her spirituality had been exhausted. This was certainly due to her physical and mental instability, but it was also obvious that the spiritual vision function consumed a lot of spirituality.
She held the gun against the door frame with her right hand and the fire stick in her left hand, and asked in a deep voice: "Who is it?" If you don't answer within five seconds, I will shoot - she added silently in her heart.
"It's me." A soft voice came from behind the door, with a slight tremor, sounding like a young woman.
After a little thought, Angel remembered the owner of the voice: Mrs. Sharon.
Sharon Hoy is the most famous and beautiful widow in Tingen City, and the most sought-after lady in social occasions. She is the second wife of Baron Hoy, but unfortunately she became a widow. Mrs.
Sharon is very popular in Tingen's business and political circles, not only because of her special identity, but also because of her ability to make friends with people, and her "secret relationship" with many politicians. But for Cole Granger, Mrs. Sharon's most special identity is that she guided him into the extraordinary world and became the mentor of the "Assassin".
According to the memory in his mind, Mrs. Sharon herself is also an extraordinary person. Like Cole, she was promoted from an "Assassin", but Cole is not sure about her specific sequence. He only knows that she is at least a "witch" of sequence 7.
Although he knew who the person was, Angel didn't open the door. Instead, he pulled the hammer of his pistol open, letting the sound of parts rubbing against each other reach the other side of the door without disguising it: "Please go back."
The person outside the door didn't seem to care that he was being pointed at by a gun, but said calmly:
"Oh, it sounds like you have been successfully promoted. I said that this promotion is a complete change for you in many ways. When your condition stabilizes in a few days, I suggest you meet at the old place. This will help you master the power of potions."
"I put the things you are looking for in the mailbox. That guy has offered a reward of 200 pounds in the Tingen Morning Post. You can go and get the reward. It's my reward for your successful promotion."
"By the way, here are some women's clothes I brought for you. You don't want to go out in men's clothes after dawn, do you?"
After leaving these three strange sentences, the person outside the door fell silent. Angel opened her spiritual vision again, but found nothing.
She didn't dare to relax her body at all, still pointing her gun at the door, until five minutes later when there was still no movement outside the door, she carefully put away her weapon.
The bet was right.
In memory, Cole Granger and Madam Sharon had a good relationship, especially after becoming the "instigator". Perhaps she felt that Cole's rapidly growing strength was worth investing in, which made Madam Sharon's relationship with him a step further, well, that kind of relationship.
From the perspective of Angel, an observer, it is almost certain that Madam Sharon used the charm ability of the instigator or a higher sequence. But the person involved, Cole Granger, was undoubtedly played around by Madam Sharon. It was not
until the eve of his promotion to "witch" that he knew that the potion would turn him into a woman. He woke up from his dream and resolutely refused Madam Sharon's request, claiming that he would never take the potion.
Of course, Angel's appearance here shows that Cole's so-called "never" does not seem to be so firm.
Based on the relationship between the two in memory, Angel successfully played the role of an emotionally unstable woman after the successful promotion, shutting out Madam Sharon and successfully getting through this meeting.
She had a hunch that once the door was opened and the two met, things would definitely develop in a bad direction.
After confirming that Madam Sharon had left, Angel opened the front door, poked his head out and looked around for a while. Seeing that there was no one on the street, he quickly reached out and took the package from the mailbox next to the door, then closed the door and locked it.
——————————
There won't be any traps or curses, right?
Angel looked at the package on the table and pondered.
She poked the package with a fire stick, and the outer layer of cloth collapsed easily. It didn't seem that there was anything hard inside.
After obtaining the weapon, her heart calmed down and became restless again. Angel knew very well that this was a change after contacting Madam Sharon. It was the anxiety caused by the gap in strength. Her gentle words also had an inexplicable effect.
This made her realize that "language" can also be a weapon for extraordinary people.
Putting the fire stick aside, she held the gun in one hand and opened the cloth covering the package with the other hand. An exquisite badge rolled onto the table, and underneath were several neatly stacked clothes.
Could it be that they really came to deliver clothes?
Putting the revolver in a place where she could easily reach it, she picked up a piece of clothing from the table and shook it open. She found that it was a dress of unexpectedly conservative style. The other sets were also women's dresses, and there were even a few sets of underwear and two pairs of flat shoes.
"At least it's not high heels..." Angel comforted herself, "The clothes are not revealing styles." Even if she had inexplicably become a woman, she could not accept those clothes that were too revealing.
Putting down the women's clothes, she picked up the badge that slipped aside when she opened the package, and carefully observed the appearance of the badge.
It was a badge made of brass, about half the size of a palm, symmetrically octagonal, and felt heavy. In the center of one side was inlaid a teardrop-shaped amethyst as big as a broad bean, which refracted a strange light under the dual illumination of red moonlight and yellow light. On the other side, the words "To Quentin Cohen - Azik Eggers" were engraved. Upon closer inspection, there was another line of elegant small words behind it, "Keep it close to you, remember".
It turned out to be a gift from someone else. No wonder the owner would spend two hundred pounds to reward this item. Just looking at the craftsmanship and cheap amethyst, it can probably be bought at a street gift shop for 10 pounds, and at most add a little money to engrave the words.
After confirming that this was just an ordinary commemorative badge, Angel lost interest in it and threw the "two hundred pounds" aside casually. Since Mrs. Sharon said that this thing could be used to claim the reward, she didn't mind trying it when she was free.
After the "Mrs. Sharon crisis" was resolved, she began to think about her current situation again.
When Angel thought of herself as a man in her 30s, suddenly came to a different world, turned into the young girl she is now, and was still carrying a murder case, she had a splitting headache and wanted to shoot herself in the head with a revolver to see if she could return to the original world.
But her intuition told her that it was not as simple as going back to the same place where she died. The death on Earth must have triggered some extremely special mechanism, which allowed the soul to come to this world and possess Cole Granger, who also died. Under the influence of the "witch" potion, it became what it is now.
By the way, Cole Granger is a man, and I am now in a female body, so what does the murders he committed have to do with me? No matter what, they can't be caught on my head, right? After
figuring this out, Angel was relieved. At least she didn't have to worry about being hunted down by the authorities. Being wanted would not only make it difficult for her to move around in the city, but would also put a huge psychological pressure on her, a former Templar, even if she didn't do these things.
But even if she didn't have to worry about Cole Granger's crimes affecting her, Angel now needed a legal identity. Even if she wasn't wanted, she couldn't use her original male identity.
I don't know if making a fake ID can solve this problem. After all, there is no network or database in this world. As long as it is realistic enough, it should be easy to get away with it.
In addition to the fake identity, he also had to find a new residence as soon as possible and bid farewell to the identity of "Cole Granger" completely. In this way, even if his previous crimes were really discovered, the police would only find this empty residence and the disappeared Cole Granger.
After settling down, he would find a way to go back. This is also a world with extraordinary abilities, and the possibility of returning to his hometown is still very high.
By the way, he also had to clean up the ritual traces in the basement to prevent the police from thinking that Cole Granger changed his identity through magic potions...
Angel immediately became full of energy after arranging several things in order of importance. She went to the bathroom to find a bucket, mop and brush, and went to the basement to clean the strange radial bloodstains. The table, candlesticks and other furniture were also rearranged in a shuffled order, and the crucible that had been brewed with magic potions was thrown into the kitchen, trying to make it impossible for people to associate any extraordinary factors.
Although the scrubbed floor still had a faint fishy smell, it was no longer noticeable when mixed with the damp air in the basement. Angel decided to go out and buy some cheap meat that was about to expire, and pretend to forget it in the corner of the basement. In this way, it would not take long for the rancid smell to completely cover up the bloody smell.
After taking the bucket and mop back to the bathroom to wash them, Angel changed her clothes that were soaked with sweat and sewage, took a simple shower, and put on the women's clothes sent by Mrs. Sharon.
"I have to say that this body is much better than those female stars I have seen on TV and the Internet before, both in appearance and figure." Angel was busy putting on unfamiliar female underwear, looking at the beautiful body in the mirror, and inevitably fell into reverie.
Unconsciously, she stood in front of the bathroom mirror for a quarter of an hour.
"This is too terrible. Even I can't resist it. If other men see it..." Angel shuddered and woke up. She quickly buttoned the top button of her dress to cover the whiteness between her collarbone and neck. She drew a cross on her chest and asked for forgiveness for her confusion.
The next step was to solve the stomach problem and explore the situation around the residence. These two things could be done together, because Angel found that although there was a kitchen here, it was completely unusable.
She had already checked the kitchen. It seemed that Cole Granger, who originally lived here, did not have the habit of cooking alone at home. The cooking utensils had no trace of oil smoke at all. The stove could be lit, but unfortunately the seasonings were difficult to use. The salt was damp and lumpy. There were white spots in the black pepper pot, which should be moldy. The surface of the lard even grew a layer of strange hair. Only half of the can of tea survived because it was kept dry.
After dumping all the spoiled seasonings into the trash can, Angel decided to go out to solve the problem of eating.
Perhaps it was because the soul and body were more closely integrated. From the time she woke up in the middle of the night to the early morning of today, Angel kept recalling some fragments of memory, most of which were common sense that did not involve specific memories, such as how to use a gas meter, the exchange rate between gold pounds, soles and pennies (pence was actually used here), and that there were also 365-366 days in a year, seven days a week, and 24 hours a day.
There were also a few vague memories about Cole Granger's life, but most of them happened recently. The older the memory, the vaguer it became, until she couldn't remember it no matter how hard she tried.
"Let's go to the restaurant he often visited first. The price is affordable and the taste is good." Angel opened the desk drawer and picked out a 10-pound note from the neatly stacked banknotes in the secret compartment. After hesitating for a moment, she put it back and exchanged it for three 1-pound notes, two 5-sol notes, and a handful of copper pennies. The
purchasing power of the gold pound in this world is much higher than that of the British pound on Earth. It is neither convenient nor safe to go out and buy things with large banknotes.
But Cole is really rich. There are probably more than 300 gold pounds in this drawer. It seems that he must have made a lot of money before he retired from the assassination. Angel looked at the various denominations of banknotes in the drawer, and the last bit of guilt for taking other people's money disappeared.
Before leaving, she made a simple holster with a strip of old bed sheet, tied the revolver to her right thigh, and let down the loose skirt, so that it was completely invisible. Putting
the banknotes and coins in her pocket, Angel left through the back door, passed through the sparsely populated back alley, and took a long detour back to the street.
The house that temporarily belonged to her was located at No. 6 Narcissus Street in Tingen City. It was one of the townhouses with a four-slope roof and a gray-blue exterior. Although it only had two floors, the chimney was tall and not lower than the three-story building next to it.
It was already eight o'clock in the morning, the busiest time of the day. Hawkers crowded the streets to sell their goods, and shops also put up signs, waiting for customers to patronize.
Taking a breath of air mixed with the fragrance of bread, the aroma of oil and the spicy stimulation, Angel finally felt that he was back to the world. The anxiety in his heart after the unexplained time travel was temporarily suppressed. The stomach that had not eaten for a long time began to twitch, reminding himself what the most important thing to do now was.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 4 An attempt?
Chapter 4 An attempt?
Following the memory fragments in her mind, Angel came to the Silver Crown Restaurant at the other end of Narcissus Street.
From the outside decoration, it seems that this is a mid-range restaurant that specializes in a variety of cuisines. You can order freely, and there are also reasonable set meals for people to choose from. The special after-meal sweet wine makes this place have a lot of repeat customers.
It was breakfast time at this time. Even though the consumption of the Silver Crown Restaurant was higher than that of other restaurants on Narcissus Street, it was 80% full. Angel wanted to find a seat against the wall, but in the end she could only sit in the middle of the restaurant.
This inevitably made her the focus of this restaurant. Whether it was the guests who were eating or the waiters passing by, they would look at her from time to time, and after a short stay, they would move away as if they were afraid of being discovered. Male guests with family members present might be a little restrained, but those waiters behind her could be said to be unscrupulous.
"Just change places..." Angel was sitting on pins and needles. She didn't expect to be so conspicuous as soon as she went out. She began to regret coming to this restaurant. It might be a better choice to buy something on the street and enjoy it at home, but the aroma of food from the next table made her hesitate.
While she was struggling, she saw that the guests at a table in the corner had just finished their meal and got up to leave. She quickly called the waiter and expressed her wish to change tables.
With the sweet smile she forced out and the 5-penny tip, the waiter quickly cleaned up the table in the corner, allowing her to escape the burning gaze of everyone.
Less than 10 minutes after sitting down, a plate of Fenetport noodles with cream mushroom soup and vegetable salad was served on the table. Although Angel had no geographical information about "Fenetport" in her memory, the main dish served looked very much like spaghetti bolognese, and the salty and sour sauce made her feel satisfied. After
quickly enjoying a hearty breakfast, Angel refused the complimentary after-dinner wine and left the Silver Crown Restaurant.
Not counting the extra 5 pence for changing seats, this meal cost a full 2 soles. If you eat like this for three meals a day, the weekly consumption will exceed 2 pounds. You should know that the average weekly salary of workers in Tingen is only about 1 pound. Even with Cole's "legacy", it won't last long, not to mention that the daily expenses are not just for food.
Angel, who had just filled her stomach, immediately regretted her extravagant behavior.
——————————
June in Tingen is not the hottest time of the year, but the sun is particularly strong today. Even if the ethereal bells of the cathedral in the distance came, it couldn't dispel the heat generated by the sun.
Angel found a hooded cloak to cover her face, and finally avoided the embarrassment of being constantly scanned by people's eyes, but the price was that the temperature rose rapidly under the scorching sun, and she could hardly hold on with her extraordinary physique.
"Forget it. I don't think I'll get anything today. If nothing works, I'll go out again at night. It's too difficult to find these gray industries during the day." Angel walked around several streets around, searching Cole's memory, and came to several shops that were secretly engaged in gray industries, but did not find the fake certificate channel she needed. Only a middleman said that he could try to think of a way, but he asked for a deposit of 50 pounds and a month's wait, which was decisively rejected by Angel.
Angel, who persisted until the afternoon and didn't even have time to eat lunch, finally lost her patience. She returned to the back alley of Narcissus Street with various seasonings, bread, potatoes and mutton she bought along the way. The various garbage in the alley had obviously increased a lot compared to when she went out in the morning. Most of them were kitchen waste from various households. If no one cleaned it up, it would probably fill the entire back alley in a few days.
Carefully bypassing the garbage pile on the ground, she returned to her residence through the back door. She hung the cloak that covered her appearance by the door, sorted the seasonings into bottles and jars that had been cleaned, and marinated some of the mutton to prevent it from spoiling in the hot weather. The rest was thrown into the basement.
Then she walked through each room to check the doors and windows, and found that the note placed in the crack of the door before leaving was not moved, so she was relieved.
After finishing everything and taking a shower, Angel lay on the sofa next to the bay window in the living room, savoring the delicious breakfast with an empty stomach.
"I haven't slept all night, and now I'm really a little sleepy. I might as well sleep until dinner time, and then have lunch and dinner together..." Bathed in the sunlight outside the window, Angel felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier. Just when she was about to lose consciousness and embrace sleep, her spiritual sense suddenly issued a warning that there was danger in the study!
Angel jumped up from the sofa like a spring, grabbed the revolver on the table, pushed open the door of the study and rushed in.
On the desk, the brass badge was emitting a dangerous signal.
Angel's intuition told her that she should stay away from the badge and leave the study, but there was an impulse in her heart, reminding her that the badge was different. She
held the pistol tightly in one hand, pointed the muzzle at the brass badge, and raised her other hand to reach for the badge.
At the moment when her fingertips touched the badge, like the light shed by the red moon last night, the badge burst into crimson waves, flooding the entire study. At the
same time, in a luxurious villa in the Queens District of Backlund, in a three-masted sailing ship in the storm on the Sonia Sea, the same crimson light also shone on the other two people.
——————————
The crimson light came and went quickly, and Angel quickly regained her sight. At the same time, her right hand lightened, and the tightly grasped revolver disappeared. She felt a cold sweat on her back, and subconsciously took a few steps back to observe the unfamiliar environment around her.
In the gray mist, there were three other people besides her. Not far to her right was a tall girl with long hair, shaking her head to observe the surroundings; a little further away from her was a man with messy short hair, of medium build, and Angel could feel his gaze looking at him. They were hidden in the gray mist, their figures were hazy, their faces were blurred, and they could only barely make out their body outlines and hairstyles.
In addition to the two of them, there was a mysterious man who was shrouded in dense fog at a distance. His figure was obviously different from the other two, like a phantom, floating in the fog.
Quickly determining the current situation on the field, Angel moved closer to the girl's position, forming a relatively compact triangle with the short-haired man, and then faced the mysterious man, asking politely but vigilantly.
"Excuse me, who are you?"
At the same time, the other two people spoke at the same time.
"Sir, where is this?"
"What do you want to do?"
The mysterious man chuckled and replied in a low voice: "A simple attempt." The ethereal answer came from the gray mist, and the tone was like talking to a friend, plain and gentle. A
simple attempt? Hearing this joking answer, Angel had no urge to laugh at all, and only felt cold all over. This mysterious man, just because he wanted to make an attempt, used unknown and unimaginable means to capture her from Daffodil Street in Tingen City at noon and brought her into this gray fog.
He even did the same thing to the other two at the same time!
The other two victims were obviously shocked by such an answer. After a long silence, the girl asked hesitantly: "Sir, is the attempt over? Can we go back?"
"Of course, if you put it forward formally, I can let you go back right now." Just like a professor at the podium answering a student's question, the mysterious man chuckled and answered, without any malice in his voice.
Thank you, I want to leave now, please excuse me - Angel could only think about this in her mind. Facing this mysterious man with unknown strength, she couldn't say it out loud.
Moreover, after getting the promise that she could leave at any time, she became curious about the origin of the gray fog.
The long-haired girl seemed to be a lively person. After getting the promise of safety, she immediately showed a completely opposite side of her cautiousness: "This is really a wonderful experience... Well, I have been looking forward to such a miracle beyond nature... I mean, sir, how can I become an extraordinary person?"
Extraordinary people are the name of people with superpowers in this world. It seems that the girl is not an extraordinary person, but what about the tall and taciturn man? Is he an ordinary person, or an extraordinary person like himself?
Just as Angel was thinking secretly, the gray fog rolled around them, and towering stone pillars appeared one after another, and the dome covered them. Like the royal court of a giant, the magnificent building instantly surrounded them.
A long bronze table also appeared under the dome. The mysterious man appeared on a high-backed chair at the top. There were ten similar chairs on his left and right, extending to the bottom of the long table. Together with the empty seat opposite him, there were a total of twenty-two seats.
Angel's eyes blurred, and she also appeared on a high-backed chair as if she had teleported, sitting next to the mysterious man at the top on the right. The short-haired man opposite also "sat down" together. She tilted her head slightly to look to the left, and sure enough, on the left hand side was the curious girl.
The mysterious man was reaching out to touch the edge of the long table. It seemed that all these changes were his intention; the short-haired man seemed to have made up his mind to remain silent. He leaned back in his chair, crossed his hands in front of his chest - but this defensive sitting posture inadvertently exposed his inner anxiety; the girl was still looking around, observing the other people at the long table.
Angel recalled the memories of potions in his mind and carefully answered the girl's question:
"The only way to become a Beyonder is potions. You can join the major churches of the Orthodox Gods and obtain potions through legal means, or buy formulas from unofficial channels and mix them yourself."
"Yes, judging from your accent, you are from Loen, right?" The short-haired man took over the conversation, "You can join the Church of the Goddess of Night, the Church of the Lord of Storms, or the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery. In the Arbitration Court, the Inquisition, and the Punishment Bureau, Beyonders have been fighting against the dangers growing in the darkness, and they welcome people who can contribute to it."
Thanks to the gradually recovered memory, Angel was not unfamiliar with the churches he mentioned, but she didn't know much about the Arbitration Court and the Inquisition.
Maybe it was a Beyonder fighting organization belonging to the church - just like the Knights Templar.
"Sir, I know everything you said, and even more, such as the Nighthawks, the Mandated Punishers, and the Mechanical Heart, but I don't want to lose my freedom."
The girl's answer was surprising. Maybe she was not as ignorant as she had shown before. At least she knew a lot about the Beyonder world she was interested in.
"How can you become a Beyonder without paying a price? Either you join the church and accept control, or seek help from families with ancient heritage, or as that lady said, you can buy the formula with money and prepare the potion yourself at your own risk."
"However, a potion prepared with the wrong formula is no different from poison."
The girl looked at the other party excitedly when she heard that she could solve the problem with money, but she lowered her head in disappointment after hearing the end. She was silent for a long time before asking, "Is there no other way?"
Angel guessed that the girl might be born in a wealthy family, and it seemed that it was not difficult for her to solve the problem with money, but she obviously did not want to join the church and be officially controlled, nor was she willing to risk her life to try unreliable potion formulas.
"It's not that there are no other ways."
Angel felt that it was her turn to speak. The short-haired man deliberately exaggerated the difficulty of obtaining potions, and was obviously laying the groundwork for something. Since Angel heard it, she didn't mind taking advantage of it. She looked at the mysterious man at the top of the table. Seeing that he didn't say a word and didn't say anything to stop the conversation between the few people, she answered slowly:
"I have a Sequence 9 potion formula on hand..."
"Really? Which one?" The girl asked hurriedly.
Angel was very satisfied with the girl's response. She continued:
"This formula is called 'Assassin'. The user of the potion can have enhanced vision and dark vision like an owl, good at fighting and dodging, can make the body as light as a feather in a short period of time, and can pour all the strength into a single blow, easily killing the target - just like its name."
"It sounds like a potion that focuses on combat ability..." The girl murmured, as if she was not very satisfied with the effect of the potion, with a hint of disappointment in her tone.
"Yes, not only does it focus on combat, its promotion even requires killing others."
Angel nodded, admitting the shortcomings of the "Assassin" potion. The other party was obviously a rich girl, who was naive and yearned for an extraordinary world, but only wanted to experience the mysterious power, not as a way to improve combat effectiveness.
Sure enough, the girl hesitated for a moment and spoke again: "Are there other types? I heard that some extraordinary people can predict the future or know the past..."
"Sorry, I don't know the names and formulas of these potions, but maybe I can collect them for you, provided that you pay a certain amount of money."
"I am very happy to pay."
The girl replied immediately.
"Very good, if I can find the potion formula for exchange, I hope you can provide a legal "identity" that is circulated in the Kingdom of Loen, whether you solve it through money or connections, and send it to Tingen City, um, to my friend there, and add another hundred pounds."
This is a reasonable offer. In Cole's memory, Mrs. Sharon once said that the formula of the "Assassin" potion alone can be sold for more than two hundred pounds outside, and other potion formulas must have similar value.
"Legal identity..." The girl thought for a moment and understood Angel's request, "I understand, I will find a channel to solve it, and I hope you can find a suitable potion or related clues as soon as possible..."
When the two reached a preliminary transaction intention, the short-haired man who had been watching coldly spoke:
"I also have two sequence 9 potion formulas here..."
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 5 Tarot Club
Chapter 5 Tarot Club
"I also have two Sequence 9 potion formulas here, which may be more suitable for you than the lady's 'Assassin'."
Angel and the girl turned their eyes to the short-haired man.
"I'm sorry, but please listen to my proposal first, maybe you will be more satisfied." The short-haired man apologized to Angel first, and then turned his eyes to the girl.
The girl was also looking at him in confusion.
Angel suppressed his displeasure at being interrupted and decided to listen to what this man had to say first. The
short-haired man introduced in detail the two Sequence 9 formulas in his hand. One was the "Sailor", which allowed the user to gain excellent balance ability, be as flexible as a fish in the water, and even transform into fish scales; the other was the "Audience" potion. People who become "Audience" can gain keen observation ability and glimpse into other people's true thoughts from their expressions, manners, habits, and unknown actions.
At the end of the introduction, he added: "You must remember that no matter it is a luxurious banquet or a bustling street, the audience is always just an audience."
This is the same as the way of mastering potions in Angel's memory. To take a certain potion, if you want to advance further, you must become an identity that matches the name of the potion, just like Cole Granger, who became an assassin with blood on his hands and an instigator who instigated crimes.
The girl was obviously more interested in the potion of the short-haired man, and even sat up straight.
"And this... lady," after introducing the potion, the man turned his head to Angel, "if you just want to get a legal identity, then I have a more convenient and cheap channel. You can get it on the same day. After a week, even the central archives in Backlund will not be able to find any flaws."
"My friend, not me." Angel emphasized.
"Well, then you...your Tingen friend, go to the "Wild Heart" bar on Iron Cross Lower Street after 10pm and say that the 'Captain' introduced you. The code is 'half and half, with lots of sugar'. Spend thirty pounds and you can get what you want." The man did not expose Angel's obvious lie, but followed her and introduced his own channel.
Thirty pounds... It seems that the offer he just made is far higher than the market price. That damned middleman... Angel thought bitterly and replied to the man: "Thank you, your information is very helpful to me."
At the same time, she noticed the man's code name, "Captain". Combined with the Sequence 9 "Sailor" potion he introduced before, could this be the origin of the code name, or even the name of a higher-level potion?
The girl politely waited for the two to finish their conversation before she asked excitedly, "What about me? What do I need to exchange for the formula of 'audience'?"
At this moment, she seemed to remember that she had almost reached a deal with another person, and turned to Angel and said, "I'm really sorry, but I think 'audience' is more suitable for me."
What a polite girl, Angel shook his head slowly, "It doesn't matter, I also got what I needed."
The short-haired man also put forward his own request: "Ghost shark blood, at least 100 ml of ghost shark blood."
It sounded like the main ingredient of some kind of potion. The short-haired man was probably already a Beyonder, so what he needed should be a potion to advance to Sequence 8 or Sequence 7.
For higher sequences, the main ingredients cannot be exchanged for a Sequence 9 potion formula, even if this person has done a lot of preparation and secretly raised the price of the formula.
The girl nodded excitedly, seemingly without considering whether she could obtain the ghost shark's blood. Then she asked in a worried tone:
"If I can get it, how can I give it to you? How can I guarantee that after you get the ghost shark's blood, you will give me the formula of the potion and the authenticity of the formula?"
This is a problem. This is not like a transaction on Amazon or eBay, where there is a neutral third party to guarantee the transaction between the two parties. The short-haired man can disappear without a trace after getting the ghost shark's blood, or give a wrong formula, and the girl can't do anything about him.
Wait, a neutral third party...
Angel's heart moved, and she looked up at the mysterious man who had been watching the transaction.
The short-haired man obviously thought of this: "I will give you an address. When I receive the ghost shark blood, I will send you the formula, or tell you directly here. I think with this mysterious lord as a witness, you and I will be relieved enough."
As he said this, he bowed his head to the mysterious man at the head of the long table and said respectfully:
"Sir, you can let us come here and have a great power that we can't imagine. Your testimony, whether it is me or her, dare not violate it."
The girl obviously agreed with this. She also bowed to the mysterious man and said:
"Sir, please be a witness to our transaction."
Angel did not dare to lag behind. After following the salute, she thought of a question.
"This lord, how should we call you?" We
can't always call him "Sir" and "Sir".
The mysterious man tapped his fingers on the long table lightly. Several people stared at him for a while, and then felt that this behavior was disrespectful, and moved their eyes away one after another.
"You can call me, Fool."
After a heart-pounding silence, the mysterious man raised his hands, crossed his fingers and rested them on his chin, and said calmly.
This was obviously a code name, and its daily meaning did not inspire respect, but Angel did not dare to show disrespect. Instead, he stood up, put his right hand on his chest, and bowed.
"Dear Mr. Fool, thank you for telling us your name."
The other two also stood up and bowed.
After the "Fool" pressed his right hand to indicate that they could sit down, Angel sat back in his high-backed chair.
The girl raised the question again: "Dear Mr. Fool, please allow me to beg you to be a witness to our transaction?"
"It's a small matter, you can continue."
The "Fool" seemed to be very interested in the transaction between the few people. He continued to put his hands on his chin and patiently played the role of a witness.
With the transaction guarantee from the "Fool" as a neutral third party, the transaction between the short-haired man and the girl was able to continue.
"If you can get the blood of the ghost shark, ask someone to send it to the 'Warrior and the Sea' bar on Pelican Street in the White Rose District of Pritz Harbor, and tell the owner Williams that this is what the 'Captain' wants.
"Can you give me an address now, and I will send the potion formula after I confirm the item, or tell you directly here?"
The girl thought for a while and chose the latter.
"Although this is a bit of a test of my memory, I still choose a more confidential way and tell me here.
"Mr. Fool, do you mind trying this 'try' a few more times?"
Angel, who has already gained something here, also agreed with this. She echoed:
"Mr. Fool, your power is beyond our imagination, but there are always some areas in the world that you don't understand or are not good at. This lady is obviously from a noble family, and that gentleman has his own special channels and resources. I can contact some extraordinary people with good strength. We may be able to help you complete trivial things that you are not convenient to do yourself at some point in the future."
Sorry, Madam Sharon, I can only drag you here to make up for the appearance.
The short-haired man nodded in agreement: "Mr. Fool, don't you think this kind of "gathering" is interesting? We have different backgrounds, different resources, and different information channels. If we can communicate with each other and cooperate to a limited extent, it will produce inestimable wonderful effects!"
The girl who benefited the most from this gathering, the future "audience", also said excitedly: "Mr. Fool, I think this is a good suggestion. As long as the "gathering" becomes regular, you can transfer it to us if you have something that is inconvenient for you to show up. Of course, it must be within our capabilities."
Several people looked at the "Fool" nervously and expectantly, waiting for his consent.
The "Fool" left his chin with his right hand and slowly tapped the edge of the bronze long table. This may be his subconscious action when thinking.
The mist around the grand temple was erratic, as if it represented the fluctuating mood of the owner of the venue.
The knocking stopped.
"I am a person who likes equal exchange, and I will not ask you to help me unconditionally."
"Every Monday at 3 pm, try to be alone. After I try a few more times and figure out some things, maybe you can ask for leave in advance and don't have to worry about being in an inappropriate occasion."
This is considered to be a gathering after agreeing to hold it regularly. The movements of several people are obviously relaxed, especially the girl, who clenched her fists exaggeratedly and shook them twice in front of her chest, as if celebrating.
"Since the party has been fixed, should we give ourselves a code name?" Angel saw that the atmosphere on the field was good and put forward his own suggestions at the right time. "We can't all communicate with real names."
"The Fool" nodded: "Good idea."
The girl took over the conversation: "You are Mr. Fool, from the Tarot. As a regular, long-term, and secret 'gathering', the title should be as consistent as possible. I think we should choose from the Tarot."
Tarot?
Angel then noticed that "The Fool" was not taken from the general semantic meaning, but from the 22 main cards in the Tarot, that is, the number 0 in the "Major Arcana".
The history of Tarot in this world is not very long. Less than two hundred years, it has become one of the mainstream divination methods in the world. Its inventor, "Caesar the Great" Russell Gustav, is one of the most legendary figures in the Fifth Epoch.
While Angel was racking his brains to recall the origin of Tarot, the girl had already chosen her code name: "It's decided, my title is, 'Justice'!"
Wait, this is what I wanted to choose...
Angel was one step behind, and the title she wanted had been chosen. She no longer hesitated and quickly decided on her code name from several alternatives: "Then I will choose 'Queen'."
After all, she had inexplicably become a woman.
The short-haired man said simply:
"The Hanged Man."
They are both the main cards in the Tarot.
"So, we are the founding members of the 'Tarot Club'?" Miss Justice looked around the temple with only a few people, and finally turned her eyes to the "Fool", "Is it okay, Mr. Fool?"
"You can make your own decision." Obviously, the "Fool" did not want to waste energy on such a trivial matter. The
excited Miss Justice discussed the history of the Tarot with Mr. Hanged Man again. Angel was worried that she would say too much, so she just listened quietly at the side, but she felt that the "Fool"'s eyes swept over her from time to time, which made her feel a little uncomfortable.
"...Emperor Roselle has seen the Blasphemous Slate, and that deck of cards contains the secrets of the twenty-two paths of God..." The Hanged Man spoke eloquently, telling his understanding of the Tarot cards one by one, which attracted waves of exclamation from Justice.
"Okay, let's stop here for today's party." Angel felt that the "Fool"'s eyes were withdrawn from her, and then a low voice came, announcing the end of this "Tarot Club".
"Follow your will." Several people saluted and said goodbye to the "Fool".
The crimson light overflowed from the thick fog around them, surrounding Angel. She saw the Hanged Man opposite and Justice beside her doing the same. The figures of several people became blurred and illusory. The last words of the "Fool" came from the fog:
"Let us look forward to the next gathering."
——————————
In the howling storm of the Sonia Sea, the three-masted sailboat rose and fell in the peaks formed by the waves, like a toy in the hands of a giant.
"The Hanged Man" Alger Wilson stood on the deck at the bow, as if his feet were nailed to the ground, unaffected by the storm.
The crimson in his eyes faded, and his consciousness returned to his body. Looking around, everything
was the same as before. But Alger knew that everything was different.
The strangely shaped glass bottle in his palm shattered with a "click". The fragments melted in his palm in just a few seconds like snowflakes encountering boiling water, and fell to the deck with the rainstorm, losing any trace of its existence.
And a hexagonal snowflake mark appeared in Alger's palm, flashed a few times, and faded and disappeared.
He didn't care that this precious and extraordinary item was damaged, but clenched his palms and continued to stand on the bumpy deck in the wind and rain.
...
In Backlund, the capital of the Kingdom of Loen, in a luxurious villa surrounded by lush gardens.
"Justice" Audrey Hall sat in front of the dressing table, watching the ancient bronze mirror in front of her turn into pieces.
The star-like crimson appeared on the back of her hand, flowing unsteadily, and then disappeared under the skin and disappeared without a trace.
Only then did she make sure that she was not dreaming.
Unable to suppress her excitement, Audrey's mouth curled up, she stood up from the dressing table, lifted her skirt, bent over, and bowed to the air.
"Praise Mr. Fool."
The sound of brisk dance steps rang out in the bedroom.
...
No. 6 Narcissus Street, Tingen City, a messy study.
"Queen" Angel Gray held a gun in one hand and a bronze badge in the other. She shuddered as if her soul had returned to her body and woke up.
The badge in her hand seemed to have experienced the baptism of thousands of years, and quickly became mottled. Under the non-existent breeze, it turned into dust and drifted away.
A teardrop-shaped gem was engraved on her palm, and a deep red light flashed. The mark of the same shape disappeared into her skin. Then all the strange scenes disappeared, and the study returned to peace.
If it weren't for the change in the angle of the sun outside the window, she almost thought that everything just now was just an illusion.
Her respect and fear for the "Fool" deepened. Angel stuffed the revolver back into the desk drawer and prepared to go back to the living room to catch up on sleep before dinner.
I still have to go to get my "ID card" tonight.
As soon as she walked out of the study, her whole body froze and she remembered something important.
"That badge... is it worth two hundred pounds?"
...
Tingen City, Iron Cross Lower Street, Franky's apartment on the second floor.
"The Fool" Zhou Mingrui stood in the middle of the room with a confused look on his face. When the gray fog receded, he watched the three people he had pulled in disappear together. Finally, his eyes went dark and he returned to the scene of the "transfer ceremony" in the apartment.
His legs felt like they were filled with lead, and his head was throbbing with pain. The "transfer ritual" that was completely beyond his expectations was still too much of a burden on his body.
Zhou Mingrui looked at his pocket watch and roughly determined the time that had passed. The time in the gray fog and in reality were synchronized.
He threw down his pocket watch. The torment of the headache made him unable to support himself any longer. He could only sit down on the chair and massage his temples with both hands.
"It seems that I can't go back in a short time." Zhou Mingrui thought disappointedly. The method of "going back the same way as I came" was obviously a failure. After seeing the mysterious world, he dared not try other methods in the short term.
At least he had to wait until his strength was improved and he had a deep understanding of the mysticism.
"From now on, I am Klein Moretti." A voice full of frustration, pain and melancholy echoed in the apartment.
In order to relieve the negative emotions that were about to overwhelm him, Klein turned his thoughts back to the "Tarot Club" that had just ended.
People from all over the world communicated face to face through the gray fog and shared what they had. This was simply...
"Do you want to know about online dating platforms?"
The group leader "The Fool" said self-deprecatingly.
Especially since one of the three was from Tingen City, maybe not far from him. When he discovered this, Klein couldn't help but look at her a few more times, trying to distinguish the appearance of the "Queen" lady through the gray fog. Unfortunately, the mysterious gray fog blocked his vision very well. He could only remember her long light golden hair and proud figure, but her appearance was blurry.
"Anyway, we are just 'online friends'. Even if we are in the same city, there is no chance for us to meet." Klein shook his head and threw away the impulse of "meeting in person".
(End of this chapter)