Klein quickly recounted everything that had happened.
Not only that, he also obtained more combat details by performing divination on the Tuxedo Clown’s corpse.
From him falling under 2-049’s control and being knocked unconscious by the mysterious intruder.
Leonard and the Tuxedo Clown joining forces against the newcomer, both losing, the Clown being killed and his Beyonder characteristic taken, and Leonard and the other Nighthawks being heavily restrained.
Then Klein himself waking from unconsciousness, the mysterious man suddenly changing his attitude and attempting to kill all the Nighthawks present.
At the critical moment, Leonard broke free from part of his restraints and used Sealed Artifact 2-049 to stage a comeback!
However, after falling into a desperate situation, the mysterious man’s body ignited with black spiritual flames, breaking free from control, and finally releasing a cloud of white fog to obscure vision.
Before leaving, he seemed to have tortured Leonard, then abandoned the Antigonus family notebook and fled with Sealed Artifact 2-049.
“Heh, we lost a Level 2 Sealed Artifact and gained a notebook of unknown grade.
I wonder if we came out ahead or behind.”
Lorotta patted the dust off her white shirt.
Her beautiful face was filled with barely contained anger.
“If I could advance to Sequence 7 Spirit Medium, how could I have let that rat hiding in the shadows steal the fruits of our labor!”
“We’re lucky to have kept our lives.
And based on my assessment, this notebook is even more dangerous than Sealed Artifact 2-049.”
Dunn Smith shook his head.
Although he was also frustrated by the loss of the Sealed Artifact, since there were no casualties on their side, he remained very calm as the captain.
“Based on the black flames at the end, the other party should be a member of the Theosophy Order.
It’s possible they’re an accomplice of that Instigator Tris, and there’s a small chance they could be a member of the Secret Order.”
“Moreover, according to Klein’s description, when he was finally controlled by Leonard, it should have been due to the hidden influence of that notebook.
That’s also why the other party didn’t kill Leonard but instead forced him to read the notebook.”
“Whether taking Sealed Artifact 2-049 or not killing Leonard, the other party’s goal from beginning to end was clear: this notebook.”
Dunn Smith waved the notebook in his hand at everyone.
If not for that mysterious figure’s interference, he might have considered flipping through it, but now that they clearly knew the notebook was problematic, he naturally wouldn’t make such a basic mistake.
“You mean, the other party took Sealed Artifact 2-049 to find another opportunity to come back and seize this notebook?”
“If there’s no opportunity, then they’ll target Leonard, who has already read the notebook?”
Lorotta asked with a frown.
“That’s probably the case.”
“Klein, can you divine the whereabouts of Sealed Artifact 2-049 or that mysterious person?”
Dunn turned to Klein and asked.
Klein shook his head apologetically, holding his throbbing forehead.
“It’s alright.
Leonard’s condition is unclear for now.
Let’s first return to Blackthorn Security Company to regroup.”
“We’ll probably have to report this to St.
Samuel’s Cathedral.”
Dunn said apologetically to Lorotta.
“Dunn, you’re right.
Don’t worry about us—report it truthfully.”
Lorotta exchanged glances with her two teammates, and they all agreed with Dunn’s approach.
They were all excellent Nighthawks.
When faced with problems, they didn’t try to cover things up.
Concentrating their efforts on recovering Sealed Artifact 2-049 and securing this hard-won notebook was clearly more important.
They needed support from St.
Samuel’s Cathedral.
After taking the carriage back to Blackthorn Security Company, Klein dashed straight to the restroom.
On the way back, the overlapping murmurs in his ears hadn’t stopped.
He locked the restroom door, walked four steps backwards, and chanted “The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings….”
After smoothly arriving above the gray fog, Klein extended his spirituality and touched the expanding and contracting crimson star.
Crimson light bloomed, and two scenes appeared before Klein’s eyes.
The first scene showed Mr.
Lovers standing before the black notebook lying in the flesh and blood debris, not daring to touch it, silently praying to ask Mr.
Fool for instructions.
The second scene showed Mr.
Lovers in a pitch-black, unfamiliar location reporting the reasons for the operation’s failure and the results.
That black notebook was suspected to have the ability to stir emotions and contaminate spirituality.
Mr.
Lovers, sensing that his inner killing intent had been stirred, chose to abandon the notebook.
But in the end, he took Sealed Artifact 2-049, which could track the Antigonus family notebook, and left behind a Nighthawk who had read through that notebook. New chapters come out on novelping dot com first.
“So that’s why Mr.
Lovers chose to attack us in the end—he was influenced by that notebook?”
After realizing that Truman had only chosen to strike hard at the Nighthawks team because he was affected by the Antigonus family notebook, Klein’s anxious heart relaxed a little.
“That makes sense.
If Mr.
Lovers were truly a bloodthirsty killer, there’s no way none of us would have been seriously injured or killed.”
For Klein, he didn’t really care about the background or beliefs of his Tarot Club members, as long as they weren’t complete villains.
Otherwise, he would have no choice but to uphold justice and cleanse the ranks.
For example, by sending an anonymous tip to the Evernight Church…
“Leonard also read through that notebook—was he contaminated too?”
“But judging by Mr.
Lovers’ weak but relatively calm tone, that notebook shouldn’t be that deadly, right?”
Since there were no casualties on his side, and the mission to find the Antigonus family notebook was technically assigned by him, Klein decided to forgive Mr.
Lovers’ recklessness for now, rather than expelling him from the Tarot Club on the spot.
He was now somewhat worried about his teammate Leonard.
“The Evernight Church is an orthodox church, after all.
There’s no reason Truman could withstand the notebook’s influence but Leonard couldn’t, right?”
Klein thought for a while but couldn’t come up with any good solution.
He could only adapt based on Leonard’s condition later.
“So how should I respond to Mr.
Lovers now?”
“Have him sacrifice Sealed Artifact 2-049 to Mr.
Fool?
Then I return the Sealed Artifact to the Church?”
Although Klein was quite pleased with this kind of left-hand-to-right-hand maneuver, it was easier said than done.
“If I use divination as an excuse, I should be able to get away with it, right?”
“The mysterious figure who attacked the Nighthawks team was forced by Sealed Artifact 2-049’s negative effects to hide it somewhere.
The cautious, brave, and clever Klein used divination to find the lost Sealed Artifact and made a great contribution?”
+++
T/N: Mr.
Fool strikes again, trying to get that pay rise no matter the cost.