Chapter 12: Investigation Progress
Mystery: I Keep Jumping Between Two TimelinesHalf Moon Tiger
After leaving the detective club where the Tingen squad was located, the time had already approached noon. After eating lunch, Ning Lu returned once again to his house located in Backlund.
After entering Backlund with the identity of a wealthy merchant who wanted a title, continuing to not participate in gatherings with neighbors and nobles like before in Tingen City would obviously be inappropriate and would appear too异类 (different/alien). Therefore, this week Ning Lu's evenings were quite busy, with invitations to banquets almost every other day.
One of them was a banquet hosted by Ning Lu. At that time, beside Ning Lu there would be several Aurora Order believers with higher sequences who could hide their true identities under the Church's scrutiny. They would participate in the banquet as Ning Lu's butler and senior servants, attempting to approach other guests.
Before the sun had set, Ning Lu's door was knocked by Mr. A.
"Mr. L." Mr. A lowered his head and spoke with a respectful tone: "I have already found a suitable 'craftsman' and can now transfer the materials needed for production on your behalf."
At the first moment when Ning Lu previously brought back the "Provocateur" characteristic from the "Dormant Ring Timeline," he had instructed Mr. A to find a suitable craftsman who could create extraordinary items for him. Compared to Alger, who was the only one he could count on in the current Tarot Club, his own connections in the Aurora Order were broader.
"Good."
Ning Lu nodded, extended his hand and casually waved in front of himself. A wisp of gray mist immediately appeared before him, and a foul-smelling "stone" naturally flew out from it, falling into Mr. A's hands along with the intense aura of "corruption."
Mr. A felt the aura of the "True Creator" attached to this "Provocateur" characteristic, and for a moment was so excited that even his pupils trembled slightly. He forcefully suppressed his voice:
"I will not fail your trust. Within the time you require, that 'craftsman' will certainly present the item you need."
...
"I have already retrieved the extraordinary item crafted by the 'craftsman' for you." Mr. A removed the black robe he was wearing and spoke to Ning Lu in a steady tone.
During this week, with the secret cooperation of multiple writers, editors, and other upper-class figures, as well as "Justice" Audrey, Ning Lu had already mixed into the circle of Ruen nobles in Backlund under the identity of Dionysus. Relying on his own extraordinary abilities, he had convinced several minor nobles to introduce him to gatherings of nobles with higher titles.
Worth mentioning was that in the official verification of "Dionysus's" identity, "Dionysus's" faith was the "Goddess of Night." Therefore, the personnel responsible for investigation were clergy members and Nighthawks of Backlund.
The investigation naturally passed easily without question, allowing the "Dionysus" identity to eliminate the last trace of suspicion.
Additionally, the Church of Night also took this opportunity to pass information about the Tingen squad to Ning Lu—after receiving the extraordinary item Mr. A brought him, Ning Lu was preparing to visit the Tingen squad's office again as an employer.
Ning Lu took the black small box that Mr. A held in his hands, carefully opened it, and saw the extraordinary item that resembled a monocle carefully placed in the velvet cloth inside.
Mr. A's voice came at the same time:
"According to the craftsman's description, this extraordinary item is called 'Provocateur's Bewilderment.'"
"According to your requirements, this extraordinary item specifically retained living characteristics, so it also has very obvious negative effects:"
"After wearing this item, it will randomly cause the wearer to fall into states of rage and stupor each day—unpredictable, unavoidable, and strong enough to make mid-sequence extraordinary beings difficult to resist. And as wearing time increases, the duration of negative states will also increase accordingly."
"Because the negative effects are obviously strong, 'Provocateur's Bewilderment' maximally retained the 'Provocateur's' core ability 'Provocation,' with effects close to the genuine 'Provocation' and providing slight sensory enhancement when worn."
"Additionally, the appearance of 'Provocateur's Bewilderment' was specifically crafted into a monocle with a crimson border. Placing it in a pure black velvet box can maximally soothe it. The craftsman's speculation is... this way it can think of itself as just an ordinary monocle."
Hearing Mr. A's description, Ning Lu chuckled softly and placed the velvet box on the edge of the table in front of him:
"That's because the owner of this extraordinary item died in such unconscious bewilderment..."
Precisely because of this, the "Provocateur's Bewilderment" with certain living characteristics would have simple but strange sealing conditions, making it one of the few extraordinary items among Ning Lu's possessions that could be carried with him.
The "Sun Scythe" had substantial heat, while the "Shadow Lantern" housed the will of the "True Creator." Only the negative effects of "Smiling Face" and "Provocateur's Bewilderment" were acceptable for carrying around, though the deterrent effect of "Source Castle" was also a major factor.
"Alright, I understand." Ning Lu noticed that Mr. A was still standing in place and asked with some puzzlement:
"Is there anything else?"
"Yes, Mr. L." Mr. A seemed to always be unclear about what politeness meant—devout believers of the Aurora Order all carried a pure, saint-like quality: "I believe I need to report to you about my progress during this period."
Oh, he knows how to claim credit... No, for him perhaps this is just what he thinks I, as a saint, should know about Aurora Order affairs—he's truly "reporting." Such thoughts flashed through Ning Lu's mind as he nodded slightly:
"Go ahead."
"First, about the development progress of the Lord's believers." Mr. A's gaze became somewhat more serious:
"Following the method you described, several 'Rose Bishops' and I demonstrated the Lord's miracles to some factory owners, mainly in the East District, including but not limited to healing their family members' incurable injuries and listening to their prayers... these things."
"If it weren't for your unwillingness to let us adopt previous methods, we could have developed many more believers during this time."
Ning Lu heard the meaning in Mr. A's words. For Mr. A, "previous methods" naturally meant first creating man-made disasters and then intervening to solve them.
After all, even in this era, because of the existence of the "Apothecary" extraordinary profession, there were many ways to cure diseases that the contemporary Earth couldn't cure. If disasters weren't created, Mr. A would have difficulty finding more factory owners who were desperate yet emotionally attached.
—Compared to nobles, factory owners neither had channels to extraordinary beings nor particularly devout faith, making them quite worthy targets for recruitment.
Ning Lu shook his head:
"This precedent cannot be set. Mr. A, it's not that I don't allow you to do this, but the Lord doesn't allow you to do this—would the Lord allow His shepherds to harm His lambs? The Lord loves His believers and naturally wouldn't allow His lambs to suffer like false gods do."
Ning Lu felt he had just blasphemed several deities of this world and felt somewhat guilty. Though the real reason was that wanting to "transform" required abandoning the original bloody, cruel style and changing toward the style that orthodox churches displayed publicly.
But the divine envoys of the Aurora Order just ate this up.
However, seeing Mr. A's rapidly changing expression, Ning Lu still added lightly:
"Control your mental state well, don't dirty these clothes—this custom-made formal wear on you is expensive, and it's hard to find someone to handle bloodstains."
"The first set of formal wear was purchased with offerings from comrades. If you ruin this outfit due to your own reasons afterward, you'll have to figure out how to earn money yourself."
Mr. A's originally slightly wriggling flesh and skin immediately froze in place. After a long while, Mr. A sighed:
"Regarding the number of believers in the East District, it's also gradually increasing. Most of them are people who originally believed in the Lord of Storms but lost family members in maritime disasters. However, to prevent the Storm evil god from investigating us, our development speed isn't too fast."
—Since they were now cooperating with the Church of Night under the tacit approval of the deities, Ning Lu naturally couldn't let Aurora Order members steal the Goddess of Night's anchors.
"Then there's cooperation with the Witch Sect." Mr. A paused: "I met the Witch Sect's 'Nightingale of Despair.' As you predicted, she used the excuse of wanting to create disasters in Backlund and generate large numbers of wrongfully dead souls to have us arrange an 'altar' for the Lord's descent..."
Mr. A's face contorted: "Mr. L, this is a very arduous task. How could I possibly harm the Lord's lambs! Every minute and second of cooperating with this blasphemer is torture—every time I think of her wanting to use the Lord's descent to attract the attention of false gods, I feel she deserves death..."
You weren't saying that just now, Mr. A... The corner of Ning Lu's mouth slightly curved upward:
"So did you arrange the altar as I previously instructed?"
Mr. A immediately quieted down:
"I did, but I haven't chosen sacrifices yet..."
"No need to deliberately choose. The Lord's condition has improved considerably." Ning Lu said to Mr. A: "When the time comes, a few 'souls guilty of heinous crimes' as simple symbols will be actively delivered to us—perhaps without waiting to develop believers in the Southern Continent, we can help the Lord escape his predicament."
"As for how to develop believers in the East District—once Fried Company's newspaper begins printing, we can guide public opinion toward directions favorable to workers and the poor, subtly pressuring the royal family."
"As long as it doesn't involve the Lord's information, the royal family and Storm Church will at most conduct secret investigations. Those who should really be anxious are those factory owners unwilling to convert."
"Official investigations are nothing you need to fear. This way we can coordinate on three fronts, gradually developing more believers..."
Ning Lu rubbed the ring on his finger with his fingers:
"Once the wave of 'distrust' begins to spread, it won't be something the churches and royal family can suppress. Of course, the Storm Church can also choose to prohibit the spread of such thoughts... but sometimes the more you prohibit, the more irreversible it becomes."
"The Lord's divine envoys are all mid-sequence extraordinary beings. Sometimes you also need to be flexible and find the Lord more lambs."
Mr. A's eyes showed more joy and anticipation:
"This is exactly what I look forward to."
"Finally, there's the matter related to Qilingers that was mentioned before."
Speaking of this, shame appeared on Mr. A's face for the first time:
"I'm very sorry, Mr. L. I failed to fulfill my promise. During this time, I mobilized comrades to collect intelligence on Qilingers, but couldn't find his detailed residence..."
"No need to blame yourself." Ning Lu consoled: "I'll have someone provide more information later. For now, you should still prioritize concealment—compared to Qilingers, what the Storm Church actually wants to encircle and suppress is us."
Seeing that Mr. A roughly understood his meaning, Ning Lu looked at the time, stood up, and prepared to visit the Tingen squad according to his original plan.
...
Sitting in the detective office, Ning Lu's gaze swept over the desk covered with scattered documents, his tone slightly puzzled:
"Are all these the information you've investigated during this time related to the Witch Sect and Ince Zangwill?"
The number of documents before him was quite large, looking like more than four people could investigate in a week—apparently, after reporting to the Church, Dunn and the others had received considerable support.
"That's right." Dunn's gaze was profound as he pushed several papers forward from in front of him:
"The Church takes matters related to the 'Witch Sect' very seriously and gave us considerable support. We summarized our investigation results during this time and reached some conclusions—Klein, you tell him."
Sitting beside Dunn, Daly, who had changed her appearance, saw obvious fatigue on Dunn's face and helped him continue:
"Or should I give you some private space?"
"Although I don't mind discussing matters related to the Witch Sect and Ince Zangwill normally, I don't want him to overhear this particular matter." Ning Lu nodded slightly:
"Let's be cautious."
After receiving Dunn's permission, Klein nodded and walked toward the small room nearby with Ning Lu. After a long while, Dunn finally exhaled and spoke in a tone with some rare gloom:
"Daly, I really find it hard to imagine..."
"None of this is conclusive yet." Daly let Dunn's head rest on her shoulder: "But I know how you feel... mm, somewhat like emptiness and disillusionment after everything ends?"
"You're saying such things again." Dunn smiled bitterly: "But I indeed find it hard to accept... yet the evidence Leonard compiled all points to this fact."
"Who would have thought that the Aurora Order became our ally, while the royal family would have countless connections with the Witch Sect and Ince Zangwill."
Chapter 13: Shocked Klein
Mystery: I Keep Jumping Between Two TimelinesHalf Moon Tiger
"What you see before you is the content we investigated."
Klein looked at the familiar gray mist in the surrounding spirit wall, felt somewhat more at ease, slowly exhaled, and spoke to Ning Lu:
"However, all the information we currently have is speculation proposed by Leonard, but the directional evidence is very clear."
"Except for lacking substantial evidence, we can basically conclude that the royal family is cooperating with the Witch Sect—your pathway includes the 'Decryption Scholar' sequence. Do you think the possibility he speculated is high?"
Ning Lu looked at the papers filled with text arranged before him and pondered:
"Klein, you should know that Leonard has something special about him similar to yours. Based on my observation of him, I suspect those specialties that obviously don't belong to his own sequence or his own mental capabilities are given to him by these special things."
Considering that Pallez Zoroast had passed the Church's scrutiny and received the Goddess of Night's tacit approval, Pallez would also let Leonard reveal his "abilities" in the Red Gloves squad.
After all, the higher Leonard's sequence, the safer Pallez would be!
"I knew it." Klein grumbled internally:
"Leonard suddenly provided such a comprehensive reasoning that we all found somewhat hard to believe at the time—but now it seems his results are basically correct."
Speaking of this, Klein's gaze became more serious: "However, I still don't know why the royal family wants to cooperate with the Witch Sect."
"If it's just to clear some social problems existing in Backlund, there's no need to go to such extremes."
"You can disbelieve Leonard's ability, but you must believe in the special thing residing in him." Ning Lu chuckled and gave a subtle reminder:
"However, regarding your question, this is how I see it:"
"Every extraordinary being, no matter how foolish they were before drinking the potion, after drinking the potion and continuously advancing their sequence, as long as they don't go mad or lose control, they will inevitably become extraordinary and transcendent step by step."
"So when you can't figure out some problems, it means you're still lacking some key information." Ning Lu spoke while moving his finger to the materials in front of him:
"You might as well investigate these materials Leonard compiled one by one. With official backing, your investigation can be bolder without too much concern for police and military attitudes."
Klein's gaze followed his finger to the lines of Ruen words written on the materials—statistics on population disappearance cases in the East District, data on disease numbers exceeding standards, several solved kidnapping cases.
In Leonard's description, each member of the Tingen squad had keenly sensed the continuous... "scent" among these seemingly completely unrelated matters, but they lacked crucial evidence and necessary motives.
Klein squinted, slowly exhaled, and said somewhat helplessly: "I'll investigate in this direction. Sigh, I still can't tell others about this..."
Once told, without the protection of the gray mist, this matter would be known by Ince Zangwill using "0-08," causing him to become alert.
Ning Lu took out his pocket watch and checked the time: "By the way, about those extraordinary materials I mentioned last time... do you have any leads?"
"No." Klein shook his head helplessly:
"Neither Dream-Eating Rats nor Aura of Corruption have any news. These two extraordinary materials have very few records—honestly, the extraordinary materials for your pathway are really hard to find, as if they were deliberately erased."
"These bad things were all done by Amon. It seems I need to think of another way." Ning Lu said casually and stood up from the sofa:
"Let's discuss the remaining matters tomorrow afternoon. I have another banquet to attend tonight... Although I don't particularly want to mix with nobles who only know how to discuss 'elegance,' 'fashion,' and 'manners' every day, this is indeed a rare opportunity."
Ning Lu mocked himself: "Heh, still too low in sequence..."
Under Ning Lu's persistent acting, the "Fire Thief" characteristic had already been imprinted with more than half of his mental mark, while the lower-sequence "Dancer" had also been digested rapidly through several banquets, almost just one step away from complete digestion.
However, after deeply studying the "Dancer" blessing extracted from the seal, Ning Lu believed the reason for such rapid digestion actually had two points:
First, noble banquets featured long periods of dancing as standard, and becoming the focus of everyone's attention was the reason for rapid digestion.
But the second point, which he felt was more important, was the core essence of "Dancer" itself.
As the starting sequence of "Fate," in the river created by the "Ring of Fate," the "Dancer" was like a butterfly dancing with fate in the center of fate's whirlpool, dancing again and again in fate's cycles yet unable to resist fate's torrent.
Ning Lu's recent experiences aligned with the essence of "Dancer."
Klein sighed and let his thoughts wander somewhat: "Noble life is still too extravagant and wasteful, but even so, noble entertainment can't compare to our homeland... I really hope someday I can find a way home."
Ning Lu nodded slightly and spoke with a firm tone: "There will be."
"But speaking of which, I'm somewhat curious about something."
Klein walked toward the door with Ning Lu while casually asking: "Do you really want to obtain a title in Ruen? Recently in the newspapers, your identity has been making quite a stir."
"Not really." Ning Lu shook his head and put his hand on the door: "But are you sure you want to talk about it now?"
...
After this week's Tarot meeting ended, Klein walked down from the throne and sat opposite Ning Lu, saying relaxedly:
"It seems what you didn't say yesterday is even more secretive than the royal family and Witch Sect cooperation we discussed."
"Yes, after all, what I'm doing might subvert more than just one royal family." Ning Lu smiled and first turned the conversation to the Tarot meeting that just ended:
"Speaking of which, little 'Sun' is still too naive, allowing 'Hanged Man' to trick some information out of him."
"Yes." Klein thought of the information obtained in today's Tarot meeting and remembered little "Sun's" naive appearance before the cunning "Hanged Man," feeling somewhat amused.
He extended his hand to present sheets of yellowish-brown parchment and handed them to Ning Lu:
"This is Roselle's diary submitted by Miss 'Justice' today. It contains some information I think is valuable."
In this Tarot meeting, "Sun" Derrick had obtained the "Singer" formula that "Hanged Man" Alger found, while Alger had supplemented intelligence about Qilingers, determined to eliminate this pirate general who held leverage over him.
Ning Lu briefly flipped through:
"Indeed, one is the Church's attitude toward potions, the other is that the steam age personally initiated by Roselle became a breeding ground for evil god descents..."
"However, this doesn't mean much to us now. I'll have the Aurora Order continue investigating the intelligence about 'Hurricane Vice Admiral' Qilingers that 'Hanged Man' supplemented today—there should be new leads soon."
Hearing Ning Lu's words, Klein also nodded, unable to hide the amusement in his tone:
"Yes, we've already obtained quite a lot of information—Qilingers probably never imagined that by just accepting one mission, he would face joint strangulation by the Church of Night and the Aurora Order."
"Qilingers woke up to find the sky had fallen."
Speaking of this, Klein found it somewhat difficult to suppress his curiosity:
"So what exactly was that thing you didn't mention yesterday?"
"Ah, you mean this." Ning Lu nodded and said in a calm tone: "I'm preparing to use 'Fried Company' as the starting point to help those ordinary people who have difficulty maintaining their lives fight for their deserved interests and improve their living conditions."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Klein first muttered somewhat puzzledly, then quickly reacted, his gaze showing considerable horror:
"Wait, you mean..."
"That's right, just as you see—in Roselle's diary, he wrote that he opened an age of steam and gears, so we can completely end this age." Ning Lu answered with extraordinary calm:
"Moreover, whether successful or failed, I'm willing to accept this outcome."
"Even if it fails, it can help the 'True Creator' gain a batch of anchors, which is much better than having the Aurora Order continue terrorist activities."
"After all, the True Creator needs many, many 'anchors.' Only enough ordinary people can gradually awaken him. I remember telling you about this concept."
Moreover, in such circumstances, the instigator "Dionysus Fried" would inevitably become a major supporting character and antagonist in many people's dreams—the former being those who had received his help, the latter being nobles whose interests were damaged.
This would be quite beneficial for Ning Lu to "tame" the Sequence 5 extraordinary characteristic.
"Yes, but this is somewhat too crazy." Klein rubbed his temples and smiled bitterly:
"You know, this will put you directly at odds with the authorities and even the seven extraordinary churches... I've thought about these things before, but only considered organizing secretly, never preparing to use such radical methods."
"The Aurora Order is already at odds with the seven orthodox churches now. I don't believe they would spare me if I didn't do this." Ning Lu lightly pointed at his own cheek:
"When I transmigrated here, I was already naturally antagonistic to the orthodox churches."
Ning Lu also consoled Klein: "However, you don't need to worry too much. The seven gods aren't a united front. What I'll face is only the Lord of Storms, Eternal Blazing Sun, and God of Knowledge and Wisdom who are hostile to the True Creator."
Actually, it might be even fewer, since the double agent dragon—the God of Knowledge and Wisdom—had flexible alliance standards. When the time came, he might switch sides faster than Intis's Eternal Blazing Sun.
"Moreover." Ning Lu's tone became more serious:
"I know that every minute and second, people are dying in Backlund's East District and in slums of other cities. This is torture for me—torture for anyone with conscience and the ability to change all this."
"Alright, you're right." Klein's voice lowered, then he spoke sincerely to Ning Lu:
"If someday you suddenly encounter danger, I'll help you as much as I can."
"Hope there won't be such a day of encountering danger." Ning Lu showed a genuine smile to Klein: "I'm leaving. See you next week."
...
"Ring of Fate" timeline.
"Hope the godfather is okay... hiss, really (Intis profanity) hurts!" Lumian's expression contorted as he quickly slipped into the darkness along the alley.
Looking carefully, one would find that Lumian hiding in the darkness at this moment had a large swollen area on his face and was bruised all over.
This made Lumian involuntarily suspicious, feeling that his godfather had very likely used "cheating" methods in the final moments of their fight and then beaten him severely.
Fortunately, fortunately it would return to normal tomorrow, otherwise it would be too embarrassing if people saw... Lumian grumbled internally while tearing off a piece of cloth from his body to cover his face, using "Assassin" techniques to return to the Cock Tavern through dark places.
After leaving Kordu Village, the frequency of extraordinary events around them had decreased significantly. But even so, Ning Lu could still basically see several extraordinary beings wandering around him every one or two days, or witness events involving extraordinary abilities.
Besides this, after disguising as Maggot, Ning Lu had no signs of being exposed, and today had also passed the calculated suspicion period, allowing him to seek "Black Scorpion" Roger at any time using the "injury" incident.
In discussions with Lumian, they finally chose the plan of having Lumian use the "Fate-Hunting Blade" to injure himself while maximally preserving his own condition—learning from experience, after being intimidated by Ning Lu's status once, the "Fate-Hunting Blade" could now be said to be quiet as a chicken.
In the deep night alley, Ning Lu watched Lumian's departing figure, turned around, and after scolding the pale-faced police officers, walked toward the distance.
Because the wounds on his body were created by the "Fate-Hunting Blade," they would be seamless when meeting "Black Scorpion" Roger.
Never mind Roger—Ning Lu felt that even if "Madam Moon" came, she wouldn't be able to see through the flaws in Ning Lu's disguise!
"Tianzun, you also don't want to be caught by the Mother Goddess to bear children, right?" Ning Lu said to Tianzun with practiced ease: "I think you know what to do, right?"
[After ignoring me for so long, now you think of me?] Tianzun sneered, his tone containing three parts mockery, four parts indifference, 27.164% malicious amusement, and 2.836% deliberateness:
[Do you think...]
"The Mother Goddess and God would cooperate with each other before cooperating with you. No one would trust an Old One representing deception." Ning Lu repeated emotionlessly.
[Do you think you haven't got me figured out?] Tianzun sighed: [Gods under the eaves must bow their heads... truly, the world is going to hell.]