Mystery: From Celestial Venerable's Backup to Red Priest

Chapter 15 'A Chance Encounter'

After much deliberation, Klein realized that since the other party's conspiracy had only revealed the tip of the iceberg and was still in its early stages, he didn't actually have a better way to deal with it, or even be able to warn the captain.

The only thing I can do at this stage is to summarize the rules of the role-playing method as soon as possible, digest the magic potion in my body, and improve my sequence as quickly as possible.

At the same time, be vigilant and pay attention to whether there are any coincidental supernatural events happening around you. See if you can deduce the goal or purpose of the mastermind behind the scenes. Moreover, all of this should be done as much as possible in the gray fog to avoid the interference of the mastermind behind the scenes.

Another important task is to crack down on cultists in Tingen as much as possible to prevent them from being exploited by the mastermind behind the scenes.

In any case, the harm caused by the mastermind manipulating extraordinary individuals far exceeds that caused by manipulating ordinary people. Even some harmless wild extraordinary individuals should be brought under surveillance as much as possible.

Thinking about all this, Klein felt his head was about to explode, but for Tingen, for Benson and Melissa, and for his teammates in the Night Watch squad, he had no choice but to do it.

"I've borne responsibilities that shouldn't be mine for this order," Klein lamented inwardly. "If only there were someone to share some of that burden!"

Klein had considered leaving Evan in Tingen to help him and share the burden, but ultimately gave up on the idea.

Because Klein couldn't do that; knowing it was a pit of fire, he would still pull people in, as that would violate his principles.

…………

Having finalized his future course of action, Klein began to think about Evan again, especially about the gray wisp in Evan's brain that could trigger the Gray Mist riot.

That gray hue must be related to the gray fog; the 'hunger' brought about by the gray fog riot still haunts Klein.

Moreover, the timeline of Evan's account of receiving the so-called "Celestial Venerable's" blessing and the mysterious city closely connected to him is too close to his own time travel, and too coincidental.

The interior of the mysterious city described by Evan was too similar to Shanghai in the last century in his previous life. This made Klein, who had many guesses about his time travel, wonder if the world he was in now was a parallel world to his previous life, and whether he had traveled here through some passage connecting the two parallel worlds, such as the mysterious city connected to Evan.

"We still know too little information. Even divination probably doesn't meet the prerequisites. We can only observe it slowly over time."

The most important task now is to find Riel Bieber's whereabouts as soon as possible, and at the same time report Heinz Vancent, who sold the antiquarian books to Welch.

When Klein woke up in his room, he realized that he had been in the gray fog for a full half hour.

Klein also has to retrace his steps every day.

His task was to walk the route from his home on Iron Cross Street to Welch's house every day.

Captain Dunn asked Klein to walk the path again in the hope that Klein could recall more of that day's memories and thus obtain more clues.

Because his original residence was in poor condition and the road was quite long, Klein changed into his old linen shirt and worn-out leather shoes to avoid soiling his expensive formal attire with sweat.

When Klein arrived at the Slin Bakery on Iron Cross Street to chat with Mrs. Wendy, who had gray hair, he suddenly heard a voice coming from behind him.

"Klein, I knew I'd find you here! But I didn't expect to run into you before I even got to your house."

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Klein's heart skipped a beat. He felt a sense of embarrassment, as if he had been caught red-handed. He turned around stiffly and, sure enough, saw Mr. "Power"—Evan Horn—who had just been having a meeting with him in the gray fog.

Pretending to be a deity in the gray fog was already making Klein, who was always playing tricks on others, very nervous. Seeing the real person in reality made Klein feel even more like he was "pretending to be a rich second-generation, deceiving people online, and then being caught red-handed in real life."

Evan, dressed in bright clothes, stood out conspicuously on Iron Cross Street. People on the street secretly glanced at Evan, and also at Klein, who was being embraced by Evan.

"I forgot to ask you where you live this morning, but I thought you would come here, so I came to check, and I didn't expect to actually run into you."

With your current income, you probably don't live here anymore, right? Where do you live now?

Listening to Evan's rambling, Klein asked with some confusion:

"I have indeed moved, but how do you know I'll definitely come back here?"

Evan laughed, a mixture of pride and sadness in his voice, and said:

"Your captain came to my house this morning to investigate me. This kind of comprehensive investigation shows that Welch's case is not simple and may involve a high-level extraordinary force."

The case has remained unsolved for so long, it must be because there are no more clues.

You were preparing for an interview to become a lecturer at our alma mater, but you quickly joined the Night Watchers. I guessed that you were actually involved in the Welch case, which is why you were recruited.

If I were your captain, and there were no leads to follow, I would have you come here every day, frequently visiting Welch and Naya's house, to see if you could find any new clues.

Of course, I didn't expect to run into you right away; I was just trying my luck. My main goal was to find out where you had moved to, but I was lucky enough to bump into you.

After listening to this clear and logical analysis, Klein couldn't help but admire Evan's intelligence.

"He's handsome, rich, and smart. No wonder so many girls in college like him."

Because of Evan's warmth and the original owner's familiarity with Evan's memories, Klein gradually let down his guard.

What Klein didn't know was that Evan hadn't been analyzing at all; he had cheated outright. He had learned about Dunn's arrangements and Klein's actions after the meeting directly from the "Lord of Mysteries" in his mind, and then came to find him.

Evan seemed to be a natural at making friends, and immediately started chatting enthusiastically with Klein.

"Since we've run into each other, tell me about Welch's case. After all, he's a good friend of mine, and I'd like to help him with his case."

"You are neither an Extraordinary nor a member of the Night Watch. Without the captain's permission, I have no comment."

"That's really unfair of you. There's no one else around. Even if you told me secretly, your captain wouldn't know."

"I'm sorry, we have regulations and cannot comment."

"Fine, if you don't want to tell me, then so be it. I was originally going to tell you that someone close to you is dying, but since you won't tell me, I won't either!"

"What?"

Klein stopped in his tracks, looked at Evan with surprise, and then asked seriously.

"Is this true?"

"Of course it's true, but I'm not going to tell you now unless you can do me a favor."

Evan continued to pull Klein forward, talking incessantly, but his face remained fixed ahead. It was only then that Klein realized he had been led by Evan towards the more chaotic lower street.

"What kind of favor can I do for you?" Klein sensed that Evan was dominating the pace of their conversation, and he couldn't help but become more wary.

"It's nothing much, just helping me kill someone?"

Evan casually uttered words that sent chills down Klein's spine, leaving him staring at his classmate in disbelief.

Then Evan led Klein to a street corner, made a sharp turn, and said at the same time:

"I was secretly glancing at the man buying a newspaper to my left and behind me."

As the two of them turned the corner, Klein secretly glanced at the man buying newspapers to his left and rear, and noticed that although the man's clothes were not as conspicuous as Evan's, they were still out of place here.

"That person started watching me the moment I left home in the morning. He didn't know that I actually knew him."

He was a member of a cult of evil, and it was this cult that sold a Quaternary tome to Welch, ultimately leading to the deaths of Welch and Naya. I think you've probably seen this tome too.

As you know, I often attend various occult gatherings in order to gain access to extraordinary powers, so I know a lot of people.

I originally intended to take him to the Church of St. Serena and hand him over to the Night Watchers, but then I suddenly remembered that your captain can enter dreams, and your teammates might also be able to communicate with spirits. In that case, my contact with the cultists would definitely be exposed, so I canceled my plan to report him.

"So, are you willing to help me solve this problem, and at the same time, avenge Welch and his gang?"

Before leaving the hotel, Evan specifically performed a divination on the person who was following him to confirm their identity, which is why he dared to say so confidently to Klein that he knew the follower.

Klein was furious as he looked at Evan, who was spouting nonsense with a straight face. "You said in the gray fog that you went to the church to find out if the dream prophecy was accurate, but now it's become that you went to the church to report the cultists. How many of your words are true and how many are false?"

"You were just curious about the occult, which is why you accidentally met the cultists. It's not a big deal. As long as you pass the inspection, it'll be fine. Besides, your brother is a big shot, so the captain and the others definitely won't make things difficult for you."

Evan shook his head and said, "It's not as easy as you think. My brother was at the forefront last year and led the way in repealing the Grain Act. Now he has become a thorn in the side of many nobles."

This is a sensitive time, and any shortcomings or oversights could become ammunition for others to attack him, not to mention his younger brother's contact with cultists.

As Emperor Roselle once said, "If you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext." I can't do anything to help my brother, but I also can't cause him any trouble.

Besides, the reason this extraordinary person is following me is because they have already prepared a potion for me to recruit me into their ranks. Sending him here to monitor me is simply to prevent me from changing my mind and reporting them.

"And I also want to get the potion I need from them, so he absolutely cannot be allowed to stay once he sees me enter St. Serena's Church."

Having lived two lives and never killed anyone, Klein couldn't possibly agree so easily just because of Evan's request. Therefore, he still advised him:

"The Aurora Society worships an evil god. The fact that they haven't been eradicated by the church after all these years means they must have a lot of ways to control their followers. This is really too dangerous. You should find the potion through other means!"

As for this person, we can lure him to Zotland Street, where the Night Watchers' hideout is located. We can then hand him over to the captain.

Evan didn't comment on Klein's suggestion, but without turning his head, he said quietly:

"How did you know I got potions from the Aurora Society? I never told you that the people following me were from the Aurora Society!"

Klein was startled and horrified.