Chapter 281: Clue

In the suburbs west of North Borough, in a soon-to-be-abandoned

three-story house.

It originally belonged to the Backlund Medical School, but the latter's

main campus had now moved to a better and more suitable location,

leaving behind only a small number of teaching staff and students who

were left "guarding" the area after failing to graduate.

Audrey was wearing a white gown and white mask. Her smooth blonde hair

was also coiled up and stuffed under a cool-colored surgical cap.

She darted her eyes to the side and looked at Fors Wall who was dressed

in the same way. She always felt that Fors had a special temperament

that seemed to make her more suited to such attires than herself.

*Eh... It's the kind of temperament that allows her to pick up a scalpel

and cut open a patient's stomach at any moment...* Audrey didn't

say anything. She followed half a step behind Fors as they entered the

classroom in front of them.

She was startled by the information she had received from Fors because

Mr. Fool had said it was a simple task.

Considering that the simplicity of said task might be from Mr. Fool's

point of view, Audrey took advantage of the moment when she was alone,

changing into a disguise, to recite his honorific name and silently

pray, so as to report everything that had exactly happened.

However, she had yet to receive a response.

After passing through the door and entering a room, Audrey instinctively

looked around and found that this wasn't an ordinary classroom. There

were actually four skeletal specimens and four coffins made of glass.

The coffins were filled with pale naked corpses that were soaked in

preserving agents.

At the very top of the classroom, there was a transparent glass pillar

that was also filled with a liquid. Floating inside was a male corpse

that wore a black scholarly robe.

The corpse's clothes stuck tightly to its body, giving off an extremely

heavy feeling. He didn't relax and simply floated upright in the middle.

*It's as if he had died by drowning instead of being placed in there

after his death...* Audrey made a preliminary judgment based on

her attitude as a Spectator.

In addition, she saw a number of men in white coats, white masks, and

surgical caps sitting around the long tables in the room. None of them

said a word, just like the bodies and bones around them.

Looking out at the crimson moon which had finally peeked out of the

gloomy darkness, Audrey turned her head back to look at the scene inside

the classroom. For a moment, she couldn't help but shudder as this place

instilled an instinctive fear.

But at the same time, she felt excited and agitated.

This is what the life of a Beyonder should be... Audrey

silently muttered to herself as she followed Fors to a corner before

sitting down.

After waiting for a while, the floating black-clothed male corpse inside

the upright glass pillar at the front of the classroom suddenly opened

his eyes. His voice transmitted through the layers of obstructions.

"Let's begin."

East Borough, Dharavi Street.

In his dusty grayish-blue worker uniform and cap, he walked along the

dark streets that only had a few gas lamps that were still working.

There was candlelight shining down from the various apartments on both

sides of the street. This was combined with the crimson moonlight that

passed through the clouds with great difficulty, and they barely

outlined the silhouettes of the pedestrians.

Klein encountered people with old, tattered clothes, their faces numb

with despair. They were the homeless who had been chased away by the

police.

They had no place to sleep, so they wandered aimlessly through the

streets. Occasionally, they would find some inconspicuous corner or park

bench to rest at for a while, but they were soon chased away again.

In the cold and dark night, Klein felt that they were more like zombies

than the zombies he had seen, and the entire East Borough was more like

an abyss than the legendary abyss.

He hurriedly took a quick breath which hurt his throat, causing him to

cough involuntarily. He quickly gathered his thoughts and looked through

the corner of his eyes at the apartment on the corner of the street. It

had obviously suffered from an explosion and hadn't been repaired yet.

*The best place to monitor the crime scene is the apartment across the

street. The third and fourth story and the roof all meet these

requirements...* Klein analyzed the situation with the knowledge

he had learned as a Nighthawk.

Throughout the whole process, he didn't slow down his pace to avoid

arousing suspicion.

At the end of the street, Klein smoothly crossed the apartment building

numbered 1 and entered the building across the street from the crime

scene.

The one-bedroom apartment he had rented in East Borough was similar to

this apartment, and he had also lived in an apartment of slightly higher

class with his brother Benson and sister Melissa in Tingen City for

quite a long time. It was Klein's personal experience, but it also came

from the memory fragments of the original Klein.

As his thoughts raced, Klein lowered his cap, lowered his head, and

without rushing, he walked up the creaking stairs to the third floor.

Due to his unlucky encounter in the evening, he no longer had a

revolver, so all he could do was stick one hand into his pocket and hold

a few tarot cards in between his fingers.

There was no light other than the faint moonlight in the corridor of the

third floor. Klein was in no hurry to move forward, so he carefully

observed the layout.

*The spot directly across the crime scene is on the left. The one with

the best view for surveillance should be the third room from

here...* Klein began to walk slowly and carefully.

After walking past two rooms, he also inserted his right hand into his

pocket and gently opened the iron cigar case.

After a split-second, his fingers touched the All-Black Eye, and the

murmurs resounded in his ears as they attempted to tear his mind apart.

At the same time, with the help of this corrupted item, Klein saw many

strange black lines.

These thin lines floated in the air, and although they were intertwined

and entangled a little, he could still distinguish who they belonged to

if he traced them back to the source.

The corresponding figures were reflected in Klein's soon-to-be-cooked

brain. There were men, women, and children sleeping in the bunk beds,

and several tenants lying in bed on the floor.

Other than that, there were no other special spots, nor were there any

hidden figures.

The illusion in front of him and the auditory hallucination in his ears

slowly improved as Klein quickly retracted his hand from the All-Black

Eye.

He endured the pain as he continued to move forward. Once he felt some

relief, he would immediately observe the other room.

Unfortunately, his efforts of "searching" the entire apartment to see if

there were any places that allowed the observation of the crime scene

was in vain.

Phew. Phew... Klein cowered in a corner of a balcony, his

hands were on his knees as he panted heavily.

Tears streamed from the corners of his eyes, and from time to time, his

nose would run as if he had fallen sick.

This was the result of his repeated contact with the All-Black Eye

within a short period of time. Even with Klein's resistance in this

area, he wasn't completely immune to it.

The only thing that satisfied him was that it only agitated him and

didn't corrupt him. Otherwise, he would've given up long ago and

wouldn't have dared to try again. That would've led directly to

devolving into madness.

After resting for a while, Klein finally calmed down and switched to a

different apartment that didn't have the same view as this one, but it

was still for naught.

*Did I interpret it wrong? The clues are at the scene of the

crime?* When Klein returned to the street, he looked

suspiciously out of the corner of his eye at the apartment with traces

of an explosion.

With the mindset of just giving it a try, he put his hand back into his

pocket, pushed the metal cigar case open, and stuck his hand inside.

He wanted to see if anyone was hiding in the apartment where the crime

scene was located.

With a hum, Klein's head suddenly felt like it was being smashed as his

body wobbled a little.

Like a drunkard, he staggered forward and looked at the apartment which

had signs of an explosion.

As he was too far away, he couldn't "clearly see" the black lines, nor

could he trace the source of the black lines. He could only barely

distinguish where the black lines had gathered, and this indicated that

there was someone present.

No, no, no... Klein quickly swept the area and made a rough

judgment.

Suddenly, he noticed a black line floating out from the crime scene on

the third floor which merged into the air!

This... Klein's pupils shrank, and he made a confirmation

before quickly withdrawing his hands so as to stop being in contact with

the All-Black Eye.

There's someone in the destroyed room!

*That murderer is actually crazy enough to wait for investigators to

come to the crime scene?*

*Isn't he afraid that official Beyonders will take over the

case?*

*I made a wrong judgment and failed to find him because I shared a

different sense of logic from that of a lunatic...*

Many thoughts flashed through Klein's mind as he slowly exhaled and

pretended that nothing had happened whilst he walked in a circle until

he reached the entrance of the apartment building.

By then, all the negative effects he had suffered from the All-Black Eye

had been quelled.

Controlling his facial expression and body language, Klein headed up to

the third floor as if he were going home, his footsteps quick and heavy

with fatigue.

In the darkness of the corridor, he caught sight of the doorless room

which had half its walls collapsed. Then, he "casually" headed for the

public bathroom.

As he neared the room, his hand, which had been in his pocket, touched

the All-Black Eye.

Again, the mind-wrecking murmurs and the blurred hallucinations

assaulted him. Through the corners of his eyes, Klein saw a black,

illusory thread spread out from the crime scene.

As he traced the source, he found a man who had completely merged into

the shadows. His aura was the same color.

The man was extremely tall, almost two meters in height. The corners of

his mouth drooped slightly, making him appear rather eccentric.

His cold eyes were like those of a wild beast's, possessing a ferocity

that couldn't be hidden.

It's not Lanevus... Klein withdrew his fingers, relaxed his

body, and avoided the likelihood of staring. He entered the public

bathroom at the end of the corridor without stopping. Nor did he alarm

the man.

The public bathroom and the crime scene weren't on the same side. He

wiped off his cold sweat, and after quelling the negative effects, he

directly jumped out the window, climbing down skillfully before leaving

with brisk steps. He didn't stay a moment longer.

He knew that in a few minutes the man would be alerted to the absence of

someone who had gone to the bathroom, so he had to get as far away from

the street as possible.

It wasn't that Klein didn't want to walk back the way he came from, but

if he didn't know which room he could go to, it would similarly expose

him.

The Clown quickly ran and circled around a huge area before entering

that one-bedroom apartment he had rented in East Borough. He then went

above the gray fog to confirm that there was no danger of him being

caught.

*That fellow must have had some sort of deep connection with

Lanevus...* After a moment's thought, Klein conjured a portrait

of the man from earlier, sending his thoughts to the crimson star that

represented Miss Justice.

Soon after, he said solemnly in a tone of authority, "This is a clue."