Chapter 366: The Hanged Man's Ambition

After a thorough inspection, Klein confirmed that there was nothing odd

about the White family and that the couple didn't even leave a single

strand of hair behind, apparently to prevent anyone from tracking them

down using divination.

He returned to the bedroom filled with dolls, took four steps

counterclockwise, and went above the gray fog, intending to use

divination to for a final confirmation.

However, before he got down to business, he conjured the female doll who

was nearly his height, and just like how he had done a divination for

the Mutated Sun Sacred Emblem in Tingen City, he picked up a dark red

fountain pen and wrote a sentence on the yellowish-brown goatskin: "Its

origin."

Putting down the pen and holding onto the piece of paper, Klein leaned

back in his chair and began to mumble as he slowly adjusted his mental

state into a Cogitation state.

After repeating this seven times, his eyes turned dark, and his eyelids

drooped as he entered a deep slumber.

In the gray space, he saw the puppet craftsman working with

extraordinary concentration. He saw the red-eyed "girl" being placed in

the room of dolls and Emlyn White fishing out his wallet with his eyes

fixed on her.

Finally, the scene stopped inside the bedroom where Klein was presently

located. The proud vampire, Emlyn White, with his hair combed back

diagonally, looked handsome but slightly delicate. He sat on the edge of

the bed and looked at the doll affectionately, along with all the other

dolls of different sizes.

He truly is a fanatic of dolls... Klein opened his eyes and

facepalmed.

Soon after, he waved his hand, causing the puppet that he conjured to

vanish from the space above the gray fog.

When he was done, he picked up his fountain pen again and wrote another

divination statement: "Scenes of death in the last ten years in 48

Riverbay Avenue."

According to the statements from the residents, the White family had

been there for no more than ten years, so Klein was able to lock onto a

specific area, and he believed that if the White family were just

superficially good monsters who were actually making disappearance cases

all the time in order to suck warm, delicious blood, then it was

impossible to not have any happen at home.

In a period as long as ten years, there would always be a few accidents

as long as they didn't stop!

After carefully checking the divination sentence, Klein recited it and

entered Cogitation again, rapidly falling into a dream.

In the dusky world, his vision was sometimes pitch-black, sometimes

dotted with snowflakes, and sometimes splintered. However, no scenes

appeared.

This was the result of the divination: nothing!

No one had died in the last ten years at 48 Riverbay Avenue!

*By taking into account all the factors involved, it's possible to make

a preliminary conclusion that the White family was a law-abiding vampire

family, other than a few instances of petty theft...* As Klein

looked at the long, mottled bronze table in front of him, he wrapped

himself with his spirituality and plummeted into the gray fog.

Returning to the real world, he carefully removed the traces he had left

behind and left 48 Riverbay Avenue.

Instead of making his final conclusion, he took a detour to the Riverbay

Police Station, where he easily sneaked into the archives by mixing

himself in among the thieves and drunkards, allowing them to serve as a

foil for his disguise. There, he boldly lit the gas lamps inside.

Then, Klein pulled out the last ten years of missing persons records and

paged through them.

From time to time, the police officers on duty would pass by the door,

but their eyes didn't notice any light leaking out from the archives.

There's nothing suspicious at all... After an unknown period

of time, the black-gloved Klein placed the docket back.

Then, he turned off the gas lamp, took off his hat in the darkness,

pressed his hand to his chest, and bowed towards the lobby.

On his way back to Minsk Street, Klein took a shower, changed his

clothes, sat down at his desk, and spread out the map of Backlund that

he had first bought on the steam locomotive.

The first thing he did was find Rose Street, which was on the south side

of the bridge where the Harvest Church was located. This was where

Father Utravsky was the bishop of the cathedral and had Emlyn White

imprisoned in his basement.

Soon after, Klein's gaze moved as he familiarized himself with the names

and layout of the surrounding streets.

*A performance can't be done too hastily or with an excessive thirst for

success. One has to slowly immerse the audience into the act...*

Klein whispered, unfolding a piece of paper and lowering his pen.

"Dear Detective Stuart,

"I wonder if you've found Emlyn White? I've been keeping an eye out for

you lately, and one of my informants told me today that he has seen this

man on Tuteva Street in the area south of the Bridge. Of course, he

simply said that the person he saw looked similar to the man in the

portrait."

Putting down the pen, Klein folded the letter neatly, stuffed it into an

envelope, and affixed a black stamp worth one penny.

Above the vast, boundless Sonia Sea with undulating waves churning

beneath it.

The Blue Avenger advanced forward steadily without any signs of shaking.

Alger Wilson sat in the Captain's cabin with a brass sextant in his

hand, but his eyes were closed.

Without a sound, a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

I've finally digested it... Alger opened his eyes and raised

his hands, causing the surroundings to glow with an azure light.

The azure lights intersected and turned into a huge wave that swept

forward.

Alger pressed his hands together, and the wave disintegrated, turning

into countless raindrops that fell onto the deck.

After nearly four months, his Seafarer potion had finally been digested!

During this period of time, not only had he spent a long time wandering

the seas, completing all the missions assigned to him by the Church, but

he had also deliberately sought out new sea routes and sought out

undiscovered islands. After a few setbacks, he was finally met with

success.

This, in turn, led to the digestion of the potion, allowing him to

figure out his principles as a Seafarer.

The core principle involved being intimate with the sea, to masterfully

grasp information regarding sea routes and the weather, as well as

exploration and discovery!

The always heavy Alger couldn't help getting out of his seat. He paced

back and forth in the Captain's cabin, thinking of the future he longed

for.

After obtaining the potion formula for the Wind-blessed and finding the

corresponding Beyonder ingredients, he would hide his advancement to

Sequence 6 from the Church. Then, he would repeat the same process

again, striving to become a Sequence 5 Ocean Songster within three

years.

During this process, he had to serve as the captain of the Blue Avenger

and avoid entering the Mandated Punishers with its complicated social

relationship so as to prevent his secret from being exposed...

*Once I'm promoted to Sequence 5 and gain sufficient strength, I'll be

able to secretly return to that place...* Alger subconsciously

looked to his right.

His gaze seemed to pierce through the planks of the ship and the vast

sea, and onto an ancient and hidden island.

Alger wasn't worried about his future advancement within the Church.

Once he fulfilled his wishes, he would be able to fully focus on seeking

a higher position in the Church!

At that time, he would continue to disguise himself as a Sequence 7

despite being a Sequence 5 and drink another Wind-blessed potion!

This would increase his Beyonder characteristics, strengthen him, and

slow his digestion, but it wouldn't endanger his own safety.

For the same reason, after Sequence 5 was completely digested, he could

imbibe another Ocean Songster and repeat the normal process. This would

only push him closer to losing control, but he also had solutions to

that.

It was to find a woman to marry and transfer the extra Beyonder

characteristics to his children.

*After doing this, I'll be able to move closer to the level of a

Cardinal and approach the level of a High-Sequence Beyonder! This is my

chance in such an era!* In his mind, Alger had already sketched

out the image of himself wearing the robe of a Cardinal as he occupied a

high position in the Church and had many Mandated Punishers under his

control.

After being intoxicated for a moment, he withdrew his gaze and regained

his senses.

*...What follows will increase in difficulty with each step.

Fortunately, I have the Tarot Gathering and Mr. Fool. Although there are

dangers underlying it as well, any path to improving myself will involve

risk!*

*I have to try to gather those Roselle diary pages as quickly as

possible. I should grab the chance to raise a question and understand

what that card beside Mr. Fool's hand is---the one which only

shows its back.*

It wasn't there previously.

*Card... Roselle's diary... Could it be the item I'm thinking

of?*

Alger's eyes narrowed as his pupils constricted.

15 Minsk Street. Klein yawned, switched off the gas lamp, and slipped

into bed.

He originally had another plan. He had wanted to use divination to grasp

the origin of the Biological Poison Bottle and obtain the first three

potion formulas for the Sequence from the Werewolf Beyonder

characteristic.

But after a busy night dealing with the matter regarding Emlyn White, he

felt a little tired and decided to try again the next day above the gray

fog.

Just as he lay down and closed his eyes, Klein suddenly felt that

something was wrong.

This was the spiritual intuition of a Seer!

*It has already been several days since I obtained the Werewolf Beyonder

characteristics and the Biological Poison Bottle. It's not like I

haven't been in a good mental state during this period of time; yet, I

have been repeatedly delaying the divination. This is very

abnormal!* Klein sat up, carefully thought about it, and

recalled a similar incident.

The first time he met Megose, he had wanted to directly use his Spirit

Vision to observe her mental state, but he naturally ended up missing

the opportunity due to momentarily being taken aback. It was only at the

end that he found out that it was because Megose had an evil god's spawn

in her stomach. His spiritual intuition as a Seer had stopped him

without leaving a mark, preventing him from losing control and

collapsing right on the spot.

*It's very similar, and this time, it's even more obvious... I remember

that Miss Sharron mentioned that the Rose School of Thought's control

over their members far exceeds my imagination. Everyone's body and soul

seem to be bound by something, which is also the reason why information

regarding the Mutant Sequence is rarely leaked out... They believe in

the Chained God... So, when using the Beyonder characteristic of a

Werewolf to deduce the corresponding potion formulas, it would directly

involve this evil god and bring about consequences that I don't wish to

bear?* Klein thought about it seriously and felt that there was

something suspicious about it.

*Back when I divined the Mutated Sun Sacred Emblem and the "ear" left

behind by the Listener, my spiritual intuition hadn't stopped me...

Could it be that the Chained God is stronger than the Eternal Blazing

Sun and the True Creator?*

*Or could it be that "His" nature allows him to restrain the gray fog

and even be able to effectively invade it?*

*Of course, the source of the danger can also be the Biological Poison

Bottle...*

Thinking of this, Klein, who was always cautious, decided to attempt

divining the Biological Poison Bottle tomorrow and see if his Seer's

spiritual intuition would stop him.