Chapter 282: Telegraph Office

"Bullshit! How did you know what I was going to say?"

Daniz wore an expression as if he had seen a ghost, staring at Tu Ba Ge, who had just voiced his inner thoughts beside him.

Even Klein, who had already reached the entrance of the Lime Restaurant, could not help but glance back. He quickly withdrew his gaze and held himself in check—he could not break character as Gehrman Sparrow.

This rabbit was not here to make things difficult for Daniz; it was here to test my role as the Faceless One.

Muttering inwardly, Klein began negotiating with the owner of the Lime Restaurant.

Behind him, the Donna family, who had just heard Tu Ba Ge speak—aside from Donna and her brother, who had already met Tu Ba Ge—wore expressions no better than Daniz's.

"Handsome Mr. Rabbit, are you as amazing as Uncle Sparrow too?"

The little boy Denton's attention was entirely on the holy light that had just appeared and dissolved that terrifying head. He stared at Tu Ba Ge with great curiosity and asked.

"Mm... not really." Tu Ba Ge pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

It had found the old Klein rather weak, but this current form of Klein, it found terrifying and powerful.

Cleves exchanged a glance with the other two bodyguards. He stepped forward and reassured his employer:

"Ask again once we return to the White Agate."

Soon after, Dimode, who had remained in the Lime Restaurant, sensibly chose to follow the merchant Uldi and his three bodyguards back to the ship.

Once everyone was assembled inside the Lime Restaurant, Klein scanned the room, slipped his revolver-holding right hand beneath his tailcoat, and rubbed the Sun Brooch pinned inside.

A flash of dark-gold light, and an invisible force rapidly spread outward, washing over everyone like a wave.

In that instant, Donna and the others felt as though they were bathed in warm sunlight, the chill within them dispelled.

They were no longer so tense and worried, as if they had regained their own courage.

"To the telegraph office first."

After releasing one Sunlight Aura through the Sun Brooch, Klein repeated his earlier words, then oriented himself and strode forward.

They had not gone far when three shriveled, mold-spotted heads flew out of the fog ahead, darting toward Klein like arrows from different directions, completely ignoring the other fresh flesh nearby.

Tu Ba Ge raised the walking stick that looked like a fresh tree branch. Before it could even use its extraordinary ability, it saw Klein toss something into the air, and the three heads immediately changed course and charged after it.

The next moment, golden flames erupted from thin air where the three heads had plunged. The dense, sacred flames burned the three heads into clusters of powder.

Klein stepped forward two paces and caught the Azik copper whistle he had just tossed.

It can do that? How does this guy have so many mystical items? Daniz was stunned for a couple of seconds, feeling that Gehrman Sparrow handled things far too easily.

After a not-too-serious encounter, everyone in the group became even more cautious.

They carefully followed behind Klein, not daring to fall too far behind, yet not daring to get too close to him either.

Suddenly, a figure appeared at the side street intersection. He wore a black cloak, his body hunched forward, exposing a still-bleeding neck—and above the neck, there was nothing but emptiness.

"Hooo—"

The headless figure, using some unknown organ, let out a hoarse "ho ho" sound and charged at Klein's group—thud, thud, thud—stomping so hard the street surface trembled slightly.

"Huh, those heads' bodies are kept so fresh? How is it making sounds? It clearly has no mouth anymore? Is it what the boss called ventriloquism?"

Tu Ba Ge stared curiously at the body charging toward them, murmuring in a low voice.

"Do you still want to grab it and study it?" Klein maintained his persona of a cold adventurer and did not say these words aloud.

Daniz had already swung his arm, hurling a repeatedly compressed orange fireball from his palm.

Boom—!

A violent explosion rang out. The fire burst open, blasting the headless body backward again and again.

His clothes were torn, his skin rapidly charred black, and the black cloak on his body caught fire as well.

The flames on its cloak surged upward. Klein's figure leapt out from the firelight, and using the momentum of his descent and his own strength, he drove the walking stick held in both hands straight into the headless man's neck.

Squelch!

The walking stick sank into its body and protruded from below.

Bam! Klein flexed his muscles and forcefully knocked the headless monster to the ground. At once, thick vines burst from the earth, pinning it firmly to the ground.

Seizing the opportunity, Klein brushed one hand over the Sun Brooch pinned inside his coat, continuously pouring spirituality into it while chanting in a low voice in Ancient Hermes:

"Sun!"

Specks of radiance appeared, turning into droplets that fell upon the headless man pinned to the ground by the vines.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle! Blackish-green gas continuously rose, and Klein retreated two steps.

In the rain of holy water, the headless man on the ground convulsed endlessly, finally melting into a pool of blood.

Klein narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at where the headless man had melted—no characteristics, which meant this was not a true enemy, at most a created "servant."

Then he stared at the walking stick stained with blood and grime, hesitated for a moment, and still pulled it back.

Should have brought an extra weapon. He sighed inwardly. Though he had no serious obsession with cleanliness, holding this walking stick now was indeed a bit uncomfortable.

He turned and returned to the group.

"So cool!" Denton let out a belated exclamation of admiration.

That was with the help of a mystical item... but that flash of fire he just did should be his own ability, which counters me... Daniz withdrew his gaze, feeling that his earlier decision not to blindly flee had been a wise one.

After walking another seven or eight minutes, they finally arrived at the Bansy Harbor telegraph office.

Cleves stepped forward and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" A calm female voice came from inside.

"We're looking for the captain of the White Agate, Mr. Ireland." Cleves answered through the door.

Inside the telegraph office, the female voice answered unhurriedly:

"He and, his first mate, went to the, church next door."

As Klein and the others prepared to leave, the female voice sounded again:

"Could you, perhaps, keep an eye out, for a person."

"He is my colleague. He went out before the wind rose tonight, and never came back."

"His name is Pavo Court."

Clevis did not directly respond to the woman behind the door of the telegraph office; he turned his head to look at Gehrman Sparrow.

Klein fell silent for two seconds. Just as he opened his mouth to answer, he felt his trouser leg tugged twice.

He looked down and saw Tu Ba Ge staring warily at the telegraph office, its head swaying slightly.

Something's wrong inside? This thought flashed through Klein's mind as he recalled what Rakiton had answered him before.

In Bansy Harbor, the corruption from the Source "City of Calamity" may have already spread.

This thought passed through his mind in a flash. He cleared his throat and said toward the telegraph office door in front of him:

"We'll keep an eye out."

He worried that not responding to her words might trigger whatever problem was hidden here, so he gave a brief reply along the lines of what she said, only saying they would keep an eye out without making any deeper response or investigation, to stabilize her for now.

Klein raised a hand to press down on the hat he wore, turned toward the side, and said briefly:

"Storm Church."

The howling wind gradually subsided, but the thin mist shrouding the island did not dissipate. From the Storm Church not far away, faint candlelight filtered through the narrow windows high up, like a lighthouse in a storm.

Klein appropriately used a Sun Halo once, relieving the psychological pressure of Clevis and the other ordinary people behind him and boosting their courage.

After moving some distance from the telegraph office, Klein glanced at Tu Ba Ge, who was still clutching his trouser leg, and asked in a low voice:

"What did you see just now? What did you sense?"

Tu Ba Ge looked up at Klein. It first nodded, then shook its head, and said in a somewhat uncertain voice:

"The colleague named Pavo Court that it's looking for should be right inside, right beside it."

"It?"

Daniz swallowed, looking back with a trace of lingering fear.

"Don't look back."

Klein reminded him in the cold voice of Gehrman Sparrow.

Denton, Clevis, and the others, who had likewise subconsciously wanted to look back out of fear, forcibly stopped their movements. Uldy and his wife pulled their two children tightly into their arms together.

Daniz stiffly turned his neck back, a layer of cold sweat already seeping across his forehead. He very much wanted to demand why Gehrman had only spoken up to remind him after he had already turned his head, but considering the current situation, he very sensibly kept his mouth shut.

"Continue." Klein spoke calmly. His right leg, which Tu Ba Ge was clutching, paused, prompting Tu Ba Ge to continue speaking.

"I didn't see it very clearly either, but the creature's aura inside is somewhat different from a human's. It's a bit like two independent individuals crudely stitched together."

"I wanted to see more clearly, but Boss told me it would be dangerous."

Tu Ba Ge explained with a serious and earnest expression.

"You contacted him just now?"

How did I not notice at all? Klein looked at Tu Ba Ge in puzzlement.

Tu Ba Ge released its paw gripping Klein's trouser leg, pulled out a neatly folded pale yellow paper from its chest, and said:

"Before setting out, I wrote down the question. Boss only just replied."

(End of this chapter)