Chapter 284

Gardner Martin opened the carriage door, walked down, faced Lu Mian, and gave him an intimate and enthusiastic hug.

Yo, the attitude changed instantly... Lu Mian, while returning the hug, slandered.

After hugging for two seconds, Gardner Martin loosened his arms and said with a smile:

"From now on, we are true brothers."

True brothers? Can I inherit the inheritance if you die? Lu Mian, whose mental state had improved significantly and who had successfully passed the difficult "test," had a stomach full of teasing but didn't dare to say it at such a time.

"You are still my boss." He habitually expressed his loyalty.

In his view, although such a performance was indeed a bit flamboyant and didn't make people feel much sincerity, it wouldn't work without it.

Gardner Martin laughed:

"In the future, when there are no other people, you can call me 'Officer'."

"'Officer'..." Lu Mian felt this title was a bit strange.

The "Iron and Blood Cross Order" is a secret organization, not an army.

Gardner Martin didn't explain, smiled slightly and said:

"At 8 o'clock tonight, come to 11 Spring Street. We will hold your initiation ceremony."

After finishing, he patted Lu Mian on the shoulder:

"Now, rest well first."

Lu Mian said "Hmm," bid farewell to this Savare boss, returned to the Golden Rooster Hotel all the way, and pulled the curtains of room 207.

It was already past six o'clock in the morning. He didn't need to make up for sleep at all. He sat at the wooden table and started writing a letter to Lady Magician, telling the encounter last night, his own thoughts, and Termiboros's performance completely, and finally asked how to report this matter to Mr. K.

——Purely relying on Lu Mian himself, he obviously couldn't avoid the erosion of the strange "abnormality" in that abandoned building. He must find a suitable reason to explain to Mr. K, making him believe it without exposing that he had Mr. Fool's seal and a Fate-field angel on him.

After folding the letter paper neatly, Lu Mian set up a ritual and summoned the "doll" messenger wearing a pale gold little skirt.

The messenger lowered her head, saw the letter existing in the form of a square, and nodded with satisfaction.

While letting the letter float up, she said to Lu Mian:

"Someone is still monitoring you."

Ah? I didn't notice at all... This level of tracking, hiding, and observation is very high... Lu Mian, as a "Hunter," had strong anti-tracking ability and was also very sensitive to changes in the surrounding environment. He didn't find that those monitors were still there!

Mr. K's subordinates? No, being able to let Miss Messenger specifically remind me, it shouldn't be people from the "Aurora Order"... The monitors sent by Gardner Martin haven't left yet, even though I have passed the "test" and suffered that kind of erosion? Indeed, having experienced what happened last night and received Gardner Martin's initiation notice, now is the stage where I am least vigilant, most likely to relax my guard, and expose problems... Fuck, truly insidious! Lu Mian only then discovered that he was still too young and not cautious enough compared to Gardner Martin.

If it weren't for the fact that he was playing the role of someone who had stayed up all night, suffered cruel torture, and needed to rest, pulling the curtains to sleep belonged to the inevitable development, it would have already aroused the suspicion of the monitors.

Similarly, he was glad that Lady Magician's messenger seemed very strong and wouldn't be discovered by the monitors.

After sending away the "doll" messenger and lying on the bed waiting for a while, Lu Mian received a reply:

"Being selected so quickly to accept the test is not a good thing.

"Next, especially after becoming an official member, you must be more careful. Once you are assigned a mission and you feel that the matter is not simple, and even Mr. K might not be able to handle it, find an opportunity to summon my messenger and tell me.

"The two monsters you encountered are indeed very similar to those in Bansi, but there are also considerable differences. They seem to have their own consciousness.

"You need to always remember that the angel of an evil god is a lunatic in the true sense. He will definitely bring disaster to you and the people around you. You must be vigilant at all times, both using Him and guarding against Him.

"Mr. K's side is easy to handle. You just say that you recited the honorific name of that existence at the critical moment and miraculously didn't suffer pollution.

"Don't worry that he will ask that existence to confirm the truth. This is something a devout believer won't do, and even that existence itself might not be sure if He responded to your prayer."

This... Lu Mian was a bit confused after seeing the end.

God Himself doesn't know if He responded to a certain believer?

This is too absurd, right?

In an instant, Lu Mian remembered a matter Lady Magician once said:

If you pray to Mr. Fool using descriptions other than the three-stage honorific name, she doesn't guarantee that the one who responds is that great existence. That would be very dangerous.

Is it similar to this situation? Occult knowledge involving gods is truly hard to understand, and making a small mistake can lead to a situation more miserable than death... Would Aurora also be like this? Lu Mian thought more and more.

These days, he was seriously sorting out Aurora's witchcraft notes, copying down all the content within the two time periods circled by Lady Justice, doing more detailed research, and planning to let "Hela," the vice president of the "Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society," see it when there was an opportunity.

——Franca had already read the corresponding content and didn't find any details worth suspecting. Those were not very conventional occult knowledge, but ordinary spells, and they had to be cast by a "Wizard" or a Beyonder in the corresponding field. The two couldn't practice them.

The only problem she and Lu Mian felt was that starting from the beginning of this year, there were many ritual knowledge involving sacrifice and mysticism in Aurora's witchcraft notes. They were all obtained from the "Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society," but they didn't point to any evil god or secret existence, belonging to basic types of applications.

A group of crimson flames rose, burning the letter in Lu Mian's palm.

He lay down, pretending to sleep, but actually let his thoughts spread, considering the problem of the witchcraft notes and the things to do next.

For him, one of the most important things was that the one-month deadline given by the "Art of Prophecy" was coming, and the parish priest Guillaume Bene would appear somewhere in the Red Princess District.

…………

Hill District, entrance of the Deep Valley Monastery.

Franca, who was dressed as a typical bounty hunter and even pasted two mustaches to pretend to be a male, pressed the half-high silk top hat on her head and sighed to Jenna beside her:

"There really isn't a single clue."

Jenna wore a white shirt, a brown vest, and dark trousers, stepped on a pair of black short boots reaching her calves, and wore a brown line-woven beret. There were no moles on her face, nor did she put on smoky makeup, just slightly modified her eyes, nose, and mouth, making herself look more ordinary.

She looked at the iron-black building with a unique shape and a large amount of steel components and those giant chimneys shaped like spires, always feeling that she didn't come to the monastery of the "God of Steam and Machinery" church, but a special factory.

At this time, those chimneys were spraying white smoke, accompanied by huge mechanical roaring sounds.

"Mainly because those monks are unwilling to come into contact with outsiders..." Jenna responded quite frustratedly.

In these few days, she and other bounty hunters and private detectives were only allowed to enter the first courtyard and could only ask the new gatekeeper and several other servants.

The ascetic monks only provided a list of testimonies of corresponding personnel.

Franca took back her gaze, smacked her lips and said:

"This matter definitely isn't easy. Otherwise, official Beyonders would have already investigated the truth.

"Since we can't find clues in the monastery, let's go around the surroundings."

"Okay." Jenna lacked experience in how to investigate similar matters and was still in the stage of imitating and learning from Franca.

The two "strolled" around the monastery located in the valley, bumping into some investigators attracted by the high bounty from time to time.

After walking for nearly a quarter of an hour, they saw the mountain wall that showed signs of collapse and had grown new trees.

On the side of the mountain wall was a cave, which was sealed by a heavy wooden door. A man in his forties sat in a place where he could block the wind and rain next to it.

He was flipping through old comics with funny stories, making happy sounds from time to time, and a string of brass-colored keys hung around his waist.

"What place is this?" Franca walked over and said with a deliberately hoarse voice.

The middle-aged man with simple and even slightly ragged clothes raised his head, looked at Franca's face, and frowned imperceptibly.

His gaze quickly moved to Jenna, and his expression relaxed:

"This is the entrance to the Deep Valley Quarry.

"I am the gatekeeper."

"Why is there a door, and it's locked?" Jenna had seen real quarries in the south of the Market District.

"This place has been abandoned. It might collapse at any time inside. You can't let those people who are bold enough to pull a tiger's tail enter." The gatekeeper of the Deep Valley Quarry explained with a smile.

"Doesn't this place connect to underground Trier?" Franca asked again.

The quarry gatekeeper shook his head:

"It's almost completely collapsed, how can it connect? I'm about to lose my job!"

After finishing, he looked at Jenna and smiled flatteringly:

"Do you want to take a business? I'll give you money, and do that once with me."

You Trier people... Franca shook her head "tsk-tsking."

Jenna refused the other party with her catchphrase.

…………

8 o'clock at night, 11 Spring Street.

Lu Mian was led by Gardner Martin's butler, Faustino, passed through the lawn and the hall, and came to a room without windows.

There was a dining table here, but the surrounding layout didn't look like the dining room of this kind of villa. It was very simple, and could even be called empty.

Lu Mian scanned it simply and found that three rows of things were placed on the dining table. The first row was various tableware, the second row was cups and bottles, and the third row was prepared dishes and candles that hadn't been lit yet.

They were strictly symmetrical, forming three parallel straight lines.

(End of chapter)