After looking at the spot where the lady had disappeared for a few seconds, Pacheco turned his head and said to Barton,
"Let's go back to the foundation."
"We're not going to the suburbs anymore?" Barton asked subconsciously.
Pacheco smiled and said,
"Didn't you already send the bottle out?
"There's no need to go to the suburbs anymore.
"Perhaps his true goal is to get us to give the bottle to the lady from the Tamara family. Everything he said before was a lie.
"Of course, this has nothing to do with us. Regardless of who lives or dies, there are no innocents. We just need to do some monitoring to prevent the battle between them from affecting ordinary people. This will be handled by the police, not the responsibility of the foundation or the Compliance Department. "
Vernal doesn't seem to be able to complete such a ruse … Barton muttered and didn't ask any more questions. He turned around and walked out the door.
Frankly speaking, returning to the foundation was the answer he wanted the most right now.
Asking if he still wanted to go to the suburbs was just an impulse. It was an old habit he hadn't overcome for many years.
After returning to the foundation, Barton spent the day with some apprehension, ushering in the evening amidst the tedious and repetitive daily routine.
I originally thought that life was too monotonous, but now I realize how precious a monotonous life is. Sigh, I only hope that everything will be like this afternoon, without any accidents … May the Lord bless me … Barton stopped at his door, stretched out his right hand, clenched it into a fist, and lightly pounded his left chest.
After finishing his prayer, he opened the door and entered. He took off his hat and coat and handed them to his wife, who was welcoming him.
"What is the matter with Vernal?" inquired his wife cautiously.
Barton replied with a calm and indifferent expression, "That's right.
"He offended some people and is being tracked. The police have taken over the matter.
"After this, if Vernal visits again, don't let him in. Remember to send someone to inform the police afterward."
Barton's wife heaved a sigh of relief when she heard that the police had intervened.
"Okay."
After dinner and playing with the children for a while, Barton found an excuse to enter the study and sit near the window.
He needed a space alone to completely calm his emotions and walk out of the panic brought about by Vernal's incident.
For this, Barton took out a cigarette from the drawer and put it in his mouth.
He wasn't addicted to smoking, but sometimes he needed to socialize, so he prepared a pack of cigarettes at home and on his person.
Struck a match, lit the cigarette, Patton took a deep drag.
He immediately leaned back in his chair and watched the smoke slowly spurt out from his mouth and nose.
The pale white gas quickly spread out, reminding Barton of the mist that came out of Vernal's mouth and nose.
He could vaguely smell the faint scent of blood.
For Barton, this was not a strange discovery. Vernal had once stayed in his study, so there must have been some traces left behind. Ordinary people would not be able to detect it at all.
Barton hadn't smelled it before purely because he was too nervous and flustered. His attention was focused on Vernal's whereabouts and the words he left behind.
Of course, the smell of blood in the study was very faint. It couldn't be compared to the room in the hotel or the ruins from before, which was one of the reasons.
As the smoke from the cigarette spread freely, Barton suddenly narrowed his eyes.
He had a bad feeling!
In the blink of an eye, the pale white gas condensed in one direction, bringing with it the smell of blood, forming a human figure.
The figure's upper body was very normal, with an iconic red nose. It was the archaeologist Vernal.
The lower half of his body was completely made of gas, like a monster depicted in smoke.
"F-Vernal …" Barton shouted as if he was about to suffocate.
His voice echoed in the study, but it didn't penetrate the walls.
"Haha, I have already obtained an immortal body. As long as there is mist left, I can come back to life!" Vernal laughed out loud.
Compared to before, his expression became more and more deranged, and his eyes seemed to have a pale white color.
H-he died once just now? Such a thought flashed through Barton's mind.
Then, he forced himself to calm down.
"What's the matter?"
While speaking, Barton impulsively wanted to stand up, but he sadly found that his body was covered by a cold, thin mist, and he had lost most of his senses.
Vernal stopped laughing, looked into Barton's eyes, and said word by word:
"You didn't bring that bottle to the suburbs."
Although Barton was impulsive, he knew that he couldn't answer this question directly. He quickly thought about it, looking for a better way to deal with it.
A few seconds later, he changed the topic before Vernal could speak again.
"Why did you change your faith?
"Aren't you a faithful believer of the Lord?"
Vernal was silent for a moment, and his expression gradually became fanatical.
"I see a wider, vaster World.
"Compared to that, the planet we live on now is like a grain of sand in a desert.
"There are countless civilizations there. There are relics left behind from hundreds of thousands, millions, or even tens of millions of years ago.
"This is the true appearance of the universe!"
Seeing that his question caused Vernal to have a bad reaction, Barton closed his mouth and thought about what kind of topic could make Vernal interested.
He took a deep breath and said,
"Apart from the altar, what else did you find in the Fourth Epoch ruin?
"How much do you know about the Tamara family?"
Vernal's eyes lit up a little.
"There was a change of coat of arms in the Tamara family.
"This means that they have encountered a rather significant incident."
As he spoke, the archaeologist stretched out his right hand and used the smoke to outline two symbols in the air.
The first symbol was composed of a layer of thorns, a shield wall, and a longsword inserted vertically above them; the main body of the second symbol was a double door with the vertical longsword acting as the gap.
As a professional who could barely be called a non-famous historian, Barton instantly thought of the words of the Tamara family member.
"They are them, and we are us."
"There was a split in the Tamara family?" Barton blurted out.
"That's what I think." Vernal smiled in relief, then approached Barton, and said with a fanatical expression, "Your brain is more tempting than I thought. This is the best supplement for me. Relax, your thoughts will merge with mine, and we will witness one great civilization after another. "
He looked very weak and was in urgent need of recovery.
Barton's heart beat wildly. He tried to avoid the other party, but no matter how he struggled, his body seemed to be frozen and completely unable to move.
Just as Vernal's face was in front of his eyes, Barton suddenly felt a pain in his right hand, and he instantly regained consciousness.
The faint white fog and the monster-like Vernal in front of him disappeared, as if they had never appeared.
Barton lowered his head and saw that the cigarette in his right hand had burned to the end, burning his fingers.
"Was that a dream? But it felt so real. "Barton threw away the cigarette in his hand, stood up based on his spiritual instincts, and walked to the window.
He looked at the street outside and saw many pedestrians passing by in the deepening night under the lit gas lamps, wanting to rush home as soon as possible.
Among them, an ordinary golden retriever was taking a normal stroll.
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