In the basement of Saint Selena Cathedral, in the guardhouse outside Chanis Gate.
Leonard Mitchell leaned back in his chair. He raised his legs and placed them on the edge of the table. His eyes were empty and unfocused.
Even after the treatment with ritualistic magic, he still looked terrible. It was as if he had just recovered from a serious illness but had yet to recover.
At that moment, the powerhouses sent by the Holy Cathedral were setting up the seal behind Chanis Gate. Due to the loss of Saint Selena's ashes, they had conflicting opinions. Some hoped to use a new Holy Artifact to make up for the lack of power, while others thought that there was no need to go through so much trouble. After all, to the entire Church of the Evernight Goddess, holy artifacts were extremely rare and precious. Their idea was to lower the status of the Tingen Nighthawks and transfer the items that had living characteristics or were difficult to seal to the headquarters, the Cathedral of Serenity, or the Baekeland diocese, leaving only the parts that could be easily guarded.
They planned to send a telegram and request the Pope to convene a meeting. The archbishops and high-ranking deacons would then vote on the matter.
Leonard didn't have any feelings towards these arguments. He felt like he had become a living corpse. He felt no pain, no sadness, no agitation, no excitement. He was abnormally numb. He didn't even want to face others. All he wanted was to stay in a corner alone.
Occasionally, he would have some doubts. Why did the "murderer" only take Klein's Beyonder characteristic and leave Captain Dunn Smith's?
Tap. Tap. Tap. Footsteps echoed in the corridor. Seeka Tron, whose right arm was wrapped in a white bandage, appeared at the door of the guardhouse.
While Dunn and company were attacking Megose in an attempt to save Tingen City, she and the Keepers at Chanis Gate were also fighting against a portion of the Sealed Artifacts. If not for the Mandated Punishers and Machinery Hivemind members arriving in time, and if not for the reinforcements sent by the Holy Cathedral, she might have lost her life tragically.
But even so, the old Keeper didn't manage to last until the end. He died in battle at his post.
"Leonard, I found a telegram in the captain's office that hasn't been decoded. It should be from the Sanctuary," Seeka Tron said.
Leonard's green eyes turned, and he finally came to life. He vaguely remembered that he did hear the sound of a new telegram coming in, but at that time, the battle was about to start, so he and Klein didn't have the time to pay attention to it.
"What's the content?" Leonard found that his voice was unusually dry.
The white-haired, black-eyed lady, Seeka Tron, answered without hesitation.
"Be careful of Ince Zangwill and Sealed Artifact 0-08."
"Ince Zangwill, an archbishop who defected, a Gatekeeper who failed to advance … Sealed Artifact 0-08, a very ordinary-looking quill …" Leonard first muttered the memories he had dug out before turning his ears to the side.
He suddenly narrowed his eyes, and the dispiritedness and dejection on his body disappeared at the same time.
"So that's how it is …" Leonard retracted his legs and stood up. His green eyes seemed to burn with flames.
He looked at Seeka Tron and said,
"I plan to apply to join the Red Gloves."
Red Gloves was the name given to the elite teams within the Nighthawks. Typically, the various Nighthawk teams were stationed in their respective areas. Without permission, they couldn't go out of their areas to pursue criminals. However, some evil fellows would always change locations after each battle, which caused a lot of inconvenience.
For this reason, the Church of the Evernight Goddess specially established the Red Gloves within the Nighthawks. They were elites who were strictly selected, and they even had control over some holy artifacts. Their mission was to reinforce the Nighthawk teams that sent out the signal, as well as to pursue and capture evil without any restrictions.
In some circles, they are known as "trackers" and "hounds."
"Red Gloves? But their minimum requirement is Sequence 7 … Besides, the danger that Red Gloves face is many times that of ordinary Nighthawk teams, "Seeka Tron said with concern amidst her puzzlement.
Leonard's lips curled into a smile without a hint of a smile.
"I'm almost ready to advance."
His eyes turned cold as he gritted his teeth and muttered to himself.
I want revenge!
Ince Zangwill, you must stay alive until I become stronger!
"Alright …" Seeka seemed to have guessed Leonard's thoughts and sighed. "Half of our team will be new faces. Even for a Nighthawk team, it's rare to see such a tragedy …"
Leonard's eyes darkened as he gritted his teeth.
"Have you dealt with the corpses?"
"Yes." Seeka nodded indiscernibly.
Leonard suddenly took a step forward and walked towards the door.
"I'll inform their families."
I'm going to face the scene I don't want to face.
I'll go …
…
2 Daffodil Street. Melissa sat on a single-seater sofa, repeatedly studying the three tickets in her hand. She studied the words on them, as well as the printed date and seat number.
Baansen sat beside her, smiling at his focused sister. His posture was very relaxed.
Suddenly, they heard the doorbell ring. Ding dong, ding dong.
Melissa glanced at the maid, Bella, who was busy in the kitchen. She casually took the three tickets and stood up in puzzlement. She ran to the door.
Her black hair was much sleeker than before, and her face was no longer thin. Her complexion was rosy, and her brown eyes were bright and spirited.
She twisted the doorknob and opened the door. Melissa was stunned for a moment because she did not know the visitor.
It was a young man with black hair and green eyes. He was good-looking, but his face was abnormally pale. His eyes were filled with deep sorrow.
"May I know who you are?" Melissa asked in a daze.
Leonard had specially draped a black suit over his white shirt and replied in a hoarse voice, "That's right.
He replied in a deep voice, "I'm your brother, Klein's colleague."
Melissa's heart suddenly skipped a beat. She instinctively tiptoed to look behind Leonard, but she did not see anything.
Her voice trembled for some reason as she asked,
"Where's Klein?"
Leonard closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "I'm very sorry.
Your brother, Klein, died at the hands of a vicious criminal in order to save some people. He's a hero, a true hero. "
Melissa's eyes widened bit by bit as her body swayed indiscernibly. The three tickets in her hand fell to the ground.
They were facing upwards with the title of the play, "The Return of the Count."
…
In the Moretti family's living room, Leonard almost didn't dare look at Melissa and Baansen.
However, he couldn't help but think of the other party's appearance.
The youthful girl's eyes were wide open without a word. Her pupils were unfocused, and she was as quiet as a puppet.
The man who resembled Klein tried his best to maintain a normal posture, but he would fall into a daze from time to time, and his speech would be slow.
"That's what happened. I'm very sorry that I wasn't able to stop it in time. The Blackthorn Security Company, the police department, and those who were helped have promised to give you a compensation, about 6,000 pounds …" Leonard's eyes seemed to wander as he spoke.
Suddenly, Baansen interrupted him and asked in a hoarse voice, "Where's his corpse?
I'm asking about Klein's corpse. " He pursed his lips and paused for a moment.
"When can we see him?"
"In the company. We can do it now," Leonard answered, unable to hide his sorrow.
"Alright." Baansen twitched his stiff lips and said, "I'll go to the washroom first."
Without waiting for Leonard's response, he quickly entered the washroom on the first floor and slammed the wooden door shut.
Without waiting for Leonard's response, he quickly entered the washroom on the first floor and slammed the wooden door shut.
Walking to the sink, Baansen turned on the tap and let the water run down.
He bent down and buried his head. He cupped the water with both hands and kept splashing it on his face.
As he splashed, he suddenly paused. There was no change for a long time, and only the sound of running water reverberated in the washroom.
After a few seconds, Baansen looked up at the mirror and saw that his face was covered in water droplets. His eyes were so red that he couldn't hide them anymore.
…
A few days later, in a corner of Raphael Cemetery.
After ending Dunn's funeral, everyone gathered in front of a new tombstone. On it was a black-and-white photo of Klein. It was a very scholarly photo.
Melissa stood in front of the grave, her eyes unfocused. Beside her, Y'lisabet kept wiping her tears.
Leonard, Baansen, Frye, and Bright carried the coffin over and placed it in the grave.
After the priest's eulogy and prayers, the soil began to fill the grave, covering the black coffin bit by bit.
At that moment, Melissa squatted down and threw the copper whistle she had found on her brother into the grave.
Leonard looked sideways at this scene. His heart ached, but he also admired the girl's strength. After hearing the bad news, she didn't cry or make a fuss. She was so silent that it was heartbreaking.
The grave was filled and the stone slab was covered. Leonard took one last look at Klein's tombstone. There were three lines on his epitaph:
"The best brother.
"The best brother.
"The best colleague."
In the mournful atmosphere, the people from the Blackthorn Security Company gradually left. Selena and Y'lisabet also bade farewell under the urging of their families. Only Baansen and Melissa were left at the scene.
"I'll hire a rental carriage …" Baansen was in a bad state. He looked like he hadn't slept for a long time.
"Alright." Melissa nodded lightly.
After watching her brother leave, she looked back at the tombstone in a daze.
Suddenly, she squatted down and buried her face in her arms.
In the silence, after an unknown period of time, Melissa suddenly cursed.
"Idiot!"
She cried. Her tears flowed silently. She couldn't stop her tears.
…
At Raphael Cemetery at night.
The bronze-skinned Aztec held a bouquet of white flowers and stood in front of Klein's grave. He didn't speak for a long time.
Finally, he sighed and said to himself, "I'm sorry, I'm ten minutes late.
But I should know who it is … "
He bent down to put down the bouquet of flowers and turned to leave the cemetery. He also left Tingen, but he didn't take the copper whistle with him.
The crimson moonlight shone on the area. There was an indescribable silence and coldness.
Suddenly, the stone slab that sealed the grave was flipped over. A pale hand reached out from the soil.
It reached out!
Whoosh!
The stone slab was pushed aside, and the coffin lid was pushed open. Klein sat up and looked around in a daze.
His memory was still fixed on the pair of bright leather boots and the hand holding Saint Selena's urn. After that, it was as if he had fallen into a dreamless sleep.
Klein instinctively lowered his head and unbuttoned his shirt. He looked at his left chest and saw the hideous wound and the missing piece of his heart wriggling as it healed. It was just like how he had seen the bullet hole in his Sun acupoint recovering rapidly in the mirror. The only difference was that it was slower and more difficult this time.
PS: Thank you again for your tip, Boss!
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