vncnus Chapter 362 Lorne: Why do I always encounter unexpected events?
Chapter 362 Lorne: Why do I always encounter unexpected events?
Chapter 362 Lorne: Why do I always encounter unexpected events?
The owner of this house is named Patrick Jason, a major shareholder of a small bank.
Ikonser was recounting their findings to everyone. With Arrodes' help, they had successfully confirmed the true identity of the "Apostle of Desire" in Backlund.
"Within his social class, there was a severe shortage of servants in his household. Therefore, whenever he held a dinner party or ball, he needed to hire a group of temporary waiters from the 'Metropolitan Association for Helping Domestic Servants.'"
While everyone else was busy analyzing clues and planning the capture, Klein went to a corner alone and quietly took out the communication talisman engraved with strange patterns.
"Director, that's the situation. The identity of that demon has been confirmed."
"Now, the people of 'Mechanical Heart' are ready to make the arrest—"
'
"—
'
"Okay, I understand. You'll follow Mechanical Heart and them. Remember, if we encounter danger, never step forward; wait for my instructions."
"clear."
Klein hung up the "phone" and, pretending nothing had happened, returned to the group.
"Sherlock, what were you doing over there just now?" Isengard Stanton's gaze swept over, with a hint of inquiry.
"I—I went to investigate the surrounding environment." Klein's expression changed slightly as he quickly fabricated a plausible reason.
"Given the cunning of the 'devil,' I worry that there might be traps they've set up in advance all around us."
"They've all run away; there's no need for them to leave us a complete house."
"Hmm." Isengard looked at him for two seconds, then nodded thoughtfully, accepting his explanation. "Indeed, when facing a 'demon,' one can never be too careful. Your caution is correct."
"The ideas you provided were very helpful to our operation." Ikonser also came over, just about to talk to the two great detectives about the details of the subsequent capture, when a member of "Mechanical Heart" rushed over and whispered a few words in his ear.
"What did you say?!"
Ikonser was shocked when he heard the news.
"Everyone, retreat immediately! Something's happened!"
"What's wrong, Captain Ikonser?" Isengard immediately stepped forward, his brow furrowed. For an experienced captain of the Mechanical Heart to lose his composure like this was no simple matter.
Iconsel glanced at Isengard, then at Klein, took a deep breath, barely managing to suppress his rapid breathing, and explained in the simplest terms: "The South District—something's happened. It's serious. We have to get there immediately! The mission here—is postponed for now!"
After saying that, he said no more, and with a sudden wave of his hand, he led his equally surprised team members in a different direction, leaving only the sound of their hurried footsteps fading into the distance.
Seeing this, Isengard and Klein exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of seriousness in each other's eyes.
It could be more serious than capturing a Sequence 5 "Apostle of Desire"—how terrifying would that be?
Just as Klein was pondering whether to immediately inform Charles of this unexpected situation, he suddenly noticed that the ID card he had placed in the lining of his clothes was flashing and getting hot at a specific frequency!
"Emergency support signal—a base has been compromised!"
Meanwhile, after hanging up Klein's "phone call," Charles also began his operation.
In exchange for "cooperation" with Jason Beria, he learned in advance that the latter planned to assassinate an important target that afternoon.
The organization's specialized equipment all come with a certain level of location tracking. This helps him obtain the approximate location of the "Apostle of Desire" in real time.
Charles had prepared for two scenarios in response to today's situation.
-
If Jason's assassination attempt succeeds, and he manages to escape the first wave of official pursuit using the "demon's" bizarre abilities, then he will, as agreed, immediately send this scourge away through clandestine channels, and they will never have anything to do with each other again.
If Jason fails, gets surrounded, or fails to escape in time after the assassination attempt, then Charles must take matters into his own hands and eliminate this "black glove" who knows a lot about him before the official extraordinary individuals capture him, thus preventing future troubles.
To this end, he even borrowed a magical item from the warehouse that could briefly interfere with the "demon's" malicious perception.
As long as Jason isn't killed on the spot, Charles is confident that, with the help of the information gap and this item, he can take care of him before the official net closes in.
The glare from a "Shadowless" level should be enough to burn him to ashes. Afterwards, this incident can be used to blame other churches, misleading the "Punisher's" investigation.
Just as he was planning his next move, a sudden, rapid vibration came from the lining of his clothes!
"This is—the base at the subway station!"
"Something's happened!" Charles's pupils contracted sharply.
"Damn it! Why today of all days!"
On the other side, along the King's Road, an extremely luxurious giant carriage was slowly departing from the Kingdom's Parliament.
The interior is like a mobile luxury room, with soft carpets on the floor and comfortable beds, sofas, and exquisite tables.
Duke Negan was lounging comfortably on the sofa. He had just returned from enjoying himself with his mistress, a beautiful young woman who had just turned twenty. She was his most favored mistress of the past two or three years, and she had perfectly reminded him of the impulsiveness and passion of his youth.
As the highest-ranking landed noble outside the royal family, he had a considerable number of mistresses. However, due to the relatively conservative social atmosphere in the Kingdom of Rune, such matters easily became targets of attacks from political enemies. Therefore, even someone of his status had to conduct these affairs secretly. However, this secrecy also had its share of unique "pleasures."
Savoring the lingering taste of the previous meal, he picked up his wine glass, took a small sip of red wine, and then said to his secretary, "Invite Earl Hall to my estate tomorrow. I want to discuss with him raising factory workers' wages, improving their working hours, and revising the Poor Law. These are all bills he's been pushing hard for in Parliament recently, and I think he'll be very interested."
"When extending the invitation, you can first inform Earl Hall of what I wish to discuss. However, the asset restrictions for the election are mandatory and absolutely cannot be lowered—"
As he spoke, his secretary beside him quickly took notes in her notebook.
After speaking, Duke Negan sighed and said, "I did this to maintain the status of our nobility. But alas, there are more and more good-for-nothings among us, squandering money recklessly, and quite a few of us have even incurred huge debts to those emerging factory owners and bankers, making a complete disgrace—"
He waved his hand, as if to dispel these worries: "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. What are the plans for today?"
The secretary immediately replied, "There is a banquet at Viscount Della's residence tonight, and His Excellency hopes you can attend towards the end of the banquet. Even just showing your face would be a great support to him."
The Duke of Negan downed the wine in his glass in one gulp, savoring the slight dizziness and warmth brought on by the alcohol.
T
"Okay—let's go."
His voice was somewhat somber. As the elder and leader of the family, even though he had just been "exhausted" and was feeling a bit tired, he had to force himself to stand up for the younger generation of his clan and maintain the necessary social connections and face. This was the price of being in a high position.
"Clang!"
With a violent jolt, Lorne clearly felt the carriage slow down abruptly, and the horses neighed anxiously.
Looking out the window, he saw an enormous, luxurious carriage slowly moving in front of him.
Its speed was clearly slower than that of my small carriage. However, its large size occupied nearly half the width of the road.
-
The remaining distance was simply not enough for his carriage to accelerate and overtake the other side.
The coachman had no choice but to hold the reins tightly, slowing the horse down, and reluctantly followed behind. "This road should at least be doubled in width—"
"No, that's not right. We should enact laws to prohibit these giant private carriages from traveling on main roads."
Lorne was annoyed that the luxurious carriage was blocking his way. He frowned and carefully examined the carriage for a few moments.
"It's obviously the vehicle of one of those great nobles."
"Tch, a bunch of show-offs."
Lorne withdrew his gaze, too lazy to look any longer, and leaned back in his seat, preparing to close his eyes and rest.
However, he had just closed his eyes when he suddenly opened them again!
A premonition of impending doom has been triggered!
"parking!"
Meanwhile, Patrick Jason—no, now we should call him by his real name—Jason Beria.
-
The "Apostle of Desire" leaned against the shadows of the rooftop, observing with greedy and tyrannical eyes the lavishly decorated carriage belonging to Duke Negan on the street below.
"Hmph—" He let out a disdainful sneer.
"At such an advanced age, still so obsessed with physical pleasure—"
"He has a formal banquet to attend that evening that will require a lot of energy, yet he still chooses to indulge himself in the afternoon—what a guy who is wrapped in base desires from the inside out, from his soul to his body."
Logically speaking, the best time to strike would be when Duke Negan and his mistress are having sex and are most relaxed in their vigilance.
However, considering that the planned time had not yet arrived, and the Storm Church, especially the powerful "Singer of God," had not yet been drawn away by the impending accident, he had to temporarily suppress his tyranny and lie low.
The next option is either to kill Duke Negan on his way home, or to wait until the banquet that evening to make a move.
Given the length of the event and the many variables involved, the "accident" might not be able to hold off the church's leadership for long. More importantly, Duke Negan himself had a history of assassination attempts at banquets, so he would certainly have taken appropriate precautions.
In contrast, Duke Negan, though a mid-series extraordinary being, has just indulged in excessive sexual activity, leaving him physically and mentally exhausted.
With the prop Charles had provided, he was confident he could quickly arouse the other person's emotions. The effect of igniting desire might not be any less than in bed.
"This is an opportunity not to be missed—" Jason Beria smirked, preparing to make his move.
boom!
A violent explosion, accompanied by piercing gunfire, instantly shattered the tranquility of the southern district!
"Captain! Is this the place?"
"Captain, is this the place?" Leonard Mitchell followed a group of "Night Watchers" and carefully entered an abandoned subway tunnel.
Not far away, bursts of intense gunfire and the roar of extraordinary abilities colliding could be heard from time to time.
"This is it—"
"They widened the abandoned tunnel, connecting it to a previously abandoned site. Their base was hidden deep within that site. The normally passing subway lines became their best cover. When necessary, they could even use the subway tracks to transport personnel and supplies—"
"How clever!" Leonard couldn't help but exclaim.
"Alright, everyone pay attention! As planned, go in in pairs, one group at a time. Don't make a move until you have a complete understanding of the situation inside!"
"Understood!" The night watchmen, including Leonard, nodded in unison.
"Da—da da—ka...da—da—"
Just then, a very strange sound, like the grinding of rusty mechanical parts, suddenly came from the darkness deep inside the tunnel.
"What's that sound?" A night watchman gripped his pistol tightly.
"Strange footsteps—and they're getting closer—what is that?"
Leonard and the others immediately went on high alert. However, as the strange sound grew closer, they did not spot any moving figures within their field of vision.
"At your feet."
Pales's aged voice echoed in Leonard's mind.
"At my feet?" Leonard was taken aback, then abruptly lowered his head.
He was shocked to find that, at some point, a strangely shaped doll, only a dozen centimeters tall, had appeared at his feet!
The puppet strangely raised its head and stared at him.
Before Leonard could figure out what was going on, the puppet gave a strange smile.
"Bang!"
An air cannon shot out suddenly from its toy-like little barrel!
The highly compressed air created a piercing whistle in the tunnel, almost grazing Leonard's cheek as it slammed heavily into the wall behind him, leaving a clear crack!
"Phew—" Leonard turned his head, still shaken, and saw Soster gripping his arm tightly.
If he hadn't reacted quickly and pulled me back, I probably would have been hit directly by that air cannon.
"Don't get distracted! That thing is dangerous!" Soster's tone was unusually serious.
"Hehe, it really brings back memories—I never thought they'd still be using that old-fashioned fall expert Pales's voice echoed in Leonard's mind again, carrying a sense of nostalgia."
"Old man! Do you know this thing? How do we deal with it?" Leonard quickly asked in a low voice.
Just as everyone was looking at the strange doll with a sense of impending doom, more and more frequent footsteps came from all directions.
Through their superhuman night vision, granted by the "Sleepless" pathway, they saw rows of identical dolls with eerie smiles on their faces, slowly walking towards them from the darkness with stiff steps.
"Look at yourself now, Negan. You're so old, your body is completely worn out, and you're still obsessed with women's bellies."
"To avoid appearing so incompetent in bed, you even drank that potion made from mummy powder. Don't you know how disgusted your pretty little mistress looked at you then?"
"You—you're talking nonsense!" Upon hearing this, Duke Negan felt a surge of anger rising from the depths of his heart to the top of his head.
No! I must control my emotions. My remaining rationality is screaming.
Damn it! Why aren't the reinforcements here yet!
The moment he was attacked, he blew the conch shell of the Church of Storms, but "Singer of God" Ace Snake was nowhere to be seen! Given his speed, it shouldn't have taken him long to get here from the Cathedral of Holy Wind!
Hold on! We must hold on! We must hold out until the archbishop arrives!
Seeing the other party's forced suppression of anger, the "Apostle of Desire" couldn't help but sneer. While dodging the sharp wind blades released by the "Wind-Favored" bodyguard, he flipped his palm and conjured a crystal that emitted a dim yellow halo.
-
A dim, yellowish light suddenly spread out from the crystal!
The moment he was struck by that eerie light, boundless rage erupted from Duke Negan's heart like a volcanic eruption! He could no longer suppress the violent emotions within him!
"Ah—!! Kill him! Kill him for me!! Tear him to pieces!!" Duke Negan completely lost his noble demeanor, roaring with a ferocious expression, his voice hoarse and insane.
"Hiss—something really happened—"
At the street corner not far away, Lorne looked thoughtfully at the luxurious carriage that had suddenly overturned.
"This commotion is definitely not a typical robbery or revenge."
After sensing something was wrong, he immediately got out of the car and told the driver to go back the way he came and wait for him at the previous intersection.
"It seems the battle is quite intense."
Countless sharp wind blades and scorching flames were constantly emanating from the overturned carriage. The frightened horses had already broken free of their reins and were neighing and fleeing in all directions.
Lorne looked around at his surroundings.
This is a rather secluded path, usually not frequented by many people, making it ideal for carrying out "special" actions. For example—a terrorist attack.
"Why do I always encounter these kinds of things?"
"Should we go over and lend a hand?"
"Don't tell me there's another lady in the carriage who needs to be rescued."
He thought for a moment, then took a penny out of his pocket and flicked it upwards with his index finger.
>