The Secret Master

Tap, tap, tap. The horse's hooves moved, the wheels rolled, and Klein activated "Sight Perception" and turned to look around. But he failed to see the gentle and charming young lady as he had hoped. His eyes were filled with the scene of the brown carriage moving forward. At this moment, all the passengers who wanted to take the public carriage at this stop had already boarded, the door was tightly closed, and gradually moving away. Inside the carriage, twenty or thirty humans were sitting closely together, their energy fields overlapping and obscuring each other. In Klein's eyes, the colors were simple and brilliant, truly difficult to distinguish. He silently shook his head, raised his hand to tap his temple, and turned off "Sight Perception". For him, just now it was a simple sentiment of helping if one encountered someone in need. But if it was already missed, and the situation wasn't particularly clear, there was no need to constantly worry and delay the matter itself. Bathed in the crimson moonlight, along the still busy Narcissus Street at this time, Klein strolled back home. He saw Melissa sitting at the dining table, working on the school assignment under the bright gas lamp. She gently bit the pen tip, furrowed her eyebrows, and was deeply thinking. "Where is Benson?" Klein asked casually. "Oh..." Melissa raised her head, stared blankly for a few seconds before saying, "He said he visited several districts today, got so tired that he's sweating all over, and he wants to take a good bath to relax." "All right." Klein smiled and suddenly noticed that Melissa was wearing a dress he had never seen before. It was overall light white, with fashionable sheep's leg sleeves, the collar and hem edges were decorated with thin lace ruffles, and there were no overly complicated designs. It belonged to the light and casual type, perfectly highlighting the youthful charm of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl. "New dress?" Klein asked with a smile. This was the expense that he and Benson had strongly requested to settle. Melissa "mhm"ed: "I just got it from Mrs. Rochelle. I thought I'd wait to wash it, so I'd better try it on first." Klein listened with considerable confusion and said: "Mrs. Rochelle?" Isn't that the previous neighbor? Melissa nodded and explained seriously: "Mrs. Rochelle is actually a tailor. Just unlucky, she had to sew clothes for others at home. Her life is, um, a bit difficult. I know her skills are good, the price is cheaper than buying from a ladies' clothing store, and it fits well. I ordered a new dress from her, only 9 shillings and 5 pence. It will only take a few days. For the same style of dress, at Harrods Department Store, it will cost a full 1 pound and a half!" So thrifty... Girl, I know, at least half of your reason is to sympathize with Mrs. Rochelle... Klein didn't criticize Melissa's self-initiated action, but instead smiled and said: "When did you go to Harrods Department Store?" It was in the Hales Street area, near the Divination Club, a place that at least the middle class could afford to consume. "..." Melissa was momentarily at a loss for words. It took her a long while to say, "It's Selina and Elizabeth. I must let you accompany them. Actually, well, I actually prefer gears, and I prefer places with steam and machinery. Um." "Girls sometimes go shopping at department stores, well, that's nice," Klein said, soothing his sister with a smile. After a few casual conversations, he hurriedly went upstairs to wash off the smell of the bar. Just as he was about to go back to his own bedroom to get his change of clothes, he suddenly heard some noises coming from the bathroom near the small balcony. In just a few seconds, Benson, while wiping the receding hair, opened the door and came out. "How is it? Did you compliment Melissa's new dress?" He glanced at Klein and asked with a smile. "I guess I forgot. I just asked where it was made..." Klein thought for a moment and said. Benson immediately shook his head and chuckled: "That's really an incompetent brother, Melissa just got that long dress and couldn't bear to take it off. After finally preparing the dishes, washing the dishes, she couldn't wait to put it on and hasn't taken it off yet." "... "Didn't she want to change after taking a bath? Why not do the laundry and hang it out to dry at the same time..."" Klein subconsciously replied with the explanation given by Melissa. "Ah," Benson sighed, "It's been quite hot these days. She's been in the kitchen for so long. I think it will be much more comfortable for her to do her homework after taking a bath." That's true... Klein suddenly understood and smiled at his brother Benson. So you're this kind of Melissa... There's nothing wrong with girls being beautiful. There's no need to find excuses to embellish... He raised his lips, gently shook his head, and walked into his own bedroom. Later, while taking a bath, Klein vaguely heard a knock on the door downstairs. Suddenly, he had doubts in his heart: Doesn't the staff who takes out the coins from the gas meter come once every two weeks? Could it be Mrs. Shad from the next door? No, this lady is said to strictly follow the etiquette of the middle class and won't visit at an inappropriate time.

Confused, Klein wiped himself clean, put on his old but comfortable shirt and trousers, and ran downstairs with a quick pace. He looked around but didn't spot any strangers, so he asked aloud: "Was there someone who knocked on the door just now?" Benson, who was leisurely reading the newspaper, smiled and said: "It was Bich Montbenton, one of the police officers in Iron Cross Street. He asked if we had seen a round-faced boy around eighteen or nineteen years old today. Well, he even gave us a portrait for identification. Alas, neither I nor Melissa have seen him. Otherwise, we could have received the reward. How about you, Klein?"

"No." Klein seemed to have understood what was going on. "The instigator" Tris managed to escape from the area of the evil dragon bar in the dock area and made it to the vicinity of Iron Cross Street and Narcissus Street. Thus, the police came to inquire. And getting to this point also indicated that the operation to capture the "instigator" was approaching failure! Klein didn't dwell on this matter any further because he hadn't yet started his combat training and shooting could only be said to be just beginning. At this point, thinking about dealing with the natural "assassin" was simply playing with one's life. That night, he slept restlessly, constantly worrying that the "instigator" would sneak into his home to hide and cause another bloodshed. Fortunately, Narcissus Street was peaceful throughout the night, and the morning sunlight dispelled all the gloom. Relaxing, Klein put on his formal attire, put on a top hat, and carried a walking stick, and made his way to Zorteland Street, greeting Rosanne at the reception hall. "Good morning, Klein." Rosanne responded cheerfully, lowering her voice, "I heard that the big operation last night failed?" "The operation to capture 'Instigator' Tris?" Klein asked curiously.

"Uh-huh!" Rosan nodded vigorously and glanced at the partition area, "It seems that the informant from the Punishment Squad discovered 'the Instigator' in the dock area... Originally, their plan was to wait until all the other extraordinary individuals and a special police action team arrived before launching the operation, hoping to resolve the matter and avoid disturbing the ordinary people. Unfortunately, that 'the Instigator' was very perceptive and promptly noticed the problem, breaking through the blockade and successfully escaping." "At such a time, they needed an extraordinary individual with tracking abilities, like me." Klein made a joke. "Back then, there wasn't a shortage of trackers." Suddenly, Dunn Smith's voice rang out. Rosan turned sharply and saw the captain wearing a black windbreaker, leaning lightly against the partition door frame, and staring at her with deep gray eyes.

She quickly raised her hands, covered her mouth, and shook her head repeatedly, indicating that she had said nothing. Dunn shifted his gaze to Klein and, after a moment of contemplation, said: "The punishers, the mechanical heart, and our night watchmen, a total of over six extraordinary individuals, tracked down the injured Tris to the lower street of Iron Cross Street, discovered his temporary residence. However, the clues ended here. Whether through extraordinary means or normal investigations, they were all ineffective. He seemed to have vanished suddenly, completely disappearing." "Would you like me to use divination for help?" Klein tentatively asked. Dunn shook his head slightly: "The mechanical heart has a 'Secret Seer', a senior extraordinary individual not much different from Old Neil. I even suspect that he is at position 8 in the sequence, but I'm not sure what the corresponding potion is called." "Lucid Insight can still be passed down to this day, so there must be something special about it." Klein casually comforted the captain. For the entire morning that followed, he continued, just as before, with the mysterious studies, continued reading historical materials and documents, and continued practicing certain techniques.

Seeing that lunchtime was approaching, Klein gradually became distracted. After a few more minutes, he simply gathered up his materials and listened to his stomach's call. Just then, Dunn Smith came to the civilian staff office, speaking in a low and gentle voice: "Klein, come with me to the Charnis Gate. The sealing device '2-049' has been delivered. The subsequent operation may require your perception of that notebook."

"... "OK," Klein stood up and replied. His thoughts began to swirl in his mind, wondering what the sealing object looked like and whether this mission would be dangerous. In this slightly tense silence, he followed Dunn down the stairs and into the corridor. After going straight through the crossroads, Dunn suddenly stopped, turned his head to the side, and said seriously: "Follow me and do this movement. Keep doing it, absolutely not stop. Remember, absolutely not stop. This is related to your safety!" While speaking, Dunn bent his arms, then stretched them out, stretched them out, and then bent them again, repeating this cycle continuously without interruption. Klein watched the captain demonstrate blankly, and suddenly a light bulb went off in his mind: "Because of the special nature of that sealing object?" "Yes," Dunn nodded with extraordinary seriousness, "This movement can allow us to detect any problems with you immediately, and timely rescue will not involve any risk to life." "Um," Klein didn't hesitate any longer and followed Dunn in doing the "bending and stretching arms" movement. "If this arm gets tired, then switch to the other one," Dunn added one more instruction. "2-049" the sealing object was really strange... What was the significance of this movement? It looked very dangerous... Klein's thoughts flickered, and he looked at the captain carefully: "OK." He had too many questions in his mind, but since the Charnis Gate was in sight, he had to forcibly endure it. Besides, with my confidentiality level, I'm sure I can't know the details. I can only do as I'm told... Klein let out a breath and followed Dunn to the duty room outside the Charnis Gate.