The Secret Master

Stretch out the arm and then straighten it. Klein repeatedly performed this action, watching Dunn half-turn and push open the door of the duty room. The captain's meticulousness, high vigilance, and those absurd "protective actions" made his thoughts extremely tense, just like the feeling he had when walking at night past a cemetery as a child. "Level 2 seal object, dangerous, must be used carefully and moderately... The official members on duty cannot understand the details... They don't know how dangerous it is... Under such tension, Klein couldn't help thinking a lot." Just then, his head suddenly became numb, as if the processor had suddenly shut down. In Klein's vision, everything became slow, even his action of bending the arm was the same. He saw Captain Dunn stop, approaching him frame by frame in slow motion, and saw the other person slowly extend their palm and push him on the shoulder. Suddenly, Klein's thoughts and vision both returned to normal at the same time, just like a hallucination that just appeared. "What happened?" He asked in a dazed and slightly frightened voice. Dunn shook his head at him and said in a low voice: "Observe carefully." As soon as he finished speaking, he turned his body and walked into the duty room, and Klein followed closely behind, seeing four people sitting or standing inside. One of them was "Midnight Poet" Leonard, and the other three Klein had never seen before, but they had one thing in common, that they were all doing the "bending arm and stretching out the body" movement, without any relaxation. "Klein. Moretti, there is a strange connection between you and the Antigonus family's notes." Dunn briefly introduced. Then, he pointed at the three strangers and said: "These ladies and gentlemen are colleagues from the Beckland parish, escorting the seal object '2-049' here. This is Ms. Lorcata, sequence 8 'Grave Digger', and also a marksman." At this time, the black-haired lady in her thirties nodded kindly to Klein. She had a good appearance, without a hat, wearing clothes similar to men's, black coat, white shirt, black tight pants and the same color leather boots, with a slight upward turn of the mouth. After Klein greeted her, Dunn pointed at the man sitting behind the desk: "El. Hazan, an old guy like me." Before he finished speaking, Klein could see that the "bending arm and stretching out the body" movement of Mr. El. Hazan, who was wearing a gray overcoat, became clumsy, as if there was less lubrication between the gears or the joints were covered with rust. What's going on... In his stunned state, he saw Lorcata push El. Hazan, and then the man's movement returned to normal. Was I like this just now? Klein was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood: This is the manifestation of the dangerous leakage of the seal object '2-049!' If not awakened in time, what would happen? Would it turn into a "living corpse"? With a series of doubts, Klein greeted El. Hazan, the middle-aged gentleman with charming middle-aged manliness. "Borgia." Dunn pointed at the last duty officer and said. That was a cold man with a knife mark on his face, his brown-yellow eyes as sharp as an eagle, constantly observing everyone present. "Let's go, everyone, finish as soon as possible, seal '2-049' as soon as possible." The handsome but already wrinkled middle-aged gentleman El. Hazan stood up and said. Well, then "2-049"? Klein looked around curiously and didn't find any traces of the seal object, of course, the area covered by the table, he couldn't see with "spirit vision" turned off. "OK." Dunn turned to Leonard. Mitchell and said, "You are in charge of driving, this kind of thing is best not to involve Zeser." He was referring to Zisel, a civilian who was in charge of requisitioning and purchasing supplies for the Tingen Market Night Team. This person also held the position of a coachman, that is, the driver who drove Klein to Veitch's residence to meet "the psychic" Daria. "Nothing to worry about," Leonard said, suppressing his frivolity and nodding seriously. At this moment, Klein saw Al Hasen bending down and lifting a black iron box from a place hidden behind the table. The box was engraved with brilliant stars and a crimson full moon, surrounded by an intangible sense of sealing. That must be the sealed object, right? I don't know what "2-049" looks like... Klein looked at the box curiously. Bang! Bang! Bang! Suddenly, a violent knocking sound came from the black iron box, causing its surface to bulge repeatedly. Bang! Bang! Bang! It seemed that something terrifying inside the box had awakened and was pounding on the door, one strike after another, hitting the hearts of everyone in the guard room. Living? Before Klein's mind could process it, he saw that Captain Dunn's "bending and stretching motion" became sluggish, his joints hard as if filled with glue. Borgia, the night watchman from Berklund, pushed Dunn's shoulder to restore his movements to normal. The state affected by "2-049" was quite like performing a robot dance... If everyone was affected, wouldn't it be a dance troupe of awkwardness... Fortunately, fortunately, "2-049" seemed to only affect one person at a time... Klein eased his inner tension in a teasing manner, not daring to slacken the flexing and extending of his arms. He imitated Dunn and left his cane behind, following the night watchman, passing through the corridor, climbing the stairs, and arriving on the second floor of Blackthorn Security Company. Because Leonard had quickened his pace and informed them in advance, Rosan and others temporarily hid on the third floor - for these civilian personnel, similar incidents were not common, but they were definitely not unfamiliar, while the other night watchman, Cohenli, temporarily took over Dunn's duty to guard the Charnis Gate. It wasn't until they got into the carriage that Klein could breathe a sigh of relief, looking out of the window with a puzzled expression and saying: "Will '2-049' affect the ordinary people on the street?" Just on the way from the underground to the carriage, the sealed object "2-049" caused six delays, of which he was awakened twice by Captain Dunn and Leonard Mitchell, a frequency that was quite astonishing! "Don't worry about it, '2-049' will give priority to dealing with humanoid creatures within the vicinity. The closer you are, the easier it is for it to select you, and as long as we keep at least three people around it, those passing by outside the carriage won't be affected." The good-looking blonde woman, Lorrata, explained in a lazy tone. The strange sealed object... Klein, who was making the bending motion, once again expressed similar sentiments. On the way to Riel Bibber's house, Dunn and the others didn't speak and were constantly monitoring each other's states. Only Lorrata looked unconcerned, occasionally admiring the less clean roads of Tingen City and praising the sewer system of Berklund. Not long after, the familiar building appeared in Klein's eyes, with six people "monitoring" each other, walking step by step to the third floor. The door of Riel Bibber's house had been marked with the logo of the Tingen City Police Department, indicating that no outsiders were allowed to enter. Dunn, while doing the bending and stretching motion, took out the key, opened the new lock, then turned his body to let Al Hasen, carrying the black iron box, enter the house first. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The sealed object inside the black iron box began to pound again, even more violent than before, causing Al Hasen's arms to uncontrollably sway left and right, making Klein even doubt that the box would be directly shattered. Bang! Bang! Bang! Klein keenly noticed that Captain Dunn's arm-holding movement became awkward, and he was about to push to wake him up when his head suddenly buzzed and he suddenly became stiff. The scene in his eyes instantly turned into slow motion. Isn't it said that once... it only affects one person...? Klein's thoughts quickly became sluggish. At this moment, Lorcata and Borgia, who were well-prepared, pushed the two of them respectively. The thinking ability recovered, and his vision returned to normal. Klein looked around nervously from left to right and almost blurted out: Isn't it said that "2-049" can only affect one person at a time? Fortunately, I didn't stop the arm-holding and stretching movement at that moment! "The sealing object '2-049' entered a berserk state. The number of people affected each time increased to two. It can be confirmed that Rael Bibber is a descendant of the Antigonus family." Al Hassen described it in a mechanical way. Lorcata chuckled softly and looked at Klein: "Whenever you encounter a descendant of the Antigonus family, even if there is only residual breath, '2-049' will become very excited and its ability will significantly increase. I think you should be able to understand its mood." Not understanding... Klein asked curiously: "So, is it a living being?" Lorcata smiled and didn't answer directly: "Wait and you'll know. As long as Rael Bibber hasn't escaped from Tingen City, '2-049' will lead us to find him." Klein had to put aside other questions and followed the night watchmen around the room. The loud pounding sound filled the air, they locked the door of the room, went down the stairs, and returned to the carriage. Al Hassen looked out of the window a few times to confirm that there were no pedestrians, then placed the black iron box on the floor and twisted the mechanical switch to unlock the spiritual lock. The fierce pounding suddenly stopped, the entire carriage became silent, not even the breathing sounds of everyone could be heard. Klein held his breath and saw the black iron box slowly open, making a groaning, ear-piercing sound. Clang! The box toppled over, a brownish-gray slender arm extended out, only the length of a child's fingers. The two brownish-gray arms alternately pressed forward, a brownish-gray normal person's palm-sized object appeared section by section in front of Klein and his companions. It had obvious elbow joints, finger joints, and knee joints. It was wrapped with brownish-gray oil-stained strips on its body, and its face was painted with red and yellow clown makeup. It was a strangely-shaped puppet! "2-049" raised its head and looked at Klein with its pure black eyeless sockets. It slowly opened its stiff mouth, revealing a clown-like smile.