Mystery: The Silver Key

Chapter 3 The Mechanical Heart Squad

After hesitating for a while, Klein decided to listen to the strange prayer that suddenly appeared and pointed to "The Fool".

He still had some confidence in the place above this gray fog. Last night, when he divined the origin of the mutated Sun Emblem, he stared directly at the "Eternal Sun" and was burned to a crisp. But in the end, he was only mentally exhausted for a while.

He did not believe that the "Fool" whom the other party believed in possessed power surpassing that of the "Eternal Sun."

Otherwise, there would be eight true gods in this world instead of seven.

Thinking this, he extended his spirituality, touching the deep red star that was constantly contracting and expanding above the boundless gray fog.

Instantly, the crimson light surged, condensing into a somewhat dim scene within the ancient palace above the gray mist.

He saw a figure in the image, covered in blood, sitting on a floor strewn with shards of mirror, praying to the "Fool" with a contorted and pained expression.

Klein's gaze slid from the "blood man" to his surroundings. He saw flickering candles, strange symbols painted with unknown pigments, and silver daggers, crystals, and herbs commonly used in rituals.

He instantly pieced together the whole story in his mind... Another young occult enthusiast courting death, performing the wrong ritual in the wrong way, and attracting unknown danger.

Unfortunately, some time has passed since the other person started praying, and now it's too late even if I wanted to help.

Moreover, I can only remain mysterious above this gray fog and may not be able to save the other party. After all, who would have thought that the mysterious and powerful Mr. Fool is actually just a Sequence 9 "Diviner" in reality?

Just as he finished his exclamation, Klein suddenly froze. He saw that the "blood man" in the prayer scene, after praying to him, immediately and without hesitation moved on to the next person to pray to.

"Goddess of the Night, more sublime than the stars, more eternal than eternity, you are the Crimson Lord, the Mother of Mysteries..."

After a moment of stunned silence, Klein immediately realized what was happening and sincerely retorted:

"This guy is definitely not a proper believer, or even a proper person. Who mixes up the names of righteous and evil gods when they pray, without even pausing? Does he want to die sooner?"

"This is probably not a trap. Who knows how many righteous and evil gods, correct and incorrect names this guy had recited before he coincidentally uttered the name 'The Fool'?"

He had just finished complaining when another surprising change appeared in the prayer screen.

He saw that the "blood man" who was praying haphazardly actually received a response.

He heard a gentle voice emanating from the prayer image, a voice as soothing as a warm spring breeze:

"I am here."

Klein: (@[]@!!)

"This is not scientifically sound!"

At the same time, a simple, gentle priest with a warm smile and dressed in a plain white robe suddenly appeared in the prayer scene.

He had a thick, light gold beard that covered the lower half of his face, and golden eyes as clear and innocent as a baby's. A silver cross pendant hung on his chest, making him look like the most ordinary priest.

But Klein knew that he, or even Him, was by no means ordinary.

To be able to respond to prayers and appear so promptly is definitely the mark of a high and extraordinary being.

More importantly, Klein clearly saw and heard that after the other party finished reciting the name of "Goddess of the Night," he only said two words: Adam!

"If someone wasn't deliberately delaying their response, then this blond priest's response would definitely have been those last two words. It certainly wouldn't have been 'goddess,' and it certainly wouldn't have been 'me.'"

"Adam, is this His name, or part of His honorific name?"

As his thoughts drifted, he noticed that the image of the prayer became blurry, as if veiled by a layer of mist, making it difficult to see clearly.

Clearly, this being who responds to prayers does not wish for anyone to spy on him, or perhaps, His status is so high that His mere presence makes the surroundings unobservable.

Until the prayer scene ended, Klein didn't see anything useful, but the deep red star in the boundless gray fog remained fixed, and Klein could establish contact with it at any time if he wanted.

Klein leaned back in his high-backed chair, rubbed his forehead, and sighed deeply.

"What a bizarre and outrageous prayer. The mysterious world is still too dangerous for ordinary people."

"Judging from the room's decor and his accent, this guy who keeps chanting the names of gods like they're nothing new is probably from Rune. We can have Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man investigate him at the next Tarot gathering."

He paused for a moment, then conjured his usual citrine pendant. This matter was full of coincidences. Although it seemed harmless, he decided to do a divination just in case.

...

Meanwhile, Backlund, 93 Wildy Street, South Bridge District.

In the living room, Cyril is being questioned by two members of the Mechanical Heart squad disguised as sheriffs.

"Hello, I'm Max Livemore, Inspector of the South Bridge Sheriff's Department. This is my assistant, Carlson. We are investigating a serious case involving cult members, and we hope you can cooperate."

The speaker was a middle-aged man who looked somewhat mature, with regular features, a high hairline, and some graying temples on both sides.

The black double-breasted tuxedo he was wearing had varying degrees of bulges beneath it, suggesting that the inspector was equipped with a lot of extra gear in addition to the standard firearms.

Standing half a step behind him was Carlson, a young man in his twenties, a little over 1.8 meters tall, somewhat thin, but quite good-looking, with a maturity in his light blue eyes that far exceeded that of his peers.

He also carried additional equipment besides his sidearm, including mechanical equipment and standard-issue gear.

They didn't hide their mechanical equipment too much; it seemed that in their common sense, it was just normal and ordinary equipment.

Cyril withdrew his scrutinizing gaze and nodded slightly to the two Mechanical Heart members disguised as sheriffs.

The reason he was able to recognize the other party as a member of Mechanical Heart was simple: compared to the usual sheriffs, their equipment was a bit too luxurious.

Apart from the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, the world's largest arms dealer, it would be difficult for other factions to arm an ordinary member to the teeth.

Of course, more importantly, he could see the exaggeratedly dense spiritual energy emanating from the two people opposite him. This seemed to be a special ability brought about by his extremely high status. He was not sure if this was spiritual vision, but he guessed it was similar. In any case, he was very sensitive to changes and strengths in spiritual energy.

Although he hadn't met many extraordinary individuals, he intuitively felt that the spiritual energy emanating from the two people opposite him was between Sequence 8 and Sequence 7, which was consistent with the configuration of the official extraordinary individual team.

Suppressing his turbulent thoughts, he sat on the sofa behind him, looking at the two disguised "sheriffs," and said in a very calm tone:

"Officers, I don't think I've ever had any contact with cult members, at least not to my own knowledge."

"I don't know what you two want to ask, but I will try my best to recall and answer carefully if I know the answer."

Max Livemore nodded gently and said, "Don't be nervous, we're just asking a routine question."

"Do you know the World Truth Society? It's a society founded by students at Backlund University who pursue esoteric studies."

Without hesitation, Sirion nodded: "I know, I'm one of them."

And he's a veteran!

Max Livemore and Carlson's expressions didn't change much, clearly they already knew this, and their question was just to start a conversation or to test the waters.

After a brief silence, Carlson continued the previous topic: "Last weekend, three people lost their lives within two days due to performing evil rituals. What they had in common was that they were all members of the World Truth Society, and among the earliest members."

Cyril was stunned. The news from these two members of the Mechanical Heart was completely unexpected. Familiar faces appeared and disappeared in his mind.

They were all founding members of the World Truth Society, and together with him, there were six of them. They were all students at Backlund University, who came together because of the same interests, and founded the World Truth Society with the help of a wealthy man's son.

No, there were only 6 of us, and half of them died after just one weekend?

No, it's more than half. If it weren't for my unexpected intervention, the original Cyril would have died tonight.