"'Ms. D'?"
Angel drew a sharp breath and repeated.
From her codename alone, this was undoubtedly another "Aurora Order" Divine Envoy.
"That's what the person who came to exchange bearer bonds called her, and his tone was respectful, like facing a superior or teacher."
Klein drank another cup of coffee with extra sugar, recovered some strength, but continued lying on the sofa as he supplemented.
"It's said each 'Aurora Order' Divine Envoy has varying numbers of subordinates, some can even assemble into combat teams. It seems he's one of them."
Dunn contemplated, sharing intelligence he knew with the other two Nighthawks.
"But they can't be equals, right?" Angel inquired. "This means the murderer of the Plark family isn't an 'Aurora Order' Divine Envoy, which differs from our previous speculation."
"Or perhaps 'Ms. D' is the one who actually acted behind the scenes, and this apparent murderer is just a facade, a decoy?"
She suddenly thought of another possibility, one more reasonable and more fitting the "Aurora Order's" modus operandi.
"At times like this, you should say..." Klein sat up straight, smiling, "Seer, come verify this."
He unbuttoned his left cuff, shook out the gold chain bound to his wrist, the amethyst hanging down, suspended above the table surface, swaying slightly.
"The true murderer of the Alan Plark family is the person who exchanged these bonds."
Silently repeating the divination statement seven times, he entered meditation and quickly reached a conclusion.
The true murderer is someone else!
After completely returning the bonds to the relieved bank manager, the three Nighthawks took a carriage and quickly returned to the Blackthorn Security Company on Zoutland Street.
Having determined the true perpetrator of the murder case, found the "Aurora Order's" base in Tingen City, and even uncovered "Ms. D" behind the murderer, what remained was to wait for the "Red Gloves" to arrive.
Angel just didn't expect that when the three pushed open the company's second-floor door, three guests were already sitting on the sofas in the reception hall.
"Hey, Dunn, long time no see. Seeing me, do you feel surprised?"
A middle-aged man about forty stood up from the sofa and walked toward the three.
He wore an ostentatiously standard top hat, fully twice as high as the half-height top hats the Tingen Nighthawks preferred, dressed in a black windbreaker, with gentle features and deliberately long sideburns. Angel noticed that he, and the other two guests, all wore blood-red gloves.
They are the "Red Gloves" team that came to provide support?
Angel immediately guessed the three's identities.
"Soest, glad to see you. I really didn't expect you would lead the team this time."
Dunn Smith replied flatly, showing no sign of happiness whatsoever.
The remaining two "Red Gloves" also stood up from the sofa, following their captain forward.
Three Tingen team Nighthawks, three "Red Gloves" members, stood in two rows facing each other, sizing each other up.
Why does this feel tense, aren't they here to provide support...
Angel glanced at her captain, seeing his expressionless face, then looked at Klein on the other side, who also seemed somewhat bewildered, just unconsciously following the captain's actions.
"Well, let's talk business," Soest's mouth curved up in a smile, allowing the frozen atmosphere to flow again. "You have an 'Aurora Order' Divine Envoy here?"
"Yes, that's why Tingen City requested aid from Backlund, and we just made a new discovery."
After the two captains spoke in turn, the remaining four also secretly relaxed, and both teams sat down, filling all the sofas and stools in the reception hall.
At Dunn's indication, Klein repeated what he had seen in the dream divination, making the previously ambiguous Soest frown deeply.
"You're saying that 'Ms. D' is very likely a Sequence 5 Beyonder?"
"Shepherd."
Dunn supplemented, roughly introducing the abilities of the Secrets Suppliant Sequence 5 "Shepherd" to the three "Red Gloves" members.
This information was what Angel had given to Dunn after yesterday's "Tarot Club" ended. She didn't say where the information came from, and Dunn didn't ask.
The two seemed to have reached some kind of tacit understanding.
"Internal documents also have the 'Shepherd' potion name, and that they have various Beyonder abilities not belonging to themselves, but... 'Grazing' other Beyonders? No wonder they always have endless emerging abilities, always able to respond to various attacks and damage. So we're very likely facing combined attacks from Beyonders of different pathways?"
Soest had already put away his inexplicable hostility, straightened his posture, and murmured, repeating Dunn's introduction.
Yes, hostility. Angel used the Instigator's instinct to detect hostility toward Dunn from this "Red Gloves" member.
But this negative emotion was very faint, not like something buried deep in the heart that would direct actions.
"It's not a combined attack. No matter how many abilities, she's still just one person. Moreover, 'Shepherds' can only graze a limited number, each grazed Beyonder can only retain a few abilities, and can't be used simultaneously."
"One person, no matter how many methods, cannot defeat a team."
Dunn's gray eyes stared at Soest, speaking slowly.
One plus one is greater than two - this is common sense in Beyonder combat. Cooperation between multiple low-sequence Beyonders might make mid-sequence Beyonders flustered, even flee in panic.
But this doesn't mean these abilities concentrated in one person would make him or her stronger than multiple Beyonders.
Spiritual consumption, bodily damage, being overwhelmed when surrounded - all would affect their combat effectiveness.
After Dunn set the tone, all that remained was discussing how to conduct the battle.
First, Klein marked the divined location on the map: Wendell Street in the North District, an independent villa some distance from other houses.
"I'll go to the police station now to get relevant information, then formulate an attack plan. We act tonight, no problem?"
Dunn took the map, straightened his police uniform, put on his police cap, his gaze glancing toward Soest sitting opposite him.
Seemingly feeling he was gradually losing command authority, Soest raised an eyebrow, his lips moved, but ultimately just nodded.
Angel felt his negative emotions, his hostility toward Dunn, had actually diminished somewhat.
Watching Dunn push open the door and leave the base, the "Red Gloves" captain, the gentle-featured Soest, shifted his gaze to the other two Tingen team members.
"Klein Moretti, the 'Seer' who just joined the Nighthawks, right?"
He first looked at Klein sitting on the stool, trying to lean back to make himself less conspicuous. After the latter nodded confirmation, he continued:
"My team has always wanted a Seer. Unfortunately, most newcomers choose the 'Sleepless' pathway, and the few who made the same choice as you weren't so fortunate."
"Not so fortunate?"
Klein asked back, showing puzzlement and worry on his face.
"Well, Seers have relatively high inspiration, and at the grassroots level of Nighthawks there are too many things requiring their divination and searching, so usually they can't hold on until promotion, they'll..."
He showed a "you know" expression, successfully draining the color from Klein's face.
"Then there's you. I heard Daly mention you in Backlund, Angel Granger, already an 'Assassin' before joining the Nighthawks."
Soest turned his gaze to Angel.