Max Livermore truly felt that he had been extremely unlucky lately.
Guarding the Roselle Memorial Exhibition had originally been a very relaxed task that could also earn quite a bit of merit.
Yet one of the treasures left behind by Emperor Roselle had been stolen right under the noses of his squad.
In order to make up for his mistake, he had no choice but to consult the magic mirror Arrodes, trading questions for questions.
This, in turn, led to a rupture in his relationship with his wife and disharmony in his family.
After much effort, he finally managed to pull himself together again. But tonight, another error occurred in a task that was supposed to be his responsibility, a Sequence 6 Baron of Corruption Beyonder characteristic was snatched away.
And it was taken forcibly, right out of his hands!
"Invisibility… theft…"
"Damn it! Could it be the same person again?!"
Max sprang up from the bench, emotions surging. The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed!
"Fine, I'll settle old and new scores together this time. I'll definitely find out your true identity and let you taste what pain really is!"
In that instant, he had already thought up dozens of instruments of torture.
After the excitement passed, he sat back down again, frowning. Last time, even the magic mirror Arrodes hadn't given any obvious hints, which showed just how adept this mysterious figure was at hiding their tracks.
So how was he supposed to find them? Then he would investigate one by one!
Max stood up again. He planned to investigate every single person who had been to the hospital today!
There weren't many people who could accurately grasp Earl Gill's physical condition. That mysterious figure had definitely been among those who had come to visit him in the past few days!
He would conduct a round of screening first, then consult the magic mirror. That way, he should be able to drag out the culprit's true face.
But that magic mirror…
Max's head began to ache again. His relationship with his wife had broken down, but there was still a chance to fix it. If any more trouble cropped up, he definitely wouldn't be able to go home again.
"Sigh…" Just as he was silently sighing, members of the nearby Nighthawks squad heard the commotion and sent people over. Klein was among them.
Tonight, he had already planned to look for that little black cat. He happened to be wandering around the nearby alleys. Hearing the noise, he came over with another teammate.
"Here's what happened…" A teammate of Max explained everything that had just occurred.
"We were nearby just now as well, and we didn't see any suspicious individuals."
"He should be able to conceal his spiritual body and avoid detection by Spirit Vision."
Max took over the conversation and continued, "As Beyonders, the more we experience, the less we trust our own eyes, and instead place more faith in what Spirit Vision shows us. But Spirit Vision can also be deceived."
Klein found this topic very interesting and asked, "Then how does one hide their spiritual body?"
"I haven't figured that out yet, but I'm certain that the person tonight was able to conceal their spiritual body. Otherwise, he couldn't have stolen it so easily and vanished!"
"Was something stolen?" Klein asked. Max hesitated for a moment, then candidly revealed what had been taken.
"Then you could start screening from the known Sequence 7s. There might be a chance to find him," Klein offered his opinion.
Max gave a bitter smile. "You've only just arrived in Backlund, so you might not know. Beyonders of this pathway are rarely recorded."
Some nobles wield enormous influence. They can easily spend gold pounds to purchase Beyonder materials and potion formulas.
Combined with their special status, unless they expose themselves, it's very difficult to know whether they're Beyonders at all, let alone determine which Sequence they're at.
Take Earl Gill, for example. If you didn't know him inside out, no one would casually investigate whether an earl was a Beyonder, much less know that this earl was already a Sequence 6 Baron of Corruption.
Klein fell silent.
At that moment, the person responsible for drawing came over and handed the portrait to Max.
Klein and the others glanced at it as well. He let out a light sound of surprise and said, "This person looks very familiar. Not long ago, during our operation in the sewers, witnesses saw this person."
After carefully comparing, Klein finally confirmed that this was the mysterious individual who had helped them block Mr. A last time.
That armor, the great sword radiating golden light, the indistinct face, the elusive movements, everything matched.
This made Klein even more shocked. Judging from what happened tonight, was this mysterious person only Sequence 7?
A Sequence 7 daring to block a Sequence 5 Shepherd? And even managing to retreat unscathed?
Such strength was truly terrifying. No wonder it was Backlund. The Beyonders who managed to survive here were indeed all extraordinary.
"What?! You also have clues about him? That's wonderful!" Max was overjoyed and began enthusiastically exchanging intelligence with Klein and the others.
About half an hour later, reinforcements from the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery arrived, bringing along the magic mirror Arrodes.
This was Klein's first time seeing a spiritual magic mirror. It was actually just like the question-and-answer mirror in Snow White.
He was extremely curious. If not for the members of the Machinery Hivemind telling him that this mirror was very dangerous and difficult to deal with, he would really have wanted to ask it a few questions himself.
After understanding the sequence of events, the bishop who had come as support turned his gaze to Max. "So, who among you will use Arrodes?"
Silence fell over the scene. Klein observed the fear, awkwardness, and evasiveness on their faces one by one.
This only made him more curious, but he knew that excessive curiosity was not a good thing, so he suppressed it.
Seeing that no one stepped forward, Max sighed and walked up to the magic mirror Arrodes, reaching out to touch its surface.
"Honorable Arrodes, my question is: who took that Baron of Corruption Beyonder characteristic tonight?"
As Max's voice fell, bright ripples spread across the mirror's surface, like a pool of water. Upon the calm surface, a starry sky appeared.
Countless stars dotted the sky, just like the scene when the theft at the Roselle Memorial Exhibition had been questioned.
"According to the principle of equivalence, it's my turn to ask questions."
"If you answer incorrectly, or if you lie, you'll have to accept a small punishment."
After these words, a brightly smiling face bloomed as well.
This small change made Max pause for a moment, but he had no mind to think about anything else right now.
"Do you really want to go home right now and embrace your wife and make up with her?"
"…Yes. Yes, I do."
After answering, Max stared at the magic mirror Arrodes in shock.
This question was actually so simple, completely unlike its usual little devilish style!
Could the first question just be to lull him into a false sense of security? Was the real trap in the second question?
Max's heart tightened, and he became even more cautious.
"Honorable Arrodes, my question is: is the person who committed this robbery the same person as the thief from the Roselle Memorial Exhibition last time?"
A large "Yes" appeared on the mirror's surface.
Then another line of text appeared: "Poor Max, have you been feeling very wronged by your recent experiences?"
"…Yes." Max looked utterly confused. The members of the Machinery Hivemind behind him also found it hard to believe.
Was Arrodes in an exceptionally good mood today? Otherwise, how could it ask such simple questions given its usual temperament?
Klein glanced curiously at their expressions. He felt that this magic mirror Arrodes was pretty nice, its questions, based on the principle of equivalence, were all very simple and not scary at all.
Just as he was about to continue watching, a member of the Nighthawks squad beside him reminded him that they still had patrol duties and needed to find that little black cat.
Klein followed his teammates away with some regret.
At this point, Max, in quite a good mood, casually asked his third question: "My third question is: is that person among those who have recently visited Earl Gill?"
"No." The mirror quickly gave its answer, and at the same time posed a new question of its own.
"Exactly how many mistresses do you have?"
"Ah!" Max was completely dumbfounded. Why would it suddenly ask such a question?
Wasn't it in a very good mood?
Sure enough, one should never trust Arrodes' mercy!
A little devil, that was its true nature!
After hesitating for a long time, Max steeled himself and said, "I choose punishment."
As soon as those words were spoken, a wave of jeers arose around him.
This made him realize that reconciling with his wife was basically impossible now.
But he truly couldn't answer that question, because the number was a bit too large.
Crack! A silver lightning bolt, charged with considerable power, struck down from the sky!
Max's hair stood on end. His previously ruddy face turned pitch-black, and his eyes went wide as he collapsed straight to the ground.
Before losing consciousness, he had only one thought: Arrodes' punishment tonight was clearly much heavier than before.
Max's collapse and unconsciousness triggered a chorus of alarmed cries from the surrounding members of the Machinery Hivemind.
Fortunately, this was a hospital, so they directly carried him onto a bed.
The magic mirror Arrodes, once again wrapped in curtains, sketched a pitiful, tearful crying expression in a corner of its surface where no one could see.