In the early hours of the morning, in the well-ventilated but silent and deep underground, the dim yellow gas light, protected by the glass, was shining steadily without any flickering, illuminating the deserted and peaceful corridor.
Klein was sitting in the duty room, casually flipping through the piled-up newspapers, magazines and books in front of him, and diverting a small part of his attention to the outside, guarding against anyone approaching the Charnis Gate.
His coat and hat were hung on the coat rack at the entrance position, and his walking stick was quietly leaning against the wall, in a convenient place to reach.
The rich aroma of coffee spread out, and Klein couldn't help inhaling a breath, pinching his temples to counteract the heaviness of his head and the fatigue of his body.
Although when he was studying at university on Earth, he was often a man who slept at five in the morning and got up at twelve, working for the past two years, he would sometimes stay up at night, and still could be energetic and go to work the next day, all of this was due to the fact that the games were too fun, the novels were too good to read, and the movies, TV shows and TV series were too interesting.
But this world obviously didn't have the necessities for staying up late.
"Even Emperor Rosel, when he wanted to show off, would fully display his arrogance. He should invest his limited life into an infinite cause and lead the people of the other world to quickly enter the information age!" Klein muttered silently, only comforting himself that at least there were newspapers, magazines and increasingly rich novels.
Originally, he had thought of using concentrated study to overcome sleepiness, but practice showed that this was in contradiction to his own duties, because once he got into the state, it was easy to ignore the outside noises and the situation of the Charnis Gate.
Sighing, Klein picked up the coffee cup and carefully blew on it.
He took a sip, allowing the aroma to linger in his mouth and the liquid to slowly flow through his esophagus.
"The Fermer coffee from the Pas River Valley is very bitter, but very refreshing." Klein praised, then put down the cup.
The Pas River Valley is located on the southern continent and is a high-quality coffee bean production area. Currently, it is in a dispute between the Intis Republic and the Rhune Kingdom - they have established colonial governments on the left and right banks of the Pas River Valley, and have overthrown the original Pas Kingdom.
In the creepy silence, Klein casually picked up a magazine and found that it was "The Ladies' Aesthetics", which talked about clothing and matching.
"This must have been taken from Rosan..." He chuckled and read it with great interest.
Perhaps due to the significant advancement in camera technology in the past decade, the magazine "The Ladies' Aesthetics" not only widely used illustrations, but also imitated newspapers and used black and white photos as content.
They stylishly invited famous drama and opera actors to showcase the charm of clothing and the magic of matching, and within just seven years, it developed from a regional new magazine in Berkland to a mainstream journal with channels throughout the country.
"This dress is nice, and the appearance is also good..." Klein leisurely flipped through it, not concealing his yearning for beauty.
He is a man with a well-developed body and mind, always very appreciative of beautiful girls, but he had already set a goal to find a way home, so he tried to keep a distance from the opposite sex and didn't want to delay the other party or leave an emotional debt.
As for the matter of finding a prostitute, he has a little bit of a phobia in this regard.
Benson and Melissa are existing bonds that cannot be broken, and can only be compensated for in the future... Klein suddenly felt heavy and couldn't help sighing.
The longer he was away from home, the more he could feel that melancholy in the quiet night.
He instantly lost interest in admiring beautiful ladies and put down the magazine, instead picking up a novel.
"The Stormed Manor, Author, Fors Wal." Klein read out the main content on the cover.
In the peaceful night, the dim yellow light, a book with a cover, reminded him of the days when he rented books to read, and so he read on with nostalgia. The novel "Storm Hill Manor" tells the story of Lady Sisi, who is 1.65 meters tall and weighs 98 pounds, taking up the position of a tutor at the Frowis Manor.
"One pound is approximately equal to one jin... Is this the fantasy version of Jane Eyre?" Klein rubbed the comfortable paper with his fingers and made some guesses about the subsequent content.
However, when he thought it was a romance novel, "demons" appeared later. When he believed it was a supernatural novel, Lady Sisi revealed her identity as a detective, presenting a magnificent deduction.
When Klein thought it was a detective novel without error, the male protagonist received a heavy blow to the head and lost his memory, beginning a touching storyline. "... "Ultimately, it's still a romance novel." Klein closed the book and took a painful sip of coffee. Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A deafening pounding sound suddenly rang out, reverberating through the dim and quiet corridor, and also echoing in the underground area with few people.
Klein was startled and his nerves tightened abruptly.
Instinctively, he took out the revolver from the holster under his arm, adjusted the magazine and the trigger, and slowly moved towards the door, searching for the source of the sound. Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The pounding grew more and more intense. Klein looked in the direction of the sound and saw the black iron double door with seven holy emblems painted on it.
"Sounds coming from the Charnis door?" He narrowed his eyes and his heart thumped like a drum.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Klein saw the Charnis door shaking slightly and felt the tremendous force it was bearing.
"Can't be... I encountered something on my first day here. Did I get bad luck after my time-traveling? Could it be that I have a bad luck constitution?" Klein's right hand, gripping the gun handle, broke out in cold sweat.
But soon, he remembered the captain's instruction: No matter what sound is heard or what happens, do not open the Charnis door unless it is opened from the inside.
Well, could this be a normal phenomenon? Klein suddenly became much calmer.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Clang! Clang! Clang! The noise behind the Charnis door grew louder and louder, but this heavy black iron double door only shook and did not show any other abnormalities.
"This is really a normal phenomenon, it scared me to death... " Klein whispered and was about to return to the duty room.
Just then, he heard a harsh scraping sound and saw the Charnis door heaving outwards, cracking open a gap!
Zha!
The rough sound, almost painful to the ears, made Klein's almost frozen eyes see a figure. It was probably an adult, ordinary man-sized arm, wearing a black, elegant, miniature court dress, with obvious stains on the skirt.
It had an unrefined face, dark eyes, and a tightly pursed mouth.
This was a puppet, a toy puppet!
Almost instinctively, Klein raised his gun to aim at the moment when that puppet in the black court dress tightly and forcefully pressed against the open Charnis door and unfolded the paper in his hand.
On the paper were depicted numerous secret symbols, some known to Klein, some he had not yet mastered, they together formed a vertical eye!
Before Klein could even think about what was going on, the court puppet suddenly was pulled back into the Charnis door, forcefully pulled back into the Charnis door by an invisible force!
Clang!
The Charnis door closed again, there was no more knocking sound, no more pounding movement.
The underground returned to its usual peace and silence, as if nothing had happened.
"The Charnis door was opened from the inside, I have to report to the captain... But it closed again... " At this moment, Klein regained his thoughts, feeling both frightened and confused.
A few seconds later, he remembered what that puppet in the black court dress was. Because as a member of the night watch, he was already qualified to understand the "3" level item sealed behind the Charnis door in the city of Tinggen.
"Number: 0625."
"Name: Bad Luck Puppet."
"Danger level: '3', somewhat dangerous, use with caution, only actions involving three or more people can be applied for."
"Confidential level: Members of the night watch and above."
"Sealing method: Only need to be isolated from humans."
"Description: This puppet is wearing a court dress popular around 1300 years ago, the skirt has stubborn stains that cannot be washed off, it is impossible to confirm whether it was originally there."
"In several tragic cases caused by family financial crises in the city of Tinggen, the police noticed the existence of this puppet. It was always placed in the children's bedrooms, on the shelf next to the bedside."
"Several night watchmen were entrusted with the task to investigate this puppet."
"Preliminary confirmation: It brings bad luck, makes the people around it gradually unlucky, fall into crisis, and eventually die one by one. The subject used only two weeks and was on the verge of bankruptcy."
"This puppet does not have the characteristics of being alive, has no tendency to escape the seal."
"After long-term experiments, we found that as long as you enter within ten meters of it for no more than half an hour each day, you will not be contaminated by bad luck; "If one is already beset by misfortune, simply transferring it to another owner will improve the situation."
"Appendix: This puppet first appeared at Mrs. Tess's home on the Lower Street of Iron Cross Street. She was a craftsman who made toys. Due to her old age, her husband's serious illness, and the early deaths of her two children, she had to move to the Lower Street of Iron Cross Street."
"This was the last toy she sold. She used this puppet to exchange for some poison hemlock juice, ending her and her husband's lives of hunger for more than three days."
Klein recalled the information about the seal "3-0625", and more doubts and astonishment arose in his mind:
"Didn't it say that this puppet doesn't have the characteristics of life? Didn't it say that it didn't have the tendency to escape the seal?"
"What did I just see!"
"What was it that pulled it back at the end?"
"What do the patterns drawn on the unfolded paper represent?"
"That scene just now was really like there was a psychopathic murderer inside dealing with the victim, the victim trying to bang on the door and desperately calling for help, but was pulled back again..."
With thoughts swirling around, Klein decided not to act on his own.
He returned to the duty room and pulled a rope.
The rope was pulled, the gears started to rotate, and suddenly a rapid ringing sound rang out in the Black Thorn Security Company on the second floor. ,
The sleepless people, such as Leonard Mitchell who was playing cards in the entertainment room, immediately put down their cards and rushed to the underground.