Exhausted, Klein removed the sealed spiritual barrier, allowing the cool night breeze carrying the scent of plants to blow on his face, making him feel a little more alert.
He rubbed the smooth and classical seal "3-0782" in his hand and sincerely exclaimed to himself:
"Who would have thought that this badge actually contains a drop of divine blood... It is likely that the powerful members of the Eternal Sun Church once searched for it, but failed..."
Moving his neck, Klein dared not try any other thoughts and put the "Variant Sun Holy Emblem" on the inside of his thin windbreaker.
Following the chain, Klein took out the silver pocket watch with vine patterns, snapped it open, glanced at it, and found that there were still over an hour until the shift change of "The Collector" Fry came.
"My eyelids need two matches to support... This is the aftereffect of reckless behavior!" Klein had no choice but to take out a small metal bottle from the small dark pouches one by one, remove the stopper, and bring it close to his nose.
The pungent smell of mint and disinfectant mixed together quickly entered his nose, irritating his pores and making him have a burst of energy, instantly forgetting his sleepiness.
This was the formula he learned from "The Collector" Fry, called "Clagge's Oil", which could help people resist foul smells such as decay and had the effect of refreshing and awakening the mind.
For the next hour or so, Klein was extremely tormented, standing up every once in a while to take a walk around, and was bitten and sucked blood by mosquitoes in the forest several times.
Finally, he saw Fry, with his high nose and thin lips, black hair and blue eyes, wearing a thin windbreaker, holding a walking stick, walking out of the town.
Although the other person still had a cold and gloomy look like a zombie, Klein felt like he had met a savior, covering his mouth and yawning, spitting tears, and rushing towards him. He took out the seal "3-0782" from the inside of his clothes.
"What happened?" Fry looked at his teammate's pale and ugly face and asked actively.
Klein sighed and said:
"I just guarded the Charnis Gate last night, and I didn't sleep well this morning, so I'm very sleepy now."
He didn't elaborate on this matter and changed the topic, "Did I come on shift in four hours?"
"Seven hours, the captain doesn't need to sleep at night," Fry took the "Variant Sun Holy Emblem".
Mystical cultivation makes people happy... Klein silently criticized the captain, said goodbye to Fry, and headed towards the town.
On the way to the hotel along the street, he took out the pocket watch again and looked at the time:
"Hey, it's almost ten minutes earlier than the agreed time..."
"That's such a warm person..." Klein smiled and quickened his pace, returned to the hotel, pushed open the half-closed door, walked up to the second floor in the gaze of the owner, and entered his room.
Locking the door, taking off his coat and shoes, he didn't wash himself and fell down directly, lying on the bed.
In just a few seconds, his breathing first became heavier, then long and steady.
In his dream, Klein returned to Earth, in front of him was the game he hadn't completed yet, on the left were chilled cola and spicy chicken wings, on the right was the bitter bamboo shoot meat soup and rice.
He had never eaten bitter bamboo shoots, but he really liked using them as ingredients to cook meat into soup, which was refreshing, appetizing, and had a somewhat alluring aroma of grease, and was perfect for soaking rice.
With a good dipping sauce, he could eat an entire bowl more than usual!
Just as Klein was about to enjoy his midnight snack and play the game crazily, the scene in his dream changed all of a sudden, reappearing as the interior layout of No. 2 Water Lily Street.
Klein suddenly became alert, clearly knowing that he was in a dream.
He saw himself sitting at the side of the dining table, holding a copy of the Tinggen Daily, with tomato veal soup, fried lamb chops, mashed potatoes, and oat bread in front of him.
He instinctively turned his head and looked towards the door. Suddenly, he saw a figure standing outside the bulging window of the living room, quietly gazing at the figures inside the house!
Klein was startled. Then he recognized it was the grey-eyed and mysterious Dunn. Half of his face was pressed against the window, silently watching the people inside. ... Captain, don't scare people in your dreams, okay? This is how you play the role of the nightmare? Klein thought with irritation and amusement, taking out a spoon, scooping up a piece of beef, and putting it in his mouth.
Well, it's my skill! He muttered to himself, understanding why he suddenly woke up in the dream and why the scene of the earth vanished instantly.
When someone invades his dream, he will naturally become alert!
Just then, Dunn left the position of the bulging window and directly pushed open the door of Moretti's house, wearing a black windbreaker, quietly walking to the opposite side of Klein.
He took off his hat, gave a gentle nod, sat down, and without any courtesy, picked up the knife, fork, and spoon, and ate the food on the table, including tomato and mutton soup, fried lamb chops, mashed potatoes, and oat bread, in an extremely fast speed.
Klein stared blankly, not understanding what the captain wanted to do.
Ah, Dunn let out a satisfied breath, gave Klein a thumbs-up, then took out a pipe and matches, and indulgently took a puff.
Spitting out the smoke, he stood up, put on his hat, made an old-fashioned but steady bow, and walked out of Moretti's house and out of this dream. "..." Klein gazed at the captain's back for a long time before he could regain his composure.
He looked down at the empty plate and subconsciously wanted to recreate the food he had just seen.
However, this time, neither the tomato and veal soup, nor the fried lamb chops, nor the mashed potatoes, failed to reappear in his dreams.
"Completely 'devoured'? Is this the ability of 'nightmare'?" Klein's lips twitched slightly, helplessly thinking, "So, the captain's purpose is to prevent me from having any midnight snacks in my dreams? This is truly a nightmare... This 'nightmare' is performed so creatively..."
He chuckled and exited the dream, returning to sleep.
At five thirty in the morning the next day, Klein, who had to get up early, drank coffee, ate toast and bacon, and hurriedly went to replace Dunn outside the town.
At seven o'clock, they set off on time for the return to the town center of Tingen.
Before ten o'clock, they arrived at 36 Zottlan Street, where Dunn, full of energy, placed the seal "3-0782" behind the Charnis door, while Fry sat at the mechanical typewriter, writing the task report from yesterday and the corresponding reimbursement application by himself, before the clerical staff arrived.
Klein watched for a while, satisfied to see that all the materials he had used were included in the list - including the part he used to repel mosquitoes and insects.
He didn't go home immediately because he had already agreed with Dr. Duster of the insane asylum to meet at one o'clock in the afternoon, at the appointed place.
"The next is the three-point Tarot gathering... Why does a boss of a secret organization have to live so hard?" Klein murmured silently, lying in the night watchers' lounge for two hours, catching up on sleep.
Regarding the knowledge and events he had obtained last night, he wasn't worried about forgetting them. This could be recalled using divination. What he feared was that he had overlooked the existence of these knowledge and events, and even lost the idea of divining them. Therefore, before going to sleep, he went through all the details in his mind again to deepen the impression.
This was also the reason why Klein insisted on writing summaries every week and sorting out various situations.
After lunch, he took out his watch and glanced at it, put on his hat and left the Black Thorn Security Company, arriving at the "Shooting Club" at 3 Zottlan Street.
Pushing open the door, entering the reception hall, Klein didn't go directly to the target range belonging to the night watchmen, but found a seat in the hall and patiently waited with his hands clasped around the black cane.
The meeting place he had agreed with Duster was at this "Zottlan Street Shooting Club"!
And their way of meeting was by writing letters. When Klein needed to meet, he would write a letter as a family member of the patient to Dr. Duster Gudrian, asking about a special disease called "split personality", in the letter, Klein would mention the word "audience" in various ways to match the dots in the hidden position to confirm his identity, and the casual mention of the time point in the letter was the meeting time point.
As for the meeting place, it was already determined in their first discussion. If Klein felt it was time to change the place, he would mention it in the meeting.
When Duster Gudrian wanted to meet but wasn't in a hurry, he could send the letter to the Dog Hunt Inn or this shooting club. The recipient was "Mr. Horanichus", and Klein would wait for him to pick up the letter at a fixed time.
If he had an emergency, he must hand the letter directly to the owner of the Dog Hunt Inn, Wright, and mention "hunting for mercenaries". In this way, as an external member of the night watchmen, Wright would immediately deliver the letter to the Black Thorn Security Company.
After waiting for a while, with only two minutes left, Klein saw Duster, with a very gentle demeanor, walk into the hall of the "Shooting Club".
He was wearing a black silk hat, a well-fitting tailcoat, holding a silver-inlaid cane in his hand, and wearing a pair of gold-rimmed frame glasses on his face. Dastardly unnoticed, he glanced around for a moment, saw Klein nodding slightly, then he lowered his gaze and walked towards the front desk, skillfully applying for the shooting range and renting guns.
-- He had been here once before.
"Small shooting range No. 7, 3 solers per hour, rental fee for revolvers, 1.6 solers per hour, including six rounds of ammunition..." The receptionist quickly handled this matter.
After Dastardly confirmed the time was one hour and paid 10 solers, he received the revolver and additional ammunition, and was led into the corresponding shooting range by the waiter.
Klein waited for another five minutes before slowly getting up, holding his walking stick, and went outside of Small Shooting Range No. 7, knocking on the door loudly.
With a creak, the door cracked open a little. Dastardly first cautiously peeked left and right, then moved aside.
Klein immediately stepped in, locking the door behind him.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Dastardly." He said as he took out the 10 solers note and handed it to the other person, "We won't let the outside members bear the meeting cost."
Because I can reimburse... He added silently.
Dastardly didn't refuse and accepted the cash. Then he asked in a deep voice:
"Inspector Moretti, why did you come to see me this time?"