"We are guardians, but also a bunch of poor souls constantly fighting against danger and madness."
Dunn's words echoed in Old Neil's house, reverberating between the corroded floor, walls and ceiling, and in Klein's mind and heart.
There had never been a moment before that made him more impressed by those words than now.
He felt that he might never forget this feeling for the rest of his life, even if he returned to Earth in the future.
In the almost frozen atmosphere, Dunn walked towards Old Neil's "corpse", half-squatting down, taking out a white handkerchief from the side pocket of his black windbreaker and covering the pair of dark red, crystal-clear, and pained eyes.
At this moment, Klein caught a glimpse of the piano keys stopping their spontaneous jumping, and a nearly transparent figure faintly emerged there.
This... Klein, who had activated his Spirit Vision outside the door, was stunned for a moment.
He had not noticed this strange "spirit" at all before!
Was it due to the interference of Old Neil's spirit or the influence of his out-of-control ability? Klein watched as the almost invisible figure quickly evaporated and completely disappeared from his sight, vaguely understanding something.
Amid the heavy and oppressive atmosphere, he heard the captain order:
"Search Old Neil's house thoroughly and look for any possible clues."
"Understood." Klein just opened his mouth, but was stunned for a few seconds by his own voice, which was so hoarse and so low, as if he had a severe cold.
"Understood." Liao Yao followed and answered.
Her voice condition is similar to mine... as if both nostrils were blocked... Klein looked at this female teammate who usually had no expression, as if he was seeing her for the first time.
He placed his cane on the umbrella stand in the foyer, walked around the sealed object "3-0611", and stepped into the living room with heavy steps, going up to the second floor and searching room by room for clues.
Old Neil would regularly hire short-term workers to clean the rooms, so there was no typical mess of a single man here. Everything was neat and orderly, as if there was a real female owner.
Half an hour later, Klein found some manuscripts on the bookshelf in Old Neil's bedroom, which were haphazardly recording some strange and eerie rituals:
"Life Alchemy."
"The required materials include: 100 milliliters of water from the Fountain of the Elves (the Golden Spring on Sunia Island), 50 grams of star crystal, half a pound of gold, 5 grams of phlogiston, 30 grams of hematite... and a large amount of fresh human blood."
Under the fresh human blood, Old Neil had made a note:
"Consider extracting my own, accumulate it bit by bit, and preserve it with ritual magic."
Consider extracting my own... Klein closed his eyes for a moment, his fingers crumpling the draft. ......
At nine o'clock on Thursday morning, under the moonlight, at the Raphael Cemetery.
Klein was dressed in a pure black suit and shirt, holding a silver-inlaid cane, standing quietly in a corner of the cemetery.
In the pocket of his chest, he had a neatly folded white handkerchief, and in his hand, he held a solemn and serene deep sleep flower.
At this moment, Dunn, Fry, Leonard and Cohen-Li carried the black coffin containing the "body" of Old Neil step by step to the front of the tombstone, and silently placed it in the dug grave.
As they watched the brown soil being shoveled down layer by layer, Rosan, dressed in a black long dress and wearing a small white flower on her head, began to sob softly:
"Who can tell me if all this is real?"
"Why did it get out of control? Why did he take the magic potion? Why did he become a supernatural being? Why are there wraiths? Why are there monsters? Why can't there be a safer way? Why, why, why..."
Klein listened in silence until Old Neil's coffin was covered with soil, until all traces of his existence were buried deep in the grave.
"May the Goddess bless you," he drew a crimson moon on his chest, then stepped forward and bent down to place the bunch of deep sleep flowers in front of the tombstone.
"May the Goddess bless you," Dunn, Fry and the others simultaneously tapped their chests four times clockwise.
Klein looked up, straightened his back, and saw the black and white photo on the tombstone:
Old Neil wore his classic black soft hat, his exposed hair was mottled and gray, deep wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, and his dark red eyes were slightly cloudy.
He was so calm, no longer sad, no longer in pain, no longer afraid.
Below the photo was an epitaph, which came from the last diary entry of Old Neil:
"If I can't save her, then I'll accompany her."
The cool morning breeze blew gently, and the cold, quiet and silent atmosphere of the Raphael Cemetery affected everyone present. ......
At noon, Klein, holding the form signed by the captain, headed towards the armory.
He pushed open the half-closed door and saw the thick-bearded Brett sitting behind the desk.
Klein was obviously stunned for a moment before handing over the requisition form:
"Fifty rounds of ordinary bullets."
As he spoke, his eyes swept over the silver-inlaid tin can on the table, and it seemed as if he could smell the rich aroma of freshly ground coffee and hear those words laced with hidden amusement:
"But why wait until you have extra money? You can write an application to Dunn and ask him to approve the expense!" ...
Brett glanced at Klein's expression and sighed, "I can guess how you feel. I can't believe Old Neil left us like this either. Sometimes, I even think this might be a dream fabricated by the captain."
"This might be the fate of many night watchmen," Klein replied with a bitter smile.
After this incident, he felt more disappointment and resentment towards the church's high-ranking officials who had concealed the "role-playing method" in his heart.
"Hope such tragedies become fewer and fewer. May the Goddess bless you," Brett drew a crimson moon on his chest, took the claim form, and got up to walk into the weapons depot at the back. ......
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The smell of gunpowder filled the air as Klein shot at the target in front of him, venting his emotions until he ran out of the brass bullets. Then he tidied himself up and took a trackless public carriage to his martial arts teacher, Gao Wen's home.
He practiced group after group of exercises in a self-torturing manner until Gao Wen stopped him.
"Practicing martial arts is not for hurting yourself," Gao Wen said in a deep voice, his slightly cloudy dark green eyes fixed on Klein.
"Sorry, teacher. I'm not in a good mood today," Klein exhaled and explained briefly.
"What happened?" Gao Wen asked calmly, without any emotion.
Klein thought for a moment and replied briefly:
"One of my friends passed away suddenly."
Gao Wen was silent for a few seconds, then touched his beginning to turn gray golden temples and said in a distant tone:
"I lost 325 friends within five minutes. Among them, at least ten were the kind of people you could trust with your back."
Klein sighed in realization: "This is the cruelty of war."
Gao Wen glanced at him and suddenly chuckled self-mockingly:
"The cruelest part is that I can never avenge them, never fulfill their wishes. Never."
"But you still have such a chance. Although I don't know exactly what happened, I know you're young and you still have many opportunities."
Klein was silent for a while, then suddenly took a deep breath and perked up, saying:
"Thank you, teacher."
Gao Wen nodded slightly, his expressionless face saying:
"Take a ten-minute break and then redo the previous exercises ten times." "..." Klein was at a loss as to what expression to adopt. ......
On Friday morning, in the night watchman's recreation room.
Klein, Xiga T'ang and Fry were sitting around a round table, but they weren't playing cards. One was reading newspapers and flipping through magazines, one was staring blankly out the convex-bellied window, and one was holding a pen, wanting to write something but hesitating to put it on paper.
The room was so quiet, no one was talking, no one was joking, the atmosphere was almost frozen.
Sigh... Klein let out a breath, put down the newspaper, and was about to focus his attention on reading various materials.
Just then, Dunn Smith knocked on the door and came in. He looked around and said,
"Klein, come out for a moment."
What's going on? Klein stood up with a premonition and followed him out of the recreation room.
Dunn stood at the entrance to the staircase leading underground and turned to look at him, saying,
"The people from the Church have arrived."
The people who are going to test me have arrived? Klein's spirit tightened immediately.