Backlund.
After a busy half-day, Xio returned to the apartment she shared with her friend. She had once again acted as an Arbiter today, teaching a lesson to a few gang members.
Before entering, she noticed a letter in the mailbox by the door.
"Fors, you have a letter."
"Fors?"
Seeing that her friend didn't respond, Xio went straight to Fors's bedroom and knocked on the door.
"What do you want? Why did you wake me up, Xio?" Fors rubbed her eyes, her tone a little resentful.
"You haven't gotten out of bed yet, have you?" Xio's tone was a little shocked, as it was already 4 PM, and dusk would arrive soon.
"Of course not, I did come down for lunch." Hearing her friend's words, Fors retorted with a hint of guilt.
Hearing this, Xio frowned: "So after you finished lunch, you slept until now."
"Didn't I just finish a manuscript last night? I was a bit tired," Fors said with an embarrassed smile.
Seeing her friend's lazy demeanor, Xio sighed and said, "If you had finished it earlier, you wouldn't be so tired."
"That's impossible," Fors directly denied.
"Only by pushing it to the very end, that sense of urgency from the impending deadline can motivate me. Normally, I can't even pick up a pen."
"Besides, when I don't write, it's also to accumulate inspiration."
Xio put a hand to her forehead but said nothing, as if she was already used to her friend's personality.
"Oh, by the way, this is your letter. It seems to be from your pen pal."
"Really! Let me see it quickly." Fors suddenly perked up and took the letter from Xio's hand.
Seeing Fors so excited, Xio curled her lips and said in a joking tone, "You're always so happy to receive a letter from this person. Is it really just a normal pen pal?"
"Of, of course it is. What else could it be?" Hearing her friend's words, Fors retorted instinctively.
"Oh~ Is that so?" Looking at her friend's somewhat unusual reaction, Xio's tone was playful.
"Ahem, he's my first fan, and also the first fan to write to me. As an Author, it's very important to listen to your fans' opinions from time to time."
"Is that so?"
"Of course it is." Fors nodded.
"Ah, my goodness!"
"His family had an accident, and I didn't even know." Fors's face was a little anxious.
"So, he's coming to you for help?" Xio asked in confusion.
"No, he said he also wants to be an Author."
"Huh?" Xio was a little puzzled; she felt she wasn't following his line of thought.
"He wants to be an Author because he read your books?"
"Mm."
"But, literary creation shouldn't just rely on passion, right?" Xio raised a question.
"I think since he can see the potential in my work, his literary talent shouldn't be bad," Fors said, boasting a little.
"This…" Hearing her friend's words, Xio's mouth twitched slightly.
She suddenly felt that Fors's pen pal was as unreliable as her friend.
After a while, Fors, who had finished reading the entire letter, exclaimed, "He's simply a genius!"
… …
… …
"So, Captain, that's how you found me?" Klein, who had just become a clerical worker, once again asked Dunn about his previous experience of being approached by the Nighthawks.
"Not entirely. Mainly, we also received a tip-off."
"Tip-off?" Klein was a little confused; he always felt that the word 'tip-off' sounded a bit off when applied to himself.
Dunn nodded and answered Klein's question: "That's right, it was a tip-off. Someone anonymously sent a tip-off letter to the police station, saying that unusual incidents had occurred on Iron Cross Street."
"This matched some of the information we had, so we sped up the investigation."
'Was there such a thing? It feels a bit suspicious!' Klein thought for a moment, then remembered something and asked, "Do you know who reported it?"
"Not yet. The tip-off letter was found in the police station's mailbox, and no footprints or other traces were found around the mailbox."
"We performed a divination, but we didn't get any useful information. However, judging from the act of reporting, they shouldn't be a dangerous individual."
"Dunn, talking with the new guy?" Daly Simone pushed open the office door and walked in.
"Daly, why are you here?" Dunn was a little puzzled to see the newcomer.
"What, you don't welcome me?" Daly narrowed her eyes and said with a light chuckle.
"No, not at all." Looking at Daly's expression, Dunn felt a little flustered.
"I have a case file here that needs investigating. Come and give me some advice." Seeing Dunn's reaction, her mood became even more pleasant.
"You can ask Old Neil." Glancing at Klein beside him, Dunn offered another suggestion.
"He's on vacation today," Daly replied with a smile.
"What about Leonard then?"
"Oh, him, he's too unreliable." She said, then walked straight to Dunn, grabbed his arm, and started to pull him out.
Before leaving, she smiled at Klein and said, "Alright, little newcomer, I'm borrowing your Captain for a bit."
Seemingly startled by the sudden situation, Dunn froze, letting Daly pull him out.
Before leaving, Dunn suddenly snapped back to reality and said to Klein, "Don't worry about the tip-off letter, we will investigate it thoroughly, and you don't need to worry about your safety, we will…"
He was taken away before he could finish his sentence.
"Is this world really that open?" Klein muttered to himself, watching the scene unfold before him.
… …
… …
Above the Grey Mist, Klein noticed a red star faintly glowing.
"This scene is Tingen." He was surprised to see glimpses of Tingen within that star.
After a moment of thought, he extended his hand as before and gently touched the deep red star.
"This is?"
Unlike Mr. Hanged Man and Miss Justice before, this time, as soon as his hand touched it, the star suddenly exploded.
A silvery-white light shone through, illuminating the surroundings.
Klein was startled and instinctively covered his face with his hand.
A moment later, the light dissipated, and everything returned to peace.
Klein, who felt like he had been hit in the face with a flashbang, stood frozen in place, unable to recover for a moment.
… …
… …
Azure Hotel.
In the past few days, Luo En had visited Iron Cross Street a few more times. Fortunately, he hadn't found anything unusual.
He knew his actions were somewhat reckless and not steady enough. In fact, he himself wondered if he had too much unnecessary kindness.
But luckily, he didn't feel any warning from fate, which also gave him some solace.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
"What was that?!"
Luo En, who was sleeping, suddenly sat up from the bed.
"What exactly was that dream about?"
"Meow?" Luo En's movement seemed to have woken up the cat; Lachi unhappily rolled over and stared at him.
"Lachi, I think something unclean is targeting me."