Chapter 282: Arrested
"Bang!"
An air bullet precisely struck the center of the forehead of the female Beyonder named Katy.
She was engulfed in fierce flames, struggling on the ground, but this shot granted her release.
With her collapse, there was no one left alive in the entire restaurant.
The only thing Klein regretted slightly was that a few stragglers had escaped through other exits during the confusion just now—
"Forget it—" He whispered in his heart, suppressing the urge to pursue.
He remembered that the main purpose of his operation tonight was to save people, not to clean up these fallen Beyonders.
Immediately afterward, the pitch-black armor, enveloping the spirit body, quickly flew toward the entrance of the underground area.
"Strange! Why is there no one here?"
To his surprise, although the underground area was covered in traces of fierce fighting, it was completely empty.
No, wait, it wasn't exactly empty.
At the entrance of the basement, there was still a corpse. It was a muscular man with a full beard, and beside him lay a damaged high-pressure steam rifle.
That was Beris, the Beyonder responsible for guarding the dungeon, whom Klein had seen in the divination scene.
"He's dead, but—" Klein's spirit body paused next to the corpse, "Where are the girls who were kidnapped?"
"Were they rescued, or were they transferred?" This thought flashed quickly.
He quickly searched the underground area, finding nothing other than Beris's corpse and the signs of battle.
He flew back to the surface and searched the vicinity of the villa again, still finding nothing.
"Capin's men couldn't have transferred that many people in such a short time—and no secret passages were found in the dungeon."
"It seems those girls were rescued one step ahead of me.
"I'll confirm it later with divination."
Since he couldn't find the kidnapped girls, Klein returned to the restaurant, which was engulfed in flickering flames and thick smoke. He took a complete deck of Tarot cards from his pocket, drew out all the Major Arcana cards, and then walked over to Capin's already cold corpse.
Next, he specifically drew two cards and scattered the rest, huala-la, onto Capin's body.
After this step, he placed the two specifically drawn Tarot cards face up, covering Capin's unblinking eyes.
"This—should do it."
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard a slight sound of shifting rubble coming from the ruins beside him.
"Enemy?!" Klein instantly became alert.
If they were accomplices of those criminals, he wouldn't mind eliminating one more menace before leaving.
"Ugh—"
It hurts so much—
Lorne stretched out his arm, struggled to push away the rubble pressing down on him, and laboriously stood up from the ruins.
Damn—the injury on my abdomen hadn't fully healed, and this just tore the wound open again.
Which Lunatic blew up the gas pipe?! If I wasn't a Beyonder, I would definitely be dead!
He had barely managed to stand steady and was dusting off the debris when he turned around and saw a majestic figure, pitch black and emanating an ominous aura, coldly floating in the center of the restaurant.
Damn—what is that thing?
Lorne's expression instantly changed, and he subconsciously clenched his fists.
This feeling—it's very similar to Sharon! Is it a Wraith? Could it be—someone from the Rose School of Thought again?
Could it be that Capin had more than one faction backing him, and even the Rose School of Thought was involved? Thinking of the evidence he had found earlier in the study, which might involve high-level figures, Lorne felt that a collusion between the Rose School of Thought and Capin's group wasn't impossible.
However, the style of this "Wraith" is truly peculiar—He eyed the "ghost" before him with full vigilance.
A suit of heavy black full-body armor, topped with a Crown of Thorns.
Although Sharon also favors a retro style, you are way too—tacky!
It feels—like the kind of style Rosell would like.
On the other side, Klein was also scrutinizing the rather disheveled figure who had crawled out of the ruins.
That figure is—James Scott?!
Due to the violent explosion just now, the mask Lorne used for disguise had been largely torn away.
Coupled with the fact that the two had recently interacted, Klein quickly recognized his identity.
Why is he here?
Could it be—he was the one who rescued the people in the basement?!
Klein recalled the muscular man's corpse in the basement and the empty dungeon.
Sure enough, James Scott is no ordinary person! His heart tightened, but then he felt relieved.
Right, how could someone who is friends with Lorne Disenk be ordinary?
So disheveled—was he affected by the explosion just now? Seeing the other party's dusty face and torn clothes, he felt a strange sense of guilt.
"If I had known you were here—I wouldn't have ignited the gas—" He muttered softly to himself.
Wait! We aren't enemies, why are we wasting time here—Klein suddenly realized this.
He took a step back. Under Lorne's confused gaze, a scattered Tarot card nearby suddenly floated up with the wind. Then, he exerted a slight force, and the card abruptly changed direction, flying towards Lorne.
Hidden weapon?!
Lorne instinctively backed away. But just as he started to move his legs, he saw the "ghost" in front of him rapidly ascend, flying toward the night sky in the distance, disappearing from his sight in the blink of an eye.
Could it be—not an enemy? A colleague?
Lorne looked at the scene before him with surprise. He also recalled the sounds of fighting he had heard outside the villa earlier.
"To run into a colleague during this kind of thing, that's something else—" He chuckled bitterly and shook his head. "I need to withdraw quickly!"
!?
This is—
Before leaving, a card at his feet caught his attention. It was the one the "ghost" had thrown over before leaving. He hesitated for a moment, then approached curiously, using the distant flickering firelight to clearly see the pattern on the card.
It was a Tarot card.
The World!
On the other side, as a gust of wind swept through, God's Pigeon Ace Snake arrived late.
"Why are you here—"
A middle-aged man, around forty years old and wearing a crisp suit, had already arrived. He had golden eyes that shone like gold, coldly surveying the surroundings.
Hearing the question, the handsome "God's Pigeon" replied with a displeased expression: "I live nearby."
The two arrived in front of the restaurant ruins.
"A Wraith? Someone from the Rose School of Thought?"
"Not a Wraith, nor a true undead creature—"
"And, it wasn't just one person."
"There's a pile of cards on the ground."
"Poker?" Ace Snake asked.
"No, Tarot."
"Hoo—hoo—"
Enduring the sharp pain radiating from his abdomen, Lorne exerted all his strength to run out of the villa's vicinity.
"I'm reaching my limit—"
He leaned against a wall, half-kneeling on the ground.
The Premonition of Disaster was growing stronger, and the scent of danger was approaching from all directions.
"Hoo—I have to leave quickly—otherwise—"
He struggled to stand up again, his gaze fixed on the end of the street. If he could just hold on for a little longer, cross this street, he could leave Cherwood Borough and enter the more complex East Borough, where it would be easier to hide.
!!!
"Click."
The crisp sound of a bullet being chambered.
"Sir, you look very suspicious."
"A serious criminal case just occurred here. Please come back with us to cooperate with the investigation."
Lorne slowly raised his hands and turned around slightly.
He saw over a dozen people dressed as police officers, holding revolvers, surrounding him with wary expressions.
Among them, the spiritual responses emanating from a few were clearly different from ordinary people.
This feeling—Lorne was very familiar with it. He often encountered it during his days drifting on the sea.
Punishers!