Chapter 283 The One Knocking on the Door After remembering where 13 Market Avenue was, Lumian's first reaction was that Gardner Martin wanted to harm him. What do you mean by asking me to stay there for one night in this anomalous place that even the official Beyonders can't solve? Lumian still remembered that once when he put on the "secret glasses", he saw a gloomy, dark, burnt building, and a blurry face with unusually empty eyes behind a glass window of the building. At that time, he instinctively felt uneasy, thinking that it was the dangerous place that Osta Trull had mentioned. However, he had no intention of exploring it and lacked the spirit of adventure, so he could not possibly trigger any abnormalities there. Therefore, he immediately put the matter behind him. In a flash of thought, Lumi arranged for the possibility that Gardner Martin wanted to use the burnt building to set a trap and murder him. As a member of the secret organization "Iron Cross", and as a powerful Beyonder of at least Sequence 6 and suspected to be Sequence 5, if the Sava Party leader really wanted to get rid of a subordinate with ulterior motives, there were many ways to do it, and there was no need to be so roundabout and complicated. At the same time, Lumian recalled what he had seen and heard during this period: The charred building was close to White Coat Street. He would pass by it every time he went from the Breeze Ballroom to his safe house or to find Franca. He often saw homeless people sleeping inside to avoid the rain. He had never seen any official Beyonders or patrolling police driving them away, nor had he heard of anyone dying there. He believed that the burnt building was very dangerous for three main reasons: the first was the inspiration from Osta Trull, the second was that it had never been demolished, as if there was a mysterious force preventing such things from happening, and the third was his own intuitive feeling after putting on the "mystery glasses". Combining all these manifestations, Lumian believed that there was indeed a problem there, and it was a big problem, but under normal circumstances, the anomaly was unlikely to be triggered and specific conditions had to be met. "But if the problem won't break out, why did Gardner Martin arrange for me to stay there for a night... to test my courage? This is the most meaningless." Lumian muttered silently. He believed that the most profound impression he left on Gardner Martin and others was his courage.

After a brief thought, Lumian looked at Gardner Martin and said without hiding his worry and doubt: "13 Market Avenue? I heard something was wrong there." "If there are no problems, what kind of test is it to send you there for one night?" Gardner Martin replied with a smile, "As long as you handle it well, I believe you can come out intact." This is a test of how I can deal with "sudden" abnormal events without any intelligence. Lumian nodded in understanding, but then he had more doubts: "If he really had this purpose, why did Gardner Martin come here in the middle of the night and ask me to go to 13 Market Avenue right away? Couldn't he wait until daytime to do this? Then he could test my ability to gather intelligence and see who I would contact... "The biggest impact on me is that I don't have the chance to summon the Magician's messenger to seek her advice and possible help, and I don't have to face the danger lurking in the charred building alone... "But Gardner Martin didn't know that I could summon a demigod messenger, so he probably wasn't on guard against that... If he suspected that there was another force behind me, he wouldn't have given me the chance to get into the core layer, that is, the Iron-Blooded Cross, and he would have found a way to make me completely 'disappear'... "Well, if he really had doubts, he would give me ample time to see where I would go and who I would contact, so as to determine if there was any problem... "He must have other purposes in making things so urgent... "Giving me time to prepare means that I might go back on my word and not go to 13 Market Avenue, but instead sell the information that this burnt building is suspected to be related to the Iron Cross to the authorities? "But the problem is, even if I succeed in staying until the sun rises, I can still regret it and betray them... Take them away on the spot and sign a contract?" After much thought, Lumian still couldn't figure out Gardner Martin's true intentions. Testing should be one aspect of it, but there must be a hidden purpose! The only thing Lumian could be sure of was that Gardner Martin had no intention of killing him for the time being. There was a possibility that this mission would be life-threatening, but it would not be too great, and the risks were hidden elsewhere. After various thoughts came to mind and settled down, Lumian finally made a decision: "Okay, I'll go now." Gardner Martin laughed: "Very good, if you agree to it very readily, I will not be satisfied. "The most important quality for people who can join the core layer is to have a brain and be able to think. Otherwise, wouldn't it be better for me to find a way to buy a few new steam robots from the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery?" You mean that Franca has brains but not much, can think but not comprehensively? Lumian couldn't help but complain in his heart.

Of course, he also knew that this was definitely not the reason why the boss didn't allow Franka to join the core layer. After muttering inwardly, Lumian responded to Gardner Martin with a smile: "I am looking forward to the core layer you described, Boss." As he spoke, he turned around and prepared to walk downstairs to 13 Market Avenue. Gardner Martin stopped him and said casually: "Don't tell anyone about this, including those who sleep next to your pillow, like Janna singing below." “Okay.” Lumian said this, but he didn’t agree in his heart. This matter must be shared with Franka and Janna! However, these two guys have been busy investigating the disappearance of the gatekeeper of Deep Valley Monastery recently and have not paid much attention to the affairs of the Savoy Party. After leaving the Breeze Ballroom, Lumian raised his hand and touched his left breast. Then he drew a triangular holy emblem, as if praying for good luck to the "God of Steam and Machinery". There was still water on the ground after the rain. Lumian walked along the iron-black lampposts and arrived at the intersection near White Coat Street at a moderate pace. Diagonally in front of it stood a six-story building that had been burned black, with most of its walls falling off, as if the house had grown a pair of empty, dark "eyes". At this time, there were two or three homeless people sleeping on the first floor, which had no doors or window frames, and was filled with blackened bricks and charred wood. Lumian stood on the side of the road, looked up and observed for a while, but did not find any blurry face stuck to the window. Must I wear "secret glasses" to "see"? Lumian did not hesitate any longer, walked through the dirty doorway, and entered the target building. He felt no abnormality in his body or soul. Walking around the homeless people, Lumian found what looked like a living room. There was a small room inside, with a wooden door that was burned and rickety but not completely broken, and a broken glass window that looked out onto the alley behind the market avenue. Lumian walked in and carefully closed the wooden door. Then he sat on the ground by the window, ready to climb out of this unusual building at any time. In the inevitable state of torment, time passed by minute by minute, the night was getting darker and darker, and Lumian never noticed any problems. It was so quiet here that only the occasional cough of the homeless could be heard. Suddenly, he straightened his back. He heard slow footsteps. The footsteps were getting closer and closer, knocking on the tattered wooden door that couldn't be locked at all, instantly filling the quiet night with an uneasy atmosphere. At this moment, Thermipolos’s majestic voice rang out in Lumian’s mind: "Don't respond." Don’t respond…Lumian’s hair instantly stood up. Although he couldn't completely believe in the fateful angel, considering the current situation, after weighing the pros and cons for a few seconds, he chose to stare at the door in silence without saying a word.

Boom, boom, boom. The knocks on the door came one after another, with long intervals between them, slow and heavy. Boom, boom, boom. The person outside knocked for a while, and finally made a sound: “Help me, I’m the one sleeping outside. "Help me, help me, a murderer has broken in!" This is too outrageous... Lumian calmed his tense nerves by entertaining himself. He never responded, as if there was no one in the small room. The voices outside were getting more and more intense, but the speed of speech slowed down a bit, and there were subtle and strange pauses: "He's coming! He's coming! I'm going to be killed! "The next one is, you!" As soon as he finished speaking, the person knocking on the door suddenly let out a scream. Lumian then heard a dull thump. Plop! It seemed like someone fell to the ground. Then, the heavy object outside the door was slowly dragged to a farther distance. Before long, the sound of teeth-grinding cutting could be heard in the room, interspersed with gnawing and loud chewing noises. A picture suddenly appeared in Lumian's mind: A dark shadow was squatting on the ground, using an axe and other objects to cut up a human corpse, and from time to time he would pick up an arm and take a few bites of it. After a while, similar noises disappeared. Boom, boom, boom. There was another knock on the small room where Lumian was. "If you don't open the door, I'll come in by myself." The person who spoke was still the person who asked for help just now. Lumian looked at the crumbling wooden door and had some thoughts in his mind: "As long as I don't respond, the anomaly outside won't be able to open this door and truly threaten me? "This door obviously has no lock, and it was burned by the fire, so it is very fragile, but it can't be opened... "It doesn't have the ability to open any door. The person behind the door must respond to establish a mystical connection?" As thoughts flashed through his mind, Lumian gained a better understanding of the current situation and felt more confident. Dong, Dong, Dong, there was a knock on the door, and the person outside said intermittently: “I didn’t, I lied to you. “I really can open the door myself and come in. "I'll give you another ten seconds."

Lumian sneered, becoming more confident. He wanted to taunt the other party in his mind, telling him to "go ahead if you can", but he was worried that this would also be considered a response, so he suppressed those thoughts. Boom, boom, boom. There were three more knocks at longer intervals. Suddenly, Lumian heard an inaudible creaking sound. He then saw the shaky and dilapidated wooden door slowly retreat, revealing a dark crack. It's opening. (End of this chapter)