Chapter 285 Insidious Gardner Martin opened the car door, got out, faced Lumian, and gave him a warm and affectionate hug. Wow, your attitude changed instantly... Lumian returned the hug while mumbling inwardly. After hugging for two seconds, Gardner Martin opened his arms and said with a smile: "From now on, we are real brothers." A real brother? If you die, can I inherit your estate? Lumian, whose mental state has improved significantly and who has successfully passed the difficult "test", was full of ridicule but didn't dare to say it out loud at this time. "You are still my boss." He expressed his loyalty out of habit. In his opinion, although such performances are indeed a bit exaggerated and make people feel not much sincerity, they are just as necessary. Gardner Martin laughed: "From now on, when no one else is around, you can call me 'Sir'." "Sir..." Lumian thought the title was a bit strange. The "Iron Cross" is a secret organization, not an army.

Gardner Martin did not explain, but smiled slightly and said: "Come to 11 Fountain Street at o'clock tonight, and we will hold your initiation ceremony." After saying that, he patted Lumian on the shoulder: "Rest well now." Lumian said "hmm", said goodbye to the Savoy leader, went back to the Golden Rooster Hotel, and closed the curtains of room 207. It was already past six in the morning. He did not need any sleep at all, so he sat down at the wooden table and began to write a letter to Ms. Magician, telling her everything that happened last night and Thermipolos's performance, and finally asked how to report the matter to Mr. K. ——Lumian obviously cannot avoid the strange "abnormal" invasion in the abandoned building by himself. He must find a suitable reason to explain to Mr. K, so that he can believe it without revealing that he has the seal of Mr. Fool and an angel of fate on him. After folding the letter neatly, Lumian set up the ritual and summoned the "doll" messenger in a light gold dress. The messenger lowered his head, saw the letter in the form of a cube, and nodded with satisfaction. As she made the letter float up, she said to Lumian: "Someone is still monitoring you." Huh? I didn't notice it at all... This is a very high level of tracking, hiding and observation... As a "hunter", Lumian has strong anti-tracking capabilities and is also very sensitive to changes in the surrounding environment. He didn't even notice that those monitors were still there! Mr. K's men? No, the one who made the messenger specifically remind me should not be someone from the Aurora Society... The monitors sent by Gardner Martin have not left yet, even though I have passed the "test" and suffered that abnormal erosion? Indeed, after what happened last night and after receiving Gardner Martin's notification of joining the society, now is the stage when I am least vigilant, most likely to relax my guard and expose problems... Damn, so insidious! Lumian realized that he was still too young and not cautious enough compared to Gardner Martin. If he had not been playing the role of a person who had stayed up all night, suffered cruel torture and needed rest, it would have been inevitable that he would draw the curtains and go to sleep, which has now aroused the suspicion of the monitor. Likewise, he was thankful that Ms. Magician's messenger seemed to be very strong and would not be discovered by the monitor. After sending the "doll" messenger away and lying on the bed, Lumian received a reply after waiting for a while: "As a secret organization with a history of two or three hundred years, the Iron Cross would certainly not allow people to join so easily. However, actively allowing new members to be contaminated is inconsistent with the 'test' I originally understood. "It seems that in recent years, the Iron Cross has indeed undergone some unfavorable changes. You don't have to rush to figure out why this happened. Take it step by step. In the short term, the most important thing is to preserve yourself. "Thermiporos offered help and gave you a warning. On the one hand, he didn't want you to be contaminated or die directly, which would affect him. On the other hand, he was probably trying to change you and gain your trust. He revealed his true purpose at the critical moment. “You must always remember that the evil god’s angel is a madman in the true sense of the word. He will definitely bring disaster to you and the people around you. You must always be vigilant and use him while guarding against him. "Mr. K's case is easy to handle. You can just say that he recited the honorable name of that person at the critical moment and miraculously remained uncontaminated. "Don't worry that he will ask that being to confirm the truth. This is something that devout believers will not do. Moreover, even that being itself may not be sure whether it has responded to your prayers."

This... Lumian was a little confused when he saw the end. The gods themselves are not sure whether they have responded to a believer? Isn’t this too absurd? In a flash, Lumian remembered something the "Magician" lady had said: If she prayed to Mr. Fool using a description other than the three-part honorific name, she could not guarantee that the great being would respond, and that would be very dangerous. Something like this? Knowledge involving the gods is hard to comprehend. Moreover, if you make a mistake, you could end up in a situation worse than death... Could it be the same for Aurore? Lumian thought more and more. In the past few days, he has been carefully sorting out Aurore's witchcraft notes, copying down all the contents of the two time periods circled by Ms. Justice, doing a more detailed study, and planning to show it to Ms. Hela, the vice president of the Curly-Haired Baboon Research Association, when he has the chance. ——Franca has read the relevant content and did not find any suspicious details. Those are not very conventional mystical knowledge, but ordinary spells that can only be performed by "wizards" or extraordinary people in the corresponding fields. The two cannot practice them. The only thing she and Lumian found problematic was that, starting from the beginning of this year, Aurore's witchcraft notes had contained a lot of ritual knowledge involving sacrifices and secret contracts. They were all obtained from the "Curly Baboon Research Society", but did not point to any evil god or secret existence. They were rather basic applications. A ball of red flame rose up and burned the letter in Lumian's palm. He lay down, pretending to sleep, but actually letting his thoughts wander, thinking about the problem with the witchcraft notes and what to do next. For him, the most important thing was that the one-month deadline given by the "art of prophecy" was approaching, and the parish priest Guillaume Bennet would appear somewhere in the Red Princess District. ………… In the hilly area, at the gate of the monastery in the deep valley. Dressed like a typical bounty hunter and even giving herself a mustache, Franka, pretending to be a man, pressed down the half-high silk hat on her head and sighed to Janna beside her: "There really is no clue at all." Janna wore a white shirt, brown waistcoat and dark trousers, a pair of black boots that reached her calves, and a brown woven beret on her head. She had no moles on her face and no smoky makeup, but she slightly modified her eyes, nose and mouth to make herself look more ordinary. Looking at the uniquely shaped iron-black building that made extensive use of steel components and the giant spire-like chimneys, she felt as if she was not in a monastery of the "God of Steam and Machinery" Church, but in a special factory. At this time, the chimneys were spewing out white smoke, accompanied by huge mechanical roars. "The main reason is that the monks don't want to interact with outsiders..." Janna responded rather frustratedly. During these days, they, like other bounty hunters and private detectives, were only allowed to enter the first-floor courtyard and could only question the new gatekeeper and several other servants. The ascetic monks merely provided a list of confessions from the relevant personnel. Franca retracted her gaze, smacked her lips and said: “This is definitely not an easy matter, otherwise the official Beyonders would have already investigated the truth. "Since we can't find any clues in the monastery, let's look around." "Okay." Janna lacked experience in how to investigate similar matters and was still in the stage of imitating and learning from Franka. The two of them "strolled" around the monastery in the valley, and from time to time they met some investigators attracted by the high bounty. After walking for nearly a quarter of an hour, they saw a mountain wall that had shown signs of collapse and had new trees growing on it. There was a cave on the side of the mountain wall, which was closed by a heavy wooden door. A man in his forties was sitting next to it in a place sheltered from the wind and rain. He was flipping through an old newspaper with funny comic strips, making joyful noises from time to time, with a bunch of brass keys hanging around his waist. "Where is this place?" Franca walked over and asked in a deliberately hoarse voice. The middle-aged man, who was dressed simply and even a little raggedly, raised his head, looked at Franca's face, and frowned slightly.

His eyes quickly shifted to Janna, and his expression relaxed: “This is the entrance to the Deep Valley Quarry. "I'm the janitor." "Why is there a door and it's locked?" Janna had seen a real quarry south of the market area. "This place has been abandoned and it could collapse at any time. We can't let in those who are bold enough to pull the tiger's tail." The gatekeeper of the Deep Valley Quarry explained with a smile. "Isn't this place connected to underground Trier?" Franca asked. The quarry keeper shook his head: "It's almost completely collapsed. How come? I'm going to lose my job!" After saying that, he looked at Janna and said with a flattering smile: "Would you like to take this business? I'll give you money and have sex with me once." You people from Trier...Franca shook her head. Janna rejected the other party with her catchphrase. ………… 8pm, No. 11 Quanshui Street. Lumian was led by Gardner Martin's butler Faustino through the lawn and hall to a windowless room. There is a dining table here, but the surrounding layout does not look like that of a restaurant in a villa. It is very simple, even empty. Lumian took a quick look around and found three rows of things on the dining table. The first row was various tableware, the second row was cups and bottles, and the third row was prepared dishes and unlit candles. They are all strictly symmetrical, forming three parallel straight lines. (End of this chapter)