Dead silence.

A heart-stopping silence spread.

After Klein put Ian's satchel aside, he did not speak rashly, but just watched silently. He was waiting for an explanation, and also wanted to sit back and wait to see how the situation would change.

First of all, he was not unaware of many doubts about Ian, but the previous situation was urgent and he had no choice but to give up the confrontation with Rosago and instead question Ian. What's more, judging from his exchange with Ian, Ian

En's answers were mostly vague and uncertain, and he didn't seem to know much more about the inside story than he did.

He was missing more than a few bits and pieces of important information in the incident involving the fight for Hermosuin's manuscript. At least Alice hid some seemingly insignificant information from him.

For example, the "true identity" of Arthur Watson.

By now, Klein felt that if he was still not sure who the "Sauron" in Rosago's words was who had the idea to compete for the manuscript, then he could really take the steam train back to the outskirts of Tingen and lie down in a coffin.

But because of his preconceived impression and knowing that the identity of "Watson" was just a vest for Alice, a disguised identity, he instinctively ignored certain possibilities and assumptions.

Behind the false identity of "Watson", there is also a second layer of relationship, a second person who seems real and fake.

Combining the snippets of her previous conversation with Lionel, Klein roughly pieced together a brand new unfamiliar name.

Altir Sauron.

Yes, it is true that the person who provided them with identification certificates was Lionel, but the person who took the initiative to contact helpers to make the certificates was Alice. It is impossible for her not to know that belief in the Eternal Flame means complete heresy in the Kingdom of Loen.

But even so, she still went to the believers of the sun and persuaded them to help.

Klein didn't think deeply about the reason at first. He just thought that as a heretic believer like Lionel living in Backlund, he should have some connections and connections of his own. Now it seems that Alice's plan started from the very beginning.

It fell on the Eternal Flame Church behind the other party.

On one side is the huge religious group that has always occupied a mainstream position since the establishment of national power in Intis, and on the other side is the Sauron family of the former royal family of Intis. The connection between the two can be imagined.

...In short, no matter how you analyze it now, it cannot change the fact that he wasted money, time, and acting skills in vain because of the lack of this important information.

But what about "stealing three carrier pigeons" that Alice just mentioned? The "carrier pigeons" she mentioned should refer to the souls of sinners who turned into butterflies...

The long silence caused Klein to think about many things in his mind, some of which were suddenly enlightened, and some of which he still had no clue about. On the side, Arthur Watson, who stopped and paced back and forth, seemed to have put away those external thoughts.

With a clear emotion, he looked sideways at his sleeping self, as if silently waiting for something to come.

Just as Klein was hesitating to say something, he suddenly saw Ian, who was tightly tied to the wooden chair, open his eyes.

The empty red pupils stared straight at the ceiling for a few seconds, then suddenly and strangely turned up, filling the space between the upper and lower eyelids with pale silver whites.

At the same time, "Ian's" lips clearly did not move, but a ventriloquism-like voice with a variety of timbres and reverberation came from the wooden chair. It sounded like an old voice with vicissitudes of life, but also a rich voice.

The steady baritone is also mixed with the voice texture of a young woman and an innocent child:

"Wow, this strange ritual is quite powerful. It can actually trap part of my consciousness in this body, and directly assign the right to control the body's actions, so I have to think of some way to do it with you at the last minute.

Conversation... There is no other way. Since you said you want to talk, let’s have a good talk.”

Klein was slightly stunned. He subconsciously followed the source of the sound and looked at Ian's abdomen. It seemed that the surface of the skin covered by clothes really had a mouth that was opening and closing to talk.

"Let's start with your 'passenger pigeons'... Tsk tsk, I have to say that you are really evil, enslaving human souls, reshaping them into butterfly shapes close to spiritual creatures, and naming them 'passenger pigeons'

...Ah wait, please don’t over-interpret these remarks. As you can see, I am just a kind, innocent and harmless little character. Now I don’t even dare to show up openly and identify myself. There is only so much I can do.

This is the only way to send some friendly greeting gifts in a roundabout way."

"Before we talk about giving gifts, don't you think you should give priority to answering the questions I deliberately asked?" Arthur Watson withdrew his gaze and laughed coldly, "Trick my three 'passenger pigeons' away and use them to set up a trap."

Once the game is over, if you return it to me, you can treat it as if nothing happened?"

The human voice with its own reverberation could not help but raise its pitch:

"Oh, why are you so stingy! I helped you trick that stupid snake, so don't dwell on the less important details, okay?"

"No need. Even without your influence, Ourolius would not be able to complete the mirror maze with no exit. He may think that as long as he borrows the fate of one of my customers, he can naturally replace that person and walk into

My country, you see my reflection, but in addition to the 'carrier pigeon' that guides the direction, I have also set up other defense methods... I think you have experienced it, right?" He walked to the desk and leaned back.

Arthur Watson at the edge of the table obviously didn't appreciate it very much.

"Well..." the tone of the reverberation voice suddenly weakened a bit, "I admit that the corridor is indeed a bit difficult, and it has nothing to do with luck. With the stupid snake's IQ, he will definitely get lost there until next year..."

Ourolius... After realizing who the stupid snake mentioned by the strange and unfamiliar voice was referring to, Klein couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth and quietly took two steps back, moving away from the guy who claimed to be a "little character"

.

If nothing unexpected happened, the Sequence 1 potion name he had seen in Russell's diary before, "Snake of Mercury" was the name that best matched the phrase "Stupid Snake"... Well, the premise is that there are other ways.

There is no description related to "snake" in the sequence potion.

Arthur Watson didn't pay much attention to his actions, he just twitched the corner of his mouth lukewarmly:

"Thanks to the two patrons, the defense mechanism in my store was overloaded. As a result, a customer who was unfortunately in the maze was stimulated by dangerous illusions and went crazy and lost control. He died on the way out... If something like this happened again...

If it happens a few more times, how can I do business in the future?"

"I think you must have a way to solve this problem before you tell me so lightly that an outsider can listen to it." The ventral voice mixed with a variety of voices seemed to have regained its confidence and said cheerfully, "Look,

My actions have not caused any real harm to you or the people around you, right? In terms of the result, you can get Hermoshuin's manuscript in exchange for some tangible benefits, and your troubles

Friends who know magic potion formulas can also get what they want..."

After hearing this, Klein couldn't help but cast a look of astonishment at his own Watson, frantically gesturing for her to react, but the latter quietly lowered his eyes, looking indifferent and thinking.

Then the strange voice continued:

"To be honest, I actually didn't do anything special. I just borrowed your 'carrier pigeon' to slightly influence this kid named Ian and help him luckily choose to avoid all pursuers.

route, he was lucky enough to arrive at the place where the manuscript was stored, and finally returned to the safe house... Of course, after all his good luck was used up, his bad luck affected the surroundings to some extent, but it was not so bad that it was irreversible."

That's why my five consecutive shots were unlucky enough to hit four dumb bombs? Klein suddenly understood, and then he secretly gritted his teeth and refuted the voice that stood up and talked without pain: What do you mean, it's not too bad? If I hadn't been well prepared, Alice would have done it again.

Appearing just in time, these four duds almost caused me serious trouble!

Arthur Watson seemed to understand something. He opened his eyes and looked at the boy who was tied to the wooden chair but not struggling, and looked into the eyes with only the whites of his eyes:

"Secretly pushing Ian's chess piece and guiding him to find this place, what is your purpose?"

The human voice from Ian's belly answered without hesitation, as if waiting for her to ask this question:

"Of course it's an alliance. I know you can't deal with that stupid snake Ourolyus. It just so happens that he and I... also have some minor disputes. Although the enemy of the enemy may not necessarily be a friend, there is definitely a possibility of joint cooperation.

Are you not moved by the possibility at all and have no ideas?"

"Form an alliance..." Arthur Watson smiled, "You don't even dare to use your true body. You can only talk to me through the body of a proxy like this. It can be seen that your situation is much worse than mine. How can I

Know that our alliance can bring benefits to each other, rather than unilaterally causing trouble. This incident will be a good lesson."

"I'm not the only one who doesn't use the main body. How can you use this to accuse me of being dishonest..." The voice in the belly felt aggrieved, but still persisted, "At least we have the same attitude towards Him.

, if you are willing to agree with me, I can tell you some information related to Ourolius, including his abilities, his fighting methods and habits, and even his weaknesses... I hope you can think about it carefully."

This time, Arthur Watson paused for more than ten seconds before slowly replying:

"Whether we agree to form an alliance or not, I have to wait until I actually meet you before making a conclusion. Understand, this is a meeting between the main body and the main body. If you don't agree, just make an appointment?"

"...No, no, there's no need to make an appointment." As if she didn't realize the sudden change in her attitude, her midriff hurriedly suppressed the unconsciously raised tone of joy and added, "Anyway, this kid named Ian doesn't have anything to do with it.

If he goes somewhere, you can take him in for a while. When the time is right to meet, I will tell you the specific time and place through him. Oh, by the way, remember to come alone when you go to the appointment. Don't bring anyone else, especially next to you.

this."

Why! Klein stared angrily without speaking.

"Are you sure you don't want to cause trouble for me by taking in a young man who may be being hunted by the Loen military?" Her focus fell elsewhere.

"I believe you have a way to solve it." The voice came from an unknown source of confidence, and even suggested, "After things calm down, you can give this child who is exposed to the extraordinary world a chance to choose.

, it just so happens that you should be short of manpower right now, right? An obedient and well-behaved Beyonder assistant can definitely help you save a lot of time in dealing with chores."

She pinched her eyebrows in a funny way, not hiding her temptation:

"Then you plan to take the opportunity to promote your own potion so that you can establish contact with him in the future, right? I remember the name of the potion in Sequence 9, it seems to be 'Monster'..."

"If he is willing to drink the 'monster' potion, I can help him prepare the materials needed for the potion." The voice with multiple reverberations admitted generously.

"No need, let's talk about it later." Arthur Watson raised his hand and snapped his fingers to release the mirror world state given to the room, and then waved his hand to drive people away, "You can go back, see you next time."

There was no reply from that strange voice.

The effects of the unknown ritual gradually dissipated. Ian Wright, who was rolling his strange eye whites and making noises from his abdomen, returned to his normal coma state - tilting his head weakly, his eyes closed tightly, and his brows seemed to be affected by

Wrinkled slightly in pain.

Klein, who didn't dare to breathe with confidence until now, retracted his gaze to look at the boy, and rubbed his temples with a slightly weird look on his face:

"The one just now, the one on Ian...when did you discover it...wait a minute, I need to clear my mind."

"There is nothing to sort out. It was my negligence, and someone followed the fate and caught the 'carrier pigeon' that was working under me, which led to the situation developing to this point." Arthur Watson seemed unwilling to face it.

He turned his gaze slightly and said in a clearly softened tone, "...I'm sorry, I have implicated you this time."

"If an apology is useful, why do we need the police?" After teasing her half-jokingly, Klein suddenly remembered that Rosago who came to the door this time was dressed as a policeman, and he suddenly changed his words, feeling unlucky, "Okay.

, if you are really sorry, just promise me one thing."

She didn't say anything, just nodded her head slightly.

"In the future, no matter what happens, don't think about hiding it. If you have any problems or difficulties, you can discuss them with me. Even if you can't solve them immediately, this can give me ideas and reminders, so that I won't end up like this time.
To be continued...