Mystery: Start with the Reader

"Surprise: Beginning with the Reader ()"

The one under the claws of the giant bear was a young man who looked less than 30 years old. He had short black hair and cold gray eyes, but Abner could still see a trace of unwillingness and doubt in it.

Unwilling to be suppressed and unable to move, what is puzzled is why a giant bear suddenly appeared.

Seeing this, the giant bear transformed by Abner by relying on "Lilith's Tears" showed a humane smile on its face, which looked quite frightening, and then the two humans present heard a deep voice coming from the bear. From the mouth came out: "I'm here to negotiate."

negotiation? Have you ever negotiated like this? !

If it weren't for being speechless, the "serial killer" youth would have cursed out loud.

But the reality is that with the force of the giant bear's claws, he was so painful that he passed out completely.

"Sorry, my 'negotiation' is one-sided and does not require your participation." Abner said with a regretful expression on his bear face.

For this kind of "serial killer" who kills at will to please the devil, he has no mercy at all. He didn't kill him immediately, all in order to prepare for better psychic effects.

Dr. Dust Guderian, who watched this scene, couldn't help but twitched his lips. He "read" the "serial killer"'s thoughts just before he passed out, and miraculously followed the other's thoughts, thinking in his heart. Tucao said:

Mr. Killer, you are wrong, there really is such a way of "negotiating" in reality... For example, the Feysacs like to do it...

The Feysacs in the Southern Continent have always chosen to "negotiate" after beating the enemy to the point of being helpless, so their diplomatic level has always been despised by Loen and Intis.

After pressing "stunned" to "serial killer", Abner gave him a simple "treatment" to prevent him from dying prematurely, and then looked at Dust Goodley who was obediently in front of the "audience" Dr. An, while simulating his ability, solemnly said to him: "You only remember that you were rescued inexplicably after being attacked, and you didn't see the specific process."

As a low-level member of the "Psychological Alchemy Association", Daxter, who has just been promoted to "Mind Reader" in Sequence 8, naturally knows that the giant bear in front of him is using "psychological suggestion" to modify his consciousness, and he is also capable of resisting to a certain extent .

But he didn't do that. Instead, he took the initiative to open up part of his "mental body" and cooperated with the other party to complete this suggestion.

Because past life experience told him that the more he knew, the more dangerous he was.

What a smart man! Abner sighed inwardly, and without delay, cast a few earth-like spells, used soil and some plants to create a coffin-shaped soil box, and put the "serial killer" in it.

After doing all this, he relied on the giant bear's ability to use "Underground Stealth". The ground under his feet suddenly softened and turned into a "swamp", making his body and the soil box sink as quickly as if they had fallen into the sea. down.

And as his figure disappeared, the ground quickly returned to its original state, without any trace of softening.

Dr. Duster Guderian came back to his senses, recalling the attack that just happened, he only felt that the heart in his left chest was beating extremely violently.

He took a few deep breaths, relied on the ability of the "audience" to keep calm, and thought:

Although I don't know who saved me, but since I was attacked, it means that I have become the target of some Extraordinary or organization...

And I'm just a "mind reader" without the ability to fight head-on, and the "Psychological Alchemy Society" backed by it is unlikely to fight against unknown Beyonders for a low-level member like me...

Therefore, I have only one way to go now, and that is to rely on my status as an "informant" to seek the protection of the official Extraordinary...

Well, I can go straight to the police and have them put me in touch with Inspector Klein Moretti.

Thinking of this, Dr. Duster Guderian didn't dare to delay, went back to the room to pack up some items and money, and was about to leave the madhouse.

Rush to the police station.

But before he walked out of the gate, he saw a middle-aged man in a gray double-breasted trench coat walking in from outside.

Temperamentally, he was very similar to the Captain Dunn Smith he knew.

"Nighthawks?" Before the other party could speak, Dust asked first.

The person who came was the current Acting Captain of the Nighthawks Team in Tingen, Al Hasson. He was taken aback when he heard the words, took a deep look at the other party, and immediately nodded, "Yes...Dr. Duster Guderian , Did you encounter anything special?"

"I'm going to find you guys! I just encountered an attack." Daxter quickly recounted what happened just now, but there was no "big bear" in his description.

Al frowned when he heard that, and didn't fully believe the other party's words. He pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Doctor Guderian... are you a Extraordinary?"

Daxter didn't expect the other party to ask this, he said puzzledly: "Of course, I'm an 'informant' for the development of your 'Nighthawks'..."

Speaking of this, he seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly said: "Yes, my identity should still be kept secret, you can call Klein Moretti to ask, he is my upline."

informant? Why didn't the document handed over to me mention this matter... Al was puzzled, but on the surface he shook his head and said, "Unfortunately, Klein has already died in the line of duty..."

"What?!" Daxter's eyes widened when he heard the words. He recalled the bookish young man and couldn't help feeling a little regretful. He sighed, "No wonder he hasn't contacted me for more than a week..."

He paused, skipped this sad topic, and said, "Captain Dunn Smith can also testify for me."

"Unfortunately, Dunn has also died in the line of duty...together with Klein." Al glanced at him and said helplessly.

"Huh?" This time, Dust couldn't speak anymore.

"So, Mr. Daxter, you have to go back to the company with me...Maybe Fry and Luo Yao can prove your identity."

Hearing this sentence, Daxter instinctively wanted to find a gap to escape, because he had already learned from the crazy "Psychological Alchemist" member Hood Eugene how wild Extraordinary people would be treated by the authorities, He was not afraid of relying on his status as an "informant" before, but now, this status is likely to be "lost"!

However, before he could take any action, he woke up suddenly, and what he saw was his own lounge. Everything just now seemed to be just a dream.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door.

...

Abner quickly shuttled underground with the "coffin" made of mud, and soon came to a fairly spacious "node" in the sewer that he had selected in advance.

Enduring the unpleasant smell coming from his nose, Abner released the "giant bear" mode brought by "Lilith's Tears", and returned to human form.

Then, he quickly set up the "spiritual wall" and began to perform dual operations of psychic and backtracking on the dying "serial killer".

After a while, Abner opened his eyes, and without hesitation broke the neck of the young man lying in the "coffin".

While waiting for the Extraordinary characteristics to separate out, while putting on the clothes that had been hidden in this "node" of the sewer, he sorted out the information he had just received through psychic communication:

The dead young man was named Carlos Andrerad, a believer of the "Blood Worship Cult" and a member of the demon family "Andrerad".

The reason why he killed so many people this time and held the "Shadow of Jadabao" ceremony was to summon the projection of this famous high-level demon who was once named by Emperor Roselle, and to obtain some knowledge and information from the other party. .

Since he himself is just a "serial killer" of Sequence 7, the power of the projections he can summon will not be very strong, so he didn't expect to be able to set off a killing in Tingen to please the other party, he just took advantage of it.

The "1322 Tragedy" in Lacey Town, Rorsted Islands, happened because there was no Extraordinary team in that town.

"Hey, it turns out that a certain organization has issued a reward in the 'Blood Worship Cult'. With an 'Abyss Card' made by Emperor Roselle as a reward, it is required to complete a designated assassination...

"When this Carlos Andrerad heard the news, he coveted the 'Abyss Card' and worried that it was a trap, so he wanted to summon 'Jadabao', who is said to have had a relationship with Roselle. Intersecting demons, ask them about the specific function of the "card of blasphemy" and the information about the organization that issued the bounty...

"Tsk tsk, I think that even if that demon named 'Jadabao' knew, he wouldn't dare to tell you... Well, it's not sure, who knows that this kind of thing thinks differently from humans."

After roughly figuring out the cause and effect of the incident, Abner murmured a few words to himself silently, and then packed the Extraordinary characteristics that had just been separated in a tin box, and only then did he simulate the "psychological invisibility" with the corpse of a "serial killer" Crawled out from a nearby sewer exit.

After dragging the corpse not far from the "Blackthorn Security Company", he wrote a letter in the tone of "Doctor Strange" and threw it aside. Then Abner returned to the hotel calmly, took a shower again, and removed the Smells like sewer.

...

After a while, Captain Al returned to the company with Dr. Daxter and several reinforcements from "Mechanical Heart" and "Punisher".

As soon as they approached, their inspiration was touched, and they all looked at a dirt box at the corner.

And Al's gaze was even more keen, and his attention was quickly placed on a piece of letter paper in front of the box.

He picked up the letter with a serious face and read it, then stretched his brows a little, but still murmured to himself in puzzlement:

"Who is this 'Doctor Strange'?"

...

Abner, who had taken a bath and lay on the bed, felt the "feedback" brought by the Nighthawks, but he was still far from what he expected to "play". However, he had expected it and was not disappointed. He only concluded:

"The direction that 'fame' helps digest is correct, but this time the Nighthawks have the impression that 'erudition' is only incidental to me, and 'mysterious' and 'dangerous' are probably their main ideas, so the feedback Only negligible.

"In addition, it is to use 'knowledge' to help others solve 'problems', but not to help them solve them directly... This time the situation is more urgent, but next time it can continue in the dark, it is better not to show up.

"Well, I have a guess about the complete role of 'eruditionist'...that is, I use the reserved knowledge to solve problems for others, and the people who get help take the initiative to spread my reputation as 'erudite', and then others will admire it' He came to seek my help in the name of "erudite"... This cycle should be a complete performance... Of course, the stage of making oneself "erudite" cannot be omitted, otherwise, once "erudite" is not worthy of the name, This 'acting' cycle is broken.

"The role of the 'Knowledge Keeper' focuses on 'keeping', telling the right people the right knowledge so that the knowledge can continue.

"The "polymath" focuses more on solving more problems with knowledge, reflecting the inner meaning of "omniscience leads to omnipotence".

"Although this guess is just my current subjective assumption, I can also find some evidence from the original book.

"For example, the demigod Luka of the Church of Knowledge in West Balam, he is a well-known 'wise man' in the rebel army. The leaders of the rebel army have to ask him for advice when they receive an order of arms business... Maybe this is why he was demigod before the demigod. The legacy of 'playing'.

"In addition, not to mention Lieutenant General Bingshan, her reputation of 'knowledge' and 'strict attitude towards knowledge' is known even to Alger, who has nothing to do with her, which shows that it has spread widely.

"To put it simply, the role of 'eruditionist' is to let me appear in front of others and show off my knowledge, right?

"Okay, I'm familiar with this."

Abner sighed slightly, laughed at himself a few words, and then forcibly fell asleep with the help of 'meditation'.

...

At the same time, a file about "Doctor Strange" was also sent to churches in various places by "Nighthawks", "Mechanical Heart" and "Punisher".

It's just that no one has really seen the appearance of "Doctor Strange" and cannot judge his strength, and his personal position seems to be more official, and the degree of danger is not high, so it has not attracted attention.

...

Early on Wednesday morning, Abner left Tingen on the earliest train, and arrived in Backlund at noon.

No sooner had he returned to the garden house at 28 Kingstor Street, and before he had time to take off his hat, Mr. Scudder, the steward, came to report:

"Detective Blaine, Duke Negan's secretary came to see you before."

"Duke Negan's secretary?" Abner was taken aback when he heard that, thinking what did he ask me for? Could it be that this 25-year-old boy knows that I just killed a member of a demon family?

"Yes, he said that the Duke was grateful for your contribution at the ball and bought back your previous house, intending to give it to you as a thank you gift. Well, he asked you to sign for that house." Mr. Scudder Meticulously relayed.

So it was because of this... I thought that Duke Negan was so stingy that he only made me bear the blame for my reputation... It turned out to be a bit affordable.

Abner realized that he didn't have any special feelings for the home of the original owner of the body, so he just nodded slightly, and then asked: "Mr. Scudder, who else has looked for me?"

"Apart from Miss Hugh, only a child named Ian under Detective Zariel came here once." Mr. Scudder replied after thinking about it.