Chapter 278: Free?

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

After dinner, in the billiard room of the Bravehearts Bar.

Dressed in a simple black coat and a dark cap, Klein held a glass of Southvill beer, closed the door behind him, and walked over to Kaspars, who was bent over the table, trying to hit the ball.

Before he could muster a smile and say hello, Kaspars stopped what he was doing, straightened up, and glanced at him.

“Maric isn’t here.

“There are no other gatherings you want.

“I have nothing but weapons.”

… Very familiar with what I want… Fortunately, I have a different goal today… Klein curled the corner of his lips and said, “I’m here to buy weapons.”

Maric isn’t here… From the looks of it, they’ve been exposed and are targeted by their enemies. They’ve decided to switch locations… Then I won’t be able to contact Miss Bodyguard… And I was planning on tricking Millet Carter with Maric’s zombies as my helpers… They’ll keep a secret, they’re obedient, and they’re unafraid of death. Well, the premise of their obedience is when the influence of Azik’s copper whistle is shielded… As he spoke, a series of thoughts flashed through Klein’s mind.

Kaspars was slightly surprised. With a look of suspicion, he leaned against his cue stick and rubbed his brandy nose and said, “What kind of weapon are you looking to buy? Have you finished the previous bullets? That’s quite a lot of practice.”

No, I practiced with bullets I bought at the Quelaag Club… Klein smiled.

“I want to buy explosives, the kind that is widely used in mines.”

“What do you want to do?” Kaspars blurted out as his expression turned solemn and stern. “I’m warning you, don’t try to do anything condemnable! I won’t allow my customers to challenge Sivellaus Yard! Of course, you don’t have to buy weapons from me.”

To be able to become a black market weapon merchant and live to this day, from a certain point of view, he must abide strictly by the rules. At the very least, he wouldn’t sell to those crazy fellows… Klein habitually gave his evaluation from a Nighthawk’s point of view and smiled. “You seem to have misunderstood something, I’m not going to blast open the door of a bank vault or try to create any sensational news. I’m helping someone with the demolition of a building, making it easier for subsequent renovations.”

“Then why didn’t he find a proper construction company?” Kaspars didn’t let down his guard.

“Haha, that’s a secret chamber. He doesn’t want others to know about it.” Klein switched to asking, “Do you know any reliable explosives experts? I’m not very good at this sort of thing, and I’m afraid the whole house will collapse.”

When Kaspars saw that Klein was making considerations to ensure that the house remained in good condition, the doubt in his mind was immediately dispelled quite significantly.

Just as he was deliberating for an answer, an illusory voice suddenly rang out in the room.

“There’s no need.”

A familiar feeling came over Klein. He quickly turned around and found Miss Bodyguard sitting on a chair in the corner without him realizing it.

She was still wearing her black Gothic regal dress and matching soft hat. Her face was as pale as ever, and her blonde hair and delicate features accentuated each other.

“Good evening, Madam.” Klein slightly bent his back and bowed.

“Good evening, Ma’am. Sharron.” Kaspars did the same.

So her name is Sharron… Klein thoughtfully waited for her to speak.

The lady named Sharron looked at Kaspars and said, “Maric won’t be coming back here again.

“If you need him for anything, leave a message according to the third method.”

“Yes, Ma’am. Sharron.” Kaspars, who had clearly seen a lot of things in his life, seemed to have an instinctive fear of Miss Bodyguard.

Upon hearing this, Klein interrupted, “If, I mean if—I wanted to get Maric’s help, how should I get in touch with him?”

“Through Kaspars,” Sharron answered simply.

“Alright.” Klein spread out his hands and said, “Oh yeah, what did you mean when you said there’s no need for a demolition expert?”

Sharron’s blue eyes didn’t waver in the slightest.

“I am one.”

You are one? You’re a demolition expert? Wait a minute, aren’t you a Beyonder with special abilities, probably at Sequence 5? Why are you being a part-time demolition expert… Klein froze as he felt at a loss for words.

In the end, he chose to believe Miss Bodyguard as he said in deliberation, “I’m going to visit…”

Before he could finish, he looked at Kaspars. It was indicative that the ensuing topic wasn’t suitable for this ordinary person.

Fundamentally, due to his body, a black market weapons dealer is indeed considered an ordinary person… Klein silently added.

Sharron looked at Kaspars and said, “Prepare the explosives. Two pounds. He’ll pay.”

“Yes, Ma’am. Sharron.” Kaspars glanced at Klein and limped out of the billiard room, not forgetting to close the door behind him.

Seeing Miss Bodyguard looking at him silently, Klein felt like he was being watched by a ghost. He quickly organized his words and said, “I found Baronet Pound’s address and visited him in the middle of the night…”

After recounting everything that Rafter Pound had told him, Klein began to deduce the process from the story.

“I think he lied in many areas, and it’s impossible for a viscount family to be so easily manipulated.

“If a child can notice something abnormal, how can the royal household and the churches not sense anything?

“After Rafter Pound degenerated, he had many chances to interact with outsiders and other aristocratic members. As long as he showed a little courage, he would be able to easily resolve the problem.

“Therefore, I think he must’ve been hiding something, something that has a high chance of being related to the underground structure.

“From the state of his mind, it seems that the evil spirit won’t be able to escape for a long period of time, so I plan to get some explosives and destroy the entrance to prevent others from getting in. Uh, I’m afraid that I might accidentally release the evil spirit.”

“Yes.” Miss Bodyguard Sharron didn’t confirm Klein’s guess, but she didn’t reject it either.

At that moment, Klein hesitated and asked, “I don’t know much about demolition, so I’m preparing to draw a layout and hire a demolition expert to give me the positions to lay the explosives and their corresponding weights. If-if I ask you for help again, how much would I have to pay?”

If it’s too expensive, it’d better for me to look for an ordinary demolition expert. After all, I’m getting only 50 pounds from this, while Miss Bodyguard charges 1,000 pounds for three days… Klein had already made plans.

“Free.” Sharron’s answer was still in her usual style of being terse.

Free? Klein was shocked.

From what he knew, free things cost the most!

Sharron sat quietly for a few seconds before giving a brief explanation.

“After collapsing the entrance, I’ll be the only one capable of entering and exiting.

“This was what I wished to do.”

In other words, after you’re confident enough, you plan on getting rid of the evil spirit and harvest the items within? In fact, destroying the entrance is to help you eliminate any interferences or the greed of others. After all, other Beyonders of other Sequences are unable to pass through the boulders and dirt like a spirit… Yes, apart from the Apprentice pathway, but they don’t know about that underground structure… Klein nodded in enlightenment.

“Deal!”

After saying that, he hurriedly added, “Hmm… Can you borrow a few more subordinates from Maric, subordinates with a tight lip? They’ll be helpers to show to Millet Carter.”

“Alright.” Sharron didn’t refuse.

Klein deliberately didn’t mention making any payment for that as he smiled.

“Then, let’s schedule it for ten in the morning tomorrow.

“We have to explore the surrounding terrain in advance. We can’t let the explosion cause any obvious damage.”

Sharron nodded slightly as her figure faded away into nothingness.

…

Saturday morning, Xio Derecha once again rode in a public carriage to the East Borough to confirm any results that her commissions might have.

While waiting for the transfer, she suddenly had the urge to buy a newspaper to read.

She took out a penny and bought a copy of the Backlund Bulletin from a paperboy next to her. She quickly read through it.

Suddenly, her eyes froze because of the news article on the third page.

“At 7:10 last night, there was a serious explosion in the apartment building at 1 Dharavi Street in East Borough. It’s suspected to be a result of a gas leak. The explosion happened at Unit #03-06. The tenant died on the spot, to the point of not leaving a complete corpse. At press time, this explosion resulted in three deaths and sixteen injured…”

1 Dharavi Street… Apartment #03-06… Isn’t this… Isn’t this the place Williams rents? He’s dead? He died from a gas leak explosion? No, no! Absolutely impossible! He would never be so extravagant and use gas, even if there was an installation there! Did he end up like this because he had just accepted my commission? But Lanevus is a wanted criminal. If he discovers that someone was looking for him, all he should need to do is move. There’s no need to kill people to keep it a secret. Doing so would instead expose problems…

The way this was done is too weird and radical, it’s like it was done by a lunatic…

He’s clearly just a swindler…

Poor Williams…

I-I will definitely avenge you!

I’ll definitely find out the truth!

Xio looked sadly and gravely at the public carriage parked in front of her and didn’t choose to board it.

She knew that it would be very dangerous to head to East Borough now.

She intended to go back at once and tell Fors to get her to move to a spare rental house. Then, she would head to East Borough in a disguise and ask someone familiar to gain a preliminary understanding of the reason and find traces of the killer’s tracks.

Sigh, it’s true that none of Miss Audrey’s commissions are without danger… I thought that as long as I didn’t stop someone who is already a wanted swindler and didn’t stop him from escaping, he wouldn’t retaliate in such a vicious manner… I was careless. I was the one who caused Williams’s death… Well, that didn’t exclude the possibility that he was also gathering information on other matters, thereby bringing about disaster… Xio closed her eyes and crossed the street to the waiting area on the other side.

…

At 10:14, after confirming the surface conditions of the Fourth Epoch structure, Klein and Miss Bodyguard, Sharron, arrived outside the building at 8 Williams Street.

Sharron had already vanished, and Millet Carter saw Detective Sherlock Moriarty in his grayish-blue worker’s uniform and cap and his three taciturn assistants.

“It’s convenient to explore like this,” Klein explained.

Millet Carter’s eyes swept across the three assistants who were obviously good at fighting and nodded in satisfaction.

“Your preparations were quicker than I expected. Is one of them a snake-repelling expert?”

“Yes, they’re very good at repelling snakes.” Klein didn’t hesitate to give an affirmative answer.

How could a zombie be afraid of being bitten by snakes?