Secret: I can play two paths

Chapter 156 Agreement
Audrey collected her thoughts until she heard Star's familiar voice:
"I have a favor to ask of you. Once it's done, it can offset the amount you owe me after our previous transaction."

"It's the investigation into the Qilingos incident."

"I thought about it and it's a bit unreasonable to ask you, who has rarely come into contact with the Beyonder circle, to help me collect Beyonder materials."

"Everyone has their own expertise. In fact, the audience is relatively better at collecting information behind the scenes."

"Why don't you help me do this?"

Mr. Wheel of Fortune is really considerate of others... Audrey felt a little embarrassed after hearing this. This was a commission she had owed since the very first formal gathering.

Although Mr. Wheel of Fortune didn't care much, it seemed that if she didn't mention it, he would have forgotten it.

But Audrey still remembered it clearly. After all, this was the reward that should be paid to Mr. Wheel of Fortune.

In exchange for him telling his "audience" the formula and how to act?

Hmm~ Originally I wanted to wait for Miss Fors to take me to the Beyonder gathering, and then find an opportunity to complete it. Now this is not bad, right?

But the debt is almost paid off... I should be happy that I feel a lot more relaxed...

Why do I feel a little uncomfortable?
Audrey tilted her head to look at Star, thinking with dimples, and then nodded obediently:
"Got it, Mr. Wheel of Fortune."

When I think about it carefully, I am actually very happy that I can help Mr. Wheel of Fortune with this matter.

After becoming a Beyonder, I want to join some "adventures" to satisfy my desire to participate.
Not to mention that Mr. Wheel of Fortune commissioned a character that he had never been able to touch before, such as the "Pirate General".

At this time, Audrey thought about it seriously with some confidence, and actually felt that she had a good ability to find people in Backlund.

First of all, her father is one of the richest men among the aristocracy, with a good reputation and connections, and she herself is also very popular among the younger generation, so she is in the upper and middle classes of society and can inadvertently mobilize a lot of resources.

Secondly, the two Beyonders she currently knew also had their own circles. The "apprentice" Fors was originally a clinic doctor, and now a new writer. He knew a lot of people in the literary world, in the publishing industry, and among middle-class doctors.

"Arbitrator" Hugh Dilcha has long helped the middle and lower class people coordinate and arbitrate events. He is well-known in the East District of Backlund, among the working class, and in many gangs, and has many secret channels.

Coupled with the other extraordinary people they have come into contact with, as well as the circles expanded by other extraordinary people, the power of finding people cannot be underestimated.

So, Mr. Wheel of Fortune gave me this task as a sign of trust and recognition of her abilities?

Audrey felt happier thinking about this, and then she heard some insights from Mr. Wheel of Fortune.

"In fact, I already have a rough idea of ​​the analysis."

Star had already prepared a plan and was very confident about it.

"The negative effect of 'Creeping Hunger' on Qilingos is that it devours the flesh and soul of a living person every other day. This is an important clue that can be used to find Qilingos."

"Although considering the risk of being discovered, he won't go around killing people like a serial killer."

"And there aren't that many lucky pirates here."

"But in a metropolis with a population of at least five million, the disappearance of a few homeless people will not be noticed by anyone, so he will probably start from this aspect."

"To sum up, based on the information I got from the Hanged Man at the Tarot Club, plus the information I collected about the pirate general Qi Lingos before coming here."

"We can start our investigation from the missing homeless man and his unique hobbies and behavior patterns."

"A person's facial features may change, but without special training, he will always behave like himself, such as his favorite food, walking style, habitual movements, and many more details."

After a pause, Star added in his heart: "Except for the Faceless Man."

After all, in addition to the face-shaping ability that is more powerful than "Flesh and Blood Magic", the "Faceless Man" can also gain extremely strong observation and memory of other people's appearance and subtle movements, and can completely disguise everything from expression to behavior patterns.

If I had this ability, I wouldn't have been so aggressive in the bicycle cooperation...

Thinking of this, Star became even more enthusiastic about the idea of ​​being promoted to "Faceless Man".

During this period, he sought cooperation with bicycle companies, but was rejected because he did not understand the "rules".

……

It’s not that those people don’t value the benefits of bicycles as a new means of transportation. When Star went to promote bicycles, he was rejected.

But they could see that Star was not an expert, but a kid who didn't know any upper-class etiquette, and each of them wanted to bite off a big piece of fat from Star's hands.

Haha... be careful that "Ghost Rider" may explode your gold coins... Star, whose shares were coveted, could only sneer in his heart at that time.

But on the surface, there is nothing I can do about these people.

"Rolling the dice" can only affect the temporary results, but fate is always long-term.

Even if you get a relatively reasonable transaction condition for a while, those people will still use some "legal" but unreasonable business means against you many times due to their uncontrollable greed.

That would be a lot of trouble.

But to be honest, this also reflects the social ecology of the Victorian era. Even with patent laws, it is still a bit unrealistic to want to start from scratch and keep your own things.

So, is it really necessary to change your appearance and then seek cooperation with those greedy people?
Star hesitated.

Forget it, let’s think about it again after some time.

……

Star thought about this and sighed.

He looked at Audrey and suddenly had an idea.

Yes, I was still looking for someone far away instead of someone near. Such a good partner was right in front of me, why didn’t I cherish him/her?
Even if the Hall family wants to get involved, can't they just make a private agreement with Miss Justice first?

Given Miss Justice's character, no matter how unfavorable the conditions offered by the Hall Family were, she would definitely make up for it secretly...

For example, tell Miss Justice:
On the surface, she can own nearly one-third of the shares.

In fact, part of the shares, profits and value she holds must be shared with herself.

Of course, Miss Justice also made some money in the end.

The shares she could get could eventually be worth tens of thousands of pounds, and the initial investment was just to use the Hall family's connections and channels to promote the bicycle.

Even if she doesn't cash it out, having this kind of capital will help her do many things.

As for the capital investment, no one else is needed. Star is not like a certain extraordinary person who has never been able to save any money and cannot come up with the money.

With 100,000 gold pounds at his disposal, he felt that even if he just spent money, he could create a market space for bicycles.

But this is not efficient and it will waste his time.

Star might as well give up the appropriate interests to Miss Justice.

Compared to those factory owners who ask for exorbitant prices, this beautiful and kind lady is undoubtedly an excellent partner in every aspect.

However, for now, let’s deal with Qi Lingos’ matter first.

Star looked at Audrey and paused for a moment, considering how to start his conversation.

……

And Audrey listened very attentively to what Star had just said.

It seems to be consistent with my thoughts... Audrey's eyes lit up and she looked at Star as if she had seen a close friend.

I’m afraid that as a “mind reader” she is, her analysis couldn’t be more comprehensive than this… Mr. Wheel of Fortune’s observations are very detailed.

Then she heard Star speak confidently:

"I have analyzed the information provided by Mr. Hanged Man and roughly figured out where he would live."

"First of all, he is a Sequence 6 Wind Blesser of the Sailor Path. So, whether it is out of the instinct of his own sequence or he wants to make good use of his own strength."

"Combined with the rumors that he has a paranoid love for the wind, in the 'Dust City' Backlund, he should not choose to live in a heavily polluted area for a long time. In other words, he may live in Queens, the West Side, Hillston, Cherwood, or the suburbs of the North Side..."

"Secondly, as a ferocious and cunning pirate who possesses the 'Creeping Hunger', he will definitely not let the negative effects of magical items backfire on him."

"So, he murders a living person every other day... The reasonable approach is to target the homeless. In Backlund, even the police can't figure out how many homeless people there are..."

"So the area where he lives should not be too far from the East District, Backlund Bridge, and other places where there are many homeless people... but not too close either."

"After all, frequently looking for victims around is an immature behavior, which is inconsistent with the behavior of a cunning pirate who can survive on the sea."

"And if Qilingos takes a long time to find a suitable partner, 'Creeping Hunger' may be unable to control his desires... This is also inefficient and will cost him a lot of time."

"He doesn't want to commit a crime in a situation where he could be easily exposed, right?"

"Plus, Qi Lingos was once a 'sailor', and the potion gave him outstanding water mobility. And the mission he wants to complete requires the help of this pirate general, so it will not be easy and should be quite difficult."

"A reasonable inference is that he would not live too far from the river. If he encounters an accident, that would be his best option for escaping safely..."

……

"To sum up, we can outline the range of Qilingos' activities. He lives not far from the Backlund Bridge area. Considering the two banks of the Tussock River in the West District and Cherwood District..."

Amazing, this type of analysis is just like that of a real detective... Audrey blinked and looked at Star with admiration.

In her imagination, Miss Audrey might be a great detective in the future... well, at most there would be a big dog who was also a detective beside her...

Unexpectedly, Star showed him his detective reasoning methods on the spot.

This ability to obtain so much information in a short period of time, combine it to make reasonable associations, and complete analysis and speculation, which Mr. The Hanged Man had just said in the afternoon, really impressed her about Mr. Wheel of Fortune.

Although she was already impressed by Mr. Wheel of Fortune...

And Star accepted the compliment without any shame.

Although some of these analyses were deduced by him based on the original script, this was actually his ability as a senior time traveler.

Star then said, "By the way, Miss Justice, do you have any questions?"

I wonder if Miss Justice will buy the potion formula and extraordinary properties from him now as a reward for Fors and Xio.

Having asked Miss Justice to help him convey the terms of the deal with Fors before, Fors might have suspected that Miss Justice had other channels.

Although Miss Justice is a super wealthy sponsor, it is normal for her to know other channels of occult studies.

But in a short time, Star still had to choose the "Arbitrator" path extraordinary characteristic, which he felt was very sensitive in recent times.

This is totally inconsistent with the identity of a noble lady who has just entered the world of mysticism - unless she had some adventure and met some extraordinary predecessor...

Audrey had obviously considered this issue as well, and she did not buy the "Arbitrator" formula directly from Star.

She thought for a few seconds, then said briskly:

"Mr. Wheel of Fortune, I will be attending a Beyonder gathering in a few days with Miss Fors and Miss Xiu, two people you know. Are you interested in going with us?"

"Well, I mean, you should sell me the recipe for the Audience potion at that Beyonder gathering."

"This will conceal the fact that I became a Beyonder because of the Tarot Club."

Just like what Emperor Roselle said, "whitewashing the identity"?
Hmm... yes, that should be the case... Audrey smiled brightly.

Maybe she didn't just want Mr. Wheel of Fortune to accompany her to another Beyonder gathering?

If that's what you think, it's because you feel safer with him around?
Audrey blinked and looked at Star.

After hearing this idea, Star thought Audrey's suggestion was good, so he said:
"But it's a bit unfair to just give you the formula you already know. How about you think about what you need as compensation?"

I could take this opportunity to sell her the formula for the "Arbitrator" pathway at a discount. Maybe that would work?
However, Audrey's response was beyond Star's expectations:
"It's okay, Mr. Wheel of Fortune. I'm already satisfied that you're willing to accompany me to the party and help me do this."

Star was embarrassed for a moment and was about to sigh that Miss Justice was worthy of being white, rich and beautiful, but when he saw Audrey's serious expression, a corner of his heart was touched.

When such a lovely girl wants to ask me out with great expectation, this feeling is really fatal...

For a moment, Star looked at Audrey, whose lips curled up slightly, and was unsure how he should speak next.

At this moment, a deep red color flowed in the position of his eyes.

As layers of fog appeared before his eyes, a distorted and blurry figure suddenly appeared in the deepest part of Sta's vision.

In the empty world, a solemn voice kept echoing.

That was the information Xiao Ke received after he went to the mental hospital to spy, and it was very bad news.

Star's mood suddenly became heavy.

No, how could the situation in Tingen City develop to this point?
"what happened?"

Audrey asked with concern.

Even though she couldn't use her "mind reader" ability to observe anything from Mr. Wheel of Fortune, now that Mr. Wheel of Fortune had paused for such a long time without speaking, the clever Miss Justice still realized that something seemed to be wrong.

Did I say something wrong... Audrey pursed her lips and frowned slightly.

As her thoughts raced, Star explained why:

“Nothing. Mr. Fool gave me a very important instruction about a certain evil god…”

"I may be very busy this week. I'll ask you to ask someone else to investigate Qi Lingos's matter."

"As for the Beyonder gathering, I will try my best to catch up."

"I'll go with you when I get back."

Star looked at Audrey apologetically.

She seemed to be in a bad mood at the moment, and was worried inside.

As expected, Mr. Wheel of Fortune, as his follower, still has to participate in those dangerous things...

However, as a "mind reader", Audrey was able to control her emotions well and did not behave rudely in front of Star.

She looked at Star with twinkling eyes, and suddenly smiled, blessing him sincerely:

"Mr. Wheel of Fortune~ I wish you success then."

"I'll wait for you to come back."

"it is good."

(End of this chapter)