Conan: Start with three choices, but sequence potion

Chapter 197 Secret
For Suzuki Sonoko and Kyogoku Makoto, it was just another ordinary day.

"The church store has launched a new scroll. This time it's a summoning magic. It can summon a thick earth wall out of thin air as a defense. If used flexibly, it might even be able to summon it to hit the enemy on the head and half kill him!"

Suzuki Sonoko was excitedly browsing her phone and patted Luo Shan, who was frowning beside her: "Shouldn't we just take it down?"

"A scroll costs 15 pounds, and my weekly salary is only 4 pounds." Luo Shan rolled her eyes.

"Come play cards with us." Old Neil said with a smile at the card table nearby. "With the captain's alchemy field, we don't really need scrolls to enhance our personal strength."

Sitting at the card table with him were Leonard and Kyogoku Makoto. Kyogoku Makoto was a little flustered and it seemed that he was not very good at this kind of activity.

After struggling for a long time, he finally hit a pair of seven-barrels to defeat Old Neil.

Leonard quickly followed up with a pair of queens, and no one saw that he secretly sandwiched a three underneath.

As the "evil" of this battle, Kyogoku Makoto was quickly defeated by the joint torture of the two veterans.

"It's getting dark again." Old Neil cleaned up the card table and looked out the window at the setting sun. He sighed, "Sometimes, when I see the sun go down, I always feel a strange sense of reluctance."

"But nighttime is our home ground." Leonard put on his old-fashioned gentleman's hat and picked up a very exaggerated cane. He looked not like a modern young man, but rather like a little aristocrat from the Victorian era.

"Praise Scarlet."

Old Neil smiled and nodded, pointing a half moon at his heart.

"Praise Scarlet."

Others followed in daily prayer.

For some reason, Suzuki Sonoko always felt that if this half moon changed its position slightly, it would form a cross.

Perhaps it's because I've seen so many Christs in real life that I've developed a sense of déjà vu out of habit.

She buried this meaningless thought deep in her heart. The consequences of Uncle Maori's blasphemy were still vivid in her mind, and she didn't want to make the same mistake.

At this moment, the scarlet holy emblems hanging on the walls inside the Red Rose Security Company began to flash frequently, the wind chimes hanging by the door jingled, and the lanterns outside the house all changed color, from a calm dim yellow to a terrifying blood red.

Everyone's spirit was exposed to an alarm coming from underground.

"Someone broke into Pandora's Gate!" Old Neil's face changed.

"Where's the captain?"

"I went out with Ms. Daly and haven't come back yet!"

"We are the only ones left now!" Leonard reacted quickly and immediately went downstairs to collect all the lanterns hanging on the roadside. "Bring the lights!"

Everyone took the blood-red lanterns and ran towards the underground passage.

Without Captain Dunn leading the way, everyone felt a little unsure. The Sequence 7 Alchemy Field could ensure that everyone's chanting level reached the captain's level, and it also had an amplifying effect on magic. At this critical juncture, without the captain, a Sequence 7, the highest Sequence among them was only Old Neil, the Sequence 8 "Painter".

The scarlet holy emblems on both sides of the underground passage were all flashing with a scarlet glow. Although it might be a bit unfair to Lady Scarlet Witch to say this, it really looked a bit creepy in the dim underground at this moment.

Suzuki Sonoko swallowed her saliva, gently touched the various magic scrolls in her pocket, felt a little relieved, and then followed closely behind Kyogoku Mamoru, not daring to leave.

Kyogoku Makoto was also considerate of her feelings and slowed down his pace.

As the person with the highest sequence at the moment, Old Neil temporarily served as the team's commander.

"Prefer to protect yourself first, don't try to be brave." He warned seriously, then raised the blood-red lantern high and slowly walked towards the Pandora Gate.

The Pandora Gate has a strong suppressive power against evil spirits, so it is impossible for evil spirits to be at work. It can only be the invasion of other extraordinary beings.

"There is no other exit inside the Pandora Gate. If the intruder wants to leave, he can only return by the same route." He explained briefly, then took out a ceremonial silver dagger, cut his wrist without hesitation, took out a thick brush from his pocket, dipped it in blood and began to draw on the ground.

"Be prepared for battle. When the enemy comes out of Pandora's Gate, that's our chance!"

He spat and stood up. A complex magic circle drawn with blood had appeared on the ground. Old Neil reached out to Suzuki Sonoko and asked for her magic scroll.

Suzuki Sonoko quickly handed it to him.

The magic scrolls were placed in an orderly manner at each end of the magic circle, connected by a vague connection.

"Amplification array." Seeing her curious face, Old Neil took out gauze from his pocket to bandage the wound while briefly introducing it, "You can use a unified chant to activate all the connected scrolls at the same time and increase the magic power to a certain extent."

"The disadvantage is that one needs to draw one's own blood as the medium for casting spells, and it takes a long time to draw, so it is difficult to play a role in a battle encounter."

Old Neil comforted him again: "However, in an encounter, you can use blood to quickly draw runes in the air, achieving an effect similar to that of a magic scroll, so you don't have to worry about not having a way to fight the enemy."

Suzuki Sonoko opened her eyes wide.

Isn’t this the noble wizard she imagined?

When advancing, you can ambush and provide firepower coverage in advance; when retreating, you can harass while running away.

The only flaw is probably that you need to use your own blood, which is equivalent to a blue bar limitation.

By the way, can we use the accumulated blood?
Suzuki Sonoko was a little curious, but seeing that even Old Neil had to bleed on the spot, that probably wouldn't work.

Sequence 9 can rely on "money ability" to quickly increase combat power, Sequence 8 has direct means to fight the enemy, and at Sequence 7, it can even bless teammates with a field and create powerful talismans. It is simply an extraordinary sequence that perfectly suits her aesthetic, okay?
Suzuki Sonoko felt only a bright future for her extraordinary path.

Soon, there was movement at the Pandora Gate, and everyone immediately became alert.

"Everyone chant and get ready!" Old Neil raised his hand solemnly.

There was a distortion in space, and a dark red figure walked out of Pandora's door.

"put!"

Several beams of magic light lit up, and the magic circle emitted a dazzling light, making those magic beams several times stronger.

Slowdown, disarmament, coma, all kinds of magic flew towards the intruder with great momentum.

Vermouth's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly. She was caught off guard by the sudden attack as soon as she came out.

But the next second, obscure and ancient syllables came out of her mouth.

"secret!"

Those dazzling beams of magic light disappeared suddenly as if they were wiped away by an eraser, leaving only a dim magic circle that had served its purpose and become useless.

"Look carefully, it's me." Vermouth lifted the hood of her cloak with a gloomy face, revealing her beautiful face that was pure yet a bit charming, and her scarlet eyes stared at them. The lantern holders looked at each other, and put away their pistols and scrolls in dismay.

Old Neil touched his nose awkwardly.

You have to know that the order to release the magic just now was given by him personally.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Favored One, we thought it would be invaders."

"The intruder has already escaped. They were able to break through the Pandora Gate, so it's obvious that there are high-sequence Beyonders waiting outside to support them." Vermouth's face looked very ugly. "This is a conspiracy against our Scarlet Church. The intruder is very familiar with the current situation in the church."

"Notify the Church of Fools and the Church of Wisdom immediately. We need support."

"Yes!"

Old Neil suddenly asked, "Excuse me, Your Excellency, what did the intruder do inside Pandora's Gate?"

"They stole 1-175." Vermouth said briefly, then turned and left without saying anything more.

"Let Dunn come to the cathedral to see me." She said this and walked towards the Scarlet Cathedral.

After she left, the crimson holy emblem in the passage quickly returned to calm, and the lanterns in everyone's hands returned to their normal light.

"What is the 1-175 that Lilith mentioned?" Suzuki Sonoko looked up and asked Leonard.

"It is a magical item sealed inside Pandora's Gate. It is divided into four levels according to different danger levels and strengths: Level 0 is the most dangerous, and levels 123 with decreasing danger levels."

"We should go find Dunn." Old Neil interrupted their chat. "He carries the holy emblem with him. He must have noticed something was wrong a long time ago and will be back soon."

Leonard closed his mouth, shrugged at Suzuki Sonoko, and then followed Old Neil upstairs.

Luo Shan followed along, and whispered to Suzuki Sonoko as they passed by: "If you are really curious, you can ask the captain to enter the literature reading room. There are many books on mysticism and historical materials collected by the church. You can also find the corresponding text of 1-175 that you want to know there."

After saying that, she trotted after him.

Suzuki Sonoko looked back at the underground passage leading to the document reading room, seeming to be thinking about something.

When Dunn finally came back and dealt with the aftermath of the Pandora Gate invasion, he finally found a moment to relax in the office, when he saw Suzuki Sonoko peeking at him from the door of the office.

"What's the matter?" Dunn always acted relaxed and reliable towards his teammates in the Lighthouse Team. Even in such frustrating moments, he could still force a smile.

"I shouldn't have forgotten to pay you your weekly salary, Ms. Suzuki."

"I'm not here to see you for this." Suzuki Sonoko hesitated for a while, but then walked in.

"Captain, I would like to apply to enter the literature reading room to take a look. Well, it would be best if I could bring Ah Zhen with me."

She expressed her demands.

Dunn pondered for a moment, took out a folder from the drawer, and flipped through a few pages.

He raised his eyebrows slightly. "Let me see. Miss Suzuki, you recently purchased more than twenty kinds of magic scrolls in the church store, an average of more than ten of each, bringing at least 1,500 pounds of income to the church. From this point of view, your contribution to the church is more than enough to meet your request."

"And Mr. Kyogoku also helped us solve two cases of evil spirits during his recent patrol. There is nothing wrong with your application. I approve it."

"The time limit for entering the reading room at one time is three hours. Are you planning to go tonight? If so, you may need to ask for leave. After all, our daily street patrol is about to begin." Dunn took out two notes and wrote on them.

"Then let's do as you say, Captain." Suzuki Sonoko made the decision resolutely.

She had a hunch that if the metaverse was likened to a game, then what they encountered tonight would undoubtedly be a key plot mission.

Although Redemption Rose has repeatedly claimed that there is absolute freedom in the metaverse, with no main line or so-called plot, Suzuki Sonoko just thinks this is an opportunity.

Even in reality, there are many choices that can change your life, and she knows this very well.

"Okay." Dunn quickly approved the approval note and leave note for her.

"By the way." He suddenly asked, "How is Ms. Suzuki's performance progressing? By the way, this is just my personal curiosity, you can choose not to answer."

Suzuki Sonoko didn't think much of this question and said honestly, "Not bad, I've digested about one third of it."

"Good progress. It's only been a week since I officially became a Beyonder, and I've made such progress." Dunn sighed.

"Okay, you can go look up the knowledge you want to know."

"Goodbye, Captain." Suzuki Sonoko waved her hand and skipped out of the office happily.

When Suzuki Sonoko brought Kyogoku Makoto to the underground passage and walked to the door of the document reading room, they saw a small window on one side of the tightly closed heavy door.

It was dark inside the window, and one could vaguely see a lantern emitting a warm yellow glow hanging inside. In front of the window was a figure covered in a dark red cloak, whose face was obscured by the shadow and could not be seen clearly.

The figure did not move, but gently extended a red-gloved hand when Suzuki Sonoko and the others approached.

For some reason, Suzuki Sonoko always felt that this person didn't look like a living person.

But the spirit didn't give her any bad premonition, which made her feel a little awkward.

She handed over the note from Dunn.

The figure slowly withdrew his hand without even carefully looking at the approval slip, as if he was not worried at all that someone might forge it.

The heavy door at the side made a teeth-grinding friction sound and slowly swung open, revealing a gap that was big enough for one person to fit in.

"Three hours"

A dull voice that did not sound like a human voice came from the figure, and Suzuki Sonoko always had the illusion that she heard the sound of some hard objects colliding.

But he is the gatekeeper of the Scarlet Church, what could be wrong?

She didn't think any more about it, said thank you and walked inside. Kyogoku Makoto glanced at the figure in the dark red cloak and followed him in.

Soon, the door slowly closed again.

Inside the window, the figure took off the hood of his cloak, revealing a terrifying inhuman head. The large head was shaped like a hippopotamus with rough dark red skin. Thick and sharp teeth extended from the upper and lower jaws, intertwining with each other, and when the mouth opened and closed, a crisp sound of teeth colliding could be heard.

"A devil who can't transform has no demonic authority. I was supposed to be assigned a role where I didn't have to speak, but I still had to speak."

The devil tapped his fangs in confusion, "I almost got caught. It would be too unfair if my salary was deducted."

(End of this chapter)