Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 144 The Third Generation Difference Engine
Negative effects of magical items.

When the Fool declared the gathering over, Claire withdrew her gaze and, in order not to arouse Audrey's suspicion, fell into a true sleep.

Audrey regained consciousness and lay down properly to rest for a while before getting up from the bed. She saw the woman still lying on the small round table.

Not only was Claire still asleep, but her beautiful sleeping face was now frowned in pain.

"Is this... a nightmare?" Audrey exclaimed softly and sat down across from Claire again. "This woman actually has nightmares?"

There are many shining stars, filling the night sky.

Claire heard a clear little girl's voice echoing in her ears:

"You said that starlight came from billions of years ago. Light can reach such great distances, but why can't human emotions be conveyed even at very close distances..."

A vague voice, as if coming from the sky, yet also as if right next to me, responded: "Did you quarrel with your parents again?"

Claire looked up, but she didn't see the two people talking. Instead, she saw countless stars hanging high in the night sky, twinkling and bewitching.

Looking at the stars in the night sky, Claire's eyes gradually became blurred.

In the haze, the starlight suddenly turned into indescribable monsters!

Claire's eyes felt painful, and her blurry vision suddenly became clear. She looked around and found that she was in her hometown on Earth.

"This is... my childhood home."

In a medium-sized courtyard, Claire sat up dazedly from the pile of sand beneath her. These piles of sand were piled in the yard by her parents to renovate their house and became her "toys" for a period of time during her childhood.

In the dim old light, a gentle and hardworking figure was cooking dinner in the kitchen beside the courtyard.

That's, my mother.

Claire wanted to go over there, but as soon as she took a step, all the nostalgic scenes around her turned into fine sand and disappeared.

"Dream within a dream?" Claire stood in a milky white space, looking down at the body that had now returned to its original form as Galadilla.

There was a chill all over her body, and Claire rubbed her forehead feeling a little uncomfortable.

She noticed that the dream she had just had was a little abrupt—

Ever since she came to this world, especially after getting the goddess's sacred object, she rarely dreamed, and she had never dreamed about the things before she "traveled through time".

"Yuffie." Claire called softly.

The illusory girl in a black dress gradually took shape behind Claire, lying on her back like a ghost.

Countless black threads floated out from the girl's body and wrapped around Claire.

The girl's head floated beside her.

A pair of big black eyes stared at Claire dully.

"Yuffie." Claire frowned and glanced at the girl.

All the black threads wrapped around Claire's body were gathered back together. The girl stretched out her slender white arms, retrieved the floating head, and placed it on her neck.

The nightmarish cold feeling completely faded away.

Claire couldn't help but speculate, "Was it because of the influence of the nightmare doll that I had those emotionally unstable dreams just now? My hometown, my mother... Hmm, who was the one who spoke to me in the first place? I don't remember anything..."

The negative effect of the nightmare doll is that it causes the holder to fall into a nightmare, but this negative effect is suppressed by the holy object in Claire's body, and the impact becomes negligible.

Without any clue, Claire woke herself up from her sleep.

The dream gradually faded away, and the scene in front of her gradually became clear. She saw Audrey sitting across from her at the round table, her arm supporting her face, and she was looking at her curiously.

Claire sat up, rubbed her numb arms, and met Audrey's gaze. "Ms. Audrey, haven't you seen enough?"

Audrey smiled softly and said, "I'm just curious, does Nightmare also have nightmares? I almost wanted to draw what you looked like just now."

Claire stood up without responding to the teasing. She stretched lazily and said, "Thank you, Miss Audrey, for providing a place for me to rest. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now."

"Hey, wait a minute." Audrey interrupted, "I want to cancel the previous commission, the commission to assassinate Ambassador Bakerland."

Audrey explained to Claire, "While you were resting, I gave it some serious thought. This kind of thing can't be entrusted to me, a daughter of a noble, nor can it be done by you, the goddess's messenger. If anyone finds out, it could provoke a war between the kingdom and Intis."

Claire was silent for a moment. "You took up my lunch break and used a lucrative commission as an excuse to call me over...and now you're going back on your word and want to cancel the commission?"

Claire chuckled softly, "Miss Hall, this kind of joke is not funny."

Audrey hesitated for two seconds and said, "Galadia, what kind of compensation do you want?"

Claire was about to give up, but suddenly an idea flashed through her mind. Claire took out her team's identity badge from her bosom, placed it on the round table, and said to Audrey with a smile, "Then give me yours as compensation. My team is short of people. Would you like to consider working for me?"

Audrey looked at the identity badges on the round table and fell silent for a moment.

She once didn't want to be bound by official constraints, so she was unwilling to join official organizations such as the Nighthawks. However, as she got to know the world of Beyonders, especially through her interactions with Claire, she gradually became less averse to official organizations than she was at first.

Claire didn't press her and said casually, "No need to reply right away. Think it over and bring your badge to find me at the church. It just occurred to me that becoming teammates would allow us to be more open and honest with each other."

Claire's words moved Audrey so much that she almost agreed on the spot.

Audrey had always felt that she lacked a stable channel to learn about the extraordinary world. The weekly Tarot Club gatherings were too short, and the topics discussed were somewhat high-brow.

If I join Claire's team, I'll have the opportunity to make up for a lot of extraordinary foundations.

But this woman suddenly invited me to join, there must be a conspiracy. Is Galadria trying to persuade me, a member of the mysterious organization, to rebel?

Audrey suppressed her excitement and said with a reserved smile, "I'll think about it carefully."

After returning to St. Samuel's Church, Claire first spoke with Daly to learn about the status of the various cases the team was responsible for. Unfortunately, there was no progress.

"Daly, do you want me to ask Her Excellency Cecima to let Dunn and his team come to assist us in the investigation?" Claire asked Daly for advice.

Dai Li was stunned for a moment, then after thinking carefully about it, she shook her head and said:

"The investigation into the serial murders is primarily handled by the Sivellas. Even if Dunn and his team were dispatched, it wouldn't have any significant impact. Furthermore, Dunn and his team seem to have discovered some traces of the fraudster Lanevus, and they're busy investigating."

Claire asked in surprise, "Did Dunn and the others track down Lanevus?" "They're just traces, nothing confirmed yet." Daly, apparently having been in contact with Dunn and Leonard, explained, "They've also discovered traces of members of the Aurora Society. They can confirm that Lanevus is hanging out with them."

"Dunn was puzzled by this situation. Back in Tingen, Lanevus's fiancée, Megose, became the vessel for the birth of the evil god's offspring. Although the offspring ultimately failed to be born, Lanevus's very existence was already a blasphemy."

"For the cultists of the Aurora Society, their only true master is not to have a human 'father'."

Daly looked puzzled. "So, if Lanevus wants to survive, he has no choice but to stay away from the Aurora Society. But based on the current clues, it's certain that Lanevus is working with the Aurora Society's cultists."

After hearing this, Claire had a bad feeling in her heart. After thinking for a while, she warned Daly:
"As one of the captains of the investigation team into the Tingen Incident, I've carefully examined every detail of the Tingen Incident. Although Lanevus is just a novice Aurora Society member, he's an absolute lunatic."

"If he hadn't been involved in the conspiracy, the evil god wouldn't have nearly arrived."

"Since he's still alive and hanging out with the crazy people of the Aurora Society, he's probably planning something dangerous."

Daly nodded solemnly. "I'll remind Dunn and Leonard again. Fortunately, Her Excellency Cecima is also following this matter personally."

Afterwards, Claire chatted with Daly again and found nothing unusual about Leonard's whereabouts.

Is Leonard really not a fool?
With this doubt in mind, Claire went to the police station again, using "Ian Wright" as the search term to try to find some clues.

Claire was just trying it out and didn't even ask the police officers for help.

But after some searching, Claire actually found a police report. It was a case in which a private detective who had contact with Ian Wright killed the attacker. It seemed to be an ordinary case of self-defense.

But what was strange was that the more detailed case records were taken away by people at a higher level.

There are only four organizations that have the authority to do this: Nightwatch, The Mandated Punishers, The Mechanical Hive, and MI9.

Although the file had been taken away, Claire found the name of the person who reported the case from the report record:
Sherlock Moriarty.

"Private Investigator," "Sherlock," and "Moriarty."

Claire, who had once been interested in British dramas, felt as if she had returned to Earth when she saw these words translated into Loenese.

Although a first name or a last name doesn't prove anything, the combination of "Sherlock" and "Moriarty"...

"This... shouldn't be a coincidence." Claire sighed with mixed feelings.

After leaving the police station and turning into an alley, Claire used her nightmare ability to get in touch with the golden-masked man, Joakim Laval.

After waiting patiently, Joakim appeared in front of Claire in casual clothes.

"What's the matter?" Qiao Jim looked helplessly at Claire who had called him over.

Claire soothed him, "It's nothing serious. I just want to ask you about a case. Has MI9 accepted any cases involving Ian Wright?"

"Ian Wright..." Joe Jim muttered, looking at Claire doubtfully and saying, "This is indeed a case that MI9 is ​​following up on. It's a rather troublesome case."

"Can you tell me?" Claire asked.

"Do I have the right to refuse?" Joakim replied with a wry smile, "But it's okay to reveal this Red Glove to you. The special thing about this case is that it involves spies from the Intis Republic and the Feysac Empire."

"It's actually a spy case?" Claire was stunned. She never thought that the Fool would be involved in this kind of international espionage case. She had previously thought it was a particularly strange and evil case.

Joakim continued, "Although Ian Wright is from Loen, he was adopted by Zrel, a spy from the Feysac Empire. They have been engaged in espionage work in Backlund."

Zreal... This name also appeared in the Fool's divination. At this point, Claire was certain that the Fool was involved in this espionage case! But why would the Fool be connected to these two spies?
"What valuable things did these two spies obtain from the kingdom?" Claire asked.

Joakim replied with a hint of surprise, "Yes, it's Hermothuin's manuscript, the one that relates to the legendary third-generation Difference Engine."

"Hermothuin..."

Claire could somewhat understand why the Fool would be involved in this case. Turanian von Helmothuein was the greatest, yet most insane, scientist, mathematician, and mechanic since Roselle.

This scientific madman believed that humans have essential flaws and that only with the help of machines could the ultimate truth be obtained. To this end, he developed the second-generation difference engine.

The Difference Engine is a mechanical device used for calculations that can effectively improve the efficiency of scientific research and various engineering projects. It is equivalent to an alternative computer in the steam age. Of course, even the second generation is quite simple and backward.

But according to legend, the third-generation differential engine conceived by Hermothuin has undergone a qualitative change!

Hermothuizen even gave it a new name, "Analytical Engine"!
But Hermothuin mysteriously disappeared while researching the third-generation differential engine. All major countries are looking for him, but no one has been able to find him so far.

If this is the manuscript of the legendary "Analytical Engine", it's no wonder that the Fool got involved. Even I want to take a look at this manuscript...

As a Beyonder on the "Universal" path, Claire felt that this mechanical wonder might be of great help to her.

Even if it didn't help, Claire was very interested in seeing the otherworldly version of a "computer".

"Then how is Intis involved?" Claire asked.

"Intis had an insider planted next to Zreal's superior. When Zreal passed on the information, those Intis intelligence personnel also got the clue. They killed Zreal and seem to have found the manuscript first... Our people and those from the Feysac Empire are chasing them."

Claire asked, "Ian is being held under the control of your MI9?"

"Yes." Qiao Jim nodded, "Unfortunately, he is no longer of much use at the moment."

Claire asked again, "Where is the manuscript?"

"I really don't know the whereabouts of the manuscript." Qiao Jim said with a wry smile: "After all, I am just a marginalized person."

Claire sighed with regret and suddenly thought of the Intis ambassador. It would probably not be easy for these Intis intelligence personnel to take the manuscript out of the Loen Kingdom's heavy blockade.

And Ambassador Beckeron is the head of Intis's intelligence, so he is very likely to know the whereabouts of the manuscript?

Maybe he even has the manuscript?

Thinking of this, Claire looked at Joakim again and asked playfully, "Didn't you check on the Intis ambassador, Bakerlan Jean Martin?"

Hearing Claire's words, Joakim was stunned: "You Nighthawks actually knew about this?"

Because Ambassador Bakerland was involved in a conflict of interest among the nobility, the people from MI9 had been keeping it under wraps to prevent other forces from getting involved and potentially leading to a worse situation.

The members of the Church of Storms were also insiders and shared a common stance on this matter. They were considered their allies and were helping to conceal this information. Therefore, their main targets of deception were the Church of Night and the Church of Steam.

Fortunately, these two churches generally don't get involved in these things, so it's not difficult to conceal them. MI9 has always believed that their confidentiality work is very good...

(End of this chapter)