Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 156 Joining the Team
"It was Grellant's father's early death and his own frail health that made him desire extraordinary healing abilities. He once said, 'Being healthy and immune to most diseases and injuries is the most important thing.' However..."

Audrey thought of her good friend Grellant's barely concealed "hehe" smile when he said this, and the so-called "male tacit understanding" that was barely concealed in that smile.

With the easily overlooked Susie acting as her eyes and ears, Audrey had actually heard that a certain potion produced by the "Pharmacist" was very popular among male nobles. The reason why Gralint was determined to become a "Pharmacist" was also because of his pursuit of this kind of potion...

Men...

Audrey sighed inwardly.

Ever since she became an Extraordinary Person of the "Audience" Path, she has become increasingly repulsive to those men who approach her for various reasons, because she can always "observe" the true thoughts in these men's hearts - those dark thoughts involving lust.

Sexual desire between men and women is normal, but Audrey couldn't communicate with him in a friendly manner even though she knew he was secretly fantasizing about her. For example, when she first met Mr. A from the Aurora Club, he looked at her as if he wanted to eat her up, and Audrey almost couldn't contain the disgust in her heart.

Audrey gained the extraordinary ability to "observe" others, but also lost her "insensitivity" in interpersonal communication, which made her too sensitive.

There are always gains and losses, and the balance between gains and losses is a personal choice.

Claire was keenly aware of Audrey's mood swings. She changed the subject and discussed Audrey's joining the Night Watchers. "To become a Night Watcher, you still need to go through the induction procedures. Do you want to follow me back to St. Samuel's Church to complete the formalities, or do you want me to arrange it for you?"

Both of these have their pros and cons. The former allows Audrey to publicly display her identity as a Night Watcher and enjoy all the rights of a Night Watcher, but it will also expose Audrey's identity to the public, just like Claire in the Tingen period.

The latter can hide Audrey's identity, but the resources he enjoys are subject to certain restrictions, just like Hugh today.

Audrey finally chose to join the Nighthawks, largely because she wanted to supplement her lack of common sense about Extraordinary people from the Nighthawks system.

So she hoped to enjoy all the rights of a Nighthawk, but she was also reluctant to reveal her identity. After thinking for a moment, Audrey asked Claire for help, "It's okay to reveal my Beyonder identity, but I don't want my family to worry. Captain Galadilla, is there any way to keep it a secret from them?"

Hearing this question, Claire's lips twitched slightly. She sighed silently and revealed to Audrey, "Audrey, actually... your parents already knew you were a Beyonder. It was exposed when you used your family's Beyonder materials."

Hearing this, Audrey couldn't help but open her cherry lips in surprise.

Claire explained in detail, "The Hall family's close relationship with the church is beyond your imagination. Your father long ago recorded your identity as a 'spectator' in the Night Watchers' records. The filing date is July 7th."

July 7th? !

So early!
Audrey covered her mouth, unable to speak for a moment.

Claire continued, "Although your family's understanding of Feifan is superficial, since this involves their most precious daughter, they are trying very hard to understand. They are catering to your thoughts and pretending to be ignorant."

Hearing these facts from Claire, Audrey was surprised, ashamed, and moved. She thought she could quietly grow up to be the person behind the scenes protecting her family, but she didn't know that her parents knew so much about her and were even acting with her...

In my parents' eyes, even if I became a Beyonder, I'm probably just a child who hasn't grown up yet...

Audrey sighed inwardly.

However, Audrey didn't underestimate herself because of this. She was sure her parents didn't know that she had been promoted to Sequence 8 in such a short period of time. Even in the world of Beyonders, it was generally believed that it took years to advance from Sequence 9 to Sequence 8.

The “acting method” that can help you get promoted quickly is high-end knowledge that only a few circles can access!

And through the Bakerlund assassination, Audrey realized that the power she could mobilize was already able to protect her parents and family to a certain extent.

"So Mom and Dad already knew..." Audrey remained shocked. At this moment, she also felt a little convenience in joining the Night Watchers. The official filing and her parents' knowledge were things she had never had access to before.

Audrey said this with a wry smile and a resigned expression, sighing, "Since I haven't been able to hide it from the person I wanted to hide it from the most, there's nothing left to hide. I'll go with you to St. Samuel's Church to complete the induction process."

Claire brought the disguised Audrey back to the basement of the church and performed a similar procedure to that of Hugh, giving her the identity of a Nighthawk and then seconding her to the Red Gloves Team 7.

After signing the contract, Audrey didn't care about the salary and benefits in the contract. Instead, she plunged into the underground data room as if she had discovered a new world, flipping through the various materials that she had access to, one book at a time, page by page.

Claire watched Audrey reading with a touch of emotion, her eyes filled with memories of her Tingen days.

This is how she came to understand the world of Beyonders when she first joined the Nighthawks.

However, she still interrupted Audrey's excitement and said with a smile, "You can take your time reading the books here. I need to give you a basic introduction to the Nighthawks and the Red Gloves first."

Then, Claire gave Audrey a detailed explanation of everything from the main paths of the Goddess Church, the merit system, to the differences in responsibilities between the Nighthawks and the Red Gloves.

During this process, Audrey asked, "...So, Backlund's Red Gloves team has the responsibility to provide support to various locations. Does that mean I also need to follow the team and provide support?"

"It's necessary for my duties." Claire added, noticing Audrey's conflicted expression of anticipation and trepidation.
"However, our team won't have to leave Backlund in the near future. Our team, Team 7, has recently participated in two operations against the Aurora Society. Based solely on our contributions in these two events, our rest period can be extended until the end of the year according to regulations. Furthermore... even if you want to carry out support missions, you must be promoted to at least Sequence to qualify."

Claire didn't mention her independent investigation rights. This authority was actually slowly being transferred to others as she expanded the team, just like when Lord Cecima discussed with her about having Daly involved in the serial murder case. She used the church's resources to support her team members, so she needed them to demonstrate their value to the church.

"The team's most important mission at the moment is to assist the Nighthawks in investigating the serial murder case. However, this case is primarily being followed up by one of our Sequence 6 members."

"Sequence 6?" Audrey asked in surprise, and secretly suspected that Claire had concealed her own sequence. Since all the team members were Sequence 6, the captain should at least not be weaker than the team members, right?

Audrey asked repeatedly, "Captain, how many people are there in our team?"

Claire said:
"Besides you and me, the only regular team member is Sequence 6 Daly Simone. Daly was transferred from the Nighthawks to the Red Gloves due to her talent and experience. This is also the standard profile for joining the Red Gloves. I will introduce you to each other later."

"There are two other team members who are currently participating in a special mission and need to remain confidential. I'll introduce them to you after they return."

Audrey listened to the introduction and was surprised by how small the team was. She couldn't help but grumble, "Is the Red Gloves team so short on personnel? Or...is it just our team?"

Facing Audrey's scrutinizing gaze, Claire didn't feel shy at all and said confidently:
"Every team is very short on personnel, and ours is a new starter, so naturally the number of people is even smaller. Otherwise, why do you think I would recruit you to join the team?"

"When you have time, go check out Team 8 next door. They only have one other member besides the captain." Claire brought up Dunn's team next door.

Audrey sighed slightly. The contract had already been signed, and she didn't think she could afford the cost of tearing it up. In addition, Audrey, with her ability to read minds, noticed that after becoming "one of her own", Galadriel's attitude towards her had obviously changed. She became much more frank and not as bad as before.

Could it be that Galadilla's previous bad behavior was just a disguise? Audrey suddenly realized.

"Our team actually participated in two operations against the Aurora Society? Can I see the relevant operation records?" Audrey asked Claire.

"Of course, this is also one of the purposes of inviting you to join the Nighthawks." Claire used her authority to retrieve partial reports of the two operations from behind the Chanis Gate.

In fact, even the other members of the Red Gloves team do not have the authority to read these reports. These two operations involving the Aurora Society have a high level of confidentiality.

But Team 7 had participated, so ordinary team members like Audrey could also see this part of the report as action team members.

Looking through these reports, Audrey felt the convenience of her official status!
No matter how she tried to inquire, she could not get even one tenth of the information in front of her. This is the information barrier.

Just like in the secular world, a lot of power and financial information is impossible to flow from the aristocracy into society. As one of the most powerful orthodox churches, the vision of the extraordinary people within the Goddess Church is much broader than that of wild extraordinary people.

Audrey sat down and looked at the two reports. Although they were only partial and many things were incomplete, Audrey also saw that Mr. A died at the hands of Lady Cecima, and the information provider was actually Group 7!
Audrey glanced at Claire, who was sitting calmly beside her, sipping a cup of coffee. She suspected that the captain had gotten the information about Mr. A's gathering from her and Grallint, and that was how he got the credit...

Audrey continued reading and indeed saw that in the second operation, Leonard Mitchell of Group 8 successfully killed Lanevus with the assistance of Galadria.

"I didn't lie." Audrey muttered in her heart.

The report's appendix briefly introduced Leonard, the person most responsible for this incident. Audrey noticed that this "Nightmare" had experience with the Tingen Nighthawks, and judging by the dates, his experience overlapped with that of "Priestess" Claire Meazza...

"Is she a former member of the Priestess' team?"

Audrey's mood became a little gloomy, and she suddenly wanted to know more about the deceased "priestess".

So she pointed at the word Tingen and asked Claire, "Captain Galadilla, I remember you said there was a woman of noble birth who sacrificed herself in Tingen as a Nightwatchman. Were she and this Leonard teammates?"

Claire didn't expect Audrey to ask about this, but Audrey could investigate these simple questions if she was willing. Claire didn't hide anything and took a sip of her hot coffee and replied:

"Yes, it's not just Leonard Mitchell. Daley from our team was also a member of the Tingen Nighthawks. Although she wasn't in the same class as Claire Meazza, they knew each other. Also, Dunn Smith, the captain of the Red Gloves' 8th Squad, was Claire Meazza's captain when she was in Tingen."

After hearing these introductions, Audrey was surprised and puzzled. She asked, "So many members of Team Tingen have become members of the Red Gloves... Captain Galadilla, is this common?"

"Of course it's not common." Claire put down her coffee cup and sighed, "They came for revenge."

revenge……

Audrey murmured in her heart. She remembered that when she investigated Claire's case, she found out that two police officers and a civilian staff member died in the Tingen incident.

Claire Meazza, Sharon and Klein Moretti.

……

On Iron Gate Street in the Backlund Bridge District, Mr. Wisdom Eye's gathering continued. A woman, her face obscured by the shadow of a hood and two boxes at her feet, spoke up, "I have two weapons with extraordinary effects."

An item called "Slow Whip" has a useful life of two years and costs £450. It can also be exchanged for the "Barbarian" potion recipe.

Another item, called the "Hurricane Axe," has a lifespan of less than a year, but because it has a chance to create lightning, it's sold for a higher price of £520. It can also be exchanged for the "Barbarian" potion formula.

Xio was a little tempted after hearing this. She lacked a suitable extraordinary weapon, but she was short of money, and she was still saving money to buy the extraordinary materials for the "Sheriff".

The two weapons soon attracted bidding from others, and the "Hurricane Axe" was bought by the man who had just sold the formulas of "The Singer" and "The Prayer" for 560 pounds.

The "Slow Whip" was also bid up to £480 by the partygoers present.

At this moment, Xio heard Tessa beside him say calmly: "490 pounds."

The sudden price increase of 10 pounds made everyone else give up the competition, but after Tessa bought the "Slow Whip", she threw it directly to Hugh.

This long whip can gradually slow down the opponent's movements, and the longer the battle lasts, the more obvious the effect will be.

Hugh, holding the whip, looked at Tessa in confusion.

Tessa whispered, "This is the equipment you'll need to be the manager of my bar. I told you my bar is a bit messy, and this weapon is just right."

Hearing this, Xio felt a little reluctant, but she still pushed the whip back to Tessa. She shook her head and whispered, "But I may not be able to go to your place yet."

Tessa shrugged and smiled, without further entanglement. She put away the whip and said, "Then I'll keep it until you take over."

Several more items were put up for sale, the most valuable of which was the extraordinary material "Heart of the Feathered Man" worth 1600 pounds, but no one bought it.

"What is the Heart of the Feathered Man? Is it so expensive?" Xio asked Tessa curiously.

"Judging from the price, it should be the extraordinary material required for a Sequence 6." Tessa responded in a low voice. She didn't say anything else. This is the main material of the "Requiem Master" sequence.

"Requiem Master" is the main channel of the Church of Evernight. How dare anyone sell this kind of material in Backlund?
So, it's highly likely that the Church of Evernight is using mid-sequence Beyonder materials to fish...

Just as the gathering was drawing to a close, the man sitting in the middle seat, whom Tessa had been secretly following, suddenly asked, "Who has all the spinal fluid of the evil-striped black panther?"

(End of this chapter)