Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 7 Case
Walking down the stairs, the dim yellow light of the gas lamp illuminates the way forward.

Roxanne's voice echoed in the air.

"The captain actually asked me to explain the extraordinary knowledge to you... In my opinion, we should stay away from those things. Just like this road, no matter how many times I walk it, I still feel scared every time."

Luo Shan walked carefully, holding on to the wall, and even leaned towards Jiang Zhe, but this fear did not affect Luo Shan's chattering at all.

"My father was a regular member of the Nighthawks. He died five years ago, and that's when I became a civilian. So, why did you want to become a Beyonder? Even Ms. Daly accidentally took the 'Corpse Collector' potion and became a Beyonder."

Corpse collector... Jiang Zhe still remembered Captain Dunn describing Daley as a "gravedigger" and a "psychic." Are these Beyonder professions? They seem quite different.

Roshan continued:
"Becoming a Beyonder means being surrounded by madness and death. The captain must have told you that Beyonders can get out of control."

"And my father once said that the higher the sequence, the closer one is to madness or death. Claire, you're a top student at Tingen University, a noble lady from the Meazza family, and so beautiful... I respect all Night Watchmen, but I sincerely advise you to give up this idea."

Seeing Luo Shan's voice rising in pitch and her emotions becoming increasingly agitated, Jiang Zhe realized that this might be due to her special ability.

Jiang Zhe interrupted at the right moment and asked, "What is a potion? What is a sequence?"

Luo Shan's words stopped abruptly, and her brown eyes glared at Jiang Zhe helplessly, but her emotions broke away from the excitement and turned to her endless explanation:

"Legend has it that humans are naturally lacking the magical abilities of other races. However, they were born from the wisdom of the Creator. Under the protection of the gods, while battling giants, demons, and alien species, they gradually discovered how to use evil spirits, dragons, monsters, magical trees, flowers, or corresponding parts of crystals, combined with other ingredients, to create potions to gain corresponding magical abilities."

"Just by drinking the potion, you can gain abilities?" Jiang Zhe asked in surprise. The process seemed a bit simple.

Luo Shan rolled her eyes. "How can it be that simple? If you drink the potion rashly, you will hear indescribable sounds and see indescribable images... You will go mad, die, or even turn into a monster!"

"After an indeterminate amount of time exploring, I don't know the details, people eventually discovered a relatively safe method for absorbing potions... starting with potions that are tolerable, gradually increasing in level to corresponding advanced potions..."

"The records call it 'the path'."

"Potions are called Sequence 9, Sequence 8, etc. from lowest to highest. The lower the number, the higher the sequence. But I only know Sequence 7. That's all I can see and know with my clearance."

"Take the captain as an example. The potion he took was the complete sequence mastered by the Church, 'The Unsleeping One'."

"Sequence 9 is called 'Sleepless', Sequence 8 is 'Midnight Poet', Sequence 7 is 'Nightmare', and the captain is currently at the 'Nightmare' level."

After hearing this, Jiang Zhe suddenly realized that the five potion formulas in his memory and the technical terms he had heard before were now connected.

Jiang Zhe asked, "What about 'gravedigger', 'psychic', and 'corpse collector'?"

Roxanne replied, "That's another potion sequence. Claire, you actually knew about it... Did you hear it from Ms. Daly?"

"Sequence 9 is 'Corpse Collector', Sequence 8 is 'Gravedigger', and Sequence 7 is 'Psychic'. However, I heard that this sequence is not fully accessible within the Church."

"incomplete?"

"Yes, the Church has always been able to collect potions through non-Church channels over the years, but most of them are not connected, which is called an incomplete channel in the Church."

“Then what other avenues does our church have?”

"I'm just a civilian, how could I know more? Even some wild Beyonders don't know this much."

After hearing this, Jiang Zhe guessed that the church's monopoly on the potion system was very overbearing. Not to mention the formula, even the name seemed to be rarely revealed.

Is it because there are gods in the church?
Is there any connection between potions and gods?
Jiang Zhe glanced at the "Holy Emblem of Darkness" that appeared at regular intervals on the wall. It was the symbol of the Goddess of Night.

Luo Shan added, "But I do know of another sequence, Sequence 9, 'Secret Peer.' One of our civilian staff members is a 'Secret Peer.'"

Secret Peeping Man!
Jiang Zhe's pupils suddenly shrank. She remembered the potion formula clearly in her memory!

There is a high probability that the five potion recipes in her memory are real!

Jiang Zhe suppressed his surprise and calmly asked, "Why is the 'Secret Peeper' still a civilian like us?" Luo Shan replied casually, "He's retired from the official staff. We all call him Old Neil. You'll see him later when you go to the archives."

When we got here, we saw a crossroads. Luo Shan pointed at the road and said:

"To the left is the Church of St. Selina, to the right is the weapons, materials, and document library, and straight ahead is the Chanis Gate."

"You must be familiar with St. Selina's Church."

"Chaness Gate is where the official teammates are on duty. Leonard should be on duty now."

"We're headed to the weapons, materials, and document library, which is also where we'll be on constant duty. Old Neil should be here right now."

After turning right for a while, the two came to a half-open iron gate.

Luo Shan stepped forward and opened the door.

Jiang Zhe followed his sight and saw a man with a thick black beard sitting behind a desk.

Is this the "Secret Peeper" Old Neil? He's obviously not that old...

"Brett, why are you on duty here? Where's Old Neil?"

Through Luo Shan's words, Jiang Zhe realized that he had made a mistake.

Brett looked up, looking puzzled at Jiang Zhe who was following behind Luo Shan, and said to Luo Shan, "Old Neil is doing some ritual magic again. He's so old, and he still doesn't stop."

"When will he come back?" Luo Shan asked.

"It's probably going to be late today. They told me to stay here all day." Brett looked at Jiang Zhe again. "Who is this?"

Luo Shan stepped aside and introduced, "Today's new civilian staff member is Claire Meazza."

"Meazza...is that the great noble Meazza?"

Luo Shan smiled and nodded, then introduced Jiang Zhe, "Our other colleague, Brett. There are only four ordinary clerical staff members: you, me, Old Neil, and Brett. The remaining two are full-time accountants and drivers."

Jiang Zhe felt a little sorry for not seeing the secret peeker, and greeted Brett politely.

Luo Shan asked, "Although Old Neil is not here, Brett and I can't explain more about Beyonders to you, but the captain said you're interested in the case involving Ty Poslan. Do you want us to help you find out?"

"All?" Jiang Zhe was stunned. Ty Perslan had quite a few cases? How could she not know?
"You're looking for files related to Ty Poslan... I helped organize some of them." Brett realized that this Claire in front of him was the girlfriend Ty Poslan had kidnapped, as stated in the files...

With the help of Brett and Roxanne, a pile of information was carried out in a cardboard box.

It looks very clean, all new information.

Luo Shan took out a book and handed it to Jiang Zhe. "This case has drawn our attention to the origins of Tai Poslan. Take a look first."

Jiang Zhe took it and saw the words "Tingen North District Elementary School Group Murder Case" written on the cover of the document.

Luo Shan said, "According to the captain's investigation, there is an instigator behind this."

Jiang Zhe had heard of this case. Both Tai Perslan and Claire had memories of discussing it. It wasn't just them; most people in Tingen were keen on discussing it during that time.

But it's just a topic of conversation...

How did Tai Poslan become the instigator behind the scenes?
Jiang Zhe carefully read the case file and found a familiar name on it:

Claire Meazza.

(End of this chapter)