Mystery: Survival from the Secret Doll

Chapter 328, Chapter 327: One follower, two hundred Felkin.

Nikolai moved closer to the wall behind him, allowing the boy who had heard the roar behind him, head down, and was quickly running from one end of the alley to the other to dart past him.

"Don't run, you little brat! When I catch you, I'll shove your XXX into your mother's XXXX—!!"

"You son of a bitch! Give it back to me!!! Stop right there!!"

Tang: "Wow, that's really filthy."

Tang sat on the rooftop beside the alley, watching the boy navigate the winding path. He was clearly familiar with the area and quickly escaped from the men who had been chasing him all the way.

Tang glanced in Nikolai's direction, and Nikolai understood. The two figures quickly disappeared from the spot.

Compared to ordinary people who wander aimlessly through the alleys like headless flies, this kind of terrain doesn't really affect a proper angel.

Therefore, catching up with the thief, who was also an ordinary person, was not difficult for Nikolai and Don.

Just as the boy breathed a sigh of relief after shaking off his pursuers, he suddenly heard light but rhythmic footsteps behind him.

The boy suddenly turned around.

He saw a man wearing a black silk top hat and a matching tailcoat, who looked completely out of place in the dark and cramped alleyway.

"Those officials' servants?"

Was it a coincidence?

The boy thought.

He seemed to have seen this person before, but how did this person end up here?

Did they follow him, or catch up with him?

The boy glanced at the other person's attire and figured it wasn't the kind of clothing that would allow for fast running.

So, did he just happen to end up here? Did he take a shortcut? Or was it just that they were dressed similarly? He was running very fast and only saw the general clothes, so he couldn't be sure if it was the same person standing in front of him.

Nikolai adjusted his black silk top hat, his light brown eyes glancing at what the boy had hidden in his hand.

As the King of Angels who acts as a thief, finding "stolen goods" and determining their value is not difficult for him.

What the boy stole were probably some common medicines for treating illnesses, which are not considered valuable in Intistriel.

But judging from the reactions of the guys chasing him, this didn't seem like the first time he'd done something like this.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone to such lengths for something so small.

Nikolai approached the boy, who took two steps back warily, then turned and tried to run away.

He had a feeling that this strange guy who suddenly appeared had ill intentions, so he thought it best to leave as soon as possible.

It must be said that his feeling was correct.

But for young animals about to escape, there are always some baits that can make them hesitate.

He quickly stopped in his tracks.

"I have a deal for you, would you like to make it?"

Nikolai quickly learned the general information about the boy in front of him through the information exchange between his other clones and puppets, and he soon threw out the bait.

This person is really short of money.

The young man's voice behind him was somewhat deep, but it still traveled smoothly through the dark and narrow alleyway and reached the boy's ears without any obstruction.

"trade?"

The boy paused for a moment, then quickly realized what was happening.

This person may have some ulterior motive, but that motive is not directed at him.
Or rather, is this an opportunity for him to make a quick buck?

After all, everyone, from the top-level bigwigs to the ordinary citizens at the bottom, can feel how dark Trier really is. It's quite common for them to entrust some shady things to homeless people whose lives don't matter.

"Yes."

Nikolai smiled and nodded. "One...one hundred Felkins, how about that?"

'Tang, you're really being a bit stingy.'

"Mind your own business. I've already been very generous by not paying for the historical perforation images."

Based on the current inflation rate, it would be roughly equivalent to four gold pounds in value for Rune.

While four gold pounds can't do much for an Extraordinary, except buy spiritual materials and potion supplements, one hundred Fel gold is enough for people with lower ranks, or those who aren't Extraordinary at all but at the bottom.

What kind of deal was it?

The boy glanced around Nikolai warily. He didn't see anything strange, and the guy didn't seem like he was very good at fighting.

Therefore, based on his own experience, the boy felt it was worthwhile to talk and asked somewhat reluctantly.

The boy must have had a good life before. Although he was dressed in simple clothes, the accent of some Intis words showed that he had a good upbringing. It was just a mystery why he had fallen into such a state of decline and even had to resort to theft here.

“It’s a very simple deal… I can give you the deposit now, forty Felkin, how about it? The remaining sixty Felkin will be given to you after you’ve done what I asked you to do.”

After confirming the strength of both sides, the boy pondered for a moment. He figured that even if he was unlucky, and this person was just a human trafficker who wanted to kidnap him, he could escape by relying on his familiarity with the place. Only then did he slowly nod.

This kind of out-of-place, cumbersome outfit actually works well in this place; its advantage lies in the fact that it's unfashionable.

"can."

When Nikolai heard the other party agree, a familiar smile appeared on his face. As if by magic, he reached out with his white-gloved hand and pulled out a gold coin marked with forty fen.

Under the boy's gaze, Nikolai pulled a note out of thin air with his other free hand.

He slipped Fairkin into a note and tossed it to the boy, who was clearly still wary of him.

The boy was very agile. While protecting what he was holding, he caught the note and Felkin that Nikolai threw to him. After confirming that Felkin was real, the boy slowly opened the note and saw the contents.

Those were sentences in Intis. Although the boy wasn't exactly illiterate, he wasn't quite sure how to pronounce or identify the unfamiliar Intis words written on the note.

This is……

After glancing at it a few times, the boy saw that the strange man didn't approach, so he breathed a sigh of relief and didn't force himself. He honestly told his employer, "I can't understand what's written on it."

"It doesn't matter."

Nikolai clapped his hands and smiled, saying, "I can teach you; these are all very simple words."

Is this person alright?
The boy glanced at the young man as if he were an idiot, wondering if the man was a bit dim-witted, and casually said, "Can't you just tell me what your deal is?"

Why bother?

"can."

Nikolai said lightly, "And our deal, all you have to do is as I said before, it's very simple, you just need to read what's written on the note I gave you."

“After you finish reading, I will give you the remaining sixty Felkin.”

"It's that simple?" The boy asked in disbelief.

“Yes, it’s that simple,” Nikolai said. The boy repeated it again as if to confirm, and after receiving Nikolai’s affirmation, the boy really looked at Nikolai with a look as if he were an idiot.

Am I being ripped off?
As for whether there might be any problems... everyone in Trier, which is closely guarded by the Eternal Sun and the Church of Craftsmen, is well aware of the actual dangers of reciting such unfamiliar things.

But he was short of money, so he thought he could give it a try.

After all, how could there possibly be any evil gods or monsters in this world? They're all just hoaxes.

Nikolai chuckled, unconcerned by the other's strange gaze.

"Ok."

Although the boy still felt something was off, he glanced around to make sure the advantage was still in his hands, then sighed and asked, "How... how do you read these?"

"Although the text used for recording is in Intis, we need to use Ancient Hermes."

Nikolai said, "But I think you probably don't know what ancient Hermetic is. That's okay, just repeat after me."

Having said that, Nikolai spoke, uttering his first words:

"Great, Ring of Destiny."

What is this mess?

The boy frowned, about to say that he didn't quite understand and it was difficult for him to remember it all at once, and asked if he could repeat it again, when his mouth suddenly started moving on its own.

One by one, invisible, transparent insects with twelve segments floated around the boy, burrowing into his mouth and nose and into his spirit body in a way that seemed horrifying to outsiders.

The Thief's Path Sequence 4, the potion is called Parasite.

Through deep parasitism, the parasite can naturally manipulate the host's limbs, thoughts, and spirit, control the other's body, and make the other quickly learn a language in a short period of time. For the most skilled parasites, this is not a difficult task.

"The great... Ring of Destiny..."

The boy listened in astonishment to the words he had uttered, which were exactly the same as those of the young man in front of him.

He sensed a force that wasn't his own, as if it were controlling him.

He wanted to run away, but unfortunately, he could no longer control his body.

"You are the past, the present, and the future."

Nikolai seemed unsurprised by the boy's behavior and continued speaking.

"You are the past...you are the present...you are the future..."

“You are the cause, the effect, and the process.”

"You are the cause...the result...and the process..."

"I beg for your grace."

"I...beg for your...grace..."

"I beg you to grant me the power of a dancer."

"Please grant me..."

At this point, Nikolai and Tang, who appeared from the side, looked towards the sky.

Located in the astral plane, another historical pore of the Tang Dynasty sits in a Gothic palace filled with night-blooming jasmine and deep-sleeping flowers. Suddenly, it looks up at the barrier in the astral plane that separates the inside from the outside.

A woman whose face was obscured by a thin veil followed Tang's gaze and looked over as well.

"what happened?"

A glint of brilliance appeared in Tang's eyes. His gaze pierced through the barrier and saw a "ring" existing in a very distant direction outside the barrier.

There was no movement.

Because the barrier's power is still intact?
"Nothing much, I just met an interesting guy in Intis..."

Tang smiled slightly, his eyes flickering, but offered no further explanation.

The Goddess of the Night seemed to have no intention of delving into the matter, and the two fell silent once more.

"There really isn't any movement."

Tang, located in Trier, received feedback from other historical aperture images and clicked his tongue, saying, "I wonder if the Ring of Destiny is preparing a big move, or if it really doesn't care."

They sent in Triss Chick, and she's still so calm. I wonder what kind of trouble she's up to now.

Nikolai glanced at the historical footage belonging to Tang, then focused his gaze on the boy who, after finishing his long speech, took a step back in terror, had regained control of his body, and was trying to escape, abandoning even the remaining Felkin.

"What should we do with this?"

"Although I really wanted to say something like, 'Let's resolve this on the spot; it will prevent a lot of trouble in the future...'"

Tang shrugged. "However, this will probably disrupt the main body's arrangements. You should have him chant your name, and use the Time Worm to monitor it. Also, have some Mystic Puppet and your clones around."

"If something goes wrong, or if it gets out of our control..."

He gave the boy, who had suddenly fallen heavily to the ground and was now unable to move due to the parasitism of the Time Worm, a perfectly timed smile: "Then let's just hang him up and use him as a puppet."

"I believe the entity would be very happy to obtain a puppet that could potentially become a 'catastrophe' in the future."

Although the boy couldn't understand the conversation between Don and Nikolai, he could sense that the young man who had appeared out of nowhere had a strong killing intent towards him.

Will he... die here?
Nikolai looked away and sighed. "Are you still a child, Don?"

You'll get your comeuppance for scaring a little child like that.

"Alright, as a mysterious servant, the key is in the 'mysterious' aspect, right? Being scary is also a manifestation of the 'mysterious' aspect."

Tang withdrew his gaze, resting his chin on his hand: "I didn't see anything. Because of the 'destined person,' it involves some higher-level aspects of the future that I can't see... Well, I'll leave the rest to you. I'm going home now."

Having said all this, the fragmented images of Tang Dynasty history disappeared, returning to the mists of history.

Nikolai, who stayed behind to clean up the mess, sighed helplessly again when he saw Don leave.

Then, he looked at the boy who was frozen in place, unable to move, and asked gently:

"Alright, this transaction is complete."

"However, I think there's one more thing I need you to do. Hmm, it's still one hundred Felkins, how about it... If you don't say anything, I'll take that as a yes."

Having said that, Nikolai smiled and began to speak:
"Then please read it again in ancient Hermes..."

“Everything that’s not right is wrong.”

“The embodiment of fallacies and loopholes.”

"The clock that guides destiny."

"Oh, right, sorry, I forgot to ask."

Are you interested in becoming my follower?

(End of this chapter)