Mystery: Survival from the Secret Doll

Chapter 359 Detective 358 and His Assistant
On his first day in Backlund, Klein felt the malice of industrial civilization from this huge, developed city.

Top-tier lung-clearing image.

"Cough cough, the air quality here, cough cough..."

Klein coughed as he reached for a mask that Don handed him.

He put it on his face.

This action went unnoticed by the ordinary people around him. After becoming a magician, Klein was able to create some incredibly realistic illusions to temporarily conceal his unusual behavior.

After confirming that the mask fit his face perfectly, he got off the train and walked naturally towards the platform.

The mask gradually dissolved, as if a transparent film had been added to his face. Klein's facial features then underwent slight changes. Soon, apart from those who knew him very well, it would be difficult for anyone to notice the resemblance between Klein and his former self at first glance.

This is a Level 2 sealed artifact from Miskatonic University. It can change a person's appearance, height, and body shape. The negative effects are not strong. All you need to do is look in the mirror for five minutes every day to admire yourself.

Since Mr. "Mistake" has sent them to Backlund, the capital of all cities, to do something big in secret, they will receive the necessary support.

This type of mask, used to conceal one's identity, is one such example.

If necessary, after the magician has finished digesting the potion, Klein can find the head of the Backlund investigators to restore the sealed artifact to its pure extraordinary nature, directly advancing him to the Faceless Man level.

In other words, Mr. "Mistake" directly gave Klein the extraordinary qualities that would allow him to be promoted to Faceless Man.

Fellow villagers taking care of each other is a perfect arrangement.

Of course, after getting off the steam train, I experienced the unpleasant atmosphere of Backlund that made me feel uncomfortable as soon as I entered.

"There are quite a few factories operating in Backlund, after all, it's the industrial age. But the air quality here is something even heavy industrial areas can hardly match..."

Tang sighed in despair, "What a disaster!" Klein immediately thought of a certain city known as the "Foggy City" before his transmigration.

As the two walked through the exit, Klein suddenly felt something in his arms.

He glanced at it; it was his identification.

Charlotte Moriarty, a native of the Middle Sea, was born in 1329.

Tang produced his identification document as if by magic.

Clearly, the people who received them were very efficient, and the certificates they obtained were legal and compliant, without the slightest flaw.

"This identity isn't hard to verify. There are many masters of disguise and fraud among the investigators, you know what I mean."

Klein nodded knowingly.

If the identity is real and the origin is real, then it is real. Although the face is different, as long as everyone who has seen this identity in the past has been deceived, then what they saw was Klein and Don.

Under the leadership of Mr. "Mistake," who is at the pinnacle of the Thief pathway, the majority of the investigators are naturally Beyonders of the Thief pathway.

Next, all you need to do is adapt, expand your network and knowledge of the people you meet, and eventually achieve their goals.

With their target identified, Klein and Don quickly found accommodation in the unfamiliar city and began to refine their identities.

"Two detectives from the Sea County, together pursuing their dreams of becoming great detectives, came to Backlund, a great city known as the City of a Thousand Capitals."

As a great detective, it's natural to need to open a detective agency.

They don't need to pay anything, so they can do whatever makes them comfortable.

After resolving their housing and employment issues, the two consulted a fortune teller to find out which restaurant nearby was the best. They treated themselves to a meal before returning to their newly opened detective agency.

“The funds for the operation will be deposited regularly into an anonymous account at Backlund Bank… When necessary, we can call on nearby investigators for support, and when necessary, we can also recite the name of Mr. ‘Error’, who will provide the necessary assistance.”

After all, it was a rather important mission, and Mr. "Mistake"'s gaze could fall on them at any time. As long as nothing like the true creator descending the veil happened, their lives could be guaranteed to the greatest extent.

Tang and Klein explained the benefits that an investigator should have.

"The job of an investigator is very risky, and correspondingly, our welfare system is quite generous. For example, if an investigator is killed in action, Miskatonic University will provide the family with a very generous compensation based on their contributions during their lifetime."

"Ah, of course, Klein, you're still a Night Watcher for the Church of the Night. If you were to sacrifice yourself, the Church of the Night would probably..."

"OK OK."

Klein quickly interrupted Don's attempt to make a bold statement, saying, "Let's skip this topic."

Let's stop talking about the compensation!
"Just kidding, Klein, you're too nervous."

Tang Xiaoxiao said, "I am a Sequence 5 Puppet Master and you are a Sequence 7 Magician. Although there are demigods in Backlund, they rarely appear in public. The two of us are enough to deal with most wild Extraordinary Beings or Extraordinary Beings from hostile forces."

Even if they are not wild extraordinary beings, and they are still disguised as investigators, it's not a reason to arrest them.

Okay, okay, you've set another goal.

Klein rubbed his forehead, and Tang patted him on the shoulder with a smile, "Alright, alright, let's not talk about this anymore."

"Then, let me tell you the specific details."

After the joke was over, Tang quickly got into character.

He pulled out a few small flags from somewhere and placed them in front of Klein.

Several small flags, after being scalded, were placed one by one on the table.

“These chess pieces represent the Rune military, the Machine Heart, the Intis intelligence department, our investigators, and other official and unofficial Beyonder organizations.”

"I was a bit vague before, Klein. The battle for the third-generation difference engine manuscript on Backlund's side has clearly reached a fever pitch."

At this point, Tang paused slightly, as if organizing his thoughts.

Not long after, he said, "The military in Rune is not actually a monolithic entity. Within MI9, as far as we know, there are factions such as the pro-emperor faction, the neutral party faction, the radical faction that advocates war with other countries to reclaim lost territories, and so on. Although MI9 is ​​nominally loyal only to the Augustus family, Rune itself is in a state of division. The royal family and the nobles have never been on good terms."

Although MI9 is ​​the official organization of extraordinary individuals in the Kingdom of Rune, the internal factional struggles are quite serious. Even the king cannot command a large following within MI9 and treat it as his personal fiefdom.

"Those who want to seize the manuscript of the third-generation difference engine, according to our investigation, are mostly closely connected with the Emperor's faction and the faction close to the Church of the God of Craftsmen. They can be grouped together with the Church of the God of Craftsmen; in a sense, they are a natural alliance."

Tang placed the chess piece representing the Rune military together with the chess piece representing the Church of the God of Craftsmen.

The birth of the third-generation difference engine must have held some important significance for the Church of the God of Craftsmen; otherwise, the Church of the God of Craftsmen would not have attached such importance to it.

Klein deciphered what Tang hadn't mentioned. "Then why does the intelligence department in Intis also want to steal it? As far as I know, the Intis Republic also has a God of Craftsmen among its recognized beliefs."

He pondered for a moment and then raised his question.

"Because it was the people from the Eighth Bureau who came."

As Tang spoke, he took out a chess piece representing the Intis intelligence department and placed it opposite the chess pieces of the Church of the Craftsman God in Rune:

"Similar to Rune, the Eighth Bureau, the official organization of Extraordinary Beings in Intis, directly serves their president. In the Republic of Intis, the worship of the Eternal Sun and the God of Craftsmen is widespread. However, because the former Emperor Roselle was attacked and perished in the White Maple Palace..."

Tang paused, looking at the "chessboard" placed between the two:
"As a result, there are still quite a few people in Intis's various political systems who want to exclude the God of Craftsmen and the worship of the Eternal Sun from Intis."

In theory, the goal of the eighth round was to kick the Eternal Sun and the Church of the Craftsmen out of Intis and enjoy the experience all to themselves...

It really is a contradictory relationship with a long history.

Tang Mingxian was clearly thinking of the "great achievements" of Emperor Russell.

"So, the Rune government and the Church of the God of Craftsmen are colluding to take away the third-generation difference engine manuscript before the Intis intelligence organization can do so?"

"You can say that."

Tang then took out several other chess pieces representing the other factions and scattered them randomly on the table, keeping only one in his own hand.

"In addition, the Fussac Empire, Lenburg, and the Kingdom of Feneport also seem to have ideas to join the chaos. The situation in Backlund is a bit chaotic, and no one knows who has the manuscript now."

Klein pondered for a moment, then looked at Tang: "Well, logically speaking, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Since Miskatonic's goal is to prevent the Church of the God of Craftsmen from having an easy time, then our potential partners should be those spies from Intis... But I think we shouldn't be the partners, right?"

"Smart." Tang snapped his fingers and laughed, "We won't help anyone. If we encounter any of Intis's spies, we'll try our best to kill them."

"After all, these intelligence agencies have never been good guys."

He placed the last piece, representing Miskatonic, at the very edge of the board, calmly observing the chaotic battle.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Klein's eyes flickered slightly as he looked at Tang.

Tang smiled, stood up, and dutifully performed her duties as an assistant.

An assistant should act like an assistant, shouldn't they?

"Looks like troublesome... oh no, the job is coming to my door."

Unsurprisingly, they received a phased assignment from Ian Wright.

The five-pound ambassador kill prerequisite quest in the book "Lord of Mysteries" has been triggered.

To maintain their public identities, the two fortune tellers, both skilled in divination, quickly found Ian Wright, the superior of a specially trained Fussac Empire spy. Through divination, they obtained some intelligence from him and gained a deeper understanding of the Fussac Empire spy's details.

"The clues are very vague; after all, divination is not a panacea."

Tang, with a spirituality far superior to Klein's, obtained the divination answers directly from the spirit world.

The spirit has been almost completely destroyed, so there's no point in communicating with the spirits in this situation.

According to Ian Wright's account, Don looked at the highly decomposed corpse in the sewer, pondered for a moment, and then revealed his indirect account.

"Disguised as Detective Zerrian, he is active in the upper echelons of Backlund, but he doesn't understand Ian Wright's coded language and hints. He seems to be in the style of the Faceless Man or the Master of Puppets."

Those who are extraordinary along the same path are often the most knowledgeable about the abilities of other extraordinary individuals along their own path.

Klein asked, "Should we take action and capture that imposter Detective Zeryl?"

Tang: "What you said is indeed something we can consider."

"However?" Klein quickly followed up.

Why not report it?

Tang smiled and said, "This is the capital of all cities, Klein. A faceless man or a master puppeteer is about to perform for everyone."

It would be impolite of those large organizations not to address this issue.

As is widely known, apart from the Secret Order and the Miskatonic Order, only a handful of official Extraordinary organizations possess the skills to become diviners.

Among these, perhaps only the Eighth Bureau of the Republic of Intis possesses the most sequences.

Klein understood immediately and went to write the whistleblower letter.

Never mind, I'll report it. You can only fish in troubled waters, right? Everyone's keeping quiet, so who knows who has the manuscript of the third-generation difference engine now?

Tang gave Klein a thumbs up.

He truly deserves the title of God of Restrooms and Whistleblower Reports.

After confirming Ian Wright's true identity and obtaining his first fortune, the second fortune soon came knocking on their door.

Not long after, a rather clueless Sequence 9 hunter barged into the two's detective agency and was immediately hung from the ceiling by Tang, who was just about to go out to find food.

Meursault, the "executioner" of the Zmanger gang, is looking for Ian Wright and pays him a visit.

Then I became cured meat.

Moser: ? ? ?

This is completely different from what he expected.
Klein, who was also getting ready to leave: ? ? ?
What's this dirty thing?

"This……"

Klein looked at the corpse swaying in mid-air. Tang yawned and waved his hand. "It's alright, it's alright. I'm an old diviner. We puppet masters all like to preserve fresh puppets this way... You can try it this way later. I've seen other puppet masters, and most of them preserve them this way too."

"Well, in that sense, this is my first secret puppet."

Tang glanced at the hanging puppet with some disdain, "It's just a bit useless."

Moser: For my peanuts! For my peanuts!
(End of this chapter)