The red moon returns

Chapter 70 An unexpected gain (two chapters in one)

October 1399, 5, at 18:7.

Lin Qi was woken up by the sunshine outside the window.

From the first night, he developed the habit of falling asleep bathed in the moonlight every night, which would immerse him in a sense of solid security, and of course allow him to wake up to the sun the next morning.

Last night, after enjoying Mrs. Maggie's carefully prepared pancakes and vegetable soup, Lynch went to Charles Square to squander his newly recovered energy. His disappearing and disappearing figures left countless piercing screams in the square. screams, as well as sensational and strange legends.

Satisfied, Lynch returned to Apartment 221, went to bed early, soaked himself in the crimson moonlight, held the invitation letter and fell into deep thought.

It was difficult to distinguish between friend and foe, and the method was quite strange. Lynch actually didn't want to go. Even though the black cat was extremely beautiful and very attractive to Lynch, he still felt uneasy.

But after a night of thinking, he changed his mind.

Thinking about it carefully, the other party's behavior was always polite, and he deliberately avoided scaring Mrs. Maggie. Even the letter was stuffed into the crack of the door. It was this detailed performance that made Lynch finally make up his mind to see who Countess Hathaway was.

This kind of polite aristocratic style usually does not set up a death trap from the beginning. Since there is no life-threatening danger, it is better to see what the mysterious Countess Hathaway wants to do.

After making up his mind, Lynch stopped worrying and went to bed early to recuperate his energy until the sun hit his face and woke him up from his deep sleep.

It's nice not to be a slave to an alarm clock.

After thinking about today's plan, Lynch put on loose casual clothes, stuffed the last six one-pound notes into his peaked cap, put on his pistol and ring, and then picked up his cane and went down the stairs.

As soon as she got downstairs, she saw a gentle smiling face peeking out of the kitchen. She was wearing an apron and holding up a toaster, which warmed Lin Qi's heart. When she heard that Lin Qi was going to do morning exercises and skip breakfast, Mrs. Maggie was a little disappointed, but she still Two pieces of toast with thick butter were wrapped and put into Lynch's pocket before watching him leave the apartment.

What a wonderful world.

After taking a deep breath of fresh air and coughing from the smell of coal smoke and horse manure, Lynch began to walk quickly along the main road. Life in this era is not yet leisurely enough to create the need for morning jogging, but for the sake of the future To prepare for battle, it is still necessary to exercise physical fitness.

For half an hour, Lynch made a long circle in the King's District, and finally crossed the Rhine Bridge across the Rand River to the Crown District, and happened to encounter the Rhine Bridge cutoff on the way.

The bodies of two mine carts were pushed along a small track from the dark warehouse to the bridge. A group of shirtless workers wielded shovels and quickly shoveled the coal in the mine carts into the boiler room at the bridge.

Within a few minutes, black smoke billowed out of the boiler, and then there was the sound of rattling gears rotating and colliding under the bridge. Metal connecting rods, large or small, moved slowly and quickly, moving up and down rapidly, and the flat bridge deck Slowly lift it up to reveal a passage in the middle of the river.

Three three-masted sailing ships were dragging columns of black smoke along the river. They seemed to be sailing to the inland river terminal in the Twin Towers area downstream. According to people waiting for the bridge on the roadside, these were cargo ships coming from the capital Nolin. , due to the barrier of the Carlos Mountains, trains cannot pass through. The Rand River is the most convenient way to transport freight, with dozens of cargo ships passing by every day.

Lynch sighed in the crowd, so it was surprising that the railway plan was not blocked. With such a large throughput, how many people along the way will benefit from it. Not to mention anything else, opening and closing the bridge dozens of times a day will consume a huge amount of coal. The fuel alone will bring huge benefits. Once the railway is built, these people don't know how much loss they will suffer. If they don't cause trouble, who will?
  Silently writing down this message, Lin Qi watched with great interest the spectacular scene of the bridge closing again. He really didn't expect that it was only steam technology, but it could achieve such a precise bridge under the technical level of the 18th century. Lifting technology.

It was just a small interlude. As soon as he crossed the river, Lynch walked up the river and went straight to the Hall of Order.

When I passed Mrs. Bessie's prop house, I looked inside. This innocent red-haired woman was first implicated by Downey and blew up her house, and was almost driven crazy by the evil god's look.

This probably has nothing to do with me attracting mysterious side effects. I hadn't embarked on this path at that time. It must be because she was unlucky herself. It's so pitiful. But she is an expert after all, so she probably won't leave any psychological shadow. I hope She can recover as soon as possible and hopes that another expert will be more reliable than her and decipher the mysterious document as soon as possible.

Lynch muttered a few words unconsciously, then turned to a low building on the side of the Hall of Order a few hundred meters away.

A 100-meter-wide two-story Victorian building, with four guards standing in standard postures at the door. They looked like they were from blue uniforms.

Rhine City Police Club, a semi-official organization dedicated to communication among special practitioners.

Normally, ordinary private investigators are not eligible to enter unless Officer Natalie leads the way every time. But the situation was different for the special adviser to the Governor's Mansion. The police stationed at the door still wanted to stop him until Lynch took off his hat and revealed the small badge hidden in the hat.

That was the logo of the special adviser to the Governor-General's Office that was delivered to him along with two pages of mysterious documents the day before yesterday. In fact, it's not that specific. It just represents the special service personnel of the Governor's Mansion. It's a bit like a watchman, not a policeman, but it is fully qualified to use all police facilities. If necessary, he can even mobilize the police with this badge. Resources just can't be mobilized on a large scale like Watchers.

Lynch had no idea before. It wasn't until the police officer explained it to him when she delivered it that he understood how much convenience the old Duke had provided him for the investigation.

Lynch came here today mainly to participate in some training sessions. The first place he went to was the fight club.

It was still very early, but there were already people training inside. Lynch was lying at the door, and the first thing he saw was a few muscular men rolling around on the wooden floor.

After taking one look, cold sweat broke out. Lynch felt a dull pain in some places, so he quickly left the fight club before anyone noticed.

As a Rand gentleman, it is too undignified to be so frank. Well, yes, I am definitely not afraid. For such an undignified matter, it is better to ask Officer Natalie for private personal guidance later, which can be a little more dignified.

So decided.

Lin Qi fled here in fear, fearing that some hands would stretch out from inside and pull him in. Lynch turned around and went to the fencing club next door.

There is no one in this department now, only the waitress at the door is fixing her makeup boredly. After asking Lin Qi, she confirmed that this place is more suitable for her.

Basic training in fighting can be carried out, mainly with one-handed swords. However, given the prevalence of Rand's gentleman's attire, many people use canes instead of rapiers, which just meets Lynch's requirements. The only problem is...the annual membership fee is two pounds. If you need professional guidance, you need to pay per session, which is one shilling an hour.

The Fight Club next door only costs one pound and ten shillings.

Well, how about I go next door and have a look?
  Although he thought so in his mind, Lynch still paid the membership fee for one year. Anyway, the Church of Dark Night still had a reimbursement quota of fifteen pounds. At that time, it was said that it would be used to improve his own strength. This expenditure fully met the requirements.

But Lynch did not start training immediately. He had already made a plan in his mind. As long as he had time, he would practice swordsmanship and physical fitness every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As for Tuesday, April and Saturday... of course he would practice marksmanship.

After climbing down the stairs for three floors, a huge underground space appeared in front of me.

This is the shooting club and a large shooting range.

The view is quite wide, with torch-thick gas lamp nozzles embedded in the wall, and the bright flames make the shooting range as bright as day.

It's cheaper here. A shooting lane costs one shilling an hour. If you need shooting guidance, you can add another shilling. The price is clearly marked and you pay per session. But the problem is that besides the venue, ammunition is the focus of shooting practice.

The .40 revolver in Lynch's hand was of a relatively common caliber, and the ammunition was relatively cheap. A box of twenty-four rounds cost just two shillings.

It's just numbers, just numbers.

Lynch was numb, and only this sentence was left in his mind. Now he realized more and more that he couldn't help but spend too much money, and he had to earn more, otherwise he would not even have enough money to practice shooting.

Sighing, according to the schedule, today was shooting training time. No matter how heartbroken he was, Lynch still took out four shilling coins and hired a shooting coach. Shooting skills were secondary, so he asked for advice first. He also recommended a full set of maintenance tools to Lynch, and then briefly introduced shooting techniques. The wrist strength strengthened by the alienated soul was just enough to lift the heavy pistol. The cold metal touch gave him a strong sense of security.

I closed my eyes and pulled the trigger, and there was a huge explosion in my ears. The impact was transmitted from the wrist to the arm. It was not as heavy as expected. It seemed to be the reason why the power of gunpowder in this world was relatively small. But even so, killing an ordinary person is still enough.

"Stop! Why did you close your eyes? Why did you hit the gas pipe on the roof? What on earth were you aiming at?"

Well, you have too many questions. The more you know about this taboo knowledge, the faster you will die. The bullets will be for you next time.

Lynch gave the talkative coach a vicious look in his heart and raised his gun at the target again.

The difficulty is quite high. Lynch's wrist was already in severe pain after practicing twelve bullets today, and only two of them hit the target. Although the targets in the other shooting lanes were mostly damaged, at least they did not hit the coach behind him. It's really worth celebrating.

However, it feels really good. The otaku in the previous life had never touched a real gun, but now he has the opportunity to enjoy it.

Rubbing his sore wrists and carrying the newly purchased gun maintenance tools, Lynch left the underground shooting range with satisfaction.

He took out his pocket watch and looked at the time. It was past ten o'clock. He would go to the Dark Night Cathedral in Crown Plaza to pay his dues and get the money. By the way... huh?

Lynch was thinking about the remaining arrangements for the morning while walking out of the Police Club when he suddenly smelled a vague smell in his nose.

Putrid smell.

The peculiar rancid smell of ghouls.

This smell is so iconic. I smelled it in Maya's cabin for a long time and I can't forget it.

Lin Qi tensed up, but his movements and expression did not change at all.

He leaned on the roadside and lowered his peaked cap to cover his face. He lowered his head and pretended to wind up his pocket watch, but his eyes were searching for the direction of the smell under the cover of the hat brim.

The direction the smell came from was...hiss, why is it them?
  Lynch frowned. It was one of the three black trench coats of the Rangers, but it was not the leader Walker.

This confused Lynch because the smell was strange.

Yesterday, he and Officer Natalie stayed in Maya's cabin for a long time, and they were already prepared to be covered in rotten smell. However, after leaving, they smelled each other and found that there was no smell at all.

After I got home, I asked my landlady to help me test it, and everything was normal.

Therefore, Lynch estimated last night that the rancid smell was the smell of ghouls. It could be contaminated into the environment, but it could not be contaminated from the environment to other people.

However, the rancid smell was emanating from the ranger at this time. The smell was very light but lingering, and Lynch could clearly identify it even in the open air.

It seems that other people can still get the smell on their bodies, but I don't know how. The question is where did these rangers get it?
  Did they find Maya or those mountain people?

Lin Qi's heart moved, and he took two steps back and leaned into the shadow of the building. As the light and shadow changed, his figure disappeared in front of the public, but did not attract anyone's attention.

It's such a useful ability, Lin Qi sighed in his heart, but knowing that the opponent was probably stronger than himself, Lin Qi didn't dare to follow too closely, always keeping a distance of three meters and falling behind him.

The other party didn't notice at all.

He was not familiar with Lin Qi's appearance. He didn't notice Lin Qi at all when he passed by. He didn't even know that Lin Qi followed him quietly and walked back to the Hall of Order in a swaggering manner.

Ok?
  Just as he was about to enter the building on the east side, the black windbreaker suddenly stopped, looked back in confusion, shook his head mockingly, and turned back into the east building of the Hall of Order.

There was a man in blue uniform walking down the stairs. As soon as he saw the black windbreaker, he immediately stood on the side of the stairs and watched him pass by and went straight to the second floor. However, the saluting man in blue uniform looked at the back of the black windbreaker in confusion. For a moment, he seemed to see a figure following the commander, but he immediately disappeared.

"Sir, you..." Just as he was about to ask, he found that Eric had already left. The blue uniform could only scratch his head in confusion, thinking that he was blinded.

Push open the two double doors on one side of the second floor. Inside is a large open office. The other two Rangers are in the corner of the office, holding a stack of documents and discussing in low voices across the desk. There are also many captured documents and documents in the room. furniture.

Just as the black windbreaker was about to enter the house and close the door, he heard a hurried shout from the corridor: "Sir, sir."

The black windbreaker entered the room and stepped back, leaving the office door. He looked around in the corridor behind him, but there was no one in the corridor and stairwell. The black windbreaker saw no one and could only pretend that he was listening. Wrong, I cursed a few times and walked into the office angrily.

"What's wrong?" Walker glanced at him from afar.

"I don't know who called me, it's weird, and I always felt like someone was staring at me along the way."

"now what?"

"I can't feel it now, I guess I'm too sensitive." Black Windbreaker said, "I came into contact with those mountain people, and they are indeed a group of ghouls."

"Ok?"

"As your Excellency said, the target of these evil gods' followers is the female reporter."

"Of course, that woman heard Mordiggian's murmur, which is very important to them." Walker said with a sneer, "So we must find this person as soon as possible, so that your Excellency no longer has to worry about these mountain people causing trouble. "

"Damn woman, she's so good at hiding that she even lost track of the one in the frame." Another man in black trench coat angrily threw away the document in his hand.

"Oh, then it depends on our old friends." Walker was not as arrogant as before, and said with a cold smile, "As long as we keep an eye on those watchers and stimulate them from time to time, they will naturally help us find female reporters. We can just wait and wait. The only troublesome thing is that Lynch. Have you found it? Where did this person come from? If he is too much trouble, get rid of him."

"He's just a useless detective, but your Excellency in the picture frame said that this person is still useful. It's best not to touch him. After he has fulfilled his purpose, we can do whatever we want with him."

"Then let's endure it a little longer and see what kind of trouble he and that crazy woman can make together. Let's... eh?"

While Walker was sneering, a red bell in the office suddenly rang, getting faster and louder.

"Urgent mission, let's go."

The expressions of the three rangers changed, and they didn't care to say anything else. They picked up their weapons and rushed out of the office. They could only hear the footsteps of the three of them getting further and further away. After a while, Lynch's figure appeared. Emerged from a corner of the Ranger's office.

(End of this chapter)