Red Moon Returns

May 18, 1399, 7 o'clock.

Lynch was awakened by the sunlight outside the window.

Since the first night, he has developed the habit of falling asleep in the moonlight every night, which will make him immersed in a solid sense of security, and of course, he will be awakened by the sunlight the next morning.

After enjoying the fried meat pies and vegetable soup carefully cooked by Mrs. Maggie last night, Lynch went to Charles Square to squander the energy he had just recovered. His figure that appeared and disappeared from time to time left countless shrill screams and sensational and weird legends in the square.

After returning to Apartment 221 with satisfaction, Lynch went to bed early, immersed himself in the crimson moonlight, and fell into deep thought with the invitation letter.

It was difficult to distinguish between friends and enemies, and the method was quite weird. Lynch didn't really want to go. Even though the black cat was extremely beautiful and very attractive to Lynch, Lynch was still worried.

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

Thinking carefully, the other party's behavior was always polite, and he deliberately avoided scaring Mrs. Maggie, and even stuffed the letter into the crack of the door. It was this detail that made Lynch finally determined to see who this Countess Hathaway was.

Most of these aristocratic styles with full of courtesy would not set up a death trap at the beginning. Since there was no danger to life, it would be better to see what the mysterious Countess Hathaway wanted to do.

Having made up his mind, Lynch no longer struggled and went to bed early to rest until the sun shone on his face and woke him up from his deep sleep.

It's really good to live without being a slave to the alarm clock.

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

As soon as he went downstairs, he saw a gentle smile coming out of the kitchen. The sight of Lynch wearing an apron and holding a toasting tongs warmed his heart. When Mrs. Maggie heard that Lynch was going to do morning exercises and skip breakfast, she was a little disappointed, but she still wrapped two slices of toasted bread with thick butter and put them in Lynch's pocket, and then watched him leave the apartment.

What a beautiful world.

After taking a deep breath of fresh air and coughing due to the smell of coal smoke and horse manure, Lynch began to walk quickly along the main road. Life in this era is not so idle that there is a need for morning jogging, but in order to prepare for future battles, physical exercise is still necessary.

Half an hour later, Lynch went around the King District, and finally crossed the Rhine Bridge across the Land River to the Crown District. On the way, he happened to encounter a road block on the Rhine Bridge.

The cargo boxes of two mine cars were pushed along the small track from the dark warehouse to the bridgehead. A group of workers, shirtless, waved shovels and shoveled the coal in the mine cars into the boiler room at the bridgehead.

In a few minutes, black smoke billowed out of the boiler, and then the sound of gears turning and colliding came from the bridgeside and under the bridge. The large and small metal connecting rods moved up and down quickly, and the flat bridge surface slowly lifted up, revealing a passage in the middle of the river.

Three three-masted sailing ships dragged black smoke columns along the river, apparently heading for the inland dock of the Twin Towers District downstream. According to the people waiting for the bridge on the roadside, these were cargo ships from the capital Norin. Due to the obstruction of the Carlos Mountains, trains could not go directly, and the Land River was the most convenient way to transport goods, with dozens of cargo ships traveling back and forth every day.

Lynch sighed in the crowd, so it would be strange if the railway plan was not blocked. With such a large throughput, how many people along the way will benefit from it? Apart from other things, opening and closing the bridge dozens of times a day will consume a huge amount of coal, and the fuel alone will bring huge benefits. Once the railway is built, I don’t know how much these people will lose. If they don’t make trouble, who will?

Silently recording this information, Lynch watched with interest the spectacular scene of the bridge closing again. He really didn’t expect that it was only steam technology, but such precise bridge lifting technology could be achieved at the technical level of the 18th century.

It was just a small episode. As soon as he crossed the river, Lynch went up the river and headed straight for the Hall of Order.

When passing by Mrs. Bessie’s prop house, he looked inside. This innocent red-haired woman was first implicated by Donnie to blow up her house, and was almost driven crazy by the evil god’s eyes.

This should have nothing to do with the side effect of my attraction to the mysterious. I hadn't taken this path at that time. It must be because she was unlucky. It's so pitiful. But after all, she is an expert. I guess she won't have any psychological trauma. I hope she can recover soon. I also hope that another expert can be more reliable than her and interpret the mysterious document as soon as possible.

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

A two-story Victorian building with a width of 100 meters. Four guards with standard postures stood at the door. They were obviously in blue uniforms.

Rhine City Police Club, a semi-official organization dedicated to exchanges between special practitioners.

Normally, ordinary private detectives are not qualified to enter, unless Officer Natalie leads the way every time. But the special adviser of the Governor's Office is different. The police standing guard at the door wanted to stop him until Lynch took off his hat to reveal the small badge hidden in the hat.

That was the emblem of the special adviser of the Governor's Office that was delivered to him along with two pages of mysterious documents the day before yesterday. In fact, it is not that specific. It just represents the special service personnel of the Governor's Office, a bit like the Watchmen. He is not a policeman, but is fully qualified to use all police facilities. If necessary, he can even mobilize police resources with this badge, but he cannot mobilize on a large scale like the Watchmen.

Lynch had no idea before, until the police lady explained it to him when she delivered it, he realized how much convenience the old duke provided him for the investigation.

Lynch came here today mainly to participate in some training courses, and the first place he went to was the fight club.

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

After taking a look, cold sweat broke out. Lynch only felt that some parts were aching slightly. While no one noticed, he quickly left the fight club.

As a Rand gentleman, it was too disgraceful to be so frank. Well, yes, I am not afraid at all. For such an indecent thing, I'd better ask Officer Natalie for private guidance later, which would be a little more decent.

So it was decided.

Frightened and terrified, Lynch fled here, fearing that a few hands would reach out from inside to pull him in, and he 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 putting on makeup out of boredom. After asking Lynch, he was sure that this place is more suitable for him.

Basic training in fighting can be carried out, mainly one-handed sword, but given the popularity of Rand gentleman 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, and if you hire a special person to guide you, you need to pay per session, one shilling per hour.

The fighting club next door only costs one pound and ten shillings.

Well, how about I go to the next door to have a look?

Although thinking so in his heart, Lynch still paid a year's membership fee. Anyway, the Dark Night Church still has a reimbursement quota of fifteen pounds. At that time, it was said that it was used to improve his own strength, and this expenditure completely met the requirements.

But Lynch did not start training immediately. He had already made a plan in his mind. In the future, as long as he has time, he will practice swordsmanship and physical fitness every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday... of course, he will practice shooting.

Climbing down three floors along the stairs, a huge underground space appeared in front of him.

This is the shooting club, and also a large shooting range.

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

It is cheaper here. A shooting lane charges one shilling per hour. If you need shooting guidance, you can add another shilling. The price is clearly marked and charged per time. But the problem is that in addition to the venue, the ammunition is the key to practicing shooting.

The .40 revolver in Lynch's hand is a relatively common caliber, and the ammunition is relatively cheap. A box of 24 rounds is exactly two shillings.

It's just a number, just a number.

Lynch has been numb, and only this sentence is left in his mind. He is now more and more aware that the money is too much to spend, and he must earn more, otherwise the money for shooting practice will not be enough.

Sighing, according to the schedule, today is the shooting training time. No matter how painful it is, Lynch still bids out a four-shilling coin and invites a shooting coach. Shooting skills are secondary. He first asks for the complete gun maintenance operation and recommends a full set of maintenance tools to Lynch, and then briefly introduces shooting skills.

The wrist strength strengthened by the alienated soul is just enough to lift the heavy pistol. The cold metal touch gives him a strong sense of security.

Close your eyes and pull the trigger. There is a huge explosion in your ears. The impact force is transmitted from the wrist to the arm. It is not as heavy as imagined. It seems to be because the power of gunpowder in this world is relatively small. But even so, it is enough to kill an ordinary person.

"Stop! Why do you close your eyes? Why do you want to hit the gas pipe on the roof? What are you aiming at?"

Uh, you have too many questions. The more you know about this taboo knowledge, the faster you die. The bullet will find you next time.

Lynch glared at the talkative coach fiercely in his heart and raised the gun to the target again.

The difficulty is quite high. Lynch's wrist hurts a lot after practicing twelve bullets today, and only two of them hit the target. Although the targets on the other shooting lanes were damaged, at least he didn't hit the coach behind him, which is really worth celebrating.

However, it feels really good. In the previous life, I had never touched a real gun. Now I finally have a chance to enjoy it.

Rubbing his sore wrist and holding the newly bought gun maintenance tools, Lynch left the underground shooting range with satisfaction.

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

Lynch was thinking about the rest of the arrangements for the morning while walking out of the Police Club. Suddenly, he smelled a faint smell in his nose.

Rancid smell.

The rancid smell unique to ghouls.

This smell is too iconic. I smelled it for a long time in Maya's cabin and couldn't forget it even if I wanted to.

Lynch's spirit was tense, but his movements and expression did not change at all.

He leaned against the roadside, pulled down his cap to hide his face, bowed his head and pretended to wind up his pocket watch, but his eyes were searching the direction of the smell under the cover of the brim of his hat.

The direction where the smell came from was...hiss, why was it them?

Lynch frowned. It was one of the three black windbreakers of the Rangers, but not Walker, the leader.

This made Lynch a little confused, because the smell was very strange.

Yesterday, he and Officer Natalie stayed in Maya's cabin for a long time, and they were ready to be covered with rotten smells, but after leaving, the two smelled each other and there was no smell.

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, which could be contaminated into the environment, but 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.

Um?

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 a distance.

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

"What now?"

"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."

"Um?"

"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 see. The only troublesome thing is Lynch. Have you found him? Where did he come from? If he's too much trouble, just get rid of him."

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

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

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

"Urgent mission, let's go."

The faces 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.