Rapid running footsteps, approaching from far to near, reached Klein's ears, calming him down quite a bit as he stood at the door of the guardroom.
"What happened?" Leonard, the first to arrive, asked in a deep voice, holding his revolver.
Seeing him barely able to stop, Klein immediately thought of what
Clearing his throat, Klein pointed at the
"The Chanis Gate was pushed open?" the short Kohn Li asked in astonishment.
"Yes, it was pushed open a crack." Klein was about to continue his description, but he saw that Leonard, Kohn Li, and Loya had not approached the guardroom. They stopped a few steps away and spread out into an arc, as if on guard against him.
He hesitated for a moment: "You're suspecting me?"
"No, not suspicion. It's standard procedure," Kohn Li shook his head in denial.
In this tense atmosphere, Leonard still grinned unseriously and added: "In other dioceses, there have been cases where the Beyonder on duty at the Chanis Gate lost control, rang the bell, and then took the chance, while the teammates who came to help were off guard, to kill two of them."
"Alright." Klein no longer felt wronged or angry at being targeted. He turned and asked, "Then how should I prove that I haven't lost control?"
Leonard put away his playful expression, tapped his chest four times, and recited in a low voice: "They are naked and destitute, with no food or shelter from the cold."
"They are drenched by the rain, and having nowhere to hide, they hug the rock tightly."
"They are mothers whose children have been taken, orphans who have lost all hope, the poor who have been forced from the righteous path."
"The Evernight has not abandoned them, bestowing its favor upon them."
……
The sacred and compassionate prayer echoed underground, bringing a soothing calm to everyone's body, mind, and soul.
Seeing no abnormal reaction from Klein, Leonard stopped reciting and flashed a smile: "No problem. You are still our trustworthy companion."
Loya, the cold woman who had been silent all along, looked at the Chanis Gate and took the initiative to ask: "After the door was pushed open a crack, what did you see?"
"I saw the Misfortune Doll, the one in the black classical court dress, 3-0625," Klein replied, still somewhat frightened. "But within three seconds, it was pulled back by an invisible force, and the Chanis Gate closed again. What exactly is going on?"
Leonard exchanged glances with Kohn Li and Loya: "Heh, we're as clueless as you are. Since the Chanis Gate has closed again and there are no more anomalies, we shouldn't enter at this time. We must wait until dawn, and wait for the Captain."
At this moment, Loya icily added: "I'll stay here and keep watch with you."
"Alright." Leonard spread his hands and grinned teasingly. "As the strongest person here, I'll stay too. Kohn Li, you go back to the second floor, just in case the police department has an urgent case and can't get in."
Kohn Li didn't say much, simply nodded, turned around, and left.
At this moment, Leonard glanced at Klein and Loya: "Maybe we can continue playing cards? In this kind of situation, we need some entertainment to keep us from being too tense."
"No problem." Klein adjusted his revolver and placed it back in his underarm holster. Loya didn't say yes or no, and with her sleek, smooth black hair flowing, she followed them into the guardroom.
During a game of "Fight the Landlord," no, "Fight Evil," Klein said as if casually: "The Misfortune Doll, I mean 3-0625. According to the description in the files, it shouldn't possess living traits..."
"Haha, triple aces." Leonard laid down his cards and said in a chatty tone, "In the past forty years, 3-0625 hasn't shown any living traits. We can first assume the file description is correct and use that as a premise for reasoning and deduction."
"Pass. Do you have an idea?" Loya asked succinctly.
While Klein hesitated over whether to throw down three "2"s in one go, Leonard took a sip of his freshly brewed coffee and said: "Yes. Since 3-0625 itself doesn't possess living traits, its behavior today must be due to the influence of another factor, and it must be a factor that has only appeared recently. Otherwise, it would have shown us this side of itself long ago."
"And what has been different behind the Chanis Gate in the past month?"
Loya watched Klein throw down three "2"s, pondered for a few seconds, and said: "There is only one thing that is different from the past. That is the
Leonard looked at the cards in his hand, tapped the table lightly, and smiled: "If it could cause the Misfortune Doll to act abnormally, '2-049' would have created a similar incident behind the Chanis Gate in
Klein thought it over carefully and couldn't help nodding repeatedly: "This is the most likely possibility... Leonard, I didn't expect you to be a person skilled at reasoning."