Looking into Klein's eyes, Dunn took a deep breath, leaned back, and slowly let it out:
"Are you sure?"
His expression barely changed, as if he'd long been prepared for this special application—he simply hadn't expected it to come so soon.
Captain, why do you seem so relieved, like a weight's been lifted off your mind... Klein didn't bother hiding his smile:
"I'm sure, Captain. When you've truly mastered the potion, you'll feel a special, wondrous sensation—an unquestionable certainty that you've completely digested the potion."
"A special, wondrous sensation..." Dunn murmured the words in a low voice, his brows slowly furrowing.
Huh, the Captain's previous two advancements were both made without fully digesting the potion? That made sense—without knowing the "Acting" method, it was nearly impossible to fully digest. You could only rely on the grinding of long stretches of time and some half-conscious acting to reduce the risk of losing control... Poor Captain... Klein quietly watched Dunn Smith, saying nothing, offering nothing, leaving the other man to think it through.
After nearly a minute, the deep gray of Dunn's eyes once again reflected Klein's figure, and he chose his words carefully:
"Perhaps waiting another year would be the better choice."
The Captain means that if I wait another year, I won't stand out as much—with Miss Deli as a precedent, the higher-ups won't pay too much attention to me, at most adding me to a further observation list? Klein thought for a moment and answered frankly:
"I originally planned to wait until next year to submit the special application. After all, there's still a great deal I need to master—combat, for instance, I've barely just gotten started with."
"But, Captain, don't you think we've run into far too many coincidences over the past month or two? We tracked down a kidnapper, only to find the Antigonus family's notebook in the room across the hall; the sealed artefact '2-049' was delayed in delivery, yet Reil Bieber didn't even flee Tingen—he began trying to digest the power right at the docks; I attended a birthday banquet and it led to the Hanas Vinsent affair; I went to investigate at the library and ran into that Aurora Society member on the very spot..."
"I don't know what these coincidences mean, but I have a persistent feeling of unease, so I want to improve myself as much as possible."
Seizing the opportunity, Klein dropped a hint about the mastermind pulling strings from the shadows—something he'd already planned to put on his agenda. Without revealing his own uniqueness, he would alert the Nighthawks squad and let them find more clues from other angles. And the things he'd just said could only lead others to one conclusion: that he had sharp instincts and was good at connecting the dots.
From the moment Klein uttered the word "but," Dunn's body had gradually leaned forward until, in the end, his interlaced fingers were pressed against his mouth.
His gaze was deep and contemplative, and he went a long while without speaking, as if mulling over those words.
After several dozen seconds, Dunn raised his head, his voice mellow and low:
"Very sharp... Perhaps something really is lurking in the depths of the darkness."
Before Klein could respond, he shifted to instructions:
"You may go write the special application."
"Of course." Klein replied, the corners of his mouth curving upward.
He rose with a smile and headed for the door, where—not surprisingly—he heard the familiar addendum.
"Wait." Dunn called out to the fellow about to walk out, and after a moment's consideration, added, "Watch your wording."
Don't worry, Captain—I take that issue even more seriously than you do! Klein nodded with a beaming smile of agreement.
He had originally thought Dunn would offer another option — to skip the Church and privately advance to Sequence 8, then follow the normal procedure after three years. But upon closer consideration, he realized this wasn't possible. Whether through a special application or a normal one, the person advancing had to be evaluated by personnel dispatched from the Church. The difference was only that one was considerably more complicated while the other was fairly straightforward.
By then, his secret of having already reached Sequence 8 would be impossible to hide, and it would implicate the entire Tingen City Nighthawk team.
…………
Leaving the captain's office, Klein — having finished all his mysticism courses for the day — didn't rush down to the underground to take over the night shift. Instead, he strolled into the clerical staff room next door.
At that moment, a man and a woman were sitting inside the office. The man was in his early thirties, and the woman was in her twenties — the two new members of the team.
When they saw Klein walk in, they froze for a moment, then quickly plastered on smiles and nodded in greeting, their expressions a mix of curiosity and deference toward the Beyonder.
Klein didn't linger to chat with them. He found an empty desk and began drafting the "special application," his pen flying across the page.
Since he had already prepared his outline in advance, it took him only ten minutes to complete the initial draft.
After reading it through several times and making a number of revisions, he finally sat down before the Arkens 1346 typewriter and transferred the draft into a clean copy.
Amid the clack-clack-clack of the keys, the two new clerical staff members exchanged a glance, stood up simultaneously, and walked out of the office to chat with Rosy in the reception hall, leaving the room to Klein alone.
Very restrained, and quite conscious of confidentiality... Klein glanced at their retreating backs and silently approved.
He turned back to the keyboard and continued typing.
Just as he was about to finish the special application, Leonard Mitchell emerged from the break room, buttoning his shirt as he looked around. His hair was tousled in a way that gave him a carelessly handsome air.
"What report are you typing up?" Leonard glanced toward the clerical office, leaning against the doorframe with his right foot tapping the ground, both hands shoved into his pockets.
His emerald-green eyes studied Klein with keen interest.
Klein finished typing the last word and the last punctuation mark, then turned his head with a smile:
"A special application."
"A special application?" Leonard echoed in confusion.
Klein picked up the paper, quickly scanned it, and explained in an offhand manner:
"A special application for advancing to Sequence 8."
Cough! Cough cough! Leonard suddenly burst into violent coughing, and it took him a long time to recover. The words tumbled out before he could stop them:
"You've already finished digesting the potion?"
Digesting? You certainly know quite a lot, classmate... Klein held up the "special application," walked over to Leonard, raised an eyebrow, and said:
"That's right."
Then he stared into the other man's eyes, lowered his voice, and added with a chuckle: