Klein bent his arm and extended it, repeating the motion over and over, watching Dunn push the door of the duty room half-sideways.
The captain's caution, his high alert, and that absurd "protective action" made Klein's thoughts extremely tense, exactly like when he was a child walking past a graveyard on a night road.
A Grade 2 Sealed Artifact—dangerous, requires cautious and restrained use… Full Nighthawks couldn't even know the details… He had no idea how dangerous it actually was… Amid his tension, Klein couldn't help thinking a lot.
Then, his mind suddenly went numb, as if a processor had lost power.
In Klein's vision, everything became slow, even his own arm curling motion.
He saw Captain Dunn stop and come toward him in slow motion, frame by frame, and then saw the other slowly extend a hand and push his shoulder.
Abruptly, Klein's thoughts and vision returned to normal, as if the whole thing had just been an illusion.
"What happened?" he asked in a low voice, still dazed and slightly frightened.
Dunn shook his head at him and said solemnly:
"Observe carefully."
As he said that, he turned and walked into the duty room. Klein followed closely behind and saw four people inside, some sitting, some standing.
One was the "Midnight Poet" Leonard; the other three Klein had never seen before, but they had one thing in common: they were all doing the "arm bending and stretching exercise" without any relaxation.
"Klein Moretti, he has a strange resonance with the Antigonus family notes," Dunn introduced briefly.
Then, pointing to the three strangers, he said:
"These ladies and gentlemen are colleagues from the Backlund diocese, escorting the Sealed Artifact '2-49'. This is Ms. Lolotta, Sequence 8 'Gravedigger', and also a sharpshooter."
At that, the dark-haired woman in her early thirties nodded kindly at Klein.
She had decent looks, wore no hat, and was dressed in men's clothing: a black coat, white shirt, black tight pants, and leather boots of the same color, with a slight upward curve at the corners of her mouth.
After Klein greeted her, Dunn pointed to the man sitting behind the desk:
"Al Hassan, an old-timer like me."
No sooner had he spoken than Klein watched helplessly as Mr. Al Hassan, wearing a gray double-breasted trench coat, had his "arm bending and stretching motion" become stiff, as if gears lacked lubrication or his joints were rusty.
What the… As Klein stood dumbfounded, he saw Lolotta push Al Hassan, and then the man's motion returned to normal.
Had I been like that just now? Klein was first startled, then realized:
This was the manifestation of the dangerous leakage of Sealed Artifact '2-49'!
What would have happened if he hadn't been nudged awake in time?
Would he have become a "living dead"?
With one question after another, Klein greeted Al Hassan, a middle-aged gentleman with charm.
"Borgia," Dunn pointed at the last Nighthawk.
He was an indifferent man with a knife scar on his cheek, his brownish-yellow eyes as sharp as an eagle's, constantly sizing up everyone present.
"Let's go, everyone. Finish quickly and seal '2-49' back up," said the handsome middle-aged gentleman Al Hassan, who had crow's feet at the corners of his eyes, rising to his feet.
Hmm, so where is '2-49'? Klein looked around curiously, but didn't spot any sign of a sealed artifact. Of course, he couldn't see the part blocked by the table without activating Spirit Vision.
"Alright," Dunn turned to Leonard Mitchell and said, "You drive. It's best not to involve Cezar in this kind of thing."
The Cezar he mentioned was the civilian clerk of the Tingen Nighthawks squad responsible for material requisition and purchasing, who also moonlighted as a coachman—the one who drove when Klein went to Welch's residence to meet the "Medium" Daly.
"No problem." Leonard dropped his flippancy and nodded solemnly.
Just then, Klein saw Al Hassan bend over and lift an iron-black box from behind the table.
The box was engraved with bright stars and a crimson full moon, exuding an intangible sense of seal.
Is this the sealed artifact? I wonder what '2-49' looks like… Klein looked at the box curiously.
Bang!
Bang! Bang!
Suddenly, violent knocking sounds came from inside the iron-black box, causing its surface to bulge repeatedly.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
It was as if something terrifying inside the box had awakened, pounding on its door, each strike hitting the hearts of everyone in the duty room.
Alive? Klein's mind was still turning when he saw Captain Dunn's "arm bending and stretching motion" become sluggish, his joints stiff as if filled with glue.