The drizzling rain, the faint mist, the rows of gas streetlamps struggling to cast hazy light, and the occasional carriages crossing the street — together they made up Backlund's most common night scene.
Beyond these, Klein, standing behind the window, noticed some gratifying changes.
Jingle bell!
Amid the crisp sound, a strange two-wheeled contraption sped along the edge of the road, racing toward the other end of the street. Its frame was mostly black, with patches of grayish-white steel that glinted with metallic beauty under the rain-piercing glow of the gas lamps.
Sitting atop this contraption was a man wearing a postal uniform, pedaling with apparent effort. Behind him was strapped a green-painted wooden box.
"Promoted quite well..." muttered Klein silently, watching the scene. He wore a white shirt and black waistcoat, with a mature aura.
In the few short hours since returning to Backlund, he had encountered several such strange contraptions along the way. These were exactly the bicycles he had invested in and promoted!
From the newspapers, Klein learned that the Backlund Bicycle Company had placed extensive advertisements and held bicycle races in the Jowod District and the Backlund Bridge area to attract people's attention. Beyond those methods, they were also actively promoting to government postal services, police departments, and so on, with reportedly good results.
Their pricing strategy had followed Klein's earlier advice: avoid the upper-middle classes, who regularly used carriages, and target skilled workers earning at least 1 pound and 10 soli per week, students from decent families, and public servants who needed to be on the move often. By pricing a bicycle at 3 to 5 pounds, they made it affordable for this segment with some sacrifice, while allowing them to show off to those with lower incomes.
"The current problem is that it rains often in Backlund, and cyclists can't hold umbrellas... The next step is raincoats." Klein withdrew his gaze, shook his head, and laughed softly.
The place he was staying now was a high-end hotel in the Hillston District, costing 10 soli a night — so expensive that it hurt Klein, but to maintain his persona, he could only grit his teeth and bear it.
According to his plan, the identity of Dwayne Dantès should appear on the surface as a mysterious wealthy man from Desi Bay, a follower of the Goddess of the Night. He had sold off his land and mines and come to Backlund seeking new opportunities, with some interest in purchasing a title through donations, but lacking the financial strength for that, he had to focus on expanding his connections and making financial investments.
The advantage of such an identity was that it was distinct from all the roles Klein had previously played, and it allowed him to naturally come into contact with some figures from the upper-middle and upper classes, especially members of the officers' club and the bishops of the Backlund diocese of the Church of the Goddess of the Night. This would make it convenient for Klein to continue investigating the truth of the Backlund Great Smog incident, while also gathering intelligence and preparing a detailed plan to steal the Antigonus family's notebook.
Having advantages also meant drawbacks. Such a mysterious wealthy man would certainly attract the attention of the "Nighthawks" and "Punishers" and undergo a certain degree of background investigation.
According to Klein's experience, similar investigations, unless by chance they touched upon major events, might be conducted by the official Beyonder organizations themselves, or might be handed over to the police department. However, they would not be too thorough, being routine matters.
Therefore, Klein, who could be considered an expert in disguise, designed and prepared a second-layer identity for Dwayne Dantès to deal with background checks.
In this second layer, Dwayne Dantès was a fellow who had gone to adventure in the East and West Bairan of the Southern Continent for some reason. There, using an alias, he had accumulated a fortune over more than a decade in a place that was both very dangerous and full of opportunities.
Because the origin of this fortune was not entirely clean, he secretly returned to Desi Bay, forged a new identity, and prepared to start a new life in Backlund, gradually legitimizing the money.
People like him were not uncommon in Loen; their stories were acceptable and imaginable for investigators. For this layer of identity, Klein had left some inconspicuous clues in Connat City to indirectly help the "truth" come to light quickly.
These clues included, but were not limited to, ticket stubs from black ships from East Bairan to Connat City, habits developed from long-term survival in the Southern Continent, and wealth of unknown origin.
Klein believed that as long as "Dwayne Dantès" was not directly involved in major Beyonder incidents, such preparations would be sufficient to get through routine background checks.
But if he encountered a very conscientious official Beyonder who wanted to investigate all the way and was even willing to ask Southern Continent colleagues for help, Dwayne Dantès had a third-layer identity: a fraudster with some anti-divination skills. He was disguised as a mysterious wealthy man, investing money in grandiose gestures, all for a final scam.
This identity could lead to Dwayne Dantès's arrest, but the level of attention would not be too high, giving Klein a chance to exit gracefully and vanish from center stage.
"Compared to when I first came to Backlund, I've really grown a lot to be able to design identities in three layers..." Klein walked back to the center of the room and looked at the full-body mirror in the corner.
In the mirror, he saw black hair streaked with gray, deep eyes that revealed the weariness of someone who had experienced too much—an attractive middle-aged man with a mature, charming demeanor.
Designing the identity of "Dwayne Dantès" was not difficult for Klein now, but stealing the Antigonus family notebook from behind the Chanis Gate of Saint Samuel Cathedral was an impossible task for any external Beyonder, and even an Angel King could not guarantee he could do it.