bookandnovel Chapter 18 The Golden Gaze
Chapter 18 The Golden Gaze
Not long after Evan left, almost one after the other, Night Watch Captain Dunn arrived at the battlefield with Leonard, Cohenley, and Frye.
Upon arriving at the scene, Dunn noticed traces of occult potions around the body and looked at Klein, who was not dressed in formal attire.
Klein quickly recited the lines that Evan had taught him.
The stalker intended to attack Klein, but Evan, who was looking for Klein, discovered him beforehand, and the two fought fiercely, killing the stalker.
Later, under Evan's guidance, he managed to communicate with the tracker and discovered that it was this person and another stranger who sold the Quaternary ancient books to Welch and his team.
This person may have discovered the extraordinary nature of the ancient book and wanted to retrieve it. He eventually found the home of "Riele Bieber," who ultimately obtained the book, only to discover that the house was empty and only a corpse remained.
"Captain, I've learned through psychic abilities that the last owner of the ancient book, 'Riell Bieber,' lives in the Halls neighborhood. Let's split up and investigate!" Klein suggested at the end.
Dunn glanced around the battlefield and saw marks from Klein's revolver shots everywhere. He thought it was really lucky that this novice had managed to hit the pursuer in the back of the head, and said:
"This is indeed very dangerous for you, and you've taken the 'Diviner' potion, which isn't good for combat. It seems we need to move up your training schedule."
We split into two groups: Leonard took Cohen to investigate the stalker's residence, while Klein, Frye, and I went to the home of the last owner of that ancient book.
Leonard, you guys need to be careful. Klein saw two people selling ancient books, which means the tracker might have accomplices. Don't be careless.
"Yes, Captain." After saying that, Leonard and Cohen left first to go to the tracker's residence in the Halls neighborhood.
Captain Dunn squatted down next to the corpse, put the "red jelly" that showed signs of fusion with a certain part of the body into a cigarette box for safekeeping, then gave a few instructions to the police maintaining order before leaving with Frye and Klein.
Among the onlookers, many recognized Klein, who used to live in the area, and saw him being led away by Dunn, who was dressed in a police uniform. They all speculated that the person inside might have been killed by Klein.
Of course, some people defended Klein, suggesting that he might be an eyewitness, but this speculation was not as newsworthy or valuable for dissemination as the previous one, so the news of Klein's murder gradually spread among the people.
Having taken the potion and gained enhanced hearing and sight, Klein naturally heard the discussions around him. Feeling speechless, he wanted to explain, but he knew that without his police uniform, the more he explained, the more confused things would become, and it would be of no use at all.
Finally, Dunn couldn't stand it any longer and stopped the carriage slightly. He then loudly explained to the crowd, which somewhat quelled their speculation.
…………
After leaving the scene, Evan hailed a carriage and headed home.
There's a charity auction dinner hosted by Mrs. Sharon tonight, and he can't be late. It's also about dealing with the negative effects after he used 'Golden Gaze'.
Sitting in the carriage, Evan kept reviewing the events of the day in his mind. He felt that everything had gone smoothly and that he had basically achieved all his goals.
Through the day's events, Evan basically confirmed that he was a psychological information black hole to 008 and Adam; they could influence his actions, but they couldn't know his true inner thoughts.
With limited information, he initially gained the trust of "The Fool" Klein and successfully joined the Tarot Club.
Through his actions at the Tarot meeting and in reality, he essentially established in Klein's mind that he was not a time traveler, and also connected with Klein in reality, which would be beneficial to his future actions.
At the same time, Evan also had some guesses about the cheat he possessed, but he couldn't confirm them.
In fact, it wasn't just Klein who felt an impulsive hunger when facing Evan; Evan also had this feeling and confirmed that it was the connection between "Lord of Mysteries" in his mind and Klein's gray mist.
Evan wasn't sure whether this collaboration was good or bad, but that didn't stop him from making some advance arrangements.
For example, tomorrow Evan will formally visit Klein's house and make contact with Benson and Melissa.
Although Evan liked "Lord of Mysteries" and its protagonist Klein in his previous life, being transmigrated to this world doesn't mean he has to unconditionally fawn over him. Besides, Evan is no longer 100% sure whether he is friend or foe to Klein.
Just as Zhou Mingrui had to take on everything from the original body when he transmigrated into Klein Moretti's body, he naturally had to take on the corresponding responsibility when he transmigrated into Evan Horn's body.
If his previous guess was true, then the original owner's brother, who was also his own brother, was indeed a member of the trend of the times, and the two sides might clash in the future.
Thinking about this, Evan felt even more resentful that his knowledge of the latter half of "Lord of Mysteries" was sealed, making his actions somewhat indecisive.
But Evan quickly discarded the useless thoughts and focused on the present.
"Although I had prepared many reasons, I was not confident that I could convince Klein to commit murder on purpose. After all, in the original story, Klein's first murder was a few days later when he killed a 'magician' from a secret order."
But those were people killed in a crisis situation, where Klein didn't really have a choice. This time, however, he was asked to kill someone voluntarily, which is a fundamental difference between the two.
He was eventually convinced by me, which was actually beyond my expectations. After all, I myself was not optimistic that my "instigation" would succeed, so I devised a second plan.
That is, if Klein really didn't want to do it himself, I would settle for doing it myself and just ask Klein to help cover it up. But I didn't expect that Klein would actually agree to help me kill people.
Was 008 behind this? Was it because my advice to Klein actually pushed forward 008's script? Were 008 and Ince Zangwill eager for me to leave, so they actively pushed for it?
Come to think of it, my suggestion to Klein actually prompted the Night Watchers to discover the whereabouts of Antigonus's Notebook ahead of time, preparing for the next step of using the note to corrupt Dunn.
If I'm not mistaken, there shouldn't be any more stories of tobacco merchants hiring detectives to rescue their kidnapped children, nor should there be any more stories of Congressman Menerson's widow coming to their door after hearing about the reputation of "Blackthorn Security Company," and naturally, there shouldn't be any more stories of Klein investigating Mrs. Sharon.
That won't do. I was hoping to expose Mrs. Sharon's identity in advance and eliminate the hidden dangers in Tingen with the help of the Night Watchmen!
Forget it, we'll consider this later. There will be plenty of opportunities later, so there's no need to rush.
If Klein's unexpected agreement to help me kill someone is driven by 008's eagerness for me to leave Tingen as soon as possible, does that mean that in the next few days, everything I do will become exceptionally easy, just like persuading Klein today?
If that's the case, I'll take advantage of this opportunity to gain more benefits for myself, starting with Mrs. Sharon, whom I'll be meeting tonight. I can always get my hands on the hunter's potion recipe, but the witch's potion recipe won't be so easy to obtain.
Today, we're trying to find a breakthrough with Mrs. Sharon, which also serves to address the negative effects of the "Golden Gaze" in a timely manner.
Thinking of this, Evan unconsciously twirled the yellow sapphire ring on his left hand again.
This ring—the Golden Gaze—was part of Helen's mother's collection. After confirming that Evan had become an outer member of the "Witch's Church" through Mrs. Sharon, she gave this extraordinary item with minimal negative effects to Evan through Helen, both as a reward and to appease him, and also to reduce the risk of Evan being exposed in front of Mrs. Sharon.
This is a very powerful extraordinary item. Aiven has basically confirmed this through his knowledge of "Lord of Mysteries". It must have been made by a very good craftsman using the extraordinary trait of a "Hypnotist". This is because both the ability and the side effects of this ring are very practical, as if it was made on purpose.
When Evan doesn't actively use it, it's just like an ordinary ring, unnoticed by other extraordinary individuals.
The Golden Gaze possesses many skills. By using it, Evan can directly see the psychological state of others, accurately grasp the changes in their emotional color, and give certain psychological suggestions to his opponents.
It can also activate "Intimidation", causing the target to panic and feel fear, just like facing a real dragon.
It can also trigger extreme emotions in the target's mind, causing mental harm, and may even cause mentally unstable individuals to lose control.
Most importantly, it allows for forced hypnosis during combat, causing targets to behave abnormally. It can also perform psychological invisibility, making the user psychologically 'invisible'.
The Golden Gaze retains almost all of the combat skills from Sequence 6 of the Audience Path, making it extremely powerful, while the corresponding side effects are relatively minor.
As long as you indulge in one aspect of your emotions or desires for at least half an hour within 24 hours after each use of the Golden Gaze, that's enough.
And each time Evan chose to release his desires, it was always 'carnal desire'.
To be honest, if it weren't for the negative effects of the extraordinary item, the Golden Gaze, Evan wouldn't be sure he could "know a man and go for it" when facing Mrs. Sharon. Even though Evan has already had several interactions with Mrs. Sharon, the thought of having to engage in "mutual activity" with her tonight still makes him feel uncomfortable.
This is also one of the reasons why Evan wants to continue to use 008 or the Night Watch to kill Mrs. Sharon.
This is also why Evan suspects the craftsman who made the ring is very powerful, because Evan was very resistant to "close contact" with Mrs. Sharon at the time, and the side effect of this ring can eliminate Evan's resistance.
This made Evan suspect that Helen's mother had someone deliberately alter the ring to this shape.
Just as Evan was pondering his plans for the evening, the carriage brought him to the doorstep of his home in the Golden Phoenix District, just as the sun was setting.