Amidst his thoughts, Klein heard Miss Justice’s subsequent question.
“Mr. Fool, exactly what secret lies in that bookmark?
“Well, if your adorer is unwilling to give you the answer, just pretend that I didn’t ask.”
After thinking it over carefully, he decided to wait until he obtained the Card of Blasphemy before replying to Miss Justice; otherwise, she might appear too shocked and act strangely, causing his own actions to be negatively affected.
Klein was in no hurry to return to the real world. He just sat there in the silent, empty old palace, thinking about when to act and how to do it.
Then, on the basis of his morning observations, he conjured the layout of the Royal Museum’s first floor and the general conditions surrounding it.
Looking at this blueprint, Klein began going through different plans and quickly established a relatively safe plan.
Finally, he made another divination to confirm the degree of danger.
After seeing that nothing had changed, he returned to the real world and began making all sorts of preparations.
What Klein originally wanted to do was to “draw” the pattern in his memory, forge a similar bookmark, and replace it after he had sneaked in via responding to himself. He wanted to ensure that no one noticed or know for a long time that the bookmark had been stolen. By the time it was discovered, it would be too late for others to trace the incident back to him.
However, after much deliberation, he felt that this wasn’t good. As long as the fake bookmark was discovered, the most suspicious person would be Miss Justice who touched the original bookmark today.
His plan was to not only steal the bookmark but to also steal the surrounding items as well, including some of the lighter books!
If he were too early, people living around there wouldn’t have started sleeping. That wouldn’t satisfy his requirement for taking action. If he were too late, there would be almost no pedestrians on the streets. Just walking along the streets would make him be easily suspected, and during this period of time, the whole of Backlund was under tight curfews due to serial murders.
This was beneficial to Klein’s operation, but it was also disadvantageous!
Putting the Master Key and other items in his pockets, he took his cane and first went to East Borough to change his attire. Then, he rented a carriage several times until he reached a place quite far from King’s Avenue in West Borough.
By then, an hour and forty-five minutes had already passed.
His initial plan was actually nothing like this. He wanted to summon himself and respond to himself to become a spirit body. He wanted to rely on his extremely fast speed to cross the distance from Cherwood Borough to West Borough before infiltrating the Royal Museum.
However, he eventually abandoned the plan because of the potentially high risks.
Backlund had more than one High-Sequence Beyonder!
In a situation where a serial killer caused everyone to panic, yet remained unsolved for such a long time, there might be High-Sequence Beyonders who were consciously using their Beyonder powers or corresponding Sealed Artifacts to monitor certain areas. The distance from Cherwood Borough to West Borough was neither too long nor too short, and the probability of being discovered was substantial if such a special spirit flew like this.
Therefore, to be careful, Klein modified his original plan but retained the core idea.
…
2 King’s Avenue, Royal Museum.
There were four security guards standing on top of a polygonal roof. Dressed in thick robes, they were enduring the cold of the autumn night as they carefully monitored their respective directions. Once anyone approached the museum, even if they were hidden by the trees or building shadows, it would be difficult to hide from their eyes.
From this arrangement alone, it could be seen that the security company that had been employed was very professional.
“There’s still half an hour before our shift ends…” A security guard looked down at his companions who were patrolling the building and shook his body.
In the museum, the remaining security personnel were divided into four groups. They patrolled the various exhibition halls in intervals according to different routes.
In the showroom where Roselle’s diary was kept, the Machinery Hivemind squad captain, Max Livermore, wore a monocle that allowed him to directly see wraiths, shadows, and other spirit-type monsters. He carried a lantern as he went back and forth to check on the area. Occasionally, he would head to the other halls to check on the situation.
His two subordinates remained in the small hall, next to Roselle’s diary.
However, there was an additional item on the glass display case.
It was a collection of brightly colored blocks that had been pieced together into a miniature layout of the museum’s first floor.
This was also a Sealed Artifact. As long as those blocks were pieced into the shape of a corresponding building, they would be able to establish a connection with the real building. Once anyone intruded, its surface would react immediately by shrinking.
Of course, there were quite a few limitations to this. The distance couldn’t be too far, and it wouldn’t work if the number of blocks it had wasn’t enough to piece together the building.
And without external help, it was almost impossible for people or items inside to leave.
“Captain, do you really think someone will steal this notebook? I can’t comprehend it at all!” one of the team members asked in a bored tone when he saw Max coming back with his lantern.
Max smiled and said, “Some people adore Roselle with zeal. It’s not something you can understand.
“Some of them believe that they can crack it and only need more information for reference. Some of them believe that the symbols contain a mysterious power. As long as they can find the correct combination, they will gain Beyonder powers.
“In previous exhibitions, we would capture such criminals from time to time.”
“So that’s why we didn’t hide the notebook away and placed them in sealed areas? We are waiting for these people to ‘surrender’ themselves?” another teammate asked with enlightenment.
Max nodded and said, “Who wouldn’t want free meritorious deeds?”
…
18 King’s Avenue. Outside a building next to a crossroad junction.
Klein followed the shadows and shaded areas, using the Master Key from time to time to walk in a straight line before finally arriving here.
He took out the plain brass key, pointed it at the kitchen door, and turned it silently.
An imperceptible rippling happened as Klein entered the room. All the way through, he saw doors and walls, and without disturbing anyone, he found a storage room.
Then, he took out a candle and placed it on a crate in front of him.
After the candle wick was lit, he summoned himself using ritualistic magic and then responded to himself above the gray fog.
Less than a minute later, Klein was floating in the room, facing his body whose eyes had lost their luster.
After familiarizing himself with this feeling, he wrapped the ancient and exquisite Azik copper whistle to stabilize his spirit body and made it stronger. It caused a chilly wind to begin to swirl in the room.
At the same time, he also used this power to slightly change the appearance of his illusory spirit body, causing it to appear as if there was a layer of paint on its face.
After doing all of this, Klein took a box of common matches he randomly bought off the streets, cut out a transparent door in the wall of spirituality, and headed out.
“Action time!”
He silently encouraged himself, and just like a real ghost, he passed through the residential buildings, one by one, before successfully arriving outside the Royal Museum.
There was no need to activate his Spirit Vision. In this state, he could clearly see every security personnel, their aura, and emotions which unreservedly betrayed them.
Finding the withered lawn and the iron-black lamppost that faced the hall window, Klein didn’t swagger over just because ordinary people couldn’t see him. Instead, he followed the shadows and took an elusive route. He passed through the sculpted tree and obstacles before cautiously arriving at his destination. He stuck close to the wall, as he couldn’t guarantee that the security personnel didn’t comprise of a member of the Machinery Hivemind.
At this moment, the four security guards on the rooftop, who were carefully inspecting their respective areas of operations, were like blind people. They failed to discover anything.
Klein didn’t enter the exhibition hall directly, because his spiritual perception and intuition told him that the museum floor was shrouded in a mysterious power. It also had to do with how he couldn’t confirm if there were Beyonders inside.
He followed his plan and circled to another area, to the washroom that was closer to the exhibition hall that housed Roselle’s diary. Then, he threw the box of matches he had brought with him through the vent.
Next, he flew up and entered the second floor!
