Secret: The years I served as a foreign aid for the Aurora Club

Chapter 192 Doll
458
"Colonel, Colonel."

"Colonel!"

“Alfred…!”

Hearing this somewhat gnashing voice, the blond, blue-eyed Alfred Hall turned around. He frowned and looked at his companion: "What is it, Pagani?"

The companion with black hair and brown eyes, a typical Loen appearance, changed his usual impatient look and looked around cautiously with a serious expression:
"Let's go inside and talk."

Alfred looked thoughtfully at the young officer who had been his partner for a long time, hinting at something with his eyes. He also read some uneasiness from the other's expression and body language, so he walked in front and took him to his office.

After entering the office, the sea breeze lifted the curtains the moment the door opened, and the moist and slightly salty ocean scent filled the office. Born into a noble family in Backlund, but having participated in several conflicts at a young age and having obtained the rank of colonel, Alfred did not have the same stringent requirements for the environment as a noble. Seeing that Pagani still looked like he couldn't stand the smell of the sea, he closed the window and took out the perfume he carried with him to spray it.

"Thank you." Pagani breathed a sigh of relief, "I almost couldn't breathe."

"It's nothing, sit down."

Alfred pointed his finger, and Pagani, who was about to say something else, had to sit down and wait. He watched Alfred slowly make a cup of tea, slowly take off his coat, and finally slowly sit on the chair. He could not help but said anxiously:

"Why are you still so nonchalant?"

After saying this, he realized that his voice was a little too loud, so he had to lower it a bit, but his speech speed was still urgent and fast:
"Alfred, what should we do? It seems that some evil creatures have sneaked into the ship!"

"Today, someone reported another incomprehensible abnormal situation. We have to be careful with our words! I said that there might be spies with ill intentions dropping things at that native port, and suggested that we stop at the mid-range island for supplies, but you didn't listen!"

"The lieutenant general cannot go with us because of official duties. What if something goes wrong with the governor..."

He took a deep breath and didn't dare to say anything more.

Pagani's military rank is major. He is Alfred's companion and friend. Alfred is very tolerant of this playmate since childhood. He is also familiar with his playmate's outspoken character and does not care about his bullet-like words.

He was very calm: "When did you realize it?"

Pagani couldn't be as calm as him, but he was forced to slow down his speech:
"…The day after we left the port." The major paused, frowning as he reflected on his memory. "A servant who was cleaning the deck claimed to have heard a sound of someone falling into the water in the middle of the night. When he counted the heads during the day, he discovered that there was indeed a sailor missing next to him."

"We are traveling this time for the purpose and reputation of the kingdom. It is impossible for a useless drunkard to fall into the sea and die. Moreover, the personal background and experience of the sailor are normal. He has no suicidal tendencies or any bad habits. His death is suspicious."

"So! Alfred, this is the third person to go missing, but we have no clue at the moment, right? Storm above, do you want to contact the nearby bishop for help?"

Alfred didn't answer immediately, then suddenly said, "There are more than three missing people."

Pagani's eyes widened: "What did you say?"

"Pagani, my friend, forgive me for not telling you the details of this matter right away." Looking at his astonished friend, Alfred's handsome and serious face showed a hint of teasing smile, "Because you are too impatient and always show your emotions on your face. To deal with such strange situations requires calm planning."

"That fair and serious Alfred actually lied!" Pagani was shocked, "You must be fake!"

The smile on Alfred's face disappeared.

"Okay, okay, I shouldn't have made fun of you." The major had to admit his mistake to his friend who had a higher rank, "But who told you not to tell me? We have worked together for so long."

After that, he smiled rather deliberately, leaned forward, and looked at his friend expectantly: "So you already have a way to deal with those weird things?"

Alfred nodded and responded to his friend's expectations: "This should be caused by an extraordinary item. I don't know if you still remember the Intis Intelligence Department. It is said that some outstanding spies can perfectly disguise themselves as others."

"Of course I remember." Pagani nodded, "We were planning to steal the Difference Engine manuscript from the Kingdom."

"That's it."

The blond officer said, "After the first person disappeared, we started investigating and finally confirmed that it was a seal that could change the identity of another person. After the first person, no one else disappeared."

Pagani was horrified: "You mean..."

"Yes, they are still on our ship, but they have been replaced quietly! Those things will also detect people who find them. The servants who clean the deck have become part of the seal. Even I usually pretend to know nothing."

"All sealed objects have certain patterns when they move. You may not know that the servant who first heard the sound of falling into the water encountered a terrifying thing. He claimed that a pair of twin maids came to him and asked him to see the difference between their clothes and appearances."

"Twin maids?!" Pagani was confused by the continuous intelligence. "Impossible! There are no twins among the more than 100 servants on the ship! One of the servant must have been fake!"

Alfred nodded.

"The servant had work to do and was indeed quite old, so it was difficult for him to closely observe the difference between the two ladies in the dim corridor. He just smiled and said he couldn't tell them apart." The colonel's face was solemn. "He took this matter to heart, but still chose to report it together with the sound of falling into the water."

"Have you found the maid?" Pagani pricked up his ears and felt like he was listening to a ghost story.

The window seemed not to be closed tightly, and a gust of sea breeze blew in, making him feel uncomfortable all over.

"found it."

"Although the servant identified her, the maid knew nothing about the incident and explicitly denied that she had no twin sisters or came to our ship that day."

Pagani gasped, "She must be fake!"

"I know. The channel corresponding to that seal is Intis's intelligence department! This seal can change into the appearance of another person, and maybe even replace the identity of another person! That's why I feel like there are many eyes staring at me. Those chaotic bastards in Intis actually want to prevent us from escorting the Governor to the southern continent to quell the rebellion. Our two neighbors are getting more and more arrogant!"

"So that's why you said 'more than three are missing'? Not many are missing, but there are more who have become part of the seal, right?"

Alfred showed a strange look on his face. "That's absolutely right. You have figured out the way the Sealed Object works just by listening to these few words. Pagani, you have a very flexible mind."

"But whether the Intis intelligence department is involved remains to be verified. I have received reliable clues. Such a seal corresponds to the middle sequence of that path and is a level 2 seal. It is a bit unreasonable to just throw it on our ship like this."

"Maybe Intis is helping the natives!" Pagani said, "Tell the natives to just bring this thing up, since they can't use it anyway."

Alfred thought for a moment, "What you said is not impossible..."

"So what methods have you prepared to deal with the Sealed Artifact?" Pagani lowered his voice unconsciously, "The Vice Admiral is not here..."

"How do you know he's not here?"

Seeing the sly smile on his friend's face, Pagani suddenly understood and smiled as well:

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, has been guarding in the dark? I forgive you, Alfred. If I had known this earlier, I would have shown confidence instead of being so anxious now."

"I'm so glad you forgive me. Judging by the time, the Vice Admiral should have found it."

As he spoke, Alfred walked to the window and pulled open the curtains, his movements like the opening of a theater. Pagani stood up and walked over, not knowing what was going on. Outside the window was a frigate more than ten meters away.

A man stood at the bow, looking down from above. A grand and serious voice came with the sea breeze:

"No disguise allowed here!"

"No substitution is allowed here!"

"Storm, it's really the Vice Admiral." Pagani's eyes suddenly widened. "Is the Sealed Artifact on that ship?"

As if to confirm his words, as soon as the lieutenant admiral finished speaking, three or four people on the deck suddenly fell to the ground with mops and rags in their hands. Their expressions were frozen and their movements were stiff, as if an invisible hand had pushed down these sculptures.

The other servants were frightened by the scene. The decree covered the entire frigate, so screams were heard even in the cabin, but they were quickly quelled with the help of the guards.

"There are so many?" Pagani's face changed drastically. "How many people are still alive on that ship?" Alfred also looked serious. "Your Excellency the Vice Admiral estimated that at least 20 people died, including three low-ranking officers. This seal mainly targets ordinary people. We have already suffered casualties before we even set foot on Balam's land."

Those "sculptures" that fell to the ground quickly rotted, bleeding from their orifices, and turned into a pool of unrecognizable muddy objects. It was difficult to tell that they were once human beings. The stench of these corpses was also carried over by the sea breeze, as if they had been dead for several days.

Pagani, who had a picky and sensitive nose, was almost vomited by the smell. Alfred had to close the window and spray the perfume again to save his life.

But this episode did not reduce their curiosity. Gunshots were heard from the cabin of the frigate, and there was a flicker of fire. It seemed that the Vice Admiral had come into contact with the seal. After a while, bodies covered with white cloth were carried out one after another, and the figure of the Vice Admiral appeared on the deck again, holding something vaguely visible in his hand.

"We caught him!" Pagani was surprised and delighted. "Storm is above! Praise to His Excellency, Vice Admiral."

Then he was a little confused: "How did you confirm that it was on that ship, Your Excellency the Vice Admiral?"

Alfred smiled slightly and said, "Because the Vice Admiral has searched all three ships and finally confirmed that only the frigate had traces of its activities."

Pagani was even more surprised: "His Excellency the Lieutenant General was here! Oh my God, doesn't that mean I might have seen him?"

While they were talking, there was a knock on Alfred's window, and a man with serious features and a face as if carved from marble appeared floating outside, holding a small wooden figure for sketching in one hand and pressing the other hand against the window.

Alfred quickly opened the window and they both greeted each other:
"Your Majesty Lieutenant General!"

The lieutenant general casually showed them what he had in his hand - a small wooden figure about the size of a palm, with movable joints and blurred facial features. Then he said, "The crisis has been resolved. Restore alert. I will officially board the ship at the next port."

He turned to Alfred: "Your clue is timely."

With that, the Vice Admiral flew away again and landed on the deck of another frigate to supervise the cleanup and pacification work.

Pagani's face was filled with excitement. "Oh my God! Alfred, you got the admiral's praise!"

"I almost forgot that you are such a brave and decisive person. If you make a contribution in suppressing the rebellion this time, you may soon be promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Then, as long as you have a few more years of experience, you will..."

Alfred was also in a good mood, but he stopped his companions from continuing to fantasize about the future: "Let's fight the war well first."

"Okay, okay. Future General, I hope you can support me in the future." The crisis that had been going on for a long time was resolved, and Pagani was obviously very happy. "Let's go to the restaurant for dinner together?"

"You go first, I'll go change my clothes."

"Then I'll go back too."

Pagani said goodbye, turned around and opened the door to leave. He walked down the corridor, still in disbelief.

"Is this the end?"

A single decree determined that there were no fish that slipped through the net, and a few laps around the other two ships was considered an inspection? This is too reckless...

"But it's okay. Anyway, it's finally over."

Pagani's expression regained its relaxed look. He returned to his cabin, took off his coat, took out another everyday outfit from the closet, tried it on himself, and began to change.

Of course, it would be best if I was not discovered. It turned out that they already knew about my "find the difference" game. Fortunately, I only played "hide and seek" with Pagani once... The bodies of the three low-ranking officers were all there, and their characteristics were all there. I did nothing except kill people, giving them the illusion that I was irrational. Only this person's characteristics remained on me, so I could successfully disguise myself as a Sequence 7 "Judge" Beyonder.

Pagani has been captured by him, so I have no choice but to continue following him... If I can successfully follow the fleet into Balam, will the Lord reward me with the Beyonder characteristic of Sequence 7... The puppet thought happily.

459
The place abandoned by God, Silver City.

Chief Colin Iliad had been briefed by the patrol before lunch, but preparations had not yet been completed.

He was thinking whether he should tell Elder Lovia and the mother of the unborn child about this matter.

The visitor asked to see him by name, but as the highest combat power in Silver City and the chief of the Council of Six, Colin Iliad could not gamble on whether the man was a monster or, as he said, "your compatriot, the Lord's shepherd."

But he was sure that Elder Lovia and Mrs. Skold would be very happy and even eager to meet the visitors.

"An old man?"

"Yes, he looks very old, even older than you, Chief."

"Wearing clothes you have never seen, but wearing the symbol of the Lord around your neck?"

"Yes, Chief. But we can't tell his path."

"Tell me what his characteristics are."

"He - the lantern in his hand seems to be a sealed object. There is pure darkness around him, but there are no monsters. There are also faintly visible dark feathers..."

Colin Iliad recalled the patrol team's report and looked down at the people coming and going in the City of Silver. He felt an immense weight on his shoulders, as if he had come to an important intersection of destiny.

He chose to summon Derrick first.

The tall boy who was called over looked confused: "Chief, you are looking for me?"

Colin said cryptically, "Carlotta Skold said her children are very fond of you."

He saw that Derrick was obviously relieved, his mood became relaxed, and a smile appeared on his face: "I am very happy."

"Do you think there's a reason for that?"

Derrick's eyes revealed a trace of astonishment. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then said carefully, "Perhaps it's because of my path? The Lord is the Creator and was once the Sun God, but my path comes from my parents' relics..."

You kid, ... Colin shook his head in his heart. He did not expose Derrick's lie, but slowed down his tone and talked to him for a while. Colin recorded Derrick's answer in his heart. The seal in the old man's hand described by the patrol team had a "warm, constant light", which also reminded him of Derrick's path and purification power.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door, and someone came to report: "Chief, Elder Luo Weiya has something urgent to discuss with you."

Colin glanced at Derrick and saw that there was nothing unusual on his face, so he said calmly:
"Let her in."

The guard hurried away, and half a minute later, the elder Lovia with silver-white curly hair came over holding the skull that she always carried with her.

She saw Derrick was there too, and while she was a little confused, she also understood something. Then, Lovia reached out and rolled up one of her sleeves, saying in a vague tone:

"chief."

"Something outside the city seems to be calling me."

Colin's expression became serious. Was the visitor from the "Secret Prayer" path? Was he a stronger person than Lovia? The "Secret Prayer" path of Silver City did not have formulas after Sequence 4. Perhaps this was indeed an opportunity, but it was too hard to believe.

"He said……"

Lovia rolled up her sleeves to the joints, and the flesh on her pale, smooth forearms suddenly began to wriggle, and then a few pieces of flesh fell off and landed on the round table between them. Colin's eyes were immediately drawn to her. Lovia lowered her head slightly, not caring about the blood flowing from her arm. Derrick also slowly opened his mouth.

The pieces of flesh moved on their own, spelling out a few words in Giant language:

"I have no ill intentions."

TBC
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With this style of painting, who would believe that your Aurora Society is not a cult? The Hanged Man should reflect on himself!