Operation Red Book

The priest flipped through the Bible in his hand and muttered something, but was soon kicked out of the room by Bell along with the noisy Thomas.

"That was Mr. Jacob Duran, the Son of Time. He slowed your fall so that Mr. Victor could pull you back in time."

"Thank you, thank you..."

Joshua recalled the scene before he fainted. He was hanging in the air, with glass fragments and raindrops condensed around him.

At that moment, he felt the passage of time and its near stagnation.

"Joshua! I'm so glad you're okay!"

A bearded, sturdy man came into the room. He was the vampire conductor Mr. Walter whom he met on the train.

Joshua connected his figure with the masked man who had previously held Moriarty hostage, and then he realized what he had overlooked about Walter.

"Mr. Walter, I'm fine. How are your injuries?" Joshua was finally no longer so reserved when he met an acquaintance.

"Bell's potion is quite good. I'll be able to go on a mission in a few days. It's great that you can join SCO! Will Miss Ivy join you?"

"Classmate Ivy...Classmate Ivy went to the Chinese wharf in the east. I separated from her in the afternoon."

Joshua looked at the sky outside which had already turned dark, and suddenly had a bad feeling.

"He's worried about Ivy's safety, right, Aurora..."

Luna stared at Joshua with empty eyes, and when she talked about Aurora, she looked at the doll in her hand.

The voice was ethereal, like an oracle from ancient times.

"There was a problem at the Chinese Wharf, and Mr. Zhu continued to send us requests for help."

Walter lowered his voice to report the situation to Victor. Although he thought his voice was low enough, Joshua still heard it all.

"what? What?"

"I'm going to save her!" "I'm going to save her!"

Luna's voice and Joshua's voice sounded almost at the same time. Joshua jumped up from the bed in shock, and the cold towel fell to the floor.

Luna tilted her head and looked at him: "Is Ai Wei your girlfriend?"

Without time to deny, Joshua rolled back the quilt and tried to get out of bed, but was held back by Moriarty, Johnson and Bell.

"Don't worry, I've sent Alexander and Hilda over." Victor said coldly.

“They’re also the ones who beat you with balaclavas on,” Johnson added, his voice high and sounding in good spirits.

"It seems a bit tricky. Hilda also requested more help." Walter continued in a low voice.

"Oh my god, you are such a brainless idiot. If your Joshua hears it, it will disturb his rest."

Bell reluctantly interrupted the conversation and ruthlessly ordered everyone in the room to leave.

Luna withdrew her gaze from Joshua, ran a few steps to catch up with Victor, and stretched out her little hand to grab Victor's cold big hand.

"I want to go see Joshua's girlfriend."

"Go ahead and be safe."

The emotionless conversation between the two was fleeting and dissipated outside Joshua's room.

Moriarty stayed in Joshua's ward and applied ice to the swelling.

"Mr. Moriarty, what else is needed to pass this interview besides wit and courage?" Joshua suddenly spoke, his eyes still dull.

"It also requires desperate kindness and a readiness to sacrifice at all times," Moriarty replied.

The room continued to fall into silence, and the lights illuminated the entire ward.

There were all kinds of strange-shaped bottles on Bell's workbench, and the bottles were filled with liquids of various forms and colors. Joshua stared at a green bottle in a daze.

"Is there something I want to ask you?" Moriarty removed the ice towel.

"What were you thinking when you fell from the building holding the bomb?"

"I wonder if time bombs were invented in 18th century Britain?" Joshua blurted out without thinking.

"I've asked a lot of people who are in life-or-death situations, and you're the first one to answer like this. It's really strange."

"Oh...oh, but this was the only thought I had at the time." Joshua looked at Moriarty with innocent eyes.

"You can go back first, Mr. Moriarty. I'm fine now."

Moriarty responded, tidied up Joshua's ward, said goodnight to each other, and opened the door.

"Mr. Moriarty, I'm still very worried about Ivy." Joshua called out to Moriarty.

"I'll have Ms. Bell keep a close eye on you."

Moriarty smiled and turned off the lights in the room.

"You should trust your organization. I have never seen them fail, especially Luna. Have a good rest. You will be able to see Miss Ivy tomorrow."

"Yes, you too, Mr. Moriarty."

"Fate will take care of it, Joshua."

Moriarty's face was hidden in the darkness, and no expression could be seen.

"The Red Book is destiny, you and Miss Ivy are destiny, joining the SCO organization is also destiny. Who says that letting you lie here peacefully is not destiny?"

"Good night, Mr. Moriarty."

"You too."

The door was closed, and Joshua lay in the dark room, turning his head to look at the starry sky outside the window.

At this moment, Joshua had the desire to explore the future for the first time.