Watching the thief named Gory leave the living room and head away along the Tasok River without looking back, Angel locked the front door, maintained her invisibility, and followed him at a distance.
This clumsy intruder had no idea a concealed Beyonder was tailing him. He simply felt pleased about completing his task so easily, walking briskly through the deserted streets. He crossed Red Rose Street, then Rose Avenue, eventually arriving at the East Borough adjacent to the Bridge District.
As Backlund's most densely populated slum, the East Borough housed over 350,000 permanent residents. Including transient "unregistered" inhabitants, the total could reach 500,000. Most made their living through various legitimate trades, but criminal gangs operating illegal businesses were equally numerous.
Angel followed the thief through sewage-strewn streets, using her dark vision to observe Backlund's largest impoverished district. Countless homeless people sat or lay in shadowy corners—gaunt, dressed in rags, their clouded eyes watching Gory hurry past with his document folder clutched under his arm.
The latter clearly understood the East Borough's survival rules. He flashed the sheath of his dagger beneath his jacket, easily deterring the restless vagrants around him. He continued through the maze of streets and alleys, soon arriving at a three-story building.
After knocking three long, one short on the wooden door, it swung inward. A burly man cautiously stuck his head out, surveying the surroundings.
"Come in. The boss is waiting for you on the second floor."
The man stepped aside to let Gory enter, then checked the street outside once more. Confirming no one had followed, he carefully closed the door.
Only after entering the hideout did Gory fully relax. He squeezed the document folder again, verifying the papers were still inside, then climbed the stairs to the second floor and stopped before a copper-reinforced wooden door.
"Knock knock—"
He rapped twice lightly, then pushed the door open and entered.
Only a dim gas lamp burned in the room. His boss wasn't sitting in his favorite leather sofa but stood by the window with his back to the door, hunched over and looking down, seemingly gazing at the street scene outside.
"Boss, I found the manuscript. Didn't alert anyone."
Gory held the documents with both hands, reporting to him.
"Very good." The burly boss spoke in a cheerful tone, then his body went limp and collapsed to the floor with a thud.
Another figure that had been hidden by his body now appeared before Gory's eyes. That previous reply had been delivered by someone else.
"If you obediently hand over the manuscript, I won't kill you, or your boss."
A short-haired, cloaked man displayed a mocking expression as he addressed Gory.
The latter's reaction was equally direct—he hugged the documents and turned to flee toward the door.
The dark-haired man grabbed a chair by the window and hurled it at the doorway, striking Gory squarely in the back. He let out a groan and fell to the ground, his head hitting the doorframe before he lost consciousness.
The document folder flew into a corner of the room.
The tremendous noise alerted the guard downstairs. Heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs outside, but the man remained unconcerned. He smiled faintly, dusted off his hands, approached the door, picked up the chair again, and stood beside it.
The burly man who had opened the door for Gory burst in with a revolver in one hand, pushing the door with the other. Upon seeing his collapsed boss, he was about to step forward to check when a whooshing sound came from behind him.
Bang.
The chair shattered into pieces, and the burly man swayed and fell.
"Easy and simple. Sure enough, if you wait here, the manuscript delivers itself."
The man muttered to himself, kicked the fallen guard to confirm he was unconscious, then turned to look at the document folder Gory had dropped in the corner.
The folder was now in the hands of a woman who had appeared in the room at some unknown moment.
"Yes, indeed. If you wait here, the manuscript delivers itself."
Angel repeated Dominic's words, waving the document folder in her hand.
She hadn't expected to encounter this "Hunter" pathway Beyonder—who had likely reached Sequence 8 "Provocateur"—again after two months, especially in such circumstances here in Backlund.
"It's you?"
The other party clearly recognized Angel as well. His expression shifted uncertainly as his gaze moved from the document folder in Angel's hand back to her face.
To prevent this impulsive "Provocateur" from becoming desperate, Angel directly summoned two black flames beside her, letting them drift slowly around her. This successfully added several degrees of wariness to his face.
"Fine, fine." After hesitating a moment, Dominic raised both hands and pressed them downward in a gesture of surrender. "I don't want that thing anymore. I'll leave right now. Is that acceptable?"
The last time she'd encountered this guy, two out of every three sentences had been mocking. Why was he being so cooperative today?
Angel frowned, looking at this unusually sincere "Provocateur," then surveyed the room's layout. A suspicion formed in her mind.
"I can let you go, but first, tell me what this document actually is."
She spoke slowly, taking a few steps toward the room's only luxurious single sofa and the office desk in front of it.
Through this movement, Angel successfully detected a trace of barely concealed anxiety in Dominic's eyes.
"You don't even know what it is and yet you... ahem, fine." The Provocateur seemed about to make an insulting remark out of habit but slammed on the brakes at the last moment. "This is a mechanical design diagram. Have you heard of Turanie von Helmosuin?"
"No, I haven't."
Angel answered honestly without the slightest embarrassment.
"Haven't heard of him... that's normal, I suppose. He's known as the greatest scientist and mechanist since Emperor Roselle, the father of the second-generation difference engine, holder of countless invention patents."
"And the document in your hand is the design manuscript for the third-generation difference engine."
"Someone offered a high price for this manuscript, and I happen to have some tracking skills, so I tracked it here."
Lies...
This manuscript had been hidden in the study at 47 Red Rose Street just half an hour ago. What tracking skill could have led him here?
Angel laughed inwardly.
Now closer to the desk, she could faintly hear subtle, deliberately suppressed breathing. Her suspicions grew stronger.
"I see. Then I'll take this manuscript with me. You have no objections, do you?"
Angel waved the document folder, making as if to walk outside.
"I wouldn't dare object."
Dominic's expression changed several times before finally settling on anger and unwillingness as he answered with pursed lips.
But his eyes held traces of relief and joy.
"Oh, by the way," Angel took a few steps, then turned back to look at the desk, a mocking smile crossing her face. "The one hiding over there, could it be..."
"Sonia, run!"
Before Angel could finish speaking, the "Provocateur" shouted loudly, kicked off hard with both feet, clenched his fists tightly, and his tall, thin body shot toward Angel like a cannonball.
"Boom—"
Already prepared, Angel conjured ice beneath her feet that rapidly spread in all directions. Cold air filled the entire room, and moisture in the air quickly condensed, forming patches of fog.
Impeded by the freezing air, Dominic's forward charge noticeably slowed. She lowered her body, using her shoulder and elbow to meet his lunge, successfully dodging his fists while pushing his body upward, then borrowing the force to retreat backward.
Such strength—the Hunter pathway clearly excels at close combat too...
From that brief contact, Angel discovered his strength was astonishing. However, the Assassin pathway's potion also provided considerable physical enhancement, so she hadn't lost to him in raw power.
The two quickly clashed and separated. Dominic's lifted body swiftly regained balance in mid-air and landed, while Angel retreated toward the door using the impact force. She caught sight of a brownish-gray figure darting out from behind the desk, nimbly circling around the two people in the center of the room and rushing toward the only exit.
But Angel's retreat happened to be in the same direction. She smoothly moved closer, drew her revolver, and aimed at the figure. At such close range, the muzzle almost pressed against the other person's forehead.
"Eek—"
Like a startled rabbit, the small figure let out a cry and froze, not daring to move again.
Dominic, who had been adjusting his body to pounce again, also stood still with an ashen face.
"So it's you, Miss 'Justice.'"
Watching the brown-haired Sonia, barely 160 centimeters tall, nearly shrinking entirely into her cloak, Angel couldn't help but laugh.
She hadn't expected to encounter both master and servant from the underground market in Enmat Port here in this place.