Chapter 265: Xio: What are you two doing?
"Acting… is so tiring…"
Klein lay sprawled on the bed in a 'big' shape, not even wanting to move a single finger.
After a short vacation, his mission resumed. Mr. Rustig, the mysterious investment genius who had made a name for himself in Backlund's high Society, was back in business.
His latest task was to constantly hint to greedy merchants and nobles that a newly established mining company had significant positive news.
He had already hinted to several groups of people.
And the Society's propaganda machine, riding on this momentum, was fully activated. All sorts of true and false rumors had quietly spread throughout Backlund's upper circles.
In the past two days, several nobles and council members had expressed their strong interest in this mining company through various channels, hoping to purchase shares or so-called "original shares" of the shell company through him.
Regarding this, Charles's instruction to him was to keep them waiting. Once the buzz around this matter grew a little more, he would arrange for them to meet with the mining company's people. This way, the value of the shares could be inflated even higher. After all, scarcity drives value; the more people who know, the more people will want a piece of the pie. It would be a perfect opportunity for them to have a "highest bidder wins" show.
And once more people participated in the bidding, more upper-class individuals would be drawn into this storm, and the mission's effect would be even better.
"Tired… truly so tired…"
This fatigue was not just physical, but also mental. Although those interested in the mining company were all wealthy and influential upper-class individuals, watching them fall into the trap he had personally set, step by step, still made Klein feel a pang of unease in his conscience.
Even though he was also helpless…
"They are all from the upper class, with deep pockets; they won't go bankrupt so easily…" Klein comforted himself in his mind.
He forced himself to turn his thoughts to the positive side.
"Think… think of good things! I got a blasphemy card!"
The bookmark he obtained from the Rosell Memorial Exhibition, with the help of Miss Justice, was the legendary "blasphemy card."
"I've been too busy these past two days; I haven't had time to study it carefully. Why not now?" As this thought arose, it successfully dispelled some of his fatigue.
With that thought, he sprang from the bed, took four counter-clockwise steps, and arrived above the Grey Mist.
"Oh, what is this?"
Soon after he sat down above the Grey Mist, he noticed a faint, deep-red star quietly lighting up beside him.
"It's not a member of the Tarot Club…"
Leaning back slightly, Klein extended his left hand, and with a gentle touch of his fingertip, tendrils of spirituality spread out, reaching towards the unfamiliar star.
The surrounding scene abruptly changed, and he saw a brown-haired lady lying on the ground, as if struggling in her death throes.
"Isn't this… Lorne Disenk's pen pal?"
"Could it be that because of her prayer last time, she formed some special connection with the Grey Mist?" Klein recalled the scene from his previous battle with Leonard, where the other party prayed to the Fool in despair. Because the situation was urgent at the time, he didn't have time to deal with it.
Afterward, he had specifically divined her safety, and after confirming she was fine, he hadn't thought much about it again. He never expected that she would now connect with the Grey Mist once more—
Klein listened intently and soon clearly heard the other party's intermittent pleas: "Help… help…"
"Save me…"
"Lorne… where are you?"
"Come quickly…"
"Save me"? From her appearance, it looks like a premonition of losing control… Klein observed carefully for several seconds.
At the same time, he keenly noticed a faint, illusory, almost imperceptible whisper lingering around her.
"Lorne? Can Lorne Deesink save her?" His body leaned forward slightly, looking closely at the scene, but found that there was only the other person in the room, and not the lingering Lorne Disenk.
"What to do? She seems to be on the verge of collapse. Can the power of the Grey Mist isolate the whispers and save her?"
"Even if it can…" Klein fell into deep conflict.
She seemed to have such a good relationship with Lorne Disenk, so she certainly wasn't an easy person to deal with either.
If he saved her, it would inevitably lead to unnecessary entanglement with Lorne Disenk…
If Mr. Fool were to be seen through by her…
"Sigh, never mind, I'll save her first…" Klein finally tried to convince himself.
"If I save her, maybe I can get more information about Lorne Disenk from her, and understand that guy's background… Yes, that's it."
Under the crimson moonlight, Lorne arrived near the apartment Fors rented.
Even after transmigrating for so long, he still couldn't adapt to this world's counter-intuitive moonlight.
Logically, moonlight is reflected sunlight, so under normal circumstances, it shouldn't maintain this ominous color for a long time.
Could it be… that there are some Beyonder factors involved? Or, is there something unclean on that Moon?
"Here."
He arrived downstairs at Fors's apartment.
"Coming to a single lady's home in the middle of the night…" He rubbed his nose, "It makes it seem like I care about her a lot…"
"Sigh…"
With a sigh, Lorne finally stepped forward and raised his hand to knock on the door.
"Knock, knock, knock."
No response—
"Knock, knock, knock."
Still no response—
After knocking three times in a row, the door remained silent.
"Xio might have gone to the East Borough and isn't home. But Fors…" Lorne's unease grew stronger. He pulled a coin from his pocket and lightly tossed it into the air.
The coin tumbled in the air, finally landing in his palm with the back facing up.
Damn it! Something happened!
Confound it, it's truly a case of what you fear most coming true!
He looked up, surveying the house.
"The window—yes, the window!" His gaze finally settled on a slightly ajar window on the second floor.
"Whoosh—"
Lorne took a deep breath, stepped back a few paces, then suddenly ran forward and leaped with all his might!
"Fors—Fors!"
As soon as his feet landed, Lorne called out in a low voice, while vigilantly looking around.
But no matter how he called, no one in the room responded—
"No, there are residual spiritual reactions around; someone must be here—"
With a hint of unease, Lorne quickly walked into the living room.
The scene before him made his heart sink.
He saw an overturned coffee table, a tilted sofa, and books and papers scattered all over the floor. In the center of this mess, he saw Fors lying motionless on the ground.
"Fors? Fors!" Lorne called out twice more, but Fors on the ground still showed no movement.
"No way… already…" A bad premonition instantly surged into his heart.
He suppressed his pounding heart, trembling as he shuffled his feet forward, step by step, while reaching into his embrace.
A Beyonder who has lost control could potentially turn into a Monster!
He reached Fors's side, but she remained motionless.
He squatted down, leaned in close, and observed carefully.
She was breathing—
He heard a faint but steady breathing sound.
He reached out his hand again, towards Fors's cheek.
Poke, poke—
She was warm—
"Fors… just fainted?"
Lorne couldn't quite understand her current state. She seemed to have no major problems, but she just wouldn't wake up no matter what.
After a brief thought, he still picked Fors up from the cold floor and gently placed her on the sofa.
Not long after he finished all this, Fors's eyelashes on the sofa fluttered a few times. "I… I'm not dead…" Fors's eyes were still a bit dazed; the recent experience had left her brain somewhat muddled.
"How are you?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Fors froze. She slowly turned her head and saw Lorne standing beside her.
"Hey… are you alright? Can you speak?" Lorne, seeing her just staring at him without speaking, pressed on.
Fors didn't answer, just stared blankly at him, a layer of glistening mist quickly filling her eyes.
"It's too late…" Her lips moved, almost inaudibly.
"What?"
"You came… too late!"
Fors suddenly sat up, threw herself into Lorne's arms, and burst into tears.
"Idiot! Why… why couldn't you come earlier?!"
Fors sobbed, crying intermittently, her fists weakly pounding his back, as if to vent all her fear, grievance, and lingering dread.
Hot tears quickly soaked Lorne's shirt.
I have been targeted by an unknown hidden existence, becoming a member of a secret organization, and from now on… I will have to bear the heavy fate of constantly hiding and deceiving my friends—
The male protagonist in novels always descends from the sky at the most crucial moment.
But why… why were you late…
If Lorne hadn't come, Fors might not have reacted so strongly. But the moment she saw Lorne appear, all the grievances, fears, and helplessness in her heart could no longer be contained, erupting hysterically like a bursting dam.
"Come earlier…"
Lorne completely failed to understand the situation before him. A girl suddenly throwing herself into his arms and crying loudly was something he had never experienced before. For a moment, he froze there, at a loss.
Should I hold her and comfort her, or let her calm down first, or maybe pat her head or something—
"Click."
Just then, a crisp sound of a key unlocking the door came from the entrance.
"Fors, I'm late! It's the full Moon today, are you alright…?"
Xio's voice came from the entryway.
When she quickly entered the living room, the scene before her instantly froze her in place. She saw her best friend, clinging to her savior, surrounded by scattered books, an overturned coffee table, and a messy living room—
She covered her mouth, disbelievingly saying, "You… what are you two…?"