South Tivian, outside Bishop Square.
Beyond Bishop Square, in the alley between Blue Weave Street No. 11 and No. 12, Grego, who had transformed into a different appearance, stood in the empty alley. After hearing the words that had just sounded in his mind, he couldn't help but look surprised, and then spoke to the "Detective" in his mind with disbelief.
'Detective... According to what you just said, could it be that the Duke and the Princess are being threatened by the Eight Point Nest? Could their bodyguards have been replaced by people from the Eight Point Nest? The Eight Point Nest actually wants to assassinate the Royal Family?!'
Grego thought in his mind, incredulous. To be able to replace the Royal Family's bodyguards, how much power and influence would that require? It was bad enough that these guys had such a big mole in the An Yin Bureau, but now they could even get information on the Royal Family's security personnel. Isn't this level of infiltration a bit too exaggerated?
'That's right, these spiders originally intended to cause chaos in the square and then take the opportunity to assassinate the Royal Family. The people they had hidden in the square have already been eliminated by us, and the general public is safe. However, there are still a few remaining who require your help for us to successfully eliminate them.'
In Grego's mind, the Detective's voice responded like this. After listening, Grego swallowed and then continued to respond in his mind.
'Okay... Since it's dealing with these guys, I'll go. But Detective, you told me to pretend to be injured, and I don't know how to do that... Do I need to make some wounds on myself?'
Grego said with some apprehension, and soon the Detective responded to his worry.
'You don't need to do it yourself, I've already called someone to help you. She's here now, right behind you.'
'Behind?'
Listening to this voice in his mind, Grego was surprised. He quickly turned around to look behind him, and then he saw a female figure at the alley entrance behind him. It was a Sister wearing a white Sister's habit.
"A Sister... from the Church?"
Seeing the Sister who appeared before him, Grego couldn't help but take two steps back, while the Sister with glasses carried a medicine box and quickly walked up to him. After a humble bow, she slowly spoke.
"Hello, Black Dog, I'm here to assist you with your mission. We serve the same Lord. You can call me White Prayer..."
"White Prayer..." Grego murmured the name of the Sister in front of him, feeling shocked in his heart. He hadn't expected that the Rose Cross also had insiders within the Church.
'Putting their people in the An Yin Bureau... the Church... and even other cults at the same time. How far do the tendrils of this Rose Cross reach, and what are their goals?'
Seeing the Sister in front of him, Grego couldn't help but think in surprise. After a while, the Sister who introduced herself as White Prayer spoke to him again.
"Time is pressing, let's start now. Please, Black Dog, take off your outer clothes. I will fake the signs of injury for you."
"Oh... okay..."
As she spoke, the Sister opened the medicine box beside her, took out an emergency blood bag and a small knife, and said. Grego, after hearing the Sister's reminder, also quickly responded, then cooperated with the Sister by taking off his outer coat and the layer of sweater underneath, leaving only his inner shirt. The cold wind of the winter night made him shiver.
Next, the Sister used the small knife to cut open parts of Grego's clothes, opened the blood bag and poured the blood onto his clothes, and began bandaging various parts of his body with bandages from the medicine box. She also used tape to tie a blood-stained cotton pad to his forehead, creating the effect of an injury. After a while, Grego looked like a severely injured person with torn clothes all over, covered in blood-stained bandages and cotton pads.
On such a cold winter day, Grego shivered in the cold wind, wearing thin clothes and covered in blood. He looked utterly miserable.
"Okay, the arrangement on your body is almost done. From now on, you will go and cooperate with the Detective's people for your performance." After dressing Grego up, the Sister said to him. Grego, shivering in the cold wind, nodded in response.
"Okay... okay... But... but my acting is actually not very good. If I want it to be realistic, I'm afraid the Detective will need to control me first..."
Grego said with some uncertainty. Faced with the sudden situation, he hadn't thought clearly about how he, as an injured person, should act. However, at this moment, the Sister in front of him smiled and said.
"Don't worry, the scene the Detective has arranged for you is very simple. You can act it well without his manipulation."
"I can act well without manipulation..."
Grego scratched his head with a puzzled expression, while the Sister turned her head to look at the alley entrance. There, several figures were walking in, carrying an empty stretcher.
...
In the cold night, the sounds of celebration in Bishop Square continued, while Lan Zhi Street, separated from the square by a row of buildings, remained in a state of silence.
Unlike other places on this street, at the entrance of Blue Weave Street No. 1, several guards in uniform were standing there, vigilantly observing the surroundings.
The reason there were guards here was because the most important guests of the New Year's Eve party in the square, Duke Barret and Princess Isabel, were watching the party from the balcony on the upper floor of this building. Therefore, the entire building and the surrounding area had been cordoned off to ensure that no dangerous situations would occur.
Blue Weave Street No. 1, this building faces Bishop Square directly. The Princess and the Duke were watching the program from the front balcony, while the back faces Lan Zhi Street, and its back door is also a key point of defense for the guards.
At the back door of Blue Weave Street No. 1, the guards protecting the Royal Family were still concentrating on observing the surroundings, when at this moment, one of them saw several figures emerging from the darkness in the distance of the street.
"Who's there!"
After seeing those figures, the guard immediately became alert and shouted loudly towards them. His words also attracted the attention of the other guards around him, and everyone turned their gaze to the direction the guard was looking. They saw the figures approaching rapidly.
"Who's there! This area is cordoned off now, if you want to pass, go somewhere else!"
Holding their weapons, the Captain of the guards warned the approaching figures. As the figures got closer, they finally saw who they were. The leader was actually a man wearing a white coat and a mask. Behind him were four ordinary men, together carrying a stretcher, and on the stretcher lay a man covered in blood.
"Excuse me for disturbing you all, I am Jack from the emergency medical station, and I have an urgent matter to discuss with you."
Upon seeing the vigilant guards, the leading man in the white coat, named Jack, spoke to the guards in front of him with a flustered expression. The Captain of the guards was slightly taken aback when he saw his appearance. After slightly lowering his guard, he spoke with a hint of confusion.
"People from the medical station? What's the matter?"
"It's like this, sirs. Someone just brought a severely injured man to our place for emergency treatment. He seems to have been attacked and is badly injured, his consciousness is very blurry. When we were treating him, he was very reluctant to accept treatment and kept insisting on coming here, saying he had something very important to tell you that concerns the safety of the Princess and the Duke.
"When we were treating his injuries, he fainted again due to the pain. Because of what he said earlier, Sister Vanya at our medical station was a bit worried, so after simply treating his injuries, she decided to have us bring him over for you all to see, to see if you recognize him?"
The man in the white coat said to the guards in front of him. After hearing his words, the guards looked at each other, exchanged glances, tightened their grip on their weapons, and prepared for defense. The Captain took two steps forward and spoke.
"Alright, let me see what he looks like."
Following the guard's words, several people carrying the stretcher put it down. The Captain walked up to the stretcher and looked at the figure on it. After seeing the face on the stretcher, covered with medical cotton, bleeding, and unconscious, his eyes widened in shock, and he immediately took two steps back.
"H-how is this possible? It's Mr. Kamino! How is this possible?"
The Captain murmured in shock, and the guards beside him couldn't help but say in surprise after hearing his voice.
"Mr. Kamino? Isn't he supposed to be personally protecting the Princess and them? How could he be here?" The surrounding guards murmured like this, then they also walked forward to look at the unconscious man on the stretcher, and expressions of disbelief appeared on their faces one by one.
"It really is Mr. Kamino? If Mr. Kamino is here, then who is the one beside the Princess?"
A guard said this. As soon as he spoke, the atmosphere on the scene instantly became serious. The Captain of the guards asked Jack, the man in the white coat, in front of him.
"Excuse me, how did you take this person in?"
"A nearby civilian brought him over. According to the civilian, he saw this Mr. on the street clearly covered in injuries, but he was struggling to make his way towards the square. Then, he kindly helped him and brought him to our medical station for treatment. While being treated, he kept muttering something in his delirium... fake... danger... zero hour danger... the Princess's front stand... words like that. Although the injuries were simply treated, he fainted. Sister Vanya there was worried about what he said, so she had us bring him over for you to see if you recognize him..."
The man in the white coat named Jack said this to the guards in front of him. After hearing his words, the faces of the guards present became more and more serious. For a moment, everyone fell silent, and the atmosphere on the scene was heavy.
"Cough... cough cough!!"
At this moment, the man lying on the stretcher suddenly began to cough violently, and his whole body started to struggle in pain. Seeing this, Jack immediately squatted down to check the man's condition, then he turned his head anxiously and said to the guards.
"This is bad... some of the wounds on his body are starting to worsen. His condition is a bit urgent now, gentlemen, we need to take him back to the medical station for treatment!"
Jack said this to the guards. The Captain looked at the large amount of blood seeping from under the man's bandage on the stretcher, couldn't help but furrow his brow, and then spoke.
"Alright, take him back quickly. Remember to treat him with all your might to save his life. We'll go back and see him later."
"Yes, Mr.!"
After saying a few final words to the guards, the man in the white coat beckoned to a few assistants to lift the stretcher again, and then walked away into the distance.
After watching Jack and the others leave, the Captain took out his watch and looked at it. After seeing that there were only about ten minutes left until midnight zero hour, he shifted his gaze to the building next to him, and then spoke to the people beside him.
"You stay here and guard. I'm going up to do something."
Saying this, the Captain turned and opened the door, entering No. 1. In the remaining ten minutes, he felt it was necessary to go up and remind the other bodyguards and temporarily isolate Mr. Kamino upstairs.
...
On the stage in Bishop Square, the last performance had just finished at this moment. The host stood on the stage again, organizing the crowd below, preparing to start the final New Year's countdown.
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a building at the edge of the square, a man dressed as a guard looked at his watch after seeing the performance on the stage. After seeing that zero hour was approaching, he quietly moved away from the edge of the rooftop and went to a corner.
In the shadow of this corner, this guard took out a rectangular box. After placing it on the ground and opening it, a beautifully crafted brass-colored rifle was revealed inside.
The guard picked up the rifle from the box to admire it. Calling it a firearm, it was more akin to a work of art. The entire gun was made of brass and white wood combined. There wasn't a single scratch on the shiny brass gun body; it didn't look like it had been used frequently at all. Mysterious and exquisite carvings on the white wood stock extended onto the brass-colored gun body. At the densest part of the carvings was the sun symbol of the """Lamp"""'s Spirituality. From any angle, this rifle was clearly not a standard, ordinary item.
"It's almost time..."
The guard murmured, and the words he spoke were Berlit's voice.
Holding the exquisite and luxurious rifle in his hand, Berlit stood up, looked across the entire square towards the distant balcony, and at the figure behind the Duke and Princess who was ready to act, then thought to himself.
'Assassinated by two Chalks from front and back... At this point, Barret can't escape no matter what he says, right? It seems tonight's plan is going smoothly, no need for the Nightmare to appear...'
Berlit thought this, then a slight smile appeared on his lips.
"It's all because you researched too deeply, Duke... Now, we just have to wait for the scapegoat Mr.s to appear..."
...
At this moment, on the rooftop of another building, in a small, smoke-filled attic, Sado was standing in the middle of the attic, among a group of native residents, clenching his fists, giving an impassioned motivational speech.
"It's time! My compatriots! Pick up your weapons! Soon we will show those white-skinned demons what true blood and fear are!
"Kum and the others will be our pioneers! They will be our examples! We will follow closely in their sacrifice and bring pain to the enemy!"
Sado's motivational speech was met with cheers from the other native residents. Meanwhile, on top of the attic, Naifnis was standing lightly on the rooftop like a cat on all fours, her pair of vertical pupils staring at the crowd below the skylight.
On the street outside the square, Sister Vanya, wearing a white nun's habit, her hands covered in blood not long after helping Grego finish his makeup, walked down the deserted street. As she walked, she quietly murmured and prayed for something in her mouth.
Accompanied by an eagle's cry in the sky, Vanya raised her head and looked forward, then saw an eagle swooping down, holding something. It released its talons above and in front of Vanya, dropping what it was holding towards Vanya. Vanya reached out and precisely grasped it. It was clearly a rapier with a large ruby embedded in its hilt.
Holding the rapier, Vanya performed a sword flourish in the air, then looked towards the rooftop of a building somewhere ahead.
"May the Lord bless..."
Praying, Vanya walked forward again.