Mystery: I Married the Queen of Mystery

Since his intuition issued a warning, Audis stopped dwelling on the matter.

He glanced at the brief diary entry again and, realizing it was likely important information, he pocketed the two pages, intending to ponder the issue later in the "Knowledge Wilderness."

Next, Audis took out the metal box he had just acquired and studied it for a while, but couldn't figure out how to open it.

Of course, he couldn't discuss this with Bernadette. What if she claimed it was a memento from her father after he opened it? Would he give it back or not?

If he gave it back, the 50 pounds would be gone with the wind.

If he didn't, he might get beaten up.

GOOGLE search TWKAN

Thinking of this, Audis smiled helplessly and put the box away, planning to take it back to the pharmacy later and place it in the "Knowledge Wilderness" with the others.

…

199 Hairun Avenue.

"The Hound," who had also attended the gathering, emerged from the venue.

Just as he was about to board his carriage, he suddenly noticed someone waving at him from across the street.

"The Hound" recognized the person as Coremonde Donahue from the Intelligence Division Nine's Operations Section.

The man was in his thirties, with short hair and a prominent Adam's apple, as if he had an egg stuck in his throat.

"The Hound" quickly crossed the street and smiled, "Coremonde, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to provide you with a lead on Lelouch," Coremonde said, his Adam's apple bobbing as he spoke. "I heard you're currently in charge of finding information about Lelouch, a thankless task."

In terms of rank, Coremonde and "The Hound" were equals, but "The Hound" wasn't in the Operations Section, so they were only acquaintances, not close friends.

"Thank you for keeping an eye out for Lelouch's information," "The Hound" said with a smile. "If the information proves to be true, I'll report the source accurately."

This implied: if there's credit to be had, you'll get a share, but if it's false, you'll get nothing.

In a department like Intelligence Division Nine, there were few kind souls. Coremonde's so-called offer of a lead might be for some other purpose.

"Credit is irrelevant," Coremonde smiled and continued, "Have you ever considered that Lelouch is 'The Leader'?"

"The Hound" feigned surprise, "Ah?"

He had, of course, considered it, as there were some similarities between the two, but he later felt that "The Leader" was a member of "Mechanical Heart," and "Mechanical Heart" wouldn't allow "The Leader" to kill nobles of the Loen Kingdom.

The key was the lack of solid evidence, making it impossible to make an arrest.

"Wouldn't you have noticed such an obvious clue?" Coremonde smiled. "Both Lelouch and 'The Leader' wear masks and have used powerful extraordinary weapons."

"That is indeed a clue," "The Hound" said with a smile, not outright denying the so-called lead. "But one question remains: if 'The Leader' is Lelouch, where did he purchase those javelin-shaped extraordinary weapons? Surely 'Mechanical Heart' didn't provide them, did they?

"If we can prove that 'The Leader' and Lelouch's weapons come from the same source, we can notify 'Mechanical Heart' and then arrest 'The Leader.'"

Both Intelligence Division Nine and the "Punishers" had considered starting with the weapons to find Lelouch.

However, they used their intelligence network to inquire everywhere but couldn't find the source of the extraordinary weapons used by Lelouch.

Lelouch's weapons had distinct characteristics. Ordinary extraordinary weapons were rarely made as disposable items, and it was rare to produce them in such large quantities.

Starting from these two directions, it should have been easy to find the source.

But the trail went cold because no one had made such weapons.

It was certain that the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery had always been interested in extraordinary machine guns and cannons but had never produced javelin-like extraordinary weapons.

The key was that in all of "Mechanical Heart's" operations, they had never used javelin-like extraordinary weapons. If they launched an investigation based on this clue, they would definitely deny it.

Some people suggested that Lelouch made the extraordinary weapons himself, but these ideas were quickly dismissed because manufacturing extraordinary weapons had always been the patent of Sequence 6 "Artisans" of the "Scholar" pathway.

Lelouch was only Sequence 8 and wasn't on the "Scholar" pathway.

In the eyes of official Beyonders, a "Low Sequence" didn't possess such abilities.

Additionally, if "The Leader" was an ordinary person, they could arrest him and interrogate him to see if there were any clues.

But he was a member of "Mechanical Heart." To arrest someone, they needed a plausible reason. They couldn't tell "Mechanical Heart" that they were arresting him because Lelouch and "The Leader" both liked to wear masks, could they?

Coremonde smiled, "I'll find the evidence. I've already applied for a search warrant and I'm here today to search 199 Hairun Avenue."

He believed this was an important stronghold of "The Leader" and would leave some clues.

The Operations Section of Intelligence Division Nine never needed a search warrant to search any place, but "The Leader's" situation was indeed somewhat special.

Coremonde cautiously applied for a search warrant to prove that it was Intelligence Division Nine conducting the search, not his personal actions.

"The Hound" said, "I'll wait here. If you find any evidence, I'll go with you to apply for the arrest of 'The Leader.'"

In his view, Coremonde's search was purely a personal vendetta. After all, the Operations Team leader's younger brother was killed by "The Leader" in the Kapin case.

Coremonde sneered and led his men into 199 Hairun Avenue.

He originally thought that the waiters here would definitely prevent his search, but the waiters didn't stop him at all. After clarifying the other party's department, they stated that they would claim compensation for any damage caused.

Coremonde and his subordinates didn't take it seriously. They searched as roughly as before.

But they quickly finished the search because no one lived here. There weren't even any wardrobes or furniture with hidden spaces. Several rooms were even empty.

Only the living room where the gathering was held had many chairs. They turned the chairs over one by one and carefully checked the backs and undersides of the seats, but found no clues.

And the basement, which Coremonde had high hopes for, had no extraordinary characteristics, no spiritual fluctuations, and nothing at all.

He was now a little puzzled, how did "The Leader" leave the basement?

They even knocked a hole in one wall and didn't even spare the floor, smashing several holes, but there was no secret room, no secret passage, and no extraordinary mechanisms were found.

After searching until the afternoon, Coremonde had to accept the fact that he had found nothing here.

As he was about to leave with his men, the waiter handed him a bill, demanding compensation of 50 pounds.

Coremonde had been searching for so many years and it was the first time he had encountered someone demanding compensation, so of course he ignored it.

The waiter then said, "Then we'll have 'The Leader' send the bill to your department."

These were all the things the Leader had instructed them to do. Don't stop the official search, just claim more money.

If the other party wanted to renege on the debt, they would say that "The Leader" would send the bill to their unit.

Coremonde frowned. If "The Leader" really went to send the bill, it would be really difficult to handle.

After all, almost everyone in Intelligence Division Nine knew that "The Leader" had just helped them escort an informant, but then they turned around and searched "The Leader's" gathering place, causing considerable losses to "The Leader," who came to their door.

Of course, the key was that they didn't find anything, and Coremonde didn't know how to explain it to Danese.

After hesitating for a moment, Coremonde took out his wallet and gave the waiter five 10-pound notes.

As soon as they went out, "The Hound" surrounded them and asked, "After searching for so long, you must have gained a lot, right?"

Coremonde snorted coldly and quickly left with his men.

"The Hound" said behind them, "You wouldn't have not read the report I provided earlier, would you?"

He had spent two whole days searching at 199 Hairun Avenue and hadn't found any clues about "The Leader."

Even now, how "The Leader" left 199 Avenue was still a mystery.

Coremonde had of course read those materials, and thought that "The Hound," an intelligence officer, was not professional enough to conduct search missions, so he specially brought an expert in extraordinary mechanisms, but still found nothing.

He watched "The Hound" drive away in a carriage and suddenly realized that it was impossible to investigate "The Leader" in a normal way.

…

The carriage that Audis was riding in soon arrived at the Backlund Mechanical Research Society.

Today was Max's day off, and the reception staff of the Research Society directly invited Audis to the office of the senior deacon, who was also the captain of the Backlund "Mechanical Heart," Ikonse Bernard.

Captain Ikonse's hair was still fluffy and messy. He asked, "Do you have any more clues to provide us with?"

Audis first glanced at the corner of the office. His intuition felt that something was wrong there, but he couldn't say exactly what was wrong, and then he said, "I learned at today's gathering that someone seems to be investigating the 'Nighthawks'…"

He told Ikonse the information he had obtained and his own speculation, in detail.

The captain slowly nodded, "This is very important information. I will immediately notify the 'Nighthawks.' As for your reward, we will discuss it first and then send someone to deliver it to you."

"Okay." Audis said, "Also, on Saturday, there seemed to be an extraordinary battle on Rice Street…"

He briefly mentioned the Star River information, but didn't share his own speculation, only saying that it seemed to be a miraculous extraordinary ability.

Ikanse also took it seriously, saying he would immediately send someone to reinvestigate.

After seeing Audis off, Ikanse suddenly got up and said to the corner of the wall, "Audis doesn't seem to have anything unusual about him."

The corner of the wall, which Audis had glanced at earlier, suddenly revealed an old man wearing a white priest's robe, none other than Cardinal Horamick Haydn.

"He does seem to have no problems." Horamick sighed and added, "It would be so much better if he didn't have any problems."

It's rare to encounter such a sharp intelligence officer.

Ikanse asked, "Then, regarding the information he provided…?"

"Handle it as it should be handled." Horamick said, "His analysis just now was very logical, so there shouldn't be any problems."

Ikanse then instructed his subordinates to send a telegram to the "Night Watchers" team, reminding them.

However, what Ikanse didn't expect was that Krestai Sesima, one of the three giants of the "Red Gloves" of the Church of the Night Goddess, personally came to visit.

…

After returning to the herbalist shop, Audis rested for a while and then prepared to actively play the role of "Wizard."

Thanks to 【十年生死两茫茫！】 for the reward.

Thanks to 【怎么啥名字都被取了】 for the reward.