Four Night Watchers who came from Backlund for support, plus three local Night Watchers from Tingen.
A total of seven people squeezed into the same carriage.
This undoubtedly made the space inside the carriage very crowded.
Even evasive movements were restricted due to the limited space.
But despite this, almost no one relaxed their 'monitoring' of others.
If anyone's movements became stiff, the person next to them would remind them immediately.
But even in this situation—
Klein still couldn't help but get distracted.
'Ashen One...Ash.... is he really the Ashen One I remember?'
'And "Praise The Sun !" ? '
For instant Klein was going to scream out while posing towards the Sun.
' Damn ... Calm down 21st century Hormones !'
'But how is that possible! That was just a game, and although I've transmigrated to a strange world, it's a real world, not a virtual reality game!'
'How could someone from a game appear right before my eyes?'
"So is this really just a coincidence? But..."
"Klein!"
Dunn pushed the suddenly stiff Klein and said in a deep voice, "Concentrate."
"Sorry."
Klein shook his head with a wry smile and lowered his gaze.
It's a pity there are too many people here, otherwise he could return to The Fool for a divination.
Divining whether he was the person he remembered.
"Think positively."
Klein took a deep breath and consoled himself silently in his heart, "Roselle the Great might have also played this game. Maybe the other party is just cosplaying this character? Well, maybe it's because his potion requires him to act as 'Ash'?"
"Yes, maybe that's it, there's a high possibility!"
Klein's spirit lifted. Having 'figured it all out', he no longer got distracted and began to concentrate on dealing with the influence of '2-049'.
"Klein."
Leonard said with a chuckle, teasing, "You're not scared, are you? If you are, I think you can start thinking about your epitaph now."
"That's not impossible."
Klein raised an eyebrow slightly but didn't get angry. Instead, he smiled and said, "Then write 'Priest, please revive me, thank you'."
Leonard was stumped by him and just muttered, "Priests can't revive, you idiot."
Klein wasn't annoyed at all. Instead, he winked at him.
Not long after, the carriage slowly stopped in front of a building with a Tingen City Police Department sign on the door.
This was Riel Bieber's home, and their target for this trip.
The group got out of the carriage one by one, not daring to relax their 'monitoring' of others during the process.
Aiur Hanson, carrying the box, was the first to enter the house.
At the same time, the box in his hand suddenly started slamming violently, even more so than before!
This even made people wonder if the box would be smashed through directly.
The next moment, Klein and Dunn were affected almost simultaneously.
Both of them reached out and pointed at each other, seemingly wanting to push the other.
But unfortunately, both of them were affected at the same time.
However, they weren't the only ones who came. Luo Luota and Ash, who were prepared, pushed them both.
"Sealed artifact '2-049' has entered a berserk state. It can be confirmed that Riel Bieber is a descendant of the Antigonus Family."
Aiur described in a mechanical manner.
"Once '2-049' encounters a descendant of the Antigonus Family, even with just a slight residual aura, it will quickly enter a berserk state, and the number of people affected each time will rise to two."
Ash, who had just pushed Klein, explained calmly.
"So, it's alive?"
Klein turned his head to look at Ash's face and couldn't help but ask.
If it were in the past, he would definitely be very concerned about what was in this box.
But now, he was more concerned about Ash's identity.
Is he really acting?
"Phew."
Aiur's tone became much lighter. "As long as this Riel Bieber hasn't left Tingen, '2-049' can lead us to him."
As he spoke, the group went downstairs one by one and returned to the carriage.
After confirming that there weren't many pedestrians around, Aiur twisted the mechanical switch on the box, unlocking the spiritual shackles.
The fierce slamming suddenly stopped, and the entire carriage was silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The iron-black box slowly opened, making a creaking, ear-piercing sound.
Clang!
Suddenly the box tipped over, and a thin, brownish arm reached out, only the length of a child's finger.
Two arms pushed forward alternately, and a strange puppet appeared before everyone's eyes. It was brownish-brown, with obvious elbow, finger, and knee joints, wrapped in brownish-brown oily rags, and its face painted with red and yellow clown makeup.
"This is '2-049'?"
Klein subconsciously thought, "How can there be such an ugly puppet?"
'2-049' raised its head, its pure black, pupil-less eyes looking at Klein.
He slowly cracked his stiff mouth into a clown-like smile.
As its mouth opened, revealing a black and deep cavity inside, Klein, who was looking into its eyes, felt every hair on his body stand on end, and a strong, inexplicable fear suddenly surged in his heart.
Until.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ash beside him. Ash raised his hand.
Counterattack!
"Bang!"
The puppet suddenly fell to the ground, as if it had hit something and bounced itself back.
Undoubtedly.
It seemed to like Klein very much, so much so that it wanted to 'eat him', so much so that it forgot there was still an Ash next to it.
And while influencing Klein, it also influenced Ash.
"Thank you..."
Klein stared at the somewhat comical puppet sitting slumped on the carriage floor in a duck-sitting position, feeling somewhat scared.
Just this little thing almost took his life just now!
"You're welcome."
Ash shook his head.
It's not time to fight the BOSS yet, can't let the NPC die at the hands of small monsters.
Otherwise, no one will help him tank the damage then.
"Click, click, click~"
It took the puppet a while to recover. It propped itself up on the carriage floor with alternating hands, moving away from Ash.
Like a frog with its limbs reversed, it was comically ridiculous.
But combined with its bizarre ability and nightmare-inducing appearance, no one would want to laugh.
"Click, click, click!"
The puppet got up using both hands and feet, and then forcibly turned its hands and feet 180 degrees.
Only its head remained fixed on Ash, and finally even its head turned. It leaped forcefully using both hands and feet—
It tried to jump out of the carriage and run into the distance.
Then, it was grabbed back by a large hand covered in leather armor.
"Follow!"
Dunn pointed in the direction the puppet was trying to escape and ordered in a deep voice.
Leonard, who was driving, immediately urged the horses to move in the direction the puppet was trying to escape.
Meanwhile, Ash inside the carriage had released the puppet, and the puppet adjusted its direction.
It tried to jump out of the carriage at a faster speed than before.
But at the very last step, it would be mercilessly grabbed back.
And according to the direction the puppet was trying to escape, Leonard adjusted the direction of the carriage again and again.
The carriage galloped quickly and soon entered the Wharf District, all the way to the area where the warehouses were gathered.
After circling around the area several times, the direction the puppet was trying to escape remained the same—
It wanted to go to the innermost gray-white warehouse.
"This is it!"
Aiur's expression became serious. He nodded to Ash, who was holding the puppet, and helped him stuff the puppet back into the iron-black box. Violent impacts were heard from inside the iron box again.
Afterwards, he struggled to fasten the mechanical switch, and then poured in spirituality, activating the star and Red Moon symbols on the iron box.
Although this couldn't completely isolate its influence, at least it could prevent it from escaping and harming others.
"Let's get off."
Witnessing them finish all this, Dunn's low, mellow voice followed, "Be careful, Riel Bieber is most likely in this vicinity."
"Also, remember not to take your eyes off the people around you."
"No."
Aiur shook his head, and under Dunn's puzzled gaze, looked at Ash, "Ash, how do you feel?"
"No problem."
Ash nodded slightly and said calmly, "I am certain I can 100% isolate the influence of '2-049'."
"Good."
Aiur breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly, "Ash carries the box and walks in front. Everyone else must ensure they stay within five meters of him!"
"Huh?"
Leonard's expression changed slightly, and he subconsciously looked at Dunn.
In his opinion, holding '2-049' alone was no different from courting death!
"Do as he says."
Dunn was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke.
He believed Aiur's judgment and also believed that the young man named Ash wouldn't joke with his own life.
Furthermore—
On one hand, without the interference of '2-049', they could indeed fight more boldly.
On the other hand, even if an accident did happen, a distance of five meters was enough for them to initiate a rescue.
[ Author Note -
Author's Note:
In Lord of the Mysteries, Sealed Artifact '2-049' appears to exhibit awareness—especially in choosing its targets. There's a compelling moment when it causes six instances of slowing down from the underground to the carriage. Of those six, Klein—Sequence 9 and a Diviner—was affected twice.
This stands out because it suggests '2-049' prefers weaker or more spiritually sensitive targets, especially those lower in Sequence like Klein. While it could be survivor bias, the pattern hints at a kind of selective hostility—either toward those more vulnerable or perhaps out of a strange 'affinity' with Diviners.
So whether it's "picking the mouse of them all " or a case of eerie compatibility between puppet and prophet, one thing's clear: Klein was its favorite snack. ]