Lincoln left his place and rushed to the police station. He needed to know whether the place where Marx had been blasted to hell had a secret passage or not.If there really was a secret passage, it would confirm his wild theory. Of course, Marx might have had a different use for the secret passage, but Lincoln needed to verify this himself.The station was not far from his place. Although they were on the same block, one was on the north side and the other on the south side.Lincoln ran as fast as he could and within twenty minutes, he could already see the station.He did not enter it right away though. The existence of that Evan guy had made him more vigilant.Although his theory had yet to be confirmed, if he was right, Evan’s deliberate plan to get his hands on the millennium treasure must have been thorough. Whether that was Evan’s identity or his secret plans, it was not something someone like Lincoln, who had just entered the System world, could comprehend.His secret plan cou
The night flew by as Lincoln and Guntherfield went about their business.Before sunrise, Lincoln made a promise to Guntherfield and told him to return to the school.Lincoln went back to his apartment and cleaned up the place before picking up the Skill Book from the floor. It was the one that had dropped off Swarko. Locals were unable to see or touch Skill Books.[New Skill Book Discovered: Lockpicking][Do you wish to learn it?]"Yes!"[Skill Learned: Lockpicking][Name: Lockpicking (Basic)][Related Attributes: Agility, Intuition][Skill Type: Ancillary][Effects: Able to pick simple locks with a hair pin, steel wire and screw driver][Consumes: Stamina][Prerequisites: None][Remarks: Make sure there is no one around when you pick the lock!]...Once again, knowledge was transferred into Lincoln’s mind. Lincoln automatically grabbed one of the lockpicking tools. He felt the edge of the hairpin with his finger. It was so familiar, it made Lincoln smirk.Although he had been through
Guntherfield’s teaching was straightforward. There were no rituals or initiation involved like Lincoln had imagined.Guntherfield just demonstrated three simple stances.Sit, Lie, Walk.Sit was the way one held their lower body in a hollow sitting stance; Lie was lying down and relaxing your body and mind like a baby; and Walk was stepping onto the ground with the whole foot, including your toes.Guntherfield explained every stance and move deliberately. He even explained some details repeatedly."It’s only small details, but it is these small details that make the true quintessence of the body tempering art. During the hollow sitting stance, your spine must be straight and still. When you lie down, remember to relax your breathing and prolong it. Your body must relax like a baby’s. When you walk, your toes must touch the ground. Each time your toes touch the ground, there will be a small wave of vibration building up and spreading through your whole body!".....[Guntherfield wants t
A book half the height of a human being and as heavy as a ton was placed on a special book holder by Lincoln for reading purposes.From time to time, Lincoln would turn and take notes.Surrounding him were hundreds of copies of books.They were left on the ground by the book case, but they were not damaged. Lincoln was handling them delicately.He was not one to simply destroy books. Besides, he had made a deal with the librarian. He could access all the books in the underground library as long as he made sure not to damage them.Otherwise, despite the letter he had from the station, he would still be kicked out of the library and have to pay compensation for any damages he had caused.For the past week, Lincoln had been well-behaved. He might not have been returning the books to their original racks, but he was exhausted from reading, his eyes looking very red in contrast with his pale face. No one could blame him.Considering he had not gotten enough rest in a week, how could anyone
The wagon stopped in front of Lincoln’s place. After he paid the wagoner, Lincoln took his dinner with him and opened the door to his apartment.Without even looking, his VI Rank Intuition could sense Guntherfield’s presence."How was it?" Guntherfield asked while he stood in the shadows."Everything is going well!" Lincoln took out a hotdog and munched on it."So do you need me to further explain the [Knight of Saint Aurora Tempering Arts]?" Guntherfield asked with a nod."Of course!" Lincoln answered.The lecture that started lasted for about twenty minutes. Guntherfield kept emphasizing that the [Knight of Saint Aurora Tempering Arts] were the foundation for everything.Lincoln had been hearing that for the past week. It was how Guntherfield ended every lecture."I understand!" Lincoln always gave the exact same answer."Lincoln, you have already mastered the [Knight of Saint Aurora Tempering Arts] basics. All you need is time and practice to reach the Entry Level. With your gifts,
"Duke Wade?"Lincoln put on a surprised expression, although he was very calm inside.When that Evan guy had displayed such immense influence all over the city, Lincoln had narrowed down his guesses to a couple of candidates, and Duke Wade had been one of the suspects.His family had a powerful reputation in the city, but Lincoln did not have enough proof.Now he didn’t need it anymore, though."So this is the city’s greatest detective!"Duke Wade noticed the surprise on Lincoln’s face and his mockery became even heavier."I thought you might need a whole week to help me find what I’m looking for!" he said lightly.There was no doubt that Duke Wade was already treating the treasure of the Church of Aurora as his own."As a reward, I bet you’d want to see your old friend."Without waiting for a reply, Duke Wade clapped his hands.At once, Chief Johnny was pushed out of the crowd, his hands tied and his mouth stuffed as he wobbly reached Lincoln’s side.There were clear marks of wounds
When the kerosene lamp fuse was changed once more, Lincoln stopped."It’s just over there!" he said.However, Duke Wade did not seem to get excited. He made a "please, after you" gesture at Lincoln and Johnny, and let them continue to lead the way.The cunning duke would never let his guard down or do anything reckless before he saw the treasure with his own eyes."Give me the lamp!" Lincoln said.One of the men handed him the lamp that had just been refilled with kerosene.The light source in his hand allowed Lincoln to clearly map the path before his eyes.Although he had seen the map and other pictures before, and Guntherfield had explained everything to him in detail, it was totally different from what he had imagined.There was a flight of stone stairs covered in dried mud. Any stairs that were not covered in mud were coated in layers of thick dust.This path was different from the previous one, which had been wet and filled with a foul stench. From there onwards, the path was dr
Gold coins and bars of gold were mixed with bits and pieces of gold, gushing out like a gyser.The five of them were in awe and shock, the scene leaving them stunned."My fortune! My wealth!" Duke Wade shouted."It’s really here?" Lincoln could not believe his own eyes.Never once had he thought that the millennium treasure would really be in the Council Hall.When they’d chosen the hall as their ambush point, Lincoln remembered Guntherfield clearly saying, "The treasure is not in the Council Hall. Fifty years ago, I checked every nook and wall there, and each wall was made of a whole piece of mountain rock. It’s not possible to hide any passage or door behind it!"The Last Knight had not lied, but judging by the scene in front of them, Guntherfield must have been looking in the wrong place. The walls had not been hiding a secret passage or door. They had been covering the treasure as a whole, keeping it like a treasure box.The walls’ unique material had been protecting the treasure f
It was Zywane.Although there was a blood-colored pattern on his face, the structure of his head and his clothes allowed Lincoln to quickly recognize his hostile teammate.The blood pattern on his face gave Lincoln a very familiar feeling. Somehow it even felt a little cordial.Lincoln unconsciously stared at the pattern, his gaze suddenly making it come alive.It was wriggling and crawling around like a blood-colored snake, and moving like one too.The bloody snake raised its head and started hissing at Lincoln with its tongue out.Lincoln’s eyes opened wide in shock . The snake’s head had appeared in front of him out of thin air, its tongue close to Lincoln’s lips. A strong repulsed sensation flooded Lincoln’s heart, as if he had eaten something utterly disgusting. It was actually even worse than that.Lincoln quickly grabbed the snake’s head, feeling how slippery it was between his palms.He wanted to toss the snake away or just crush the creature’s head.Contrary to Lincoln’s expe
The window had a wooden frame and glass embedded on it, and the sunlight shined through the transparent glass, shedding light inside.The warm sunlight expelled the cold and darkness all around it. Countless formless souls were swarming the third floor, but none of them went near the staircase window. It was like their nemesis was hiding there.There was nothing there but sunlight. Sunlight! They were afraid of sunlight. Lincoln realized it in an instant, and after rolling to dodge their attack, he used both his hands and legs to jump towards the window.The formless souls tangling with Lincoln had noticed his intention and they let out a screech, flying towards him once again.This time, the formless souls threw themselves at him faster. Lincoln was only two meters away from the window when the souls caught up with him. Not waiting for Lincoln to roll away again, they appeared before him one after the other from beneath the floor.They could pass through walls? Lincoln was shocked as
The hot sensation on his chest made Lincoln turn on his [Tracking].He knew why the [Knitted Talisman] was emitting heat.[Attributes: When a ghost type enemy appears within a 5-meter radius, it will give you a warning!]The description on the item window had stated as much clearly.Lincoln’s vision had turned to revealing mode following the activation of his [Tracking], but he could not see any white tracks, red blood or black gun residue. All he could see was a shadow.It was blurry and only partially visible, but it was heading straight for Lincoln.Lines of sparks appeared around Lincoln’s [Lightning Tiger’s Finger]. Without holding back, Lincoln punched the monster hard.Bang!Lincoln’s punch landed accurately on the black shadow. The feeling was like hitting a gunny sack, and the sound was similar too.The shadow that rushed towards Lincoln shivered with high speed after it was attacked .A scream of agony was heard before the shadow was shredded to pieces and disappeared into t
Jack looked at Lincoln incredulously. He could not believe his eyes.According to his calculations, Lincoln should have been fully occupied grieving for his friend’s death.Why would he be there?The questions on his mind were evident on his face and doubtful gaze."What are you saying, Mr. 2567? What do you mean it’s me? I don’t understand. I am here because I was worried Old Tom’s accomplices would take advantage of this chance and kill him!"Jack looked at Lincoln with a puzzled look, his tone even more doubtful than before.Lincoln slow-clapped. Even though he had confirmed his theory, he really had to give it to Jack. He was a remarkable actor. This was an Oscar-worthy performance."If you don’t understand, you can take a look at this."Lincoln took out the two pieces of paper."What’s this? The paper from the old master thief? That old f*g!"When Jack saw the two pieces of paper in Lincoln’s hand, his ordinary, kind face suddenly turned vicious.He did not try to explain any fur
The unexpected discovery had made Lincoln delighted in an instant.He could not wait to find a secluded place and see what was on the crumpled piece of paper in his pocket.The guard who had knocked down the old master thief came ranting towards Jack."Jack, if you have time to explain useless information, why don’t you come over here and give me a hand? The Warden took too many men from my team, I’m short on manpower!" the guard said as he signaled for Jack to help him."But the Warden has asked me to-""I think the Warden would not object to you helping me."Before Jack could finish, he was cut off by the guard, who was looking at Lincoln deliberately, as if he wanted to make things awkward."I suppose the good sir here would not mind as well?" he said."Of course not," Lincoln said, smiling under the stare of the two guards.He could not wait to see what was inside that paper, so he did not object."Very well. Then follow this corridor straight to the end. You can exit through the
Words...No. To be precise, there was a combination of symbols and pictures before Lincoln.The blood formed two big circles, one inside the other, an inner one and an outer one. In the middle, there was an abstract drawing that looked like a scorpion.Lincoln was not completely sure that it was a scorpion. As a matter of fact, he could not even tell if it was a real symbol or picture that was formed by the blood stain.As for the words?Lincoln had never seen any words like these before. At least not that he knew of."What are these?"Lincoln looked at the gap between the two big circles. There were even more symbols there.The line started with a pentagram and ended with an upside down pentagram. By Lincoln’s calculations, there were about 41 of them.It wasn’t that Lincoln couldn’t be bothered to count them precisely. It was just that the symbols were too alien and complicated, and he could not tell whether they were mixed together forming one meaning, or if they were combinations
Old Tom was unconscious in the infirmary on the third floor. The passageway that led to the cells was also on the third floor.These two reasons were enough for Lincoln to want to visit the third floor again and Jack accompanied him there.He would have preferred to go alone, but once he thought about the cameras in the corridors, he frowned.Even with his Pro Level [Undercover] Skill, he still would not have been able to move freely. He was not invisible after all.The arrangement of the guards had been changed as well, because the Warden wanted to catch Old Tom’s accomplices.Two guards were standing there without the slightest hint of a smile on their faces. They inspected everyone that set foot on the third floor, hoping to catch the culprits.Looking at the new arrangement, Lincoln shook his head in silent disagreement. He doubted that this method would lead to the arrest of Old Tom’s accomplices.Not the very men who had caused all that chaos back there and succeeded in luring t
"Welcome to Nithra, everyone. I’m Warden Sherko."When he entered the room, the Warden welcomed everyone like a host would their guests.Unlike the cold, arrogant Deputy Warden’s welcome, the Warden was smiling a lot. However, his smile did not look sincere. It felt like just a show that he had to put on.His tone became more official as he started telling them more."Nithra is not big, and I am responsible for a lot of things around there, so I could not receive you when you first arrived. I am really sorry about that.""Especially after this recent incident. My anxiousness really got the best of me."Warden Sherko opened his speech with an apology before he started to explain why he had hired Lincoln and his team and invited them to the island."Everything started a month ago. I believe Payne Prax is a familiar name to all of you. He was the leader of the infamous Hermetic Praxis Order, a sadistic psychopath with a personality disorder, who caused the suicide of over a hundred peopl
As the old doctor came out of his office, the Warden, who had been waiting for him on the third floor outside the infirmary, swarmed him questions."Dr. Fenkes, how is he?"After Lincoln had performed first aid to help Old Tom, they had rushed him to the infirmary and allowed Dr. Fenkes to perform emergency treatment on him."He’ll live, but he’s still out cold," the old doctor said, letting out a long breath.As the only doctor at the prison, Dr. Fenkes knew that the odds of Old Tom surviving were not particularly good.Death was Old Tom’s best option now, but that was not for him to decide. He was just a doctor after all. All he could do was carry out his duties to the fullest."Good, very good. As long as he’s alive, it’s all good. If he dies, I’ll have no way to locate his accomplices!" Warden Sherko said with a vicious expression. Warden Sherko was not an idiot. The fact that he had become the Warden of the facility was proof enough of his intelligence. He had been the fastest to