Mang Hou

Chapter 159 Another "§" Symbol

Chapter 19 A Change of Heart

According to the original plot, the "contamination" wouldn't happen until midnight, when everyone in the 1911 Hotel would turn into strange creatures.

The Hunter Guild members were coming to retrieve materials, planning to act only after midnight because the cursed materials would only appear after those ordinary people mutated into bizarre entities.

But Suren couldn't wait that long.

If the magician truly mutated, Suren felt even less confident in his ability to kill him.

Moreover, now that all four "forbidden rooms" on the first floor had been opened, he suspected that the contamination event tonight might have other changes.

To solve the problem, he had to act early.

...

Suren walked towards the stage and entered the backstage through the staff entrance.

He planned to intercept the magician when he came off stage.

Because he had heard from the intelligence that no one had seen the magician after he left the stage.

Suren suspected that he might use his spatial abilities to teleport away, so he had to guard him backstage.

Behind the stage was the dressing room, which was rather cramped.

The "Swan Dance Troupe" dancers were changing clothes here.

A staff member was guarding the door. Suren took off his hat, revealed his face, and flashed his badge, and was allowed to enter without any further obstruction.

The dancers were probably used to changing clothes temporarily during performances and didn't mind not having separate changing rooms. When Suren walked in, he saw young women, scantily clad and gracefully shaped, changing into their performance costumes in the cramped dressing room.

Seeing a strange man enter, the women initially looked like startled deer, covering their exposed bodies. But after seeing Suren's handsome face, the dancers instantly calmed down, and instead of screaming, they giggled and whispered to each other. Some of the more uninhibited ones even gave him a flirtatious smile.

"Handsome, who are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for Mr. Edward."

"Oh, how disappointing, I thought you were here to invite our troupe leader, Barbara, to dinner..."

"..."

Walking along the way, Suren returned a gentlemanly smile to these beautiful girls.

He wanted to reach the stage exit to wait for the magician, lest he disappear from his sight.

After passing through, he saw a small dressing area separated by a curtain next to the main dressing room. Miss Barbara, the lead singer, was changing clothes and removing her makeup inside.

The light was bright, and a large makeup mirror reflected her charming face.

Suren saw the woman with the seductive red lips in the mirror, and the woman saw him too.

"What's wrong, handsome, lost your way?"

Her voice was soft and sweet, making one feel as if their bones were melting.

Suren watched the woman turn around, his gaze involuntarily drawn to her rose-colored red lips.

It was as if those lips possessed endless magic, making it impossible to look away.

This was a mental suggestion with a hint of psychic power, designed to lower one's guard.

Suren narrowed his eyes slightly, guessing that this woman was likely a professional with some kind of [Succubus] talent.

Afraid that the woman would use some kind of hypnosis, he immediately flashed his badge, "I want to wait for Mr. Edward, I have some things I want to ask him."

Barbara looked at the badge, her eyebrows curving, her tone even more clingy, "Oh? A police officer... May I ask what business you have with Mr. Edward?"

Suren didn't sense any malice, but he wasn't careless, and said calmly, "Some official business."

Although Suren thought that this woman and the magician should know each other, he still wanted to wait and talk to Edward.

Hearing this, Barbara smiled charmingly, pointed to the chair next to her, and said, "Handsome officer, why don't you come and sit? Mr. Edward probably won't finish performing for a while..."

Suren glanced at her, not wanting to get too close to a mental-type professional, and refused the seemingly alluring invitation, "I'm on official duty. I won't sit down."

Because she was changing, Barbara was dressed very lightly. As she spoke, his eyes inadvertently swept over the deep cleavage in front of her chest.

Speaking of which, are women with Succubus talents all so well-endowed?

Barbara covered her mouth and giggled, catching the glance. But instead of minding, she smiled even more, and generously displayed her proud figure, boldly teasing, "Handsome officer, what are you looking at?"

"..."

Suren's expression remained unchanged.

He figured, this was probably an occupational hazard for Succubi.

Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded from the stairs backstage.

A man in a tuxedo walked down, none other than the magician Edward.

The ambiguous atmosphere was instantly diluted, and Barbara said to Edward, "Mr. Edward, this officer says he has something to ask you."

Edward heard the word "officer," as if it triggered a keyword, and only then did he look at Suren, whom he had originally intended to ignore.

Suren directly showed his badge and said, "I am Joey, a patrol officer from Clock Tower District, and I am ordered to investigate some matters. Please cooperate, Mr. Edward."

Edward seemed to have thought of something, "Clock Tower District?"

The other party responded, and Suren immediately knew that his guess was correct: these two alchemists hiding in the crowd were aiming for the old nun.

Edward sized Suren up for a moment, and continued to ask, "May I ask, Officer, what are you investigating? And how... do I need to cooperate with you?"

Suren didn't sense any malice, meaning that the corpses in the four rooms should have nothing to do with the two people in front of him.

Now, he was even more confident about how to use this plot.

He said directly, "Have you heard of the [White Monastery]?"

Hearing this, Edward's expression froze, and he frowned, "Oh, of course, I remember it's a monastery in Clock Tower District, East City. But... could Officer Joey elaborate a little more, is your search for me related to this monastery?"

These people looked like living beings, but in reality, they were still advanced NPCs who would only react to certain specific plot points.

Suren needed to trigger the plot, so he said straightforwardly, "An old nun took a very dangerous thing from the monastery, which may contaminate others. And according to clues, I investigated that she came to this hotel. But in the process, I discovered some other things, so I need Mr. Edward to cooperate..."

Having said this much, Edward didn't continue to pretend to be ignorant, he smiled, "Officer Joey, your investigative ability is truly amazing."

As he spoke, he directly took out a badge from his pocket with a golden Ouroboros and a "§" symbol.

This action surprised Suren.

He had wanted to ask Edward to assist in the investigation, and guide him to see the corpses, to see if he could create a conflict between him and the evil caster, and then find an opportunity...

But taking out the badge, was he trying to reveal his identity?

Suren guessed something and waited silently for the other party to take the initiative to introduce himself.

Sure enough, Edward politely explained, "This incident has exceeded the scope of the police department's handling. So, the Special Operations Division is handling it now. You can leave things here to us."

After a pause, he added with a smile, "I commend your dedication, Officer Joey."

So that's how it was?

Hearing this explanation, Suren immediately understood.

This Edward and this Barbara were both from the Dawn City officials in charge of dealing with distortion events!

...

After saying that, Edward looked like he was about to leave.

But...

The reason why this hotel would become a cursed space meant that a thousand years ago, they had failed to prevent this incident.

The midnight contamination event was a recreation of the tragedy from that year.

If Suren left here, things would definitely return to their original trajectory.

Although Suren had the alchemical items he had obtained from the four corpses, he would most likely be able to save his own life at midnight.

But he still needed space materials!

So he definitely wouldn't let Edward leave like this.

Moreover, from the moment Room 1021 was opened, it was destined that this Hunter Guild team might be annihilated.

Now that there were professionals from the Dawn City officials, perhaps they could solve the problem on the first floor in advance?

In that instant, Suren's mind raced, quickly weighing the pros and cons of the whole matter.

Would the plot change too drastically, causing some butterfly effect?

He didn't know what would happen in the end if he changed the plot like this, but...

But after thinking about it carefully, it seemed that this was the most likely option to achieve his goals.

Moreover, recalling Mr. Black's tone last night, they had enough understanding of this cursed space.

This also meant that someone, a big shot still hidden in the team, had the ability to handle various emergencies.

Thinking of this, Suren no longer hesitated, and said directly, "That... Mr. Edward, since you are handling this matter, I am relieved. However, I have some information here, I don't know if you are aware of it..."

Hearing this, Edward turned back to look at him, "Oh?"

Suren said, "I investigated the check-in records earlier and found that a guy named 'Tiger Garson' checked in at the same time as Sister Elizabeth. He opened four rooms and put four strange corpses in them. They are [Faceless Man], [Hanged Corpse], [Drowned Female Corpse], [Big-Headed Wraith Infant]... it looks like some kind of evil ritual is being performed."

Upon hearing this, Edward and Barbara's faces changed dramatically, obviously, they knew what these four corpses meant!

Edward: "[Four Strange Spirits Falling Sacrifice Array]! Damn it, she wants to open that 'Sealed Object' in this hotel!"

Upon hearing this, Suren knew that they didn't know about the corpses.

Edward's expression suddenly became solemn, and he muttered to himself, "I hope there's still time to stop it..."

Suren looked at the word "contaminated" above their heads and felt it necessary to remind them, so he said again, "Have you considered the possibility that you may have already been contaminated?"

Hearing this, the two looked at each other, their eyes full of solemnity.

The charm on Barbara's face disappeared completely, and she suddenly pinched a warlock's seal, as if casting some kind of mental spell.

After a few breaths, she glanced at Edward with a troubled face, and said in a heavy tone, "Someone's high-level laws have blinded our senses. If nothing else... Officer Joey is right, we, even the entire hotel, have been contaminated."

"..."

Edward fell into silence.

However, his face showed even more determination.

He looked at Suren and said, "Officer Joey, this matter is of great importance, and we may need you to do us a favor."

Suren cast a puzzled look, knowing that he might have changed the main plot.

Edward said resolutely, "If we are really contaminated, please kill us before you see us transform!"

As he spoke, his gaze looked not far behind Suren, where the invisible Living Corpse was standing.

Sure enough, this kind of spatial ability user had already discovered the existence of the invisible Living Corpse.

Upon hearing this request, Suren showed a hint of embarrassment, hesitated for a moment, and then agreed, "Alright!"

He never imagined that he had racked his brains to figure out how to obtain the materials, but the other party had actually mentioned it on their own initiative.

Given the situation tonight, they were guaranteed to be distorted.

With their cooperation, he didn't need to sneak attack at all, and the difficulty of killing them instantly decreased a hundredfold.

But...

Did this also mean that he had to be with them at all times?

At this time, Edward said again, "This information is very important, but I need to gather my companions. Those four corpses must be destroyed first."

...

Suren followed Edward and Barbara out of the dressing room.

They were going to contact their colleagues in the hotel.

In order not to alert the enemy, they agreed to act in five minutes, first to clear the corpses in the four rooms.

Suren knew that touching those corpses would immediately alarm the caster who arranged the evil ritual.

A great battle might break out in advance.

But things looked good now, at least the people in the hotel hadn't been distorted yet.

Edward and the others would investigate this matter, naturally, they also had certain strength.

Suren didn't think the outcome would be one-sided.

Walking out of the banquet hall, Suren originally planned to find a place to prepare for battle.

But unexpectedly, he was blocked.

Gallup, the leader of the "Sand Scorpion Guild", was waiting in the corridor with more than a dozen members of his guild.