old dream

Chapter 327 Behind the Luck
The so-called "greetings" is actually an unattractive secret letter, signed by a name made up by Colin, it doesn't even have an envelope, it's written on a piece of thin letter paper that can be bought anywhere, and the content is just a plain greeting .

But even so, the foreman still checked it several times suspiciously, and even suspected that the letter paper or handwriting might be smeared with poison, and asked Colin to transcribe the content on the paper he provided.

So in the next half hour, Colin could only sit on the bench obediently, re-copying those words like a pupil who was punished for doing homework.

He shook his head in his heart and smiled wryly. This was his own fault, after all, these rules were set by himself.Security and confidentiality have always been the most inviolable principles of the Stade Institute. If it were not for this, it would not be able to get to where it is today.

Ke Lin has always been careful, but it is impossible for him to think that after the winter solstice night, he will be wandering outside alone.So when they parted ways with Ricardo back then, the two of them had no time to determine how they should communicate afterwards.

However, there was actually an agreement between them.

That happened more than two years ago, and Colin didn't know if Ricardo still remembered it, but he could only try this way.

For a period of time after Ricardo was imprisoned, Colin kept sending him letters under a false name, telling him what happened on the street every month.Although separated by a high wall, these news are still beneficial for Ricardo to settle down in the prison farm.

Because the authorities will carefully check the content of each letter, Colin must use secret writing to bypass their surveillance, and after Ricardo deciphers Colin's secret letter, at least he must be able to recognize the words that caused him headaches. Ankh word.

When I was in a church school, a nanny once asserted that it was impossible for a student like Ricardo to learn to read and write.But now it seems that his memory is actually not bad, because at least he learned very fast in prison.

If it weren't for this incident, maybe that idiot is still illiterate and illiterate.

While recalling the past, Colin copied the contents of the letter paper to another piece of paper under the watchful eyes of the foreman.

Of course, there can be no problem with these stationery and ink, because the "problem" is the content carried by the words.

Between the meaningless greetings, the article suddenly mentioned a miscellaneous book called "When He Dyed", which seemed to be the same as other paragraphs, but this was the first code, used to tell Ricardo who actually wrote it. the letter.

Because in the ciphertext they agreed on, there are more than a dozen proper nouns corresponding to different dates, and the signed date of February [-] corresponds to "When He Lay Dying".

At the same time, some inconspicuous black dots marked several letters in the text.They look irregular, but if they are cracked with the codebook left at the beginning, the other party can interpret the message sent by Colin:

"I'm in Danaro."

Needless to say, this is a sign that nothing is going to happen.There is not much information that can be hidden in this letter, so every word is worth a lot.

Mathematics can prove the unconditional security of a one-time pad, which theoretically can never be cracked.But the theory is just a theory, because the steganography mastered by Ke Lin can hide the plain text, but it is impossible to hide the author's intention when writing these words.

Even if an illiterate child draws these words, the intention of the main messenger will still remain.Once the intention is detected, it is possible to decipher or find the person who sent the ciphertext through witchcraft.

If not, Colin might have sent signals to Ricardo through many public channels, such as finding objects in newspapers or marriage advertisements.

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After sending the secret letter to Stade, all that remains is to wait.Whether he could contact Ricardo in the end, he didn't have much confidence in his heart.

A week passed slowly, and Colin practiced swordsmanship with Ellie as usual, or contacted the informant of the investigation department.The clues of the survivors have not appeared for a long time, and there is no response from Stade.Just when Ke Lin was about to change his mind, the smugglers began to feel uneasy, and some informants from the investigation department smelled something unusual.

I say smell because even they are not sure.Because as if overnight, all the bootlegging organizations in Xiazedi were quietly activated by someone.

A huge operation is going on, but outsiders can only detect a few clues... they can only faintly feel that there is a big man here quietly looking for something.

"They're like a wall that doesn't leak through."

No one, including the investigation department, knew what the Stade Institute was doing.

Peripheral members will never have access to meaningful information. If they really want to infiltrate, they may have to cultivate an innocent person from scratch, and then spend more than two years to see if he can come to the 'Lieutenant'.

But the question is, if the investigation department has so many resources, wouldn't it be better to use the "theater" to deal with the Grand Duke?

In fact, it is still too simple to think this way, because not only the periphery, but even most core members do not know the above ideas.

After all, they are just following orders.

I'm afraid that in the whole world, only Colin and Ricardo can understand what happened in the past week and what it means.

Colin Dallozzo is alive and has regained communication with the Stade Agency.

He was still in Danaro, but the real lieutenant had returned.

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However, on the third day after the bootlegging organization began to search for survivors in the woodland, people from the Ninth Bureau found the investigation department again.

The person who came was the woman Colin had seen at the scene. She was petite, and the brim of a detective hat and the erect collar covered most of her face, pretending to be mysterious.

According to Rui's guess, there is a high probability that this person is still an agent of the "theatre", but this time he is not accompanied by another male colleague.

She said she was going to act together on behalf of the Ninth Bureau to help find the missing woodlander.

It was only at this time that Colin realized that this person's voice was a little special. Even if he deliberately lowered his voice, it was difficult to hide the pure and bright tone.

He knew that his correspondence with Ricardo would never be leaked, so he didn't show any uneasiness, he just felt a little lucky.

Because if this person had come earlier, there would be an extra pair of eyes beside him, and maybe he would not have had the chance to get in touch with Ricardo.

"Why this time?" He closed the note in his hand.

"Because the narrative office predicts that the murderer is approaching the woodland man."

She paused, knowing that she couldn't say that sensitive name.

Defected former Ninth Bureau chief, Winter.

It appears he has no intention of letting the last survivor go.Perhaps for Wen Te, he would rather expose his whereabouts, and all seven people must die.Or, he might be looking for something at the same time. There was nothing he wanted in the tragic death of Priest Gail, so he could only pin his hope on the last person.

Colin remembered the details mentioned in the magician's newsletter, those white snake sloughs scattered on the table.

The snake sheds its skin every year, symbolizing transformation, and ancient rebirth.

"Speaking of which, I still don't know how to call it." Ke Lin said to his new work partner:

"It seems that I can't find this person for a while, maybe we will get along for a long time in the future."

"up to you."

"Is it really casual?" said Colin:

"But if you call you 'Melita' casually, I'm afraid it will cause a stir in the street."

Melita raised her eyes under the brim of the hat in amazement, her identity was suddenly exposed, and she was a bit caught off guard.

"—why would you know?"

After all, it was one of the prototypes of the earl's creation of dolls. Colin had always felt strangely familiar with this person, and later he associated it with posters on the street.

While not seeing the performance in person, Colin has also seen painted pictures of her in magazines.

"Why?" Colin asked:

"Everyone in the entire principality knows Melita, don't you think you've disguised yourself well?"

Melita fell silent. Although she was from the "theater", she rarely participated in secret operations.The reason is that the appearance is too good, and too many people have seen her face.

For the Grand Duke, the famous actress Melita is a powerful pawn, but she is really not suitable for some jobs.Just like a precious pearl should not be kept in the dark.

If she didn't ask for it, she wouldn't be here.

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Melita came here purely to get close to the resurrected Lydia, and her mood was like a nun going on a pilgrimage to a holy place. She also had a temple she yearned for, or she was jealous of.

For this reason, Melita tried her best and took a long time to get the opportunity, and even used some acting skills.Now even the Grand Duke doesn't know that she participated in the operation related to Winter.Because if Edmund knew about it, she might not have the chance to leave the Metropolitan Theater.

But in the end, Melita couldn't find the puppet by Colin's side.

She knew that the puppet must be not far away, and she just quietly avoided her because of shyness or caution.Maybe he hasn't fully passed Lydia's test.If a person has not been accepted by her, even if Lydia passes under his eyes like an elf in the spring, she will just turn a blind eye and not notice anything strange.

However, after all, Melita has experienced the unparalleled appearance of that doll, and witnessed the miracle of the witch Lydia's resurrection from the dead.So she believed in herself and got some kind of summoning. If Lydia didn't continue to appear, it just meant that the time hadn't come yet.

She began to wait with peace of mind, like pretending not to know the existence of the doll, and doing what she should do now.

So naturally, Melita's attention came to Colin.

After all, she has always been curious, why did her Lydia follow this person?What does the resurrection of the puppet have to do with him?And the count...was it because of this person that he died?Melita started the cooperation with full of doubts.But as the days passed, instead of decreasing, her doubts continued to increase.

Because Melita discovered that there was nothing special about this person, and he never showed any traits related to Lydia.

He didn't have the vivacious and evil charm of the witch girl, nor did he have the suspicious and insatiable desire of the old king, and even contrary to the two, Melita felt that Colin had already been a piece of cold coal, and would not hurt anyone. But also useless.

They seem to come from two stories with completely different styles, and there shouldn't be any intersection in the first place.

This person follows the rules and does things casually and perfunctorily.Every day, I would practice swordplay with others, eat at the same restaurant, and finish work at five in the afternoon.Usually, he doesn't have any hobbies or entertainment, and he is extremely boring, but he doesn't know why. For such a life, he seems to be inexplicably satisfied and grateful.

This person never thought that he must establish prestige, and he would not punish anyone even if the investigation did not progress. Therefore, he and the nearly a hundred informants became superficial friends, but this was an extremely superficial friendship.

Because those people would not be influenced by Ke Lin's kindness, but instead became more and more coping with the matter. Gradually, these people completely regarded the investigation department as a charity machine for taking advantage of the money.

Their search had been bogged down in the past two weeks, but Colin, who was leading it all, never said anything.

Maybe he is really so dull that he is unaware of the status quo.Or from the very beginning, he never thought of saving the woodland man.

No matter what the possibility is, Melita felt faintly disgusted, and became more and more puzzled.

There is not much left as predicted by the Eucharist, and Winter will find the survivors first, and the woodland man seems to have lost the possibility of surviving.

Melita lowered the brim of her hat again, covering her too famous face.She looked at Colin who was joking with a snake head not far away, and couldn't help gritting her silver teeth.

Soon the operation will be over, and all her efforts are in vain.

Melita was a little sad about this, until one day later, Colin, who had nothing to do, suddenly got shit luck.

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Only those who are lucky can succeed. After all, luck is also a manifestation of strength.

However, there is another possibility under this fact.

If other people can't understand how you get things done, they will simply dismiss this overly complex process as luck.

It's like Melita only thought that Colin was lucky and found someone for some reason, but in fact she never saw what Colin did.

In fact, Colin's luck is already very bad.

Using the organization and manpower of the Stade Agency and still taking a week to find someone, this kind of luck is like drawing a lottery.

Of course, bad luck is the same as shit luck, and there will always be more complicated reasons behind it.

After getting the news, Colin went to the destination alone. The place where the last survivors are these days is a almost non-descript residential house in Xiazedi.

And when he pushed open the door and felt the temperature drop across the door, he knew why his luck was so bad.

Because it is easy to find a living person who can eat and drink, but it is difficult to find a dead person.

It's harder to find a dead man who never rots and stinks.

Colin only saw a square and transparent ice coffin, and there was a person standing in it, the woodland man in the photo.

He seemed to have left in his sleep, his face was peaceful, and time was sealed forever.

The Eucharist's predictive methods are indeed never wrong. Winter, the principality's biggest traitor, is indeed approaching the survivors.

Even by his side all the time.

(End of this chapter)