Mystery: The New Dark Emperor Arrives

Chapter 540 Visiting Leonard

The old man in front of Hobert was full of wrinkles, but he was clean shaven. His clothes were neither new nor old, but equally clean. He was unsmiling and looked like a very rigorous and serious old man.

The other party's words first stunned Hobert, and then he quickly reacted and asked the owner of the specialty store on the side: "I remember there is a small yard behind the store, right?"

The specialty store owner nodded immediately: "Yes, yes."

Hobert smiled at the old man and said, "Old sir, let's go inside to talk so as not to scare the pedestrians on the road."

The old man frowned slightly and said, "Okay."

The owner of the specialty store quickly invited two people in, served tea and snacks on the tables and chairs in the small courtyard, then closed the door respectfully and went to guard outside.

As soon as a tourist was about to enter the store, the boss rushed him out: "It's closed today, come back tomorrow."

The tourist took out his pocket watch and took a look. Isn't it only nine o'clock in the morning?Many stores haven't opened yet.

In the backyard, Hobert pulled out a black knife and handed it to the old man.

The old man took the knife, looked back and forth, and flicked it with his fingers: "The person who made this knife deserves to die."

Hobert was stunned: "Huh?"

"Such good materials can create a weapon of this level!" The old man threw the knife on the table in disgust: "You still regard it as a treasure?"

Hobert smiled helplessly and said honestly: "I only knew one 'craftsman' at that time."

Then he asked tentatively: "Old sir, who are you?"

"I know your father and mother." The old man said, "My biological father and adoptive father know each other, and my biological mother and adoptive mother also know each other."

Hobert immediately thought of the "alchemist" that his adoptive father knew, that demigod-level "craftsman". Could it be the old man in front of him?

"Welcome to my place as a guest." Hobert smiled: "Where do you live now?"

“The corner hotel.”

"How can you stay in a hotel?" Hobert said immediately, "I'll have someone arrange a villa for you!"

The old man smiled: "Your reaction speed is as fast as your father. When I first met him, he also looked very sincere."

Nonsense, as long as you are a normal person, of course you will be polite to a demigod-level "craftsman"!
"I just heard from a friend that the scenery here is quite good, so I came to take a look!" the old man said again!

Hobert immediately said: "I will send a servant to follow you. You can go wherever you want to play, and leave it to the servant to take care of it."

The old man sighed again: "You father and son are so alike!"

Hobert scratched his head: "It should, it should."

The old man pointed to the black knife on the table: "You should still have such materials, right?"

"There's still more!"

"Send it to me in a moment, and I'll forge a decent weapon for you."

"Thank you so much!" Hobert said happily: "I still have a few extraordinary properties that I want to make into magical items..."

"Send them together." The old man smiled and said, "You look more shameless."

Hobert knew that the old man was saying that he was like Rex, but Hobert was not angry. Instead, he felt that Rex was also a flexible person.

Then he thought of the old man's bid at last night's auction: "Old sir, I know that the magical item auctioned last night was your work. You won't be angry if I put it up for auction, right?"

"No." The old man smiled and said, "My bid yesterday was just to make my work look more valuable, even if the work was not very successful."

Hobert was relieved now. He asked Allen, who was waiting outside, to quickly arrange a villa for the nobleman for the old man and send a few more smart servants there.

Then he non-stop, used "travel" to return to Backlund, and found Christine at the Duke's Mansion: "Father, do you know this person?"

Saying this, Hobert picked up the black tea on the table. Under his "tampering" and "distortion", the surface of the black tea formed a three-dimensional face.

His face was wrinkled, clean-shaven, and he looked very serious. He was the old man he met just now.

Kristine was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "Has that old guy Winston come to your territory?"

"It should be him."

"I knew he would definitely go." Christine said, "I mentioned you many times in my letters to him. He must be very curious about you."

Hobert asked, "How should I keep him a little longer?"

"This old guy loves fishing and eating fish, but he doesn't like socializing very much." Christine said: "When I asked him to help you build those three magical items, I gave him a manor with a fish pond.

"But I heard that some time ago, many extraordinary people came to the door, hoping that he could help build some extraordinary items, which made it impossible for him to fish with peace of mind, so he left."

Hobert nodded: "I know what to do."

Back at Jeffrey's Territory, Hobert first asked Allen not to let any outsiders disturb Winston, and to ask members of the Special Operations Department to drive them away if necessary.

Then he gave Winston the fishing boat he prepared, and went to Feneport to hire two chefs who were good at cooking fish to provide food for Winston.

After arranging all this, Hobert went to the "Land of Disorder" and took the remaining piece of black iron-like material, as well as 2 pieces of "Faceless Man", 2 pieces of "Shepherd", and 2 pieces of "Traveler" He took out the extraordinary characteristics and sent them to Winston accompanied by Forsi.

Winston was slightly startled when he saw that Hobert had brought so many extraordinary characteristics: "You're so rude."

Hobert smiled and said: "Please use the extraordinary characteristics of the two 'Traveler's' to make the 'Traveler's Gate'."

Winston waved his hand impatiently: "I know!"

Hobert gave some more instructions to the servants before leaving with Forsi.

On the way back, Hobert explained the old man Winston to Fors in detail.

Forsi naturally realized the importance of this old man: "Should I come here every day and ask him what his requirements are?"

Influenced by Hobert, Forsi now knows clearly that he cannot be lazy in some places!
"No need." Hobert said, "If he needs anything, just ask the servants to help convey it."

Forsi smiled and said, "This is the treasure my father left for you!"

Hobert smiled: "Yes."

To him, Christine and Monlisa were his father and mother, while Rex and April made people feel that they were not very affectionate.

To this day, Hobert still calls Rex: Mr. Rex.

Half an hour later, Hobert appeared on the West Bank again. Originally, he came to deal with the affairs of the new territory, but after he came, he realized that because of the precedent of occupying the West Bank last time, there was something wrong with Conrad and Xi. You can deal with it quickly.

Hobert was also happy to be free and waiting for Bishop Simpson in his tent.

Around 10:30, Simpson arrived as scheduled.

After chatting for a while, Hobert asked: "How many extraordinary characteristics do you need?"

Simpson asked, "How much are you prepared to take?"

"I have prepared for you 1 piece of the extraordinary characteristics of the 'Shepherd', 7 pieces of the 'Rose Bishop', 15 pieces of the 'Hermit', 23 pieces of the 'Listener', and 26 pieces of the extraordinary characteristics of the 'Secret Prayer'. "Hobert also didn't expect that the extraordinary characteristics of "Shepherd" would be used in this way.

The extraordinary characteristics of this sequence are one of the most popular extraordinary characteristics for making magical items. Even if the magical item has only half of the true "shepherd" ability and can only "herd" three or four souls, it is still a very good item. Magical items.

Hobert did not sell all the extraordinary characteristics to Simpson, because the number was too huge and completely inconsistent with the number of enemies killed.

"I want them all!" Bishop Simpson said seriously: "Tell me the specific price."

"According to the previous agreement, the extraordinary characteristics of Sequence 9 to Sequence 7 will all be given to you at a basic price." Hobert said: "They are 360 ​​gold riso, 720 gold riso and 1440 gold riso respectively.

"'Rose Bishop' costs 3600 gold riso, and 'Shepherd' costs 10000 gold riso!"

Bishop Simpson nodded and said, "No problem."

The "Shepherd" only wanted 10000 gold riso, which showed how much respect Hobert gave him. Everyone knew how popular the magical items produced by the "Shepherd"'s extraordinary properties were.

After negotiating the price, Hobert made another list as usual:
There are 26 pieces of "Secret Prayer" extraordinary characteristics, each worth 360 gold liso, with a total value of 9360 gold riso.

There are 23 pieces of the "Listener" extraordinary characteristic, each worth 720 gold liso, with a total value of 16560 gold riso.

There are 15 pieces of "Hermit" extraordinary characteristics, each worth 1440 gold liso, with a total value of 21600 gold riso.

There are 7 pieces of "Rose Bishop" extraordinary characteristics, each piece costs 3600 gold riso, and the total value is 25200 gold liso.

One piece of "Shepherd" extraordinary attribute, worth 1 gold riso.

Total: 82720 gold riso.

Simpson wrote the check readily, discussed with Hobert the issue of going to Longtail Island to preach, and then left with a wooden box of extraordinary properties.

Hobert also likes such large-scale transactions, especially the extraordinary properties that he is only willing to sell to the church. Being able to sell nearly half of them at once gives him peace of mind.

The more than 8 gold Lisso Hobert planned to sacrifice to the "State of Disorder" after Philip received the cash, and then spent it on Jeffrey when he was short of money.

After paying compensation to those who died in the line of duty, the Lord's Mansion still has more than 6 gold liso in its account, which is enough to last for a while.

After handling the transaction, Hobert immediately asked Dennis, who had finished his vacation, to be responsible for the first round of population introduction.

On Backlund's side, 800 poor people without livelihoods can be simply trained in two days. At that time, they will be allowed to pass through the "Traveller's Gate" and come to the land that has been prepared for them.

Jeffrey led this side, and the person in charge of contacting the matter was Kerwin. Hobert first took Dennis to contact Kerwin, and then came to Backlund to contact Todd.

Todd has been keeping an eye on the factory, and the factory Hobert was interested in was finally rented for 14000 pounds for two years.

Hobert was very satisfied with Todd's bargaining skills and rewarded him with 100 pounds on the spot.

Todd reported: "While there are no other employees in the factory, I plan to use other dormitories to train 1500 people in the next batch. After training several batches, the number will be increased as appropriate."

Hobert nodded: "How is Hugh and Freya's work?"

Todd lamented: “Their interrogation was really amazing, and they easily found more than 100 people with criminal past among so many people.

"However, most of them stole when they were hungry. I had people record this on their resumes and warned them, so I have no plans to pursue it for the time being." There are also more than a dozen people who have seriously injured others or killed people. , most of them did it out of self-defense, and I also recorded it in their resumes as a last chance to give them.

"Only six people actively killed people because of food. I have sent people to the police station."

Hobert was very satisfied with Todd's handling: "There is basically no order at the bottom of Backlund, and it is very common for homeless people to fight for their lives for food.

“Except for criminals who take the initiative to kill people, everyone else should really have a chance.

“If you encounter similar problems in the future, just follow this established example!”

Returning to the Earl's Mansion on Queen's Road, as soon as he entered the spacious hall, Dophis's report also followed: "Tomorrow is the traditional social season of Loen, and many invitations have been sent in the past few days.

"The invitations are from His Majesty the King, Duke Negan..."

Dophis mentioned a dozen nobles including Christine, and then he said: "If you don't plan to refuse the invitation, you will have to attend the ball every night for the next 12 days."

After running around for a long time and listening to many reports, Hobert showed a wry smile for the first time: "I have a magical item here that can change the appearance. How about you attend it for me?"

Dophis said with a professional smile: "Do you mean to refuse all invitations?"

"Forget it if you don't want to." Hobert waved his hand: "I will not refuse any invitation in the coming social season."

To be precise, he is not yet qualified to refuse the invitation.

Dophis invited Hobert to the study again: "Yesterday, Ms. Loretta brought four checks for you."

As he spoke, he took out the check from his inner pocket and handed it to Hobert.

After taking it, Hobert looked at it and saw that the denominations of the four checks were 42000 pounds, 8625 pounds, 4085 pounds, and 3990 pounds respectively.

This is the bounty for "Blood Admiral" Senior and others. The total amount is 58700 pounds, which is a large amount of income.

Hobert handed the check to Dophis again: "Go to the bank and withdraw the money. Well, buy some good coffee and black tea by the way and send it to the Black Thorn Security Company on the back street of the church."

"Yes." Daofei paused and said, "The safe I bought before can no longer hold so much cash, so I bought a new safe."

Hobert nodded and sighed in his heart: It will be difficult to have such a large amount of income in the next few months.

Finally, Dophis took out an envelope: "This is a letter brought by Ms. Loretta."

Hobert opened it and looked at it. There was only one address on the letter paper inside. He immediately understood that this was Leonard's current address that Thomas had found out for him.

He said to Dophis who had not gone far: "Prepare two bottles of good wine for me. I am going to visit a friend."

"Yes!"

……

In the evening, a luxurious earl-sized carriage arrived at No. 7 Pinster Street, North District.

Hobert, who was wearing a windbreaker, got out of the carriage, looked at the pretty good surroundings, took the wine handed by the servant, and went up to knock on the door.

"Mr. Earl!" As the door opened, Leonard's magnetic voice came: "Welcome!"

Hobert looked at the poet-like young man in front of him: "Old friend, isn't your place not bad?"

"It shouldn't be as spacious as the Earl's Mansion, right? Please come in." Leonard invited Hobert in.

Seeing that the living room was quite tidy, Hobert took off his hat and said with a smile: "I guess you should hire a maid who comes regularly to clean and starch."

Leonard closed the door: "How do you know?"

Nonsense, Hobert said to himself: With your sloppy and unkempt personality, it is normal for the house to be like a pig's nest.

He changed the topic and raised the wine in his hand: "Go and get two wine glasses. This is the aged wine of the Earl's Mansion. Let's taste it and see what's different."

Leonard smiled: "Wait a moment."

He went to the door and shouted to a child on the street: "Little Nia! Help me go to the next street to buy a pack of freshly cut ham and roast pork. I also want a side of potato chips and roast pork rinds."

Leonard said as he took out a 2 suler note: "The rest is yours!"

On the streets where Backlund's middle class gathers, there are many children in their eighties, nineteens, and teenagers who wander the streets specifically to run errands for people.

Soon, the meaty roast pork was placed on the table. The four foods Leonard ordered were Loen's classic dishes to go with wine.

But real gentlemen rarely eat like this. Generally, those who have escaped poverty but have not yet reached the middle class like to pair this kind of food with wine.

Although Leonard's income has already exceeded the middle class, he likes this unrestrained way of dining.

The two poured wine, and Hobert tasted the potato chips, and then sighed in his heart: There is absolutely no classic peanut!

After a bottle of wine was at the bottom, the two people chatted about more and more topics. Leonard asked: "I heard that you are recruiting a group of homeless people?"

"Yes." There is nothing to hide, Hobert said: "There is still some free farmland in my territory, enough to feed tens of thousands of people."

Leonard smiled and said: "Hobert, you haven't changed at all. This is really great."

"What changes can I make?" Hobert tasted the ham and it tasted pretty good.

Leonard's answer was strange: "You are now an earl, and you still like to wear windbreakers."

Hobert said seriously: "I am already an earl, why can't I wear a windbreaker?"

The two looked at each other, then laughed together, then drank the wine in the glass together, and opened the second bottle of wine.

"I have found some clues recently." Leonard suddenly said: "According to convention, these clues can only be exchanged within the 'Red Gloves'. However, you are also a Red Glove person and it does not violate the relevant regulations."

Although Leonard was confused, Hobert knew that what he was talking about was a clue about Captain Dunn's enemy.

Hobert thought for a while and decided that he couldn't tell Leonard that the captain had been resurrected for the time being. At least he had to wait until this guy became a member of the Tarot Club before finding a suitable opportunity to tell him.

Leonard added: "Have we talked about the Lanerwus case before?"

"Yes."

"Later I came into contact with the Capin case and the Backlund smog case, and found that a private detective, Sherlock Moriarty, appeared in these cases!" Leonard said seriously:
"Just a few days ago, I received accurate information that Sherlock is also related to the case of Lanerwus!
"This detective must have a big secret! He may know some inside information about the 'True Creator's Arrival Case'!"

Hobert agreed: "Your logic is very rigorous!"

That is one of the parties involved, and his investigation has gone very deep!Does this count as knowing an important clue?

"It's a pity that based on the limited intelligence, he took refuge in the Raging Sea." Leonard said with some disappointment: "There may never be a trace of him again."

As far as I know, he has come back now, Hobert said in his heart: back to Backlund as a rich man.

Hobert pointed the clue in another direction: "According to my investigation, Ince Zangwill appeared in the case of Backlund's Great Smog."

At that time, Leonard only had very vague information about the demigod battle that took place in the underground ruins: "Can you confirm that it was him?"

Then he smiled and said: "You are indeed secretly investigating his whereabouts."

Hobert smiled and said nothing.

Leonard suddenly guessed: "Do you think Sherlock is a believer in the Creator? Or simply His favored one?"

The drink in Hobert's mouth almost spurted out: "Why do you think so?"

"Recently, the 'Creator' has been too active!" Leonard said: "I just got the news that the great adventurer Gehrman Sparrow is actually the favored one of the 'Creator'!"

Hobert resisted the urge to twitch his lips: "Who said that?"

"'Aquaman' Yann Coatman's conjecture!"

"I..." Hobert took a deep breath before swallowing the "grass". He smiled and said, "I'm not sure."

"Based on some recent intelligence, I have some conjectures." Leonard said: "Although the main force of the 'Founder' is in the Southern Continent, he also has many subordinates in the Raging Sea and the Northern Continent. He seems to be trying every means to influence The development of some things in this world.

"Then will Sherlock be one of his subordinates sent to the Northern Continent? To disrupt some actions of the Loen royal family, or to investigate some things.

"The 'True Creator's Advent Case' may be one of the targets of his investigation. Perhaps the True Creator is the opponent of the 'Creator'."

Hobert thought to himself: Your idea is wild and unconstrained, and it seems to make sense, but it turned out that you were completely wrong!

Then he realized that the "Creator" had recently stolen the spotlight from "The Fool", and many unsolved cases in the True God Church were placed on the "Creator"'s head!
Hobert didn't dare to say anything and could only quietly listen to Leonard's some extremely imaginative conjectures.

Some conjectures about the "creator" frightened Hobert. If the Sherlock or Herman in the conjecture were replaced by Hobert, he would be very close to the truth.

Fortunately, this topic only lasted a while, and they talked about something else.

At around nine o'clock in the evening, Leonard looked at the luxury carriage disappearing into the mist. An old voice that only he could hear asked: "Aren't you curious about his experience in Feneport City? Why didn't you ask? ?”

"Because he didn't say it." Leonard closed the door.

"He's already a demigod."

Leonard was slightly surprised: "No wonder he was named an earl."

He recalled that when he first met Hobert, they were both Sequence 8.

Then Leonard smiled easily: "Old man, do you have any friends?"

After a few seconds, the old voice answered: "My friends are all dead."

"For a while, I thought that all my friends were dead." Leonard said, "Fortunately, the goddess blessed me and left me a friend."

After another second or two, the old voice said: "They are not dead."

"Yes!" Leonard said: "Captain and Klein will always live in my heart!"

The old man did not explain further.

(End of this chapter)