After seeing the marks on the paper, Pacheco turned his head and said to Barton, âWhat happens next will be quite complicated. I will seek the policeâs help.
âAnd you can return to the foundation and wait for further questioning.â
Barton, who was staring at the paper, wasnât disappointed. Instead, he felt relieved, and he hurriedly nodded.
âAlright.â
After reading the traces left behind by Vernal, Bartonâs intuition told him that the matter was very dangerous.
As an ordinary person, avoiding danger was an instinctive choice.
Of course, this was also because Vernal could only be considered one of his ordinary friends. It wasnât worth taking a huge risk and getting involved in this matter.
After answering, Barton turned around immediately and walked past the hotel owner and attendant and arrived at the street.
This time, he didnât choose to take public transport and instead boarded a rental carriage.
Bartonâs trip outside was considered as a special matter. It was rather urgent, and with the deputy director of the Compliance Department to testify for him, he could make a claim for the expenses incurred.
The difference between spending the foundationâs money and using oneâs own salary was two completely different feelings.
On the way, Barton looked at the scenery outside the window and couldnât help but think about Vernalâs current situation.
Is he still alive?
The room was filled with a strong stench of blood...
I hope heâs still alive. May the Lord bless him.
If heâs still alive, where will he be now?
Where...
Could it be?
There!
As his thoughts raced, Barton suddenly thought of a possibility. He quickly instructed the coach driver to change routes and head home.
Not long after, he returned home.
âWhat happened?â Bartonâs wife approached him with a surprised look.
It was still quite some time before lunch, let alone getting off work.
Barton didnât take off his hat or jacket. Without answering her question, he directly asked, âWas Vernal here?â
âHe came to visit you fifteen minutes ago. I told him to wait in the study room and send Wells to the foundation to look for you,â Bartonâs wife replied honestly.
Wells was their familyâs valet. And clearly, fifteen minutes wasnât enough for him to reach the Loen Relic Search and Preservation Foundation.
This was what puzzled Bartonâs wife the most.
âRight.â Barton nodded heavily. He hurriedly passed through the living room, went up to the second floor, and entered the study.
In the study room, the windows were wide open and the curtains were slightly rolled. There was no one there.
âVernal?â Barton shouted, but there was no answer.
He jumped out of the window and left... Barton frowned. He looked around seriously and discovered that the books on the bookshelf were in a mess.
It was a set of historical books that were split into three-parter volumes.
Bartonâs habit was to arrange them from right to left, and now it was going from left to right.
He took a deep breath and quickly walked over to retrieve the three books.
After a thorough examination, Barton found that a page in the middle had been folded.
He quickly flipped to that page and opened a corner.
Scribbled there simply with a pencil were the words:
âThe refugees of the Fourth Epoch worshiped an evil god.â
Man... Barton panicked and turned horrified. He stuffed the book back.
Without much thought, he ran out of the study and towards the stairs, preparing to find the deputy director of the Compliance Department, Pacheco. He wanted to tell him about his discovery and get him to request the police to protect his family.
After exiting the house, Barton slowed down and considered an important question:
Where do I go to find Pacheco?
The Clough Hotel, the Stoen police headquarters, or the foundation?
After a brief moment of thought, Barton decided to return to the foundation and look for other employees of the Compliance Department.
At that moment, a rental carriage stopped outside his door as Pacheco Dwayne alighted.
âWe discovered that Vernal came to your house again,â the deputy director of the Compliance Department explained quickly.
Barton heaved a sigh of relief and replied without hesitation, âYes, but he has already left.
âHowever, he left some clues behind.â
After saying this, Barton led Pacheco into his own house, went to his study, and handed him the book.
Pacheco looked at it for a while, then gently slid his finger across the surface of the text.
Right on the heels of that, he took out the pencil he had used previously and wrote beside Vernalâs comment.
âCall the police!â
After doing all of this, Pacheco stuffed the book back to its original position.
However, he didnât push the book in completely.
This way, the entire row of books had one book bulging out.
âAlright, letâs return to the foundation and have lunch. Weâll wait for the good news from the police.â Pacheco clapped his hands.
Barton didnât understand the reason behind this senior lawyerâs actions, but he didnât ask why.
He really didnât want to get involved in this matter. He felt that he couldnât bear it at all.
Barton then fabricated a few reasons to his wife before returning to the foundation with Pacheco to begin his daily work.
When it was tea time, he had just finished an ancient bookâs appraisal when he heard someone knocking on the door.
âWeâve got some clues. We need to go to your place,â said Pacheco, who was wrapped in a gray scarf and standing by the door.
âClues?â Barton rose in surprise.
Pacheco didnât give a direct answer. He spread out his hands and made an inviting gesture.
Barton couldnât refuse and went home with the other party.
âVernal came again!â His wife clearly sensed that something was amiss and went to the door in horror.
âItâs fine. Just some minor problems.â Barton maintained his image as a man and consoled his wife.
When he arrived at the study, he and Pacheco discovered that, yet again, Vernal had escaped.
âDamn it, canât he just wait for a while?â Barton couldnât help but grumble.
âItâs alright.â Pacheco walked up to the bookshelf and pulled out the book.
Clearly, Vernal had read his suggestion, as the book was completely stuffed into the bookshelf.
âI guess I know where Vernal is.â Pacheco closed his eyes, smiling.
Barton was stunned.
âHow do you know?â
Pacheco opened his eyes and replied with a smile, âHe accepted my bribeâno, a gift. But that isnât right either. The most accurate description should be a suggestion.
âOf course, he might not accept it.â
With that said, the deputy director of the Compliance Department walked past Barton and out of the study.
Barton followed behind him subconsciously, leaving his own borough and turning into a nearby street.
At the end of the street, there was a house that had collapsed due to a fire.
âThey actually havenât started reconstruction efforts,â Barton whispered.
Pacheco put on a pair of white gloves again, and his expression became a little stern.
Through the rather intact main door, he entered the half-collapsed hall.
Black pieces of wood were strewn across the ground, blocking the lower half of a personâs body.
The figure was wearing a brown jacket with a red nose. He looked very stocky and was none other than the archaeologist, Vernal.
Barton secretly exhaled and asked anxiously, âWhy didnât you call the police?â
âTheyâre monitoring the police station,â Vernal replied without a change in expression.
Barton blurted out, âWhy didnât you leave Stoen and go to other cities to report to the police?â
âTheyâre monitoring the steam locomotive station,â Vernal replied in the same tone.
Barton thought for a moment and frowned.
âYou have many ways to leave Stoen. They canât seal off a city.â
Upon hearing this question, Vernalâs expression gradually changed as he said with a slightly ethereal tone, âI sensed the will of that great existence...â