It should be almost a quarter past one in the morning...
Ed closed the lid of his pocket watch and extinguished the lighter. The warehouse was filled with darkness and silence.
Let me confirm again, just shine the Eye of Mentilosa on his face, right? What if he wakes up midway?
[Don’t worry, Mentilosa’s pupils will deepen El’s sleep state. Unless your behavior in the dream makes him realize that he is dreaming, he will continue to sleep. 】
Sylvie replied.
Ed rechecked the lock on the warehouse concierge to make sure it was locked. This is a mechanical lock issued to agents of the Bureau of Investigation. It is strong and durable.
Flea Alley was a chaotic place, and he didn't dare to gamble his luck by falling asleep in the streets and alleys outside. Otherwise, when he woke up, he would probably be completely naked... He might even have his throat cut with a knife.
He originally planned to choose the cheap hotel across from the Denver antique store, but there was no single room available there and he could only share it with two other people. Ed couldn't rest assured about this either. He also had a white crow cane and a volcano pistol on him. If someone took the opportunity to take them away, he would be in big trouble.
As for directly booking an entire three-person room, although it is not difficult for Ed financially, it is also easy to attract attention - only those who have the wallet to purchase an entire three-person room will not come here to stay.
When he manipulated the red-eyed spider to induce the wild boar El into his dream and sneaked in, Ed was almost defenseless. What he was most afraid of was that uninvited guests would come to his door at this time. Even a money-hungry robber might threaten his life.
At the same time, the dreaming place cannot be too far away. Once the infiltration fails and Il wakes up, I must be able to catch up with Il and fight head-on before he completely escapes.
In the end, Ed chose a small warehouse for rent that was two houses away from the Denver antique store, about thirty meters away.
He lied to his landlord that he had a batch of goods that he planned to sell to the Principality of Hundred Flowers, but the consignee had not yet been able to reach an agreement. The goods had to stay in Silvermist City for at least another two weeks, and the warehouse owner in the dock area raised the price again. , so he plans to transfer the goods here for storage first.
The final price agreed upon was one pound and sixteen shillings for two weeks. After Ed directly paid half of the rent (18 shillings), the landlord immediately smiled and gave him the key to the warehouse, promising that the warehouse could be vacated as soon as this afternoon.
It's a bit expensive, but at least no one will bother me tonight. Ed thought to himself that although 18 shillings was a bit expensive, it was not unacceptable.
As for the remaining balance, he had no intention of paying it. He didn't plan to stay that long anyway. Earning 18 shillings a night, the landlord would have no complaints.
Ed spread the prepared bedroll on the ground, lay on it, and activated the red-eyed spider that had been hidden in advance.
As consciousness shifted, the red-eyed spider crawled out of the empty bird's nest under the eaves and got into the Denver antique store that was riddled with rats.
In the scarlet field of vision, the debris emits ancient and cheap reflections, and there are faint black threads swimming around. Ed concentrated on not paying attention to them.
The red-eyed spider quietly passed through the mountains of debris in the basement and approached the broken wooden bed of the wild boar El. The wooden bed seemed to be carrying a fat pig's calf, and was almost crushed by El's huge body. .
Through the sound-transmitting crystal, the wild boar's snore was like an engine, roaring incessantly.
It seems easier than expected...
To make sure that El was not pretending to sleep, Ed watched from the shadows for a while. After confirming that El was really asleep, he slowly climbed to the ceiling and locked eyes on El's face.
He held his breath and concentrated, gradually emptying his mind. The original hourglass-shaped double pupils of the Eye of Mentilosa trembled violently, and the two pupils gradually gathered towards the middle to form a complete eye.
[Searching for terms——Subway Massacre...]
In the red field of vision, only the flames were still pure white.
[Relevant fragments have been retrieved, trying to invade the dream...]
Then, it seemed as if a hand pulled Ed's vision closer and penetrated into the mind of the wild boar El.
…
The consciousness came to a small room with extremely dim vision. An oil lamp was lit in the center of the table. The light was very weak and could barely illuminate the surrounding corners.
This is……?
Ed lowered his head and found a pair of skinny hands covered with herpes on the table, like mouse paws.
This is not my hand...
[I will host your consciousness in one of the characters, otherwise he will soon notice your existence. Play your role well and don't let him notice anything strange. 】
Role play? I will try my best.
The wild boar El was right opposite Ed, stuffing biscuits into his mouth one by one. He didn't look like he was enjoying the taste of the biscuits, he was just chewing them to relieve tension and stress, like a worker working on an assembly line.
"Hey, mouse." Suddenly, El stopped talking.
"Huh?" Ed responded as if he had just woken up from a dream, as if he had just been stunned. Apparently he's playing Fitz the Mouse now.
He had only met Fitz once, or in other words, he hadn't even met him in person - when he shot and killed Fitz, who was seriously injured, his back was turned to him, and he didn't even say a word to him.
Therefore, Ed knew nothing about Fitz's words and deeds, so he could only speak as little as possible.
"Why did you suddenly stop grinding your teeth? It made me a little uncomfortable." Yi Er stared at the fire and filled his mouth with another biscuit.
"I'm just a little... worried." Ed lowered his head and said in a coy tone.
"Hmph, are you worried that Hofende will monopolize the commission?" Il chewed the biscuits and said in a soliloquy tone, "No, after all, we have cooperated for so many years, he shouldn't..."
Suddenly, the door to the room on the side was kicked open. The man who walked in had a ferocious face, and the hideous scar on the bridge of his nose only deepened the impact.
"You're back."
Il said in surprise, but when he found that Hofende had empty hands, the smile on his face froze again.
The scarred man silently walked to the table and said before he could sit down:
"Floyd is dead."
"What are you talking about?" Wild Boar El frowned and looked at him suspiciously. "Isn't he making money for the Oakland family? Who dares to attack him?"
"The crows of the Bureau of Investigation. Those birdmen dare to kill anyone except the Black Heart King himself. Who knows, they may have found evidence of Floyd's crime, or maybe Floyd himself leaked the news."
Hofende put the dagger in his waist on the table and leaned his head back on the chair.
"Then our reward has been wasted?" El's face looked very ugly. "Maybe those crows have already set their sights on us. I think we should run away quickly."
"It doesn't matter, just wait. They have black crows and we have white crows. The crows have guaranteed that we will definitely get the money this time." Hoffender said.
"Do you trust this new kid so much? What if he is a liar?"
Seeing that Hofende closed his eyes and didn't answer, Il had no choice but to turn his attention to "Fitz" again:
"Mouse, it's already this time, why don't you say something?"
"This, I..." Ed gritted his teeth and pretended to be in a dilemma.
Suddenly, an unheard voice came from outside the door:
"Don't worry, gentlemen, you will get the reward you deserve. I promise."
