"What's wrong?" Xia Yibing came over and asked her what was going on.
"Nothing." Hitzfeld breathed, "I'm just surprised that there are batteries."
Yes, such a small flashlight is powered by batteries.
She couldn't disassemble the battery now. Of course, even if she did, she couldn't tell the internal materials and structure with her poor engineering knowledge. But this didn't stop her from being surprised - how could such a small battery be made in an era when the electrical revolution had just begun and telephones were not yet popular?
Now that she thought about it, it seemed that the black-clad policemen in Kuroki City were equipped with flashlights. But at that time, she didn't have a clear idea of the historical context, and there were more urgent things to worry about, so she didn't even think about caring about this.
But this situation is unreasonable. The development of science and technology should follow inherent laws, and what should be produced in what era... To use the words of the game, if the previous technology is not lit up, how can you come up with the ultimate technology?
"Does everyone have this thing?" She asked Xia Yibing, holding up a flashlight.
"I should say every team." Xia Yibing corrected her, "This is your first time using this... Actually, this thing is also very precious. Just like a gun, if it is lost, it must be reported immediately."
That's not normal either.
Hitzfeld thought for a while and asked her again, "So it can't be put into large-scale production. It's privately supplied? It can only be supplied to you secret police?"
"Yes." Xia Yibing nodded.
Although he didn't understand why Hitzfeld was asking these questions, the two of them had already established a deep trust. Before the girl could continue asking, he took the initiative to explain: "I don't know who the manufacturer is. It's a mystery, but it must be related to the White Shadow Palace."
A technology ahead of its time that was controlled by the royal family.
Hitzfeld thought about it and felt that if he really had to find a realistic reason to summarize this situation, it would only be that... this technology was dug out of the ground by Sarah.
Just like Artanis, the development of technology depends entirely on archaeology.
But this shows that before Sarah founded the country, human civilization in the Changxia world was actually far more advanced than she imagined.
What was the era like before the advent of the Dream World?
She suddenly brought up this long-standing confusion again.
What happened during the advent?
"arrive!"
The sound brought her back to reality. She looked up and saw dots of light appearing in the darkness ahead.
A medium-sized town slowly appeared in front of them.
It took some effort to enter the town because it had been blocked and under martial law. Although the black-clad policemen on duty were colleagues of Team 17, they did not dare to let anyone in without Agent Anmi present.
Fortunately, Agent Anmi arrived quickly.
"You are finally here!"
This is a very strong man - that being said, but in fact this kind of body shape can easily develop into "fatness".
He already has a little belly, but the reason he is still considered to be muscular is thanks to his big arms and well-developed upper body muscles.
But even this strong man, whose mere presence was enough to silence the villains, now acted so grateful, as if he couldn't bear it if they didn't come again.
"Can I ask what's going on here, Agent Anmi?"
Hitzfeld didn't think he was such a coward.
What's more, this place is close to the royal capital, and support can arrive at any time. Even if you are a coward, you would not act like this.
"you……"
Agent Anmi frowned slightly, looked at Hitzfeld, and then looked at the black-clad policeman following her.
Black clothes - Xia Yibing and others all changed into formal clothes for this trip, and wore big hats, looking very majestic standing there.
Agent Anmi noticed that there was nothing unusual on these people's faces, as if "it was supposed to be this way", and he suddenly understood.
"Oh! So this is Miss Aisuen Hitzfeld? Nice to meet you... I've often heard of your name!"
"I am very honored."
Hitzfeld shook his gloved hand.
"But agent, the progress of the case in Elnak Town is related to when I can return to the capital. I believe you have heard the news... I don't want to waste too much time here."
"Of course! I understand!"
Agent Anmi nodded immediately.
"It's like this..." Then he began to describe the strangeness of the town.
"Fair Lawrence may be crazy."
"Crazy?" Hitzfeld was a little surprised.
"Why are you so crazy?"
"He suddenly went crazy shortly after we finished the interrogation."
Agent Anmi began to complain.
"You don't know how much we suffered to take care of him... He refused to eat and said he suspected someone had poisoned him. He asked us to hold his hands and feet and force him to drink. In the end, we had to tie him up and force him to drink..."
"He still doesn't want to ride in a car. When he sees any vehicle that's not driven by a horse, he screams and says strange things, as if it's some kind of monster."
"By the way, he doesn't like the color black. When he sees the color black, he will shrink into a corner and huddle and tremble."
"Don't blame me for not reminding you. If you're going to see him later, you'd better change into extra clothes."
Chapter 22: The Nun
"There are five stations here... Although two of them are post stations, it's pretty good for a small town."
Waiting outside the hotel's locker room, Pippen held a small notebook in his hand and carefully read the records on it.
This was given to him by Doug Anmi. Agent Anmi looked like a rough man, but he was surprisingly meticulous. Not only did he have beautiful handwriting, he also recorded everything very clearly.
Writing is also a compulsory course for agents. In many cases, if something happens to them - they don't have to be assumed dead - their companions will have to rely on those little notebooks to look for clues, so the recorded text must be both confidential and readable, which places high demands on typesetting and writing.
There are several sets of ciphertexts within the Security Bureau. Pippen is proficient in most of them and has no problem reading and writing his companions' notebooks, but he is powerless to make the typesetting so neat and beautiful.
Next to him was Hem, the agent who was used to wearing glasses and looked much more refined than Pippen - and much more sophisticated. He had been twisting his body since he came out of the room, as if he was not used to the shabby clothes he had just put on.
Ethan stood a little further away, talking to Agent Anmi, probably asking about some details of the case. Zafira stood by the window, keeping watch. He did not stand directly behind the window, but first drew the curtains and observed secretly through the gap.
Except for Zafira and Grim, everyone changed their clothes.
There is no other way. This is necessary if you want to have a normal conversation with Fair Lawrence.
Of course, don't expect to buy any expensive materials in a place like this. What you get are basically coarse cloth clothes borrowed from local residents, some colorful shirts, a few pairs of canvas trousers, and a few fur coats with thick patches.
Zafira hates these things. He thinks there are enough people coming on this trip, and he will not participate if he has companions. In his words, he is "covering them."
Hem thought he was talking nonsense, and the real person who should be behind this should be Agent Anmi. This town is completely controlled by Shadow Lion, so who is this secret for?
He wanted to learn from Zafira, because he knew that he was not good at interrogation, so it would be useless to meet him. But he was still a junior in the team, and he wanted to speak several times, but he shrank back when he saw Zafira's stern eyes.
As for why Grimm didn't change either.
Well, if Phil Lawrence is really afraid of the dark, it won't matter what clothes he changes.
With a "click", the door opened.
Hitzfeld and Xia Yibing came out one after another. Pippen turned his head to look at them. When he saw Hitzfeld, he couldn't help pouting and whistling.
"This outfit... I almost thought I was in the opera house."
Xia Yibing's new clothes were nothing special. A pair of thermal pants, a pair of canvas pants, a sailor shirt and an animal fur coat on top, no different from everyone else's.
Hitzfeld stood out because she was wearing a nun's dress.
The pure white long skirt was only embroidered with blue and black stripes on the corners. The hem of the skirt covered the calf and the middle of the ankle, allowing people to directly see a pair of light brown deerskin boots.
"Isn't this a proper nun's dress?" Ethan walked over with his eyes wide open, staring at the veil-like decoration on the girl's forehead (it's not transparent, just a piece of white cloth). "Is there a theater in this town?"
The uniforms of the order were not so flashy. As far as he knew, except for the bishop, the uniforms of other members were all black.
At most, embroider some gold edges.
This is not a preference, it's simply that black is more resistant to dirt and durable, and even with the cost of dye, it is more cost-effective than other colors.
"There's a traveling theater troupe." Agent Anmi, who had followed up, said, "This room happened to be a dressing room for some actors before... How did you think of choosing this dress?"
"We have to try different possibilities." Hitzfeld raised his chin. "With so many of you here, I can't say I can do the interrogation more professionally, so I can only find another way. Maybe he has a better impression of the clergy."
"You are impersonating...impersonating..." Hem curled his index finger, looking like he wanted to accuse her but didn't dare.
"Stop pretending. Everything has its priority. It's more important to pry his mouth open now." Ethan interrupted him and looked at Anmi.
"I'll lead the way." An Mi nodded knowingly and went out first.
A group of people followed him to the first floor, and went straight to the opposite side after going out.
"Xena's House." Grimm looked up at the plaque above, "There are many inns here."
"Because it's a transit station, there are quite a few passengers. They are not tourists who come here specifically for sightseeing. The things they bring are much more diverse than you can imagine. The store is not big enough to accommodate them."
Anmi explained.
"Then this store should be the best in Ernak?" Hitzfeld suddenly said.
Agent Amy stopped and turned to stare at Hitzfeld.
"I don't think I wrote this in my notes to you..."
Hitzfeld smiled and looked at Xia Yibing.
"The floor in front of the door has been worn quite badly." Xia Yibing explained unhappily, "The sign is also bigger than other stores, plus there are deep wheel marks in front of the door... Is it difficult to make such a judgment?"
"I know why they sent you here!" Agent Anmi cheered up. "Come on, the people are up there."
"Xena's House is indeed one of the most famous hotels in town." He introduced them as they walked, "Another one of the same level was called Fanny's Dream, which closed down some time ago, so this one can be said to be the best."
"How did it go bankrupt?" Xia Yibing asked him.
"Shortage of goods, poor turnover, accidents." Agent Anmi shrugged. "That's the only reason."
"They are the third type." He didn't keep the secret after he finished pretending, "The boss lady Fang Ni is a widow. I don't know which rich businessman she fell in love with. She said she wanted to close the store and move away. But the rich businessman who promised her never came back after entering the forest. She was so upset that she went crazy."
"Another crazy one?" Pippen grinned. "There are a lot of crazy people here."
"Or do you want them to commit suicide?" Zafira kicked him on the boot.
"You can shut up if you can't speak."
"Let's not talk about this anymore." Agent Anmi began to adjust the atmosphere. "After you finish questioning Fair Lawrence, I'll treat you. The three-fresh bean soup at Sina's House is a great dish. If you come to Elnak and don't eat the three-fresh bean soup, it's like you've come in vain..."
As they were talking, they came to a guest room on the third floor.
"The person is inside." Agent Anmi said.
"We have people all over the place, front and back, left and right, and even up and down the room."
A group of people stopped at the door.
"Who will go first?" Xia Yibing glanced at the team members.
"I'll do it!" Pippen raised his hand and stepped forward to open the door.
"Come back!" Zafira pulled him back by his collar.
"Ah, Mr. Zafira..."
"Do you think the suspect is made of a machine and can maintain his mental state after undergoing multiple interrogations in a short period of time?" Zafira scolded him.
"That is, we were not needed at the beginning..."
Hem muttered quietly.
"Then they also asked us to change our clothes..."
"This is for you to experience." The stern eyes suddenly turned.
"What's wrong with you, Blit?"
"No no……"
"I'll go first." Ethan took off his felt hat, handed it to Grimm beside him, turned the doorknob and went in first.
Hitzfeld had no objection.
Just because Ethan doesn't perform well in many cases doesn't mean he's mediocre.
The fact that he could become the deputy captain of Team 17 was enough to show how rich his accumulation and experience were. Letting him go in first would also allow him to contrast with himself.
