The Modern Age of the Mysterious

Arya died ten days ago, how could she appear at the banquet three days ago?

The huge question almost burst Sean's head, causing him to fall into a brief daze.

Daisy, who was staring at the photo, suddenly found that Sean was not talking, and turned to look.

She saw Sean's stagnant expression, mixed with shock, doubt, fear and deep puzzlement, as if she had seen a ghost.

This expression made Daisy a little uneasy, and her eyes flickered: "Sean, what's wrong with you...?"

Sean came back to his senses: "Sorry, things are a little weird." He fell down on the sofa, and while sorting out his thoughts, he told Daisy what he found yesterday.

After hearing Sean say that Aaliyah's body was found in the iron box, Daisy covered her mouth and sat down slowly.

After speaking, there was a terrible silence in the office.

The two of them couldn't understand what happened, and they both looked at the photos scattered on the coffee table in silence.

Daisy first broke the silence: "The corpse in the iron box, you said the face was scratched and it was swollen badly. Could it be Arya's corpse, you're wrong?"

Sean frowned: "Aaliyah's hair color and length are very rare, and the clothes that the corpse was wearing were Aaliyah's...

"If it wasn't Aaliyah, there was only one possibility: someone specially found a girl of the same age as Aaliyah and with the same hair, put on Aaliyah's clothes, and faked her body.

"But, the point is, why did they do this?"

Thinking entered the fog again.

When Sean looked at the photos on the table, he felt a little shudder: the "Arya" in the photo, the cold expression and eyes, were too different from the usual Arya.

Who is Aaliyah? In the end what happened?

The old questions have not been resolved, and new questions have emerged.

However, for Sean, although it is still uncertain, there is still a possibility that Aaliyah is alive, which is great news.

As if a ray of light came in, Sean's mood was at the bottom of the valley, and he became a little more active: "You just said, who held this banquet?"

"Long Island Bill. There's only one Bill on Long Island, and he's a famous person who likes to hold this kind of banquet, almost once a week."

"Maybe ask the people at the banquet, ask that Bill, and you'll know more."

Daisy shrugged: "After my friend found this photo, he went to visit a few people who attended the banquet that day.

"It's a pity that they have no impression of this girl. Maybe Bill or his housekeeper will know more."

Sean realized that he should be personally responsible for the most critical investigation: "Daisy, are you familiar with Bill? Can you arrange for me to meet him?"

Daisy nodded: "I have business cooperation with him. However, he is busy, so I have to make an appointment with him."

Sean: "Then please. I must talk to him."

After saying goodbye to Daisy, Sean feels completely different from before.

"Aaliyah may still be alive!" Although this is only a possibility, it is much better than the previous situation.

Sean felt that he had come out of **** a little bit. Although he had not yet completely landed, he had at least returned to a world worth continuing to explore.

He clenched his fists, made a lot of guesses, and his thoughts returned to the previous track.

"If the corpse is indeed not Aaliyah, and the person who appeared at the reception is her. Then there must be an unknown secret!

"Perhaps, that body was deliberately placed there for me to discover?

"From this point of view, it still makes sense that I deduced that there is an organization behind all of this.

Sean remembered his previous plan: "If Arya is still alive, then I'm still in danger now, and I have to go to Guling Quest to find Catherine!"

————

Sean quickly found the address of Guling Quest in the yellow pages of the room. During this period, he was surprised to find that there were many so-called "exploration companies" in New York City.

Sean called Guling Quest and set off after making an appointment.

I took the tram to Wall Street, not far from Central Street. There are many high-rise buildings here. When I looked up, I could only see the geometric sky outlined by the edges of the buildings.

For some reason, Sean felt that the surrounding tall buildings that blocked his view were like high walls, and he felt like he had fallen into a huge maze.

Wall Street is located in the city center, which is one of the commercial centers of the whole New Zealand.

The Rockfields Consortium, the Pacific Railway Company, the Morgan Dahl Bank...the headquarters of all the world's leading companies are almost all here.

Fifty years ago, in pursuit of wealth, people would choose to head west, become a gold prospector, or build oil pipelines.

Now is the era when the oil industry, the securities market and the exploration industry are prosperous. People with dreams of making a fortune have become car salesmen, securities managers or explorers one after another.

Sean was standing downstairs in the "Explorer Center" building at this time. He didn't realize that the mysterious exploration industry had developed so professionally and hugely.

Among the people entering and leaving the gate of the "Explorer Center", many people wore masks of different shapes. Some masks are parrot faces made of colorful feathers, some are gray wolves wearing cowboy hats, and some are like witch doctors, with a wooden board covering their faces and rough outlines of the facial features with various colors of paint.

Sean has the illusion that he is heading to the "masquerade party". But these masked people are all wearing well-fitting suits, sturdy leather jackets, or plain robes, and they are in a hurry, obviously in a working state, not at all leisurely to participate in the dance.

When Sean looked at the passing masks with curious eyes in the crowd, he heard a familiar female voice behind him: "Your parents didn't teach you, is it rude to stare at others?"

Sean looked back and saw Catherine wearing skinny jeans, a long-sleeved shirt and a brown coat. She was now wearing a white opera mask outlined by gold threads and embellished with black pearls.

Sean still remembers that lazy voice, sharp red lips, and slender figure, so he knew it was Catherine.

"Why are you wearing..." Sean gestured on his face.

Catherine sighed: "Damn it, I let you see my real face before, maybe I should kill you.

"Exploration is a high-risk industry. Many colleagues will covet your gains. When working as an explorer, wearing a mask is a way to protect everyone."

Catherine walked in front, and Sean tried his best to keep his eyes from staring at her too proud lower back.

"Moreover, there are many people who regard explorers as their sideline and are unwilling to reveal their identities."

Catherine led Sean into the hall.

"In addition, explorers usually act in small groups, and masks can quickly let teammates know your function and rating."

"Function and rating?" Sean shuttled as fast as he could in the crowd to avoid getting lost, and accidentally bumped into a burly man with a bronze mask, feeling like he had bumped into a wall. The man didn't seem to notice, just continued chatting with his companions.

Catherine stopped and waited for a while, then clicked on her own mask: "For example, my mask, 'Pale Aria', is also called 'Young Actress'. It means that I am a junior explorer, only Jack-level ( Guard class), the function is 'actor'."

Just as Sean was about to ask further questions, Kathryn raised a hand: "I won't tell you about functions and ratings—the concepts in the industry, if you talk too much for a while, you won't understand. You know that I am an explorer. At the same time, I am also a professional actor, and my identity as an actor is helpful for the exploration work, that’s all.”

Sean seemed to understand, and followed Catherine into the elevator. There were three people wearing black cloaks and masks of "Doctor Bird's Beak" in different colors, which made the atmosphere of the elevator so strange~www.NovelMTL.com~ The elevator reached the fifteenth floor, and Catherine took Sean out. took the elevator. On the oncoming door, there is a prominent metal sign: "Guling Quest Company - Since 1912"

Catherine rushed to sit at the reception behind the door. The receptionist wearing butterfly-rimmed glasses nodded and led Sean directly in.

"Exploration company... explorers, what do they do?" Sean finally asked the question he had always wanted to ask.

"Strange events need professionals to solve. Some people need bodyguards who can drive away resentful spirits, scientific research teams need to hire esoteric experts to accompany them, and some public areas are threatened by strange forces. The court will also choose to entrust these troublesome matters Give us.

"These all mean large commissions. Not to mention, behind most of the bizarre incidents, there is a valuable 'mysterious legacy'."

"Explorers are experts in solving strange events; the exploration industry is an industry with high risks but also high rewards.

"So, do you understand?"

Sean nodded: "Professional consultants involved in the mysterious field?"

"Let's put it this way." Catherine pushed open the door of an office, "It's just us 'advisers' who carry exorcism pistols and ritual weapons with us..."

Catherine closed the door of the office, took off her coat, took off her mask, turned around and pulled out the dagger with intricately carved patterns from the scabbard under her flank, and pressed the tip of the dagger directly under Sean's flank, forcing Sean into the office. corner of the wall.

Through the shirt, I can also feel the cold touch of the dagger: "What are you doing?!"

Catherine's face was indifferent: "Sean, it's not necessarily you who came back from the spiritual realm.

"The real you should have died in the spirit."