Chapter 460: A Trip to Conant with Fors
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The Punisher Bolton led a team to the meeting room of "Balan Fisheries Company." Two neat rows of corpses lay on the floor, as if someone had arranged them after they died.
The floor was covered in sawdust, and not a single piece of furniture was intact.
The glass in the windows was long shattered, and it looked like the glass was shattered by the shockwave of a violent explosion, because there were many glass fragments on the corpses on the ground.
But strangely, no one witnessed or heard a violent explosion.
The strangest thing was the branch of a large tree outside, extending into the room. From the outside, it looked as if the tree had bent down and stretched its branch in.
Someone witnessed the tree suddenly coming to life, and some even heard the tree talking.
In addition, one wall of the meeting room seemed to have become elastic, turning into a wavy shape, and two of the walls were full of fist-sized holes.
People who had participated in the war were very familiar with this scene. This was a room that had been swept by the enemy's heavy machine guns or cannons.
But the problem was that no one had witnessed heavy machine guns appearing here, nor had they heard the sound of heavy machine guns, nor had they left any traces of setting them up.
So the police believed that this was a Beyonder case and transferred it to the Punishers. Gale was ostensibly a believer in the "Lord of Storms."
Bolton glanced at the line of words Hobert had left behind: "This is likely a vendetta, but it should be a grudge from a long time ago."
"The murderer killed so many people in a row, and even wrote 'Hehe,' which shows that he is a rational and perverted Beyonder!"
At this time, a police officer quickly walked over from the stairs: "Everyone, are there any clues?"
Bolton glanced at the police officer with some anger: "We just arrived."
The police officer was full of smiles: "It's the group of reporters downstairs who keep asking questions. I was thinking that if there are any clues, I'll go and perfunctorily answer them."
Bolton said impatiently: "Tell the reporters that it was a vendetta or a gang fight."
The police officer said awkwardly: "The person who called the police saw this line on the wall, and now the reporters also know this line. Everyone already knows that it is not a simple vendetta or a gang fight."
Two Punisher team members looked at their captain. The captain was very sure just now that this was a vendetta.
Bolton's old face turned red, and he reached out and punched a wall, making it shake: "Why isn't it a vendetta?"
The police officer didn't know the inside story, and quickly explained: "Because in the case of a vendetta, they would definitely write something like 'I have taken revenge.' What the other party wrote was 'I found you,' which is obviously the beginning of a serial murder case!"
Bolton was stunned, and glanced at the words on the wall again, muttering to himself: "Isn't it because 'I found you' that I took revenge?"
This reminded him of the lunatics of the Aurora Society. He still firmly believed that this was a vendetta, because he had handled too many similar cases.
An ordinary person was targeted by a bully, causing his family to be destroyed.
At this time, the ordinary person encountered the opportunity to become an Beyonder. After a few years or more than ten years, the avenger, whose mind had been distorted by hatred and potions, would definitely come back and go on a killing spree.
It's just that the scene wasn't too bloody, and the bodies of Gale's family members were not seen. According to the investigation, Gale's family members were fine.
In this regard, it seems a bit abnormal.
This is the difference in the concept of official Beyonders and the police in thinking about the case. Bolton was too lazy to explain to the police officer: "Then you can explain to the reporters according to the gang fight. If not, I will go and talk to those reporters."
Two Punisher team members quickly asked the police officer to explain to the reporters according to the captain's statement, because last month, the captain had just been punished by the headquarters for hitting a reporter.
...
When Hobert and Fors reappeared on the streets of Conant City, the two immediately blended into the joyous atmosphere of the tourists.
For the Loen people, the first choice for vacation is Conant City.
In Hobert's impression, the Desi Bay is just on the northern edge of the subtropics. The warm wind on the sea blows just right to Conant City. When the entire Northern Continent enters the cold and dry winter, it is still as warm as spring here.
In the summer, the Cruz Mountains in Southville County can block most of the hot air from the southeast, so the summer in Conant City is not as hot as other coastal cities.
There are also beaches here, as well as small islands not far from the coastline, which can be described as a natural tourist resort.
It is still the New Year holiday, and there are many tourists from the northern counties.
Upton's company and "Balan Fisheries Company" are in another district, where there are fewer tourists, and it is not easy to feel the atmosphere of a resort.
On the shopping street and the coastal street, there are crowds of people, and there are street performers performing everywhere. Most of these performances are musical instrument performances that can be completed independently by one person, such as violin, saxophone, etc.
Hobert and Fors chatted in a low voice, occasionally stopping to admire the street performances. When they encountered wonderful places, Hobert would also reward a few copper pennies.
Generally, the places where there are performances are very crowded. Hobert would gently put his arm around Fors's shoulders to block others.
At first, Fors was attracted by the street performer's guitar performance. When she came back to her senses, she suddenly blushed.
She didn't know when, but she was no longer resistant to having intimate gestures with Hobert.
At this time, she heard Hobert say in her ear: "I can also play the guitar! In a few days, you can help me buy one from Backlund, and I will play it for you."
When Hobert was in college, he was still a literary youth. Not only could he play the guitar, but he also sang very well. He was once a campus heartthrob.
But after graduation, people were all competing for "Do you know who his father is?" Gradually, he rarely played the guitar.
Fors felt her chest beating "thump, thump, thump": "Okay, okay."
Guitar performances are rarely heard in Backlund. This is a characteristic musical instrument of the Feynapotter Kingdom. The gentlemen of Backlund believe that this musical instrument is too frivolous.
In Loen, only tourist cities like this have guitar performances.
The more Hobert listened, the more itchy he became, so he simply took out a 5-soli banknote: "Hello, can I borrow your guitar for a while?"
This is a scene that often happens in Conant City. A gentleman who comes to vacation suddenly becomes itchy, and borrows the artist's instrument to play a song.
But most of those are violins, accordions, etc. Few people borrow guitars, but there was still immediate applause of encouragement around.
"Of course." The street performer, a young man with a beard, stood up and handed the guitar to Hobert.
Hobert thanked the young man, took the guitar in one hand, and took Fors's hand in the other to bypass the street performer's "money box."
Hobert focused on plucking the strings to find the feel, but Fors was inexplicably nervous, because there were at least dozens of people watching around, and there were more tourists on the outer layer.
The key is that she had never seen Hobert touch a musical instrument, and was very worried about Hobert.
Classical guitars are somewhat different from modern guitars, but they are similar. Hobert tuned the sound, and his mind suddenly fell into a state of confusion, because his mind was full of songs.
But these songs are all Chinese songs. Could it be that they are translated into Loen language on the spot? That would give people a completely different feeling!
Fortunately, the pretending youth, cough, cough, fortunately, the experience of being a literary youth did not embarrass him. He plucked the strings and sang one of the English songs that impressed him more, "Sound of Silence," translated as "The Sound of Silence."
Loen is also a language with alphabetic pronunciation, so it is similar to the European and American languages in Hobert's concept. There is nothing wrong with translating it, and the lyrics don't even need to be changed.
After the brisk and somewhat ethereal prelude was played, the surrounding tourists stopped talking and were completely attracted by the rhythm.
When Hobert's crisp and clean singing sounded, many passing tourists also began to come over to watch.
Fors, who was on the side, finally breathed a sigh of relief and began to appreciate Hobert's performance.
The street performer who contributed the guitar first realized that this was actually a new song that he had never heard before, but the lyrics were very meaningful, the rhythm was light and clear, and it was very attractive. It sounded like a song that had been repeatedly polished.
More and more people were attracted by Hobert's singing. After a song was sung and played, there were actually one or two hundred people around!
Hobert stood up and bowed slightly to everyone.
Everyone then applauded Hobert, and Fors applauded and said excitedly: "That's great, Hobert, I mean you sang really great!"
Looking at her appearance, it was as if she had just received everyone's applause and affirmation.
"It's okay, it's okay." Hobert returned the guitar to the street performer.
The artist quickly asked: "Sir, can I sing your song just now?"
"Of course." Hobert doesn't rely on this to make a living, so naturally he wouldn't be so stingy.
Amidst the continued applause of everyone, Hobert pulled Fors out of the crowd.
Suddenly someone shouted: "Fors, it's really you!"
That was a woman in her thirties, who looked good.
"Rin!" Fors smiled: "I didn't expect to meet you here."
Then she introduced: "This is Rin, a best-selling author."
When she introduced Hobert, she suddenly didn't know how to introduce him: "This...this is..."
Friend? Or...?
Hobert smiled: "Let me introduce myself, Miss Fors and I are purely boyfriend and girlfriend."
Rin nodded with a "I understand" expression. She smiled and said to Fors: "You're fast enough. Last time we talked about marriage at the salon, you said you were single, and now you have a boyfriend!"
Hobert corrected: "It's fiancé."
He just corrected it casually, but after he finished speaking, he felt that he hadn't considered Fors's feelings, so he glanced at Fors. Seeing that Fors didn't mean to stop him, he felt relieved.
Rin covered her mouth: "Oh my god, you...your progress is too fast!"
At this time, Fors realized what "fiancé" meant. Most of the time, this meant living together.
She was a little embarrassed: "It's not what you think!"
But she couldn't make too specific rebuttals, because she and Hobert did "live together."
Rin doesn't care about these: "Be sure to write to me when you get married, I must attend your wedding!"
Of course, lunch was on Hobert, the "fiancé." When you come to a coastal city, how can you not eat seafood?
Hobert very gentlemanly let the two ladies order as much as they want. Rin was indeed not polite. Shrimp, fish, and crab all had to be the best, but Fors first looked at the prices behind the dishes.
Until Hobert reminded her: "You forgot, our expenses are charged to the Coast Gang's account."
Since Upton said so, if it is not charged to the Coast Gang's account, it would be disrespectful to Upton.
Fors then remembered and began to order the dishes she liked, without considering the price.
The three were eating happily when suddenly a middle-aged man with a beard and a fierce face sat down next to Hobert: "Long time no see, old friend!"
Hobert scrutinized the middle-aged man: "You have mistaken me for someone else."
"Let me introduce myself," the other party said to himself: "I am a bounty hunter. I may mistake my wife, but I will never mistake the face on the wanted poster, Mr. Hobert."
After all, he came out to play. Of course, Hobert was unwilling to wear a "mask," so he just made his beard longer and changed his hairstyle, looking seven or eight points similar to his original appearance.
Everyone is here for travel, who would pay attention to whether there is a traitor published in the newspaper around them?
Sure enough, even after a performance, no one recognized Hobert.
But in the restaurant, Hobert was very unlucky to meet a bounty hunter.
Hobert smiled: "You really have mistaken me for someone else. My name is Sherlock."
He suddenly thought that this name also seemed unusable. The military and church people seemed to be looking for Sherlock Detective.
But the bounty hunter didn't notice this: "Don't worry, I'm also here on vacation and won't pull you to collect the bounty.
"If I suddenly have 50 pounds more in my wallet, I should be able to pretend that I didn't see you."
Of course, the bounty hunter would not be stupid enough to subdue the "ten thousand pound wanted man." He felt that since Hobert brought a woman to Conant, he must also be here to play, and of course he would not want others to discover his whereabouts.
This is also a busy restaurant. If the other party doesn't want everyone to discover his whereabouts, he won't easily make a move, so he dared to take the opportunity to blackmail him.
Hobert really didn't want to spoil the fun because of this, and was about to use "Connection" to resolve the problem, when seven or eight people came over, led by a middle-aged man who was a little fat, but looked quite rich.
There was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl with a bit of cute baby fat, holding a noblewoman's arm slightly behind, and the remaining four or five people were all burly bodyguards.
The middle-aged man smiled at Hobert: "Mr. Matthew, I didn't expect to meet you here."
Hobert stood up: "Mr. and Mrs. Dominic, I'm very happy that we met again. Elizabeth, are you here on vacation too?"
This is exactly the Elizabeth family who came to Conant City on vacation.
Elizabeth showed a cute smile: "Yes, Mr. Matthew."
Dorothy changed her face like a face change. The last second she was still smiling, but when she saw the bounty hunter, she asked with a look of disgust: "What do you want from Mr. Matthew?"
The bounty hunter looked at the bodyguards and said, "It's nothing, I mistook him for someone else."
With that, he got up and left.
Dorothy winked at two of the bodyguards, and they immediately followed. To prevent the bounty hunter from continuing to harass Hobert, they would of course have a "chat" with him in private.
Dorothy smiled and chatted with Hobert for a few words, then shook his hand. "I won't disturb your vacation, goodbye, and I wish you a pleasant stay."
He leaned closer to Hobert while shaking his hand: "Mr. Ulysses once said that as long as you are willing to go to Tingen City, there will be a new identity and a decent new job waiting for you."
Hobert said, "Please thank Mr. Ulysses for me. I will visit him when I have time."
Elizabeth also came over to say goodbye: "Goodbye, Ho… I mean, Mr. Matthew."
"Goodbye, and I wish you a pleasant stay too."
After seeing Elizabeth's family off, Hobert smiled and explained to Fors, "I handled a case in Tingen City before, and that's when I met Mr. Dorothy. I didn't expect to meet him here."
Fors nodded. She remembered this incident. At that time, she and Xio were hiding from Qilangos, and Hobert went to Tingen City on a business trip, so she and Xio stayed at Hobert's place.
Looking back now, it may have been the shared living during that time that made her feel that going to Feynapotter with Hobert later wasn't a big deal.
At this time, Rin carefully observed Hobert: "Don't say, you really do look a bit like the 'traitor' Hobert!"
She laughed and said, "If Fors' and my books really can't sell one day, we'll ask you to pretend to be Hobert and send you to the police station to collect the 10,000-pound bounty."
At the same time, she also felt a little strange. It was clear that the other party introduced himself as Sherlock, but why did that middle-aged man call him Mr. Matthew? Could his full name be Sherlock Matthew?
Then Rin couldn't help but think: Could he really be Hobert? The 'traitor' who killed the prince fell in love with a best-selling author. Oh my god, I have inspiration for my next book!
Fors smiled unnaturally from the side: "That day should not come."
Because even if there were ten Fors plus ten Rins , there would be no way to bring Hobert to the police station.
"I don't mind." Hobert smiled and said, "To be able to earn 10,000 pounds in one day, just thinking about it makes me feel like I've struck it rich!"
He suddenly thought that he seemed to have earned more than 10,000 pounds today: Hehehe, as expected, earning extra money can make people feel happy.
The three of them spent about 6 pounds on this meal, and even Rin felt a little embarrassed. Usually, eight or nine people in a restaurant, plus opening two bottles of good wine, might not even cost that much money.
Rin noticed that Hobert had the bill charged to an organization called the "Coast Gang."
Curiosity arose, and after saying goodbye to Hobert and Fors outside the restaurant, she returned to the restaurant and asked the waiter: "Hello, excuse me, what is the 'Coast Gang' that the gentleman just mentioned?"
The busy waiter didn't even look up: "Sorry, I don't know."
Until a 1 Soli bill was handed to him, the waiter immediately put on a smiling face. At this time, there were not many people in the restaurant, so the waiter whispered: "Beautiful lady, the Coast Gang is the largest gang in Conant City!"
Rin couldn't help but cover her mouth, unable to imagine that Fors had met people from the underworld! No, it was that Fors' fiancé seemed so familiar with people from the underworld!
The waiter probably felt that his answer was not worth 1 Soli, so he continued: "However, Mr. Upton is a very reasonable gentleman. He has been here for dinner before and doesn't look rude at all.
"Oh, by the way, Mr. Upton has also recently obtained the general agency rights for 'Keen Machinery Company'!"
Rin was surprised again. She had heard science fiction writers mention "Keen Machinery Company," which should be one of the leading steam engine companies in the country.
The value of this company's general agency is self-evident. Unexpectedly, a gang leader could obtain the general agency of this company! Someone must have used rich channels and connections behind this to complete such an operation!
She suddenly thought of the gentleman who helped "Sherlock" out of the siege: "Do you know Mr. Dorothy?"
"I know him." The waiter smiled and said, "I have a colleague from Tingen City who knows him. He is a large arms dealer and also runs transportation, shipping and other businesses. It is said that he is a big businessman in Tingen City."
Rin sighed: Fors' fiancé knows very powerful friends! Could he really be Hobert! Although he betrayed his country and king, he never betrayed his lover. It's definitely possible to write this in the next book, but you can't use real names, otherwise it will easily cause dissatisfaction from the royal family and the "traitor."
…
Hobert felt that the wind on the coast was still a bit cool. After all, it was still winter.
But it was only relatively cool. It was much warmer than the wind in Jeffery's territory. Tourists only needed to wear autumn clothes.
After strolling on the beach for a while, Fors stretched her waist and looked at the sea: "I finally walked on the beach here. Okay, let's go back."
Hobert took out his pocket watch: "It's only two o'clock in the afternoon."
"It will be troublesome if someone recognizes you again." When the bounty hunter threatened Hobert just now, Fors was very worried.
Of course, she was worried for the bounty hunter, afraid that Hobert would cripple him with one punch, and her vacation, which had just started, would be ruined.
Hobert smiled and said, "Let's wait until someone recognizes me. Anyway, we can leave at any time."
Fors smiled and said, "Okay then."
Continuing to walk forward, the two played beach volleyball for a while, and then took a boat to see the deserted island.
Unfortunately, the water was a little cold and you couldn't swim, which Fors felt was a pity. Hobert looked at Fors' figure and stopped at the position of her chest, also feeling that he was missing out on a lot of fun.
After getting off the boat, the two bought a coconut each, drinking while sitting on beach chairs on the beach, watching the sun gradually fall from the horizon.
Fors sighed: "Hobert, this is what life should be like.
"Sometimes I really want to turn down everything, and not worry about promotion, curses, or anything, and just go out and play and see the world.
"Let my life stop and take a break."
Hobert smiled and said, "With me here, you can do whatever you want."
But the book still needs to be written, and it needs to be finished as soon as possible.
Fors held Hobert's hand and smiled sweetly.
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