Old-time musicians

Joan went out at a time so close to the start time of this underground gathering of people with knowledge, which made Fanning hard to believe that it was a coincidence.

He suppressed the doubts in his heart, pretended to be calm, and continued to sit on the sofa for five minutes.

Then he leaned close to Sheeran's ear: "I will go out for a while."

Looking at the puzzled expression of the little girl, Fanning said: "You stay here with Lord Nisemi and don't move."

Finally, he looked at Joan's father: "Excuse me for a moment. If you encounter a work of "suggestive flow" with a suitable price next time, you can buy it boldly."

"Okay, I am just trying it."

Lord Nisemi was listening to the explanation on the stage while concentrating on the art review in the picture album. He waved his hand indifferently.

Fanning left the store, walked through the corridor, and stepped out of the door of Prudence Auction House.

The night was dark and foggy.

The warehouse area No. 226 next door is a low factory building with an area several times larger than the auction house.

The street gate was relatively clean and guarded by staff, but obviously not all directions were like this.

For example, the southwest area where Fanning had bypassed was already largely abandoned.

The extension here was crowded with low houses, the light from the broken windows was weak, and the cold smell of garbage was all he could smell.

Inside were even more dilapidated sheds, which leaned against a corner of the house wall that had not been completely demolished, supported by a few pieces of rags and wooden frames.

Several ragged people sat around a bonfire in a tin barrel, some pulling hemp wool in their hands, some weaving fishing nets, and looking up at Fanning with a distracted and numb look.

Fanning walked deep into the warehouse area, sideways into the tattered wire mesh, and walked towards the metal steps extending underground. The slums behind him gradually blurred in the thick night, turning into a huge gray-black mass.

After the attack that night, Fanning wanted to find out what was going on behind the scenes immediately.

Dupont's later suggestions made his plan swing between "radical party" and "conservative wait and see".

But Joan's strange departure tonight easily broke this swinging balance.

The stench of the sewer in the underground second floor warehouse lingered, and every time Fanning's footsteps lifted from the dirty ground, the soles of his leather shoes brought a sticky tearing feeling.

In the dark corridor, his spiritual sense perceived the surrounding environment. Although the vision was still dim, at least he didn't have to grope with his hands to avoid hitting the wall or falling into the pit, ensuring that he could walk calmly.

"Welcome." A cold voice suddenly sounded.

It seemed to come from above his head!

Fanning stopped in the dark, but did not look up or look around, but stretched his hand to his waist.

It seemed to be a radio?

Fanning suddenly realized the faint noise behind the word just now.

"There are things prepared for you in front. If you need to protect your privacy, please take them yourself."

The background noise of the radio disappeared two seconds after the end of this sentence.

Fanning was still nervous, but he was much calmer than the big reaction just now.

Although it was mysterious, at least it was not a hostile thing that would attack without saying a word.

He reached out his hand into the darkness in front of him and touched a plane similar to a metal plate. After groping around, he found one piece after another, similar to the lockers in the supermarket in his previous life.

In the greasy and dirty environment around them, they felt rare and cool.

Fanning didn't touch any buttons or handles that could open these "lockers".

"A test to identify those who know?"

He probed the invisible thread of inspiration into the back of one of the metal plates and found that there seemed to be a capsule-like sphere stuck somewhere, with a diameter of only three or four millimeters.

The fluctuation of the phase of "Yan"? What Fanning learned during the day came in handy.

As his inspiration was injected, the surface of the capsule melted, and a small drop of liquid inside evaporated, emitting a strange gray light with mottled stripes.

Some unknown mechanical structure was activated, and with a "clang", the cabinet door bounced open.

Inside was a neatly folded black cape and a metal mask with eyes and nose exposed.

"The meeting place is on your right hand side, go to the end." The voice from the radio continued.

Wearing a black mask, Fanning walked in this direction, and the hem of the abnormally large cape dragged a meter on the ground.

The unpleasant smell of the sewer gradually subsided, and Fanning directly pushed open the tightly covered curtain at the end and saw the long-lost light.

"Hey, I didn't expect that in the end, we could welcome one more friend on time."

The woman's voice was lazy and magnetic, as if whispering softly in someone's ear.

Fanning's eyes in the gaps of the mask blinked hard a few times to adapt to the light.

This is a small, bright room, with many old walls peeling off and painted with colorful graffiti and words, but compared with the dark environment like the sewer before, Fanning still has the illusion of entering a "portal".

Six people sat around the oval round table and turned to look at themselves.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Sylvia. Who are you? My friend." The woman sat at the first seat facing the door curtain, and her sexy voice continued to come out.

Sylvia was the only person at the scene who was not wearing a cloak. She was wearing a sunflower-colored tea dress, which was loose but could not hide the round curve of her breasts. She wore an expressionless golden mask on her face.

At the same time, Fanning's eyes swept over one of the people wearing a silver mask. Although he was wearing a black cloak, the recognition of the little man was too high.

"Mendeleev." Fan Ning made up an approximation of the pronunciation of Hoffmann and announced his name to Sylvia. He did not try to completely change his voice, which would be very unnatural, but he tried to use something similar to English. The intonation, depronunciating some of the Hofmannian words, sounds like a foreigner speaking with a strange dialect.

Hiding one’s figure and face is already relatively safe, but pursuing absolute privacy is unrealistic.

Well, as a chemistry dog, it’s not too much to temporarily borrow the name of the man who first created the periodic table of elements in his previous life, right?

Then, Fan Ning deliberately picked an empty seat opposite Qiong and sat down calmly.

Opposite him, Joan, who was wearing a silver mask, tilted his head slightly and seemed a little confused about his voice.

In what should have been a tense atmosphere, Fan Ning was still secretly amused.

After he left the auction house, he was too ordinary in height and was wearing a black cloak. Only he could guess her identity.

"Qiong, why are you so recognizable as your little man? But why are you here?" Fan Ning had various guesses in his mind.

"Mendeleev?... Hey, 'Experience Officer', your commission has been ruined. It seems that the 'Grey Eagle' defrauded you of your advance payment and ran away. It's rare to see you give some trust in advance, so you looked away. Are you done?" Another young female voice took over, sitting on Sylvia's left side.

"If you think about the bright side, maybe that guy is dead." The man known as the "Experience Officer" said with a sarcastic tone, "I just heard that the authorities shot a group of people who committed crimes. Those who violate the ban... It seems that there are some things that are better to go to in person. "

"But fortunately, we have a new friend in Mendeleev." The woman continued, "Then let me introduce myself to the third newcomer. You can call me - the perfumer."

Sylvia smiled and said: "Let's share a secret with our new friends first. The 'perfumer' is the actual person in charge of Prudence Auction House and a knowledgeable transaction notary. I always thank her for helping me Organize gatherings and provide venues.”

"You're welcome, Ms. Sylvia."

The perfumer's tone was calm, and it was obvious that this information was not her secret or taboo.

"The actual person in charge of Prudence Auction House is indeed very fishy..." Fan Ning thought to himself.

But it is obvious that whether it is a name like Sylvia or a codename like Perfumer, they are just masks for the hidden world.

The remaining four people said their "names" one after another.

"Agent." "Experience Officer." The voices of two ordinary adult men.

"Translator." An old male voice.

"Purple bean cake." The last female voice was tender and sweet.

Joan, why are you the only one with such strange names? Fan Ning cursed in his heart.

"Okay, today we have four men and three women, and the party has officially begun." Sylvia spoke lazily, but not too slowly.

"Our gatherings are always more pragmatic and efficient than those of the empire's gentlemen, so everyone can speak in turn - what is needed, what is entrusted, and what can be given... But as is the old rule, in order to show friendliness to new friends, let's ask first What does Mendeleev need?"

——This is her usual tactic, the purpose is to get the newcomer to hand over the details first.

But her method is very skillful. She asks the newcomers what they need instead of asking them what they are prepared to offer. This avoids being overbearing and makes it easy for people to take off their guard.

After speaking, Sylvia's golden mask faced Fan Ning.