Chapter 258 257

"Something's wrong?"

Lloyd had a bad feeling when he saw the manager with the two investigators coming to his side......

In the streets of the Shining City, there has always been an unofficial ranking of 'the people you least want to meet', and the profession of 'investigator' is the third highest on this list, even above the police and tax collectors......

It is inevitable that Lloyd will secretly scream in his heart.

It was the manager who brought people in and took the initiative to explain:

"Don't be nervous, honorable members, these two gentlemen are here to check on the situation, not to arrest you."

Lloyd nodded, and heard one of the investigators speak:

"Do you know Agaté? A street painter and received one of his paintings three days ago? ”

"Huh? I did know a young painter who used to set up a stall in front of the second-hand book market, but we didn't know each other's names...... He gave me a painting, but not three days ago, but today. ”

Lloyd replied truthfully.

The manager next to him hurriedly explained:

"Uh...... Actually, the young painter you mentioned was called Agaté...... As for the painting, he actually sent it here three days ago for me to receive on my behalf, but you didn't come here for three days, so I was able to hand it over to you today. ”

His words were so rigorous that Lloyd realized that something might have happened to the painter, and asked:

"What's wrong with him?"

"We'll talk about that later, can you let us check the painting you received today?"

"Of course, please, hang it on the wall in the basement."

Lloyd said, turning back to get the key and helping the investigator open the door.

As soon as the door was opened, the two investigators frowned, and hurriedly motioned for Lloyd and the manager to step back.

Then, the investigator, who didn't say a word, 'said' directly in his partner's head:

"The smell of this...... Mental pollution? ”

The investigator in charge of communication nodded, and 'replied' in his head:

"Yes, yes, mental pollution, but fortunately, it's not very strong...... It should be within the scope of our response. ”

"Hmm...... Don't turn on the lights just yet, wait for me to take a look. ”

The investigator, who was obviously from the [Intelligence] department, opened his [Wisdom Pupil] as he spoke, and saw the remnants of the spiritual power that were originally invisible and invisible in the basement.

"Judging from the residual afterglow, this guy should be doing some kind of ritual-related research in it, it should be a special kind, these afterglows show lines that I have never seen before, some like ...... It's hard to describe, see for yourself. ”

As he spoke, he projected the image he saw in his eyes directly on his partner's retina.

I saw that there was a faint light blue aura in the air, like nematodes twisted into twists, slowly swimming on the workbench and in the air, and gradually dissipating into the air.

"It's a bit weird, but it doesn't seem dangerous, it's supposed to be some kind of simple functional ritual, maybe it involves some gray area? Anyway, mental pollution should not come from this. ”

The first investigator said in his head, glancing back at Lloyd.

He is currently dealing with the manager's sales pitch, which is not enough after he has become a member, and he is always thinking of making him a more advanced member......

"Perhaps, but that's not our business, okay, get ready, go in and have a look."

As he spoke, the second investigator of the [Intellectual] Department took out a sharp triangle iron from his coat pocket and held it in the palm of his hand, so that he could cut his palm in case of danger and use the pain to keep him awake.

His partner was the same, and the two chatted secretly like this, and after a little simple preparation, they went to the basement and turned on the light next to them.

The painting on the wall instantly came into view, and the two of them looked at it, and immediately felt a creepy weirdness and curiosity.

"This painting ...... It's so ugly, it's too strange, the lines are disordered, the colors are chaotic, the theme is unclear, there is no beauty and artistic atmosphere, can you see what the author is expressing? ”

"I can't read it either, it looks like a lot of messy mosaics, and it's uncomfortable to look at...... Is this really the work of a so-called 'painter'? And not the graffiti of the mentally ill? Even the so-called postmodern abstract themes don't look like this. ”

"But the good news is that it doesn't have the taboo knowledge that we are most worried about, but it is so curious that it makes people's scalp tingle and cause physical discomfort...... Maybe the victim was already in a terrible state of mind when he created this painting......"

"Well, in this way, we can calculate the approximate onset time of the victim's illness......"

While reviewing the artist's work, the two investigators carefully examined the basement, even rummaging through the trash cans.

As a result, except for the pair of things that didn't find anything wrong, they were all simple and basic ordinary materials, and the previous bit of spiritual pollution only appeared for a moment when the door was opened, and then it dissipated.

"What about this painting? Do you want to recycle? ”

"Now that you're sure there's no danger, don't mess with other people's things...... But it's better to check the young man's mental condition, right? To be able to hang this kind of painting on the wall as a mental assessment makes me wonder about his mental state......"

After a brief discussion, the two investigators called Lloyd in, and then suddenly burst out, brazenly attacked, and inexplicably flashed his eyes with a flashlight.

Lloyd was caught off guard and was shaken dizzy.

"Oh yo oh oh, my eyes !! Are you trying to kill someone? ”

"Don't get excited, don't get excited, just check it out, why are you reacting so violently?"

"Then you said it in advance......"

Lloyd said angrily, rubbing his eyes.

"Okay, okay, let's do a simple mental assessment again......

As he spoke, the first investigator pulled out a picture book resembling a colorblindness test chart from his pocket, with some mosaic patterns on it, which was casually flipped to one of the pages and handed to Lloyd.

"Look at this, what does it look like?"

Lloyd squinted his eyes and glanced at it casually, and replied angrily:

"Fierce kitten."

"Uh...... This is more like a tiger, right? But it's also a feline...... So you take a look at this again? ”

The investigator flipped to another page.

"Ding-ding-cat...... Oh, and the scientific name should be dragonfly. ”

"What about this?"

"Kamisato Ayaka...... Uh, I mean the little turtle. ”

"Nothing seems to be a problem...... Well, the last question ......"

The investigator closed the album, pointed back to the painting on the wall, and asked:

"What about this? What do you see on it? ”

"Huh? The ancient battlefield composed of broken swords, corpses, blood and fire looks bleak and cruel, although the painting technique is slightly immature and chaotic, but the emotional temperament is well conveyed. ”

Lloyd replied truthfully.

"What?"

The investigator froze, grabbed Lloyd on the shoulder, and took out a flashlight to shake his eyes.

"You're here to find fault on purpose, aren't you?"

Lloyd directly broke away from his hand, it seemed that he was really angry, and subconsciously stretched his hand to the hilt of the sword at his waist.

The investigator forcibly explained:

"Don't get excited, listen to me, your mental condition is very dangerous now, I'm here to help you."

"Alas...... What danger can I have? I know what you mean, don't you just think that this painting looks like it's all mosaic graffiti, don't you understand? Can't even appreciate this kind of postmodern abstract art? Can you please be a little imaginative? Or a bit of aesthetic and artistic attainment? ”

Lloyd asked angrily.

"Uh...... So the painting you see is the same as what I saw? ”

"Of course, my eyes are fine, I think I'm as blind as you?"

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, the second investigator hurriedly 'chat' with his partner for two sentences, as if discussing something.

Then the investigator bowed his head and sincerely apologized:

"Okay, I'm sorry, I misunderstood, it's just that this incident involves forbidden knowledge, I have to be careful, I hope you can understand."

"Forbidden knowledge? What happened to the painter? ”

Lloyd hurriedly asked.

"To put it simply, he put a paintbrush in his ear, stuck it all the way into his head, and then used what he brought out to try to paint a painting......"

The investigator's simple remark made Lloyd shiver, as if his ears were aching.

But the painting was not finished, and he died of a cerebral hemorrhage only halfway through it...... Then it was found yesterday by the landlord who rented it. ”

The investigator continued.

"This ......"

Lloyd couldn't help but glance up at the not-so-pretty-looking picture on the wall, which might be the last work of the young painter.

"Anyway, that's the way it is, since you're okay with your mental condition, then we don't have any other problems here."

The investigator said, turning to leave.

Lloyd stopped him and asked:

"Why is this happening?"

The investigator shrugged his shoulders, showed a helpless wry smile, and explained simply:

"Who knows? For people like painters, writers, and sculptors, there are people who encounter this kind of incident about every month or two, but you don't know it, so what you call 'artistic attainment' is not necessarily a good thing in this era......

But you're okay with this painting, so keep it safe. ”

With that, he left with the investigator, who had not said a word.

"Alas......"

For this kind of thing, Lloyd could only sigh helplessly.

He remembered that the black car master Gordron had mentioned an incident before, and it was also the painter who was involved in forbidden knowledge.

Only this time, it happened to happen to someone I knew.

Thanks to Hoshino Aqua for tipping me 3000 points

(End of chapter)