Chapter 1399: 1399

After seeing the marks on the paper, Pacheco turned his head and said to Barton, “What happens next will be quite complicated . I will seek the police’s help .

“And you can return to the foundation and wait for further questioning . ”

Barton, who was staring at the paper, wasn’t disappointed . Instead, he felt relieved, and he hurriedly nodded .

“Alright . ”

After reading the traces left behind by Vernal, Barton’s intuition told him that the matter was very dangerous .

As an ordinary person, avoiding danger was an instinctive choice .

Of course, this was also because Vernal could only be considered one of his ordinary friends . It wasn’t worth taking a huge risk and getting involved in this matter .

After answering, Barton turned around immediately and walked past the hotel owner and attendant and arrived at the street .

This time, he didn’t choose to take public transport and instead boarded a rental carriage .

Barton’s trip outside was considered as a special matter . It was rather urgent, and with the deputy director of the Compliance Department to testify for him, he could make a claim for the expenses incurred .

The difference between spending the foundation’s money and using one’s own salary was two completely different feelings .

On the way, Barton looked at the scenery outside the window and couldn’t help but think about Vernal’s current situation .

Is he still alive?

The room was filled with a strong stench of blood…

I hope he’s still alive . May the Lord bless him .

If he’s still alive, where will he be now?

Where…

Could it be?

There!

As his thoughts raced, Barton suddenly thought of a possibility . He quickly instructed the coach driver to change routes and head home .

Not long after, he returned home .

“What happened?” Barton’s wife approached him with a surprised look .

It was still quite some time before lunch, let alone getting off work .

Barton didn’t take off his hat or jacket . Without answering her question, he directly asked, “Was Vernal here?”

“He came to visit you fifteen minutes ago . I told him to wait in the study room and send Wells to the foundation to look for you,” Barton’s wife replied honestly .

Wells was their family’s valet . And clearly, fifteen minutes wasn’t enough for him to reach the Loen Relic Search and Preservation Foundation .

This was what puzzled Barton’s wife the most .

“Right . ” Barton nodded heavily . He hurriedly passed through the living room, went up to the second floor, and entered the study .

In the study room, the windows were wide open and the curtains were slightly rolled . There was no one there .

“Vernal?” Barton shouted, but there was no answer .

He jumped out of the window and left… Barton frowned . He looked around seriously and discovered that the books on the bookshelf were in a mess .

It was a set of historical books that were split into three-parter volumes .

Barton’s habit was to arrange them from right to left, and now it was going from left to right .

He took a deep breath and quickly walked over to retrieve the three books .

After a thorough examination, Barton found that a page in the middle had been folded .

He quickly flipped to that page and opened a corner .

Scribbled there simply with a pencil were the words:

“The refugees of the Fourth Epoch worshiped an evil god . ”

Man… Barton panicked and turned horrified . He stuffed the book back .

Without much thought, he ran out of the study and towards the stairs, preparing to find the deputy director of the Compliance Department, Pacheco . He wanted to tell him about his discovery and get him to request the police to protect his family .

After exiting the house, Barton slowed down and considered an important question:

Where do I go to find Pacheco?

The Clough Hotel, the Stoen police headquarters, or the foundation?

After a brief moment of thought, Barton decided to return to the foundation and look for other employees of the Compliance Department .

At that moment, a rental carriage stopped outside his door as Pacheco Dwayne alighted .

“We discovered that Vernal came to your house again,” the deputy director of the Compliance Department explained quickly .

Barton heaved a sigh of relief and replied without hesitation, “Yes, but he has already left .

“However, he left some clues behind . ”

After saying this, Barton led Pacheco into his own house, went to his study, and handed him the book .

Pacheco looked at it for a while, then gently slid his finger across the surface of the text .

Right on the heels of that, he took out the pencil he had used previously and wrote beside Vernal’s comment .

“Call the police!”

After doing all of this, Pacheco stuffed the book back to its original position .

However, he didn’t push the book in completely .

This way, the entire row of books had one book bulging out .

“Alright, let’s return to the foundation and have lunch . We’ll wait for the good news from the police . ” Pacheco clapped his hands .

Barton didn’t understand the reason behind this senior lawyer’s actions, but he didn’t ask why .

He really didn’t want to get involved in this matter . He felt that he couldn’t bear it at all .

Barton then fabricated a few reasons to his wife before returning to the foundation with Pacheco to begin his daily work .

When it was tea time, he had just finished an ancient book’s appraisal when he heard someone knocking on the door .

“We’ve got some clues . We need to go to your place,” said Pacheco, who was wrapped in a gray scarf and standing by the door .

“Clues?” Barton rose in surprise .

Pacheco didn’t give a direct answer . He spread out his hands and made an inviting gesture .

Barton couldn’t refuse and went home with the other party .

“Vernal came again!” His wife clearly sensed that something was amiss and went to the door in horror .

“It’s fine . Just some minor problems . ” Barton maintained his image as a man and consoled his wife .

When he arrived at the study, he and Pacheco discovered that, yet again, Vernal had escaped .

“Damn it, can’t he just wait for a while?” Barton couldn’t help but grumble .

“It’s alright . ” Pacheco walked up to the bookshelf and pulled out the book .

Clearly, Vernal had read his suggestion, as the book was completely stuffed into the bookshelf .

“I guess I know where Vernal is . ” Pacheco closed his eyes, smiling .

Barton was stunned .

“How do you know?”

Pacheco opened his eyes and replied with a smile, “He accepted my bribe—no, a gift . But that isn’t right either . The most accurate description should be a suggestion .

“Of course, he might not accept it . ”

With that said, the deputy director of the Compliance Department walked past Barton and out of the study .

Barton followed behind him subconsciously, leaving his own borough and turning into a nearby street .

At the end of the street, there was a house that had collapsed due to a fire .

“They actually haven’t started reconstruction efforts,” Barton whispered .

Pacheco put on a pair of white gloves again, and his expression became a little stern .

Through the rather intact main door, he entered the half-collapsed hall .

Black pieces of wood were strewn across the ground, blocking the lower half of a person’s body .

The figure was wearing a brown jacket with a red nose . He looked very stocky and was none other than the archaeologist, Vernal .

Barton secretly exhaled and asked anxiously, “Why didn’t you call the police?”

“They’re monitoring the police station,” Vernal replied without a change in expression .

Barton blurted out, “Why didn’t you leave Stoen and go to other cities to report to the police?”

“They’re monitoring the steam locomotive station,” Vernal replied in the same tone .

Barton thought for a moment and frowned .

“You have many ways to leave Stoen . They can’t seal off a city . ”

Upon hearing this question, Vernal’s expression gradually changed as he said with a slightly ethereal tone, “I sensed the will of that great existence…”