152: Chapter 153 Cemetery Accident

Chapter 152: Cemetery Incident

Locke smoked a hand-rolled Cohiba for thirty minutes.

Handing the last bit of the cigarette butt to Emilia, who had just finished her hard work, he pulled up his pants and left the meeting room.

"I might stay in the city for a few days. Emilia, please pass this message on to Serena and Erica for me."

"Mhm."

Emilia quickly swallowed the fluids in her mouth and responded to him.

After speaking, Locke didn't linger. He walked quickly to the black jaguar and channeled his Extraordinary Factor into the contract ring, calling back the raven Little Seven he had released earlier.

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After waiting in front of the car for about a minute, he saw Little Seven, looking like a tsundere little princess, flying back while standing on the back of the Great Bat.

"Master, you called for me."

As they flew closer, Little Seven flipped off Ah Fu's back and landed on Locke's shoulder.

"Yes, I need to go into the community to take care of some business. Come with me."

"Caw!"

Having just enjoyed a few days of freedom and happiness, Little Seven gave a reluctant cry, but after Locke shot her a glare, she obediently flew into the car.

"Squeak, squeak! My Lord, my Lord, what about me?"

The simple-minded Ah Fu landed on Locke's other shoulder like a round ball and squeaked urgently.

He was worried that his favor would be stolen by the newly joined raven, Little Seven.

Locke glanced at him and shook his head with a sigh of disappointment. "As the first Extraordinary Creature I've raised, can't you be a bit more assertive when facing Little Seven?"

"Squeak—" Hearing this, Ah Fu sheepishly retracted his head. "But my Lord, I can't beat her. She knows illusions; I'm no match for her."

"Fine. You stay at the castle for these two days. What I need you to do is keep a close eye on the entire castle from the sky."

"Yes, my Lord! Mission guaranteed!"

"If anything happens, find Emilia and the others and have them call me."

"Squeak! Understood, my Lord. I wish you a safe journey."

Ah Fu flew in the sky, watching as Locke drove off in the black phantom.

Locke's trip to downtown New York was for two reasons: first, to pay respects at his parents' graves; second, to go to the Moonlight Tavern on Central Street to join the Church of the Night Goddess and learn the Moon Concealment Seal, which could mask one's aura.

Meanwhile, he was also waiting for the notice of the Secret Cult's meeting.

Little Seven had mentioned this when she brought him the Secret Cult robes and mask last Time.

Locke estimated that the assembly would take place within the next couple of days.

Since he didn't know how long the assembly would last, he planned to finish the initiation ceremony for the Church of the Night Goddess first.

Of course, he also hoped to see if he could learn more about his own Sequence from these official Transcendents.

What would Sequence 8 of the Night Demon be like?

The scene shifted as the black jaguar pulled up in front of a flower shop on Cross Street.

The reason he came here was to buy his mother a bouquet of her favorite Serbian Chrysanthemums.

After all, he was visiting his mother; he couldn't go empty-handed.

The flower shop was named Akron. The entrance was filled with all sorts of flowers and plants. Locke got out of the car and pushed the door open.

The shop owner was a middle-aged woman in her thirties. Her face had quite a few freckles and wrinkles, but she looked quite kind.

—

Locke remembered her name was Lucia; she had been very good friends with his mother.

Seeing a customer, Lucia immediately smiled and asked warmly, "You aren't a resident of Cross Street, are you? Please, let me know if you need anything."

"Whether it's for a birthday or a confession of love, you can find a suitable bouquet as a gift in my shop."

Locke smiled without explaining much. He searched the room and finally pointed to a cluster of golden chrysanthemums on the top right shelf of the cabinet behind the proprietress.

"Please wrap a bouquet of Serbian Chrysanthemums for me."

Just as he said it, Locke thought of something and immediately corrected himself. "Actually, make it two bouquets. One golden and one white."

Lucia froze for a moment when she heard "Serbian Chrysanthemums" before turning around to prepare them.

While she worked, she didn't forget to chat with Locke.

"You have great taste, sir. Not many people in New York know about Serbian Chrysanthemums. I imported these from Serbia. However, you're the second person to come for them today."

"Oh? Someone else came to buy them before me?"

Having nothing else to do, Locke engaged in small talk and asked casually.

"Yes, just before you, a customer bought a bouquet of golden Serbian Chrysanthemums just like yours. He's been coming to buy them for thirty-six consecutive days."

"Every day? It seems he really likes these flowers."

Lucia's hands didn't stop wrapping, but her expression suddenly turned sorrowful. "Sigh, actually, there used to be another customer who would buy a bouquet of golden Serbian Chrysanthemums almost every week. Unfortunately, she met with a tragedy a while ago."

"Originally, I prepared these flowers specifically for her."

"That customer... what kind of person was she?"

Locke was affected, and a hint of sadness welled up in his heart.

Because he knew the customer she was talking about was his mother, Elizabeth.

"Haha, she was a very kind and beautiful lady. She gave me immense help when my flower shop was going through its toughest Times."

Lucia hadn't expected this new customer to be willing to listen to her rambling, so her mood improved slightly as she began to reminisce and tell the story.

If not for Elizabeth's help, she probably wouldn't have made it through that difficult period.

"If it weren't for her, my flower shop would have probably gone out of business long ago."

"She really was a good person."

Locke hadn't expected such a story. He had never paid attention to his parents' private lives before.

Learning about his parents from neighbors after their death gave him a strange sense of trance.

At the same Time, it further fueled the flames of his desire for revenge.

"Sigh—" Lucia sighed and placed the wrapped flowers on the counter. "It's a pity. In this world, good people don't necessarily live long lives."

Locke smiled and didn't respond. Instead, he turned and pulled two $100 bills from his pocket, slapping them onto the table.

He remembered that whenever he came to buy flowers with his mother, she would always smile and pay $100 per bouquet.

So, he didn't ask about the price. Imitating his mother, he left the money on the table, picked up the two bouquets of Serbian Chrysanthemums, and walked straight out.

Lucia looked at the two bills on the table. When she saw the number 100 on them, she felt a strong sense of déjà vu. She rushed out from behind the counter, pushed the door open, and chased after him, waving the bills and shouting, "Sir, you gave too much! These two are only ten dollars—"

But by the Time she pushed the door open, the black jaguar had already disappeared down the street.

Lucia stood at the door, clutching the two $100 bills tightly. Her vision suddenly blurred, and her voice became choked with emotion.

"Is... is she back? Or is this just my imagination?"

Lucia felt that the customer just now looked familiar, but she couldn't for the life of her remember where she had seen him before.

Locke hadn't known his mother was essentially performing an act of charity when buying flowers.

A bouquet cost five dollars, but his mother always gave a hundred. No wonder people remembered her so fondly.

As a child, he often lamented that a hundred dollars for a bouquet was far too expensive.

Only his mother could afford it.

But whenever Locke said that, Elizabeth would just smile at his younger self. "Locke, everyone encounters difficult Times. You must remember that helping others is helping yourself."

Sitting in the car, Locke looked at the two bouquets of Serbian Chrysanthemums on the passenger seat and couldn't help but recall memories from his childhood.

"Am I being influenced by the memories of my predecessor?"

It was strange. After interacting with someone related to his previous life's mother, memories of his parents began to flood his mind.

Marksmanship training, combat drills, and holy prayers—all of these were things the young Locke had learned from his parents.

This was why Locke possessed these skills when he first transmigrated.

"My Lord, are you planning to visit someone's grave with these bouquets?" Little Seven asked instinctively, seeing the sorrowful expression on his face while perched on his shoulder.

"I'm going to visit my parents."

Locke had no intention of hiding it.

While in the city, he naturally had to fulfill his duties as a son. Of course, he also wanted to see if he could find any useful information in the cemetery.

He had a premonition that his parents' deaths were definitely linked to the Death Walkers.

Perhaps he would have a chance to find some clues there later.

"Since you're visiting your parents, Master, why did you disguise yourself?" Little Seven blinked her large eyes, puzzled.

"You don't understand. Until the crisis is resolved, I cannot show my true face."

This Time, Locke had fashioned a very average Western face to prevent himself from being noticed by anyone with ill intentions.

"Crisis? What crisis? With Lord Time around, who in all of New York would dare to target you, Master?"

Little Seven tilted her head. Her small brain couldn't fathom what kind of crisis Locke could face when he had such a powerful Transcendent like Time as his teacher.

Locke shook his head, his gaze gradually sharpening. "This debt of vengeance can only be settled by me. I can't leave it to my teacher. Besides, I don't want him to be entangled in such a heavy karmic burden."

A blood feud of life and death—how could it be left to others?

At his current rate of growth, it wouldn't be long before he could avenge himself and his parents.

The cemetery was not far from Cross Street.

Locke had personally chosen this place for his parents, so he had a very deep impression of it.

He pushed the door open. In just a few minutes, the originally beautiful weather turned dark, and a steady drizzle began to fall from the sky.

It was as if someone were weeping for Locke's arrival, and the scene suddenly became quite sorrowful.

Holding the flowers, Locke adjusted the black top hat on his head and stepped out of the car expressionlessly, heading toward the cemetery area in his memory.

Little Seven immediately flew up behind him and landed on the brim of his hat, grumbling about the weather.

"Stupid sky! It was perfectly fine just a moment ago, but as soon as we arrive at the cemetery, you start raining. What's your problem?"

"Little Seven, shut up."

Locke was not in a good mood and didn't want to play along. Before she could curse more than a few words, he immediately told her to stop.

After a few steps, he passed through a cluster of tombstones and arrived before two new graves, staring at them fixedly.

On the cross-shaped tombstones before the two graves, one read: "Grave of Kevin Galahad, Most Devout Believer of Christianity," and the other read: "Grave of Sally Elizabeth, Most Devout Believer of Christianity."

These were indeed the graves of his mother and father.

The moment he saw the tombstones, a flood of long-buried memories rushed into his mind, causing Locke to close his eyes and freeze in place.

Raindrops trickled down from the brim of his hat, dripping onto the marble cross tombstones, finally sliding over his parents' names and falling to the ground.

The distance he had walked was like his parents' lives—seemingly ordinary, yet not at all common.

"Sigh—"

Slowly suppressing the inexplicable negative emotions in his heart, Locke opened his eyes.

He knelt down and placed the golden and white Serbian Chrysanthemums before his parents' respective tombstones.

"Hmm? Who sent these...?"

Seeing the fresh bouquet of Serbian Chrysanthemums placed between the two graves, Locke couldn't help but frown.

"Someone actually beat me here. Who is it? The killer?"

The golden Serbian Chrysanthemum placed in the middle was virtually identical to the two he had just bought, even down to the plastic wrapping.

This immediately made Locke think of the person Lucia, the flower shop owner, had mentioned earlier.

"Coming for thirty-six days straight? Who is this guy? How does he know my mother's favorite?"

Locke didn't recall his parents having such a close friend in his memory.

After all, he had handled his parents' funeral arrangements himself, and the only people who attended were neighbors from Cross Street.

But if it were a neighbor, they certainly wouldn't go to such lengths.

Because thirty-six days ago was exactly shortly after his parents had died.

This meant the person might have been coming here day and night to bring flowers and tend the graves since the day they heard the news of his parents' death.

Harboring these doubts, he arranged the two bouquets in his hands and knelt to kowtow to his parents, whom he had never truly met in person.

Consider it fulfilling Locke's filial duty.

Just as he finished kowtowing, he suddenly felt his mind become light, and a sense of restraint vanished. The number representing his mental strength on the panel jumped sharply, changing from 7 to 9.

"This is...!"

Locke's eyes flickered. It was impossible not to be surprised. This sudden two-point increase made him suspect that the predecessor's lingering spirit had found solace at that moment, allowing his soul and this physical body to merge completely.

"Father, Mother, please rest in peace. I will avenge your deaths and settle all your grievances."

Locke used his Extraordinary Factor to clear the mud from his pant legs and slowly stood up. Having said this, he prepared to turn and leave.

But just as he turned around, a man completely shrouded in black clerical robes appeared directly in front of him.

The newcomer's face was hidden in darkness, and he was entirely silent. Even the raindrops falling on him made no sound. He was like a creature surrounded by silent magic; no sound could escape from his vicinity.

Consequently, Locke hadn't sensed the other's approach at all until he turned and came face-to-face with him.

To think that as a Sequence 9 Extraordinary Creature about to break through to Sequence 8, whose perception was far greater than ordinary people...

He still hadn't noticed the man's arrival at all. This couldn't help but set off alarm bells in his mind, and his expression immediately became solemn. "Who are you? A Death Walker?"

The thought flashed through his mind, and he immediately mobilized all his extraordinary power, preparing for a fight to the death.

The newly upgraded Sun and Moon Shine Together immediately took effect, significantly enhancing his physical attributes across the board.

Even now, without activating the high-risk [Great Muscle Tyrant], he could reach the peak level he had at the Sea Prison.

Just as his Extraordinary Factor gathered in his fists and he was ready to fight for his life, the tall figure whose entire face was hidden under a hood spoke.

"Locke, you finally came. I've been waiting for you—waiting for a long Time. Come find me at the old place."

"Perhaps I have the answers to everything you want to know."