No one paid attention to little Alberta's nonsense at that time. After little Alberta said those words, the dagger flashed a strange light on the counter, which seemed to affect people's minds.
Kirk said goodbye to Mrs. Lillian and packed up his things and left the store.
Mrs. Lillian smiled as she saw the two out the door. She sat back down at the cashier counter and rolled up her sleeves.
The rough skin under her sleeves had begun to keratinize. Mrs. Lillian smiled bitterly.
"After all, I still couldn't escape the curse of gold."
She flipped the sign behind the store door from 'Open' to 'Closed', changed into her favorite outfit, and stood in front of a full-length mirror.
She seemed to see in the mirror the man she had been thinking about day and night, hugging her from behind.
The man smiled gently and handed over the fish-scale dagger.
"I know, I know, you've always been by my side.
I’ve come to see you.”
Mrs. Lillian shyly took the dagger that shone with an evil white light and stabbed it into her chest.
The stab was not deep enough to kill Mrs. Lillian immediately, but blood still spurted out of her wound.
She collapsed to the ground and saw the man in the mirror begin to change his appearance, turning into a patient with Innsmouth syndrome.
Ugly, disgusting and repulsive, a tear flowed from the corner of Mrs. Lillian's eye, but there was a bitter smile on the corner of her mouth.
Yes, she knows it all.
Both the Innsmouth Syndrome and the criminal gold started when he arrived at that beach.
This man who left without leaving his name is the culprit of everything.
Mrs. Lillian once thought about jumping off the Black Lagoon, but she didn't have the courage at the time because she was pregnant.
She used her last bit of strength to prop herself up and reached out to touch the face of the person in the mirror, but what she felt was the cold touch of the mirror itself.
The blood-stained fish-scale dagger fell to the ground with a crisp metallic sound, and the eye-like carvings on it lit up due to the influence of the blood.
Mrs. Lillian closed her eyes, and the small store closed forever.
Kirk continued to stroll along the streets of Milan, pushing little Albert, unaware that Mrs. Lillian had passed away shortly after they left.
Kirk was in a good mood after buying a nice set of clothes, so he hummed a tune and slowly pushed Albert to look at the scenery on the streets of Milan.
"Hey! You! Turn around!"
A rough voice came from behind Kirk. Kirk looked back in confusion and saw an angry middle-aged man in police uniform walking towards him.
For some reason Kirk felt that the police uniform on the man with a beer belly didn't fit him well.
"Have you registered at Milan?"
The man dressed as a policeman asked with his arms folded and a scary look on his face.
"Register? Oh, I'm not sure. I came with my husband and brother-in-law."
Kirk answered honestly.
"Take out your temporary residence certificate. Otherwise, ma'am, I can only invite you to have a cup of tea at the police station."
The man with a ferocious face said viciously.
Kirk was wondering why he had never heard of documents like temporary residence certificates, but he saw the man stretch out his right hand and rub his index finger and thumb.
She instantly understood the intention of the man dressed as a policeman. With the mentality of less trouble is worse than more, Kirk reached into his pocket and was about to take out his wallet as a token of his respect.
Two men walked out from the street corner with neat steps and a righteous look. They were also wearing police uniforms.
After seeing the middle-aged man with a face full of flesh, the two men quickened their pace and pushed him to the ground from behind.
"Old Duncan, are you here to cheat me again?!"
The younger policeman was handcuffed by Old Duncan, who cried and begged for mercy.
"No, no, no. I'm just taking a stroll in my son's police uniform."
"Ma'am, is what he said true?"
The older policeman with a mustache took out a notebook and pen and recorded what happened at the scene.
"Oh, I believe this may be just a misunderstanding. I was just asking old Mr. Duncan for directions."
Kirk understood that Old Duncan might be a street thug disguised as a policeman, and offending such a person would bring a lot of trouble, so he excused Old Duncan.
"Old Duncan, you're lucky."
The younger police officer untied the handcuffs of old Duncan, and old Duncan gave Kirk a grateful look, got up from the ground and left independently.
Kirk didn't care and just smiled as a reply.
"Madam, are you a foreigner?"
The older officer asked, taking in Kirk's attire.
"Yes, that's right. May I ask how you could tell at a glance that I was a foreigner?"
Kirk asked curiously.
The police officer showed a badge on his chest. It was a round metal badge with a lot of hollow parts in the middle and two straight lines pulled together to form a complex image.
“Every Milan resident wears this coat of arms as a talisman, a custom passed down from their ancestors.
Maybe only the professors in the library and the university know what this amulet means, but it is a good way to identify foreigners."
The mustachioed police officer shrugged, and Kirk smiled, covering his mouth.
"I understand. No wonder Mrs. Lillian and Old Duncan from the merchandise store could tell at a glance that I was a foreigner."
At this time, Albert was playing with the compass given to him by Elphis. He held the compass in both hands and shook it for a while, and he discovered something strange.
The compass needle was spinning constantly and no longer stopped and returned to its north-south position as it had in the past.
If a physicist were here, he might have discovered that there was a change in the magnetic field, but Kirk and the police officer did not pay attention to this detail.
The wind started to blow, and a man in a light yellow suit came out of the alley and bowed to little Albert in the stroller.
No one present except Albert noticed this man with an artistic aura.
Little Albert was shaking the compass with his chubby little hands and accidentally dropped it to the ground.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Kirk looked back and saw the compass lying on the ground. He laughed because little Albert was playing with the compass.
He bent down to pick up the compass for Albert and put it back on Albert's small table.
"These little hooligans like to bully outsiders and defraud them of their money. Ma'am, if you encounter any trouble, you are welcome to come to the police station on Plank Street for help.
In addition, I need to record today's events. Could you please tell me your name, ma'am?"
The older police officer kindly reminded.
Kirk lifted both sides of her skirt and bent her knees slightly. She understood that this might be the office procedure that the police needed to follow.
"Thank you for the reminder, officer. I will pay more attention. I am Pauline Kirk. I am staying at the Woodcutter's Inn at No. 3 Plank Street."
"Okay, Ms. Kirk. I hope you have wonderful memories in Milan and enjoy this sunny day."
The officer waved to Kirk and continued on patrol.
Kirk turned around and looked at Albert who was staring blankly at the alley. He squatted down and scratched little Albert's nose with his index finger.
"Don't throw things around, you naughty boy."
Normally, little Albert would laugh out loud at this time and hold his fingers with his little hands, but today little Albert did not do so.
His eyes were fixed on the alley.
"Mom! Haha!"
Little Albert stretched out his pink little finger and pointed to the alley. Kirk followed Albert's gaze, but there was no one there.
Kirk didn't pay too much attention to Albert's words. He stood up and pushed the stroller away slowly.
The man in yellow clothes appeared again in the alley.
"Grow up quickly, owner of the Silver Key.
We have all been waiting for you for a long, long time.
The stage has been set, the script has been arranged, and once you, the leading actor, are in place, the grand stage play will be staged.
Hahahahaha."
The man left a series of wild laughter in the alley, covered his face and disappeared into the darkness, as if he had never appeared.
Kirk returned to the Woodcutter's Inn and took Albert out of the stroller.
Kirk could smell a faint odor and touched little Albert's butt through his pants and found it was a little wet and hot.
"Hey~ You little rascal, why don't you say anything?"
Kirk frowned and cursed softly.
Little Albert had a blank look in his eyes, and he seemed unaware that his crotch was dirty.
Kirk carried little Albert to the bathroom and gave him a bath.
During the bath, little Albert did not play with water excitedly as he did in the past, splashing water everywhere. Instead, he obediently let Kirk rinse his body.
Little Albert was thinking, thinking with his little head.
What do these names that keep appearing in my head mean
Why can I see the distant starry sky and the vast universe
Where do all the shining stars in this universe come from
Why are there eyes from the stars looking at me
Many questions emerged in little Albert's head.
Even though he was terrified by the look he got from the man in yellow, he didn't feel any fear.
Little Albert scratched his head with his hands covered with soap bubbles, and then his attention was focused on the sparkling bubbles.
He smiled happily.
"Bubble! Bubble!"
Kirk watched his child speak actively recently, and even though he only uttered one word at a time, he still felt a real sense of happiness.
——
A tavern in Milan
There were not many customers in the tavern. The waiter was resting at the table in the corner and snoring could be heard.
The bartender stood behind the bar, wiping the glasses. After wiping, he looked at them under the light and made sure there were no water marks or fingerprints on the glasses before hanging them up.
The owner of the tavern sat leisurely in the booth and looked at the account book.
A dark-skinned guest in a black tuxedo sat in a booth not far away, gently shaking the red wine in his glass.
He seemed to be waiting for someone.
This is a very strange thing.
Generally, when waiting for someone in broad daylight, people would choose places like cafes or banquet halls, but this person wore formal clothes, ordered a bottle of red wine, and sat quietly for the whole morning.
"Ding-ling-ling."
The door to the bar was pushed open.
A man dressed in a yellow suit walked in.
The man in a black tuxedo smiled heartily and waved to the guests coming in.
The man with an artistic air walked straight towards the black man when he saw him.
"Hey, sit down."
The black man showed his big white teeth and said with a grin.
"Would you like a drink?"
The black man spoke to himself, then took a goblet and dropped one-third of it to the man sitting in front of him.
The boss looked up at the two people who seemed to be having a normal conversation, then he went back to work, not paying attention to their conversation.
The man in yellow crossed his legs and swirled the red wine in his goblet gracefully.
I put it to my mouth and took a sip.
“It tastes just average.”
"It's just a tavern. You can't expect them to give you the same good sacrifices as your followers."
The mysterious black man shrugged and said helplessly.
"You still like wearing yellow so much."
"Yeah, it's a personal hobby."
"You saw it?"
"Yes."
Simple conversations are packed with a shocking amount of information.
The two men were silent for a while, then the black man smiled and said,
"Don't get too involved. Yug will be unhappy."
The man in yellow seemed to have heard an absurd joke. He slapped his thigh and laughed.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
The tavern owner snorted in displeasure and muttered softly,
"Why are people nowadays so uneducated?"
The black man turned around and gave the boss a look that contained pity, compassion, and sadness, but also a hint of gloating.
The man in yellow twitched his ears and laughed even more wildly after hearing that.
The hotel owner patted the table.
"Sir, please be quiet."
The man in yellow suddenly frowned and asked the black man,
"I'll take care of it."
The black man shrugged.
"It's up to you. Just don't make the floor dirty. I like this place very much.
It's quiet, and it's a good place for a contradictory person like me to stay for a while."
The man in yellow gave the black man a disdainful look, then glared at the hotel owner.
The hotel owner seemed to see a huge creature wandering in the universe, and no description could express its grandeur.
This behemoth is the ultimate in terror. No matter how terrifying other creatures are, they cannot even be one-tenth as terrifying as it.
The hotel owner hugged his head frantically and screamed like a pig being slaughtered.
The bartender and the waiter hurried over to the crazy hotel owner to see what was wrong with him.
The black man turned back and said to them in a friendly way,
"It's best to send him to the hospital immediately. This is a symptom of epilepsy."
The two men immediately let out an "oh" and carried the boss out.
The bar fell silent as the staff left.
The man in yellow laughed contemptuously.
"What does it have to do with me if Bubble is unhappy? He can't even break the situation himself."
The black man covered his face helplessly.
"He's too old-fashioned."
“Since you can’t resist, just enjoy watching this good show.
Even, go on stage to join in the performance.
That’s my mentality.”
The man in yellow said calmly and seriously.
The black man looked at the man in yellow with a stern face, who was still as crazy as ever, and unexpectedly he became serious.
"I almost forgot that you love to play as much as I do, hahahaha!"
The black man seemed unable to hold back his smile and raised the red wine glass in his hand.
"Let's toast to the growth of Silver Spoon!"
"cheers!"