Karun was curious about how these rumors spread.

But soon, Karun realized that the captain himself might have spread the rumors in order to increase the team's reputation and gain an advantage in future high-reward missions.

The captain was capable of such things. Sometimes he was cold and distant, like an elegant pianist lost in his own world; other times he was talkative, telling stories about hunting dogs and ducklings.

Sometimes he had a big appetite and would do anything to maximize profits during missions, but he would also shamelessly give away worthless plastic rings by the boxful.

Karun had always thought that the captain had a split personality, and the portrait he found in the pottery studio's basement was the best evidence of his illness.

But the publicity really worked. His cousin was determined to join Neo's team.

Although the team only consisted of one captain and twelve members, there were no restrictions on outside members.

And if they could recruit members from wealthy families like Richard, even if it was just in name, the team would naturally have more advantages and receive many benefits.

Not every team disliked the rich and privileged, it all depended on whether there was enough benefit to be gained.

Meanwhile, Richard continued to persuade his grandfather:

"Grandpa, think about it. If you had agreed to let me join that team earlier, maybe the princess of the Dark Moon Island would be carrying your great-grandson now!"

Karun was speechless.

But in his speechlessness, he suddenly felt that there was some truth to Richard's words.

Although Ophelia was not pregnant, if the rumors were true, the person sitting in front of him would be his grandfather's grandson.

"You're really talking nonsense," Delong was a little helpless with his grandson's words. He looked at Karun and reminded him, "Don't let your friends laugh at you."

"If you had the chance, Karun, would you want to join Neo's Order of the Whip team?" Richard asked.

Karun smiled shyly and whispered, "If I had the chance to join the Order of the Whip team, I would be very satisfied and wouldn't be picky."

"You see, your friend is like this..." Delong originally wanted to use Karun's words to teach Richard a lesson, but halfway through, he felt a sudden surge of pity for Karun's slightly embarrassed expression.

Richard looked at Karun with wide eyes. He knew that this new friend was pretending. He had been very casual with him before."Grandpa, help me, please, Grandpa; just think, in the future, your grandson will be called Little Hunting Dog, you will have a lot of face."

"My grandson being called Little Dog, then I will be an old dog?"

"No, Grandpa, it's an adjective, an adjective!" Richard grabbed Delong's shoulder, "Grandpa, I want to grow up, I want to become a man with responsibilities."

Karun picked up his teacup and took a sip of water.

Watching this scene, he thought of his own grandfather, Dis, who always fulfilled all his requests.

Delong remained silent with a solemn expression.

Richard continued to plead.

Karun noticed Delong's expression and was a little puzzled: has this matter already been resolved?

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Karun stood up and signaled for him to answer the door. Richard smiled gratefully at Karun and continued to launch his attack on his grandfather.

Walking to the entrance, Karun saw Neo standing outside.

Neo was also surprised to see Karun here and teased, "You are the grandson of the Gumman family?"

"I am friends with Richard." Karun replied, without specifically mentioning that they had just met today.

"How coincidental."

"Yes, very coincidental."

Neo didn't rush in, but took out a black piece of paper. He didn't fold it, but it seemed like the paper folded itself into the shape of a crow in his palm, and then flew out from Neo's palm.

Karun felt that he also needed to learn this technique.

"Fanny is checking the team list, and you are the only one missing. I'll let Fanny know, so everyone won't think you were crushed to death in the administration building."

While explaining, Neo took out a small box from his pocket and took out a plastic ring from the neatly arranged rings inside the box, and put it on his finger.

"It was really close. Captain, your mask fell into the cemetery. I was going to put it in your office in the administration building. Just as I stopped the car, the building collapsed."

The mask Neo dropped was the black mask of the Order Whip team, not the kind of mask from the pottery museum.

"That mask is no longer useful. I had Fanny customize a batch of masks that are not black, but silver. Each person has three made of special materials. You can go to Fanny to pick them up, or Fanny will bring them to you next time you go on a mission. The reason for the change is because we found that other teams in York City are all black, and we want to be different from those little ducks."

As Neo spoke, he pointed to his own face:

"You don't have to specially come for such a small matter next time. Masks, how valuable can they be?"

"Yes, I understand, Captain. However, do you know the reason for the administration building incident, Captain?""I didn't participate, but I heard some things. They were planning to capture a heretic or a traitor during the meeting, but despite their best efforts, there were still flaws, which allowed him to cause chaos in the internal space formation of the academic building before he died."

"Yeah, it was a colleague of the old man inside, from a department. He was the deputy director, and the heretic was the director."

"A traitor..."

Neo leaned closer to Karun's face and whispered, "The more faith is emphasized, the easier it is for a firm believer to become a traitor."

Karun looked at Neo and silently turned away.

Neo walked in, and Karun followed him back to the living room.

"Hello, sir."

Delong pointed to Neo and said, "Okay, stop bothering me. Your captain is here."

"Captain?" Richard turned his head to look at Neo standing in the living room, "You...you're Captain Neo?"

"Yes, it's me."

Richard repeatedly clenched and loosened his hands, appearing very nervous.

"I'll leave my grandson to you. Please take good care of him," Delong said.

"It's my honor and my team's honor. However, my team is still full, so I can't give him a position. He can only be an unofficial member, but he will perform tasks with us."

"That's not a problem." Delong didn't care about the position. How could the Gu Man family care about such a thing?

"Please rest assured that there haven't been any deaths on our team in several missions. I think it will be faster and there will be positions available soon."

Delong's face stiffened, but when he looked at his grandson, he found that his grandson's expression was even more excited.

Neo turned around and looked at Richard, taking off a ring from his finger and handing it to him.

Richard took the ring with great excitement.

Karun standing next to him felt that this scene was familiar. He hoped that Richard would cherish the ring and not try to forcefully break it.

"When a new academic building is opened, you can go and process the files."

"Okay, Captain, I understand. I'll go handle it when the academic building reopens."

"Okay."

Neo looked at Delong and said, "Sir, I'll go first."

"You can chat with my grandson for a while. He admires you very much," Delong said.

"I have something else to do." Neo refused bluntly.

Explore the extended edition on pawread.com.

"Then you can go."

Neo bid farewell and left, while Karun remained in the living room.

Richard carefully held the ring and came to Karun, asking, "Karun, don't you think Captain Neo's style is very admirable? Grandpa asked him to stay, but he just said he had something else to do. I'm so excited that I can follow such a captain."

"Congratulations," Karun smiled."I promise you, you'll be even more excited when the captain tells you the story of the little duckling," Delong said standing up.

"Grandpa, are you leaving?"

"I have finished my business. Why stay? Your grandmother is at home alone and I am worried."

"I will go see her tomorrow."

"Focus on your work. If there is a mission, listen to your captain. A team of hunting dogs cannot accommodate a little white rabbit."

"Grandpa, your grandson is not a little white rabbit. Just wait and see."

Delong's gaze fell on Karun again. This young man, who was about the same age as his grandson, was wearing a black robe and even just standing there gave people a comfortable feeling.

"Your name is Karun?"

"Yes, sir."

"Richard has many friends, but if I remember correctly, this is the first time he has brought a friend home. Even his girlfriend has never been here before. Since you two get along well, be good friends. If there is anything, Richard can come to me."

"Thank you, sir."

Karun knew it was just a polite remark.

"Grandpa, let me see you off." Richard sent Delong out and was very attentive.

When Richard came back, Karun said, "It's getting late. I should take my leave."

"No hurry. Come, let me take you to my father's study."

"That's not necessary."

"It's more formal this way."

Richard took Karun's arm and pushed him upstairs. Karun had only used the bathroom on the second floor before and had not entered any of the rooms. Richard opened a study on the second floor and invited Karun in.

"Feel free to take anything. This study used to belong to my grandfather. He moved to a hot spring resort outside York City to take care of my grandmother's health. This study is technically my father's, but he rarely comes home and doesn't use it much."

Karun scanned the books on the shelves.

"If you like any of the books, just take them," Richard said generously.

"No need."

"Do you like to play chess?"

"No."

"How about cards?"

"No."

"Do you drink? There's a wine cellar in the basement."

"No."

"How can you be sociable without any hobbies? People can't be too aloof." Richard leaned against the bookshelf and looked at Karun. "With your aloofness, how can you get along with people? Just like me, I'm ready to blend in with my new team."

Karun smiled. To get along with them, he didn't need to know how to play chess, cards, or drink. He just needed to be crazy enough.

"Don't worry, once I've settled in, I'll help you join the Order of the Whip team. You work at the Tribunal, isn't that like running a funeral home?"

"Yes, would you like to experience it?""Ha." Richard shrugged, "I will attend the funeral of the man I killed with my own hands. I'm ready for it. He was my first target after joining the team, and I will arrange a grand funeral for him. But he is not the one being buried, do you know what it is?"

"It's your naive past."

"Oh my god, that sentence really makes me feel so good. I suddenly realized that I misunderstood you before. There's no need to be so enthusiastic like me. After being too enthusiastic, others won't cherish it. Like you, always keeping a high and cold attitude, occasionally saying something like this, the effect will be very good."

Karun ignored him and focused his attention on another photo hanging in the study, which showed three young people, his mother and her brother and sister.

"You seem to be very interested in my family photo."

"Well, I can see what the two judges looked like when they were young. It's a strange feeling."

"What's so special about the judges? They may be unattainable in the eyes of outsiders, but in our circle, they are just like that."

"Because they have it, they don't cherish it."

"Maybe. Actually, I have always been curious about my aunt. Although my grandfather and father said she was dead, I don't think she is. She may have run away from home. Although the bodies of people who die in the church are taken away, they usually set up a tombstone, but I have never seen my family worship her."

This should involve a story. Karun's mother left home and then disappeared. Later, she appeared in the Inmores family and married Karun's father, giving birth to him.

But it should be different from Puerh. Seeing her photo placed so openly in many places in the house, she should not have broken ties with her family.

Puerh only received the treatment of an old ancestor after returning after more than a hundred years. If she had returned home a few years later, the treatment would have been completely different.

Richard brewed another pot of tea and forced Karun to drink tea in the study as if they were discussing a major issue.

Finally, seeing that it was too late, Karun said goodbye again, and Richard did not keep him, but sent him to the garage.

"I'm sorry to keep you chatting for so long." Richard said.

"It's okay, I quite like talking to you." Karun got into the car, "Well, see you next time."

"The next time you see me, I should be wearing a black mask on my face. I hope you won't be scared by my cold temperament."

Changed, it's a silver mask now.

Karun smiled at him and started the car to reverse out of the garage.

Richard turned around and went upstairs, tapping his forehead lightly with his hand:

"What the hell is this damn familiarity."

...On the way back in the car, Karun hesitated for a moment, then turned onto Wutong Street again. The road was blocked by police on the outskirts, and he couldn't drive any further in. Karun didn't bother to use his ID to go in and take a look, so he turned and drove towards the Lanqiao community.

When he got home, it was already early morning. Karun felt a bit helpless. He came back so late every day and messed up his own routine.

As soon as he parked the car, Karun saw Alfred walking out. "Young master, you're back."

"Why are you still waiting?" Karun asked puzzledly. He had told Alfred that he would be back very late, although the purpose was different, the result was the same.

Unfortunately, Mr. Gray and Mr. Wind were not able to communicate with him about his current strength, and he could only make an appointment with them again.

"According to your orders, I have found the part of Mr. Hofmann's notebook about helping Kevin lift the seal. Please take a look, young master." Alfred handed over a black notebook with a bookmark.

"Can't I read it tomorrow?" Karun asked.

"I still suggest that you read it now, young master."

"Okay, I'll go to the study and read it."

Karun took the notebook and walked into the study. Alfred helped him turn on the lights. At this time, Kevin also came into the study and sat in front of Karun's desk, with a silly smile on his face. It was this bald dog head that looked a bit funny.

"Where's Puerh?" Karun sat down and asked, "Is she asleep?"

Usually when he came back at night, Puerh would ride Kevin to greet him.

"After regaining some strength, it was too excited. In the afternoon, it happily burned the boiler with fireballs, and ended up overplaying itself and fell asleep."

"Hehe." Karun smiled and shook his head. This scene was very similar to his own when he first learned magic. "Oh, by the way, Alfred, can you help me find the two spells, 'Black Mist Journey' and 'Paper Crow'? I will learn them when I wake up tomorrow. I hope they won't be too difficult."

"Young master, you are joking."

Karun opened the notebook and flipped directly to the bookmark. From this part onwards, Mr. Hofmann detailed the method and principle he used to seal the evil god.

After reading for a while, Karun decided to skip ahead and read the solution steps first. He flipped through more than forty pages and was almost at the end, finally seeing the title "Detailed Explanation of Unsealing Layers".

Mr. Hofmann spent more than forty pages introducing the seal in detail, which shows how happy and valued he was about his successful sealing of the evil god. It was like a tool book, with 95% of the content being the author's original intention and emotional journey of writing this tool book.

"Detailed Explanation of Unsealing Layers".

This page introduced the materials and auxiliary products that needed to be prepared in advance.At the bottom of the last line was:

"Step One:"

Hmm, there was a line break after the two colons.

Karun flipped the page and found that the first line on the back was "Step Two: Use your understanding of the array to perform a complete rotation according to the array structure diagram..."

What about the first step?

Karun flipped back and forth, then suddenly realized that two sheets of paper were stuck together.

He looked up at Alfred, who clearly knew about it already.

There was a small knife on the desk, a standard tool for opening letters. Karun carefully separated the two sheets of paper with the knife.

After cutting them apart, Karun saw the complete content of the first step.

Then, Karun looked up at Kevin, who was squatting in front of him. Kevin's dog eyes were squinted into slits, exuding the cuteness and warmth of a Golden Retriever to the fullest, like a well-behaved baby waiting for a small treat as a reward.

It had been envious all day watching Puerh play.

Karun lowered his head again and took a full look at the content of the first step.

Yes, the first step was very short, so short that it was only two sentences, but Mr. Hofen used two sheets of paper for these two sentences.

On the left sheet of paper was written:

"Do you really want to unseal it???"

On the right sheet of paper was written:

"Are you crazy!!!"