Cultivate Myself, Is That Not Okay? Chapter 35

"Alright, alright, what's the point of telling them all this? What if Lord Hart hears you and starts yelling again? Have you forgotten what happened to Sam?"

"That idiot Sam actually went to commit crimes in Central City. He really must've been tired of living."

"Let's go. We still need to take something down to Lord Hart."

The two of them continued talking as they left, ignoring everyone else.

Edward next door shot "Shari" a questioning look. "Shari" shook her head, signaling for him not to ask.

"Hart, down below..."

Ryan pondered slightly in front of the interface. The information from those two men's conversation was important, especially the word "down." He realized that the Blood Cult might have already discovered the Karut Maze below.

Come to think of it, the Blood Cult had carried out a massive sacrifice in Berman City, but the game's storyline never explained where it happened. Now it seemed likely that it had taken place in Cassola Prison.

Luckily, if he had wandered around down there without knowing about the Blood Cult, he might have been discovered.

"I need to find a way to get the blueprints for the Karut Maze."

Time was short and the task was urgent. If "Shari" had to figure out the maze by herself, it would take forever.

There had been a map in the game, but it was obtained through a quest.

Because there had been system guidance.

But now? Ryan really wanted to call the system Daddy and ask if it could give him a quest.

The municipal government might have kept something like that, but with his position...

Ryan suddenly remembered that there seemed to be someone else he could use.

"I'll ask tomorrow."

After setting "Shari" to AI Standby, Ryan logged out of the game and took the Skill Book, "Swiftness," from his Backpack.

With a slap of his hand, the skill entered his body and transformed into a mysterious force.

"So I learned it just like that?"

Ryan tried activating Swiftness.

His body became light as a swallow, and wind seemed to rise beneath his feet.

His speed had indeed increased.

Skills were not uncommon in the Inner World. They were generally contained within class-change relics, and after successfully changing classes, one would slowly comprehend them as they grew stronger over time.

Besides that, one could also pray to a Deity through sacrifice. It was the same as praying for relics, except far more difficult. Generally speaking, such prayers went unanswered.

The next day, eight in the morning.

After getting up, Ryan checked the Idle Records for both characters. There were no issues on Lin Qi's side. She had leveled as usual and was close to reaching Level 18.

Shari had taken another opportunity to explore the maze. Though she had not figured out the route, she had farmed some monsters and successfully reached Level 8.

Name: Shari

Gender: Female

Class: None

Level: 8

Constitution: 11.6+3

Spirit: 11.4+3

Mana: 16.7+3

Comprehension: 8

Charm: 10

Skills: None

Equipment: Dagger

...

...

Her other attributes were about the same as Lin Qi's had been back then, but that mana growth was honestly pretty sweet.

"Goodbye, Muscle Man. Beautiful Girl really is the best."

Humming a tune, he dragged himself to the General Bureau for work at eight in the morning. Since the location had changed, his commute had become much longer. Fortunately, he had driven one of the bureau's cars out yesterday.

He needed to consider moving.

The General Bureau was unusually lively today. The root cause was the group of college students Ryan had arrested last night. That morning, the Bureau of Investigation had notified their homes one by one, and all their parents had come charging over.

There were no major problems overall. Only two of them had been mentally contaminated, so they were kept at the bureau and not allowed to leave. The moment Ryan appeared, the Police Officer in charge of the interrogation immediately came over to ask for instructions.

Ryan told them to go to Janus Church and find Priest Lin Qi.

Although ordinary people barely knew of the existence of supernatural beings, they still believed that gods existed in this world—great Janus—and churches held the final authority in explaining certain bizarre, unexplainable occurrences. As a result, many people plagued by Evil Omens instinctively sought help from the church.

Generally speaking, every church had a Priest who knew a Purification Spell. The skill might not necessarily have been called that, but the effects were more or less the same.

However, Berman City's previous Priest had been killed by members of the Blood Cult. Otherwise, it would not have been Lin Qi's turn to rise to the position.

Near noon, Ryan had originally planned to visit the bookstore to see Kaisa, but Jonathan called.

Since Jonathan had already laid his cards on the table with Lord Adler, he planned to lead the League of Fire in an all-out strike against the latter's forces—constant surveillance, citywide crackdowns—making it impossible for Adler to take a single step without difficulty until he finally exposed himself.

The League of Fire alone certainly did not have enough people, so Jonathan needed Ryan to send personnel from the Bureau of Investigation to assist. In any case, the positions of Director and Deputy Director had yet to be decided, so Ryan alone had the final say.

"Tell me the places you're moving against, and I'll send people over," Ryan said.

In truth, the Hand of Darkness no longer had many core members left in Berman City. Most were Outer Area personnel, Believers who had been deceived into joining, like those at Black Ding Street No. 228 before. They had no supernatural abilities whatsoever and could only shout things like "Praise Death."

But if left unchecked, these people would continue expanding the Hand of Darkness's influence and supplying its core members with resources.

Jonathan moving against them was equivalent to completely cutting off the Hand of Darkness's retreat.

However, in Ryan's view, the Hand of Darkness had already been dealt a devastating blow, with only a handful of core members remaining. Jonathan's move would not actually accomplish much.

There were only around a dozen of them. Even without resupplying, they could lie low for a long time.

Jonathan did not know the Hand of Darkness's exact situation, but Ryan did, so he planned to take a different approach.

"What time will the operation begin?"

"Three this afternoon."

"Alright."

Ryan noted down the locations Jonathan gave him, then pulled some people from the Bureau of Investigation.

Against ordinary Believers, the Police Officers had more than enough Combat Power. After all, they had guns. Forget non-supernatural beings—even supernatural beings had to think twice before facing them.

Ryan personally took charge of Central City, with Jack joining him in the operation.

Before setting out at three that afternoon, Ryan found a public phone booth and called Adler's office.

"Lord Adler, the League of Fire has begun moving. Hurry and have the Hand of Darkness withdraw."

"Damn it, that guy really is like a lingering ghost!" Adler cursed. "Ryan, thank goodness for you. I'll make arrangements right away."

"Everything is for Grand Duke Marganna. Loyalty needs no further words. I'll do my best to hold them off, so hurry up!"

Adler: Good Thing Ryan Is Here!

Ryan chose to tell Adler because he had suddenly remembered that, since officially becoming a member of Marganna's faction, he apparently had not done a single thing wholeheartedly for the organization.

That was not what a qualified mole should be doing!

Though every failure might have had understandable reasons, failing every single time would be a problem.

Either there was something wrong with you, or there was something wrong with your abilities. It had to be one or the other.

In any case, striking those hideouts would not really hurt Adler much. At most, it would make things troublesome for him and drive him into doing something impulsive out of frustration.

But how likely was that, really?

So Ryan might as well use this chance to show his loyalty to the organization. Heaven and earth could bear witness—he could never repay Grand Duke Marganna's kindness!

And to Adler, as long as you praised Marganna too, then we were brothers from different fathers and mothers!

Using some unimportant things in exchange for greater trust was well worth it.

More importantly, Cassidy would soon organize a plan to attack Adler. When the time came, Ryan needed to Muddle Through and kill Adler, so he had to earn the man's absolute trust.

"I understand. Thanks to you, Ryan," Adler said gravely. "You are our hope now. Keep working to earn the League of Fire's trust. Later, I'll have someone bring some things to the bookstore for you to collect. They're all meant to assist with cultivation."

Ryan had previously told Adler about the Magic Talent test. Of course, he had not said that he was Six Stars, instead conservatively claiming he was Four Stars.

Four Stars was equivalent to Magic Talent C, which was already quite impressive. Even Adler's own Magic Talent was not that high.

Ryan wanted to squeeze more benefits out of him. Since he was their hope, it was only right for the organization to show some support, wasn't it?

"Now isn't the time to talk about that... Just give me more Soul Jade and supernatural items. Leave them at the bookstore and hand them to Kaisa. I'll pick them up when I have time," Ryan said. "Alright, I'll try to hold them off. Hurry and act."

Even as he said that, the moment he hung up, Ryan rushed back to the General Bureau. With a single order, he led the Police Officers into action.

The Hand of Darkness did not have much of a presence in Central City, only two hideouts. He and Jack each led a squad in a raid, running into several Believers who were discussing whether to rob a bank or mug Rich Merchants next.

Some resisted fiercely and were shot dead on the spot by the Police Officers.

Among Heretic forces, Singers could use Outer God Power to inflict Mental Pollution on ordinary people. Thus, true Heretic members were bloodthirsty and brutal, completely different from the chuuni patients at Berman University.

Ryan did not expect to take anyone alive. Sometimes, corpses were just as valuable.

These were all merits.

"Captain, only these two are left."

The Police Officer in charge of the operation pointed at the two people who had been beaten down and pinned in place. "The rest have all been killed."

Ryan waved a hand. "Take them back first. Everyone else, conduct a thorough search of the place. It was our failure to let these damn Heretics remain in Berman City for so long."

"You're absolutely right."

After the full package of killing, arrests, and searches, Ryan's team did not wrap up and return to the General Bureau until five in the afternoon.

The other operation squads had more or less made gains as well. Although Adler had received advance warning, there had been too little time, and over half the safehouses had failed to evacuate in time.

It had to be said that the League of Fire's intelligence gathering was impressive. Ryan himself had not even known about most of these safehouses, yet Jonathan had quietly pinpointed their locations.

He had probably been at it for more than a day or two.

The reason he had not acted before was that he had been worried about alerting the enemy. After all, Jonathan knew that arresting a few Outer Area personnel would not accomplish much.

And now?

Adler had already slammed his hand down on the table.

"Damn Jonathan! Damn the League of Fire!"

Inside the office, Adler had received the latest news.

After this operation, the major safehouses had suffered devastating losses, and more than half of the Outer Area personnel were gone.

He had originally hoped to secretly expand his influence through those Outer Area personnel and find a way to launch a counterattack. Now, that was that—he had been completely driven into a corner.

Even if he continued doing nothing, he did not think Jonathan or Cassidy would spare him.

After mulling it over, Adler decided to request support.

He returned home and stood before a mirror. As ripples spread across its surface, a mysterious hooded figure appeared within it.

"Lord Creed."

Adler spoke respectfully.

Naturally, the person he could contact was Creed rather than Magana. Last time, it had been the latter who had contacted him first, and besides, how could Adler possibly have the nerve to face the Grand Duchess's imposing figure now?

As for Creed, he was nominally Magana's "Strategist," but Adler had never seen his true face.

"Failed again?" Creed asked.