Can't I raise myself?

The Police Officers were taken aback, nodding one after another. "We understand, we understand, Captain, you go ahead."

The one who had guarded the door earlier then added, "Adler's little lover is only seventeen this year, very beautiful, living at the end of the left corridor on the second floor."

Ryan: "?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Nothing, just to make it convenient for the Captain's investigation and evidence collection!"

Something felt off, but Ryan couldn't be bothered to think too much about it.

He walked into the large villa.

In the living room on the first floor sat two people, one large and one small. The woman was about twenty-five, Adler's wife, and the child was around five years old.

Seeing Ryan enter, the woman clutched the child tightly, her face full of tension.

Ryan glanced around, walked up to the woman, and asked in a low voice, "Do you know who I am?"

The woman nervously replied, "You, you're Captain Ryan."

"How did you know?"

"I saw you in the newspaper."

Good, she didn't recognize him.

Although the possibility was slim, what if Adler had said something wrong in his sleep?

"Where is Adler's room?"

"The middle of the second floor."

"And the study?"

"It's connected to the room."

The woman answered everything truthfully.

She seemed genuinely unaware of Adler's affairs.

It made sense; even noblewomen had to obey their noble husbands completely. With Adler's power, she just needed to enjoy her life peacefully every day, so it was fine even if Adler kept a mistress at home.

Ryan went up to the second floor. Both sides should have rooms for mistresses. He walked to the far left and pushed the door open. He saw a girl, about 1.6 meters tall, dressed in Lolita, sitting at a desk, holding a book.

Because they were confined, they could only pass the time each day.

Seeing Ryan, the girl nervously shrank back.

"Don't be scared, I'm a good person."

"..."

"Do you know me?"

The girl shook her head.

Golden long hair, a tender face, at least an 8 out of 10 in looks. Damn Adler, that old bull still goes after young grass every day.

Ryan walked around the room. Nothing worth checking. The closet was full of clothes, and all sorts of strange ones at that.

In the room furthest to the right, another mistress was more unrestrained, even trying to trade her body with Ryan for freedom. Ryan decisively refused.

"If you make another pig noise, I'll lock you up."

With that, Ryan went to Adler's room.

Nothing else was noteworthy.

"Strange, nothing hidden? So clean?"

Adler's room was in plain sight: a bed, a closet, a chair. The adjoining study on the other side was filled with books. He couldn't find anything suspicious for the moment.

"Could there be a secret room?"

Ryan checked around but found nothing. He had to go back downstairs to check the other rooms. In one of them, he noticed something was off.

A Transcendent's senses were much stronger than an ordinary person's.

"This room is shallower."

The room Ryan was currently in was directly below Adler's study.

According to architectural design principles, corresponding rooms above and below should generally be the same size. However, the width of this room was clearly problematic.

He walked to the back wall and knocked. It sounded hollow. He returned to the study upstairs and, guided by instinct, estimated the missing width in the room below. It was roughly the width of a bookshelf.

And a bookshelf was placed against the back wall of the study.

Ryan walked over and tried to push the bookshelf. It wouldn't budge. He was much stronger now that he was a Transcendent. Even if he couldn't move the bookshelf, he should have been able to push it a little.

"A mechanism..."

Where?

Maybe a book.

Ryan searched but found nothing. The plots he saw on TV, where clues were obvious at a glance, were indeed lies.

He returned to the first-floor room again, then took out the Cross Sword from his body, stuck it into the wall in its small sword form, then slashed and folded it, finally drawing a rectangle.

This sword's sharpness was terrifying.

Ryan pushed the broken wall inward.

Crash~~

It was indeed empty inside.

Ryan kicked open the adjacent wall with two or three kicks, creating an opening the size of a person. Soon, he saw a downward-sloping staircase. This staircase spanned not one, but two floors. The staircase turned in the middle and was very narrow, but not even the width of a bookshelf. Ryan then realized there was also something wrong with the wall behind the room.

He went down the stairs and finally found Adler's secret room.

This secret room was about the same size as the study, and the layout was similar: a desk, a telephone, some small boxes. Ryan found over ten thousand Soul Jade inside. Besides that, there were two relics: a dagger and a Silver Pistol.

[Demon Breaker Blade]

[Quality: Second Tier · Fine]

[Effect 1: Constitution +3, Magic +5]

[Effect 2: Demon Breaker, reduces magic circulation efficiency of hit units.]

[Equipment Requirement: Spirit 17, Magic 20]

[Silver Wings]

[Quality: First Tier · Fine]

[Effect 1: Constitution +2, Magic +2]

[Effect 2: True Hit, 20% chance to hit the target.]

[Equipment Requirement: Constitution 10, Magic 12]

"Good stuff."

Although the tiers weren't high, the effects of both weapons were quite good.

The Demon Breaker effect of the Demon Breaker Blade, combined with the Magic Nullification Domain, would make Mages cry.

As for the Silver Wings, Ryan had obtained this item in the game before. It was excellent early-game equipment for the Marksman class.

In Empress Online, most Marksman classes didn't use bows and arrows but firearms, such as pistols, rifles, and even sniper rifles. However, this equipment required magic, and firearms produced by Imperial technology were far from that level.

Ryan put away the Silver Wings, planning to use them himself. As for the Demon Breaker Blade, he would give it to 'Lin Qi', as the Blade of Erosion was already outdated.

"These two things are useless to Adler, but they're a bargain for me."

Otherwise, why would they say looting houses is the most profitable job?

"Everything on this shelf is good stuff."

Ryan looked at the shelf behind the desk, where some medicine bottles were placed. He hadn't paid much attention earlier, but now, glancing over, he saw there were even Mana Potions.

Just as he was about to appraise them carefully, the Mirror leaning against the wall suddenly rippled.

"Hm?"

"What is it?"

Ryan was startled and cautiously walked up to the Mirror.

He had always thought this thing was just an ordinary full-length Mirror, but now it seemed it wasn't...

As he was thinking, a White-haired Loli appeared in the Mirror.

"Adler, I have something to tell you... Huh? Who are you? Where is Adler?" Grand Duke Marganna's delicate brows furrowed, then suddenly relaxed. "Oh, it's you, Ryan. Nice to meet you."

Ryan: "???"

The air suddenly fell silent.

5k, working hard on typing, another update today!

Chapter 50 Ryan: I can never repay Grand Duke Marganna's kindness!

Hello? What do I do if I looted Grand Duke Marganna's house? Waiting online, urgent!

Ryan stood in front of the Mirror, wondering if he had fallen under some mental illusion, otherwise, how could he be having such a hallucination out of the blue?

Look, what did he see? The popular game character, Grand Duke Marganna!

Look at this White-haired Loli, hahahaha, how is this possible? How could he possibly see that person in the Mirror? That's Marganna, how could she be connected to the insignificant Adler? And she could even call his name?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

There must be some relic in this secret room that affects the mind!

"Hm... What's wrong? Ryan Bask, I'm asking you a question." Grand Duke Marganna said displeasedly, "Don't tell me you don't even recognize me?"

"Ah, Grand Duke Marganna, um..."

The corner of Ryan's mouth twitched slightly. Fine, this wasn't a mental illusion.

"Where is Adler? Have him come over. I have something important to discuss with him," Magana said.

"Uh... Grand Duchess, Lord Adler probably won't be able to see you."

"Hm? Where did he go?"

"He returned to the embrace of the God of Death."

"What? What happened?" Magana crossed her arms. "Tell me, what exactly occurred?"

She didn't seem to care about Adler's life or death. She cared more about the situation in Berman City, especially since Cassidy was there.

"It's all that damned Cassidy! She colluded with the League of Fire to set a trap, luring Lord Adler into it on Mass Day, and then killed him!" Ryan said with grief and indignation. "Damn Princess, damn League of Fire, and also those from the Gate of Janus! I had a chance to save Lord Adler, but because the Gate of Janus was there, I couldn't act and could only watch him get killed!"

"Lord Adler! He died just like that! I want to avenge him! I want to avenge him!!!"

"Alright, alright, calm down. How can you get revenge with your strength?" Magana waved her hand. "You said earlier that people from the Gate of Janus were also involved?"

"Yes."

Ryan wiped away his tears and recounted the events.

"So that's how it is. That idiot Adler, I told him reinforcements would arrive soon, yet he couldn't resist making a move. As expected, one shouldn't count on him to accomplish anything." Magana's evaluation of Adler was clearly not high.

"What about you? Weren't you suspected?"

"They didn't suspect me. It's just that Cassidy might be a bit unhappy. Her original intention was to capture him alive, and Adler's death is partly my fault; I fired a few shots."

"Good job. Don't worry about Cassidy. As long as the League of Fire doesn't suspect you, there's no problem." Magana tapped her chin with a finger. "Hmm... Since that guy is dead anyway, why don't you take charge of the matters in Berman City?"

"Ah?"

Ryan froze.

"The people there are almost all dead anyway. You're the one most familiar with Berman City's situation. Creed will send people over in a few days. I'll tell him to have those people take your orders."

"This... isn't this a bit inappropriate?" Ryan smacked his lips. "Grand Duchess, I'm just a First Tier Transcendent. I'm afraid I won't be able to command them."