"Alright, alright, what's the point of telling them all this? What if Lord Hart hears and starts cursing again? Have you forgotten what happened to Sam?"
"That idiot Sam actually went to commit crimes in the Central District. He was practically tired of living."
"Let's go. We still need to take something down to Lord Hart."
As they talked, the two ignored everyone else and left.
Edward next door cast a questioning look at "Shally." "Shally" shook her head, signaling him not to ask.
"Hart, down below..."
Ryan, sitting before the interface, pondered slightly. The information from those two men's conversation was important, especially the word "down below." He realized that the Blood Cult might have already discovered the Karut Maze beneath them.
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 took place. Now, it seemed it should have been at Casola 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 blueprint of the Karut Maze."
Time was tight and the task was urgent. If "Shally" had to figure out the maze by herself, it would take forever.
There was a map in the game, but it was obtained through quests.
Because there was system guidance.
Now? Ryan really wanted to call the system Daddy. Could it just give him a quest?
The municipal government might have kept something like that, but given his position...
Ryan suddenly remembered that there seemed to be someone else he could use.
"I'll ask tomorrow."
After setting "Shally" to AI Auto-Battle, Ryan exited the game and took the "Swift" skill book from his inventory.
With a slap of his hand, the skill poured into his body and transformed into a mysterious force.
"That's it? I learned it?"
Ryan tried activating Swift.
His body felt light as a swallow, and the wind seemed to gather beneath his feet.
His speed had indeed increased.
Skills were not uncommon in the Inner World. They were usually contained within class-change relics and gradually comprehended as one grew stronger after successfully changing classes.
Besides that, one could pray to the gods through rituals. It was the same as praying for relics, except the difficulty was much greater. Generally, people prayed in vain.
The next day, eight in the morning.
Ryan got up and checked the auto-battle logs for his two characters. Nothing had gone wrong on Lin Qi's side. She had leveled as usual and was nearing level 18.
Shally had taken the opportunity to explore the maze again. She still had not figured out the route, but she had farmed some monsters and successfully reached level 8.
Name: Shally Gender: Female Class: None Level: 8 Constitution: 11.6+3 Spirit: 11.4+3 Magic Power: 16.7+3 Insight: 8 Charm: 10 Skills: None Equipment: Dagger ... ...
Her other attributes were roughly the same as Lin Qi's had been, but that magic power growth was honestly amazing.
"Goodbye, musclehead. Cute girls really are the best."
Humming a tune, he dragged himself to headquarters for work at eight in the morning. Since the location had changed, his commute had become much longer. Luckily, he had driven one of the Bureau of Governance's cars out yesterday.
He needed to consider moving.
Headquarters was unusually lively today. The root cause was the group of college students Ryan had arrested last night. That morning, the Bureau of Governance notified their homes one by one, and all their parents came charging over.
There were no major problems overall. Only two had been mentally contaminated, and they were still being held at the bureau instead of being taken away. As soon as Ryan appeared, the Security Officer in charge of the interrogation immediately came over to ask for instructions.
Ryan told them to go to Janus Church and find Lin Qi, the priest.
Although ordinary people barely knew that Supernatural Beings existed, they still believed there were gods in this world—great Janus. The Church held the final authority in explaining certain bizarre and incomprehensible occurrences. As a result, many people troubled by evil spirits instinctively sought help from the Church.
Generally speaking, every church had a priest who knew the Purification Spell. The skill was not necessarily called that, but the effects were about the same.
However, Berman City's previous priest had been killed by the Blood Cult. Otherwise, Lin Qi would never have had the chance to rise to her position.
Near noon, Ryan had originally planned to visit the bookstore and look for Keisha, but Jonathan called.
Since he had already openly broken with Adler, he planned to lead the Burning Covenant in a full-scale strike against Adler's forces. They would keep watch everywhere, crack down across the city, and make it impossible for Adler to move freely until he finally exposed himself.
The Burning Covenant alone definitely did not have enough people, so Jonathan needed Ryan to send people from the Bureau of Governance to assist. In any case, neither the director nor deputy director position had been decided yet, so Ryan had the final say.
"Tell me the locations you're acting on, and I'll send people over," Ryan said.
In truth, the Hand of Darkness did not have many core members left in Berman City. Most were peripheral personnel, cultists who had been lured in, like those at 228 Black Ding Street before. They had no supernatural abilities at all and could only shout things like "Praise Death."
But if left alone, these people would continue expanding the Hand of Darkness's influence and supplying resources to its core members.
Jonathan targeting 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 badly hit, and only a few core members remained. Jonathan's move would not have much effect.
There were only around ten of them. Even without replenishing supplies, they could hide for a long time.
Jonathan did not know the Hand of Darkness's exact situation, but Ryan did, so he planned to change tactics.
"What time does the operation begin?"
"Three this afternoon."
"Alright."
Ryan noted down the locations Jonathan gave him, then pulled some people from the Bureau of Governance.
The Security Officers were more than capable of dealing with ordinary cultists. After all, they had guns. Forget ordinary people—even Supernatural Beings had to think twice before facing them.
Ryan personally handled the Central District, with Jack assisting him.
Before setting out at three in the afternoon, Ryan found a public phone booth and called Adler's office.
"Lord Adler, the Burning Covenant has begun moving. Hurry and have the Hand of Darkness withdraw."
"Damn it, that guy really is impossible to get rid of!" Adler cursed. "Ryan, luckily I have you. I'll make arrangements right away."
"Everything is for Grand Duke Magana. There's no need to mention loyalty. I'll do my best to hold them back, so move quickly!"
Before you continue