Speaking for God

"Sir, we're at 375 Oak Street," the coachman reminded him.

"Wait here," Chaoyang ordered, then opened the door and stepped out.

It was two in the afternoon. Glorious Fortress was enjoying its first sunny day in ages, and the slightly scorching sunlight filtered through the trees lining the road, casting shifting patches of light across the ground. It should have been a fine day for a stroll, but there were hardly any people on the street. Compared to a week ago, the city seemed much quieter.

A little farther away, two cavalrymen in City Guard uniforms were patrolling the street.

Chaoyang lowered the brim of his hat and walked into number 375.

It was a small, two-story building and another of Cote Dane's secret residences. Judging by the decor on the first floor, it looked like a fruit shop that had temporarily closed for business. Empty fruit stands still lined the walls.

He had barely made it into the entryway when Judy came to greet him.

"You're here. Ever since I received your letter, I've been looking forward to seeing you..." Her face was bright with excitement, as if she were delighted to see Detective again. "You said you needed help. If there's anything we can do, we'll do everything in our power!"

"Judy, is that Lord Chao?" Dane's voice came from the inner room.

Chaoyang noticed that Dane was addressing him with a much more elevated title this time.

"Yes, it is!"

"Please invite him in so we can talk."

Chaoyang followed Judy into the reception room, where freshly brewed tea had already been set out on a low table. Dane sat stiffly beside it, dark circles surrounding his eyes. As soon as Chaoyang entered, he sprang to his feet and bowed.

Chaoyang glanced at him, somewhat surprised. As he remembered, this reporter had dared to investigate the truth behind a serial murder case and had kept his composure even when his life was on the line. He certainly wasn't a coward. So why was he suddenly being so deferential?

"What's wrong? Haven't been sleeping well?" He took off his hat and sat down across from Dane.

The reporter smiled bitterly and shook his head. "I doubt anyone but you has been able to sleep these past few days. You may not understand what it means to uproot the entire North City Police Station, let alone see the Grand Theater reduced to ashes overnight. Wherever people gather, that's all they talk about. Even the Jedi Brothers Newspaper has seen its sales jump by fifty percent!"

"We thought you'd wait for things to die down before coming back. We didn't expect you not to care about the City Guard searching for you at all," Judy added. "Honestly, this is the biggest thing I've seen since coming to Glorious Fortress. Even the Second Prince's delegation didn't cause this much of a stir when they visited!"

"So... Kouqi really is dead?" Dane asked quietly.

"Mm. I confirmed it with my own eyes." Chaoyang nodded. Using his true form at the end had been extremely risky, but the rewards were substantial. If he didn't squander the Wish Force he'd gained, he could live for half a year—a vast improvement over the nine days he'd had before. "He wasn't the mastermind, but he was the direct instigator of this case. Only with him dead can we be sure no one will trace it back to you."

Judy's eyes shone even brighter.

"I knew there had to be a reason Lord Chao told us not to leave the city overnight."

"Kouqi's death was one reason. Another was that I feared the mastermind might be on the Old Continent. Leaving Glorious Fortress wouldn't necessarily make you safe." Chaoyang picked up his teacup and took a sip. Of course, he wasn't going to tell them that the main reason was that if they left, he'd have to build his network of contacts all over again.

"Thank you," Dane said after a moment's silence. "Not just for saving me, but for rescuing all those other people, too. I doubted you, but now I see I was wrong. If I had any Wish Force, I'd give it to you as well..."

Chaoyang cut him off. "Wish Force can only be given under a contract. Judy has already paid, so the matter is settled. There's no need to bring it up again. You said other people were rescued, too?"

"Yes. The City Guard found five more survivors in the manor's dungeon. I heard Lord has already ordered a thorough investigation," Dane replied. "But the people funding the North City Police Station have stayed silent. They've turned down every interview request, and people outside don't even know they were behind the serial murders."

His eyes held a clear trace of resentment.

Chaoyang had to remind him, "Since Lord is investigating, the truth will come out eventually. There's no need for you to speak up now."

Otherwise, Dane might draw the attention of the forces behind Kouqi, and that wouldn't be worth the risk.

Dane slowly unclenched his fist. "You're right. Let's talk business. You said you needed our help. What exactly do you need?"

Judy held her breath.

Chaoyang was silent for a moment before answering, "I need a few bodies."

"Bodies?" Dane was taken aback. "Could you be more specific...?"

"Ah!" Judy, more outspoken than Dane, blurted out, "Do you mean dead people, sir?"

"Ahem... You could put it that way." Chaoyang kept his expression neutral, though he was just as embarrassed inside. The request sounded so bizarre that he might as well have been one of the Cultists. "They have to be fresh, not decayed. And if there's a choice, I'd like them to match the following measurements."

As he spoke, he handed them a slip of paper listing a dozen or so sets of measurements, including height, bust, waist, hips, and weight.

After the previous round of the game, Chaoyang had realized that more than half of his Wish Force expenditure went toward creating bodies. That had also severely limited the number of players who could enter Paradise. The solution was simple: use physical bodies as vessels. He would only need to spend a little Wish Force on maintenance, and could replace any that were badly damaged.

The solution was simple, but putting it into practice wasn't. In this unfamiliar world, where could he find intact, fresh bodies?

That left asking the locals for help as his only option.

He hoped they wouldn't turn against him over this, given that he'd saved their lives.

"Well..." Dane took the note and looked deeply conflicted.

"If you can't help, that's fine. I'm not insisting you do this," Chaoyang added quickly, afraid Dane might misunderstand. "And murdering someone to get a body is out of the question."

He had expected Dane to take the opportunity to back out, but instead, the reporter carefully folded the note and looked up at him. "Lord Chao, I'd like to ask you something first."

"Go ahead."

"Are you... acting on behalf of some deity?" Dane asked with utmost seriousness.

Chaoyang froze, but quickly understood. So that was why Dane had been acting so deferentially!

He thought Chaoyang was an emissary for some deity!

But when you thought about it, could an ordinary detective destroy the North City Police Station's entire organization overnight and personally kill its chief?

Even if someone like that existed, there was no way he'd be an unknown nobody.

Unless he had a more powerful force backing him.

It was perfectly reasonable for the reporter to come to that conclusion.

Of course... the detective wasn't Chaoyang's true form. In fact, every appearance he took when speaking with people was one he'd created himself. So, in a sense, the truth was rather close to Dane's guess. The only difference was that he was acting on his own behalf.

And letting the reporter misunderstand didn't seem to do him any harm.

With that in mind, Chaoyang simply went along with it. "That's right."