Clues

"Do you remember that incident?" Sandella mused. "A woman asked us to help find a reporter from the Jedi Brothers Newspaper, and her name seemed to be Judy."

"Your memory is truly remarkable," Woody exclaimed. "I only noticed her when I was reviewing Cote Dane's file. In fact, she filed reports at four different police stations, claiming a newspaper reporter had disappeared while investigating a serial murder case. To this day, those reports haven't been canceled."

"So she had no other choice but to come to us..." Sandella couldn't help but rub her forehead. She hadn't even stopped to listen to the other party's plea for help; one of her subordinates had pushed the woman away before she could even approach.

"You can't blame yourself for that," Woody said, naturally understanding his superior's thoughts. "Our duty is to protect Glorious Fortress and His Excellency the Count. Public order isn't something the City Guard should interfere with. It's just that I never expected the North City Police Station to have deteriorated to such a state."

Did he truly not expect it... or did he simply not think about it at all?

The serial murder case was no minor incident; each time it occurred, it made headlines in every newspaper, and people everywhere discussed the gruesome details of the case.

The City Guard was no exception, of course.

When the case remained unsolved for so long, it was already a declaration of the police system's failure.

Yet, she had overlooked these signs due to the "public order contract."

"Go and see her."

"Who?" Woody asked, slightly surprised. "Judy?"

"Yes, take a bouquet of flowers. Consider it... a form of comfort." After a long hesitation, Sandella still couldn't bring herself to say the word "apology."

Now, Judy finally knew Cote Dane's whereabouts.

It was on the newspaper's list of victims.

That girl must be heartbroken.

"Alright, I'll go do it now."

After Woody left, Sandella opened a drawer by her desk.

Inside lay a single, broken mask, colored red and black.

She picked up the mask, gazing at its patterns with a faraway look. No matter how she looked at it, the grotesque, exaggerated humanoid patterns resembled the style of a cultist's madness. But if not for his sudden intervention, the North City Police Station would likely still be continuing its bloody games.

"The way to deal with cultists... is to become crazier than them..."

Sandella unconsciously repeated Govi's words, then shook her head with a self-deprecating laugh.

The reason humans could achieve great things was precisely through orderly organizations and rules—it was this strength that could unite hundreds of millions of individuals. If only madness remained, what difference would they have from monkeys swinging in trees?

The masked man was the same.

Although his appearance had ended Kuiqi's crimes, it had also resulted in the destruction of the Grand Theater and the deaths of dozens of people. Even if these people were accomplices of the North City Police Station, they shouldn't have all been sentenced to death without legal trial. Regardless of his purpose for coming to Glorious Fortress, he had caused serious harm to the order of this place.

She had to catch him as soon as possible.

Half an hour later, Woody returned to the high tower office.

"Miss Judy isn't at the newspaper. According to the manager, she hasn't reported for duty in quite some time."

"Is that so?" This outcome was perhaps within expectations. "It seems the incident affected her too greatly..."

"Perhaps, but she hasn't resigned from her job. In fact, three days after the theater burned down, she wrote a report and sent it to the newspaper, though she didn't show up in person."

It wasn't uncommon for reporters to wander outside for extended periods. As long as they could regularly provide valuable reports to the newspaper, the newspaper was willing to maintain the employment relationship. Judy's resilience, however, surprised Sandella slightly; she had expected the woman to be despondent for a long time. "Since that's the case, the flowers have been delivered, and that's enough."

However, Woody said with a very serious tone, "Lady Sandella, when Manager Jade was discussing Miss Judy, he mentioned that she had met with a private detective before she disappeared."

"A private detective?" Sandella couldn't help but think of the list of victims in the file.

"The man wore a leather trench coat, a felt hat, and was about 1.8 meters tall. He appeared to be middle-aged and had a very well-proportioned build..."

As her adjutant spoke, her expression gradually grew serious.

In the mansion at Wangshui Manor, in that messy room, the person standing opposite her was dressed in the same way!

And their heights were also very similar!

The adjutant must have realized this as well, which was why he was asking for such detailed information.

"Do you know his name?"

"The manager didn't ask, but he's definitely not a well-known figure, because Judy couldn't afford his price. None of the bodies in the theater were in that age range, so he shouldn't be on the list and is still alive... In conclusion, I believe this discovery might provide a lead for our investigation," Woody said finally.

Sandella, with a rare smile, patted her adjutant's shoulder forcefully. "Well done!"

This was definitely a pleasant surprise!

When a supplicant searches through all avenues and finds no success, what will she do in her despair? Perhaps it was for this very reason that she ultimately attracted the attention of the cultists.

"What do we do next? Issue an arrest warrant for Miss Judy?" Woody asked. "If she's truly hiding from us, we probably won't find anything if we go to her residence."

"No, an arrest warrant will only alert them," Sandella immediately rejected. Contact with Stone Bradley was undoubtedly a lesson learned—all evidence indicated that this group was very good at hiding themselves. "If Judy remains unseen for a long time, it's highly likely she's still in contact with the cultists. Once we issue a warrant, those people will definitely catch wind of it. Therefore, finding Judy must be done in secret, and through her, we can pinpoint the cultists' location in one fell swoop!"

"But Glorious Fortress is so large, how can we find her without an arrest warrant?"

"Be patient." Sandella walked to the window, opened the shutter, and let the howling sea breeze flood the room—the damp and cold air helped her think more clearly. Suddenly, an idea struck her.

"Doesn't she occasionally send reports to the newspaper? That's our opportunity," Sandella turned around and instructed her adjutant, "First, arrange for a team to monitor the newspaper and the nearby mailboxes day and night, and make absolutely sure that the surrounding public doesn't notice anything unusual."

"Then, notify the managers of the Daily Mail and the Herald and invite them to the Lookout Tower. I have something to discuss with them."

"Welcome to Glaic Academy, sir. Are you here to borrow books or to record documents?" an old man wearing gold-rimmed spectacles asked with a smile from behind the counter.

The person he was asking, however, was Chaoyang, who was completely bewildered. Wait, shouldn't this be some kind of library?

He looked around again, a little self-doubting. Why was the entrance hall decorated like a luxury hotel? The gleaming marble floors and the ubiquitous gold plating proved that the building's developer was not short on funds. Even the receptionist looked remarkably distinguished. If you changed that old gentleman's mandarin collar and added a suit jacket, he could easily pass for a professor at a prestigious university.

The only thing he couldn't find, however, was books.

Damn it, I got overconfident. I should have brought Judy with me, Chaoyang couldn't help but grumble inwardly.

After a period of hard work and entrepreneurship, he had finally established himself in this world. Now, a new problem lay before him: his understanding of this world was far too limited, especially regarding common knowledge and terms. If he remained ignorant, it would easily lead to misunderstandings and suspicion in his interactions.

Naturally, he couldn't tell Dane and Judy about this.

So, after beating around the bush and inquiring, he received this answer:

"If you have anything you wish to inquire about, you can find the answer at Glaic Academy."

"It is the center of the world."