Beech Mountbatten

After Lynch came out of the washroom, he felt that moving house was truly an urgent matter.

The tenants had all returned by now, and he had to wait in line for a full half-hour before it was his turn to take care of his physiological needs.

However, the good news was that by the time he returned, Klein had already whipped up a decent meal using the leftovers from yesterday.

Although it was very little, Klein promised to go out and buy some beef later, so they could have a proper meal when Melissa returned in the evening.

Benson chatted with them for a few more moments before hurrying off to the docks.

Lynch didn't linger either; he saw two children loitering outside the window, which was the signal he had agreed upon with Mountbatten.

If the people were caught, the two children were to circle around his window a few more times.

After all, they were just children, so no one would pay any mind to them running in circles.

He gestured to the two children, then walked outside and headed quickly toward the agreed-upon location.

On the way, he kept his hand gripped firmly on the handle of the revolver, which he had already loaded with bullets; if the situation turned sour, he would need to take some defensive measures.

"Mr. Trance, do you see if it's him?"

When Mountbatten saw Lynch approaching, he immediately pulled him over to a group of people who were tied up tightly.

Lynch had memories of all these people; they were all thugs from the street where the original owner lived.

"When we arrived, they were inside drinking. When they saw us, they couldn't even walk straight."

Mountbatten kicked those people, his face full of contempt.

Lynch looked at these people, his expression unchanged, though he felt a bit of regret inside.

He had actually hoped to catch a Beyonder!

He hadn't expected it to be just this bunch of crooked melons and split dates.

Clearly, the true mastermind behind this matter had not appeared.

"Drag him to a quiet room for me; I need to ask him some questions."

Lynch pointed at Upton, signaling for Mountbatten to drag the man into another room for him.

Mountbatten didn't even call his underlings; he did it himself, helping Lynch drag the man into the room.

Upton looked at Lynch with a face full of rage, appearing as if he had suffered a great humiliation, and kept roaring, "I just went over to take advantage of the situation, what right do you have to tie up my brothers?"

Brothers?

Thinking of Upton's brothers who were all drunk and stumbling about, Lynch just took it as a joke.

If they were truly brothers, they wouldn't all be dead drunk while only Upton remained sober enough to talk to him.

"Speak! What are you trying to do?"

Lynch revealed a smile. He glanced at Upton, his tone relaxed, appearing as if he wasn't troubled by this matter at all.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I just wanted to take advantage of the situation, and in the end, I didn't do anything. What right do you have to treat me like this?"

Upton looked at Lynch with dissatisfaction.

Lynch stared at him for a while, then brought up a different topic.

"Do you know about the Nighthawks of Tingen?"

Upton frowned.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

Lynch lowered his voice and whispered into Upton's ear.

"The Nighthawks have been tracking the Big Meat Church recently. I need you to pass a message to them: those Beyonders want to use me to catch you all."

A flash of surprise crossed Upton's eyes, and he quickly returned to his previous "I know nothing" act, but Lynch was already certain that this guy was in the know.

He hadn't been wrong to catch him.

"I didn't betray the organization. The Nighthawks targeted me; they took the Antigonus Notebook. I am innocent too, I can swear it to the Lord!"

Lynch said smoothly.

Whatever Lord it was, as long as he wasn't thinking about the other party, the god wouldn't notice him at all.

He spoke with such righteous indignation that, in this era, very few people would spout nonsense in front of a god, so Upton immediately believed him halfway.

"Then why did you catch me?"

"I did it for the Nighthawks squad to see. The other party seems to think that I obtained the Antigonus Notebook with your help, so they want to use me to catch you. Since I have no way to pass on the message, I could only find these people to help me pretend to pick a fight so I could talk to you.

Anyway, after we leave here, I will pretend not to know any of you. If you stand in front of me, I will only treat it as our first meeting. Of course, you can relay to them that if they have anything they want to tell me, they can secretly write me a letter, signed: Mr. XXX Trance.

I can tell the others that this is a letter from a distant relative. Remember what I said; I don't have much free time, as I'm being watched most of the time. That Klein is a member of the Nighthawks, and I only managed to shake him off with great difficulty."

After Lynch finished speaking, he winked at Upton, looking like a loyal and devoted follower.

Immediately, he raised his voice again: "I'll ask you one more time, when you came to my house, did you have any ulterior motives?"

Upton realized what was happening.

He shouted and hollered, even deliberately glaring at Lynch, which angered Lynch enough to land two punches on him.

"I'm going to make these people pay. Release this Upton, but arrest all his brothers and lock them up for two days. Brother, he won't have any brothers left soon!"

Lynch walked out and shouted furiously, leaving Upton full of admiration as he listened.

So this was what a true performance artist looked like.

He followed Lynch's lead, shouting indignantly as well, declaring that he would never yield.

Once he was kicked out of the room and the other thugs were taken back to the police station, Lynch finally looked at Beech Mountbatten.

"It's done. I've convinced that Upton to defect to me. He's a member who worships an evil god. Your opportunity has arrived, Mountbatten. Do you know which church Upton belongs to?"

Mountbatten was confused, only to hear Lynch explain: "He's from the Big Meat Church, which worships a terrifying evil god. If we can strike a blow against this criminal organization, I'll pull some strings for you. This will be a major achievement, and becoming the chief will be just around the corner!"

Mountbatten's eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously.

"I will keep an eye on him!"

Lynch remained noncommittal; he simply took out a piece of paper and, right in front of Mountbatten, casually wrote out a pledge.

I, Lynch Trans, swear to protect the Big Meat Church with my life. If I die, everything I own belongs to the church!

After finishing, he handed the pledge to Mountbatten.

"Just now, to help Upton report back, I told him to let those people know that I also want to join the Big Meat Church. Writing this pledge now will help him gain their trust. Find a way to get this to Upton later without leaving a trace."

Mountbatten nodded and gave him a thumbs-up.

This officer was even willing to write a pledge for the sake of solving the case, showing no fear of retaliation from an evil god. No wonder he was a member of the Seventh Task Force!

The other man's selflessness made his own attitude seem a bit shameful by comparison.

But soon, Mountbatten saw Lynch's encouraging gaze, and he immediately straightened his expression.

That's right, he, Beech Mountbatten, was also here to contribute to the people. Everything he did was not just to become the chief, but for the people and for the motherland!

He, Beech Mountbatten, was exceptionally patriotic!