Li Jiehao looked at the pair of dice, then at Isaac, then at Carlo: "Wait, what's this? What are you talking about, this check or nothing?"
Isaac briefly explained Carlo's " All Checks " ability. After listening, Li Jiehao immediately understood why Isaac was able to block bullets with a knife like in the anime the night before last. He couldn't help but exclaim, "That's a real cheat code! Boss, you have so many cheat codes!"
"I wouldn't have survived this long if I were such a kind and approachable person.
"Haha... Hey, could we set up a 'I'm invincible' check? If you pass it, wouldn't you be invincible?"
"Even with cheats, you can't use them like that, you'll get banned." Carlo shook his finger. "Let Captain Carlo explain it to you. First, never make a sentimental check. Overly vague descriptions can lead to overly abstract check results, especially on high-difficulty levels."
"Second, although most of the time a test failure simply means that the test requirement is not met, if the test value is too low and the submitted number is too high, there may be some consequences, although not as serious as a major failure."
"Third..."
Carlo paused here, and Li Jiehao waited a moment, then, seeing that he didn't seem inclined to continue, pressed on, "What's the third one?"
"Heavenly secrets must not be revealed."
Why are you keeping us in suspense?
"Because it's interesting."
Li Jiehao protested twice, but Isaac, seeing Carlo's expression, knew he clearly wasn't going to budge, so he put the ring away and changed the subject. "By the way, boss, I saw Fenri and Patch bump into each other in the Joint Investigation Bureau corridor earlier, and the atmosphere was a bit strange."
"They've developed feelings for each other?"
"No, not really... it's just that Fenri usually ignores everyone else, but seems to treat Patch differently. Patch probably isn't an ordinary cat either."
"I didn't say that back then, Patch is an old cat, a very old one."
"How old?" Li Jiehao asked curiously.
"So old that two grand dukes have passed away."
"Damn, so old..." Although Li Jiehao hadn't had much contact with information from the upper echelons in the past, he knew that the current Grand Duke was quite old and had ascended the throne at a young age, while Patch had also seen the previous two Grand Dukes pass away.
Isaac understood a little. "It's also from the Wilderness?"
"Well..." Carlo tapped his fingers on the armrest, "Strictly speaking, it's not quite, but loosely speaking, it is."
What kind of repetitive talk is this...? Isaac seized on the key point. "What's the difference between being rigorous and not being rigorous?"
"That brings us to the question of how to define Wilderness."
"They haven't even explained in detail what the Wilderness is yet..."
"That's right, so it's best not to go into details about Patch's background." Carlo shrugged. "You'll get struck by lightning if you do."
Li Jiehao scoffed, "Fine, don't tell me then. Why bring up getting struck by lightning? God isn't going to target you. Oh, wait, there really are gods in this world..."
Isaac had intended to take this as Carlo's way of refusing to answer, but upon hearing Li Jiehao's words, a thought struck him.
... The Golden Bough symbolizes both the branches of the earth growing towards the sky and the thunder descending from the heavens.
So, considering this, "being struck by lightning"... actually refers to Vicania?
Vicania forbade the disclosure of information related to Patch or the Wilderness?
"In short, Patch isn't an ordinary cat. Just don't bother it, and it won't bother you on its own." Carlo concluded the matter.
One day later, at dusk, in Deer Lane.
Deer Lane sounds like a narrow alley, but it's actually a street. The houses on both sides used to be warehouses, but the road for freight wagons was narrowed. It's passable for people, but wagons often get stuck, causing congestion, so the drivers complain that it's "just like an alley."
It was precisely because of the traffic congestion that Deer Lane could no longer meet Vista's growing warehousing needs, and after the new warehouse area was built, this area was vacated.
Today, some warehouses have been converted into makeshift sheds for rent, some are used by small factories unwilling to spend more money to rent proper warehouses, and the rest remain abandoned.
As you walk deeper in, most of the windows of the buildings on both sides are boarded up with rotten planks, and broken bricks and withered grass are scattered on the street, with large patches of dark stains whose origin is unknown.
Before arriving, Isaac inquired about Deer Lane, changed into his old work jacket, tucked his revolver into his waistband, and wrapped his cane and sword in strips of cloth, making it look like a section of water pipe at first glance.
Walking down the street like this, he looked no different from the regulars in the Deer Lane area, and didn't attract much attention.
He stopped not far from Warehouse No. 3, which was slightly more intact than the surrounding buildings. The door was ajar, with a pattern drawn on it. He could not make out what was being said from inside, but judging from the sound, there were at least seven or eight people inside.
Isaac frowned because Carlo found the idea of "calling other departments for assistance, which meant filing a report" troublesome and told Isaac to go ahead directly. Isaac had scouted the area beforehand, observing the layout of the surrounding buildings and the direction of the roads, but he didn't get too close to Warehouse No. 3 to avoid being discovered.
However, the situation inside the warehouse seemed somewhat different from what he had imagined. The people sent by the Ghoul Cult to make contact should have been discreet, not gathered in a large group, let alone have a bunch of people waiting for him in the warehouse...
Isaac first walked around the warehouse. There were only a few tall windows on the side, so he couldn't see what was going on inside, but he could hear the sounds more clearly. It sounded like a group of people chatting. The atmosphere was very relaxed, which was very different from the tense and grim situation he had expected.
Isaac returned to the front gate and remained silent for a while, unable to understand this situation. He wondered if these people were unrelated to the Ghoul Cult and just happened to occupy the warehouse, or if the Cult had deliberately arranged for a group of people who didn't look like them to confuse the issue.
Suppressing his emotions, Isaac reached out and pushed open the door. The hinges made a dry, hissing sound, acting as a doorbell to signal that someone had come in.
The talking stopped, and everyone in the warehouse looked towards the door. Isaac also quickly glanced around.
An oil lamp illuminated an area in the center of the warehouse. Scattered on the ground were bottles of liquor and tin cans. Several people sat together; some sat on overturned wooden crates, others crouched against the wall. But each person had an axe, a stick, a harpoon, or something similar... weapons?
Their clothing was not uniform, but the styles were similar, all made of coarse cloth, and a few even had tattoos on their forearms.
Isaac couldn't immediately tell what these people did. They didn't look like workers or beggars, but they were somewhat like mercenaries, though there were still some differences.
This was a group Isaac hadn't encountered much of before; some called them thugs, but they preferred to call themselves "gang members."