"Harming only corpses, not the living, is indeed harmless from the Cult's standards, but—" Isaac paused, "But from the Joint Investigation Bureau's perspective, cooperating with you and helping you regain your position would only return us to the state before Annabelle took power, with limited benefits."
"Why not take this opportunity to wipe the Ghoul Cult out of Vista's territory?"
Halperin was taken aback by Isaac's sudden outburst of strength, paused for a moment, and then let out a hoarse laugh, "Exterminate the Cult? The Joint Investigation Bureau doesn't have that capability."
"You seem very sure?"
" The Cult has been deeply rooted in this city for a long time, and its network of interests is far more complex than you imagine; you can't eradicate it all."
"To assume that the enemy cannot be eradicated simply because the problem hasn't been completely solved seems like a weak argument, just as living a long life doesn't mean one can't die." Isaac paused again, "Just like before you were assassinated, you probably thought your position was invincible, right?"
Halperin frowned. "Regardless, I have expressed my willingness to cooperate. Whether the Joint Investigation Bureau is willing to accept it depends on whether you want a friendly Cult. That's all I have to say."
Seeing that he was about to leave, Isaac called out to him, "Wait, you can't go. The Joint Investigation Bureau wants to invite you for tea."
Halperin's dry face darkened. "What do you mean?"
"The plan has changed; the boss thinks it might be more interesting to just arrest you."
"Arrest me—you're not capable of that."
"Like I just said, how do you know if someone has the ability before they even make a move?"
Halperin snorted coldly, his figure fading away, clearly intending to leave this place in some way.
Just then, a door next to them opened.
Halperin instinctively turned his head to look. There was a person standing in the doorway, wearing an ill-fitting dark suit, thin, with Eastern Territory face, who looked younger than him but not young either.
Halperin's gaze lingered on that face for a moment, his brow furrowing slightly. He felt the face looked familiar, as if he had seen it not long ago.
The old man spoke, uttering a string of syllables that didn't sound like Common Language or Hiro Script.
Halperin's fading figure suddenly froze, as if nailed to the spot by something. Disbelief filled his eyes. "You opened the other door, and Li Jiehao and Fenri were inside." Seeing Halperin's frozen figure, Li Jiehao's spirits lifted. "Dog Bro, let's go!"
Fenri took a step forward, his body expanding and deforming as he did so, his muscles bulging.
Halperin snapped back to his senses, his body jolting violently, a sharp cracking sound like shattering glass echoing as the forces binding him dissipated.
Break free.
His form began to fade again, but Fenri had already pounced close, the giant wolf's jaws opening to bite down on Halperin's head.
Li Jiehao quickly shouted, "Brother Gou, don't kill it! Leave it alive!"
Fenri gave a sudden jerk, and Halperin immediately split up, his head in the wolf's mouth while his body flew out.
Isaac dodged the flying body. "---- Fenri?"
Fenri, with Halperin's head in its mouth, gave Isaac a look that roughly meant, "Don't worry, he's still alive."
"Excellent, excellent, the arrest operation was a complete success."
Carlo went up to the third floor, clapped his hands, and glanced at the scene in the corridor.
Fenri stood by the wall, holding Halperin's head in its mouth. The headless body lay a few steps away. Li Jiehao carefully poked it to make sure it wouldn't move anymore.
"Looks like you haven't forgotten what you learned." Carlo glanced at Elesha.
Elesha touched his forehead, his expression somewhat strange. "Is this... really a lich?"
Li Jiehao chimed in, "Yeah, the Lich is supposed to be a final boss, how come it got wiped out in one turn here?"
"This guy was only recently resurrected, and through abnormal means, so he's still in a weakened state and easy to deal with."
Halperin's head stared out from inside the wolf's mouth, his expression a mixture of anger and disbelief. His mouth opened and closed as if to say something, but without a trachea, he couldn't make a sound.
Carlo walked up to Fenri, took his head out of the wolf's mouth, and Fenri returned to his original size.
Isaac dragged Halperin's body, which had fallen to the ground, to the wall. "Boss, what's the next step?"
"Take him back to the Joint Investigation Bureau, let them observe him, and interrogate him again." Carlo tossed Halperin's head to Isaac. "Head and body separated. Asa, you take the head; Jacob, you carry the body."
"Alright, I'm a professional corpse mover!"
Isaac cradled Halperin's head, while Li Jiehao hoisted Halperin's body onto his shoulder. The body was much lighter than he'd expected. "Boss, why is this thing so light?"
"A lich's body isn't normal flesh and blood to begin with; it's almost completely dehydrated, so how could it not be light?"
Outside the apartment building, Carlo walked in front, Isaac held Halperin's head, Li Jiehao carried the headless corpse and followed behind, Fenri walked beside him, and Elesha walked at the back.
"Boss, are we just going to arrest him like this?" Li Jiehao said, struggling to steady the light, floating corpse to prevent it from waltzing.
"Making a deal with this guy means helping him reclaim his position and dealing with his enemies. After all that, it's questionable whether he'll even keep his promises," Carlo said. "It's much easier to take him back and interrogate him directly. If he wants to live, he has to talk; if he doesn't want to talk, there are ways to make him—that's what it means to skip the preliminary tasks if you have the power."
Isaac weighed the severed head in his hand. Halperin's eyes were still wide open, his mouth opening and closing, clearly cursing.
As I reached the intersection, a drunk man was leaning halfway out of a window facing the street.
He looked out onto the street and first saw the headless corpse that Li Jiehao was carrying on his shoulder. He blinked and then saw the head that Isaac was holding in his arms.
"Did I drink too much?" he muttered.
Isaac glanced over there; that guy would probably think he had a weird dream when he woke up tomorrow.
Luckily, he was drunk, otherwise we would have had to call the police.
Continuing on, they passed through several quiet streets, and were even stopped and questioned by patrol officers from the City Police Force. Fortunately, Carlo showed them his ID and they were cleared away.
The Joint Investigation Bureau building came into view. Carlo stopped and said to Elesha, "You go back first. Jacob showed you the way this afternoon. It's okay if you don't remember; if you get lost, you'll have to figure it out yourself."
"Okay—okay." Elesha nodded repeatedly and broke away from the group.
Upon entering the Joint Investigation Bureau, the on-duty agent looked up and saw two people following Carlo: one holding his head, and the other carrying a corpse. The head being held was still opening and closing its mouth.
Duty Detective: "----"
Just as bizarre as the maggot-man I saw a few nights ago----