As Byrne briefed Morris on the situation, officers from the City Police Force arrived. The leader, a stocky-looking officer, saluted Byrne: "Sir, the area has been cordoned off, and the club's staff are being evacuated."
Byrne nodded. "Send one team to assist the Joint Investigation Bureau in collecting evidence, and another team to interview club staff to ensure the case remains confidential."
The officer took his orders and left. The officers began setting up cordon lines in the corridor. They and the FBI agents that Morris had brought were busy with their own Joint Investigation Bureau, with almost no communication between them.
Rather than the fact that the City Police Force and Joint Investigation Bureau's lower-ranking members also disliked each other, Isaac felt that it was more likely that the presence of Byrne, the Joint Investigation Bureau's chief of staff who disliked the FBI, made the officers hesitant to communicate with the Joint Investigation Bureau agents for fear of displeasing Byrne.
Carlo leaned against the window, clearly having no intention of getting involved. Even if he did, Morris probably wouldn't give him a friendly look.
Isaac waited on the side, observing the people around him. He noticed Freddie sitting in the corner of the lounge, his gaze occasionally drifting in Carlo direction, his eyes always holding a certain...
He thought for a moment, then lowered his voice and said to Carlo, "Boss, that young master Harrington was looking at you a little strangely."
"What's so strange about it?"
Isaac couldn't quite put his finger on it. "I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's kind of like... the way a classmate used to look at me when I was in public school."
Carlo raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What does that classmate think of you?"
"When I was reading, she would sit not far away and glance over every now and then. When I looked up, she would look away, and when I looked down, she would look back," Isaac recalled. "At first, I thought she had a problem with me."
"Tsk tsk, that's the look of someone secretly in love."
So, young Master Harrington has a crush on you?
"... Not bad, Asa, you actually managed to say something that shocked me."
Isaac glanced at Freddie again, Freddie quickly looked away, gazing nonchalantly out the window.
Carlo yawned and walked towards the door. "Nothing much to do tonight, let's go home."
Isaac followed him out of the lounge. In the corridor, the figure made of maggots remained motionless. Carlo gestured with his chin toward the maggot. "Let's finalize the contract first. We can leave the little maggot to Morris; let him have his headaches."
Just as Isaac was about to ask how to dock, Carlo turned to the other end of the corridor. " Morris."
Morris was speaking to an agent when he heard Carlo's voice, paused, and looked over.
"That Foul Spirit was summoned by my assistant. If you want to use it, then take over. We're not involved anymore."
Morris glanced past Carlo, stared at Isaac for a few seconds, then walked over expressionlessly and took something out of his pocket.
It was a whistle-like object, yellowish in color, with fine patterns engraved on its surface. Judging from the material, it should be some kind of bone.
Morris brought the bone whistle to his lips and blew it.
The whistle's sharp, short sound, like the mournful cry of an animal being choked, echoed through the corridor, making Isaac feel uneasy.
Immediately afterwards, he felt a pulling sensation, as if something was being peeled away from his body.
"This must be the Wonder that Carlo mentioned Morris possessed?" Isaac wondered.
But the pulling sensation quickly disappeared, and Morris stopped whistling, his brow furrowing.
Huh? Did it work? Isaac looked at himself, then at the maggot-like figure.
However, it seemed to have failed, and Morris blew another bone whistle, longer than before.
Isaac felt the pulling sensation return, but it quickly dissipated as well. Morris put down the bone whistle and stared at Isaac.
"Oh, look at that face of someone who's eaten maggots..." Carlo tilted his head.
Morris gave Carlo a cold glance, then looked at Isaac, his brows furrowing even deeper.
Isaac looked at him with confusion, and Carlo said, " Morris's bone whistle is a special Wonder used to deal with summoned creatures. It can forcibly take ownership of someone else's summoned creatures, and it's always been very useful."
"But it didn't work today because of you. Looks like the little maggot still prefers you a little more."
Isaac thought to himself, "Forget about it." He had no desire to be "liked" by a humanoid creature made of maggots.
Morris put the bone whistle back into his pocket and said to Isaac, "Your spiritual qualities are different from ordinary people."
"Uh..." Isaac wasn't quite sure what that sentence meant.
"The spirits summoned by ordinary people have loose contracts that can be broken by a single external force. Yours is different; the contract is very deep," Morris said. "Why?"
"I don't know." Isaac was naturally completely unaware of such profound principles of contract.
Morris didn't press further. "Since the summoning contract can't be transferred, you'll need to stay and cooperate. I need to confirm the state of this Foul Spirit, the source of its previous contracts, until a solution for dealing with this Foul Spirit is determined."
Isaac glanced at Carlo, Carlo shrugged. "Nothing to do with me? Then I'll head back."
Morris clearly had no intention of stopping him. Carlo waved to Isaac and, without waiting for Isaac's response, walked towards the exit of the corridor.
After Carlo left, Morris asked, "What kind of ritual did you use to summon it?"
"There was no ritual involved; well, the boss had me do a check with dice."
" Schuster's dice..." Morris's face darkened.
Isaac recalled the origins of his conflict with Carlo and figured that the section chief probably didn't have a good impression of dice.
Fortunately, Morris didn't say much. He turned to the maggot man, walked around it, observed the wriggling of the maggots that made up the body, took out a pair of gloves from his pocket, put them on, picked up a clump of maggots, and brought them close to his eyes to examine them.
A few minutes later, Morris took off his gloves. "These maggots are ordinary carrion maggots, not specially cultivated. The Foul Spirit themselves have not been enhanced; they belong to the lowest tier."
"However, this Foul Spirit is more stable than expected. I need to take it back to the Joint Investigation Bureau's storage facility. You will need to sign the handover documents."
"Signature?"
"You are the summoner, and legally speaking, this Foul Spirit is under your control. Even if the contract cannot be transferred immediately, once signed, the responsibility will shift to the Joint Investigation Bureau, and I will place it in the Joint Investigation Bureau's containment facility," Morris explained. "Follow me, and make it come along too."
He gave a few instructions to the other agents and went downstairs. After Isaac gave the order to the maggots, they followed, their footsteps mingling with a sticky sound.
When the police officers saw the maggot-infested man come down the stairs, they all stepped back a few paces with awe, making way for him.