The Avengers

Whether the Deep Ones were telling the truth didn't actually matter. Their words simply made Lynch realize that his previous deductions had gaps—gaps that neither he nor Miss Valente had noticed until now. Some conclusions that had seemed perfectly natural now appeared to have other possibilities.

Holding the young Deep One hostage, Lynch quickly reviewed the events of the past few days in his mind, finally identifying logical fallacies in three key areas.

First, even if Princess Chloe had indeed staged the theft of the gem herself and handed it over to the Deep Ones, this didn't prove that her ultimate goal was to find the Gate of Falsehood and Reality. She could easily have had an entirely different, perhaps even highly reasonable, objective.

It was just that she had shown immense hostility toward Lynch from the very beginning, acting without mercy. This had instinctively driven Lynch and Miss Valente, who were targeted for no apparent reason, to adopt a hostile stance. They had analyzed her thoughts with the utmost malice, assuming her actions were entirely ill-intentioned. That was why they couldn't bear to let her keep the gem and instead planned to hold onto it themselves. As for why she harbored such strange hostility in the first place, neither of them had looked into it deeply.

Second, even if the ones who set the trap on the beach were Deep Ones, and even if the ones who took the ruby, the Flaming Red Lips, were also Deep Ones, it didn't mean the two groups were working together. They could easily be two independent factions. The area around Rhine City wasn't devoid of other Deep Ones; Davis, the wanted criminal who had previously blown up a ship to steal the Red Moon Memories, was one of them.

Third, during Mark's End Resonance, even if Princess Chloe had given him the Flaming Red Lips to hand over to the Deep Ones, and even if someone had instructed him to leak the news to the reporter to frame them, it didn't mean both actions were carried out by Princess Chloe. The latter could very well have been a conspiracy orchestrated by someone else entirely.

Simply because they already disliked Princess Chloe, coupled with the psychological suggestion of Miss Valente's dream-self wearing her gown from last night's banquet, Lynch and Miss Valente had naturally conflated the schemer with the already hostile princess. Furthermore, their anger at being repeatedly targeted for no reason had clouded their judgment, prompting them to directly recruit the Yellow Apostle—who had also been troubled by the Deep Ones lately—to launch a joint raid on the Deep Ones living in the shipwreck.

He hadn't realized it when it happened, but the more he thought about it now, the more he felt that someone had exploited their hostility toward Princess Chloe to guide them into a direct conflict with these Deep Ones. The mastermind didn't even need to use lies; every single event had actually occurred.

‘Is this what you meant when you said that truth can sometimes be the most dangerous lie?’

【Yes.】

‘You saw through it long ago, so why didn't you tell me?’

【Do you want me to tell you in the future?】

Lynch hesitated for a moment. ‘No, this is my journey. I don't like spoilers.’

【Heh...】

As the gentle laughter faded from his mind, Lynch composed himself. He activated the Telepathic Conch so that Miss Valente, who was waiting to support him back on the shore, could also hear. Then, clearing his throat, he said, “First, let me make one thing clear: I am merely a detective in Rhine City. I am not allied with anyone, and I am certainly not a robber. I believe there is a misunderstanding between us. Before any irreversible consequences occur, why don't we sit down and have a proper talk?”

Dozens of fish-like faces stared at Lynch with bizarre expressions, their eyes fixed particularly on the arm he had wrapped around the little girl's neck and the revolver in his hand. Finally, the old Deep One leading them asked in a raspy voice, “Do you actually dare to sit down and talk?”

“Uh, or we can talk standing up.”

Like hell I do. If I let go, you'll tear me to shreds, Lynch thought, curling his lip. He pressed further, “Who exactly are you, and why do you claim the gem is yours?”

The young Deep One girl in his arms no longer looked as frenzied as before, but she still said resentfully, “What do you mean 'why'? It was originally our treasure, you wicked robbers!”

“I'm asking you... Wait, it's yours?” Lynch suddenly realized that while West's intelligence had stated the Flaming Red Lips was stolen from a tribe in the New Continent, he had never specified that it was a human tribe. “You're the tribe that had the gem stolen? You came here this time just to take it back?”

“Otherwise what? Do you think I'm on a family vacation with my mommy and daddy?”

Lynch curled his lip, pretending not to notice the mockery in her tone. “So you got the gem from Princess Chloe. But I don't understand—if she was the one who stole it, why would she return it to you?”

“Who said Chloe stole the gem? How could she? She is...” The girl cut herself off.

“So, she helped you find the gem and returned it to you? In that case, why didn't you just take the gem and leave? Why did you have to destroy the merchant ship and slaughter the crew? Those innocent sailors didn't do anything to provoke you.”

“Merchant ship? Sailors? Innocent?” Lynch could feel the little girl trembling all over, her voice rising with every word. “Who do you think plundered our belongings and slaughtered the young and old of our tribe? This very ship was among the perpetrators! We've been hunting down the killers for two years, and we finally lured the last of these robbers out and killed them. You really are their accomplice, to call them innocent! Were we not innocent?”

Lynch opened his mouth, only to find himself speechless. If what they said was true, then from their perspective, this was an entirely different story.

Their home had been destroyed, their treasure stolen, and the survivors of their tribe had traveled thousands of miles to hunt down the killers. Finally, with the help of a foreign princess, they had managed to lure the culprits out and execute them. But then, an unexpected enemy had caused trouble outside. While the entire tribe went out to fight, their home was infiltrated, and the children left behind were nearly slaughtered.

“It does sound like you're quite innocent. But I'm innocent too!” Lynch said. “I was targeted by Princess Chloe for no reason at all, and then I was guided by someone with ill intentions to come find you in the middle of the night. For some reason, the mastermind behind the scenes tried to instigate a fight to the death between us, though thankfully they didn't succeed. I just don't know why they did this. They couldn't have gone to all this trouble to drag us into this just out of boredom. They must have a goal. I wonder what they wanted to get from...” Lynch suddenly gasped.

Lynch's voice cut off abruptly. His face tightened, and he asked in a dry voice, “Oh no. The gem... where did you put the gem?”

“Why would we tell a robber like you?”

“You don't have to tell me, but is anyone guarding it right now?” Lynch asked anxiously. “I suspect their goal was the gem all along. By triggering a conflict between us, they could seize the opportunity to steal it. They are the ones who want to use the gem to find the mystery relic.”

With that, Lynch gritted his teeth and released his grip on the young Deep One's neck. He said solemnly, “This is my gesture of good faith. You had better check on it. That gem is extremely dangerous, and under no circumstances can it fall into the hands of those with malicious intent.”

The little girl rubbed her neck and glared fiercely at Lynch. The surrounding Deep Ones breathed a sigh of relief, and some began to stir with hostile intent. However, the white-haired old Deep One waved his hand, suppressing his clansmen's malice. He wore a thoughtful expression, seemingly finding Lynch's words highly plausible.

“That's impossible. It's perfectly safe,” the old Deep One said. “It is in our most heavily guarded location. Even if one of your high-ranking Soul Severers came, they wouldn't be able to steal it.”

The little girl curled her lip, but after the white-haired Deep One leaned in and whispered a few words to her, she bit her lip and reluctantly gestured for Lynch to follow.

“Come with me. I'll let you see for yourself, and then I'll deal with you afterward.”

With that, the Deep Ones surrounded Lynch, escorting him back to the first mate's cabin.

The room remained just as it had been. Dozens of sailors' corpses floated in the gray silt beneath the large hole. The little girl waved her hand near the opening, and one of the corpses floated upward until it reached the edge. Sitting on top of the body was the wooden box Lynch had seen in the End Resonance.

“See that, robber? This is the safest place on the entire ship, guarded by Dagon himself. Nothing could possibly go wrong.”

Phew. Lynch let out a breath of relief. He had no intention of stealing the gem anyway, so he began to think of a way to make his escape. “As long as it's safe, that's all that matters.”

“Of course it's safe. Look.”

With those words, the little girl opened the wooden box, and everyone's eyes instantly froze.

The wooden box was completely empty. There was nothing inside.