Lost and Regained

Within a brief dozen seconds, the high temperature incinerated all combustible materials in the room, after which the flames rapidly died out.

When Lynch rushed back in, all he saw was a scorched blackness, a scene of complete devastation.

Lynch did not pursue the mysterious man. Several minutes had already passed, and with the servants currently gathered at the front of the mansion, the intruder would have long since escaped by jumping out a back window. Chasing after him now was meaningless; it was better to first see if anything here could still be salvaged.

Unfortunately, there was nothing.

A thick, burnt smell filled Lynch's nose, and waves of heat washed over his skin.

The fiery explosion had not produced much of an impact. The walls, ceiling, and floor were unaffected, but the extreme temperature had incinerated almost everything in the room.

Naturally, this included those precious documents.

Although they still retained their original shapes, all the papers had turned completely black. At a single touch, the desk and the documents crumbled together into flying ash.

Lynch stood motionless in the room, staring expressionlessly at the mess on the floor, his face growing increasingly grim.

He had been outmaneuvered after all. The man's build did not match any of the Rangers he had seen before. Could he not be one of Howard's men?

If so, why would he do such a thing, even going so far as to make a move inside a noble's residence? This was a very grave act.

Bang. A sound came from behind him. Turning his head, he saw that the door had also exploded into a cloud of ash. Outside, Miss Valente stood frozen in place, hand raised, staring at the ash filling the air. However, she quickly recovered her composure and walked in with a dark expression. First, she handed Lynch the coat she had brought up, then pursed her lips at the paper ash covering the floor.

“Is everything alright outside?”

“Don't worry. After you came inside, the smoke in the other rooms quickly stopped. They are currently opening the windows for ventilation, trying to clear the smoke as soon as possible. Did you do something to make the smoke stop?”

Lynch briefly described the mysterious man he had seen: “He specifically wore a wet cloth to cover his nose and mouth, so he was clearly prepared. He cleared the area with smoke first, then set a trap on the documents. It must have been like that. Once he succeeded and withdrew, the smoke dispersed.”

“Yes, he was indeed after these things. Someone doesn't want us to see these documents.” Miss Valente frowned. “But the timing is just too coincidental, isn't it?”

Indeed. The documents had been sitting there for a month, during which Miss Valente had repeatedly flipped through them. Yet, less than an hour after Lynch found out about them, the enemy had already come knocking on the door.

He was starting to feel like a spy in an espionage thriller himself.

“There are no coincidences in the world of the occult. The other party likely has a method similar to a divination ability, allowing them to foresee our movements in advance.” Miss Valente squeezed her folding fan and said in a low voice, “We just don't know who he is or what his purpose is in stopping us.”

“Oh? Could it not be Mayor Howard's doing?”

“Probably not. Based on your description of the explosion, I'm afraid what burned this room wasn't real fire.”

“Hmm?”

“Real fire couldn't have died out so quickly, nor would it emit such intense light. What you described is less like fire and more like... a scorching light.”

Lynch frowned, having a bad premonition.

“Yes. The owner of your ring, the Lady of Fire, holds a related authority, but her believers generally do not live very long, so they are quite rare. The more common ones who possess similar powers... belong to the Church of the Sun, the Soul Severers of Sun, the Lord of the Sun.”

Miss Valente surveyed the room and sneered:

“In the next couple of days, I will invite an expert to analyze the mystical residue left by the authority. If it is confirmed to be the work of the Church of the Sun, then this is a declaration of war against the Valente family. The family will gladly accept the challenge.”

This was the first time Lynch had ever seen the usually gentle and sweet Miss Valente so furious and unyielding. The way he looked at her became a bit strange.

“I am not angry. Over the past millennium, it is not the first time our family has faced provocations. There is no need to be angry; we only need to strike back hard, ensuring the opponent never dares to challenge us a second time. This is the belief that the Valente family has consistently upheld throughout its thousand-year heritage.”

The noble lady smiled proudly:

“In the next few days, I will return to the Church of Suffering. I am very curious to see how the church plans to handle an unprovoked attack on a believer dispatched to Rhine by His Holiness the Pope. I will also pay a formal visit to Duke Vane. When it comes to conflicts between the nobility and the churches, he should know which side to stand on. And then there is Victor of the Watchers. When a church's Soul Severer violates secular rights and acts against ordinary citizens, I believe those who maintain the order of Lande won't pretend not to see it.”

Hiss. Was this how the high nobility waged war? Mobilizing all their forces to crush the opponent directly. Lynch thought for a moment, narrowed his eyes, and smiled.

“I have another idea.”

“Oh? Please, do tell.” Miss Valente's eyes lit up. She still remembered that the last time Lynch said he had an idea, he had charged straight into Zur-Baha-Sahr and pulverized Mordiggian with three punches.

Lynch pulled out the Flaming Red Lips: “How about we drag the Rangers in as well to suppress the Church of the Sun together, forcing them to give us an explanation? This way, we can naturally deliver the item to them while using the opportunity to let them know the documents have been destroyed, completely lowering their guard.”

“Alright, we'll do as you say. We will mobilize every force we can. I will make the intruder pay the price.” Miss Valente gritted her teeth in hatred. “Even if he hadn't provoked my family, I wouldn't let him off easily. How dare he destroy our last clue? What a pity, now we have no way of knowing in advance... Huh?”

Miss Valente was looking at the paper ash on the floor with a face full of regret when she saw Lynch pull a stack of papers from the inner pocket of his coat and hand them over. She subconsciously took and unfolded them, then froze, her mouth slightly agape as she stared blankly at what was in her hand.

It was a portion of the documents that were supposed to have been destroyed by the fire—specifically, the ones Lynch had casually pocketed right before they fled when the alarm bell rang.

It was precisely the documents from the first research seminar that the two of them had just picked out.

“The appearance of that man just now precisely proves that there is indeed an unknown secret hidden within these documents, a secret so important that he was willing to risk setting fire to your home just to destroy them and keep it safe.” Lynch took back the papers and tapped them in his hand, speaking with a half-smile, “If our previous analysis is correct, then these are the most critical contents. The secret he wants to keep is highly likely hidden right here. In other words, what he spent so much effort to burn was probably just a pile of useless waste paper.”

“You...” Miss Valente's expression turned incredibly rich. Caught between tears and laughter, she said, “In such an emergency, you actually didn't forget to pack things away, and you even chose the most important ones?”

“I've suffered too many losses in the past, my lady.”

He was joking, but with Lynch's experience watching movies, he had seen too many instances of fools being tricked and having their bases stolen at the last moment. Thus, the moment the fire alarm rang, he had immediately and subconsciously pocketed the most important contents he could find close at hand and carried them out. Lynch didn't plan to explain, simply shrugging casually.

“Besides, after his little stunt, I actually have some thoughts on how to decipher the information.”

Miss Valente immediately showed an expectant look. “Oh?”

“When I entered Donnie's house and found those photographs, his home was tainted with an extremely heavy filth, which was also exceptionally strong on the photos themselves. But these papers don't have it, which means that back then, Donnie had already successfully deciphered the mystical information, temporarily turning those photos into mystery documents and causing a massive amount of filth to settle on them. And in the entire room, the concentration of filth was highest specifically on the walls, indicating that he had pinned the photos to the wall before successfully deciphering them. If we replicate his steps, could it be...”

Miss Valente felt her palms grow slightly damp, and her heart rate accelerated significantly. Licking her dry lips, she thought for a moment, grabbed Lynch's hand, and turned to leave. “Let's evacuate everyone in the house first, and then I'll try it with you. I think this might actually be a viable attempt.”