Approaching a dead end, Lynch felt a trace of true despair.
The necklace for phase defense had already been returned to Miss Valente, leaving him with no trump cards. Being attacked by armed ordinary people was dangerous enough, let alone facing a high level soul severer at the seventh rank of authority.
Watching the man raise his dagger with an apology, Lynch gritted his teeth and prepared to use the flame ring to evade the lethal blow before the blade could fall.
Even against a seventh rank powerhouse, he had to fight with everything he had. He could not wait... Wait? Seventh rank?
In a flash of insight, Lynch suddenly realized something.
The last seventh rank powerhouse he saw had glanced back from over a hundred meters away, turning a century old tree into wood chips, or had trapped him in an alleyway without even showing their face.
This guy just using a knife to stab someone? That lacks any sense of status. There must be a problem.
The thought was fleeting, with no time to dwell on it, as the dagger plunged toward his chest.
I will gamble. I will follow my instincts. I bet you are putting on an act.
Lynch hardened his heart and pulled back the ring he was about to put on his finger. He stood gracefully, hiding his face behind his round fan, his eyes filled with charm, and elegantly tilted his head, watching the dagger descend with interest.
The speed was astonishing, the force immense, and the momentum unstoppable.
The blade shone bright, reflecting the cold gaze within his charming eyes. The blade and his gaze intertwined, drawing closer and closer, aiming straight for his heart.
A grand gamble, where life and death were left to fate.
Just as the dagger was about to touch his dress, it suddenly flickered and vanished from Kelvin's hand, leaving only his right hand in the posture of holding a dagger, continuing its downward strike.
The charming girl with the round fan remained motionless, her cold gaze fixed on the fist coming down toward her.
The figure flickered again, and this time, Mr. Kelvin vanished as well.
He maintained his previous posture, but his body had been teleported back to where he stood moments ago, and the dagger had flown back into the hand of its original owner, the pirate.
【Authority, Transmission, Ability, Spatial Teleportation.】
He had teleported himself away at the final second, achieving a last minute withdrawal.
At this moment, Lynch's mind was blank. His entire body ached, cold sweat covered him, every muscle was trembling, and his heart felt as if it were about to burst from his chest.
He used all his strength just to remain standing, his legs struggling to support his weight. It was only thanks to the disguise of the round fan that he did not lose his composure on the spot.
In his numb brain, only one thought remained: Damn, I actually won the bet.
Just now, at the final moment, Lynch had realized Kelvin's behavior was abnormal.
This man was meticulous and decisive. Having just said he would treat Lynch with the utmost caution, how could he possibly talk so much nonsense after identifying him, and then choose the most common method of stabbing someone with a knife?
Using lightning fast methods to kill me without a trace would be more consistent with his character. Since he chose such an unreasonable and flawed method, there must be a reason.
For example, he himself did not have a hundred percent certainty, and he could not afford to ruin the cooperation between Prince William and the Swelling Daughter. He had to use this method to probe me, so he intentionally left me a chance to counter or dodge.
Of course, these were thoughts that gradually surfaced as his blank mind regained its ability to function. There had been no time to think then, but Lynch had trusted his first reaction and bet his chips on it.
And then... he won.
“As expected of the Swelling Daughter serving an avatar of the Crawling Chaos. Her strength is so profound that even I cannot fathom it; she appears to be nothing more than a low rank weakling.” Kelvin shook his cloak, removed his hat, and bowed elegantly. “To face a blade without changing expression or even moving—unless one’s strength has reached a certain level and they are truly indifferent to it, no one could do that. Strength does not lie. That detective does not possess such power. It seems I was overly worried.”
Is there a possibility that the lack of expression is because the fan is a disguise, and the lack of movement is because you scared the hell out of me and my legs went weak? If you scare me again, I’ll be wetting my pants right here.
Lynch calmed himself down internally, trying to keep his voice normal, and sneered: “I thought something worth anticipating would happen; it turns out to be so dull. What, you no longer think I am that detective? So, where is the gemstone? Did it not get teleported over with us?”
“The opponent is too cunning, and there were abnormalities this time, so one cannot be too careful.” Kelvin smiled reservedly. “Teleportation is just teleportation; how could one distinguish what is being teleported? Hehe, just a joke. Please forgive me; do not let such a trivial matter disturb the lady’s interest.”
“That is truly a pity.”
Lynch glanced at Kelvin with a smile that was not quite a smile, looking inscrutable, though internally he finally relaxed a little.
The change in the powerful enemy Kelvin’s attitude meant the first hurdle had been passed. His suspicions were temporarily dispelled. As long as he remained careful, he should have a chance to muddle through.
Since the opportunity is rare, and scaring me has a price, let me trade it for your secrets.
“According to our original plan, we intended to strike on the seventeenth, to snatch the item before he handed it over to his client.”
Seeing that the Swelling Daughter was inquiring about progress and that Kelvin no longer doubted her identity, Walker did not hide anything and answered honestly:
“First, to prevent him from tampering with it—the item he delivers that day will surely be the real one. Second, to let him lose the task item and be humiliated in public, helping us Rangers vent our anger. Third, obtaining the item just in time for the ceremony on the eighteenth—otherwise, we would have to wait several days, and something else might go wrong.”
Lynch’s mouth twitched. He wanted to ask for the details and location of the ceremony, but his reason suppressed that foolish thought.
That would be too suspicious. Regardless, I have other ways to find the location. Confirming their time of action and the time of the ceremony has already made this trip worthwhile.
Thus, Lynch nodded noncommittally: “I will relay this to my eldest sister upon returning. But what about today...”
“Because of the appearance of new allies, this is their opinion. They are worried the original plan is not safe enough. In case we fail to snatch it that day, or if the top tier powerhouse behind the detective intervenes...”
“Most importantly, your original plan does not allow him to die.” Kelvin said sinisterly. “Both of our fellow believers were taken care of by him, and I hope to make him pay the price with my own hands. Today was a pity; he suddenly became alert. It must be because someone warned him. I will slowly deduce who did it.”
“New allies?” Hearing a group of people seriously discuss how to kill him was a rare experience for Lynch, but he suddenly realized the key point. He put on the tone of the Swelling Daughter and looked at Kelvin with a smile that was not quite a smile. “It seems this gentleman has not appeared for long. Is he truly reliable?”
“Mr. Kelvin was also introduced by those few gentlemen; his credibility is unquestionable.”
“Then I hope you have not misjudged, hehe.”
With his face hidden behind the round fan, Lynch was just about to sow some discord when he suddenly felt a chill rise up his back.
Those few gentlemen? Those few?
For Walker to say that meant the people who facilitated his contact with the Swelling Daughter were likely the same group that introduced the Ancient Flicker believer Kelvin to them. And from the very beginning of his crossing, the ones who had been inciting Ancient Flicker believers to target him from behind the scenes were those bastards from the Shadow Alliance.
So, could this incident also have been guided by them?
At this moment, Lynch felt his scalp tingle. Before his eyes, the empty picture frame from the Randall house seemed to appear again.
He had thought that after the Mordiggian incident, these bastards would stay out of his life for a while, but he had run into them again after only a few days.
From the beginning, the Ancient Flicker believer Randall had targeted Lynch under the control of the Shadow Alliance. The Mordiggian incident was even more clearly guided by the Shadow Alliance, and this time, Prince William’s plan was very likely controlled by them as well.
Damn it, what exactly do they want to do?
What is the true purpose of the gods behind them?
Could it be that nothing they do is simple, and from beginning to end, all events are not isolated, but connected by an invisible thread?
Could it be that they are brewing some massive conspiracy?
【This will be the first scene in your journey, Lynch. Appreciate everything patiently. Do not worry; I will walk through this journey with you.】
‘Hiss, you actually took the initiative to prompt me? That means I am not overthinking, but have truly discovered the problem?’
【...】
There was silence in his consciousness, yet Lynch felt a trace of amusement.
Whew, it seems it was worth sacrificing my integrity to dress as a woman; this trip was not in vain. Very well, then let me see what exactly these bastards are plotting. You provoked me first, so don't blame me for sabotaging your conspiracies.
However, just as he made up his mind and withdrew his thoughts, Lynch saw Old Blind Eye directing a group of deep ones sailors, searching and crashing about in the shipyard.
“Mr. Kelvin still feels there is a problem, worried that Lynch was indeed teleported here. To be safe, he demands a thorough search, otherwise he will not allow the door to be opened.”
Walker shrugged, saying with an apologetic expression:
“Madam, since you have already learned the progress you need, could I ask you to... return first? We need to handle the rest ourselves.”
Lynch’s fingers tightened on the folding fan. He finally understood that this Kelvin had not fully trusted him; he was still trying to probe him.
And this time, he had grasped Lynch’s most fatal weakness.
If Lynch refused, no matter what reason he found, it would inevitably deepen the other party’s suspicion and could even trigger a direct confrontation, leaving no room for maneuvering.
Yet it was impossible for Lynch to simply vanish and return to the other world. Relying on his lurking ability was even more impossible; unless everyone else was blind and stupid, he could not deceive them.
Lynch understood. It seemed the other party had waited until now precisely to use this point to conduct a final test. As long as he could not return to the Swelling Daughter’s world, what awaited him would inevitably be a full power strike.
Watching Kelvin’s reserved smile, Lynch sighed softly, realizing that his crisis had not ended.
“I...”
Boom! Just as Lynch spoke, a sudden, massive roar accompanied by a violent tremor resounded through the entire shipyard.
Rate on N.U.
