Them Again

Driven to a dead end, Lynch could even feel a hint of despair.

The necklace with phase defense had already been returned to Miss Valente, leaving him with nothing to rely on now. Even an armed attack by an ordinary person would be highly dangerous, let alone facing a rank seven high-tier Soul Severer.

Seeing the other party raise the dagger while uttering an apology, Lynch did not wait for the blade to fall. He gritted his teeth, preparing to put on the ring of fire to avoid the fatal blow.

Even against a rank seven expert, he had to give it his all and couldn't just wait—wait, rank seven?

In a flash of insight, Lynch suddenly realized something.

The last rank seven expert he had encountered had blown a century-old tree into sawdust with just a glance from over a hundred meters away, or had trapped him in an alley, unable to take a single step, without even showing his face.

This one was trying to stab someone with a knife? That was way too low-class. There was definitely something wrong.

The thought merely flashed through his mind, leaving no time to overthink. The dagger was already plunging toward his chest.

I'll take a gamble and follow my instincts. I bet you're just putting on a show.

Steeling his resolve, Lynch slipped the ring that was about to go on his finger back. Standing dignified on the spot, he kept his face covered with the round fan. With charm in the corners of his eyes and brows, he elegantly tilted his head back, watching the plunging dagger with great interest.

It was incredibly fast, immensely powerful, and unstoppable.

The snowy gleam of the blade reflected the cold gaze in those charming eyes. The gleam and the gaze locked as the blade drew closer, stabbing straight toward his heart.

A massive gamble, with life or death hanging in the balance.

Right as the dagger was about to touch his dress, it suddenly flashed and vanished into thin air from Kelvin's hand, leaving only his right hand maintaining the dagger-holding posture as it continued to punch down.

The charming young lady with the round fan remained completely motionless, her cold gaze staring straight at the incoming fist.

The figure flashed again, and this time, even Mr. Kelvin vanished.

He still maintained his previous pose, but his body had teleported back to where he had been standing not long ago, while 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 very last second, managing to pull back his attack at the absolute limit.

At this moment, Lynch's mind was a complete blank. His entire body ached, cold sweat drenched him, every muscle trembled, and his heart pounded as if it were about to burst from his chest.

It took everything he had just to remain standing, his legs barely supporting his weight. It was entirely thanks to the disguise of the round fan that he didn't lose his composure on the spot.

In his numb mind, only one thought remained: Holy shit, I actually won the bet.

At the final moment, Lynch had realized there was an anomaly in Kelvin's behavior.

This man was meticulous and decisive. Having just stated that they must treat Lynch with the utmost caution, how could he talk so much nonsense after discovering him, and then choose the most ordinary method of stabbing him with a knife?

Unleashing thunderous methods without a word to obliterate him completely would be more in line with the man's character. Since he had chosen the most unreasonable method, one riddled with loopholes, there had to be a reason.

For instance, perhaps he wasn't one hundred percent certain himself, and he couldn't actually break the cooperation between Prince William and the Swelling Daughter. Thus, he had to use this method to bluff, deliberately leaving Lynch a chance to counter or dodge.

Of course, these thoughts only gradually came to him as his blank mind slowly regained its ability to function. Just now, there had been no time to overthink. Lynch had simply trusted his first reaction and placed his bet.

And then... he won.

“As expected of a Swelling Daughter serving an avatar of the Lurking Chaos. Your strength is so immense that even I cannot see through it; you appear just like a low-tier weakling.” Kelvin whipped his cloak, tipped his hat, and bowed elegantly. “To face a sharp blade without even a change in expression, remaining completely motionless—no one could do that unless their strength reached a level where they simply didn't care. Strength does not lie. That detective is nowhere near this powerful. It seems I was overthinking.”

Is there a possibility that my expression didn't change because of the fan's transformation, and my immobility was because you scared me so much my legs turned to jelly? If you scare me like that again, I'll end up needing a change of pants right here.

Lynch quietly calmed himself down. Forcing his voice to remain normal, he sneered, “And here I thought something worth looking forward to would happen. How boring. What, you don't think I'm that detective anymore? So where is the gem? Was it not teleported over together?”

“The opponent is too cunning, and there was an anomaly this time as well. One can never be too careful.” Kelvin smiled reservedly. “Teleportation is just teleportation. How could I possibly distinguish what was being teleported? Hehe, it was merely a joke. Please forgive me, and let us not allow this trivial matter to spoil that lady's mood.”

“That is indeed a pity.”

Lynch cast a half-smiling glance at Kelvin, looking utterly unpredictable, though his heart finally relaxed slightly.

The change in the formidable enemy Kelvin's attitude meant the first hurdle was cleared, temporarily dispelling his suspicion. As long as he was careful next, he should have a chance to bluff his way through.

Now that a rare opportunity had presented itself, scaring him would come at a price. He would take their secrets as payment.

“According to our original plan, we intended to make our move on the seventeenth, snatching the item before he could hand the gem over to his client.”

Knowing this Swelling Daughter was here to ask about their progress, and seeing that Kelvin no longer doubted her identity, Walker stopped hiding things and answered honestly:

“First, to prevent him from tampering with it, as the one he delivers that day will definitely be the real one. Second, to make him lose the quest item and suffer public humiliation, helping us Rangers vent our anger. Third, obtaining the item will allow us to start the ritual right on the eighteenth. Otherwise, we would have to wait several more days, and who knows if something else might go wrong.”

Lynch's mouth twitched. He desperately wanted to ask about the details and location of the so-called ritual, but sanity made him dismiss that foolish thought.

That would be far too suspicious. Besides, he had other ways to find the location. Confirming their strike time and the scheduled time of the ritual already made this trip worthwhile.

Thus, Lynch nodded noncommittally. “I will convey this to the Eldest Sister when I return. But as for today...”

“This was the suggestion of our new allies, due to their arrival. They worried the original plan wasn't secure enough, in case we failed to snatch it that day, or if the top-tier powerhouse behind the detective intervened...”

“Most importantly, your original plan wouldn't have killed him,” Kelvin said sinisterly. “My two fellow believers received his 'care,' and I still hope to make him pay the price with my own hands. It was a pity today. He suddenly became alert, which means someone must have warned him. I will slowly deduce who did it.”

“New allies?” Listening to a group of people seriously discussing how to kill him was truly a rare experience for Lynch. However, he suddenly realized the key point. Adopting the tone of the Swelling Daughter, he looked at Kelvin with a half-smile and said, “It seems this gentleman only appeared a few days ago. Is he truly reliable?”

“Mr. Kelvin was also introduced by those gentlemen. His reliability is not an issue.”

“Then I hope you haven't made an error in judgment, hehe.”

Covering his face with the round fan, Lynch was about to sow some discord when he suddenly felt a chill rise from his spine.

Also? Those gentlemen?

Walker to say that meant the people who facilitated his contact with the Swelling Daughter were highly likely the same group that introduced Kelvin, the follower of the Flicker, to them. And from the very beginning of his transmigration, the ones instigating the followers of the Ancient Flicker against him were those bastards from the Shadow Alliance.

So, could this incident also be guided by them?

At this moment, Lynch felt his scalp go numb. It was as if that empty picture frame from the Randall residence had appeared before his eyes once more.

He had thought that after the Mordiggian incident, those bastards wouldn't appear in his life for a while, but he hadn't expected to encounter them again just a few days later.

From the start, Randall, the follower of the Ancient Flicker, had targeted Lynch under the control of the Shadow Alliance. The Mordiggian incident was even more clearly guided by the Shadow Alliance, and this plan of Prince William's was highly likely manipulated by them as well.

Damn it, what exactly were they trying to do?

What was the purpose of the deity behind them?

Was it possible that everything they did was far from simple? That from beginning to end, nothing was isolated, but rather linked together by an invisible thread?

Were they brewing some massive conspiracy?

【This will be the first scene of your journey, Lynch. Appreciate it all with patience. Do not worry, I will walk this path with you.】

'Hiss, you actually took the initiative to prompt me. Does that mean I'm not just overthinking, but have truly uncovered a problem?'

【...】

There was only silence in his consciousness, yet Lynch seemed to feel a trace of a smile.

Whew, it seems throwing away my dignity to cross-dress was truly worth it. This trip was not in vain. Fine, then let's see what those bastards are up to. Since you started this, don't blame me for ruining your conspiracy.

Yet just as he made up his mind and pulled back his thoughts, Lynch saw Old Blind Eye directing a group of Deep One sailors, rummaging and crashing around the shipyard.

“Mr. Kelvin still feels something is wrong. He is worried that Lynch was indeed teleported here. To be safe, he wants them to conduct a thorough search; otherwise, he absolutely won't allow the doors to be opened.”

Walker shrugged, saying with an apologetic expression:

“Lady, since you have already obtained the progress report you needed, could we please ask you to... return first? We need to handle the remaining matters ourselves.”

Lynch's fingers tightened around the folding fan. He finally realized that Kelvin had not fully believed him; the man was still trying to test him.

And this time, he had struck Lynch's most fatal weakness.

Once Lynch refused, no matter what excuse he found, it would only deepen the other party's suspicion, perhaps even detonating the situation immediately with no room for retreat.

Yet Lynch couldn't possibly vanish into thin air to return to another world. Relying on his lurking ability was even more out of the question; unless everyone else was blind and foolish, he could deceive no one.

Lynch understood. It seemed the other party had waited until now precisely to use this point for a final test. As long as he couldn't return to the world of the Swelling Daughter, what awaited him would inevitably be an all-out strike.

Looking at Kelvin's reserved smile, Lynch let out a soft sigh, realizing his crisis was far from over.

“I...”

Boom! Just as Lynch spoke, a sudden, thunderous roar, accompanied by violent tremors, reverberated throughout the entire shipyard.