In the dark tomb, a few people were busy.
Dr. Jenna and Mr. Salin had both met their demise, but the mission had to continue.
Karl Jones was leading Judy to continue deciphering the defense system in the central corridor ahead. After the doctor's death, only Karl understood the ancient tomb's structure best.
Meanwhile, Rooney, the ancient book broker, and Jack Adams, the antique hunter, remained in the front tomb to inspect the side chambers. These side chambers in the front tomb often contained numerous antiques like armor and weapons, occasionally low-threat mystery relics, and a wealth of books and documents.
Of course, truly high-value treasures like jewelry and gold, as well as high-grade mystery relics, were hidden in the main tomb chamber, awaiting excavation. It wasn't the time to count their gains before opening the main tomb, but in ancient tombs like this, which hadn't seen sunlight for millennia, it was inevitable that dangerous oddities would be hidden in the side chambers. Moreover, given what had just happened, everyone decided it was better to be cautious.
Only Lynch—oh no, only Ms. Selene—was sitting among a group of stone sarcophagi in the center of the front tomb, surrounded by armor sculptures. Illuminated by the light, she sat perfectly still, looking just like a burial object.
It wasn't that she deliberately wanted to be lazy and act as a mascot; it was just that within two minutes, she fully revealed her true nature as a poor student. A supposed victim of intermediate archaeological education, she inspected and handled the burial objects as if she were there specifically to cause destruction, making Jack Adams' eyes nearly pop out and almost causing him to suffer a mental breakdown and become a twisted one on the spot. Lynch believed that if he weren't still acting as a trusted confidant of the employer, this greasy middle-aged man would have kicked him out long ago.
But those who brought investment were the bosses, so Jack and Rooney could only respectfully treat Lynch like an antique, setting him aside. “Please don't touch anything; as long as you don't cause trouble, you can do whatever you want.”
This was exactly what Lynch wanted.
I'm intentionally acting foolish to buy myself some free time, not because I don't understand.
【Hmm, I believe you.】
Sighing, he ignored his increasingly sarcastic neighbor, idly playing with his folding fan as he fell into thought.
Just moments ago, their lives were on the line, and there was no time for detailed thought. But looking back now, the entire situation was fraught with suspicion.
The reason for the defense system's malfunction in the passage was, from beginning to end, solely Karl Jones's account. But what if he had deliberately tampered with it to trigger the system, just to pull me into his camp against the others? In the end, I found a way to survive on my own, but if I hadn't, he might have taken me into hiding at the last moment, which would have been even more deceptive.
But this was just speculation, as something indeed happened outside, and the doctor's death was also full of suspicion. The timing was too coincidental, and in the mysterious world, coincidence itself was the greatest suspicion.
She was already recovering, had regained consciousness, and then suddenly deteriorated drastically. It was hard not to suspect someone was manipulating things behind the scenes, killing the doctor while simultaneously putting Karl and me in a death trap.
All three people outside were suspects, including Judy—no, Judy's suspicion was the smallest; Rooney and Jack were very suspicious.
Although it was the doctor who died this time, Lynch knew that the dark hand had already begun to reach for him. But everyone around him was suspicious. He had observed for days, but not only had he made no progress, even his ally Judy had become somewhat suspicious, and he couldn't fully trust her.
Surrounded by enemies, Lynch felt a heavy pressure.
After a moment of thought, Lynch made up his mind and stealthily reached into the doctor's belongings backpack.
He retrieved the 【Rick's Carbon Paper】.
The black-bound notebook made Lynch feel an urge to write names in it. Opening it, he found no handwriting left by the doctor; it must have been self-erasing.
His gaze quickly swept around, confirming he wasn't being watched. Lynch, hidden behind his round fan, carefully wrote a line of text.
“Call the two of them.”
He hoped to contact them soon, Lynch sighed, not holding out much hope. The last time he contacted them through this mystery relic was yesterday, and the relic had been under the doctor's control. The two ladies couldn't possibly be foolishly waiting for his message. Getting a reply within a few hours would already be... hmm?
A strange tremor emanated from the notebook. Though he hadn't experienced it before, Lynch instinctively realized that a message had been sent back.
Indeed, a line of small text appeared below his own.
A combination of numbers and letters.
Lynch couldn't possibly understand it out of the blue, but that didn't prevent him from realizing it was a reply from the two ladies.
Seeing this line, Lynch couldn't help but imagine the two ladies, hair disheveled and eyes red, staying up all night by the notebook, desperately waiting for news that was almost impossible to receive.
An indescribable warmth surged in his chest, like suddenly looking back in a helpless predicament and finding someone always there, fighting alongside him. The pressure of being surrounded by enemies was swept away, and fearless courage spontaneously arose.
With them as my backing, there's nothing... No, I shouldn't tempt fate now.
Timely stopping his wild thoughts, Lynch, with a hint of a smile, carefully wrote a second line.
“Might I have the honor of sitting opposite you?”
This was the dialogue from his first formal meeting with Miss Valente. However, no information came back from the other side. Lynch waited for a few seconds, growing increasingly uneasy, but then his heart stirred, and he realized the situation on the other end.
“You owe me eight favors. Time to pay up.”
“Nonsense, it’s seven.”
At this moment, Lynch felt as if he was back in the living room of 221 Villa Avenue, where Officer Natalie, like a squirrel, was cradling and nibbling on Mrs. Maggie's baked sweets, her stern and upright face occasionally flushing red from his teasing, before she skillfully hopped over the coffee table to give him a few kicks.
Heh, I like this life. I will definitely go back.
“She’s out coordinating; it’s my shift now.” The familiar handwriting appeared on the notebook, a bit ugly, but enough to reassure Lynch. “Howard has gathered many strong individuals from somewhere, at least three rank seven high-level experts. They’ve now moved to a village near the Carlos Mountain Range, seemingly ready to enter the mountains at any moment. We’ll try our best to handle these matters. As for what’s inside... you must be extremely careful.”
“The situation inside is very complicated. Salin and the doctor are both dead. Help me investigate a few people.” Lynch quickly and simply explained the situation here. “Their identities are very hidden, and they are all very suspicious. You must also be careful when investigating. Also, Dr. Jenna has a daughter named Louise; please help me look into her too, as I’ve promised to return her mother’s belongings to her.”
“Alright.” A series of dots appeared on the notebook, clearly indicating the girl’s brain wasn’t too keen on working after hearing all that, but she quickly wrote, “I still need to investigate the others, but I happen to know Jack Adams.”
Hmm? She happens to know Jack Adams, not Karl Jones?
As Lynch wondered, he saw the other side continue to write: “He had contact with my father, so I happen to know that big-nosed man. He’s a secret agent from the royal capital.”
“Whose?”
“Lande’s secret agents can only pledge allegiance to one person: Emperor Rudolph II.”
Hiss, so this bearded man was sent by the king to observe the rebellious son? Or did he have another objective, wanting to unearth the artifacts himself? The 'esteemed one' Howard and Walker mentioned couldn't be Emperor Rudolph II, could it? No, if the king were involved, Duke Vane wouldn't need to investigate in secret.
“I’ll investigate the others as quickly as possible. Leave the outside matters to us; we’ll do our best to find out everything quickly, so you can rest assured.”
“I’m leaving everything to you. Notify me if there’s any news.”
Lynch wanted to write a few more sentences, but a faint rustling sound made him quickly close the notebook and put it back into the doctor’s backpack.
The two men were still clearing burial objects in the side chambers and hadn't approached, but in the surrounding darkness, several small green dots suddenly lit up.
Several small gray mice were creeping up behind Lynch from different directions, subtly forming an encirclement.
Waves of icy chill emanated from behind Lynch.
The newcomers meant trouble.
Rate on N.U.
