Miracle of Light

This was an extremely dangerous world, especially Rhine City's Charles Square.

Last night, following the bizarre figure that had vanished into thin air, another ghost story was added to Charles Square.

The madman who repeatedly crashed into streetlights.

Without a doubt, it was just Lynch practicing his newly learned Flash last night. Having just acquired it, he had failed to control it properly and crashed into the roadside gas lamps a few times, only to be spotted by someone.

How ignorant. Who hasn't crashed into a few streetlights before?

Still, Lynch's intuition was correct; Flash was indeed a very useful technique.

Teleporting within five meters of one's line of sight, with a fifteen-second cooldown.

It could easily be called a strategic ability. It was highly useful for both offense and survival, and could even be used to travel. The only downside was its high energy consumption; frequent use would quickly exhaust his energy, so it could only be used as a trump card.

The only regret was that this arcana could not penetrate conceptually closed areas. This meant that even if he could see through a fence, he could not teleport past it, much less pass through transparent glass into a room. The shattered glass on the first floor of the apartment was proof of this.

As was the bump on his forehead.

The landlady, who had just been startled by a talking cat, was startled yet again. Amid little Martha's gloating smiles, she grabbed Lynch and scolded him for a long time, making him sigh inwardly at how terrifying a mature woman could be when angry.

In short, Lynch tossed and turned all night, and it was only after his energy was completely depleted that he finally fell into a deep sleep amid a splitting headache.

In the morning, he practiced fencing and shooting for another hour. After this period of hard training, Lynch's marksmanship had improved significantly.

Half of his bullets actually hit the target.

The coach tore up his will on the spot and cried like a thirty-something-year-old child.

Ignoring the shooting coach who rushed out to buy champagne, Lynch left the Police Club. Instead of going to the Hall of Order, he found a hired carriage and headed straight for Riverside Manor in the northern suburbs.

Yes, Mayor Howard was not in prison at all; he was placed under house arrest by the Governor's Mansion in his own manor. This made Lynch sense something unusual.

Riverside Manor was just as it had always been, but unfortunately, the people inside were no longer the same. The scene of those few people drinking and laughing in the recreation room seemed to flicker before Lynch's eyes. He had been in this world for over forty days now, but he still wasn't used to these scenes of life and death, and thinking about it made him sigh with emotion.

There were many police officers on guard around the manor, consuming a large amount of police force, which made Lynch wonder even more. Furthermore, as soon as he reported his name, a police officer ran inside to report, and when they came back out, they let him straight in.

It was almost as if they were standing guard for Howard.

When Lynch met Howard, the former mayor was in the garden eating breakfast while reading a newspaper, with his original servants even waiting on him.

It was almost July, and the garden was in full bloom, filled with the fragrance of flowers. Howard sat amidst several clusters of delicate blossoms, surrounded by the breath of nature, looking incredibly comfortable.

The problem was, why did this place look like a massive performance venue?

As Lynch walked in, he already felt dozens of gazes peeking at him. It was normal to be monitored, but this was too exaggerated. This was no longer surveillance; it was a crowd spectating.

Seeing Lynch, the former mayor showed no wariness at all. Instead, he took off his monocle, pointed to the chair opposite him, and smiled politely. “Please sit, Mr. Levive. I didn't expect you to visit so early, so I didn't prepare breakfast for you. I will have the chef prepare a portion for you right away.”

“No need.”

Lynch's lips twitched. He felt quite displeased. What on earth did I risk my life to outwit and overthrow him for?

This made him fail to control his emotions, and he said sarcastically, “I didn't expect that after retiring, the Mayor could still maintain such excellent living conditions. It is truly astonishing.”

“Hehe, money, status—as long as you have one of them, you can enjoy a superior life. And I happen to have both, so even if I failed, I can still live like this.” With that, he lit a cigar. “It is very unpleasant, but this is reality. It has never changed since the Fifth Age, and it obviously won't change in the foreseeable future.”

Lynch knew Howard was right. It was the same in his old world; reality was just that cruel. But he still shook his head and sighed, “Aren't they afraid you'll escape?”

“Heh, if I wanted to leave, I would have left that night. I wouldn't have stayed at all,” the former mayor laughed softly. “In fact, whether it's Rudolph or Vane, they are dreaming of me escaping. They might even be willing to hold a farewell party for it. Unfortunately, I have no such plans for now. My staying here is their biggest trouble.”

Lynch frowned, realizing that the other party might be telling the truth. Yesterday, Miss Valente had mentioned that the royal capital's attitude toward Prince William was also very ambiguous. Therefore, he temporarily set aside his hostility and pressed, “Why?”

“Since you haven't reached this position, you certainly won't understand, because I am a member of the parliament,” Howard said calmly. “No matter what crimes I've committed, and regardless of whether there is solid evidence, given Lande's current climate—or rather, the climate of the entire Middle Earth—taking action against a mayor elected by the parliament means risking war with the parliament. But unfortunately, Rudolph and Vane are clearly not ready for war yet.”

The Rhine City Relic Incident. Lynch had already thought of a title for future history books.

No wonder they had to seek him out privately to investigate, no wonder they only dispatched the guard at the very end, and no wonder both sides had such ambiguous attitudes.

In an instant, most of the doubts in his mind were resolved.

“Right now, Vane is most afraid of anything happening to me, as they wouldn't be able to explain it. Those police officers outside are there to protect my safety,” Howard smiled darkly. “I reckon he's been living in anxiety these past few days, worried that I'll die here inexplicably. In a few days, he'll probably have to come in person to beg me to escape quickly.”

“Someone wants to kill you?” Lynch frowned. “People from the parliament?”

Howard was taken aback and looked at Lynch in surprise. “For you to think that way, you must truly understand the relationship between us. It seems I underestimated you. However, it hasn't reached that point. The parliament doesn't want me dead. The ones who truly want me dead are the Shadow Alliance.”

“To silence you?”

“No, it's more complicated than that.” Howard hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand to dismiss the servants. Lynch took the hint and activated his Phantasmal Sound ability. Only then did Howard continue, “We aren't actually members of the Shadow Alliance; it's just a cooperative relationship. They provide me with commercial intelligence, and I do things for them that are inconvenient for them to do themselves.”

“Even if those things mean rebellion?”

“Of course. Do you know how much I can make from their information?”

Lynch felt his eyelids twitch. Capitalists truly had no bottom line.

“So I know very little about their affairs. There's no need for them to silence me. They want me dead because of one of their plans.”

This was it! Lynch's breath hitched, and his heart rate accelerated. He pressed, “What plan?”

“I really don't know about this. I only know that this plan is extremely massive, involving many factions, and even some of the Churches of the Major Gods.”

Lynch nodded. Behind the Black Spider was indeed a certain major god.

“From what I understand, their plan is divided into several parts. The first part seems to have already been completed with the cooperation of an ignorant fool. The second part has just begun, and my death is highly likely to be a link in this second part. This is precisely why I invited you here. Cooperation is one thing, but if they want to use my life as a stepping stone for their plan, they underestimate me too much. I absolutely cannot tolerate it. Unfortunately, I only found out about this recently, otherwise, I would have prepared earlier.”

Well, the fool is probably me. Although I still don't know the specifics, I've at least touched the tip of the iceberg. Lynch pondered and asked, “I don't quite understand. If that's the case, why don't you just leave? The Shadow Alliance wants you to die here. If you leave directly, won't they lose their reason to kill you? Their plan would naturally fail then, wouldn't it?”

“I can't be sure whether their plan is to have me die here or outside. I don't want to use common sense to gamble with their plans; everyone who did that in the past failed.” Howard suddenly showed a sinister expression, curling his lips as he said, “Besides, why should I leave? Staying here happens to torture Vane and Rudolph.”

“That's a bit petty,” Lynch said mockingly. “A loss is a loss.”

Howard curled his lips and then explained, “I have years of meticulous arrangements here. I have the careful protection of fifteen knights from the Four Major Churches, the guard of four Watchers directly under Norin, the concentrated protection of special individuals in the Governor's Guard, and a rank seven expert invited from the Arcane Research Society personally presiding over the security. Let alone the Shadow Alliance, even if someone were to summon an evil god, all of these people combined could put up a fight. So with such a secure nest, why should I leave of my own accord? Hehe, as long as I stay here, the Shadow Alliance can't do anything to me. I, Howard Hoffman, have lived for forty-eight years. It won't be that easy to make me die.”

“Then what do you want me to do?” Lynch asked. “Add another layer of protection?”

“No, right now I only want revenge. I want to make them regret it.” Howard smiled, a sinister malice in his eyes. “I guessed from their conversation that the item called the Miracle of Light has a huge impact on their plan. They are looking for it, and even that evil god is helping them look. And I remember that your other identity is very interested in this thing.”

“In other words, although we don't know the specific details of their plan, as long as we find the Miracle of Light, we can affect or even disrupt it?”

“I can only say there is a possibility. The worst-case scenario is that it has no impact on the plan.”

Lynch narrowed his eyes and stared at Howard. The truth of his words was unknown, but right now, the logic was self-consistent. Cross-referencing it with Lynch's own information, it was highly likely to be the truth.

“Fine, I'll trust you this once.” Since they had a common enemy, uniting was only natural. “Where is the Miracle of Light?”

“I only know a small clue.” Howard leaned forward, took Lynch's hand, and whispered, “It's in... pfft.”

Right between the two of them, a cloud of blue smoke suddenly emerged. The smoke vaguely condensed into the form of a beast on all fours. Two pairs of light spots lit up from what seemed to be its head, and it glanced back at Lynch.

Meeting its gaze, Lynch felt as if he saw the passage of time and the changing of the world.

In the brief moment he was dazed, the smoke turned back, spat out a tongue-like stream of smoke, and stabbed it directly into Howard's chest.

No blood flowed, but Howard let out a tragic shriek as his body aged at an extreme speed. In an instant, his hair turned white, and he collapsed to the ground, completely breathless.

From within the blue smoke, a roar that seemed to stem from the soul echoed, and then it exploded, dissipating into the air as abruptly as it had appeared.

Leaving only Lynch standing in place, looking grimly at the aged and withered body on the ground.

At this moment, Lynch felt as if he had returned to the day he had first transmigrated, or perhaps even worse, because he felt an extreme sense of danger from that blue smoke.

Lynch's heart pounded wildly. The bizarre scene inevitably made him nervous.

A recurring nightmare. Was the clue he had just obtained about to be cut off again?

Suppressing his wariness of the blue smoke, Lynch suddenly reached out and pressed his hand against Howard's body.

【Authority, Death, Ability, End Resonance】

For an instant, his mind went blank, and intense pain flooded his consciousness. But amid the pain, a voice came through.

Then, the voice stopped abruptly. Lynch was violently repelled, stumbling back a few steps as he watched Howard's body shrivel up.

Looking at the body that resembled a centenarian, Lynch felt a chill run through him. Although he had witnessed many bizarre deaths, it was still hard to get used to.

No, the timing was too coincidental. He had met his end just as he was about to speak the information regarding the Miracle of Light. It would be difficult for an assassination to grasp the timing so precisely.

Rather than someone assassinating him, it seemed more like his act of speaking the information had drawn some bizarre entity that killed him.

So they didn't have to do anything. They only had to watch me find him, and they could kill him through me without leaking any secrets.

If that was truly the case, these guys were simply too dangerous. It was impossible to guard against.

Was this what Countess Hathaway meant by "it's not about what you did wrong, but rather that doing the right thing is exactly the outcome they desire"?

The anomaly quickly drew the security personnel Howard had mentioned, and soon, the entire manor was completely locked down.

Such a bizarre death plunged everyone into a daze.

There were no signs of attack, and everything had happened so naturally. How could they explain this?

And what on earth was that thing that had popped out?

Consequently, these people interrogated Lynch thoroughly. Lynch didn't blame them; after all, he was indeed the most suspicious.

However, the benefits of maintaining a good reputation for over forty days finally showed. After the interrogation yielded no results, the guards still respectfully escorted Lynch out of the manor.

After all, everyone had seen that he indeed did nothing, and nobody wanted to witness the strange phenomenon of a red moon hanging in the broad daylight sky.

But standing outside the manor, Lynch hesitated.

What was the Miracle of Light? Unknown. What was its use? Unknown. Where was it? Unknown.

Everything was an unknown.

He only knew it was a manifestation grade mystery relic related to the authority of light, and even the Swelling Daughter was interested in it.

That's right, a big guy of the same danger level as the Gate of Falsehood and Reality.

The only known clue now was the information about the Milt family in Wilson Town, and one person had already died a bizarre death for it. Without a doubt, this matter was extremely troublesome and fraught with danger for Lynch.

But since he realized he might have done something unintentionally, and it was also confirmed by Howard, even if the responsibility wasn't his, he still had an obligation to prevent disastrous consequences.

A man must not run away from problems, no matter what danger he faces.

Lynch decided to do his best to find the Miracle of Light. Regardless of whether it was useful or not, he had to secure it first.

In that case, he had to at least visit the Milt family in Wilson Town to investigate the situation.

However, the situation was unclear, and there was even the possibility of a trap. Relying solely on his own strength was a bit too forced.

But he couldn't tell anyone about this.

It wasn't just a matter of trust. With Howard's example right there, Lynch didn't know to what extent revealing the matter of the Miracle of Light would trigger an attack from that bizarre entity. He didn't want to test it with his life, so he could only choose to say nothing at all.

The problem was, how could there be anyone so foolish in this world to risk their life with him without a clear explanation?

Thus, at exactly eleven o'clock in the morning, Lynch appeared before the door of Room 304 in the Scarecrow Club.

Officer Natalie, who had just woken up, had messy hair and red pillow marks on her face. Her capable features were tinged with a post-sleep daze, making the contrast look quite amusing.

Having just spent the entire night rushing a report on yesterday's girls' school incident, she had barely woken up when Lynch cornered her at home.

Wearing lace pajamas, she opened the door in a daze. Seeing the person outside, she immediately swung a throw pillow and hit him a few times, then turned and went back to the living room on her own. She slumped on the sofa to slowly wake up, letting Lynch follow her inside.

“Are you busy?”

Officer Natalie looked down at her pajamas and gave him a look reserved for the mentally disabled.

“Then come out with me. I need to go somewhere.”

“Oh.” Shaking her messy hair vigorously, the female officer rubbed her face. “Where to? What for?”

“I can't say.”

“Hmm?” The female officer raised her eyebrows. “Then when will we be back? I need to let them know.”

“If things go smoothly, we'll be back tonight or tomorrow. I'm just going to assess the situation first.”

“And if things don't go smoothly?”

“Hard to say. It mostly depends on when the police transport us back.”

The air went silent for a second, and then a fragrant throw pillow smacked Lynch in the face. The sleepiness on the female officer's face had vanished, and her expression grew serious. “Is this matter very dangerous?”

“Yes, probably. Someone has already died because of it.”

Her tall figure suddenly vanished from the living room. In an instant, she had changed into her full uniform and appeared before Lynch holding her rapier.

“Let's go. I'll accompany you.”