Reinforcements

Tangled together, Lynch and Officer Natalie crashed heavily onto the floor, rolling across the ground until slamming to a halt against the wall.

Lynch looked down at his hands immediately, only to find them completely empty. Little Janet, whom he had held in his arms, was nowhere to be seen. A wave of melancholy washed over him; perhaps whatever happened inside the memory would never bring about any change in the mortal world.

A hand reached out as Officer Natalie moved beside him in a protective posture, giving his shoulder a gentle pat.

“At least we successfully suppressed the mystery relic's containment breach and made it back to the mortal world.”

Only then did Lynch notice they were back inside the secret chamber of Grant Screw Factory. Everything was just as they had left it, except that the five executives he had tricked into gathering around the relic were gone.

Though it was his first time personally sending people to their deaths, Lynch felt little guilt. In his eyes, scum who abandoned all basic human decency just for profit deserved zero sympathy. Besides, they had caused this mess in the first place; it was only natural for them to clean it up themselves. Dying inside the relic's memory was entirely their own doing.

“They personally fed hundreds of people to it. The terror of those hundreds formed overseer monsters, which then strung them up on the lampposts. Heh, in the world of the occult, cause and effect are always so twisted and bizarre. But there is no need for so many justifications—simply saying they got what they deserved is enough. Dying like that was letting them off easy.”

The female officer tapped Lynch lightly on the head with her fist, pulled him up to his feet, and turned to the set piece tray, pulling the blood pool from its center.

Meeting no resistance this time, she detached the set piece smoothly. At that moment, Lynch felt a wave of invisible pressure swiftly dissipate as complete stillness returned to their surroundings.

“Still, it's a bit strange that we still remember them,” Lynch remarked, puzzled. “Shouldn't they be forgotten just like those workers?”

“They weren't devoured through normal means, nor did they complete the blood pool's transformation ritual. They likely won't be forgotten like those workers.” The female officer speculated based on her past experience, but her hand holding the blood pool piece paused abruptly. “If that's the case, once the relic is completely contained, will they...?”

Before she could finish, gasps of horror drifted in from outside the secret tunnel. Soon, a clamor arose as more and more people seemed to gather.

Realizing something abnormal had occurred, Lynch hesitated for a brief moment before taking off his Ranger uniform and draping it over the set piece tray as camouflage. Then, he hurried out of the tunnel alongside the female officer.

A large crowd of workers had already gathered outside the building. Their expressions were noticeably more animated now, though they huddled together in panic, pointing toward one spot. The overseers did not yell at the workers for slacking off; instead, they were huddled together as well, some even trembling with fear.

Because the five executives, who usually held themselves high above everyone all year round, were now sprawled on the ground outside, giving off a sickening stench.

Even from a distance, it was obvious all five were corpses. Looking like chewed-up food that had been spat back out, their bodies were mangled into heaps of minced flesh, with stark white bones jutting through dark crimson meat—a horrific spectacle for the onlookers.

The corpses really were spat out.

A glimmer of hope reignited in Lynch's heart. If these people were spat out because their transformation remained incomplete, what about little Janet?

Her transformation wasn't completed either. Could the rest of her soul have been spat out as well, remaining invisible to them in a spiritual form, or perhaps already waking up within her body?

For a moment, Lynch felt an urge to rush straight to Mrs. Sterling's home. This was his very first commission, and she was an innocent little girl; he truly hoped to save her life.

However, assessing the situation before him, he knew he had to handle things here first. Under no circumstances could he let Grant, the mastermind behind the scenes, get off easily. Even if they couldn't destroy his factory, they had to confiscate his mystery relic at the very least. If the Watchers were worried about political fallout and hesitant to step forward openly, then he would hand the pretext right to them on a silver platter.

Having made up his mind, Lynch flashed a grin at the female officer, gave her a "leave it to me" gesture, and strode out of the building.

“What happened...? The executives are dead... The corpses appeared out of thin air... Has the area really expanded...? Whisper, whisper...”

More and more overseers and workers gathered, their voices growing increasingly chaotic.

“Officers! Officers!”

Seeing Lynch and Officer Natalie emerge, the three overseers previously guarding the main gate jogged up with look of relief. Deliberately avoiding Lynch this time, they fawned over Officer Natalie with nervous smiles.

“Officers, what on earth happened? How did the gentlemen...?”

“Something went wrong! Listen up, everyone! We are officers from the Rangers, a special department of the Hall of Order, sent specifically to handle factory accidents. You, go lock the factory gates tight. From now on, without our orders, no one is allowed to leave! If we don't resolve the issue here, everyone is going to die—running outside won't save you either!”

Lynch's expression was grim enough to drip water. Pointing at one of the gatekeepers, he turned to the overseer he had held at gunpoint earlier and said in a grave tone:

“I can't explain what's happening right now, but everyone here, including us, will soon end up just like Mr. Lika. You should understand what I mean, right? Good. Since you know how serious this is, pick two men to go with you right now and take our carriage to report this. Not to the Hall of Order, but to the agency specialized in handling these matters. The coachman knows the address. Tell them a catastrophic situation has broken out here: five executives have perished, the workers are in complete chaos, production has collapsed, and we urgently need official intervention to resolve the crisis and restore operations. Go now, as fast as you can! We'll hold the fort here and wait for reinforcements. As long as they deploy, everything will be fine.”

He raised his voice for the last few sentences so every worker and overseer present could hear, while giving a meaningful glance to the coachman they had brought from the Scarecrow Club.

Though just an ordinary person, the coachman was an external hunter for the Watchers. Catching on immediately, he waved the overseers into the carriage.

With Manager Frank having previously verified their identities and the order sounding completely reasonable, the panic-stricken overseers harbored no doubts about Lynch's words. Realizing this could save their lives, they leaped onto the carriage without hesitation, speeding away from the factory.

Seeing how cooperative the overseers were, Lynch suppressed the urge to smirk. He ordered the remaining overseers to watch the main gate and ensure no one left, stating that leaving was tantamount to suicide. After making sure everyone was sufficiently terrified so that no one would sneak out to inform Grant, he finally felt at ease and took up position with Officer Natalie at the tunnel entrance, keeping a close eye on the relic inside.

With something so dangerous, even if it was only a fear grade mystery relic, they couldn't afford to let their guard down. Nothing could be allowed to go wrong.

Sooner than expected, after about forty minutes, noisy chatter echoed outside once more. Lynch and Officer Natalie exchanged a smile and stepped out of the tunnel to look, only to be taken aback by what they saw.

A swarm of carriages had arrived outside.

There were specialized Watcher carriages, police carriages from the Hall of Order, and numerous unidentified civilian carriages. In total, there were easily twenty to thirty carriages, packing the front of the small building so tightly not a drop of water could leak through.

A carriage door opened, and the first person to step down was Mr. V himself, leading the operation. He wore the standard dark blue Watcher trench coat, with a jewel-encrusted rapier at his waist, his refined, gentle demeanor exuding an intimidating presence.

Looking around the moment his feet touched the ground, Mr. V spotted Lynch and Natalie inside the building at once. He tipped his top hat toward them with a slight bow, then tapped his cane lightly against the ground.

With that single motion, the doors of the carriages behind him swung open in unison, and figures filed out one after another.

A large crowd of familiar faces—whether Soul Severers or ordinary humans—were all clad in deep blue trench coats, the hallmark of the Watchers.

The mystery hunter reinforcements from the Scarecrow Club had finally arrived.

More than forty people disembarked in succession; the Scarecrow Club had mobilized almost its entire roster. Upon stepping down, they assumed their respective roles immediately: one group directed the blue uniforms from the Hall of Order to maintain crowd control over the workers and overseers, while another encircled the five corpses on the ground to conduct a thorough examination. Everything was orderly and methodical.

The civilian carriages bringing up the rear stirred as well. A group of ordinary people wearing loose, casual overcoats stepped down first. Just as Lynch was wondering who they were, he saw them hauling a considerable amount of equipment from the vehicles.

Tripods, large wooden frames, thick black shrouds, and head-sized flashbulbs.

As soon as the bulky cameras were set up, the flashbulbs went off in a nonstop flurry of clicks and flashes.

Lynch clicked his tongue in quiet admiration. This V was truly thorough, even bringing along so many reporters. With them on the scene, the narrative would be set in stone; Chairman Grant would truly have to swallow his bitterness in silence now.

“Indeed, all the deceased are senior management personnel of the factory. Without a doubt, this is an attack targeted at His Excellency the Chairman's estate. A dangerous item responsible for their deaths currently remains here and must be located and handled before the factory can resume normal production. To ensure the safety of our esteemed journalists, please refrain from wandering about for now and remain in the company of our specialists until we neutralize the hazard and lift restrictions. I must begin work immediately, so please excuse me.”

After offering a few casual reassurances to the reporters, V led several Soul Severer Watchers into the small building. The moment they stepped through the door, eight blue-coated Watchers bowed deeply in unison to the two waiting at the entrance.

This caught Lynch and Officer Natalie completely off guard, leaving them bewildered until Mr. V stepped forward and gently patted both their shoulders.

“To avenge hundreds of innocents who died tragically, the two of you ventured into peril alone, refusing to back down even against a powerful figure like Chairman Grant. You did what all of us wished to do but couldn't, and provided us with ample pretext to intervene. Everyone is deeply grateful to you. And I must say—magnificent job.”

Lynch gave a dry cough, flushing slightly. Looking around for a moment, he awkwardly changed the subject. “Actually, the issue with the relic has already been resolved. Why did you deploy so many people and even invite reporters?”

“These reinforcements weren't called to deal with the relic, but to put on a show for Grant. Based on the information you provided, Grant places immense importance on this facility. Given his ruthless cruelty, I was worried that if you two had a direct confrontation with him, he might do something reckless against you. That's why I gathered all the hunters who were still available. Should a standoff become unavoidable, we'd have sufficient force to deter them and stamp out any risky ideas at the root. As for the journalists, I simply invited them under a random pretext, originally intending it merely as an extra safeguard. I didn't expect your report to arrive so opportunely.”

Seeing Lynch look touched, Mr. V let out a soft chuckle.

“There's no need to thank me. If we can't make our collaborators feel at ease, who would ever dare work with us Watchers again? Think of this as an emotional investment in our future cooperation. Hehehe, so don't mention it. As long as we can resolve the issue properly and prevent any more innocent casualties, everyone considers it well worth the effort.”

“Heh, understood.” Lynch chuckled, nodding in agreement. “The mystery relic is down below, safely re-contained. What should be done with it next?”

“Although this relic is low in rank, its use carries lethal risks and is unfit to remain in the hands of ordinary mortals. Once we Watchers confiscate it, it will be sent to the containment center in the capital of Norin for secure storage. We have sufficient forces there to ensure relics aren't seized by others. We... hm?”

Before they could speak further, several more carriages rolled into the factory, making the space in front of the small building even more congested.

Before the carriage had fully stopped, a figure leaped down, stumbled forward a few steps, and made a beeline for the building.

Chairman Grant had indeed rushed over immediately—and with remarkable speed.

Right behind him, Walker from the Rangers leaped down from another carriage alongside two subordinates, accompanied by two rather familiar faces. Lynch thought back for a moment and recalled who they were: the two inspectors from the Hall of Order he had met once before, the two scapegoats who had narrowly escaped their doom thanks to him.

They had barely taken a couple of steps when they caught sight of the five mangled, grotesque corpses on the ground. Chairman Grant slapped a hand over his mouth at once, his complexion turning ghastly. While he was still hesitating whether to first chase away the photographing reporters or rush inside to stop the Watchers from ruining his operation, Mr. V emerged with a group of people, followed by several men carrying a set piece tray.

“Indeed, gentlemen of the press. Just as we anticipated, someone with malicious intent planted an extremely dangerous object in His Excellency the Chairman's factory, resulting in the tragic demise of five gentlemen. Oh my, His Excellency the Chairman is here as well!” Mr. V stepped forward with a genial smile, speaking in a leisurely tone. “Someone planted this set piece tray inside. This vile thing would cause a factory employee to die a tragic death every single day. Fortunately, your factory employees reported it in time, or else an unimaginable tragedy would have unfolded. Who knows who could harbor such hatred toward you to resort to such underhanded schemes? Oh, by the way, this object doesn't belong to your factory, does it? You've surely never seen it before?”

“O-Of course!”

Chairman Grant's face was twisted in rage, but in front of so many journalists, he had to disassociate himself on the spot, scrubbing himself as clean as possible. No matter how furious he was, he had to choke it down and force a smile.

“Such a sinister thing could never belong to my factory, nor have I ever laid eyes upon it!”

“Please be certain. Our royal agency has always maintained close ties with the city council. If we were to inadvertently seize your personal property, that would truly betray the trust of His Majesty Rudolph. So, this truly isn't something belonging to your factory?”

“Tru... ly.”

His Excellency the Chairman felt sharp stabs of pain in his chest, his wig practically slipping off. He gritted his teeth and squeezed out an answer, his utterly rigid smile faithfully captured by the surrounding cameras.

“Then we shall proceed according to standard protocol. Rest assured, His Excellency the Chairman, we will handle this with utmost care. Your factory is safe now and may resume operations at any time.” Mr. V smiled. “There's no need to thank us; safeguarding every citizen is our duty, and we are always at your service.”

Chuckling silently, Lynch concealed his presence and drifted away through the crowd.

He had acted under the guise of a Ranger throughout the day, and his true identity likely remained unexposed. Therefore, he decided that openly clashing and drawing aggro was best left to someone of V's stature—he would just quietly make a fortune behind the scenes.

Although the Watchers hadn't officially commissioned him and he was the one who had asked them for backup, given the severity of the threat, Lynch trusted that someone of V's character would surely find a way to compensate him fairly, which was why V had scheduled a meeting with him at the club tomorrow.

Lynch had thus taken his time secretly enjoying Grant's frustrated, tearless expression. Through his sheer villainy, this man had become Lynch's third most hated person since transmigrating, ranking right behind the deceased Randall and the still-living mastermind. Lynch had relished watching Grant fume on the verge of bursting without being able to vent; who knew, maybe the man might actually drop dead from sheer rage.

Nevertheless, he bid Officer Natalie a temporary farewell and slipped away under stealth.

Though there were still several hours before their evening appointment, he was anxious to return to the King District to see if little Janet had awakened. If suppressing the relic could restore the little girl to normal, that would be wonderful.

Filled with such hope and nervous anticipation, Lynch quietly left the factory and made his way back to the web of alleys beside Charles Square.