The red moon returns

Chapter 16 Lost and Found (big chapter, updated today, please read it)
  Go through the bar and out the back door, and the stairs leading to the second floor appear in front of you.

However, Officer Natalie did not go upstairs. Instead, she led Lynch into a small door at the bottom of the stairs.

It was just an ordinary utility room inside, but when the police officer pulled the lever on the wall, the utility room was no longer ordinary.

With the sound of gears colliding and rubbing in the wall, a door cracked open on the opposite wall, and a spiral staircase appeared behind the door, extending all the way down.

The secret base of a secret agency.

Lin Qi instantly felt as if he had seen the headquarters of the Men in Black, and his heart beat a few beats faster with excitement. He took a deep breath to suppress his excessive excitement, and followed the police officer into the secret door.

The secret door is closed, but the light is still there.

Under the gridded glass lampshades, gas nozzles spit out firelight, all the way down the wall, illuminating the deep space.

"I have already reported your matter to him. Although it is a bit troublesome, there should be a solution. He will explain it to you in detail later. Don't worry."

Lin Qi forced a smile. It felt like he was on the way to the hospital to get the pathology report. No matter how big-hearted a person is, he would inevitably feel uneasy. He just felt that the road in front of him was extremely long.

After going down the stairs, there were five or six forked roads underground. Knowing that he was an outsider, Lynch followed Officer Natalie carefully and took a forked road on the left.

This is a typical underground corridor. Even if there is a gas lamp on the wall, it still has a dark and depressing feeling. Not far away, a door is ajar, and a warm orange light shines from inside.

Natalie knocked on the door, and a male voice with a strong nasal voice came from inside. It was the special accent of Nolin City, the capital of Rand.

"Please come in."

There was a harshness in the voice, which gave people a headache just hearing it. Lynch frowned instinctively, but still followed Natalie in.

Inside the door is a very typical office space, with a large desk, a large bookcase, and a high-backed leather chair. Opposite are two couches. Two gas lamps extend from the wall, illuminating the entire office.

A middle-aged man was sitting behind the desk, with his hair neatly combed back. He was wearing a white shirt, a formal suit and a hat hanging on a hanger, wearing a single-sided glasses, and his cane leaning against the desk.

The man had a very serious expression and was reading a report on the table. As soon as Lin Qi saw him, he immediately felt a heavy pressure on his face, which made his heart beat faster and his palms broke into cold sweat.

‘Travel companion, what’s going on? ’

[That is a reminder from inspiration, the awakened one, you sensed the mystery hidden in his body. 】

‘Soul-diverting person? But Natalie, why don't I feel this way. ’

【He is more powerful. 】

"Please take a seat, Mr. Lynch Levy."

The man stood up, nodded, pointed to the sofa opposite, and then closed the report on the table:

"I am Victor, the person in charge of the Watchers in Rhine City, codenamed V. You can call me Mr. V, or you can just call me Victor."

Lynch bowed slightly and sat down next to Natalie.

"I know everything about yesterday's situation. Let's get straight to the point and talk about your experience. This case is initially judged to be a sacrificial ceremony planned by followers of the evil god Ancient Flicker."

Lynch also carefully searched the original body's memories about evil gods and cultists last night. Evil gods, like mysteries, are only circulated among the people as legends, while cultists are a group of people who are obsessed with evil gods and are poisoned by stories, hiding among the people and causing destruction everywhere. madman.

This is also the understanding of the vast majority of people about the taboo knowledge related to mysteries. Few people really believe that there are countless weird things outside common sense. Therefore, even though he already had the mark of the evil god on his body, he still couldn't help but ask: "Are there really so many evil gods in the world? What are they?"

"There are many. In addition to the ancient and mysterious meteor gods, there are hundreds of evil gods hiding in the memories of dreamland in the form of old rulers. As for what they are, someone will tell you later. Among the evil gods, the ancient ones The Flicker is not a very powerful evil god, but because he once usurped the power of communication and proliferation for a period of time, there are many cultists who believe in him, and there are also some emerging talents among them, and..."

"Capitalist?" Lynch somewhat understood why Randall became a cultist.

"Yes, they have received intermediate education after all." Mr. V nodded, "So it's not surprising that they have sufficient funds and are secretly causing trouble. In fact, if there are only a few sacrifices, we generally won't intervene very seriously. That's Ordinary police duties.”

"Ahem." Lin Qi's expression was a little subtle.

"Mr. Leviv, this is the truth. Cultists who only perform a few sacrifices to please the evil gods are the cutest cultists. They just kill a few ordinary people. If I were not concerned about the impact, I would be willing to give each of them a medal. But unfortunately, they often involve more complex and dangerous purposes. These are the cases we need to intervene in, otherwise ten times more manpower will not be enough just for a few ordinary people who have been sacrificed."

Thinking of the difference between ordinary police officers and special police officers, Lynch nodded.

"Now let's talk about your own affairs. I know that you must complete the soul alienation within a month to survive. Natalie hopes that I can help solve this problem, but unfortunately, this is theoretically impossible."

Lynch's expression was calm. In theory, he did not ignore this keyword.

"The alienation of the soul must be based on a certain god that fits your own heart. Whether this god is the twelve main gods who sit on the throne or the ancient meteor gods who have gone far away. You need to read the sacred information from the mysteries they left in the dreamland. , and there are not many holy mysteries that allow you to complete the first soul alienation. The easiest to encounter are the initial holy mysteries of the twelve main gods, but those are all in the hands of their churches. They control this It's very strict. Even if you become a devout believer of a certain main god, you still need to go through many years of testing before you are qualified to contact the holy mystery. One month is not enough."

Lin Qi pursed his lips. Even though he knew that the other party might be manipulating his posture, he still felt a little nervous. After all, this was directly related to his life and death. Moreover, everything the other party said was reasonable. If it were him, he would not let outsiders come into contact with something that was directly related to his own cohesion.

"It seems that you understand. It's not that there is no room for them to be accommodating, but this requires an exchange of interests. The price is very high. It is not worth paying for an ordinary civilian, even a civilian who is favored by Natalie. No There is no need to discuss whether people will agree to such a request.”

"Sir..."

Officer Natalie raised her head suddenly, frowned and wanted to say something, but before she could say anything, she was severely stepped on by Lynch beside her. The police officer hesitated for a moment, and finally lowered her head again, just using He glared at Lin Qi fiercely. "So, Natalie's request cannot be passed unless a member of the royal family or a government official speaks out, or there is a real reason to make the kingdom pay these prices." Mr. V put his hands on his chin with his fingers clasped together, staring at Lynch and said, " do you have?"

Lin Qi's heart moved, and he suddenly realized the other party's prompt. He smiled and nodded: "I have it."

"Ok?"

"There is a 'master' behind Randall. He is specifically targeting me. He just sent me a letter specifically, which is proof. He is not a madman. I have never been in contact with him, so he must have something to target me. Purpose, we must find out his purpose, and find out what threat he used my death to create to the kingdom and His Majesty the King's people, so we must continue to investigate. This is also the duty of the watcher, and I am investigating. The breakthrough point must still be me who is alive."

"So that's the case. It does make sense. So your survival is directly related to the investigation of the case, and may also be related to the safety of the kingdom. So out of consideration for the interests of the kingdom, you must ensure your survival, otherwise the direction of the investigation will be cut off."

"Yes."

"Then there is nothing you can do, Natalie. You will continue to communicate with Mr. Leviv. Once there is any progress, you will immediately launch a follow-up investigation. During this period, in order to ensure the survival of Mr. Lynch..."

Even though he was confident, Lynch still nervously held his breath and waited for the next step. Then he saw Mr. V take out a large envelope that had been prepared from the drawer and throw it away, and it landed on the coffee table in front of him:
  "Watcher's letter of introduction. Although the Rand Royal Court and the major divine churches only have a cooperative relationship, Rand is one of the seven major powers after all, and the major forces will also give them enough respect. With this letter of introduction, as long as you The soul compatibility is just an initial soul alienation, and those churches will not make things difficult for you. If your soul is really not compatible with the twelve main gods, you go to Natalie, and she will bring you into contact with some secret societies, where Can find some of the holy mysteries of the Fallen God. This letter of introduction is also effective for those secret societies, oh, partially effective."

Lin Qi looked at the envelope and then at Mr. V. He knew that the favor was huge. He could feel the weight of this thing, not to mention it was directly linked to his own life. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was a priceless treasure, even though it had always been He was trying to figure out his posture, but the things he had already prepared were enough to explain the other party's attitude.

Lin Qi thought for a while, said nothing, stood up, bowed deeply, and took the envelope to himself. He always didn't like to owe favors, especially such a big favor, so he had already made up his mind that there would be a favor in the future. If you have the opportunity, you will definitely repay it with all your strength.

"Actually, it's not as serious as you think, because it's impossible for a person to choose two god templates to deviate from, so you can only use it once. The watcher only needs to exchange benefits with one force, and it will not be open to all forces." V Instead, the husband gave some light advice and then knocked on the table, "Now we need to talk about the second more serious issue, Natalie's request for the cost of rare items."

Lynch's mouth twitched, he sat up straight like a primary school student, put his hands on his knees, and looked extremely focused.

"These requests are illegal and unreasonable. Natalie Angel, you actually made such a request. I am very disappointed in you. The ghosts in the Danis House are stolen property of the Randall family. Although you found them, But it has nothing to do with you. It should be confiscated and no compensation can be provided. And the statue itself is a contraband of the cultists. Mr. Leviev bought it. It is already tolerant not to hold him accountable for buying and selling dangerous goods. He also wants compensation. A payment of six pounds? According to which rule did you propose it? Who do you think will approve your unreasonable request? Find it in the regulations and I will approve the money for you immediately."

The police officer's face turned red and she lowered her head and could not say a word.

Lin Qi also sighed softly in his heart. Although I have been mentally prepared for it, now is the time to spend money, so I am inevitably a little disappointed. However, looking at Officer Natalie next to him, Lynch still felt warm in his heart. It turned out that she seemed not to care, but in fact she took everything to heart and was a good friend.

"In addition, Natalie Angell, you made more serious mistakes in your report."

The police officer was a little dazed and blinked blankly.

V knocked on the report on the table and said in a serious tone, "You said that in order to track down the statue, you commissioned a private detective to assist in the investigation. You can't just report this to me verbally. What should I do with your report? I didn’t see it, where did you write it?”

Lynch's eyes lit up and he took a deep breath. For the first time, he felt that there were interesting individuals among the officials. However, Officer Natalie still tilted her head in confusion, as if there were substantial question marks on her head. Asking: When did I say that?
  "And when you commissioned a private detective, did you apply for funding in advance for the commission? If you didn't apply, do you want others to do the work for you for free, or do you plan to pay for it yourself?"

V threw the report back to Natalie angrily:

"Take it back and rewrite it. Complete the details of how you entrusted the private detective to assist in the investigation. Don't let the commander guess. Also, add another description of the situation and self-reflection. Even if the situation was urgent last night and there was no time to apply for funds in advance, this morning What have you done, do you still need me to remind you? After you finish writing it, hand it in together with the grant application. No, the grant application will be given to me in a moment. Quickly settle the entrustment money with others. Our government agencies cannot owe others money. By the way, How much is the commission fee?”

Natalie also understood at this time, glared at Lynch fiercely, and whispered: "Six pounds and fifteen shillings."

"Say it again? Do you know what six pounds means?" V showed a strange expression, "It means that I will also write a situation statement and self-reflection to the headquarters. When the time comes, I will be the one sitting in your position and getting scolded. Is that what you want to see? So the maximum is four pounds, no negotiation."

"Four pounds is enough."

Lin Qi breathed a sigh of relief. With three pounds to spare, most of the problems could be solved. At least he wouldn't starve to death on the street or sleep on the street.

"That's what's wrong with you, Mr. Lynch Leviv." V's face darkened and he said seriously, "Aren't you ready to continue serving the kingdom and His Majesty Rudolf?"

"Ok?"

"Or do you think the Watchers will mistreat their partners?" V knocked on the table, "As promised, you will continue to cooperate with Natalie in pursuing this case, so this is the second commission besides tracking down the statue. The commission fee... Government departments are not generous either. You have to understand us, so please pay six pounds in advance. If there are any changes later, you will make adjustments at that time. Natalie, you will write this part of the grant application in one go. Pay the money together. Also, for the two entrustments last night and today, you will complete two entrustment contracts and complete all the procedures. We must be able to live up to the trust of His Majesty the King and withstand the supervision of the House of Commons. .”

Lin Qi was already breaking out in a cold sweat after hearing this, and had only one thought in his mind.

It turns out that administrative regulations can still be played like this.

Moreover, officials from another world are actually so good at playing. They can figure out the truth behind the scenes, and they do it so neatly that no one can find anything wrong with it.

But no matter what, I finally have money in my pocket, damn Randall, hehe, the money you cheated is back again.

"I advise you not to be too happy too early, Mr. Leviv, because you will soon realize that in the mysterious world, ten pounds may only be considered abject poverty, and you can't even afford something of some use."

It was only then that Mr. V leaned back in his chair and showed a gentle smile:

"Mr. Lynch, what I said at the beginning was actually not a cover-up. It is indeed our normal attitude. But you have won our respect with your actual actions last night. We think you are qualified to be a partner of the Watch and worthy of us. This letter of introduction is issued. So I sincerely hope that we will have the opportunity to continue our cooperation in one month. As for the fee, according to the regulations, we cannot give you even a penny, but the cooperation fee is of course another matter. Who will let you It’s been such a big help.”

Lynch stood up, put his hat on his chest, and bowed again: "I will remember the friendship today."

"Haha, you're welcome. You go up and have a few drinks and have some fun. I won't disturb you young people's fun."

Both of them had smiles on their faces, but Officer Natalie fell into deep melancholy while looking at the report on the table.

　We finally came to the most criticized part of harvest settlement, and I felt uneasy.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)