The moment Karen stepped out of the hospital building, his eyes caught sight of Lady Augie sitting on a flowerbed bench.
It wasn't that Karen paid special attention to her; it was simply that with a woman so remarkably tall, anyone glancing in her direction could hardly miss her.
Karen walked over and saw Lady Augie with her head bowed, coughing up blood.
A pool of bright crimson had already gathered on the ground, paining Karen's heart somewhat to look at it.
If that dragon blood were collected and listed on the black market, it could fetch a handsome sum of point coupons.
Lady Augie raised her head, looked at Karen, and asked, "How is Miss Daina?"
"Looks like she won't die," Karen replied.
"When does the investigation begin?"
"I have bad news and good news. The bad news is, that method I just gave you for handling interrogation probably won't be needed."
"What!"
"The good news is, in all probability, the person conducting your interrogation will be me."
"Heh, you've snagged an opportunity, haven't you?"
"I suppose so. I need to head to the Church Affairs Building of the Church of the Crypt to contact home and request personnel. Can you still move?"
"Fly you there?"
"Yes."
Something seemed to cross Lady Augie's mind, and a pained expression instantly surfaced on her face. She slapped her forehead at once, forcefully suppressing the train of thought.
The last time she had flown with Karen had been that night, so that memory could not be triggered.
"You treat me like your subordinate now?" Augie retorted.
"I hope you can temporarily cooperate with my work."
"What's in it for me?"
"I probably can't give you any benefits, but taking advantage of this opportunity, if I want to make your life miserable, I can make it very miserable indeed."
Augie stood up and looked at Karen. "Just as Miss Daina said of you, I don't like the way you talk either."
"Is it possible that I don't really like... you people either?"
"Understood."
"Can we fly now?"
"Fine."
Augie reached out to grab Karen's shoulder, but Karen moved first, seizing her arm instead.
Being lifted by the collar looked far too undignified, and she had a habit of pulling people against her chest. That had nothing to do with romance; Karen knew she purely relished the sensation of holding an 'ant' in her grasp.
Augie took off. Her injuries seemed not to hinder her speed in the least. A layer of cold mist enveloped them both, and soon they landed in front of the Church Affairs Building.
"You can wait for me out here."
"Am I your carriage?"
"If you prefer being a bus, that works too."
Karen entered the building, walked up to the front desk, and presented his credentials.
"I need a communication formation in a private area immediately. Please prepare it as quickly as possible."
"Yes, my lord! Please wait a moment, we will prepare it at once."
Before long, the hall manager came running over and led Karen into an isolated communication formation room, which was even furnished with red wine and pastries.
Karen glanced at his surroundings, not particularly pleased. Considering that the skeleton could come and go freely in the theater, it was entirely possible that the conversation he was about to hold would fall on its ears as well.
The trouble was that one couldn't use barriers or wards to shield an active communication formation.
The formation activated, establishing a connection to the Whip of Order headquarters in Yorktown. Following identity verification, it bypassed all secondary procedures and went straight through to the regional chief's office.
Before Karen, the desk in the regional chief's office materialized.
Yet Regional Chief Suss didn't seem to be there.
Oh, no.
He was there.
His head popped up from beneath the desk, and with a backward leap, he hopped onto the office chair.
"Chief, I suggest you replace the furniture in your office."
Suss chuckled. "Sounds like you have good news to share. Otherwise, knowing your personality, you wouldn't joke about your superior's height."
"Indeed. An assassination just occurred in the main city of the Church of the Crypt. Layinao, commander of the dragon guards, has been killed, and Miss Daina was caught in the crossfire, sustaining grave injuries and falling unconscious."
"Wait a minute, who is Miss Daina?"
"Someone's foster daughter. Knight Commander Daan has already arrived here alone to check on her condition."
"Daan? Isn't he stationed at the Temple of Order... Oh. Right. I understand. Continue."
Suss immediately straightened his already stiff posture even further.
"I will report the full details through a more secure channel later. Commander Daan intends to form a local special task force to investigate the incident."
Suss's lips twitched, and then he burst into uproarious laughter.
"Hahahahahaha!"
While he laughed, Karen waited in silence.
Finally, Suss finished laughing and said, "Heavens, Karen, you truly are my lucky star! How long have I been in office, and already I get the chance to establish an external special task force? In the past, that kind of assignment always went to Dinge Region!
"Were my predecessors' heads filled with Wien bean paste?
"How was that? Did I blend the Wien slang in naturally?"
"I thought it was great."
"Heheh. Speak, what support do you need? The region will back you fully!"
"I request that Neo, Head of the Investigation Department, serve as the deputy leader of the task force, and that he select suitable personnel to teleport to the Church of the Crypt's main city at maximum speed."
Scraping the ground clean was best left to a professional.
Karen felt he still had a shred of decency, making it difficult to push ruthlessness to the absolute limit. But Neo wouldn't have that problem—he didn't possess any decency at all.
"No problem. I will inform Neo immediately to lead the team."
"Additionally, I request an elite squad from the region's Formation Department to set up a dedicated communication formation exclusively for our task force. And if conditions permit, a teleportation formation would be even better."
"A teleportation formation carries a hefty cost, especially for short-term use; it's quite wasteful," Suss mused. "However, in the past, we couldn't even find an opportunity to be this wasteful! I'll submit the request to Bishop Delon right now and have him dispatch personnel to assist immediately. Given your relationship with Bishop Delon, I doubt he'll give me a hard time."
"Lord Delon was promoted to Bishop?"
"Yes, the bishop in charge of formation affairs in the Regional Administrative Office. The official appointment was announced just yesterday."
"That is wonderful news."
"So you truly had foresight, gathering their grandsons into your squad ahead of time. It provides tremendous leverage for the Whip of Order's operations."
"Chief, I need this done as quickly as possible. Commander Daan merely expressed willingness to apply on our behalf, but only if we deploy personnel and equipment at maximum speed can we ensure the higher-ups won't reassign the task force."
"Rest assured, the reinforcements will arrive at the fastest possible speed."
"Thank you, Chief."
The communication formation closed. Karen let out a long breath. All that was left was to wait for the personnel to arrive and begin the investigation.
Exiting the Church Affairs Building, Karen found Augie waiting on the steps.
"Are we heading back to the hotel now?" Augie asked.
"I only know that the replica Spear of Rebellion was taken by the Sage lineage. Do you know where it is specifically?"
"I don't."
"Who would know, then?"
Augie looked up toward the top of the Church Affairs Building. "Someone up there should know. You can go back inside right now and ask office by office, according to rank."
"Forget it, too much trouble. Is your father's body still at the hospital?"
"It should be. The dragon lineage was rebuked and forced to back down. His body is certainly still there."
"Then let's head to the hospital first and secure your father's body."
"So, with the Spear of Rebellion as the murder weapon and my father's body as the victim, those are the two most crucial pieces of evidence?"
"No, they aren't. But once we have those two things in our hands, we can fabricate whatever evidence we please with complete ease."
Augie looked at him in disbelief. "Is that how you investigate cases?"
"Interpret it however you like."
Did they really need to investigate?
Karen had already told Daan about the skeleton, and that intelligence would soon be submitted to the higher-ups jointly by him and Daan.
The assassin's identity was known, but what then?
The other party had blatantly told him that he held many identities, inviting them to investigate slowly, and that he was a true Crypt believer.
It was entirely likely that behind the skeleton stood an entire organization—a faction within the Church of the Crypt that truly adhered to the ancient Crypt faith.
This was a murder, but once factions were involved, it could never be handled as a simple murder case.
The dead man was Layinao, not a member of Wolflen's family. Had it been the latter, the Church of Order, once armed with genuine evidence, would spare no expense in retaliating to set a deterrence. But Layinao was nowhere near that level of importance.
Karen simply couldn't be bothered to explain all this to this female dragon.
...
Back at the hospital, Karen saw the thunderhorn rhinoceros munching on flowers in the garden.
Accustomed to monster beasts, the inhabitants of the underground world found nothing unusual about it. Even if not everyone had witnessed what transpired in the sky, the barded armor, exquisite saddle, and high-grade armaments protruding from its weapon holsters made the esteemed status of its master glaringly obvious.
It was merely chewing on flowers and lawn grass. Even if it chose to devour the monster beasts here, no one would find it strange; they might even view it as entirely natural. Many lower races in the Church of the Crypt were raised specifically as livestock, and the evolved beings among their kin often served as their best caretakers.
However, as Karen and Augie walked past, the beast turned its head toward them, twitching its horns at Augie while pawing at the ground with its hooves.
"It's provoking you," Karen noted.
"I know. At our core, there's no difference between it and me—both of us exist to be ridden."
"Don't talk about yourself like that."
"I assumed you thought the same. Don't you?"
"Yes, precisely."
"Then why—"
"Because you're in human form right now. Hearing you say that gives me a slight pang of guilt and discomfort."
"I never thought you possessed such thoughts."
"Don't misunderstand. Sometimes a touch of guilt and discomfort is like ice cubes dropped into a glass—it just makes the drink taste better."
Augie: "..."
The thunderhorn rhinoceros's gaze sharpened slightly. It shifted its glare toward Karen, stepping forward to block his path.
"What is it trying to do?" Karen asked.
Augie chuckled. "Venting for me, I suppose."
"Meaning, you're only allowed to be provoked and bullied by it, and no one else is permitted?"
"It depends on status."
"Ah, status."
The rhinoceros was massive, looking down upon Karen from on high.
Karen raised a hand, gently cracked his neck, and said, "Actually, I've picked up some bad habits lately."
"Bad habits?"
"Like... this."
Karen raised his head, looking straight into the rhinoceros's eyes, and spoke calmly:
"I am the Head of the Law Enforcement Department of the Whip of Order, Yorktown Region. I don't know if you understand what that title means, but you can probably tell that I'm not the kind of person you can trample to death on a whim.
"You have two choices right now: either trample me to death this instant, or turn around and go back to chewing your grass."
The thunderhorn rhinoceros understood. Its eyes reddened, fury welling within.
Yet it soon realized that not a single trace of fear appeared in Karen's eyes. Not a sliver.
White vapor snorted from its nostrils. Turning away, it lowered its head and resumed grazing on the lawn.
Karen walked into the hospital, Augie trailing behind him. "Were you truly not afraid of it?"
"I'm hardly afraid of you these days, let alone a beast like that."
"You think I hold a higher status than it?"
"You belong to the dragon race."
"Does the dragon race today still resemble dragons in any way?"
"That is why one must give thanks to Order. It suddenly struck me that if beings like you lost all restraint, wouldn't this world instantly become your feeding pasture?"
"In your eyes, Order suppressing our dragon race is the only righteous course?"
"What race am I?"
"Human."
"Then yes, I consider it righteous."
"That's not fair!"
"My apologies, but my grasp and understanding of racial interest differ from yours."
The hospital morgue was vast, as the physical dimensions of certain clientele could not be measured by human standards. Fortunately, upon Layinao's death, his body had been magically bound, preventing him from manifesting the immense form of a dragon.
Yet as Karen entered, he saw a woman in a long black dress screaming furiously at a group of lizardmen soldiers:
"This is my husband's body! I must take it with me! I am his wife—what right do you have to stop me from taking his body? What right!"
Behind Karen, Augie spoke, effectively revealing the woman's identity to him:
"Mother..."
If the story of Augie's family were adapted, it would make for a spectacular drama: power struggles, family fractures, moral decay, tribal betrayal... and of course, an indispensable grand backdrop—the sinister mastermind that was the Church of Order.
"What is she... doing?" Augie could not comprehend her mother's actions.
Didn't her mother realize that Order already knew of her complicity in the murder of her father?
"Your mother has gotten into character ahead of time," Karen replied.
"Into character?"
"In truth, Order's higher-ups care little whether your father lives or dies. Moreover, his ambition to lead the dragon race away from the Church of the Crypt after taking power was likely known to Order all along.
"With your father dead, having your mother succeed him may better serve Order's interest in maintaining control over the dragon lineage.
"Does your mother know this? She knows it full well.
"So she has stepped onto the stage. If nothing goes awry, your mother will eventually be allowed to carry your father's body back to the clan, leveraging this to bolster her prestige and lay the groundwork for replacing your father.
"Oh, by the way, are you and your mother close?"
"Before Father imprisoned her, she occasionally wrote to me and sent foods I loved as a child."
"Then go bring your mother over. Commander Daan isn't here right now."
"But the thunderhorn rhinoceros..."
"If Commander Daan were still in the hospital, that rhinoceros wouldn't have dared step forward to block me. Only when the master is absent does a pet dare show a bit of wildness.
"Your mother must have been acting for quite some time; she's probably thirsty. The third floor has convalescent wards. I'll find an office there to use as a temporary workspace. Go invite your mother up."
Karen turned and walked up to the third floor, finding an office originally belonging to a doctor. Flashing his credentials, he signaled for the physician to leave and ordered the clearance and transfer of the relatively few patients on the floor.
Afterward, Karen sat behind the desk. A white lab coat hung on the wall. He remembered that the last time he had worn such clothing was in Piaget's psychological clinic—though it had later gone under, and the proprietor had wandered off with an artist.
Even when he wore such a coat in his past life, he never imagined that one day he would become a clergyman, rising to mid-level leadership within a faith, no longer clad in a white lab coat, but in black sacred robes.
*Snap!*
Karen snapped his fingers. A dark flame appeared, snapping his straying thoughts back to reality.
Yes, this was reality; everything from his past life felt more like a dream.
Not wishing to waste the flame of reality, Karen opened the desk drawer and indeed found an opened pack of cigarettes. Drawing one out, he lit it and took a drag. A thick herbal flavor hit his palate, reminiscent of a latte with ten shots of espresso added.
"Hiss..."
The woman in the long gown knocked and walked in. Her figure was graceful, her build quite similar to Augie's, though a white flower rested in her long hair, projecting the image of a grieving widow.
There was not the slightest trace of hysterical weeping or struggle. Seeing the cigarette in Karen's hand, she leaned forward proactively, took it from him, and took an elegant puff before slowly exhaling—supremely alluring.
She looked less like a dragon and more like a water serpent, whereas her daughter, compared to her, resembled a clumsy goose.
"How should I address you, Madame?"
"You may call me Anser, Lord Karen."
"Very well, Madame Anser."
"What does Lord Karen think of my daughter? I mean, Augie."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I am merely curious whether Lord Karen would be interested in siring a few half-dragon offspring."
"My apologies, I have no interest in your daughter."
"No interest in my daughter? What about me?"
"For the time being, I have not prepared myself mentally for an interspecies romance."
"What a pity."
"Madame, let us discuss business. You killed your husband."
"I merely participated."
"Very well. You participated in the murder of your husband."
"Yes, correct. But he deserved to die. He dared envision leading the dragon race away from the Church of the Crypt—no, away from the control of great Order."
"Whether he deserved to die is not yours to judge."
"Naturally, of course. Everything ought to be judged by great Order. But I also ask Order for understanding; I was released not long ago, having spent all those years locked in a bottomless abyss pool."
"So, may I take it that you have confessed?"
"Yes."
"Good. Do you have anything else to say?"
"I do."
"Go ahead."
"I need Order to support me in becoming the next leader of the Church of the Crypt's dragon lineage."
"Are you setting conditions?"
"Once I become the leader, I will dispatch our kin into Order's research institutes to assist scientific study, provide our kin to serve as war mounts for the Order Knights, and carry out the population reductions, faith conversions, and whatever else Order desires. I will push through every single one of them."
"Madame, may I ask you a question as an outsider?"
"Of course, please."
"Acting like this, aren't you worried your race will go extinct?"
Madame Anser exhaled another smoke ring and smiled.
"I wish this filthy race would be wiped out entirely tomorrow!"
Chapter 623