*Snap!*
Neo lit a cigarette, took a greedy drag like a starving ghost, and then exhaled slowly like a refined gentleman.
Through the thin veil of smoke, Neo tilted his head and looked at the little bone dragon, Kanna, sitting on the sofa across from him.
"Tch."
Smacking his lips, Neo picked up a glass of red wine from the side table. Not bothering to savor it, he downed it in one gulp.
Beside him, Alfred, ledger in hand, smiled faintly. "I sense our Head of Investigation losing his composure."
"Oh, really? I'm just genuinely starting to wonder what the point of all my hard work even is. We've busted our asses these past few days just to scrape together a few point coupons from this place. Yet certain people simply step out the door, take a nice, long nap, and wind up with a little bone dragon carrying the Dragon God's legacy at their side—complete with a master-servant contract signed and sealed. Suddenly, the point coupons we earned don't taste so sweet anymore."
"They are still very useful. We finally have a genuine sum of initial capital, and only now can many of our upcoming plans truly be set in motion and developed."
Neo shook his head. "You know that's not what I mean."
"I know what you mean, but I doubt you want to hear my answer: this is our Young Master's unique charm. There is no need to envy it, because you couldn't copy it even if you tried."
"Heh."
Alfred turned his gaze toward the little bone dragon sitting there as well. "Miss Kanna chose to stand with our Young Master because she resonated with his ideals. This is a victory of purpose."
"Right. That's why I've always felt that whatever harm a Light remnant like me hiding inside the Church of Order could cause is virtually negligible compared to what you people are up to."
"It is fundamentally different. Even if you fully turned to the Light, the most extreme thing you could do would be destruction. We, on the other hand, act for the sake of construction."
"Construction?"
"Constructing a new Church of Order."
"Doesn't construction require demolition first?"
"Specific problems call for specific analyses. A one-sided overthrow is ill-advised. We must still strive to rally as much support as possible. The more friends, the better; the fewer enemies, the better."
"I would have thought, given his personality, he'd prefer a cleaner, more direct approach."
"That is not our Young Master's personality; that is yours."
"Hey, by the way, funding for my Light remnant organization in the future—that'll be drawn from your side, right?"
"You receive an operational budget allocated by headquarters."
"It's not enough."
"Are you planning to establish a Light Legion in Yorktown?"
"Nothing that exaggerated, but every bit of strength counts—especially strength beyond the Church of Order's grasp. That's what you want too, isn't it? Believe me, if an incident like last time happens again, storming the Whip of Order headquarters building with Light remnants would be far more efficient."
"Such a situation will never occur."
"You don't trust me?"
"I merely consider matters from my Young Master's perspective. You personally are always worthy of trust, but the faction you build... sometimes, once a faction takes shape, whether you truly hold the final say becomes uncertain."
"So I'm asking you to help manage things for me just like you do for Karen. How about that?"
"Acceptable. My recommendation is to have Vic go over and assist you. His identity makes him very well suited for it."
"Use Rasma's student to manage an organization of Light remnants?"
"Indeed."
"Are you sure you're not joking?"
"Although Lord Rasma stepped down as High Priest, he maintains excellent relations with the Temple. At the same time, he appears to be on very good terms with the current High Priest—that was intelligence the Young Master obtained from Rasma during his last trip home. Therefore, having Vic serve as your deputy and directly participate in running the Light remnant group yields the greatest benefit. At a critical juncture, his background can be leveraged to wash it completely clean."
"That makes entirely too much sense. I'm sure that when Rasma returns and sees his student's growth, he will feel immensely gratified—perhaps even moved to tears."
"As long as you are satisfied. I will arrange the specifics for you once we return."
"I still think you're just indulging some twisted personal humor of yours. Heh."
"Heh." Alfred smiled as well. "Vic is my primary target for development going forward. He is an exceptional talent, and I believe he deserves room to advance."
"I knew it!" Neo blew out a smoke ring. "If you ever lose your way one day, be sure to come find me. I'll take you out to play."
Alfred lowered his head back to the ledger without replying. With the Young Master here, how could he ever lose his way?
Neo snubbed out the cigarette butt, stood up, and walked over to Kanna. Pointing at the little girl, he said, "Hey, are we out of clothes or something? Couldn't you at least find something that fits the little girl properly?"
Philomena spoke up. "We found some for her, but she refused them. She insisted on wearing only the cleric robes altered by the Chief. Her spare robes are other robes of the Chief's, tailored in half specifically for her."
Hearing that, Neo licked his lips, crouched down, pointed a finger at Kanna, and teased, "At such a young age, you've already learned to be this calculating?"
Kanna opened her mouth and snapped forward.
Neo was faster, pulling his finger back just in time before she could bite it off.
A dark glint appeared in Kanna's eyes.
"What a nasty temper. Uncle was only joking." Neo stood up. Sensing that this little bone dragon was genuinely prepared to fight to the death, he decisively stopped provoking her.
"She dislikes you." Purr leaped onto the sofa, extended a soft paw, and gently patted Kanna's arm.
Soothed by Purr, the gloom in Kanna's eyes faded.
"Why?" Neo shrugged. "What aura on me made her uncomfortable?"
"It isn't about that. She probably disliked you from the very first glance when you walked through the door—because you looked at her the way someone sizes up merchandise."
"Fine, my mistake." Neo did not argue further. Seeing Kevin trot out, he sat down directly on the carpet in front of Karen's spot. "Come here, Lord Evil God. Let's play a game."
Neo pressed one palm flat against the carpet. Kevin happily lay down and placed one paw on the back of Neo's hand. Neo raised his other hand and brought it down in a swift slap.
*Smack!*
Kevin whipped his paw away, and Neo's palm struck the back of his own hand.
Kevin grinned, and Neo laughed too. Man and dog were having a grand time.
About a quarter of an hour later, Karen emerged from the study. He had just finished deconstructing the contents of the array scroll, completing the final preparations for the operation ahead.
Neo pointed at Kevin. "Karen, look, you already have so many animals in your house. I feel that as your superior..."
A faint smile touched the corner of Karen's lips.
"I feel that as your senior, I should do what I can within my power to assist a junior—for instance, helping you look after your dog?"
"If Kevin is willing, he's welcome to live at your place."
"You know damn well he won't agree."
"Then there's no point bringing it up with me. I can't force him—unless you stand up right now and condense a godhead, whether of Order or of Light, or failing that, awaken the bloodline of the bloodthirsty aberrant demon progenitor. Then he might just agree to go back with you."
"Then why don't you just pull off a direct descent of the God of Order right now? I'll escort you as you sneak into the First Knight Order, wake them up, and unify the Church of Order outright."
"I'm afraid of moving too fast and dealing you such a blow that your mindset completely shatters. Sometimes, out of consideration for your feelings, I have no choice but to slow my pace."
"I'm not afraid of being shown up. Frankly, I'd love nothing more than to kick back on past favors, do nothing, and just fool around to my heart's content. The problem is that although your stride is fast right now, you're still a long way from reaching that seat, not to mention the absurdly high danger level. I'm afraid that if I lie back too early, I'll end up branded as your co-conspirator and dragged down to die with you."
"Earlier editions of *Light of Order* record that it was Light that awakened Order. So we can't mess up the sequence—you still need to become Light first. If you never transform, then you're the one holding back my progress. It'll all be your fault."
"I'm talking to you about the present. Why are you dragging up ancient history?"
"History is a mirror that reflects the present."
"Then teach me a method to instantly become the embodiment of Light. I swear I'll do it right away and not hold you up for a second."
"Actually, I do know a method. When believers of Light sacrifice themselves for their faith, don't they all become embodiments of Light? Though only for a fleeting instant, they are undeniably dazzling in that moment. If the opportunity arises in the future, you can stand before me and die once in my place. It should produce excellent results."
Neo clapped his hands together. "Next time you get seriously injured, kid, I'm going to drag you into a three-day, three-night conversation so you won't even think about sleeping."
On the sofa nearby, Kanna's gaze toward Neo shifted slightly.
Listening to Karen and Neo banter, there was not a trace of reverence for the gods; instead, they tossed the concept around deliberately as a joke. That markedly improved her impression of Neo.
Little Kanna did not yet know what her own convictions truly were, nor did she know how to articulate them rationally. Her intuitive rule of thumb was simple: whoever paid no mind to gods and blasphemed against them earned her favor.
Alfred had previously reminded his Young Master about this, noting that the little bone dragon wasn't fundamentally aligned with their philosophy.
Her sole drive was resisting restraint. Someone might have seeded her mind with certain ideas beforehand, or perhaps during her brief period of captivity by the Church of the Crypt, seeing the devotees' blind piety toward their 'god' had triggered her disgust.
To put it simply, she merely opposed the slave master above her head. Whoever tried to stand over her, she would resist. She opposed for the sake of opposing, rebelled for the sake of rebelling, lacking any doctrinal foundation of her own—driven purely by raw likes and dislikes.
After offering that observation, Alfred had received a very terse rebuke from his Young Master. Yet rather than feeling chastised, Alfred had felt immensely proud and thrilled.
Because Karen's reply had been:
"Then what are you around for?"
To Alfred, that was a mission entrusted to him by his Young Master, carrying absolute trust.
That very night, in between balancing the accounts, he had found time to sketch out a concept for evangelizing and guiding the Dragon God—the Independent Branch God Mural!
"All right, we can set off now." Karen turned to Purr. "The formation to amplify the contractual soul connection has been set up in the study, and I've laid out afternoon tea inside. Thank you for your trouble."
"Don't worry about it, meow!"
This operation was unsuited for bringing a large group, because Daan's instruction had been a secret execution.
Thus, Karen planned to take only Neo, Alfred, Philomena, Ventura, little Kanna, and Kevin.
Bringing Kevin along was because he was an extraordinarily capable detector.
This outstanding detection capability had proven itself more than once: once on the sacrificial island, once when the assassin broke into their home, and recently in the theater when Kevin had sensed the skeleton's presence ahead of everyone else.
Although Kevin's combat prowess was currently negligible, he was like an impoverished aristocrat. He had no money, no land, and no capital left, but if you took him into an antique shop, he could keenly discern authentic artifacts from fakes. Not because he had deliberately studied them, but because his home used to be filled with such things.
Karen did not intend to bring Purr along, leaving her behind as a communications liaison instead—primarily out of safety considerations.
Before Purr regained her strength, Karen would avoid taking her into any high-risk environment. A symbiotic bond could be a severe liability at times: if something happened to one party, the other would perish alongside them, without even a chance to seek vengeance.
Karen walked up to Kanna and extended his hand. Kanna reached out hers as well, taking his hand, and walked out alongside him.
Alfred and Philomena followed behind.
Neo voluntarily took Kevin's leash, holding it as he walked shoulder-to-shoulder with the dog.
Purr had told Karen that over the past two days, the thrill-seeker had grown even more attentive toward Kevin. Kevin said it was because a slight issue had cropped up with the bloodthirsty aberrant demon ancestor in the thrill-seeker's head, and Neo was seeking Kevin's advice.
That suited Neo's character well enough. He possessed a knack for displaying opportunistic ambition without making it entirely repulsive.
Still, it also proved from another angle that Neo's bloodline had likely reached another critical breakthrough threshold—to the point where he needed to consult Kevin rather than the resident occupying his mind.
In the end, Purr had even offered Neo a remarkably high evaluation: *It's only because he stands beside you that his freakishness doesn't seem quite so glaring.*
Without Karen for comparison, a clear-headed Neo advanced at a pace... that was practically terrifying, like riding a rollercoaster.
The group arrived at the main gate, where Ventura was already waiting with a giant ladybug.
Seeing everyone come out, Ventura waved cheerfully. "Hurry up and hop on, everyone!"
***
The cavern where the apostate was imprisoned was not particularly far from the main city, so there was no need for a teleportation array. Even so, traveling by ladybug took nearly a full day, despite this specimen's exceptional endurance.
Truth be told, riding on Lady Augie's body would have been much faster.
Yet after the last experience, Karen would rather take a ladybug than embark on another assignment with that female dragon.
During the day spent on the road, Karen spent half the time continuing his analysis of the confinement array and the other half resting.
While Karen studied the array, Kanna initially tried to follow along, but soon realized she couldn't understand a thing, leaving her with a splitting headache.
She then pulled out the picture book Purr had picked for her and began flipping through it. It was a children's book published by a bookstore in the main city, designed to help youngsters of various races learn about the underground world.
When Karen went to sleep, she pouted. Though she was thoroughly absorbed in the pictures, she had no choice but to shut the book, lie down in imitation of Karen, and force herself to sleep.
Alfred, meanwhile, continued working on the ledgers.
The special task force's work was nearing its conclusion. All that remained was waiting for the final balances to be collected, while contemplating how to maximize profits from the last wave of extortion before everything blew open.
Daan had already explicitly informed Karen of the exact timetable for the Order Knights' arrival and action. They had to seize this final opportunity presented by the impending market upheaval.
In between his work, Alfred also used a fountain pen to draw sketches. With the addition of a being carrying the Dragon God's legacy, the mural design series he had previously drafted would all need readjustment.
Ventura and Philomena took turns driving the ladybug. These creatures were tougher than camels, capable of traveling for half a month without sleep, though they would then sleep for an entire month to recover. For that reason, nearly all ladybug drivers in the main city kept three or more mounts to avoid downtime.
Neo remained by the edge of the ladybug's carapace with Kevin the entire time. Aside from playing that hand-slapping game, the two whispered back and forth, with Neo taking the initiative to set up a simple isolation barrier to keep others from overhearing.
Kevin knew Neo's relationship with Karen was out of the ordinary. With anyone else, he wouldn't dare converse under Karen's nose behind a soundproofing ward.
Furthermore, since Neo had not brought up his bloodline issues, Karen did not pry. He trusted that once Neo actually sorted it out, he wouldn't be able to resist sharing it.
After all, Neo had fallen behind on quite a few secrets lately. While an abundance of debts meant no immediate worry—and little hope of clearing them anytime soon—persisting through effort was Neo's final shred of stubborn pride.
At last, deep within a canyon, they found the entrance to the cavern. It appeared entirely ordinary, with nothing remarkable about it.
Karen summoned the Key to the Rubik's Cube, while Alfred unloaded the array materials to assist his Young Master in setting up the formation.
Before long, the array was complete. All that remained was activating it to establish resonance with the confinement array within, and then manipulating that inner array to subject the prisoner to as many rounds of torment and attrition as possible.
If nothing went awry, Karen's execution mission would merely require stepping inside to confirm the target's death.
Yet Karen hadn't left Purr behind out of an urge to go "sightseeing," and the personnel he had gathered were all trusted, formidable fighters. He had anticipated that something would very likely go wrong.
Sure enough, upon attempting to resonate with the confinement array, Karen sensed that something was amiss.
"Woof, woof, woof!" Kevin, crouching beside Karen to observe, barked.
Philomena asked, "What is he saying?"
Neo pulled out another cigarette, lighting it as he spoke. "He says the prisoner inside mastered the array confining her long ago."
Ventura looked baffled. "Then why hasn't she come out?"
Neo blew out a smoke ring and answered, "The most brilliant form of imprisonment is making the prisoner unwilling to step out on their own."
Ventura pressed on, "What do we do now? Does that mean the plan to wear her down with the confinement array is completely scrapped?"
Karen shook his head helplessly. An unforeseen complication had emerged right at the very start. In the array scroll Daan had provided, the only truly useful portion had been the coordinates. The commander himself likely hadn't known about this development.
Alfred suggested, "We cannot simply leave, but neither can we abandon the mission. Young Master, I propose sending someone in first to scout ahead and assess the danger level before making a decision."
Philomena volunteered, "I'll go."
Karen shook his head and said to her, "Scouting inside alone is too dangerous. That would be irresponsible toward your personal safety, so I will not permit it. Therefore, let us have our Head of Investigation go first."
Neo threw his hands up. "I think it's necessary to educate you on a basic fact: a bloodthirsty aberrant demon bloodline does not equate to immortality."
Karen countered, "Dying from a single stab versus possibly dying only after being stabbed dozens of times makes a rather large difference, wouldn't you say?"
Neo pointed at Kanna, who was standing quietly nearby, and demanded of Karen, "Then why don't you go? With her assistance now, your defense is high enough to scare someone to death!"
Kanna blinked, then spoke up: "Inside... is my... mama..."
For a moment, everyone froze. This was a piece of information none of them had known.
First, details regarding the apostate had been sparse to begin with; Daan had sent them to secretly eliminate her and silence any loose ends, not conduct an interview.
Second, Kanna had not participated in the planning discussions, and even if they had shown her a map before coming here, she wouldn't have recognized the location—she couldn't read maps anyway.
Neo let out a heavy sigh, raked a hand through his hair, and conceded helplessly, "Fine, I'll go. If anything happens to me inside..."
"I'll burn paper money for you."
Neo glared at Karen and cursed, "Damn it! Why do I feel like the only reason you invented the funeral ritual of burning point coupons was so we'd all understand you when you said that line in this exact situation?!"
Chapter 636