Lord of the Void

Inside the garden pavilion. Wayne lay on a long bench with his eyes closed in meditation, attuning himself to nature to capture more elemental motes. Veronica had called the previous night. Hearing the unrestrained joy in her voice, Wayne had assumed everything was settled and that his prospective father-in-law had smoothed things over with the big shot. That turned out not to be the case. Veronica told him to wait a bit longer; Mr. Landau had been bustling about for this matter, but unfortunately had yet to achieve any breakthrough. Whenever asked, the answer was always soon—very soon. Wayne had no choice but to ask Veronica to pass a message to Mr. Landau, conveying his deepest gratitude for the generous assistance and promising that if there were ever a need for him in the future, he would never refuse. As for why Veronica was so delighted, Wayne didn't ask, guessing she had probably graduated without a hitch. *Damn geniuses. Enjoy your laughs while you still can. Once I out-grind the lot of you, none of you will be smiling.* Here in Enrold Town, Wayne had plenty to eat and drink, lived in a grand mansion, dined on top-grade ingredients, traveled by luxury automobile, and returned home to a butler and maids. He felt no pressing urge to rush back to Londan. Right now, he cared about only three things: meditation, meditation, and more meditation! Even without that big shot blocking him, he still had his mature mentor's restriction spell on him. Since he couldn't return to Londan anyway, he might as well pour ten thousand percent of his energy into cultivation. Besides, Wayne felt rather sheepish about freeloading off the Landau family for so long. They provided food and lodging and even helped handle dangerous figures in high places. With Mr. Landau treating him so well, if this didn't evolve into a father-in-law and son-in-law relationship, he honestly wouldn't know how to repay the favor. "Young Master Wayne, two detectives are at the gate to visit. They introduced themselves as Wesley and Hood," Butler Fra said, bowing just outside the pavilion. The butler addressed Wayne as "Young Master" because of Xifei. The mistress of the house held Wayne in high regard, and the two shared a teacher-disciple bond. Had it been an ordinary relationship between teacher and student, Fra would never have altered how he addressed him. But Xifei had specifically instructed that Wayne was to be treated with the same deference as a member of the Landau family. The Landau family had few members. Aside from a handful of negligible distant relatives, there were only three heavyweights: the master, the mistress, and the eldest young lady. Calling Wayne "Young Master" was hardly out of place. Wayne had tried to get the butler to change it, but with little success, so he simply let it be. Young Master was fine—as long as it wasn't Old Master Wayne. "What do they want with me?" Wayne halted his meditation and pondered for a moment, suspecting there was more to yesterday's case than met the eye. "Young Master Wayne, would you like me to send them away?" "No need. Show them in." Wayne gave a slight shake of his head. He was willing to bet on Abin's nose that the middle-aged man was the culprit; the scent had been overpowering, and there was no mistaking it. Wayne guessed that the locked-room method differed from his deduction—perhaps the middle-aged man hadn't hidden behind the door, but stood behind the curtains instead. The two detectives had likely come to share the truth and, while they were at it, exchange investigative insights with an outstanding fellow detective so they could both sharpen their skills. "Young Master Wayne, the gentlemen have arrived." Butler Fra bowed, stepped back, and instructed a maid to serve a pot of black tea. Taking in the sprawling estate worth hundreds of millions and hearing the butler address Wayne so respectfully, Wesley and Hood fell briefly silent. Human sorrow and joy were never shared; they merely felt that Wayne's smug face had suddenly become utterly repulsive. *Damn rich young master!* Hood knew who owned this grand villa: the town's foremost capitalist titan, the Landau family, who commanded immense prestige in Londan. Wesley knew as well, having spotted the Landau coat of arms at the gate, though he hadn't anticipated that Wayne belonged to this family. Three centuries ago, before the Kingdom of Windsor underwent its constitutional monarchy reforms, the royal family commanded the Tulip Legion directly under the crown. Composed entirely of noble knights, it was the very definition of elegance and might. As time passed, the Tulip Legion of old disbanded, evolving into fourteen families scattered throughout the Kingdom of Windsor, collectively known as the Tulip Families. The crests of all fourteen families featured the tulip as their core motif, embellished with shields, swords, or scepters, or displaying subtle variations of the blossom's form, yet maintaining an overall unified style. According to rumors, regardless of their rise or fall, as long as a single member remained, all fourteen families pledged unconditional loyalty to the royal family, steadfastly upholding their knightly mission. The Landau family was one of the Tulip Families, and one of the few that remained active in the public eye. Their achievements were rather modest: they ran a small bank in Londan, partnered with several other banks to establish the Londan Clearing House, monopolized the clearing business, and thereby exerted control over all small and medium-sized banks in Londan. Beyond banking, the Landau family also invested in real estate, defense industries, and public utilities, engaging in modest trade with foreign partners. The family patriarch, Auston Landau, had served multiple terms as Mayor of the City of Londan, privately owned numerous newspapers and radio stations, possessed formidable industrial holdings, and was particularly fond of philanthropic work, holding substantial standing across the Kingdom of Windsor. So then, what did "Young Master Wayne" mean? Mr. Landau had an illegitimate son? Both of them wondered at once. The same absurd thought crossed both detectives' minds, making them suspect they had stumbled upon a monumental secret of the Landau family. Wesley believed it instantly; he had once seen Auston Landau in person at a banquet, surrounded by socialites and moving comfortably through high society. That wasn't the main point. The main point was that Auston Landau and Wayne shared the exact same hair and eye color—more than enough proof of blood relation. Detectives excelled at analysis and deduction, and their imaginations ran wild. Wesley and Hood exchanged a glance, both already having second thoughts. Young Master Wayne was wealthy—obscenely wealthy. He could lie back, do nothing, and still inherit a fortune beyond ordinary comprehension. The chances of persuading someone like that to participate in a perilous investigation were practically non-existent. The wealthy valued their lives. "Please, make yourselves comfortable. This isn't my home; like you, I'm merely a guest here." Wayne asked, "Is this about yesterday's locked-room poisoning? Did something go wrong with my deduction?" *Illegitimate sons are always like this—unable to openly acknowledge their identity.* Wesley nodded and replied, "It is indeed about yesterday's murder, but your deduction was entirely accurate, Mr. Wayne. You're an extraordinary detective; your grasp of detail put both Hood and me to shame. We came to visit today regarding another matter." "Please, go ahead." "Mr. Wayne, have you ever heard of the Church of the Earth's Core?" Wayne hadn't heard of the Church of the Earth's Core, though he was certainly familiar with the geocentric model, over which Copernicus had experienced a bit of friction with the Pope. Wayne pondered for a moment, shook his head, and answered frankly, "This is the first time I've heard of them. Are they a conservative sect in Windsor?" "It's a sect that began spreading only recently. Not only do they assert that the Earth is the center of the universe, but they also believe a colossal continent exists within the Earth's interior, and that human civilization originated in this subterranean world..." "They claim passages connect the surface to the core, with the North and South Poles serving as the largest entrances, harboring vast numbers of extinct prehistoric creatures..." Wesley explained some of the tenets of the Church of the Earth's Core before concluding, "According to my investigation, the church originally grew out of Enrold Town, drawing a substantial following. It has reached a considerable scale by now, even extending its influence into Londan." Hood nodded and chimed in, "Professor Vincent, who died at the inn yesterday, came here at the invitation of the Church of the Earth's Core. He was a renowned professor of geology. The church discovered a passage leading to the subterranean world right here in Enrold Town and wanted Professor Vincent to survey it and publish an academic paper, using his reputation to recruit more followers." "Now the professor is dead, poisoned by his own student. According to the culprit's confession, it was a crime of passion." *A crime of passion?* *How so? Was the professor involved with the student, did the professor sleep with the student's girlfriend, or did the student sleep with the professor's wife?* *Care to elaborate? A friend of mine wants the juicy details.* Wayne was thoroughly bewildered. "Gentlemen, you've said so much, but you still haven't told me why you came looking for me. Could you give it to me straight?" "Our investigation into the Church of the Earth's Core has hit a dead end, and we wanted your assistance, Mr. Wayne. Your abilities far exceed ours," Wesley said stiffly. That had been the original plan, but learning that Wayne was an illegitimate son of the Landau family had thoroughly snuffed out such an unrealistic notion. Sure enough, Wayne shook his head and declined their request, phrasing it tactfully: "I'm deeply honored by the endorsement of two fellow detectives, but I have far more pressing matters to handle at the moment. I'm afraid I cannot be of help." Neither Wesley nor Hood felt disappointed; they had anticipated this outcome. After exchanging a few polite pleasantries, they stood and bade Wayne farewell. "By the way, if you happen to encounter any followers of the Church of the Earth's Core, Mr. Wayne, please don't fall for their sweet talk..." Wesley glanced around and lowered his voice. "The party who commissioned my investigation is no ordinary client; it came from an official intelligence agency in Londan. I can't disclose the specifics, but all you need to know is that the Church of the Earth's Core is by no means a legitimate religious organization." Wayne nodded. He barely put faith in the goddesses of orthodox religions, let alone an occult sect whose premise was riddled with contradictions. Before seeing the two off, he casually asked, "Mr. Wesley, do you know which deity the Church of the Earth's Core worships? A subterranean god?" "Quite the contrary. The deity they revere doesn't come from beneath the ground, but from above..." Wesley shrugged. "The god they worship hails from the cosmos—known as the Lord of the Void." "Lord of the Void..." Wayne muttered the name under his breath. Frankly speaking, he had always found the God-favored Continent rather bizarre, permeated with a distinctly unfathomable flavor. Knowledge that drove people mad, entering the Gate of Truth only to gradually lose one's sanity until life slipped away—the more he thought about it, the more ominous it felt. If this universe truly proved as incomprehensible as he imagined, the cosmic deity worshiped by the Church of the Earth's Core, the Lord of the Void, might very well be a bona fide cosmic powerhouse. A delightfully straightforward deity who granted knowledge the moment sacrifices were made! To catch the eye of such a supreme entity and obtain immense power from it, the difficulty and scale of the required sacrifices were easy to imagine. Wayne roughly grasped why the Church of the Earth's Core was so desperate to expand its ranks: they were short on sacrifices. Before Hood and Wesley departed, he had Butler Fra hand each of them a business card. If they ever ran into anything truly supernatural, he was willing to offer his modest assistance. He might not be able to stop it, but his teacher, Xifei, certainly could. "The Church of the Earth's Core..." "The Lord of the Void..." Wayne returned to the garden pavilion, wishing the two detectives—no, the two investigators—fair winds. May they return safe and sound and ascend to the ranks of legendary investigators. If they could bring back forbidden artifacts like the Necronomicon, that would be even better. Wayne knew he didn't have the courage to read such things; he was living comfortably and had no intention of reducing himself to a drooling imbecile at such a young age. Still, if forbidden tomes truly existed in this world, having one would grant him a much clearer grasp of reality. Lying back in the garden, Wayne swallowed a focus pill to clear his mind, gathered his concentration, and began meditating. Earth elements steadily strengthened his bones, muscles, and internal organs; he could distinctly feel himself growing stronger. Power was intoxicating, and the process of acquiring it was even more thrilling. He found himself somewhat hooked, wanting nothing more than to keep going endlessly. On March 24th, Wayne captured five thousand elemental motes, yet had still failed to reach the bottom of his life essence. "Three months probably won't cut it. My meditation efficiency is abysmal. Teacher really knows how to console someone, seeing through it all without bursting my bubble. How remarkably kind of her!"