Chapter 109

“This is the most desperate day ever.”

The rumble of thunder echoed through the night sky, splitting the darkness with a flash of lightning. The piled clouds above Borough City were illuminated, casting shadows across the city.

Lucy leaned back in the VIP lounge of Derton Manor, gazing towards Borough City in the distance. The clouds churned violently, and the thunder roared as if a hurricane was approaching.

However, Borough City was an inland city, where light rain was common. Such a grand display of thunderstorms and heavy rains might only occur once every few decades. Acid rain was much more frequent.

Lucy reached into her pocket and pulled out a delicate, rectangular snuffbox adorned with intricate gemstones and enamel. She gently tapped the side of the box, causing the finely ground tobacco mixed with some extraordinary materials to gather in the half-circle tray at its center. Then, she opened the box and pinched a small amount of snuff with her right hand, bringing it close to her nose.

In this era, snuff had become one of the most popular social items among the upper class in An Su. Not only were the snuffboxes exquisitely crafted and expensive, but neighboring countries had even issued edicts on how to properly use them.

It seemed that the red-haired judge would die soon… At that time, the “Strong Fortune Coin” would return to her in an extremely “coincidental” way — getting rid of this sealed object wasn’t so simple.

But giving this to the other party could be seen as repaying their life-saving grace. Lucy felt that she had no guilt, and if she truly died, it would only mean she didn’t have good luck.

She needed to end this day quickly…

Lucy still had two hours left for rest. At six in the morning, she had to appear on time at the Underground Sanctuary for unnecessary investigations; otherwise, another calamity would descend upon her…

She still didn’t understand why she encountered such absurd disasters despite obeying the rules. Just a few hours ago, she had experienced inexplicable misfortune.

Sigh…

Lucy gently rubbed the snuff, half-lying on the sofa, taking a deep breath. Just then, a knock sounded abruptly at the door.

Ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong—

“Open the door, Tribunal.”

“Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough—”

Lucy was choked, almost unable to catch her breath, coughing uncontrollably until tears streamed down her face.

No! Sister!

Are you serious? Do you know how dangerous you are right now?! You’re coming here?

Lucy hastily closed the snuffbox, got up, wiped her tears and nose with a handkerchief, and walked briskly to the door, opening it.

“No, sir, may I ask… who are you?”

When Lucy saw the short, white-haired figure standing at the door wearing black attire, she froze in surprise.

Whose child is this?

Why is there another even smaller child?

Is this how all the judges from your tribunal look?

“Gus Aiswood.”

The young girl looked up expressionlessly, facing the puzzled Lucy.

Her gloved hands unfolded in front of her, and a delicate silver-black pendant slid down her palm, caught by a black chain wrapped around her finger, swaying slightly in her hand.

Seeing the emblem, Lucy straightened her back and asked softly, “May I ask what brings you here…”

At this moment, Lucy sensed the seriousness in the other’s expression and realized the purpose of their visit.

This was different from the judge member she had coincidentally saved. Her expression seemed to indicate that she was really here to cause trouble.

Moreover, she appeared more professional than the previous female judge.

“You should know about the cooperation between the headquarters and our religion.”

Gus said smoothly and swiftly:

“The cultists in the Derton headquarters have been thoroughly cleansed. Now, we are investigating all employees in every branch… You are the manager here, Lucy Hilufa.”

“Please cooperate with the tribunal’s investigation.”

Indeed…

After this incident, the headquarters has been reviewing each employee, uncovering many members of the Arrival Sect—even catching some members of other secret sects.

This storm has finally reached me.

But this judge… always made Lucy feel uneasy, as if something bad was going to happen… Her intuition was usually accurate.

“Yes, I am the manager here, Lucy Hilufa.”

Lucy spoke, deciding to stabilize the situation with the judge in front of her. She continued, “You can investigate my staff… but I’m sorry, I am not available for investigation right now.”

“Huh?”

Gus’s tone rose slightly, filled with dissatisfaction, as if she was about to erupt and kill someone.

Lucy knew that to avoid the judge, she must provide a reasonable explanation or risk being forced to take a lie detector test.

“As you can see, Gus sir.”

Lucy said, “I suffered a fatal injury during the investigation of the Arrival Sect, which brought me great misfortune. My current physical condition requires rest.”

“And… your colleague, the judge who saved me, can already save me. Doesn’t this prove that I do not need additional scrutiny?”

A judge came?

At this moment, Tara, disguised as Gus and changing her hair color, felt a chill run down her spine.

How come I don’t have this intelligence? “Nail” hasn’t reported this to me. Up until today, no judge has come to Borough City or Derton Manor.

Could it be that she just arrived recently? That’s too untimely…

“Where is she? Where is she?”

Tara remained calm and continued, “I need to talk to her about the details.”

“She…”

Lucy wanted to say that she probably died, but thought better of it and chose a more tactful approach, “You should be able to see her message when dawn breaks.”

Lucy’s words made Tara keenly aware that she had a reason to refuse the inspection.

To complete the mission of the Mother Goddess, Tara decided to take a gamble.

Tara stretched out her hand, took out a simple pocket watch from her pocket, checked the time, and said, “Well, it won’t be long before dawn. I’ll wait here.”

Hearing Tara’s words, Lucy, who was already mentally exhausted, felt like the sky was falling.

She couldn’t afford to sleep while being watched by this judge.

“You can try finding that judge… Aren’t you supposed to act together? Once you find her, you will know I’m not lying,”

Lucy sighed and said, “I’ve been here for over a month. I won’t run away.”

“Just to be safe, Miss Lucy.”

Tarkan looked at Lucy and slowly said, “My creed is never to let any cultist slip away… Please understand.”

Here it comes, the classic creed, belief, faith, and obsession.

Lucy had heard many times that the judges of the Salvation Goddess Religion were stubborn like mules, and encountering this situation still made her feel helpless.

“Judge sir,”

At this moment, a spark of anger flared in Lucy’s heart. She said, “I respect you, so I call you sir. I don’t oppose your investigation. You can first investigate the other staff, rather than disturb me during my rest time.”

“I am a senior investigator of the Derton Group. If you want to investigate me, please show me the official letter from the group. Thank you.”

By the end, Lucy’s tone had become somewhat impolite. After all, she was a backbone of the Derton Group and couldn’t be easily intimidated by other organizations’ investigators.

“Here.”

The judge in front of her took out an envelope sealed with a golden chip and handed it to her.

“Ah?”

Lucy was stunned for a moment when she saw the letter.

There really is one?

Lucy took the envelope, opened it, and unfolded the letter. The header was indeed addressed to her.

The information, date, seal… everything was included. The attachment in the envelope was a copy of the Order Eye Contract with the main text obscured, corroborating the girl’s claim.

“Sigh…”

Lucy turned around helplessly and walked into the room, saying, “Please come in. Ask whatever you want to ask quickly.”

Tara entered the room, closed the door behind her, and sat down opposite Lucy on the sofa.

“Then I’ll ask directly.”

Tara looked at Lucy and said, “All

“The evaluation, compensation, and investigation should have been concluded long ago. May I ask why you haven’t reported back to the Derton Group?”

The tone in which Tara asked was blunt and unapologetic. Lucy’s brows slowly furrowed as she looked directly at Tara, her voice steady. “You can ask your church members; since arriving in Borough City, besides the banquet initiated by Prince Leopold, I haven’t left Derton Manor a single step.”

“They all can see that I’ve been conducting investigations in the Underground Sanctuary. I practically lived there. Everyone on duty in the Underground Sanctuary can vouch for me.”

“If you cannot provide evidence for your groundless speculations, then this conversation is pointless.”

Despite her pale face and weak breath, Lucy’s sharp aura was no longer concealed. Her eyes pierced like daggers towards the judge before her. Lucy was always like this; although the previous red-haired judge had a cold tone, she had saved Lucy and didn’t pry too much into her privacy, earning Lucy’s respect. But this one, who immediately tried to suppress her with authority, Lucy would never concede.

“Groundless speculation?”

Tara leaned back slightly, sitting on the sofa, and said, “The Goddess hasn’t taught me that.”

Tara snapped her fingers, and the door opened. Two “Reformed Monks” entered, dragging a man whose face was covered with a cloth.

“What are you doing? This is a group employee.”

A flash of coldness crossed Lucy’s eyes. Her right pupil began to swell and split, dividing into two. Her hand reached for the bag at her waist.

“Go back to your work,” Tara waved her hand. The two “Reformed Monks” let go of the man and performed a church ritual before leaving the room, closing the door behind them.

“Simon, are you alright?”

Lucy hurried forward, cutting the ropes binding his hands with a short dagger and then removing the blindfold from his face. Simon, one of Lucy’s capable assistants, was timid and cautious, but he was efficient. Most of Lucy’s documents and letters were written by him. However, Lucy did not expect that after being abducted, Simon’s gaze remained unusually calm.

This made Lucy uneasy.

“From now on, I won’t say a word,” Tara calmly said, looking at the man. “Ask him yourself.”

“The Mother Goddess is testing you, child.”

Tara stood up and walked to the window, gazing at Borough City’s thunderclouds and rain. She wondered if it was her imagination, but the clouds seemed to be swirling closer.

“What happened? Simon, did they do anything to you?”

Lifting her hand, Lucy tried to help Simon up, but his gaze grew increasingly fervent. He reached for his waist, pulling out a loaded revolver and quickly firing it at Lucy.

Bang!

As the hammer struck the primer, the bullet exploded in the chamber, shattering into fragments that pierced Simon’s carotid artery. Other fragments scattered, but none hit Lucy.

“Gurk…”

A mouthful of blood spurted from Simon’s mouth as he clutched his wound, pulling out a small knife from his waist and stepping back several paces.

“Long live Satan!!!”

Simon cried out, then plunged the knife into his own heart.

Seeing her former subordinate lying in the pool of blood, Lucy felt dizzy as she half-knelt on the floor.

Was he part of the Arrival Sect? Right beside me all along? How could I not have noticed?

She searched Simon’s belongings and found a letter from him to the Arrival Sect, finally falling silent.

Lucy rose listlessly, collapsing onto the sofa. After a moment of silence, she asked, “Do you have any more questions?”

Her voice lacked its former vigor. Now, she was exhausted and just wanted to get rid of the judge.

Tara had taken control of the conversation, her lips curving into a smile as she shifted the topic to Lucy’s recent misfortunes.

As Tara heard more details, her brows furrowed slightly. The reason she stayed here was… the rule of doom?

Rules that ignored distance and formations, and couldn’t even find the person or sealed object behind it?

And besides herself, another judge had suffered the same rule of doom?

The Salvation Goddess Religion and Derton Manor had almost no connection. The last collaboration was merely due to the commotion in Borough City.

Unwilling rules… terrifying doom… others who suffered the same fate…

Tara vaguely remembered reading something similar in some scripture, but she needed to confirm it in the Arrival Sect’s library…

Just as Tara was about to leave, the wooden door was knocked again.

Ding-ding-ding—

“Open the door, Tribunal.”

Tarkan: “?”

Lucy: “?”

Tara’s heart tightened, and Lucy looked at Tara, her weary expression revealing confusion.

Another one?

Endless?

Outside the door, Xia’er frowned slightly.

Inside… how could there be such a strong smell of blood?

Could it be that she triggered the rule of doom and killed Lucy?

Xia’er reached out and turned the handle, pushing open the door in shock.

On the ground, a male corpse lay in a pool of blood. Following the trail of blood, two people sat opposite each other by the sofa.

The one looking despondent was naturally Lucy, while the one across from her wore the same judge’s attire as Xia’er.

Bad luck! She really ran into the Tribunal?

Xia’er stepped back, her shadow stirring as she became alert.

But the white-haired girl in the judge’s attire, seeing Xia’er hesitate for a moment, immediately got up and ran towards her.

“Lord Xia’er~ I missed you so much!”

Tara leaped over the corpse and rushed toward Xia’er, hugging her around the waist in surprise.

“Mother Goddess, please forgive me! It’s just for disguise!”

Tara buried her head in Xia’er’s chest, rubbing against her until Xia’er pushed her away, revealing a look of satisfaction and slight disappointment on Tara’s face.

At this moment, Xia’er realized that the girl was Tara. They were about the same size and had a similar level of eccentricity.

Sometimes, Xia’er wondered if everyone in the Arrival Sect was this eccentric—either licking shoes or hugging people.

“How is the investigation going?”

Xia’er looked at Tara, asking while closing the door behind her.

Lucy, however, looked at Xia’er in terror, as if she had seen a monster.

Only when Xia’er focused her gaze on her did Lucy tremble and ask, “Sir… did you roll two heads?”

Such luck! The probability of the Strong Fortune Coin isn’t fixed; rolling one head and one tail is the high-probability event.

“Two tails.”

Xia’er smiled and replied.

“Leave the manor! No! Let me leave Derton Manor! I voluntarily leave Derton Manor!!!”

Lucy, who had been clinging to Derton Manor for nearly a month and had almost exhausted her will today, cried out in despair.

“Don’t worry, I’m here to take you away.”

A few shadows emerged from behind Xia’er. Xia’er continued, “Our fates are connected. You can’t escape.”

“Instead of thinking about escaping, think about fighting.”

Bad luck!!! Bad luck!!!

Tara almost collapsed, her face filled with despair.

Today was definitely the worst and most desperate day of her life.