It was a rare day off, and Wayne slept until dawn.
When he got up and went downstairs the next day, he caught a glimpse of Lina and Emma, two blonde girls, playing with a crow on the first floor.
He yawned and found an empty table to sit at. Soon, Sanders brought over a plate of food, and that's when Wayne realized something was amiss: “Why did you bring Emma here too?”
“It’s all Daimon’s fault. He had Peter No. 2 contact your professor recently and started sending Emma to the academy for lessons more frequently than just once a week. Emma kept pestering me before I left, and I felt like the base camp wasn’t very safe lately, so I just brought her along to play for a few days.”
“Aren’t you delaying her studies like this?”
Wayne didn’t really care, anyway. When he was that young, he certainly didn’t have to take advanced math classes. Emma’s current ‘preschool’ progress had already surpassed 99% of top students. He took a bite of his hamburger, feeling a little pleased, “Parker is here too?”
“Yeah. If I hadn’t encountered the Church’s cordon, which required inspection to pass, I would have brought that slate fragment and the death Whistle along too. David Mills didn’t show any mercy; he almost confiscated the Extraordinary materials I brought, so I had to go back and hide them in the cellar.”
The assassination case had already yielded preliminary results, so it seemed reasonable for the Church to impose a cordon at this time…
Chewing on his hamburger, Wayne asked, “You brought Extraordinary materials back?”
“Last night, there were indeed people watching the base camp, so we ambushed those attackers first. We left some for Daimon and his group, and I brought the rest back.”
He hadn't expected such an unexpected gain.
He quickly finished his breakfast, then had Inessa, who had climbed onto the roof to observe the surroundings, called down. The partners then began to verify the spoils and prepare to divide them.
Those strange Indigenous masks could be considered Extraordinary items, but ordinary people seemed unable to use them. They probably required specific usage methods, so they were temporarily kept for research.
The Extraordinary materials were somewhat interesting. Those from the captured ringleader’s group seemed to belong to the nature domain—no wonder their tribe fought fiercely with the Windsor Hunter Association back then—while the ones Lina brought back were more varied, seemingly including “order,” “wisdom,” “life,” and “death.”
Wayne was currently in a mysterious “stuck upgrade” phase, and Inessa had no need for Extraordinary materials at the moment.
However, the partners each picked one piece, and the remaining ones were distributed to the Agents involved in the mission, sorted by performance within their corresponding domains.
Inadvertently overhearing Lina’s casual complaint, Wayne finally noticed something: “What’s going on? Can ‘ranks’ also drop?”
Lina nodded as if it were obvious. Inessa pondered for a moment, then explained:
“It seems we didn’t mention this detail in the Detective Agency’s internal courses. I’ll have Connal add it later.
“Rank drops are actually not very common. The main problems most Extraordinary People need to be wary of are ‘loss of control’ and ‘madness.’ Only a few Extraordinary People who can maintain their sanity after ‘instability’ will merely experience a rank drop.
“If we use Lina’s favorite analogy, comparing Extraordinary power to ‘money,’ then a rank drop is like some people who, after experiencing severe financial problems, can still temporarily manage to stabilize a portion of their capital flow, preventing complete bankruptcy. But if the instability continues, then eventual bankruptcy or other problems appearing prematurely are often just a matter of time.
“The reverse is also true. Among Extraordinary People of the same rank, some are like having all ‘cash,’ while others have already used it all for ‘investments.’ Therefore, the strength of the abilities they display in combat will also differ. However, strength doesn’t necessarily mean a combat advantage; some less aggressive abilities can also be very troublesome. It just means there are pros and cons to each.”
Wayne pondered for a while before realizing that the hasty explanation Lina had given him earlier actually held a lot of value.
As expected of the “Wise Sage’s” chosen “daughter”… So his current “stuck upgrade” was actually like a small factory already running at full capacity, unable to process any more orders for the time being. Did upgrading require expanding channels or upgrading equipment?
Unfortunately, the Hunter Association’s theories are all derived backward from results, belonging to the empirical school. Lina is also the type who can swim but can’t teach, and each Extraordinary Person’s situation is like a “black box.” They can be roughly categorized and imitated, but the details are incredibly varied.
Regarding Wayne’s problem, it could only be said that there was a “direction for a solution,” but “no specific method.”
After absorbing the Extraordinary materials, his blue bar remained “full,” but fortunately, there were no signs of it “exploding.”
The Agents who received spoils also formed groups to supervise and observe each other, absorbing the Extraordinary materials in batches under the watchful eyes of the partners.
Compared to some Agents—like Willie—who came out of the room clutching their stomachs and looking grim-faced, as if they had “swallowed” the material whole, Liam’s self-discovered absorption method seemed more scientific. He actually ground the material and applied it to his skin.
Although this method might make it harder to “overdose,” after applying it, he looked like a slime or a little green man…
After all this busyness, and with the Agents whose conditions seemed unstable being told to report and rest, it was almost noon.
The partners didn’t stay by their side the whole time, but remained in the two adjacent rooms, keeping an ear out for any commotion while attending to their own matters.
At this moment, Wayne was in his room studying the oil painting, wondering if he should hang it up now.
After all, it was a gift from a Bishop. Even if someone in the local Agent organization wanted to retaliate against the Detective Agency, they would probably have to consider the issue of “respecting the Buddha for the monk’s sake” after seeing it, wouldn’t they?
Inessa was leaning by the window, looking outside, positioned in a way that made it difficult for her to be sniped:
“Lina said she passed through several temporary checkpoints on her way back, and the number of carriages accelerating through the streets today seems to be more than double the usual. Has the Cathedral found new clues and are they now fully investigating the true mastermind?”
Wayne, still staring at the oil painting, nodded upon hearing this, “Very likely. From the looks of Father Tyrrell and the Beaton Family, they’ll probably try to take a bite out of the local Agent organization this time, no matter what.”
But that had nothing to do with the small Detective Agency. First, get “Store No. 1” up and running, then once the dust settles at the Cathedral, the people from the two offices can depart.
After stabilizing for half a year to a year, they would gradually recruit more personnel and investors. Perhaps there would be even more offices, and they would also strive to open subsequent fast-food restaurants simultaneously.
This way, he could earn money while attending classes. How peaceful.
At that moment, footsteps came thudding quickly up the stairs. Wayne and Inessa looked towards the sound, and Doug quickly appeared at the doorway.
After steadying his breathing, he handed several newspapers to Wayne, “Sir, something has happened.”
Wayne took them and glanced, his pupils contracting. Then he couldn't help but look again at the oil painting placed against the wall.
“The Bishop is being rescued, but the situation is not optimistic”?!
The big backer I just confirmed less than two days ago is about to collapse so soon?
Inessa also pointed out the window at this time, “Someone’s here. Four carriages, and it looks like there are combat personnel.”
