absurd deduction game.

"Female reporter..." Yu Xing seemed to be thinking. So, the reporter's corpse that he encountered in the creep passage of the City of Terror, who could mutter the three words "Dorothy," died because of this?
“Yes, a daring woman,” Defit scoffed, as if talking about a tiny insect. “She photographed something she shouldn’t have. So, I asked Evan to do her a favor and send her to an ‘interesting’ place. She’s never coming back.”

“With the external troubles resolved, next up is Dorothy,” Defit continued, his tone as calm as if he were presenting a business plan. “I can’t allow such a potential threat to exist around me. Her suspicions are like a time bomb. So, I carefully prepared an ‘accident’ for her.”

"Using nightmares, implanting fear into her dreams, triggering the deep-seated memories of our 'symbols' left in her mind from the investigation... letting her die 'naturally' under extreme fear and mental shock. Isn't that perfect?" He spread his hands, a knowing smile on his face. "Everyone will just think that the Claude family was unfortunately targeted by a powerful monster, and the poor banker's wife became yet another victim of bizarre events."

“No one will suspect me, not even my Felia…” His tone softened for a moment when he mentioned his daughter’s name, but quickly returned to its coldness. “She will only grieve, and will not know the true face of her father.”

He looked at Yu Xing, his gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses filled with an air of superiority, as if he controlled everything: "This was undoubtedly a perfect operation, both eliminating the hidden danger and maintaining my perfect public image. Now, do you understand, Mr. Yu Xing? In this world, to achieve your goals, sometimes what you need is not just power, but also... here." He raised a finger to his temple, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Clearly, he viewed the murder of his wife as a triumph worthy of boasting, a victory showcasing his wisdom and decisiveness, and also as capital for his position as a high-ranking member of the cult to stand here and speak with Evan and Yu Xing.

Yu Xing stared at Difit in silence for a long while before slowly speaking, his voice devoid of any emotion: "Indeed... it was a brilliant 'performance'."

He neither expressed agreement nor directly rebuked, but this ambiguous statement, to Defit, might have sounded more like an acquiescence and understanding of the "method."

After all, it's perfectly normal for an investigator who has just stepped into the darkness to need to adjust their mindset when they first hear such a truth.

Evan chimed in at the opportune moment, grinning slyly, "That's about enough, Defit. You can share your 'glorious achievements' later. Mr. Yu Xing has already shown his sincerity, so we should get down to business, about tomorrow night's ceremony and the role he truly needs to play."

Defit's boastful expression vanished, replaced by the composed and shrewd demeanor of a banker. He nodded to Yu Xing: "Of course. Welcome to the real world, Mr. Yu Xing. I hope our cooperation will be pleasant from now on."

Yu Xing nodded reservedly, knowing that after so many twists and turns, including the pollution of "Starry Sky" and the test of the gathering, the two were finally getting down to business.

Bringing him on at this crucial juncture is definitely a desperate attempt to get him to contribute in the final ceremony.

Sure enough, Evan said, "Now that we've come this far, there are some core plans that you should know so that we can cooperate tomorrow."

He lowered his voice, with a hint of solemnity: "Tomorrow's ceremony concerns the descent of our Lord's Kingdom, and it cannot be lost! But the Harvest Mother Goddess's pack of hyenas will not stand idly by. Even if we successfully lure most of their forces out of town this afternoon and lay an ambush, we cannot guarantee that we can save all of their elites."

Yu Xingming, feigning ignorance, interjected, "Wait, you mean the real ceremony takes place inside the town? And the area outside the town is just bait you deliberately threw out?"

“That’s right. Therefore, the church staff who stayed behind, the lucky church members who escaped back to town, and the archbishop we have temporarily suppressed are still potential troubles.”

Yu Xing's eyes flickered slightly, accurately expressing surprise: "Temporarily suppressed? I just saw him last night, and apart from being tired, he didn't seem to be in any discomfort."

Defit and Evan exchanged a glance, and Defit spoke, his tone tinged with a hint of smug satisfaction: "This is all thanks to our years of planning. The 'archbishop' who received you in the church's underground archives was actually an imposter. Her true identity is an old nun who has served in the church for many years, and she is a hidden pawn we have planted long ago."

“The old nun…” Yu Xing had already guessed, or rather, he had already recognized her from the aroma of foie gras the moment he saw her, but he still pretended to be clueless. “Is she Sister Tian, ​​the one who spoke to me by the Angel Pool?”

“It was her. She came to you back then, also on a mission from the Secret Cult. As I said, we’ve been watching you for a while now.” Defit chuckled. “However, Tian didn’t know that you had joined us. Apart from me and Evan, only the High Priest knows everything.”

“Alright.” Yu Xing shrugged. “I’ve met that archbishop. His power is unfathomable, and he has a way of restraining esoteric Buddhism, right? How did you manage that?”

Defit immediately stopped chuckling, a hint of helplessness and apprehension in his eyes: "The Cardinal in the Red Robe is indeed the most troublesome existence in Yorikef. To be frank... we cannot kill him, or even imprison him for long. His power is too closely connected with the Mother Goddess. Forcibly killing or imprisoning him will inevitably trigger a strong backlash and scrutiny from the Mother Goddess's divine power, which would be a catastrophe for us."

He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his tone becoming serious: "What we can do is take advantage of the fact that he is not yet fully aware of the internal infiltration, and use the old nun's identity to combine the maximum amount of ancient god power and esoteric Buddhist techniques that we can mobilize to set up a powerful suppression barrier, temporarily isolating him from the outside world, especially preventing him from seeking help from the Church of the Mother Goddess outside of Yorikef Town, or even other righteous god forces."

"How long can this suppression last?" Yu Xing asked.

“Three days at most,” Evan answered decisively, a slight smile playing on his lips. “And the cost will be enormous. The core members maintaining the barrier will be almost completely unable to attend to anything else. After three days, regardless of the success of the ritual, the barrier will fail. If we fail, the enraged archbishop and the reinforcements he might summon will be a terrible consequence we will have to face. However—”

"Of course we will not fail! When our Lord's Kingdom descends upon Yorikef, that old archbishop will be devoured by our Lord!"

Yu Xing immediately understood why they were in such a hurry to replace the archbishop at this crucial moment, even at the cost of exposing the important pawn, the old nun, and taking the risk at this critical juncture.

"So, the reason you chose to act at this time is because... we brought back news from the City of Terror."

His tone was a statement, not a question. Defit gave him an approving look: "That's right! Although I don't know what method the church used to get you into the City of Terror, Evan sensed your entry, not to mention that you damaged the core of that place, shattering the entire city."

Yu Xing: "..."

Evan let out a sinister laugh: "Don't be nervous, it's nothing. Our coordinates were successfully erected three months ago. That place with Edgar at its core has already fulfilled its mission. After that, I've always treated it as a dumping ground—the most convenient place to throw in annoying things. So what if it's broken? My lord doesn't care, and neither do I."

But Tantric Buddhism clearly cares.

They planted spies in the church and were the first to receive information that Yu Xing and the other two had learned about the final ritual from Edgar and had successfully returned.

Nail immediately reported to the high priest, and the senior members of the esoteric sect were furious at this bad news.

They had concealed it very well, but it was suddenly discovered!
The high priest judged that once the archbishop learned of this news, given his insight and decisiveness, he would certainly not hesitate to immediately seek help from outside. This was a matter of great importance, and other orthodox churches would surely come to support them. At that time, the swarming orthodox forces would cause their ritual to fail.

Defit said, “Of course we cannot allow this to happen. We must complete the ceremony before the news spreads completely and reinforcements arrive. Therefore, even if it is risky, we must suppress the archbishop immediately and cut off his channels for seeking help. Fortunately, the high priest was prepared in advance, and the suppression array was ready to be activated at any time.”

“I see.” Yu Xing said slowly, “The intelligence we brought back disrupted your plans, so you quickly replaced the archbishop, planted false clues at the Lighthouse Bookstore to cut off the distress signal, and ambushed a large number of church personnel.”

“And my ‘value’ includes not only potential power, but also the ability to keep quiet, right? Now, Qu Xianqing, Lingren, and I may all be concealing clues brought from the City of Terror, and may be going to seek help outside the town in place of the Archbishop, so we all need to keep them under control.”

Originally, all three of them were supposed to go outside town this afternoon to be part of the ambush, where Sister Tian, ​​disguised as the archbishop, would witness their deaths.

His joining was an exception. Evan wrote a written agreement to meet him in advance, which Sister Tian did not know. However, when he did not show up, she could find out by sending someone to inquire that he had gone to see Evan, and Sister Tian would certainly not care anymore.

Yu Xing analyzed the cult's intentions so clearly that Defit and Evan exchanged a glance. The former reassured him, "That's right, but I assure you, you're one of us, and there's no need for you to be silenced."

His tone was sincere, as if he were a true ally who cared about his partner, but in this gloomy environment, the three of them knew perfectly well whether the promises they made were truly effective.

“A verbal promise isn’t enough.” Yu Xing tugged at the corner of her mouth, a hint of just the right amount of caution and doubt in her expression. “Now, tell me the more specific arrangements for tomorrow. What do you need me to do?”

“Of course.” Evan took over the conversation, a calculating look appearing on his gloomy face. “Since you’re one of us, we won’t send you to your death. Tomorrow’s mission is clear, Defit, you tell us.”

Defit stepped forward and said in his banker's tone, analyzing the pros and cons, "The only uncertainties in town right now, besides the possible remnants of the church, are the surviving investigators. Their stance is unclear, but they will most likely side with the church."

"The strength of these people... varies greatly. After this period of open and covert selection, those who are still alive are all very strong. If they realize what's happening, they might be even more difficult to deal with than the church guards we ambushed in the west of the town tonight."

Evan snorted and added, "Moreover, the power of the Church of the Mother Goddess is naturally able to restrain their cult—well, and me too. The holy light spells of those deacons are quite troublesome to deal with. If we fight head-on, even if we win, we will inevitably suffer heavy losses, which may affect the core aspects of the ritual."

“So,” Defit spread his hands, making an optimal solution gesture, “after discussion, we believe the most efficient allocation is—our cult members will deal with the investigators. While our people are keeping the investigators occupied, Mr. Yu Xing, what you need to do is assist us in dealing with the cult members.”

He looked at Yu Xing, his gaze filled with scrutiny and expectation: "You are not a cultist and are not subject to the Holy Light. With the abilities you displayed last night, dealing with those church guards and low- to mid-level deacons who have lost the archbishop's command and are leaderless should be no problem for you. Rather than sending you to face your colleagues from the ideal state, isn't this the best choice?"

Evan chuckled sinisterly from the side, "Of course, we're not asking you to kill everyone—that's unrealistic and unnecessary. You just need to blend in with the group trying to stop the ritual, create chaos at crucial moments, deliver a heavy blow, and ensure that the church's people can't break through the defenses and disrupt the operation of the core area before the ritual is completed."

His tone revealed absolute confidence in the "miracle": "As long as the ritual succeeds, our Lord's Kingdom will descend to this world through the coordinates, and all the ants still resisting... whether they are investigators or church personnel, will be reduced to ashes in the face of true divine power. At that time, all resistance will be in vain."

“Unless you do it voluntarily, what you do will not be known. Before our Lord completely erodes reality, you can still work in the ideal state and become the eyes of the esoteric religion.”

Inside the basement, the pale green candlelight cast the three people's shadows onto the filthy walls, distorting and elongating them.

Evan and Defit both focused their attention on Yu Xing, waiting for his response.

Yu Xing remained silent for a moment, as if weighing the dangers and rewards of the mission. Finally, he raised his eyes, his gaze calmly sweeping over the two of them, a cold smile curving his lips: "Sounds reasonable. Dealing with those tough nuts of the church is indeed more 'suitable' for me than dealing with my dear colleagues."

"I don't mind clearing some obstacles for you tomorrow, and I hope you can keep your promises." (End of Chapter)