Imperial Crown.

Chapter 543 The Detective Duo
Many thanks to QQ Reading's author [秋、殇] for the 100-coin reward!

……

"Holy crap!" "It smells so good!" "Young master...it smells so good!"

As Kohler spoke, he wiped away tears, his features contorted in pain, his words and actions quite exaggerated.

"It smells good." "Why the hell are you crying?" "In public, you're really embarrassing me."

Hume couldn't wait for a private room, so he simply ate on the first floor. Hot pot, kebabs, grilled fish… everything was served. The group hadn't eaten properly for days, rushing to reach Eagle City as quickly as possible. Watching the three of them eat so listlessly, Hume felt like everyone on the first floor was secretly watching him, making him feel extremely uncomfortable, like he was sitting on pins and needles, like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.

"I miss my grandma." Kohler took out a tissue and blew her nose.

"Your grandma can make hot pot too??" Hume was surprised to hear this.

"No," Kohler pursed his lips. "My grandma used to roast cockroaches for me when I was little, and they taste a lot like this barbecue."

Hume, Perkin, Older: ...

"It just doesn't taste as good." As she spoke, Kohler weighed the white butterfly in her hand. "And it doesn't have this dipping sauce called 'Soul Sauce' either."

"Alright, stop talking." "Child." "This isn't funny." Hume rolled his eyes, feeling as if his appetite had suddenly vanished.

Perkin took a big bite of kidney, chewed for a while but still found it hard to swallow. He picked up Angel's Tears and gulped down half a bottle before finally swallowing it, exclaiming, "Young Master, no wonder their business is booming! Look at their waitresses, each one is so beautiful and has such big butts, they all look like they're destined to have sons. The service is also extremely attentive. To be honest, I used to be a mercenary in the Cartier province for a few years, and I've traveled all over the place, but this is the first time I've seen such a thoughtful and meticulous shop." Perkin clicked his tongue in admiration, "What's this called again... oh, hot pot! Even if the hot pot isn't good, just for these waitresses, I'd want to come back a few more times." "Look, there's even a stage! They even have birthday parties and dancing! My God, this is awesome!"

“It’s alright, we’ll make one when we get back,” Hume said, secretly making up his mind.

"That's good." Old patted his belly. "But looking at this building, I'm afraid it will cost a fortune. I wonder if the master would agree?"

“I’ve got it.” Hume’s heart skipped a beat. “Go buy a magic crystal later and record all the scenes here. If you can, steal their ingredients too.” “Of course.” “That’s just a last resort. If you can buy them with money, it’s best to do so.”

Ald chuckled, gave an OK sign with his hand, and said nothing.

"Young Master, after we've eaten and drunk our fill, shall we go to the Crystal Palace for a bit?" Kohler couldn't help but whisper excitedly, "I heard the girls there are all incredibly beautiful—angelic faces, snake-like waists, elven bones, and otherworldly charm..."

"Get lost!" Hume said sternly, "I must save my first time for my wife, Savannah."

"..."

"How about we go to the Paramount next door?" Perkin tentatively suggested.

“That’s no problem. However, each person only has a limit of 30 gold coins. Once we’ve lost them all, we’ll go back to the hotel to sleep.” Hume thought for a moment and finally nodded in agreement.

"Young Master is so generous!" Perkin, Old, and Kohler quickly complimented.

boom--

"stop!!"

Just as the four were about to get up to pay the bill, a loud noise suddenly rang out in the hall. Immediately afterward, a shout came out, but the shout sounded noticeably immature and trembling.

Hume looked closely and saw that the first person to burst in was a man in his early twenties, dressed in a beige shirt and looking flustered. He was clutching his left arm tightly with his right hand, blood streaming down it. A gleaming crossbow bolt, about the length of his forearm, had pierced his entire left arm, from which the blood was flowing. This man had barged in recklessly, knocking over several waitresses and even overturning a table, splashing boiling hot pot onto innocent diners nearby; the loud noise had come from there.

Behind him followed a boy with black hair and black eyes, who looked to be only about ten years old. His patched clothes were extremely shabby, clearly indicating he was either a serf or a poor free man. He was the one chasing after the person in front of him. The loud shout earlier had obviously come from this boy.

"That's it!" "That's more like it!" Hume was slightly excited. Ever since he entered Snowmaple County, the scenes he had witnessed had often left him bewildered. Everywhere was orderly and well-organized. Everyone's face was filled with happy smiles, and their attitudes were sincere and kind. This completely overturned Hume's worldview! Not to mention his home province of Mangtailide, even in other counties of Nord Province, the nights were filled with women's shrill cries and men's fights. But these scenes had all disappeared since he entered Snowmaple County. The peace and order were so good that Hume found it hard to believe, even hard to accept! This completely shattered his understanding of this world and his impression of the Middles Continent. Until what he saw before him finally brought a little bit of balance to Hume's heart.

"Peng'er! Surrender! Once you reach Xuefeng Territory, you'll have no chance of escaping!" The boy's voice was still immature and trembling, but one could clearly hear the excitement, agitation... and a hint of fear mixed in with it.

"do not come!"

The young man named Peng'e's face contorted with rage. Suddenly, he pulled out a bottle of bright green potion from his pocket and, as if to smash it, roared, "Do you recognize this?! Huh?! This is a potion called Poison Cloud. Once I throw it down, none of the people here will escape! They'll all be buried with me!" "You—don't—force—me—ah!" Peng'e gritted his teeth and growled, each word a low growl.

The young boy's expression changed visibly. He looked around and forced himself to remain calm, saying, "Peng'er, if you tell me where that girl is, I can let you go. How about it?"

"Fuck your mother!" "You're not Raven's dog!" "You're not Hawkeye either!" "You're not home breastfeeding at night, but ambushing me!" "Mind your own business!" Penelope cursed painfully.

"Peng'er!" The child's face showed embarrassment, clearly stung by a sore spot. "Stop being so stubborn!" "Yes! I am indeed not Eagle Eye Guard!" "But recently, 16 girls have gone missing! Each one was raped, violated, tortured, and then their eyes were gouged out, making them wish they were dead!" "How are you any different from an animal?!" "Although I am not Eagle Eye Guard, I am a member of Eagle Territory!" "Now that the Marquis is attacking the orcs outside, each of us should do our best to protect Eagle City for him!"

"I said it has nothing to do with me!" Peng'er was furious, seemingly on the verge of collapse. "You're wronging an innocent person!"

"Well said!" Hume clapped his hands vigorously, stood up, and shouted, "Kid! You've said it perfectly!" Then he looked at Peng'er, "Boy, you'd better put down the first-tier potion in your hand before I make my move, otherwise, you won't even have a chance to prove your innocence!" "Don't worry, as long as you're willing to cooperate with the investigation, I can guarantee you won't be wronged." "Let me introduce myself, my name is Hume, son of Marquis Baldwin of the Province of Mangtailide." "Moreover, I just returned from the Orc Empire, where I fought alongside Marquis Raven for several months!" "Alone," "and killed an orc..." Hume's tone paused noticeably at this point, "5!!!" "Therefore, you can completely trust me, and please don't doubt my ability to refine you in an instant."

咕咚
The previously noisy and chaotic hall fell silent at Hume's words. Although the claim of slaying 50,000 orcs was obviously a lie, Hume's aura was not to be underestimated! It was the chilling killing intent that could only be cultivated by someone who had truly been on the battlefield and personally killed many people! Moreover, on the continent of Middels, few dared to impersonate a nobleman, let alone a marquis's son! That's why the sound of Penelope swallowing unconsciously due to nervousness was particularly clear and loud.

"What?" "Do you want to see my Martial Soul?!" Seeing that Peng'er remained unmoved, Hume immediately shouted angrily.

Upon hearing that Hume was a fourth-tier expert, Peng'er immediately collapsed to his knees with a thud, completely losing any will to resist. His opponent was exceptionally well-dressed and possessed a terrifying aura; as an ordinary person who wasn't even a transcendent being, he naturally dared not gamble on whether the other party was a fourth-tier expert. After all, the stakes were his life!
Upon seeing this, the child pounced like a tiger or leopard. First, he nimbly kicked the potion away, then he pinned Peng'er down and tied him up.

"Thank you... uh, Lord Hume for your help," the child said shyly.

"You're welcome," Hume smiled.

Just as Hume was about to ask the child's name, a panting shout suddenly came from outside the door. "Tang San, Tang San, did you catch the murderer?" A young man, also only about ten years old, ran in. He was covered in sweat, wearing a suit jacket several sizes too big and completely ill-fitting, and even had a ridiculously fake curly beard plastered on, making him look rather incongruous. Two things hung around his neck, swaying as he bent over and breathed heavily. One was a pair of binoculars, and the other… surprisingly, a pipe. Hume was speechless. Why are all the kids in Eagle City so strange!

Tang San put the potion away and stuffed it into his pocket, then stepped forward, pressing Peng E down. "Lord Hume, this is my partner—Sherlock Holmes."

"Partner? What partner?" Hume asked instinctively.

Upon hearing this, Tang San suddenly exchanged a glance with Holmes. The two abruptly stood ramrod straight, their energy surging. Tang San shouted, "Detective!" Holmes then added, "Double Eagles!" Immediately afterward, the two roared in unison, "Team up!"

Hahahahaha——

Such a ridiculous scene caused the entire hall to erupt in uproarious laughter. Some people laughed until they were breathless and their faces turned purple, some fell off their chairs and kept pinching their thighs, and some let out shrill laughter like geese... Even Peng'er, who was tied up to the side, couldn't help but let out a contemptuous chuckle.

"Stop laughing!" "Stop laughing, everyone!" "What's so funny?"

Tang San and Holmes, the two children, were so anxious that their faces turned red, and they couldn't help but shout loudly.

"Oh dear," Hume, being an aristocrat, couldn't help but burst into laughter, even though he had already gone through all the sad things in his life in a flash. However, he deliberately covered his head with his hands while laughing, giving Tang San some face. Then, Hume straightened up, shrugged his shoulders, and patted Tang San on the shoulder. "Good lad, I have high hopes for you!" "How old are you this year?"

"We really are detectives!" Tang San exclaimed anxiously, his face visibly flushed. "Holmes, show everyone your skills!" He then answered Hume's question, "I'm 15 years old, and Holmes is 16."

Holmes approached Penelope, his face flushed with anger, and demanded, "Tell me! Where did you hide the sixteenth girl?!" The sixteenth victim had been missing for three days; finding her even a minute earlier meant a greater chance of survival! With a life at stake, Holmes's youthful face was filled with seriousness.

"whispering sound"

Peng Er rolled his eyes. "Don't waste your energy, you two brats. Just hand me over to Hawkeye! I told you, I'm not the murderer at all. You two kids are just framing an innocent person!"

"Did you see that?!" Holmes shouted, seemingly trying to prove to everyone that his detective duo with Tang San wasn't just a joke. "He deliberately rolled his eyes while speaking, his gaze flickering. If he weren't tied up, he would definitely be touching his nose." "That's standard behavior for a liar!"

"The murderer!" "It's you!" "Penge!" Holmes became increasingly certain of his deduction, then stared intently at the other's face. "Hidden in Eagle Territory?" "Hidden in Holo Territory?" "Hiss—" Holmes mentioned several places in succession, but realized that none of them were right, and he couldn't help but frown. "Could it be hidden in Snow Maple Territory? You wouldn't be that bold, would you?"

“None of them.” “That’s it, I understand!” “It’s the Mountain Territory!” Upon hearing this, Holmes seemed to notice something on the other person’s face and immediately shouted excitedly, “It’s in the Mountain Territory, hurry, Tang San!”

"Hey, hey, hey!" Hume grabbed Holmes and pulled him back. "You two wait a minute. How did you determine that it was in the mountain territory? Don't wrong an innocent person."

Holmes smiled, a confident and calm expression on his face. "When I mentioned Eagle Territory and Holo Territory, this guy was almost expressionless, his pupils didn't react, indicating he's not in either of those places." "When I mentioned Snow Maple Territory, he made a very subtle movement—a slight twitch of the bridge of his nose. It's a micro-expression of contempt. It proves I was wrong about the place." "Then the answer is simple: only Mountain Territory!" "And when I mentioned Mountain Territory, Peng'er's pupils clearly contracted; there was fear in his eyes, and even more so, anger towards me." "This," "is my ability to judge people." "Absolutely right! Tang San and I have already solved many cases!" "Uh," "Although most of them are cases involving finding cats, dogs, wallets, and the like."

“Alright.” Hume was completely bewildered, even more confused. “You two aren’t even superhumans. I happen to be free, so I’ll go with you. I can provide protection for you two little ones.”

Human life was at stake, so the group didn't dare to delay. After Hume paid the bill, he followed Tang San and the others out of the hall. "Come on, get on our horses and hurry to the mountain territory."

Soon, the group mounted their warhorses and headed towards the mountain territory under cover of night.

"Boss, why are you so concerned about this kid?" Perkin asked, somewhat puzzled. He was still thinking about going to the Pleasure House to gamble. "Yeah, yeah," Old and Kohler couldn't help but chime in.

"Idiots!" "Are you three blind?" "Didn't you realize that Tang San is Raven's illegitimate son?" Hume was furious with his three henchmen and best friends.

"Oh~!!!!" The group suddenly realized, and when they looked at Tang San again, from behind, his thick black hair was exactly the same as Marquis Raven's! Hey! He really is Marquis Raven's illegitimate son!

"Tang San, they don't seem to treat us like human beings," Holmes said quietly, riding alongside on the same horse, running ahead but clearly hearing the conversation behind him.

"No"

"I just treated him as a deaf-mute," Tang San replied seriously.

……

(End of this chapter)