Mysterious: The Innate Sacred Body of Destiny

Chapter 368 Fame and Troubles

"What are you saying? I don't quite understand." Lorne still had a blank and confused expression on his face.

"Thanks."

However, instead of explaining, Charles simply said thank you without any context.

Then, he spoke slowly in an extremely sincere tone: "I know you saw what happened that evening. I'm very grateful that you didn't report it to the church."

It's the truth —

"How do you know I didn't report it?" Seeing that the other party had already made his point clear, Lorne simply stopped pretending.

With his current "James Scott" face, he's quite a celebrity in Backlund, so it's normal for him to be recognized.

"I have my own sources of intelligence," Charles replied with a smile.

"I still have some information about the investigations within the church."

"Your guild—is far more complex than I imagined."

Lorne pondered for a moment, then posed the question: "I'm curious, does it make a difference? Even if I don't say anything, the Church will investigate. That demon's unnatural death is obvious. His body is still here; the Church will definitely try to find out the truth."

"There is a difference," Charles explained. "Because of the special nature of our guild, we are subject to a certain degree of registration with the church."

"Although under normal circumstances we are not on the church's list of priority investigators, once certain key characteristics are detected, the church can easily trace us back to us."

"Therefore, even a blurry figure is dangerous to us."

After explaining, Charles countered, "Actually, I'm more curious why you didn't choose to report it?"

"Hmph—" Lorne shrugged, giving off a "better safe than sorry" look. "No matter what, killing that demon wasn't inherently a bad thing. At least not for the security of Backlund. I was just a bystander who got caught up in it by accident, and I didn't want to cause any more trouble. Saving the Duke was already eye-catching enough; I didn't want to create any more complications."

He looked directly at Charles, his tone questioning: "Now, what I'm more concerned about is whether there will be any follow-up to this matter."

The answer was reasonable, and although there was some concealment, it was logically sound—Charles nodded slightly.

"Rest assured, I assure you, the assassination attempt on Duke Negan had nothing to do with me, and it was absolutely not something we planned."

The relationship between "me" and "that demon" was merely a personal feud.

17

"I don't want our conflict to be exposed to the church, so—"

"understand."

Lorne only half believed what he said, but he still nodded.

"Actually, I inquired about your guild a long time ago. To be able to achieve such a large scale under the noses of the authorities, you must have extraordinary connections and methods."

"Don't worry, as long as it doesn't involve me, I won't do anything unnecessary."

"Thank you. You've gained our friendship." Charles's tone was unusually sincere.

"Then, let's continue our discussion about investments. Actually, not only your charitable foundation, but I'm also very interested in your arms industry—"

"Hmm—is this a reward or a bribe?" Lorne asked abruptly, half-jokingly and half-seriously.

Charles paused for a moment, then chuckled, "James, you're funny." He changed his form of address to sound more intimate.

"Actually, it's all of the same thing. In return for your silence, I'm also bribing you—to remain silent, and in the hope that we can become good partners."

The ensuing conversation went exceptionally smoothly. Charles promised to invest £10,000 in Lorne's charitable foundation on behalf of the guild. Simultaneously, he would also invest privately in Lorne's arms industry, helping Lorne acquire some missing links in the existing supply chain, such as sales channels.

Of course, the specifics couldn't be explained in a short time. So they just established a basic framework for cooperation.

To facilitate future communication, Charles suggested that Sherlock Moriarty act as the liaison between the two.

"By the way, Mr. Horn," Lorne suddenly said as the conversation was drawing to a close, "I'm actually quite interested in the pharmaceutical industry. Do you have any resources in that area?"

"Medicine? Hmm—yes. I can help you get in touch if you need it." Charles was slightly surprised, but quickly nodded.

During the previous financial crisis, they acquired many bankrupt companies, including several small pharmaceutical companies.

However, due to their stable cooperation with vampires, they have little demand for general medicines, and this industry is easily subject to official regulation, making it difficult to invest openly in Backlund.

So if James Scott really has this need, he does have connections to help.

The two then chatted for a while about the current state of the pharmaceutical industry and possible cooperation models.

"By the way, James," Charles suddenly changed the subject, "would you be interested in joining us?"

"Join—" Lorne narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew what the other person was talking about. "Sorry, I'm not interested in being a detective."

"You should be able to guess," Charles leaned forward, lowering his voice, "how could I, an ordinary director of a business investigation guild, have the strength to deal with a Sequence 5 demon? And how could I so easily obtain intelligence and information about the church's internal movements?"

"Stop." Lorne suddenly raised his hand, making a stop gesture, interrupting Charles.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Horn. There are some things I don't want to know right now." His expression turned serious. "The assassination of Duke Negan has had a huge impact, and I'll definitely be in the spotlight for the next few days. I don't want to get involved in any more complicated matters. I'm just an innocent ordinary citizen who was accidentally dragged into this."

"As for other things—I think we should talk about them after everything has calmed down."

"Hmm—that's true, I was too abrupt." Charles nodded.

"In short, we've settled on the investment and business cooperation for now. I'll have Sherlock help deliver the documents and information later to clarify the specifics. I wish us a pleasant collaboration."

"Breaking News! Breaking News! Duke Negan assassinated in the street; the terrorist organization Aurora Society has claimed responsibility!"

"Another hero of the East End has performed a miraculous feat! Mr. James Scott bravely repelled the assassins and saved the Duke's life!"

-

Just as Lorne had predicted, once the news spread, he was once again thrust into the spotlight. The factory gate was even more crowded than after the last Kapin case, with not only reporters who had caught wind of the situation, but also curious citizens, opportunists hoping to profit from the situation, and even some unknown groups holding signs expressing "support" or "protest."

"Mr. Scott! Were you at the scene? How did you discover the Duke's assassination?"

"Mr. Scott! Could you tell me the details of your fight with that assassin? Were you afraid?"

"Mr. Scott! There are rumors that the Negan family will reward you with a huge sum of money to thank you. Is that true?"

"Mr. Scott! You saved the Conservative leader, the Duke of Negan. Does this mean you personally support the Conservatives?"

"I just happened to be passing by and decided to help out out of a basic sense of justice. As for the specific details of the case, please follow the official announcements from the police. I have no further comment."

After finally dealing with the group of troublesome reporters, Lorne returned to his office, completely exhausted.

"With so many people blocking this place every day, the factory's normal operations can't proceed—it seems we really need to set up a security department."

"Should we—just start our own security company?"

"Mr. Scott!"

Old Kohler came running over, panting.

"What's wrong? Another reporter has barged in?" Lorne frowned slightly.

"No, no—another invitation has arrived—"

Invitation ————

Hearing that word gave him a headache. Since news of his rescue of Duke Negan spread, he'd received far too many similar requests in the past two days. There were invitations from the police chief, from salons hosted by celebrities he'd only met briefly at charity galas, and even from dinner invitations from minor nobles whose names he'd never heard of—

Today, he also received a formal invitation from the Church of the Night to visit St. Samuel's Cathedral when he has time. The Archbishop of the Church of the Night's Diocese of Backlund said he "looks forward to meeting" this "devout" believer.

Bishop Elektra, whom I had met at the previous party, also sent a personal letter of greeting.

In addition, he plans to personally visit the Negan family's main residence in a couple of days to express his sincerest gratitude for their righteous act.

"Sigh—being a celebrity is exhausting. And this is just the beginning. After the Negan family's official statement comes out, there will probably be even more invitations—not to mention there's an unknown force secretly eyeing me—"

"How about we find an excuse to go away and hide away for a while after we're done with things these next couple of days?"

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