Unable to repay my student loans, I had no choice but to work part-time as a demon hunter.

Take care of the mermaid.

It sounds like a delicate task.

"Is there a fee for maintaining a mermaid tank? I can't afford to repair such a big fish tank."

"Yes, but for now we can only record it in the books. We'll decide on the specific amount later, after the Seven Ministers make their assessment," Scarlett said decisively.

Gao Dengjue believes this matter is highly feasible.

He looked at Ningning.

She probably doesn't yet realize that she's the object of contention among various human groups, and is still happy to have gotten a second candy from Vera.

Everyone else tried to talk to her, but to no avail. Only Vera, who remained silent, seemed to get along with her. She had already taken off her coat and draped it over Ningning to cover her breasts.

"Are you afraid of dying?" Gordon walked over and asked.

"I'm scared," Ningning said immediately.

"Are you willing to join us in fighting the Fishing King?"

"Okay." Ningning's eyes widened. "We're here to destroy it."

"What should we use?"

"fist."

Gordon looked at her hand, then thought of Severin, who had been blasted dozens of meters away.

"Very energetic," Gordon nodded. "And there's another mermaid, isn't there? Do you want to find her?"

"Fufu!" Ningning propped herself up with her tail. "Yes, I'm looking for Fufu!"

When was the last time you met?

"Twenty times before the moonrise. I came when I heard the singing, but she advised me not to come."

"It seems she really is a smarter mermaid..." Gordon pinched his nose. "Do you have a third companion?"

"Linlin, I've never seen her again." Ningning's tail drooped. "They caught her."

Linlin.

Right there in Lundenim, someone killed the mermaid "Linlin" and then gained immortality.

The mermaid murder case cast a shadow over Gordon's mind.

Gordon looked into her eyes, which remained calm, clearly not understanding human malice.

:

"Alright, behave yourself and follow this expert for now. You'll have to accept temporary supervision and tell us about the Fishing King, Fufu, and some ancient myth. In return, we won't let the bad guys capture you."

Are you good people?

"A very, very good person."

"Oh!" Ningning looked very happy.

Gordon's Blackwater River project now includes a very special element: monitoring and investigating mermaids.

They even tried to use the excuse of protecting mermaids to ask the government for more research funding.

……

Several hours later, the chapel was finally cleaned.

Imperial soldiers blocked the stone bridge leading to the underground lake, church knights evacuated civilians, Christian nuns cleared the battlefield, took away the bodies of soldiers and the dead, and police arrested surviving cultists.

Investigators Griff and Martin meticulously inventoried and cataloged the spoils of war amidst the ruins.

On the small boat, Gordon extracted the source essence from the last alien demon with source essence, ensuring that there were no more valuable spoils for the alien demons on the lake, before being escorted back to the rocky cliffs outside the chapel.

After getting ashore, he and Martin walked through the ruins of the chapel.

Martin's steps were steady.

"You've done a lot." Martin walked with Gordon, his hands behind his back. "You participated in the final assault on the chapel, interrupted the mermaid's song, and saved her. Your squad also killed Olivia. You deserve all the credit."

"That happens all the time," Gordon sighed.

You look somewhat worried.

"How can I not think this through? Olivia is dead, and Ellen is alive, but she witnessed everything. Now a mermaid has appeared and is about to enter my sphere of influence. There's also a mystical nobleman in the city who sacrificed a mermaid for immortality. If he spreads this word, the next batch of people will come to me to order immortality slots... These things are all too crazy."

Martin understood.

"Take a break, Gordon. Relax and clear your head." Martin noticed Gordon's fatigue. "You've accomplished a lot, look."

He suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Then he raised his hand and pointed upwards.

Gordon looked up and realized that the waterfall that had been cascading down from above had stopped sometime earlier.

"The rain has stopped, Gordon," Martin said. "It's sunny in Lundnim now."

sunny.

:

The Siren's Song has ended.

Lundnium is bathed in sunlight, and citizens peek out from their windows. People who have been cooped up indoors for days open their windows and exclaim how wonderful the sunshine is.

"Okay." Gordon admitted that this was one of the more meaningful things he had done. "This time, I did a really good job."

Next, it was time to sort out the spoils.

First up are Gordon, Vera, Eve, and Gray.

As employed individuals, each receives an action allowance of 150 gold pounds.

Because Shirin lacked the ability, she only received one-tenth of the salary, but 15 gold pounds was still equivalent to half a year's salary, so she decided to send part of it home.

Mouse has been given the title of "Service-Type Otherworldly Demon" and has officially started receiving a salary. In the future, in the distant future, he may have the opportunity to receive a pension.

In its view, it seems to have a real opportunity to slowly enter the human world on its own and see those complex and diverse changes.

Then there was the wealth Olivia had amassed throughout the entire chapel in the flooded area.

Gold and silver artifacts, jewelry, cash, antiques... were all loaded onto huge horse-drawn carriages, the axles creaking. The Bureau of Justice would first use the money to compensate the victims and return the stolen goods, then impose judicial confiscation, and the remaining amount would be distributed according to the contribution ratio.

Gordon wasn't sure how much it cost, but there were many boxes, and they were clearly full of gold and silver items, a dazzling array.

Next is the source matter.

Because there were too many participants, Gordon had no reason to keep them all to himself, so he took three of them.

One of them is "Burning Water" born from Olivia's death.

The second one was born from the death of Severin.

[A small, explosive source material – "Lightning Execution" – can be used to release a violent electric current, but also places an additional strain on the nervous and cardiac systems of the user. The world suddenly brightens, and then the battle is decided.]

This source material looks perfect for making weapons. Just seeing it made Gordon hear the thunderous roar underwater that would decide the outcome of the battle.

Gordon also needs to figure out how to use spiritual circuits and source matter to create things. He has always wanted to create source matter objects himself. Relying on Sinclair always seems a bit troublesome and would also make many ideas lose their secrecy.

The third one was taken from those aquatic demons; the other source materials were of little value and use, so he took the best one.

[The flowing, miniature source matter—"The Blind River's Peeping"—can be used to perceive surrounding directions when unseen. Some things survive long enough in the darkness to eventually give up searching for an exit.]

This thing has overlapping functions with Gordon, so he wouldn't even consider refining it.

However, this source material that can enhance vision is very cost-effective and can be exchanged for equivalent value in subsequent transactions to obtain source material that is more suitable for Gordon, or that can help Vera, Eve, or even Charlotte.

In addition, Gordon also obtained a large amount of intelligence, such as the text of the Siren's Song, the Blackwater Hermitage's warehouse, safe house information, ancient cryptic information, high-quality water crystals, etc. Many pieces of information still need to be further deciphered by Eve, who will open up a Blackwater River section in her library.

The most important takeaway was...

:

The secret method to awaken the Silver Fish Sacred Box!

As long as the Silver Fish Casket can release the amniotic fluid from its warm bed again and continue to create "newborns whose shapes have not yet been chosen", Gordon can hold the Tidal Birth Ceremony again, and it seems that Bean No. 2 is about to be launched.

However, this time Gordon doesn't need to be limited to mermaid scales; it seems he can look for genetic information from other, more powerful, extraordinary creatures.

The traces can now be reproduced.

……

People gradually dispersed, and the engineering corps in the distance began to clean up the mess.

Before leaving the chapel, Scarlett called Gordon aside for a private conversation.

"Mr. Vic." She looked down.

"arrive."

"You have officially accomplished a... feat." Scarlett stood on a protruding rock, her red scarf billowing in the cold wind of the cave.

"Yeah yeah."

"Be serious."

Gao Deng stood straight.

"From today onwards, you are no longer a trainee investigator," Scarlett acknowledged. "You have become... the youngest investigator in the history of the Logris Empire."

Gordon's heart skipped a beat.

at last.

Official investigator.

Olivia's ashes, Severin's body, and the collapsed, flooded chapel became his titles. Martin had said that great deeds meant the deaths of many, and now it seemed that this was indeed the case.

Martin was no longer his boss, but Gordon's colleague. Now both of them were under Scarlett's command.

What does "investigator" mean?

"You can independently take on higher-level anomaly cases, build and lead your team for the long term, access intelligence from the agency, and even request the transfer of more powerful items... Of course, you also bear responsibility for your judgment."

"Does this mean that all kinds of actions can be reimbursed for official expenses?"

"Theoretically, yes." Scarlett greeted Gordon. "Welcome to the world of official investigators."

"Surely, one good deed can be exchanged for something nice."

"Of course, and it's much better than minor achievements."

:

"I want to borrow the Holy Grail and the Holy Sword."

"They have big ambitions."

The Holy Grail contains boundless restorative power, and the Holy Sword's power is undeniable.

"Protecting a high-profile mermaid is very stressful. There are noble immortals, churches, and all sorts of other people. It's hard to protect yourself without some good protection," Gordon reminded him.

Scarlett looked at Ningning.

She was wearing the coat Vera had given her, her powerful tail bouncing on the ground, while Eve was chatting with Ningning beside her.

Ningning seemed to be a cheerful child, and soon she told Eve all sorts of things. She hadn't had anyone to talk to in a long time, and she was willing to tell her everything she remembered.

"...Alright, after all, these two sacred artifacts require further research. I hope you will make good use of them until we completely destroy the Fisher King." Scarlett took out her black notebook.

"Oh, I want this notebook too."

"You'll have it." Scarlett wrote a few simple lines, tore it off, and handed it to Gordon along with a pen. "Sign here."

Gordon wrote his name, the ink fell onto the paper, and the unbroken string trembled gently.

At that moment, he clearly realized that many things were now firmly linked together, and many connections had been established.

Scarlett handed the holy sword to Gordon.

[The Holy Sword that Parts Waters. One of the four sacred artifacts of the Fisherman King, it once parted rivers, commanded waves, and cleaved deep waters.]

Gordon lowered his hands and took the holy sword.

I never imagined this thing would be so heavy before I got it. It looks long and thin, but it's almost impossible to wield it casually.

He slung the sword over his back, its heavy weight pressing down on his shoulders, bringing him a sense of security. His life as a formal investigator thus began on July 24th, 3355.

He walked toward Ningning.

"Come, your life on earth begins."

"What do you want to eat?" Ningning asked.

Yes, what does Ningning eat?

: