Have you had enough, Miss Vampire? It's time to get down to business.

It was clearly a life-or-death, crisis moment just now, how come the situation suddenly changed and they started showing off their affection?

Joyce showed an expression of disdain, and his tense spirit relaxed a lot.

"All in all, Isabella seems to have come to her senses."

He slowly opened his mouth and said to the unidentified man behind him:

"But why is this happening? Is it really because of love... No, it's not that simple. It's probably related to the 'family contract' between those two... My friend, you seem to know a lot about vampires. Could you share your thoughts?"

However, there has been no response.

Huh?

Joyce turned his head in confusion, only then realizing that the unidentified man had disappeared at some point.

"Gone?" He frowned unhappily. "So who exactly is this guy? Not introducing himself is fine, but he left without even saying goodbye... How baffling!"

At the same time, Lor was approaching him with Isabella in his arms.

I have to say, the atmosphere was a little subtle.

Isabella is a vampire, and there is no doubt that she is Lor's relative. Now this shocking secret has been discovered by Joyce... But correspondingly, the power of "thorns" that he tried hard to conceal was also seen by these two people.

"The guy just now was named Emmett." Isabella said suddenly.

"What?"

After hearing the name, Lor and Joyce were both stunned.

Needless to say, Lor had read this name in the library of the parish headquarters and had already listed this person as one of the vampires who needed to be especially wary of.

As for Joyce, he had obviously heard of this name.

"Emmett? That's... that Emmett? One of the first generation of vampires?" Joyce was so shocked that his mouth couldn't close. "So my initial speculation was right. There really were two high-level vampires here at the same time? And I was fighting alongside the vampires just now?"

"Yeah, that's it." Isabella nodded.

"But why didn't he use the vampire's extraordinary abilities the whole time? He kept fighting with spells and props?" Joyce still couldn't understand.

"Because the 'True Ancestor Blood' in his body has been temporarily frozen, which is exactly the opposite of my situation."

Isabella hesitated for a moment and gave only the simplest explanation without elaborating.

She knew that she couldn't just casually reveal the fact that she had seen True Ancestor Lilith in her "dream" and that it had affected her. She hadn't even decided whether to tell Lor the truth.

"I can sense that guy hasn't gotten far yet. I can catch up with him if I really want to, but... forget it."

Isabella continued:

"I'm exhausted, and you've expended quite a bit of energy, haven't you? Even if we could catch up, we might not be able to do anything to him. So, it's best to conserve your energy. He should be leaving Gordon City soon, and he won't do anything bad."

"I see." Joyce sighed softly, "It's obvious that you're still hiding a lot from me, but for Lor's sake, I won't ask any more questions... However, there's one thing I still need to make clear."

As he spoke, his expression changed, and there was a hint of awe in his eyes.

"Lor, as a member of the vampire clan, are you still practicing the creed of 'redemption and protection'?"

"Of course," Lor replied without hesitation. "I haven't betrayed the Church, nor have I ever done anything detrimental to the Church. Also, although Isabella is a vampire, she has never harmed innocent people."

Hearing this, Joyce closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

A few seconds later, when he opened his eyes again, his expression had softened again:

"Ok, I trust you."

"Wait, it doesn't seem fair for you to question my Lor like this, does it?"

Isabella's expression was somewhat dissatisfied:

"Shouldn't you answer the same question? If I'm not mistaken, those black thorns you released during the battle are the source of corruption, right? The Church of Holy Light would never allow such power to exist. In other words, you, too, are hiding a secret!"

corrupt……

Lor's expression suddenly became serious.

According to the records in the data, "Corruption" is an extremely dangerous supernatural root that should have disappeared long ago. It is one of the absolute "sources of disaster"... The supernaturals who pursue this root often possess quite terrifying combat capabilities, and their lethality will increase with the level of the opponent!

But the problem is that anyone who uses this power will sooner or later fall into darkness and madness.

Even if one is not a transcendent who is the source of "corruption", but has used props or spells belonging to this source, one will still be affected by a significant negative impact!

"Sure enough, I still can't hide it from you."

Joyce sighed lightly, and his expression became serious again:

"I didn't intend to use this power, and I don't want to use it unless it's absolutely necessary... But at this point, this 'thorn' and I have become symbiotic. As long as I live, I can't get rid of it.

"But like you, Lor, I haven't abandoned the church's creed, at least not yet... Once my spirit is completely 'corrupted', it will be hard to say.

"Don't worry, I will end my life before that day comes."

After saying this, Joyce's eyes met Lor's.

After a brief silence, the two nodded at each other in tacit understanding.

"Well, in short, you keep my secret and I'll keep yours. What happened today, just pretend it never happened."

Joyce spread his hands and continued:

"Lor, you've rushed all the way here, you must be tired, right? Hurry up and take your fiancée home to rest, and report to the team tomorrow... As for me, unfortunately, I have to go back to work... Wait, what time is it now?"

As he was speaking, his expression suddenly changed and he quickly took out his pocket watch to check the time.

"Huh? What's wrong with you, Senior Joyce?" Lor was a little puzzled.

"Oh no..." Joyce's face turned pale. "As a precaution, before I left, I left a 'resignation letter' for Vivian. I also told her that if I didn't return before noon, she should contact the diocesan headquarters and read the contents of the letter to Bishop Helm!"

Lor's heart sank, and he had a rough guess:

"Uh, judging by your reaction, could it be that the actual content of the letter is..."

"It's about 'signs of high-level vampire activity near Gordon City.'"

Joyce said with shame:

"I was thinking that if I couldn't get back, Vivian would be able to report the situation to headquarters in time... In short, I have to go back immediately, otherwise I'll be in big trouble! The diocesan headquarters will definitely pay attention to it, and our secrets may be exposed!

"Damn it! There are only less than twenty minutes left until noon!"

87. Still so peaceful

Gordon City Church, Captain's Office.

"Resignation letter..."

Red-haired Vivian held the envelope in her hands, holding it against the sunlight streaming in from the window. The envelope was thick, and while she could vaguely see the folded letter inside, it was impossible to make out the writing.

Although the content of her letter was somewhat curious, given Vivian's personality, it was impossible for her to do something like "sneaking into other people's letters."

Senior Joyce said that the envelope could not be opened until after noon.

"There are only ten minutes left, and Senior hasn't come back yet..." Vivian glanced at the wall clock and muttered softly, "Could it be that he really won money in the casino and will never come back again?"

Theoretically speaking, it is not so easy for a third-level exorcist like Joyce to resign voluntarily.

There are many processes.

First, a formal application must be submitted to the local diocesan headquarters. Once permission is granted, headquarters will dispatch a dedicated agent to retrieve Senior Joyce's current extraordinary abilities. Finally, to prevent the church's internal secrets from being leaked, a host of confidentiality agreements must be signed, restricting personal freedom to a certain degree for the next several years...

"If Senior really just leaves and never returns, he'll definitely be considered a traitor and become a wanted criminal," Vivian said, feeling a little uneasy. "Although he's not a serious person and doesn't seem to have any passion for the job of Exorcist, he wouldn't do something like this, right?"

It seemed to her that Joyce must be joking.

He couldn't really be planning to resign.

There was probably nothing serious in the letter, probably just some impromptu, poorly written doggerel... When Mr. Joyce was slacking off on weekdays, he would often write this kind of thing in the margins of newspapers. It was kind of his little hobby.

"You're saying things like 'this opportunity can't be missed' and 'you have to give it a try'... You're exaggerating so much, are you just trying to confuse me so you can sneak out and gamble?" Vivian curled her lips in disdain.

Just then, someone knocked on the door gently and then pushed it open and walked in.

It was Ms. Helen who came.

"Joyce, the investigation you asked me to do has yielded results." She walked into the office, clutching a document. "This is a record of recent transactions of extraordinary items worth noting, provided by our 'informant' planted in the black market... Hey, where's Joyce?"

"He went to change his destiny." Vivian replied helplessly.

"Going to gamble again?"

Ms. Helen seemed to be used to it. She walked straight to the desk and put down the documents.

"Tsk tsk. With the captain away, Joyce is getting more and more daring. He even dares to sneak out to gamble during working hours?... Although, he has done similar things before."

"The problem is, he's the acting captain now!" Vivian was a little annoyed. "What if, except for an emergency, we can't find him? What do we do?"

"Hey, you don't have to be so nervous."

Ms. Helen quickly tried to smooth things over:

"It's been so peaceful these past few days, what emergency could there be? Besides, Joyce only frequents one casino, and it's only two or three minutes away. If anything really happens, I'll come and help you catch him back immediately! Is that okay?"

"In my opinion, everyone's still too lax." Vivian was still a little relentless. "And you too, Ms. Helen! Why are you fortune-telling for him when there's nothing to do? Aren't you just encouraging his bad habits?"

"Fortune-telling for wealth?" Ms. Helen looked bewildered. "Joyce never asked me for a fortune-telling, did he? Besides, I never help people with their fortunes, only their love lives."

"what?"

Vivian was also a little confused:

"But before he left, he said that according to your divination, this morning is the time of his life when he will have the best fortune, so he wants to go to the casino and spend a fortune!

"He also said that if he didn't come back by noon, it meant he had won a lot of money. He then asked me to contact the diocesan headquarters and read this 'resignation letter' to Bishop Helm..."

"I was worried about what would happen if he really didn't come back, but it turned out to be complete bullshit!"

"puff."

Ms. Helen couldn't hold it in for a moment, thinking that Vivian was really stubborn.

Can such nonsense scare her?

"Although Joyce always gives people the impression of being unreliable, he is surprisingly quite responsible. You can rest assured."

Ms. Helen continued, raising her eyebrows.

Those who knew her well knew that this expression meant she had smelled gossip again.

"But he left you a letter before he left. This is indeed an unusual move... Vivian, don't you think this move has a deeper meaning?

"It's like a little boy who has just fallen in love and mustered up the courage to write a love letter to the person he likes, but he doesn't dare to say it directly, so he finds a lame excuse!

"Tsk tsk tsk, this guy Joyce is quite cute sometimes!"

"A love letter?" Vivian pointed to her own face blankly. "For me? How is that possible?"

"Well, it's normal that you couldn't believe it for a moment." Ms. Helen patted her shoulder firmly. "After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see that Joyce has been secretly in love with our Captain Rhonina for a long time... But people's hearts change, and it's human nature to find a new love when the love you can't get is unrequited!"

"Wait, Senior Joyce has feelings for Captain Rhonina?" Vivian realized belatedly.

"Captain Rhonina actually treats him the same way. At least in my opinion, the two of them are just one step away from breaking through the window paper." Ms. Helen analyzed seriously, pushing the slightly reflective lenses of her glasses, her tone becoming increasingly fanatical. "But now, a new storm has emerged! Vivian, you are this storm, and it will definitely disrupt our Gordon City Exorcist Team!"

"Oh, the sky is dark and the earth is pitch black..." Vivian was still in disbelief, but her expression was somewhat guilty. "That's not right, Senior Joyce? To me? How is this possible?"

"Don't doubt your charm, Vivian! Besides, haven't you been keeping track of his attendance all this time? This is the common love-hate relationship trope in romantic comedies!" Ms. Helen rubbed her hands eagerly. "Anyway, all we have to do now is open the envelope and see if the contents are a love letter. Wouldn't that reveal everything?"

"Eh? But..."

Vivian felt a little embarrassed for a moment and wanted to make excuses saying that the time had not come yet, but after glancing at the wall clock, she found that it was already one minute past twelve.

"Don't hesitate any longer, Vivian!" Ms. Helen pressed on. "If you hesitate, you'll only miss out on beautiful love... Come on, take out the love letter in the envelope and let me check it for you!"

However, at this moment——

"do not move!"

A shout suddenly came from outside the door.

Vivian and Ms. Helen froze at the same time, and then immediately realized that the short and hurried words just now contained the power of "majesty"!

The next second, Joyce rushed in, snatched the envelope, and tore it to pieces in a few seconds!

"Alas, it's not so easy to change your fate," Joyce said with a laugh. "I lost a ton of money at the casino today! I'm so unlucky, you wouldn't believe it if I told you how unlucky I was..."

"Oh? Lost at the casino? Even so, there's no need to rush to destroy your 'resignation letter,' right?" Ms. Helen adjusted her slightly reflective glasses and said dimly, with an expression that showed she had seen through the truth. "Sure enough, you regretted it at the last minute... You can't let go of Captain Rhonina, right?"

"This……"