Chapter 331: Return

Chapter 331: The Return

For the next two hours, Alfred continuously expounded on the meaning of "grounding oneself."

His explanation was profound yet simple and highly organized, which, combined with his voice and oratorical charisma, made people listen in a daze unconsciously.

Purr shook her head twice and said, "I feel like even if Karen spoke himself, he wouldn't do it as well as the radio elf."

"Woof, woof."

Purr asked in confusion, "Formulating a theory and explaining a theory are two different roles?"

"Woof."

"Well, what you say makes sense, so the radio elf has quite the grand ambition, wanting to use this method to coalesce this club."

"Woof."

"I know, I know, the root cause is still that our family doesn't have that many point coupons to buy people's hearts."

Alfred patted the chalk in his hand back into the box, crossed his hands, and bowed to the audience below the stage.

"That is all for today's lecture. Since everyone's time is precious, we will follow the previous rule and write down your doubts and questions in written form, putting them into this box."

Alfred took out two boxes from under the desk.

"In this box are my replies to you, with the names of the recipients written on them; look through it yourselves."

The audience members stood up one after another, handing in their letters and searching for the replies meant for them.

"Is the radio elf so busy every day?" Purr asked in surprise.

Kevin nodded. It had been going to Alfred's bedroom quite often lately to study that language system together and knew exactly how busy Alfred was every day; his bedroom was more like a study with a bed added.

At this moment, a team of personnel dressed in the divine robes of Order walked in, and the leading man walked up to Alfred and spoke:

"I am Keyar, Deputy Leader of the Third Group of the Ethos Office of the York City Area of the Church of Order.

We have received a report that you are suspected of violating the "Regulations of Order" by gathering a crowd to incite anomalies, attempting to subvert and influence ordinary human society. We now require you to come back with us for investigation."

Seeing this, the young girl Remer wanted to stand up, but her shoulder was pressed down by Anita, who was sitting beside her.

The audience members present gathered toward Alfred one after another, wanting to protect their master.

Seeing this scene, Keyar was not afraid but instead had a smile appear on his face. He wished for things to escalate so it would happen to confirm the crime.

He had hinted to this club twice already, but they actually hadn't handed over any respectful point coupons; they really didn't understand any rules.

Never mind that someone reported it this time, even if no one reported it, he would have come.

The management of anomalies by various major churches was actually quite similar.

Those resolutely cracked down upon were wild anomalies—the kind born of special reasons that did not possess social personalities, and wherever they appeared, they would inevitably bring disaster.

There was also another kind, out-of-control anomalies, which were also targets of resolute eradication.

Besides this, there remained a large gray area, such as some humans who became anomalies after being infected and had no intention of actively harming society, and some who were anomalies due to heredity or had already integrated into social personalities long ago.

They did not belong to the targets of resolute crackdown, but they did not possess true legal rights and belonged to a group of people who could not see the light of day.

Previously, when the Church of Order needed a batch of demagogic anomalies to join an experiment, they directly took action to arrest people.

After all, eradicating anomalies and protecting the safety of ordinary people was inherently a form of political correctness.

However, there were three categories among the anomaly community that could obtain political status: one was similar to the Bloodthirsty Anomaly Family, which itself was a force that could not be ignored and had formed a scale;

One was anomalies working for the Church.

There was another kind equivalent to the previous Alfred; in that small city of Lojia, he possessed the strength to contend with ordinary inquisitors, well, provided that inquisitor's last name wasn't Inmerles.

Alfred took out an identification document from his pocket. It didn't label him as an anomaly. After all, Alfred didn't have a speck of anomaly aura on him right now, and even probing wouldn't detect it, so there was no need to paste an anomaly label on himself.

What he took out was the identification document for working at the Pavarotti Funeral Home, belonging to the external personnel of the Inquisitorial Office, issued and stamped by the Pavarotti Inquisitorial Office; well, in fact, it was manufactured by himself.

The daily operation and official document correspondence of the Pavarotti Funeral Home were all handled by Alfred. Karen rarely paid attention to these matters, and Inquisitor Pavarotti had few friends and very poor popularity. His direct superior, Vicolai, was also deliberately cooling his presence due to the previous matter of stealing credit, so on the premise of not affecting the operation of the basic work process, Inquisitor Pavarotti could remain wandering outside to "take on missions."

Keyar took the identification document, looked at it, and sneered, "External personnel of the Inquisitorial Office, heh, is even making a cover identity so perfunctory nowadays?"

The crowd of subordinates behind him all laughed as well.

…

"Your captain comes to your house, and even if you don't cook a meal to entertain him well, you pull me out to handle matters right after arriving?"

Sitting in the passenger seat, Neo said ill-temperedly. He had already led the team back from completing the mission in Sampur City, and just as he arrived at Karen's house, he happened to run into Karen about to go out.

"I let my servant Alfred organize a club outside to facilitate gathering some news of York City in the future. He told me last night that today's gathering was reported, and there would be a problem with today's lecture. Calculating the time, it's about right. I happen to be going out to handle it, what a coincidence that you came, Captain."

"Reported?" Neo smiled, "Let me guess, did he report himself?"

Karen nodded.

The one who reported Alfred's club just happened to be Alfred himself.

Neo yawned and said, "Doing so is right. Reporting yourself and then handling it yourself to make the matter public first also whitens it in advance, and there won't be so many troubles in the future.

With your current identity, covering an anomaly club is very easy. Your colleagues should all be using honorifics when they see you now, right?"

"It's all because of the newspapers."

"No one is a fool. You're not a star who needs newspapers to help you hype things up. The final two teams that entered the selection, one team is mainly composed of people from the Dingle Area, and one team is mainly composed of people from our York City Area, and you were still the captain during the selection.

After going to the Gate of Samsara and returning, your identity will be different. All Whiplash of Order team captains in the entire York City Area... no, even intermediate captains, will have to use honorifics when they see you.

Your future is already destined to be glorious. Also, everyone knows very well what the situation is with that team from the Dingle Area—the area where the Holy See is located, true children of the Holy See. So in order to balance the family forces and grassroots forces within the Church, you will be heavily supported as a counterweight.

Just like the current Great Priest Norton, he doesn't have a large family either.

This point is a consensus among the higher-ups. We can't be like the Church of Samsara, where some imperial family appears in the Church of Order."

Speaking up to here, Neo couldn't help but laugh out loud again, "Damn! But in reality, there is inherently a top family of the Church of Order standing behind you, haha."

"Captain, I feel like you've been caring a bit too much about these things lately."

"I care too much?" Neo shook his head indifferently, "We're all playing within these rules, who can not care about the rewards of the rules? Besides, don't say I care about these things, have you noticed yourself that you haven't used 'you' with respect to address me but have been using the regular 'you' for a long time?"

"Is that so? Is there? I don't feel it."

Neo reached out to pat Karen's shoulder and said, "Relax, I feel like it won't be long before I'll have to rely on your promotion to get promoted. Even if you call me 'Neo' directly, I wouldn't bear to fall out with you."

The car arrived at the entrance of the club, just in time to see a group of people wearing the divine robes of Order walking in.

Karen was prepared to get out of the car, but Neo said, "Wait a bit more, it's only suitable to throw a tantrum after someone is put in handcuffs."

"Alright."

Karen trusted his captain's rich experience.

After sitting in the car for five minutes, Neo spoke, "It's about time, let's go, get in."

When Karen and Neo walked into the club lecture hall, they just happened to see Alfred being put into magical handcuffs.

"Looks so familiar?"

"Yes, looks so familiar."

"Karen?"

"Karen!"

Several personnel from the Morality Office, clad in the robes of the Order, recognized Karen.

Neo stepped ahead of him toward Clear, producing his badge. "I am Captain Neo of the Whip of Order."

Clear looked at Neo, then at Karen behind him, instantly realizing that trouble was brewing. "There might be some misunderstanding in this matter..." he blurted out.

"Misunderstanding? You detained my man and obstructed the enforcement of the Whip of Order. Do you hold us in such low regard?"

The Morality Office was a semi-clerical department, akin to a local cultural bureau, whereas the Whip of Order functioned much like special forces; though their roles within the Order differed, it was crystal clear which held the greater terrors.

"How could that be? I wouldn

One was a divine cemetery tied to Anita’s clan of tomb-keepers, though acquiring its exact coordinates required Kevin to recover further.

The other was the lost land of the God of Light, yet this journey demanded that Count Rekar achieve sustained awakening so he could guide them across the distant seas.

For both undertakings, he had to weigh not only the mandatory prerequisites for the voyage but also whether his own strength would suffice when the time came.

Karen gazed silently at these scheduled items, a sudden sense of fulfillment washing over his heart, for he knew well that other matters would inevitably interweave—such as the captain’s fondness for picking up random tasks out of nowhere; surely, once the captain became a commander, he would never allow himself to idle.

Alfred knocked and entered, placing a proposal before Karen—it was the funeral plan for Mr. Giotto, scheduled for tomorrow, meaning preparations had to begin immediately.

"It is flawless, you have put great heart into this."

Karen spoke after reviewing it, unable to keep from marveling inwardly at Alfred's sheer energy and work ethic, which were truly formidable; compared to him, his own indolence felt almost criminal.

"Young Master, tomorrow you need only focus on preparing for departure; I shall take full charge of the funeral."

"There is no rush to depart, I will step forward to preside over the memorial service, after all, they chose this parlor specifically because of me, it would be improper if I did not appear."

"Yes, your consideration is thorough, Young Master, your subordinate will take the men to arrange the funeral right away."

"Very well, go tend to your work."

Alfred did not leave, his gaze fixed instead upon the fresh notebook spread open before Karen.

"This is not a journal, it is merely a rough schedule of items I just jotted down for the coming period."

Alfred pressed his lips together, looking precisely like a young child accompanying an adult through a market, spotting a beloved toy, longing for it yet too shy to speak up.

"Well, if you wish to read it, you may come and flip through it yourself in a moment."

"Yes, Young Master!"

Alfred stepped out of the study, his spirit visibly invigorated.

Karen was preparing to draw a bath and rest, but at that very moment, the old man within the study abruptly materialized, staring blankly at Karen.

"What is it?" Karen inquired.

"I sense it, my true self has returned."