Chapter 519: Look, Who Am I? (Large Chapter) (3/4)

Chapter 519: Look at Me, Who Am I? (Long Chapter) (3/4)

Kallen nodded, picked up another bowl, and followed Neo out, the two of them walking all the way upstairs to the rooftop.

"Director, the wind is strong here."

"Come on, just squatting down right here will do."

Neo walked to the leeward side behind the rooftop water tank and squatted down.

It had to be said that the Director was truly the Director, finding through pure intuition the most authentic way to enjoy oil-splashed noodles within Kallen's knowledge.

Kallen could only hold his noodles and squat down right next to Neo.

Neo spread his hand, looked at the raw garlic, and asked, "Not even a dip in oil, just raw?"

"Yes."

Neo took a bite of the raw garlic and then a large mouthful of noodles, chewing as he said, "I must say, it feels quite well-matched."

"Yes."

"Why aren't you eating the garlic?"

"Afraid of the smell."

"Heh." Neo smiled, "I remember in many novels and movies, they say blood-sucking demons are afraid of this stuff."

"And silver objects."

"Oh, that kind of thing can be stabbed into my body all day long, I can pull it out and sell it for cash, special mythril is best, it can fetch points."

"Director."

"Hmm?"

"If you have something to say, just say it directly, it seems we don't need any prelude for whatever we want to discuss."

"Mainly because I feel a bit embarrassed, when Bernie spoke to me about this matter, he was also very embarrassed, and when it came to my turn, I felt the same. After all, you poured so much blood and sweat into this trial and achieved such a massive success, but..."

"Has headquarters already reached an agreement with the regional management office?"

Neo froze for a moment, then asked, "You already know?"

"I guessed it."

"Yes, before the trial, the District Head and the Chief Bishop reached an agreement, the content of which is that the Whip of Order and the regional management office will form a joint law enforcement department, meaning both sides will share current powers."

"Oh, I see."

"Aren't you angry?" Neo asked.

Kallen replied, "I have no right to be angry."

"It's great that you can take it philosophically, of course, I was just worried you would be angry."

"I'm not that fragile, and besides, there is nothing wrong with this agreement itself, though the District Head must be deeply regretting it now."

If placed before today's trial, reaching this agreement would actually count as a massive stride forward and a great harvest.

Though nominally the Whip of Order possessed full enforcement power for internal surveillance, in reality, this power had been entirely held by the regional enforcement department in recent years.

Therefore, the Whip of Order was gaining immense benefits, and once this template was established in the York City region, it could be perfectly copied in other regions, very likely driving the restoration of the power structure for the Whip of Order across all regions of the entire Church of Order.

District Head Harry's active promotion of this matter showed great foresight and a view of the bigger picture.

As for the regional management office, choosing to take a step back to ease the conflict was also understandable.

It was just that the development of events differed greatly from expectations.

Because this trial went too smoothly, and the subsequent setup was simply too perfect, the break-even agreement made before the gambling started now looked a bit like a losing bargain.

District Head Harry must be very annoyed.

No wonder Bishop Bern conceded so completely at the end and even said those words, he must have known about this agreement long ago.

But the Naton family probably did not know.

So, the Naton family must be the "sacrificial offering" pushed out by the region, no, at the beginning Vicolai was supposed to be the offering, and now the offering had expanded to become the entire Naton family.

The reason today's "arrest" went so smoothly was also because the region felt they had gained an advantage and threw in a favor along the way, since they were probably very uncomfortable looking at the Naton family anyway.

Enforcement Department Chief Mochi's behavior today must also have received explicit instructions from the regional management office.

When both the Whip of Order and the regional management office intended to crush the Naton family to death, his stepping forward at this moment to tear off his mask and pick a side really carried zero psychological burden.

This was the coldness and ruthlessness of political transactions, though Kallen had no right to mock the Naton family, after all, he himself was kept in the dark, they were all in the same boat.

Neo quickly finished his first bowl of noodles, and as he picked up the second bowl, Neo paused slightly and said, "We still have to climb upward, as long as we are at the bottom, we will always feel stifled."

"Yes, I agree."

"In addition, don't blame the District Head, I guess it wasn't the District Head's own decision either, it should be the intention from higher up."

"I don't blame him, it is almost impossible for other regions to copy our region's way of seizing power anyway, local interests subordinate to overall interests, I understand."

"But fortunately, while the framework is this framework, who exactly can grasp the dominant power still depends on our own efforts to fight for it, right?" Neo smiled, "I refuse to believe that after thoroughly breaking the Naton family, our power in this joint department will be suppressed by the regional side."

"I told Leon to report for duty tomorrow."

Neo's hand holding the garlic paused slightly, then he tossed a whole clove of garlic into his mouth and smiled, "This move of yours is very good, giving him the last official slot, we can be very comfortable next.

Chief Bishop Wolfrun has no chance to move higher up, what he needs to do next should be paving the way for his juniors, we just happen to borrow the path."

"Yes."

"Keep it up, everything will get on the right track, once the immediate matters are handled, we will take a proper vacation."

Kallen shook his head and said, "After the immediate matters are handled, I intend to hold a formal funeral for Inquisitor Pavaro."

"Yes, that's only proper, it can be considered a lingering conclusion. Oh, right, should I also design a funeral for myself in advance, I'm afraid I'll be caught off guard when the time comes."

Kallen ate his noodles in silence.

Neo gently nudged Kallen with his elbow,

and asked:

"Why aren't you warning me that speaking this way easily brings bad omens?"

"There is a type of creature that can live for a thousand years."

"I guess that creature is definitely not a complimentary term."

"But please rest assured, Director, previously when I grew tired from reading in the study and wanted to rest and relax, I would habitually draft funeral plans, I have already prepared three complete sets of plans for your funeral. Actually, I also want to see the actual effect after the plans are implemented, I'm quite looking forward to it."

"Damn it!"

...

The detention house inside the building was in very poor condition, after all, this place had been "empty" for too long.

When Kallen walked down holding a bowl of noodles, he felt as if he were entering a long-neglected boudoir.

However, the area here was not large, it could only be used for temporary custody, so a new prison for the Whip of Order still needed to be rebuilt, the application had already been submitted, and there should be a response very soon.

Yet when passing by those empty cells, Kallen still felt an impulse in his heart, which was a desire to fill every single empty cell, otherwise it felt like a flaw.

Kallen shook his head, it seemed he was quite suited for this kind of work.

Old Koya was standing guard in person, and as Karen came down, he guided him along while introducing the layout of the formations here.

Trisen's cell was on the first floor; his younger brother was on the first basement level.

Due to the effects of the magical formations, they had no way of sensing or detecting each other, making this an exceptionally private space.

"I am going to see Vikolai," Karen said.

"Very well, Captain Karen. Here is the key. Call for me when you are finished, and I will take care of the rest for you."

"Mm, thank you."

Old Koya called everyone up from the basement level, and once Karen had gone down, he closed the iron door and personally stood guard at the entrance.

Karen walked up to Vikolai's cell, unlocked the door with the key, and stepped inside.

Facing Vikolai, there was no need to be overly cautious; otherwise, Richard would laugh at him.

Vikolai sat in the corner of the wall, his hair disheveled and his face pale, partly because today's events had dealt him a massive blow, causing his previous arrogance to vanish completely, and partly because he had suffered a "strike" from the divine artifact—how could he not pay a price for that.

However, when Vikolai saw Karen, his originally vacant gaze instantly refocused, and he shouted at Karen:

"You framed me! You framed me! I didn't kill Pavaro, I hadn't even had the chance to kill Pavaro yet, and you actually framed me!"

"Mm, yes, I framed you."

Vikolai froze for a moment, and then immediately became even more furious, lunging toward Karen.

Karen stood still, merely staring at him with a cold gaze.

Then, when Vikolai rushed to within half a meter of Karen, he came to a halt, because he knew he was no match for Karen, not to mention that he was currently bound in chains.

Karen handed the noodles in his hand to Vikolai and said:

"Eat."

Vikolai was indeed hungry; after being thrown in here, he had been dazed and bewildered for a long time, and now he truly needed food to replenish himself, though of course, it would be even better if there were a believer for him to feed upon.

So, he did not hesitate, reaching out to snatch the noodle bowl, picking up the fork to shove the noodles into his mouth, swallowing them in large gulps.

As he ate, he also spoke: "You want me to say something, don't you, heh, the great secrets of our family, care to guess whether I will tell you?"

"You misunderstand." Karen shook his head. "Giving you food to eat is not to touch your heart, it is so that when I deal with you next, you will have the strength to struggle a bit longer, scream a bit longer, so that I can play a bit longer and enjoy it a bit longer."

Vikolai's movement of eating noodles froze completely.

He lifted his head, looking at Karen, tears streaming from his eyes as he cried out almost weeping: "You cannot do this, you cannot violate the Order's doctrines, you cannot frame me, I didn't kill Pavaro, I really didn't kill him."

"I said, I know."

Karen drew an envelope from his coat, which contained just over ten thousand Order vouchers prepared for him by Alfred, the excess being the additional stipend from the period after his promotion.

"These are the vouchers you gave Pavaro back then; I am returning them to you now."

The envelope was placed on the ground by Karen, but after putting it down, Karen reached out and picked it up again:

"Except that your personal property has now been confiscated, so these are no longer your vouchers; I am seizing them."

Vikolai found it somewhat impossible to comprehend Karen's actions, but he could sense the terrifying pressure brought upon him by the meaning behind them.