Chapter 611: Lightning Strike!

Chapter 611: Lightning Strike!

"Smack! Smack! Smack!"

Accompanied by three sharp cracks of Chief Judge Gaspoel's whip, the sentencings targeting the six bishops respectively over six consecutive days finally came to a close.

Perhaps the final modicum of respect shown to these six bishops was that they were not lumped together to be sentenced all in one day.

Karen was not seated on the tribunal bench, but rather in the public gallery behind it; now that he was a director, there was no need for him to show his face on such occasions anymore, and it was enough to sit in the back and watch Alfred and Vieco perform.

During this period, other personnel had been rotated in to get a taste of the "prosecutor" thrill; for instance, on the day Richard appeared in court, the entire Guman family was present to watch, as if attending their own child's graduation ceremony.

Alfred and Vieco had also thoughtfully left him a few more lines, rather than forcing him to sit through the whole proceedings as a mere clerk.

Karen stood up and entered through the small front door first, where Chief Judge Gaspoel was also waiting for him.

"When you have time to visit the Dingle Region in the future, I'll treat you to coffee."

"Of course, Chief Judge."

"Work hard, everything will take a turn for the better; after all, who can say for sure what the future holds?"

"Thank you for your encouragement."

"It's only proper, I like excellent, motivated young people."

"May I invite you to stay for dinner? If you would be willing, it would be my honor."

In truth, Karen was about to leave York City on a business trip shortly.

"That is truly a pity, next time, next time when you find me another assignment, we can enjoy dinner together and chat about the details of the case."

After the brief pleasantries concluded, Gaspoel departed with her adjudicators.

Karen looked back at the rather lively scene inside the tribunal hall, chose not to go inside and celebrate the end of the trial with them, and instead returned to his dormitory alone.

Pushing open the door, he saw Pu'er, clad in a cloak with a red hood, sitting on a chair:

"Oh, my dear little Karen, can we set off now?"

"I think you can shed that attire, try not to make yourself look too flamboyant and attract attention, you must know there are many magical beast believers over in the Earth Cave Sect."

"Oh, I'm not a cat demon."

"I know you aren't, but it's inevitable that once attention is drawn, someone will want to probe you; though they won't find anything, there's no need to give them that kind of specific lead."

"Alright, I understand."

"Where is Kevin?"

"Woof!"

Kevin dashed out of the washroom, a flexible sword strapped to his body, and on the dog's head sat a mask that only covered the upper half of his face, a classic Zorro image.

"Take it off."

Hearing this, Kevin first looked at Pu'er very sorrowfully, then immediately spun around and bounded back into the washroom with great alacrity to rip off the miscellaneous paraphernalia on his body.

Evidently, if it weren't out of "fear" of feline tyranny, he would never have wanted to dress himself up like this.

A knock sounded at the door.

"Come in."

"Director, I am ready."

Although Iceley was wearing divine robes, she had clearly put a great deal of effort into her hairstyle and jewelry; it was evident she highly valued this opportunity to travel on business with the director.

Her makeup was somewhat mature, and quite a few of her pieces of jewelry were undoubtedly taken from her mother, but since Iceley was not one of his own pets after all, Karen did not make her go wash it off.

Pu'er leapt onto Kevin, and Kevin lowered his head, delivering his leash into Iceley's hand.

To choose a partner at the Earth Cave Sect, it was certainly necessary to bring an advisor; no advisor could be more professional than this dog of his, who could even distinguish which kind of dragon meat tasted better when roasted.

As for Iceley, though she was now a member of the Whip of Order, her family ran a magical beast breeding facility and possessed some connections with the Earth Cave Sect; moreover, having her walk the pets was far more appropriate than Karen leading a cat and a dog himself.

Although Alfred had mentioned last night that his young master in a black divine robe of Order with a black cat on his shoulder would actually make for a magnificent picture;

With the addition of a golden retriever, the aesthetic would completely collapse.

"Pah... ptooey!"

Stepping out of the door, in the outer corridor, he happened to see water droplets splashing down.

Karen looked up and saw Neo, cup in hand, brushing his teeth on the balcony of the floor above.

"Skipping work again?"

"Bullshit, I worked overtime all night yesterday and am only now planning to sleep."

"Then get some good rest."

"I want to go have some fun too, I know she seems to be right over there."

Neo was referring to Anita.

"You can go, buy your own ticket."

"Oh, I told you long ago, you would definitely regret not putting me in that logistics director seat, that woman cuts invoice reimbursements so strictly!"

After Rachel assumed the role of logistics director, she reorganized the headquarters' logistics system, and even produced a few very peculiar past reimbursement slips at the directors' meeting the day before yesterday:

A coffee cup for 1,600 Order Coupons;

A black goat for 6,000 Order Coupons.

Slips like these had actually been reimbursed just the same in the past, and the applicant had turned out to be Neo.

Neo's initial explanation was that a coffee cup so expensive was a magical artifact that had shattered during a mission; as for the black goat, it was a magical beast goat.

As for where that magical beast goat was now, oh, it died in battle!

Rachel, however, pointed at the column for purpose on the slip, noting it was marked as edible!

Just how extravagant did one have to be to spend 6,000 Order Coupons to buy a black goat for charcoal-grilled lamb chops!

In the end, Neo chose to play rogue, saying that certain special purposes could not be written out directly and could only be billed this way, which the previous logistics director had taught him, and that he himself understood absolutely nothing of these rules and regulations.

Ultimately, this farce ended with Sus stepping in to smooth things over.

If the major affairs prior had not just settled down and if everyone weren't newly appointed officials, making it unsuitable to look into past matters, Neo might have been taken down for graft and corruption before his seat as investigation director had even warmed up.

"Strict reimbursement is something I can accept, after all, it's far better than you being logistics director and us having to work in the open air because our headquarters building was mortgaged off one day."

"You are doubting my noble character, you truly disappoint me too much, Karen, I didn't expect that I would hold such an image in your heart."

"I have already expressed it very subtly."

"Right, I want to borrow some coupons from you, hands have been a bit tight lately."

"You can look for Alfred."

"That manservant of yours is stingier than the current logistics director!"

"What do you need coupons for?"

"My secret office needs funding, some expenses are inconvenient to submit for approval right now, what else can I do?"

"How much do you want to borrow?"

"It isn't much, just two hundred thousand Order vouchers."

"How much do you want to borrow?"

"Two hundred thousand will do."

"Hurry up and say it, how much do you want to borrow?"

Neo: "..."

"If you won't say it, then I can't help you. I have to catch a teleportation array for a business trip, we will talk when I get back."

"I say, you are a minister after all, can we have some decency? I will return three hundred thousand to you in a while."

"Heh, then I have even fewer vouchers."

What kind of business could achieve a fifty percent return in just a few days?

At this moment, Leon walked out of the office, looked up, and said to Neo, "Minister, do you need some vouchers? I have some here."

"Oh ho ho ho!" Neo immediately shifted his target and said to Leon, "From the very first time I saw you, I knew you were an excellent young man with a bright future. Wait a moment, I will come down right away."

Neo did not dare to jump directly down from the balcony, because there was a defensive array here, and flying around randomly near the outer wall might get him struck by lightning.

Karen looked at Leon and reminded him, "Don't go along with his nonsense."

Leon smiled and said, "It's fine, Minister. I have quite a lot of vouchers in my hands, and they are just sitting here anyway. If Minister Neo needs them, just let him use them."

"Be careful he doesn't take you to the rooftop to drink beer."

Leon pursed his lips and said, "Having too much inheritance in hand isn't good either."

Karen nodded. He understood. His whole family was gone, from his grandfather to his father and uncles. The original family inheritance and the compensation given by the Church must absolutely be a massive amount.

But Leon didn't worry about food or drink anyway, so keeping so many vouchers on him was meaningless, and seeing them might actually make him feel uncomfortable.

Karen really found it hard to advise him further, after all, the guy was currently complaining about having too much money.

After Karen and his group left, Neo came to Karen's office with a large roll of newspapers and documents.

"Come, I have a grand plan here!"

"Minister, please speak."

"Have you noticed that the Order vouchers are starting to hike interest rates now?"

"I noticed."

"Look, these are the voucher exchange rate fluctuations of several of our subordinate churches of the Church of Order during this period. Now look at this chart, this is the upcoming trend chart I predicted. I believe we can take this opportunity to make a fortune!"

"But if it's on such a grand scale, my vouchers don't seem to be enough."

"That doesn't matter, there is a forbidden spell called... leverage."

"But if these subordinate churches take the initiative to intervene..."

"To be a dog, one must have the awareness of a dog. When the master is hungry, killing them for meat is the most normal thing. Rest assured, in this regard, I have never failed."

"Then why did Minister Karen..."

"You mean why he wouldn't lend me vouchers? That's because I led him to win so many times, he's worried that earning too many vouchers will affect his enthusiasm for work."

"Uh..."

"What, do you not believe me?"

"I believe you, Lord Minister. This is my card, there are two hundred and fifty thousand Order vouchers inside. If it's not enough for you, I'll go home and get more."

"Enough, enough, it's enough for now. Didn't that bunch of lunatics from the Church of Principles say, give me a fulcrum, and I can pry up a temple."

"Then I will leave first."

"Hey, don't be in a hurry to leave, let me describe this plan to you in detail again."

"Minister, I still have things to do, how about you wait a moment."

"Alright, go ahead."

Leon walked out of the office and returned to his own room. In the living room, a skeleton man, Guss, was tied up.

After Karen confirmed he was going to the Church of the Caves, Alfred very considerately invited Guss to the house as a guest, extracting as much useful information from him as possible, and finally made it into a document to hand over to his young master.

As for Guss, he had to wait until the young master returned safely before he could be granted his freedom, while Leon was responsible for helping Alfred feed him.

Leon took out a bottle and pulled out the cork. Immediately, wisps of black fog emitting a foul odor drifted out. Guss instantly took a huge breath, absorbing all the black fog, an enjoys expression appearing in his eyes.

"Sorry for the hardship, you can gain your freedom once the minister returns."

"No, no, no, no hardship. This thing is too expensive. I would rather be tied up here forever and fed this. You have no idea how hard it is for creatures like us to grow."

"Do you not have a family?"

"I was born from a pile of bones, I have no family."

"Then do you feel lonely?"

"I feel that if I say I am lonely, it will resonate with you, and then I will get better treatment from you."

"What is the actual truth?"

"Actually, not having a family is quite good. It's fine as long as I live happily by myself, ha ha ha!"

Leon nodded, "I will open another bottle for you."

...

Fortunately, York City had a teleportation array directly leading to the Church of the Caves, which spared them the trouble of transferring. After the teleportation ended, Karen and Aisley arrived at the office of the Church of Order stationed at the Church of the Caves.

A carriage bearing the symbol of the Church of Order pulled up, and the driver said warmly, "My lord, please get in, everything has been arranged, heading to the 'Dusk Hotel'."

Just as Aisley was about to get into the carriage, Karen reached out and grabbed her wrist, then looked at the driver and asked, "How much is the fare?"

Aisley froze for a moment. Huh, wasn't it arranged to be free?

The driver scratched his head and smiled, "One thousand Order vouchers."

Aisley's eyes widened instantly. One thousand Order vouchers, that's robbery!

"Then we will find transportation outside."

"My lord, this is the underworld, there are no taxis, huh..."

The driver seemed to notice the difference in the robes of Order on Karen. Although the main color of the robes of Order was black, they were distinguished according to rank and system department at the pattern on the chest.

Once the driver confirmed what position the robe on Karen represented, his mouth immediately flew wide open, and he instantly changed his tune:

"Fifty vouchers, I will take you over, my lord."

Only then did Karen get into the carriage.

The carriage drove away from the office. The underworld was not pitch black; its upper part was attached with special crystals, emitting light that illuminated the place like broad daylight. Moreover, except for some special architectural styles, it was not much different from an ordinary city.

There were indeed no taxis on the road, nor were there four-wheeled vehicles. There were some carriages, but the ones pulling the carriages were large demonic beasts. As for ordinary people traveling, they sat on a large ladybug.

"Hehe, Minister, this place is really interesting. When I first came here with my parents, I loved it here. Demonic beasts can be seen everywhere. People who haven't been here would definitely find it hard to imagine."

Karen said with a smile, "As long as a place possesses order, it must develop toward harmony."

Then, Karen suddenly realized how official his own speech had become, as though he were presiding over a conference.

The coachman, continuing to drive with one hand, reached back to slide open the small partition window, asking with an obsequious air, "Are you a director, sir?"

Aislee answered immediately, "Indeed, this is the esteemed Lord Director of our Whiplash of Order."

"Oh, heavens, the Director of the Whiplash of Order?" The coachman gasped in terror; he was merely a humble divine servant of the local office.

Karen inquired, "Have there been many people arriving lately?"

"Yes, quite right, sir, because the time has come. Every year at this season, a batch of people from the Church come to choose their partners, though they are mostly young people... oh, you are very young as well, my Lord. Truth be told, it has been an age since I last saw someone of your high station come down here."

Bern had once told him that a partner in the Crypt Church was a different matter entirely from a partner in the Church of Principles; those with bright futures and high status in the Crypt Church were unwilling to become partners with Order Justiciars. Only those like Guss would hope for an Order companion, which allowed them to regularly receive supplies from the Church of Order.

But that was relative to Karen, whose extraordinary excellence in their eyes made pairing with Guss an unfavorable bargain; yet in truth, a contingent of young Order Justiciars came every year at this time to make their selection.

They generally shared a common trait: they were young, far from exceptional, but came from comfortable family backgrounds.

Thus, the coachman had dared to ask for such an extortionate fare when picking up passengers here; clients like these were fair game to be fleeced.

The carriage pulled up to the Dim Hotel, and Karen stepped down as Aislee prepared to draw out some vouchers.

"No, no, no, my Lord, there is no need, really, there is no need."

"Take it! We are not so poor as to lack this small change!" Aislee produced fifty vouchers and proffered them.

"Thank you, thank you, ma'am," the coachman said, accepting the payment.

Aislee demanded, "The receipt!"

"Oh, yes, the receipt, the receipt, I shall write one out for you directly."

"Write it for a thousand!"

Standing behind her, Karen could not help but feel a touch of helplessness; he wanted to remind Aislee that they could afford to be a bit more discreet about their greed now, but when he remembered that his subordinate had turned out this way precisely because of his own early teachings, he found himself at a loss for words.

Just then, a familiar voice echoed from behind them:

"Heh."

Karen turned around and beheld a towering mountain, complete with peaks, valleys, and more peaks.

Auggie stepped forward, seized the collar of Karen’s divine robe in one fist, and hoisted him aloft, lifting his feet clean off the ground.

"Sister Auggie, what is the matter?"

Behind the formidable Auggie followed a charming girl with a waist as supple as a water snake.

"Miss Dana, I do not know why myself, but the moment I set eyes on him, I want to thrash him!"

Karen thought to himself: Does she not remember me?

Ah, of course, her memory had been sealed by Lasma, and in that brutal fashion specifically designed for the dragon race.

"But you cannot thrash him without rhyme or reason; he wears the divine robe of Order."

"Oh, yes, Miss Dana, I nearly forgot."

"However, I have found a reason for you: issuing a fraudulent invoice, suspected embezzlement, hehe. Now you may thrash him."

"Very well, Miss Dana!"

Not only did Lady Auggie no longer recognize him, she even wished to beat him, despite the fact that he had once carried her badly wounded, unconscious form back to the temple for healing.

Yet, facing Lady Auggie’s raised fist, Karen did not panic, nor did he even harbor a desire to resist; he merely asked with absolute serenity:

"Lady Auggie, have you forgotten what transpired that night in York City? The sand!"

In an instant, Lady Auggie seemed to recall something, but just as she attempted to delve deeper into her thoughts, a sudden bolt of lightning erupted from between her brows, transforming into thunderous chains that wrapped around her entire body, unleashing a violent shock!

"Ahhhhh!!"