Chapter 184: Joseph Began To Understand Everything
Haa, this old uncle is as headstrong as ever... Making the decision to change an arm ever so casually, Lin Jie thought to himself.
He remembered that this kind of high-level mechanical prosthesis could completely mimic a real arm with little to no delay and was directly connected to the nerves.
In other words, whatever sensory aspects, including pain, were all synchronized.
Even though it wasn"t bleeding after being ripped, the degree of pain was all the same, as if Joseph had actually lost his arm for real again.
But even in the face of this sort of pain, the old uncle remained unflappable and could even smile.
It"s just like Guan Yu sc.r.a.ping poison off his bones. [1. Guan Yu from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms once got a physician to sc.r.a.pe poison from his bone while being totally unfazed.]
Perhaps due to his return to crime fighting and having achieved immediate success on his return, Joseph appeared overflowing with confidence and even looked ten years younger.
Lin Jie could only sigh. "Very well."
He glanced at the fellow slumped over Joseph"s shoulder who was babbling gibberish as if he suffered from dementia.
Lin Jie couldn"t help exclaim, "Poor fellow, this organization is really crazy for pulling off something as evil as this."
However, it"s true that they are evil to the core…
The recently deceased Michael came to Lin Jie"s mind. Not only had that fellow come barging in with a weapon with an intent to kill, he even hadn"t forgotten to shoot his mouth off in an attempt to instigate Lin Jie before dropping dead.
From this, Lin Jie could see how deep-rooted the organization"s brainwashing was.
Should this be expected from an organization pursuing the Kabbalah, Tree of Life and h.e.l.l-bent on becoming G.o.ds?
And now seeing this poor fellow whose mind seemed out of sorts, Lin Jie suspected that this was one of their failed attempts at brainwashing.
"Organization?" Joseph caught on to the key word. Somewhat astonished, he inquired cautiously, "Boss Lin, is this another organization?"
They had originally thought that the ones who would come this time would either be from the Church of the Dome or working for them.
Joseph had been wondering when the Church of the Dome had begun contact with "Blood Curse Mage" Zuikaku and his magician corps for them to provide such a large-scale undertaking.
Zuikaku treasured his magician corps, every member of which he trained himself. In the past, he would only dispatch half at most and had never mobilized the full corps.
With the Church of the Dome"s strength, recruiting Zuikaku was reasonable, but it was difficult to understand how they turned up in full strength.
But from the way Boss Lin put it, it seemed like there was another organization pulling the strings from the shadows...
As for how Lin Jie pitied Zuikaku, Joseph found it perfectly normal.
This fellow couldn"t even handle one of the summons from Boss Lin"s book, so it was natural for Boss Lin to cla.s.sify him as a powerless weakling.
Recalling Michael"s words, Lin Jie nodded and said solemnly, "Yes, the actions of those tonight, as well as what the Church of the Dome did previously, are all part of that organization"s plans. The matter of Holy Moon Essence ought to be their doing as well.
"The person behind the Church of the Dome has the codename Gabriel, and the Ash Chamber of Commerce has also been infiltrated by them. Congreve is one of those being groomed by them... But he should only be a peripheral member."
Joseph was flabbergasted and cried out at once, "Wait a moment!"
This relentless deluge of information made Joseph wonder if Boss Lin had decided to forgo keeping his cards up his sleeves.
Actually telling me the truth behind this matter directly is totally unlike Boss Lin"s usual style!
Shouldn"t he sit back and watch our investigations come up fruitless before coming and giving us advice and a nudge in the right direction?
Joseph asked tentatively, "Why are you telling me all this now?"
Lin Jie paused, scrutinizing Joseph"s somewhat tangled expression. Oh... They are still out there and it isn"t such a good idea to give out such information too easily without the slightest bit of confidentiality.
But... I"ve already finished saying it all. Now that"s awkward.
"Ahem." Lin Jie covered his mouth, somewhat embarra.s.sed. "I shouldn"t have said it now, but this is all to it.
"I got all this information from a man named Michael, who came into the bookstore to attack me. I was acting out in self-defense and all this information came from his mouth."
Joseph"s eyes darkened. It hadn"t just been the cafe; the bookstore was attacked as well.
It"s clear that this was well thought out.
This Michael person must be one of the masterminds and must at least have Supreme-rank strength to dare cross swords with Boss Lin...
Moreover, Joseph had been standing guard in the vicinity of the book cafe. He had only seen Cherry leave the bookstore but never noticed anyone else get close.
Someone who could pull this off had to be at least Supreme-rank.
While having unrecorded Supreme-ranks existing in Norzin wasn’t very surprising, everything seemed to make sense given the recent reports of there being a mole in the Truth Union.
Church of the Dome, Ash Chamber of Commerce, the Truth Union... all of them have already been infiltrated by this organization before this Holy Moon Essence matter could be planned.
Joseph felt like he was beginning to understand everything and a chill ran down his spine.
How big of an organization and how long must they have existed in Norzin for them to have stretched their tentacles into so many other organizations without anyone noticing.
Could this organization have also planted moles in Secret Rite Tower?
Does Boss Lin saying that he "shouldn"t have said it now" mean that he already has a plan, or has he not yet decided and is waiting to see what their next move is?
Perhaps this organization"s attempt to a.s.sa.s.sinate Boss Lin put him in a bad mood so he"s decided to thoroughly eradicate them and lend Secret Rite Tower a hand.
Joseph looked around the bookstore and felt a tinge of pity for that person named Michael.
Given Boss Lin"s past temperament, it seemed like this Michael was probably doomed...
Indeed, Lin Jie looked at Joseph and said, "Oh right. This person, he..."
"Understood." Joseph comprehended immediately and nodded. "I"ll get Claude to deal with it."
Whether it was a dead body that needed disposing or any damage to the bookstore, it was naturally on them... The intelligence they had gotten this time round was really useful.
Even if there was no intel gained, having a good relationship with Boss Lin was still necessary.
Lin Jie thought to himself that having connections was a good thing. Otherwise, even though he had acted in self-defense, he would still have to deal with unavoidable trouble for a while.
He glanced around at the slightly damaged bookstore, and his face sank. "These people are really guilty of terrible crimes! Let me go take a look at things. Hopefully my cafe... Hopefully no one"s hurt."
——
With the snap of a finger, Vincent used the power of Eternal Doom and instantly carbonized all these attackers into ashes.
While those people present didn"t understand what was going on, the scene they witnessed was absolutely terrifying and those who couldn"t withstand it fainted.
Vincent had already observed the reactions of all these ordinary folk and already knew which ones to pick.
If there were anyone that decided not to join, he would get Claude to wipe their memories and send them back.
After all, cleaning up was Secret Rite Tower"s specialty.
Annie nervously examined the wounds on her good friend as tears streamed down her face. "Athena, you scared me to death!"
Athena sighed. "It"s alright, aren"t I just fine... Just that there"s no turning back now. Such is the fate of a Burning Remnant."