Chapter 104 Metaphysics

Romain Rolland had great trust in the capabilities of the Special Abilities Division and the Joint Major Crimes Unit, or rather, he had sufficient trust in the capabilities of all official organizations without a clear negative record regarding their operational capabilities.

Their greatest advantage lies in their official backing, giving them unparalleled advantages in mobilizing manpower and resources compared to other organizations with supernatural abilities.

Even using only the information Romain Rolland remembered, he could come up with more than a dozen ways to quietly transfer "Man-Tiger" Nakajima Atsushi.

With the addition of Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's "The Makioka Sisters," if handled properly, even Atsushi Nakajima's departure from the Armed Detective Agency would be difficult to detect.

If it were said that the Armed Detective Agency had some kind of loophole that was discovered and that Atsushi Nakajima had disappeared, Romain Rolland might believe it. But to say that he was directly discovered by these information brokers who don't even have supernatural abilities during the transfer?

If this wasn't a deliberate leak but rather the true strength of the Joint Major Crimes Unit, Romain Rolland would have already been partying in the ASA's intelligence room three times over.

Therefore, there is only one possibility that Romain Rolland was able to obtain this information...

Pressing his temples in exasperation, even Romain Rolland sometimes couldn't understand Christie and Holmes's bizarre hobbies, such as not speaking properly or doing things in a roundabout way.

Christy is somewhat better; most of the time she can control herself to appear normal. Holmes, on the other hand, is truly hopeless.

Having known Christie for so long, Romain Rolland now understood why they were so passionate about it. But even now, he still couldn't figure out what exactly their "fun" was.

Perhaps only those screenwriters could find enjoyment in these things back then?

This is similar to someone who learns why games are so addictive through a bunch of educational posts, but if they're too bad at the game and keep getting crushed by the beginner levels, they still won't get any enjoyment out of it.

Following this logic, Christy is the type who occasionally plays a game for fun. Holmes, on the other hand, is a hardcore internet addict who can't stop playing. Therefore, his words and actions seem quite strange to others.

Holding this intelligence, Romain Rolland's figure sank once again.

Now, Romain Rolland should send this challenge letter, filled with "gaming jargon" so incomprehensible to the average person, to Christie.

—This is the dividing line where Romain Rolland was rushing on his journey—

“That’s certainly Holmes’ style. He’s inviting me to a final showdown in five days, and the condition for victory is capturing the ‘Man-Tiger.’” Christie said casually, holding a copy of Romain Rolland’s report. “Simple and straightforward, definitely his style.”

Verne glanced down at the intelligence report in his hand, which only contained a little information about the movements of the "Man-Tiger," then looked up at Christie. After a moment's thought, Verne turned to Defoe: "Defoe, do me a favor."

Defoe turned around: "What are you doing?"

Verne said seriously, "There's an eye chart in the captain's cabin, could you please bring it to me? I think there might be something wrong with my eyesight."

Romain Rolland put down the original manuscript, which he had carefully examined several times and found no coded messages or hidden text. After discovering not a single trace, he calmly raised his hand and said, "I'd like to test it too. Thank you."

Defoe gave the two men a look as if they were mentally challenged, then silently walked away.

Christie: "...Gentlemen, please stop fooling around."

“The main problem is that I really couldn’t glean any information from this picture and text.” Romain Rolland was referring to a rather blurry, secretly taken photo in the intelligence, showing Atsushi Nakajima walking into the Joint Major Crimes Unit’s headquarters.

Because of the $7 billion bounty on his head on the black market, Atsushi Nakajima is quite well-known in the underworld, so it's not surprising that some people keep a close eye on his movements.

Verne nodded slightly in agreement: "Yes, although I couldn't understand the previous reasoning, at least the logic was clear, but this time it really feels like it's approaching metaphysics."

"No, this isn't a deduction; it's just a habit of Holmes and me. The challenge ends six days after it's issued. This news came out yesterday, which is why I said there are five days left."

Christie's tone carried a hint of helplessness.

"Because the information about 'Human Tiger' was leaked, and given that the only thing worth investigating within the Joint Major Crimes Unit is the relationship between 'Human Tiger' and 'Book,' I've stated the victory condition as capturing 'Human Tiger.' I think that's fairly straightforward."

Romain Rolland & Jules Verne: It seems so.

“Furthermore…” Christie sighed, “I thought I had explained my reasoning process very clearly, so why do you still have so many doubts?”

This time, Verne and Romain Rolland fell completely silent.

The reason is quite clear: even Romain Rolland and Jules Verne could only feel that the reasoning and explanations were impressive but not entirely clear, and that they seemed to make sense, but they simply couldn't follow the train of thought.

Moreover, the two of them had privately complained more than once that Christie was practically a prophet posing as a detective, and that her conclusions were just like those of a shaman, yet her thinking was complete and logically sound.

What's even more amazing is that it turned out Christie was right all along.

The two remained silent for a moment, but that silence was enough for Christie to understand what they were thinking.

As a result, Christie, whose social skills were not much better than the average person, was at a loss for words and even wanted to laugh.

The two understood that their unconscious silence was enough for Christie to grasp the situation. Even more awkwardly, neither of them knew what to say to ease the tension.

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

"I'm back, what are you all sitting there doing?"

Defoe walked in from outside, carrying an eye chart, and looked at the three people with curiosity.

The awkward silence between the three of them turned into a deathly stillness.

Defoe asked, puzzled, "Is there a problem?"

...

Seeing Defoe return with an eye chart, the trio were speechless with frustration.

In every sense of the word, Defoe's brain must have been rotten by the sea.