Chapter 320: Hiding in hiding (2)
A green flame shot out of the lighter Kanin had given him, pointing in one direction like an arrow. Chu Hengkong followed the flame's lead for a while before arriving at a secluded bar.
Kanin was smoking at the door.
"You're on time, Inspector Chu." Kanin greeted him. "I thought you wouldn't come."
"After careful consideration, I decided it might be worth a try."
"Come on, you are adventurous by nature. You like the feeling of being able to handle crises with ease."
Kanin's tone was firm. Perhaps demons are naturally adept at perceiving human nature. He entered with a cigarette butt between his lips, the rising smoke cut off by the creaking blades of the fan. The old ceiling fan turned feebly. The bar was dingy and rundown. A few drunks slumped around the small wooden tables. The bartender was distracted by the water curtain.
Kanin didn't clear the room and took a seat at the farthest table. The table was already occupied, a short man in a cloak. As he looked up, Chu Hengkong felt a sudden surge of familiarity. He suddenly realized he'd seen this person before, but he hadn't reacted in the slightest.
The man took off his hood, and the candlelight illuminated the indifferent face of the child.
"Nice to meet you again, Chu Hengkong." said Olek.
Chu Hengkong drew his sword so quickly that even Kanin almost missed it. However, even faster than the blade was the silver prosthetic body. The evil wrist clamped directly on his right hand, crushing the slash in the scabbard.
"You're using my power against me?" the demon sneered.
He waved his hand casually, and his wrist loosened, transforming back into his useful left hand. Chu Hengkong clenched his fist, unclenched it, and pulled out a chair to sit down.
"Your new spirit clone is quite strong."
"An old thing, a container of the Sephiroth 5 limit," Orlek said. "An inorganic contracted body, no living contractor—after all, this is the territory of the Divine Tree, there's no need to break its rules."
Kanin whistled as he walked over to the bar to chat with the bartender, his face etched with the expression "None of my business." Chu Hengkong suppressed the urge to attack and said, "You're using ambition to come to me."
"Ambition is a good messenger, but I don't need it," Olek said disdainfully. "After you conquer the wilderness, that small town won't be able to protect you. Where else can you go in the short term except for Thorns? Now, release your sword. We won't fight today."
Chu Hengkong braced himself, but deep down, he knew the enemy wasn't out for a fight. He was well aware of the formidable power of misfortune. Since both were in the same city-state, Olek wouldn't even need to show his face to kill him. Furthermore, the old bastard was even more cautious than Kanin, and wouldn't even show his face if it wasn't absolutely necessary, even if someone was dead.
"What do you want to know?"
"I want Vander's intelligence," Olek emphasized. "All of it."
Chu Hengkong rejected it on the spot: "I can't possibly tell you my friend's secrets."
"For safety?" Orlek sneered. "You are truly loyal... But if I hadn't concealed the information, your presence would have reached the king long before you took the incognito talisman. Even the sacred tree would have been powerless to protect you. So shut up and listen to me before my patience wears out."
"It's hard for me to believe in the demon of doom, especially since we were fighting each other to the death in Jinye City not long ago." Chu Hengkong said coldly, "Why would Doom, who has been torturing people all over the world, be so kind as to help me this time?"
"Because Twilight is my apprentice," said Orlek.
This news was so shocking that Chu Hengkong paused for a moment. Olek sat quietly across from the wooden table, his dark eyes like the sea before a storm.
"Twilight, Master, All-Seeing Eye, whatever you call him, that hopelessly naive foolish demon is my disciple." Orlek looked him over. "The library has been in trouble for some time, and the Finder beside you is unfortunately very suspicious. I want to find out why it carries the power of my disciple."
"It's one of the students in the library. It once studied with Twilight. That's all."
"Those scumbags in the library are incapable of extracting my spirit." Orlek sneered, "That's enough. I already know you know nothing. I don't think Twilight would be stupid enough to let its backer know too much. Now let me see the book it gave you."
It makes sense that Olek knows the information about the manual... After all, he has never concealed this thing. People from Huilong City to Jingsha know the existence of this book, so it is not difficult to find out with its intelligence capabilities.
Chu Hengkong took out the manual and placed it on the table without hesitation. He also wanted to know what this so-called "graduation gift" given to Fander by the curator was!
“…”
Olek fell silent. His fingertips brushed the cover inch by inch. The single eye on the page was merely a carving, motionless, its gaze fixed blankly on the ceiling. Chu Hengkong observed him carefully. He noticed that the moment Olek took out the manual, a very complicated look flashed in his eyes.
It was a mixture of anger, regret, and nostalgia... as well as some deeper emotions that he could feel but could not describe.
Olek said nothing, pushing the book back. For no apparent reason, Chu Hengkong suddenly felt his hostility vanish. Previously, he had undoubtedly been a cold, malicious being, but now Olek seemed like a harmless passerby.
He looked back at me. "That's enough of a topic. Now let's talk about the key that Fratari gave me."
Chu Hengkong raised his eyebrows: "You are well-informed."
"You have no right to underestimate me," Olek replied. "I don't think Fratali told you how to use the key."
It was exactly what it said. The old octopus gave the key and suggested that Vander go to the Great Library to retrieve the knowledge about the thesis. However, from beginning to end, it never explained in detail how to use it. Chu Hengkong later made a special trip to find it, and the answer he received made him frown.
——It doesn’t know!
The old octopus only knew to give the key to Finder, but nothing else. The museum owner who assigned it this task seemed like a charlatan. His subordinates only knew the instructions but not the reasons, and the subsequent successors were completely in the dark. And the key thing was that Finder didn't react at all, as if he took it for granted...
"The library's confidentiality law." Chu Hengkong said ambiguously.
"You're wrong. I was the one who taught him this secret code." Olek sneered. "Let me tell you, that key is used for door Z-2978 on the top floor of the Great Library. The information behind this door must be about the 'Final Thesis'. I want you to tell me about what happened to Finder after he entered the door, and what the information contains."
"I'm not going to make this deal."
"This isn't a deal, it's a suggestion." Orlek stood up. "Think about that knight, and you who killed Vansalar. I allowed you to live until now only because of my apprentice."
"And many people don't have my meaningless kindness. You can just drag it out as long as you want and wait and see how others will deal with you."
He put on his hood and walked out of the bar. Kanin came back and sat down, giving Chu Hengkong a beer.
"If you have any news, you can contact me directly," he said. "You know, I'm just the messenger."
"I certainly didn't expect you to help Olek."
"I help!" Kanin sighed exaggeratedly, "But that's not the case. What you do is always up to them, not you."
Chu Hengkong finished his drink, put down his glass and left. Kanin shouted, "Inspector, you seem to have forgotten my contract."
"I really want to kill you again now. Are you sure we can talk about it today?"
"When you have time, of course." Kanin raised his glass in greeting.
He watched Chu Hengkong walk away, then stood up and beckoned. Everyone in the bar stood up, their eyes filled with the confusion of the walking dead. Kanin led them out of the bar, leaving the area deserted. Only Olek was left standing in the cold alley.
Olek's fingertips trembled. Of course he knew what the book was; how could he not recognize the power of "omniscience"? He cursed under his breath, his face hidden in the shadows beneath his hood.
"Every one of them is like this... I've warned you many times... I've already told you...!"
·
Chu Hengkong left the bar, turned a few corners, and sat down on a bench by the roadside. A tall man reading a newspaper sat at the other end of the bench. Without even looking up, he asked, "Who's that important person?"
"doom."
"How terrible, how terrible, this is unbearable..."
The newspaper was folded up, revealing Trek's long, unkempt face.
Chu Hengkong certainly wouldn't enter into negotiations with a demon unprepared. He chose the third meridian as the meeting point because of Trick's elusive abilities, ensuring he could intervene immediately should anything happen. He folded the newspaper and said, "Misfortune isn't a deity to be trifled with."
"I'm afraid the choice is not in my hands." Chu Hengkong hesitated for a moment, choosing to reveal some information vaguely. "It seems to have a personal connection with the library... and it knows a lot. I can't afford the consequences of it turning the table over."
"It's the same with it," Trek said. "If something as powerful as Misfortune asks you to do something, there are only two possibilities. Either it's too difficult to handle and has to ask you to do it, or it really doesn't want to touch you and is afraid that the tide will sweep you both up. Considering this is its personal matter, the second possibility is probably more likely."
Chu Hengkong was stunned: "It? Protect me?"
"Demons are a species that does what they want. It's not surprising they'll do anything," Trek said ambiguously. "Just like what happened at the amusement park. Have you read the investigation report?"
"I don't have the authority from your side."
Trek tossed him a stack of documents stamped "Confidential." "As one of the main designers of the cards, Entertainment holds considerable status and power within the surface of the Fifth Vein. Yet, it chose to come underground and raise the banner of rebellion. From an outsider's perspective, it seems strange."
"There must be someone else behind the amusement park."
"If Black Hand wanted to disrupt the situation, why didn't they choose Shen Shi, who was already on their side, instead of going through all the trouble of letting an inexperienced guy like Entertainment do it?"
Chu Hengkong thought for a moment: "On the eve of preparing to test it, I happened to encounter entertainment that wanted to take it a step further..."
"It's a coincidence, a reasonable one." Trek nodded. "But if something 'reasonable' happens again and again, it's worth paying attention to."
"That makes sense." Chu Hengkong stood up, "Let's see if there will be another coincidence this time."
"Without coincidences, nothing will go smoothly. The Great Library is not easy to enter."
(End of this chapter)
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