When Fang Zheng and Francis arrived in Arkham City together, it was three days later.

The entire Innsmouth was destroyed. Apart from them, there was not a single living person. Even the vehicles were in tatters. In this situation, the two had no choice but to leave the city on foot. For Fang Zheng, sleeping in the wild was something he was already used to, but for Francis it was a very rare experience, so he felt quite excited.

Along the way, Francis also asked Fang Zheng a lot about himself. Fang Zheng naturally talked nonsense about his experiences in other worlds, bragging about them and showing Francis a twinkle in his eyes. After arriving in Arkham, although the two of them were not close friends who could talk about anything, they were still friends.

After arriving in Arkham, Francis also invited Fang Zheng to live in her mother's house, but Fang Zheng was not interested in disturbing other people's homes. Instead, he told Francis that he would live in Arkham for a while and would notify him when he found a house. Although Francis was reluctant to leave, he could only nod and agree in the end.

As for the house...

Arkham was not a very big city, and there were good apartments. The main problem was money. After all, this was the 1930s, when there were only telephones but no Internet, let alone electronic banking. It was impossible for Fang Zheng to fleece the FBI.

But will this stump him?

Of course not.

So Fang Zheng took advantage of the opportunity to take advantage of the Federal Reserve. After all, anyone can be without money, but the Federal Reserve cannot be without money, right?

Information manipulation is Nymph's strong point, so Fang Zheng soon bought a small apartment with a garden in Arkham. As for the outside world, most people here only knew that "a rich gentleman came here to buy an apartment" through Nymph's information manipulation.

Although the apartment was not big and a bit expensive, it was not his own money anyway, so Fang Zheng naturally nodded his approval since the furniture was complete.

To be honest, this world seems very boring to Fang Zheng.

But the unfolding is also completely different.

Fang Zheng also tried to check the newspapers for information about the world situation. After all, according to Fang Zheng's memory, Asia should not be very peaceful at this time. However... the situation was somewhat unexpected.

Perhaps it was because each world focused on a different aspect, but the newspapers Fang Zheng bought contained surprisingly little political and military news. Instead, they were filled with all kinds of gossip, ranging from the mysterious stone statues on Easter Island to crop circles, all of which were news that would only be published in third-rate tabloids and magazines like "Shocking Chronicles" that Fang Zheng would buy at newsstands like those at train stations when he was a child.

In the original world, this kind of story probably wouldn't even be accepted by the public, but in this world, it was actually published and discussed in regular newspapers - it really gave Fang Zheng an indescribable sense of ridiculousness.

Can you imagine that People's Literature would publish something like "Exploration of the Mysteriously Disappeared No. 901 Bus"?

The editor-in-chief is probably Shi Lezhi.

But here, even the Wall Street Journal would discuss things like UFOs and underwater civilizations with great relish, giving Fang Zheng the feeling that all employees were fanatical admirers of mysterious scientism.

Could this also be due to the influence of the Cthulhu world?

But to be honest, it was precisely because of this that Fang Zheng was able to pass the time every day by reading newspaper news like the "Tianya Ghost Story" section. As for Francis, he did not go to find him. He just sent him a letter after finding the house, informing him of his address and phone number.

But Fang Zheng believed that if his hunch was correct, Francis would call him soon...

“Ding-ling-ling!!!”

The piercing ring of the telephone rang out. The telephones of this era were the oldest ones, so the sound was naturally very loud. Hearing the ring of the telephone, Fang Zheng sighed, put down the newspaper in his hand that published the report on "Japan's Strange Whirlpool Village", and picked up the receiver.

"Hello."

"Ah, hello. Is this Mr. Van Helsing?"

Soon, a slightly distorted voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Yes, it's me."

"Great! Sir, I'm Francis. Do you have time now? I have something important to tell you!"

Francis sounded a little frightened and uneasy, and Fang Zheng nodded.

"No problem, you can come over now."

"That's great! Thank you for the invitation!"

Hearing this, Francis hung up the phone and must have run over here. Fang Zheng put down the phone and shrugged at Nymph, who was reading a book next to him.

"Looks like we have a visitor coming."

"Do you need me to step aside?"

"No, it's not necessary now. Stay."

The reason why Nymph was asked to hide before was mainly because we were not sure what the situation in this world was at that time. Now that it has been confirmed, there is naturally no need to do so anymore.

And at this moment...the door of the study opened.

"Excuse me, are you expecting a visitor? I'll go and prepare some refreshments."

A beautiful girl with waist-length dark blue hair and fair skin walked in and looked at Fang Zheng with a smile. Her every move was very elegant and peaceful, and she looked like a quiet beauty.

"Well, I leave it to you. A young man named Francis will be visiting us later. Don't tease him."

Looking at the girl in front of him, Fang Zheng sighed slightly, while the blue-haired girl smiled and tilted her head, revealing an expression that said "I don't understand what you are talking about."

"Hearing what the master said really makes me sad. Do you think I would be that kind of person?"

"No, but at least I have to be prepared for the worst."

Fang Zheng rolled his eyes helplessly and looked at the girl in front of him.

That’s right, what was in front of him was the soul stone that Fang Zheng had drawn after obtaining the soul scroll. It was of silver level. To be honest, when he drew it, Fang Zheng was worried that he would draw Saya - after all, this was the world of Cthulhu. Speaking of the world of Cthulhu, it was not impossible to draw Saya, right?

But luckily, it wasn't Saya who was drawn.

But this character isn't much better.

Asakura Ryoko.

She is a character that Fang Zheng is relatively familiar with, but precisely because of this familiarity, Fang Zheng is speechless about her.

Anyone who has watched "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" knows that Asakura Ryoko is not a human, but a humanoid interface for contacting organic life forms created by the Consulting Integrated Thought Body. She is a backup for Nagato Yuki. Unlike the three-no Nagato Daimyojin, Asakura Ryoko is an orthodox beauty character, gentle and kind, amiable, gentle to everyone, and very popular.

Until she stabbed the protagonist Kyon.

From a certain perspective, Asakura Ryoko and Nymph are actually the same kind of existence. Both of them do not have the so-called human values ​​of good and evil, but Nymph looks weak because her actual combat ability is too weak, while Asakura Ryoko is like this because of her simple personality.

She can't even be considered a yandere character, because she is not sick, nor is she delicate.

It can be said that Asakura Ryoko is a relatively proactive Nymph. After all, Nymph's personality is relatively introverted and passive. For example, she would suggest that Fang Zheng engage in genocide, but if it is rejected, she will not act rashly.

However, Asakura Ryoko is the type of person who is proactive. For the same thing, she might do it herself before reporting it to Fang Zheng - just like in "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", because she couldn't detect the information burst, she simply thought of killing the protagonist to see Haruhi Suzumiya's reaction...

It was this proactive attitude that made Fang Zheng a little cautious about Asakura Ryoko, so much so that he had to remind her many times not to do anything unnecessary without his permission.

Although Asakura Ryoko agreed very readily... Fang Zheng had no confidence at all whether she would completely follow his instructions.

By the way, the current relationship between Asakura Ryoko and Nymph is very similar to the relationship between her and Nagato Yuki in the original work, except that Nymph is not as three-faced as Nagato Yuki, and she also talks to Asakura Ryoko in a good way - huh? Thinking about it this way, could it be that Asakura Ryoko attacked Kyon because her love for Nagato Yuki was not reciprocated and she took extreme actions?

For example, "It was obviously me who did it first, why do you care so much about Kyon?", "Why do you want to protect him? How far do you want to leave me behind?"

Why do I feel like the plot is suddenly developing towards a love triangle...

It seems that this is not impossible?

Fang Zheng also asked Asakura Ryoko about this question, and found out that this Asakura Ryoko did not know Nagato Yuki. It seemed that she was directly abducted to this world by the system the moment she was created.

Well, it seems that I have inadvertently protected Axu in a certain world from being stabbed to death.

Congratulations, congratulations.

“Ding Dong.”

At this moment, the doorbell rang outside. Asakura Ryoko smiled at Fang Zheng, then turned and left the room, and Fang Zheng also put down the newspaper in his hand. Strictly speaking, Fang Zheng didn't dislike any of the alien trio. Of course, generally speaking, Nagato Daimyojin was the most popular, but if Fang Zheng had to choose, Kiyomi and Asakura Ryoko were actually not bad. Although the three-no beauty attribute was very attractive, it would still be quite tiring to meet a character like Nagato in reality.

Soon, hurried footsteps were heard, and then Asakura Ryoko's voice was heard from outside the door again.

"Come in, Mr. Francis."

Along with Asakura Ryoko's voice, the door of the study opened, and then Francis walked in with a grim face, holding a small box in his arms.

"Mr. Van Helsing, I have something I would like to ask for your help!"