Deity Investigation Report

Chapter 265 Black Goat Cubs

"It actually works quite well?"

Han Su watched as Lalai indeed did as he was told, contacting Mr. Via, the independent investigator from Giant Horn City, and Skinning Manor respectively. He gritted his teeth and pounded on the keyboard.

Hatred and loyalty coexisted, contradictory yet so natural. Even Han Su found it somewhat strange, attributing it to the fact that, on a divine and material level, they no longer belonged to the same species.

The key to the fundamental change in the second stage of training in mysterious powers lies in altering one's own divine essence by stealing mysterious powers.

Divine things are the essence of humanity, and once they are polluted, the body will undergo internal and external distortions.

"And what about yourself?"

Han Su also began to sort out his own mysterious power for the first time after stealing the emperor's writings.

At a higher level, I am also in the second stage of the "stealing" process.

The second stage, also known as the monster stage, is when almost everyone begins to show some strange physical characteristics, the only difference being whether they are obvious or not.

Even the Four Heavenly Kings of Qinggang appear to be normal people, but if you cut their skin, you will immediately see blood vessels and flesh threads wriggling and growing inside, actively stitching up the wound.

He had stolen the emperor's writings, which, while corrupting him, would not cause physical deformities.

The most noticeable change is that the amount of divine matter is subtly increasing.

Divine matter, spiritual power, and spiritual activity are the three pillars of mystical power.

Previously, his weakness was divine matter. Now, with the increase in divine matter, the mental range he could withstand also began to increase. He added the fourth "mental battery" with almost no effort and began to try the fifth battery.

This is far more efficient than forcibly boosting mental activity and increasing the capacity of one's mental energy reserves through risks and crises.

Previously considered a heretical practitioner, he has now become somewhat upright and honorable.

As the new mental battery is added, the average level of one's mental activity will naturally decrease, but it will still remain above 70%. Moreover, after the integration is complete, it will subtly rise again, and it is currently around 74%.

Moreover, influenced by the emperor's writings, even without doing anything, his mental activity seemed to be subtly increasing, albeit at a slow pace.

"But is that all there is to it?"

Han Su carefully sensed the changes within himself and quickly identified several differences beyond the basic values.

Firstly, because of the emperor's domineering writing style, his use of mystical powers was greatly restricted.

Although the powers of the Pale Eyes and the Ghost Flame have been recorded in the Fisherman's Song and can still be summoned, they are immediately devoured by the Emperor's script as soon as they are used, making it very difficult to use these two powers.

Because it possesses the will of bronze and has deliberately preserved it, the blood of bronze can be used normally.

This also led to his second change: his use of external objects.

Thinking about the special nature of the copper blood, he took out two things. One was a bloody, flocculent substance, like a mop head soaked in blood.

Another possibility is the vial of syringes that Akbe removed before he died, but didn't have time to use.

The flocculent material was a piece that I tore off from that vampire cloak. This cloak was a very strange thing; it was part of the vampire's body. After being torn off, it became something like flesh and cloth.

Since vampires were also considered "nobles," Han Su decided to try using it to feed the second mechanical fragment in the box.

It turned out that I had overthought things; the second mechanical fragment had absolutely no interest in this flesh and blood.

It even felt a bit disgusted that the blood it had squeezed in was being spat out little by little by the spinning gears.

"It seems that won't work. Either the blood is not pure enough to be sacrificed to the mechanical fragments, or this vampire is not a true noble."

This aligns with the information Wei Lan had previously told me: the ancient nobility had developed into a large group, but it had also absorbed many talented individuals from the lower classes, resulting in impure bloodlines; the vast majority of nobles had no connection to knighthood…

"I want to find the bloodline of a knight's descendant to activate the second mechanical fragment; I can't just hunt down any nobleman."

"It must meet two key factors: ancient and of high status!"

"The owner of Skinning Manor seems to be an earl, so perhaps he is capable?"

"..."

After setting down the piece of the cloak, he picked up the syringe that Akbai had left behind.

The queen bee painstakingly crafted ten of these syringes using her own blood, saliva, hair, and perhaps some other things, intending them as a trump card to save her life in critical moments.

Unfortunately, her mysterious power crumbled at the slightest touch compared to the Emperor's writings, and all the weapons were left intact.

Han Su originally intended to destroy it, but after seeing the changes in Lalai, he kept it and considered how to make use of it.

The core of mysterious power is knowledge, and knowledge can make it easier to utilize these external things.

When Li Moses was teaching his theory, he said that once you choose to never compromise with the mysterious forces and enter a state of confrontation, you must be prepared to give up your most powerful weapon and rely solely on zero-sequence spells to fight the enemy.

But now Han Su realizes that for him, the Zero Sequence is just a regular power, and there are still many things he can do...

However, he has only "stolen" a small amount so far.

For others, stealing slowly is safe, but you don't have that much time.

Now that we've entered the theft phase, how to accumulate divine matter more quickly is a question we need to consider.

"call……"

Thinking about it, he sighed softly and asked Lalai, "Where did Akbai get his mysterious power from?"

Lalai was clearly in pain. Han Su's questioning had activated his human side, and he began to feel disobedience and hatred towards Han Su again because of Akbai's death. But Han Su only gave him a gentle look, and his gaze softened.

Looking at Han Su as if he were looking at another Akbai, he honestly replied, "This is her biggest secret. She never tells us about it, but we have some guesses."

"She used to be just an ordinary mercenary with no background. She was doing very poorly and couldn't get any big jobs. But one time she entered the Romanian wetlands and forests in the southern continent, and after she came out, she was different from before."

“After that, she started to recruit us team members one by one.”

"..."

"Romanian wetlands and forests?"

Han Su remembered this place, and it wasn't hard to guess that Akbai must have been contaminated by the queen bees in this forest.

However, she also had her own extraordinary experience, because after being contaminated, she did not stay in the forest bee colony, but escaped and evolved into a queen bee.

There must be a lot of mysterious power in this kind of eerie forest or historical site. If I had the chance to enter such a place and use the Book of the Emperor to absorb it, my strength might increase dramatically.

Or perhaps, they find a mysterious organization and massacre them?

Both methods carry risks, but theoretically, both can allow one to quickly reach an astonishing level of skill in stealing the emperor's writings.

"How's the contact going?"

He pondered silently, then stopped talking and asked about the important matter at hand.

When Larlai saw him asking, his attitude immediately became somewhat dejected: "Mr. Via is very angry."

Han Su asked, "How angry are you?"

Lalai said, "They've already started insulting us on the Black Table forum."

Han Su paused for a moment, then said, "That is indeed quite infuriating."

Lalai sighed and said, "However, he still sent a message, agreeing to give us some additional compensation on top of the originally agreed price. But he asked to meet with us to discuss the details of the compensation in person, and he also asked us to bring the black goat with us."

"He said all negotiations must be based on the premise that the black goat is in our hands, and he will refuse to pay if it dies!"

"..."

Han Su wasn't surprised by the answer. He frowned slightly and asked, "What about the other side?"

"Peeling Skin Manor is very sincere!"

Lalai immediately said, "He said that as long as we are willing to hand over the black goat to him, he will pardon us for hurting his nephew, and he will grant us whatever conditions we ask for: money, ancient gold coins, confidentiality agreements and quotas for entering the city, etc."

"He also said that we don't need to worry about our reputation being affected if we switch to cooperating with him, because he has a lot of online trolls who can help us clear our name on the black table."

"..."

This final additional condition did indeed surprise Han Su; the Skin-Peeling Manor was truly showing great sincerity.

Then he nodded: "Then we'll agree to both sides!"

Lale was clearly a little confused.

Han Su simply nodded slightly, repeated, and said, "I agree to everything!"

"Then we'll agree to meet at the same time and place, and tell them I'll bring the black goat!"

Lalai was clearly resistant, but unable to disobey orders, he sullenly went about his business.

Han Su, considering the increasingly urgent attitudes of both sides, glanced at the little lamb girl with some curiosity and asked, "What value do you have to them? Why are they so willing to go to such lengths to get you?"

The little lamb girl just glanced at her innocently, then lowered her head again, fiddling with the pebbles at her feet.

This behavior made Han Su feel even stranger, and he frowned slightly: "Is there anything about you that makes you different from others?"

The little lamb girl glanced at him, then slowly plucked a handful of grass from the side and stuffed it into her mouth. That was certainly quite unusual!
She eats grass.

Han Su frowned and said, "Can you speak?"

The little lamb girl tried to open her mouth, but after a long struggle, she only managed to let out a soft bleat: "Baa~~"

Han Su helplessly raised his hand, rubbed his temples, and gave up the idea of ​​communicating with her.

He felt something was off. He had already learned about the Black Goat's power through the Book of the Emperor. Could there be something he hadn't noticed?

……

The meeting was quickly arranged, and the location was set on a hill not far from the abandoned village, right between Giant Horn City and Skinning Manor. Han Su and Little Sheep Girl waited in the shadows behind the hill, watching the car lights on on both sides of the mountain road.

Mr. Via, the independent investigator from Giant Horn City, and Count Alvarez of Skinning Manor arrived at the appointment in their respective vehicles, each accompanied by only a dozen or so people, in about four or five cars.

But they were also very cautious, stopping when they were still several hundred meters apart and staring at each other from a distance.

Han Su appeared on the hilltop with the little lamb girl, making himself visible to both sides.

At this moment, both sides began to tense up, abandoning their vehicles, grabbing their guns, and slowly approaching Han Su's location. Mr. Via was a tall, upright man with brown curly hair, wearing a long black robe.

An assistant was carrying a green briefcase for him; his eyes were deep-set and his gaze was piercing.

When he appears, there is a subtle distortion in the air, which confirms that he is a master in a mysterious circle.

Wei Lan has already sent them their detailed information.

Mr. Via is one of the three independent investigators of Giant Horn City. He is responsible for guarding the Camel Ridge secret prison and also for some of the communication and exchanges between Giant Horn City's mysterious affairs and the outside world. In other words, he is doing the job of both Li Moses and Zhang Chiguo.

Of course, in this incident, he represented the will of the higher-ups in Giant Horn City.

Otherwise, an independent investigator might be able to ignore those with noble status, but due to the unequal status, they would be powerless to resist.

Count Alvarez comes from the western continent and is outwardly identified as a mysterious scholar.

It is said that he came here alone to solve a food problem that has plagued the West for many years. His Skinning Manor initially received a lot of help from the City of Giant Horn, but the two sides began to have a falling out three years ago for unknown reasons.

Giant Horn City has cancelled all funding to Skinner Manor, including funds, labor, and even water. According to the data, the two sides have gradually become bitter enemies in recent years.

This black goat incident itself has a bizarre quality.

The fact that the small village next to Giant Horn City and Skinning Manor allowed the Black Goat faith to spread and eventually lead to the distortion of the entire village is itself a illogical thing, enough to make one think.

When the two sides were close enough to see each other's faces clearly, they stopped.

Count Alvarez of Peeling Mountain Manor has a typical Western Continent face, with a meticulously trimmed beard and a smart, elegant tailcoat.

His gaze shifted from Han Su to the independent investigators ascending the mountain opposite him. He took a slight breath, and his gentle voice echoed through the mountains:

“Mr. Via, you know how much effort I’ve put into this project. If we can continue, I will remember your friendship. I know what someone as outstanding as you is pursuing. If I have the opportunity, I will do my best to help you realize your dream!”

"..."

These words already carried a hint of temptation, but the independent investigator from Giant Horn City simply smiled and said, "Count, you are the same. We in Giant Horn City can tolerate some of your attempts, but there are some red lines that cannot be crossed."

"You've already caused a huge disaster. If you cooperate with the work of Giant Horn City, there might still be a way to salvage the situation, which would be good for both of us."

"But if you are too greedy, I'm afraid you won't be able to explain it to the patrolling knights when they come!"

"..."

Upon hearing this, the count immediately frowned: "Are you cooperating with your work, or are you trying to covet my research results?"

"The itinerant knight has arrived. I may be summoned back to the Western Continent Council for questioning, but you will never have another chance to obtain a noble title. On the contrary, if you choose to become my friend, I might give you a letter of recommendation."

"..."

Mr. Via seemed somewhat regretful; it appeared that the count's repeated letters of recommendation and expressions of friendship were indeed something that could sway him.

But he sighed softly, then shook his head, saying, "I have no intention of antagonizing the Earl, but I represent the interests of Giant Horn City. When the Earl betrayed Giant Horn City's investment, we could no longer be friends..."

Upon hearing this, the count's face immediately turned extremely ugly, and he let out a low, cold laugh: "Heh, someone of such low blood as you will never be qualified to step into the threshold of nobility!"

As he spoke, his gaze suddenly shifted to Han Su on the hill, and his voice softened again: "Mercenary, bring the Black Goat to me, and I will guarantee you thirty ancient gold coins."

"and……"

He paused, raised his palm, and made a vow: "I guarantee you can leave here safely."

Both of them saw Han Su at first glance, but once they saw that both sides had arrived, they naturally understood Han Su's intention.

At first, no one spoke to Han Su, but once one side started, the other side immediately followed suit: "Queen Bee is a very famous team. They should know that if they betray their employer, their reputation will be ruined, and they might even face sanctions from the Black Table, right?"

"I've already promised you some compensation, so hurry up and send over the mission target!"

"..."

"..."

"So, this sheep is actually the product of some kind of secret research?"

Han Su did not respond to either side, but based on the information sent by Wei Lan and the conversation between the two sides, he vaguely deduced the general outline of the matter.

It seems that the Earl's research at Skinning Manor was not legal, and Giant Horn City was not clean in this matter either. Now the two sides have completely torn each other apart over the research results, and both are afraid that this matter will alarm the Traveling Knights.

He gave the little lamb girl standing blankly beside him a long look, and made a decision.

Both sides are now waiting for his response, not daring to speak, but also filled with tension, their gazes meeting.

Han Su stood still, but mist began to swirl around him, obscuring his figure. He could be seen from both sides, but his movements were unclear. Suddenly, he drew his gun and fired.

"Bah!"

Gunfire echoed through the valley, making it difficult to discern which side it came from. Both sides were in a state of heightened tension, and the men on both sides immediately lay down as if facing a formidable enemy. Then, someone opened fire, and the gunfire suddenly intensified in the night.

But the sound only lasted a few seconds before someone shouted, ordering their men to stop.

On either side of the hill, Mr. Via's face was gloomy, and his assistant immediately handed him his briefcase.

The count also took off his coat and drew his silver one-handed sword.

In the darkness, a subtle flow of spiritual energy began to emerge, suggesting that they were having a spiritual dialogue. It was unclear what they were discussing, but they gently waved their hands, and their subordinates dispersed around the hill, subtly surrounding Han Su.

They seemed to be gradually reaching a consensus, and their gazes began to turn simultaneously toward Han Su, who was standing next to the little lamb girl.

Even the little lamb girl began to feel the oppressive atmosphere around her. Her dull pupils seemed to regain some life, and she took a slight step back to stand beside Han Su.

"So restrained?"

Han Su assessed the situation and was also somewhat disappointed.

Both sides were too terrified of the Traveling Knights. Even in this tense situation, they were only thinking about joining forces to deal with each other first. In that case, perhaps I should think of another way to lure the Traveling Knights over.
Just then, my hand was suddenly grasped by a small, icy hand.

He looked down unexpectedly and saw the little lamb girl, who was bravely looking up at him with a questioning look in her eyes.

"you?"

Han Su understood her look and was somewhat taken aback: "You mean, you have a way to make them fight each other?"

The little lamb girl nodded seriously, then walked to a large rock nearby, reached out her little hand to stroke the rock, and then uttered a strange incantation in a low voice.

She couldn't speak, but she recited the incantation with remarkable skill.

A strange power permeated the air, and the clear sound of chewing grass suddenly reached everyone's ears.

The next moment, the huge rock gradually cracked, and stone chips fell off. Then, suddenly, it broke into countless fragments scattered all over the ground, and from within the rock, a strange black tree grew.

Whoosh...

In the blink of an eye, this black tree had grown to an astonishing height.

And this was only the first one. The next moment, two meters away, another tree grew out, followed by a third.

By the time Mr. Via and Count Alvarez, who were negotiating over there, realized what was happening, seven or eight trees had already grown on the barren hillside, which was covered only with rocks. They were still spreading rapidly, like a chaotic dance of demons, creating a bizarre and terrifying scene.

"not good……"

This discovery immediately shocked the two who were still having a quiet conversation. The count exclaimed, "It's the Abundant Forest... Has that mercenary gone mad? Why would he let that black goat run rampant?"

All conversations and plans immediately became meaningless.

The summoning of the Abundant Forest is tantamount to sending a signal to the wandering knights that they will inevitably come here.

Investigator Via's face instantly turned extremely ugly: "You're the one who can truly be called audacious!"

"Under the guise of researching ways to increase grain production, they're hiding here manufacturing secret weapons?"

"Does the Western Continent Council know that you came here secretly to research how to give birth to black goat calves?"

(End of this chapter)