She is not an investigator.

Igris leaned forward, glanced at the strange tunnel, and, imitating the clown, put on the mask.

"Do you think it's better for us to storm in directly, or sneak in?"

The clown stroked his chin, then said in a low voice with a serious expression.

"The clown likes to sneak in and give them a fright!"

"Then we are quite similar."

Igris tossed the robe, which was covered in an unknown liquid and was lying on the ground, to the clown, and then put the robe on herself.

"Wearing it means we're on their side."

"Aha! Disguise! The Joker is a master of this!"

The clown took the cloak and happily draped it over his body. In the next moment, his bloated figure rapidly shrank, turning him into a completely ordinary cultist, indistinguishable from anyone else.

Just like he said, the Joker is a master of disguise.

"I swear, you'll be more popular looking like this than before."

"Hey! You're not allowed to talk about the clown like that!"

The Fools of the Gods - The Worship of Eternal Night: Chapter Seventeen, Friends Are the Most Important

In the narrow passageway, the clown and Igris walked one after the other. The atmosphere was very quiet, even the clown, who was usually the noisiest, was eerily quiet, which made Igris feel a little uncomfortable.

"I don't remember you being such a quiet character."

Shh! We're infiltrating! Don't speak!

Igris felt a little embarrassed to be told that by the Joker, but what he said made a lot of sense.

The passageway wasn't completely dark; every so often, a small lamp would illuminate it. Igris didn't know how these things were powered, but since they existed, it proved that the passageway had probably been there for a long time, and it might also be closely related to the existence of that cult. Maybe if we kept walking, we could reach their ritual site?

Of course, such good luck usually doesn't happen to Igris, since she's never been a particularly lucky person. Although she seems to be having a change of fortune recently, it's all just a matter of luck and hard to say.

"Someone's coming."

Just as she was lost in thought, a shadow suddenly appeared on the road ahead, and footsteps followed them toward them.

Although Igris thought her disguise was very good, she still couldn't let her guard down. After all, she might be exposed if she wasn't careful, and fighting in such narrow terrain was not a good idea.

So she resorted to her old trick, tucking her pistol into her sleeve and walking with her head down, trying to pretend that she was too busy to greet him and was going to just walk past him.

The approaching cultists remained silent, heads bowed, as they brushed past Igris, neither glancing at the other in perfect unison.

But as he passed by the clown, he paused slightly.

Igris's nerves immediately tensed, and she froze on the spot, her hand discreetly reaching for the sidearm tucked into her sleeve, ready to draw it at any moment.

The Joker didn't move either. His disguise was flawless from any angle. Unless each of them had their name engraved on their body, there was almost no reason for him to be discovered.

The cultist stopped after the clown and Igris stopped, but did not turn around.

In the narrow passageway, three figures stood quietly in place, none of them moving.

A silent atmosphere permeated the tunnel, making one feel restless and tense.

No one dared to make a move; they all stood still, seemingly waiting for something.

How much time had passed? Ten minutes? Or half an hour? Igris's legs were even starting to go numb from standing, but the other person still hadn't moved and was still standing there, to the point that Igris began to wonder if he had fallen asleep.

After she stretched her body, the figure suddenly turned around, pointing the dark muzzle of a gun directly at Igris, and quickly created distance.

Everything happened so suddenly that Igris only had time to react instinctively—drawing her own weapon and pointing it at the other person.

But... do cult members have guns?

"...It's you?"

"...Damn it, clown, don't move, we're on the same side."

"Oh, what a pity! I was ready to put him in the box."

Igris didn't put down her gun, but silently removed her mask and looked at the man opposite her who was also wearing a mask.

Upon seeing Igris's face, he removed his mask, revealing a familiar face.

It's Pasa.

The good news is that he's still alive; the bad news is that, given the current situation, Ling might be the one in the most danger.

What are you doing here?

"This is a question that I don't understand. Why are you here now? You should be at the police station with Ling, not in this sewer."

Pasa lowered his weapon and coldly addressed Igris.

Igris nonchalantly put away her weapon and explained.

"Your mission has run into an unexpected situation. Ling was notified to come to your aid. I heard that one of the officers was injured?"

Pasa didn't answer immediately, but frowned and looked at the clown.

"who is he."

“You don’t want to know him, but he’s my helper, so now answer my question.”

Igris tapped her mask lightly to draw Pasa's attention before continuing to ask.

"Where did you come from? What lies at the end of that road? What happened to you?"

"Everyone except me is dead. At the end of the road is a dilapidated house, empty, at least not now. We encountered... I can't quite describe what it was, maybe tentacles? I'm not sure..."

His brow was deeply furrowed, and his complexion was not good. Igris could roughly understand what he had been through; it was probably some kind of unusual event he had never seen before.

But here's the crucial question: if they summoned the ritual three days ago, but so far, apart from frequent anomalies, almost nothing has happened, why did they go to all that trouble just to summon a common anomaly? That's clearly illogical.

But if they were summoning something other than a simple anomaly, but some ancient and malevolent being, then why didn't anything happen?

If the incident involving 100 million pieces of real stuff happened a day or three days ago, then why are they rushing to expose everything to the Special Investigations Department now, instead of continuing to hide it?

And most importantly.

"You said... everyone is dead."

"Ah, yes, there were two other officers who came down with me, and none of them survived."

"That's exactly the problem."

Igris tapped her mask again and said with a serious expression.

"We received information that one police officer was still alive, and it was he who relayed the information to us, which is why we went to the sewers to provide assistance."

"Impossible, they're all dead, right in front of me."

"I'm not questioning their deaths themselves... but rather, if it wasn't police officers, or one of your people, who notified us? And who else could it be?"

Passa paused for a moment, then slowly uttered two words.

"Cult members."

"Correct answer."

Igris clapped in encouragement, but her face was more grim than ever before.

"So, the sewers were a trap from the beginning. They were deliberately trying to lure the Special Investigations Department people into the sewers. This explains... why there aren't many people here, and it also explains why there are anomalies everywhere here."

Igris chuckled softly and continued.

"Because they never intended for us to leave. There's nothing here except for countless anomalies."

"No! No! My friend! You're wrong about one thing!"

At this moment, the clown interrupted Igris and corrected her.

"Here are my new clothes."

"...Anything else?"

"Hey! This is important, okay! I need to get my clothes!"

Pasa frowned slightly in displeasure and looked at Igris.

"This is your foreign aid? He doesn't seem very reliable."

"But he can put you in a box in less than ten seconds."

After warning Pasa, Igris looked at the clown again.

“Listen, it’s just a piece of clothing, but we need to get out of here. If they’re trying to trap us in the sewers, it means they’ll definitely take action once they’ve succeeded. Friend, I need your help. Only you can save us.”

"Oh…"

The clown lowered his head sullenly, but still nodded.

"New clothes are important... but you're right, friends are the most important!"

The clown burst into laughter, and Igris couldn't help but smile as well, extending her hand to the clown.

"Then, I'll leave it to you, Bren."

The Fools of the Gods—The Worship of Eternal Night: Chapter Eighteen, The Faceless Man

You have recited the real name of the extraordinary "Clown" and gained his friendship; you are now on the same side.

Title earned: Joker.

—Your performance will be more realistic, and your strong body coordination will prevent you from losing your balance when you receive a non-disabling fatal attack. The first fatal injury you receive will not be fatal, and the effect will be refreshed when your body recovers.

Note: Now, you can become a clown, or you can make all your enemies clowns.

……

At this moment, in the sewer passage, Ling was leaning against the corner of the wall, keeping her body as low as possible, listening to the conversation coming from the darkness.

"The offerings have been prepared. They are indeed down there, and I'm afraid they won't be able to come out before dark."

"But the priest told me..."

"Priest? Forget about priests, we are all moving forward for our faith. He is not the only one who can save everything, we can too!"

"Okay... I'm willing to believe you, Yi, but what use is that woman anyway? She's just the daughter of a painter."

"A painter? Ha... He's not some damned painter. That painting wasn't painted by him at all. He stole it. It's something that no human could ever understand. But he, that thief, knew what it represented, so he left everything to his daughter: wealth, status, knowledge, and that damned mark! If we don't do this, she'll destroy everything sooner or later! That man has already told me everything. Each of us can be Constantine."

"But haven't you thought about it? What if you lose your skills and your wife? What if the eternal night never arrives... What if the moon doesn't have enough faith..."