Fantasy Writers 1860

Chapter 115 The Storm Is Brewing

Led by Inspector Richie, the three arrived at an empty small office.

Richie closed the door, turned to Dorian, and lowered his voice: "Miss Lily told me about the Illusionary Book a few days ago. I never imagined that such a special supernatural power was hidden outside our normal world—"

"To be honest, I'm not really sure either." Dorian shook his head helplessly. "As you just saw, I was originally going to St. George's District to attend Countess Castells's literary salon that day, but then I met someone who claimed to be the executor of the secret meeting at the Iris Pantheon —" Dorian briefly recounted his entire experience that night, selectively.

Just like that day, the main point is to arrange for the tragic death of the leader of the Immaculate Dawn Order to be the work of the Cavendish family, and to conceal Lily's existence in the process.

"The Cavendish family is the oldest family of bibliophiles in Brittany, and the fact that they're there speaks volumes," Lily said casually, leaning back in her chair.

"The Cavendish family? Book collectors?" Richie had never heard of this concept before.

"Some ancient families, for various reasons, such as cracking the secrets of the power of the magic books, exploring their uses, or even intending to mass-produce magic books, have collected magic books for generations," Lily explained briefly.

Since the matter of the phantom book was already mentioned to facilitate Scotland Yard's investigation, it wouldn't be a problem to mention the bibliophile's matter in passing.

"I know the Cavendish family," Detective Richie said. "They're an old noble family that fought alongside William the Great. But unlike other families who go into politics and business, they seem to prefer academia, so I don't hear about them very often."

“Yes, they’ve also been studying psychic books and the laws of the world for a long time,” Lily added. “That’s the Academy’s domain, and I’ll handle that. But the real owners of that auction weren’t them, but the Immaculate Dawn Order, which is what’s making things more complicated now.”

"Just as Dorian said before, a woman who claimed to be the leader of the Immaculate Dawn Order also appeared that night and died tragically in the battle with the Cavendish family's Bookbinders." Lily continued, following Dorian's earlier statement.

"That's right, I was there too." Dorian nodded, his testimony for Lily sounding even more convincing.

Inspector Richie could accept their version of events entirely, but there was nothing he could do about it; they were the only two conscious people at the scene who knew what had happened.

"Even the esteemed Patriarch has been turned into mincemeat. It seems the Order isn't all that powerful after all—" Inspector Richie laughed, slightly easing the tense atmosphere. "So, the Cavendish family is on our side?"

"Basically, yes." Lily unusually used a somewhat vague word. "They're not very interested in exploring worldly affairs beyond the laws of the world, and sometimes they'll side with us."

"I wonder if the order's plan to exterminate demi-humans has anything to do with the laws of this world—" Inspector Richie sighed. "My teacher, Inspector Reid, whom you all know, and I investigated the Blue Blood Gang together. As expected, they have close ties with the Immaculate Dawn Order. They are probably a subordinate organization of the latter, and they have even developed a theoretical system for purifying demi-humans."

Lily's body trembled slightly.

"The main architect of the theory was that magical technology expert, Langdon. He claimed that the legendary catastrophe, the Void Tide, which was said to be located at the edge of the world and devoured everything, was not locked outside the world by the Seven Goddesses as in the legend, but was sealed inside the bodies of the demi-human race."

"The tide of nothingness flows, accumulates, and grows stronger in their blood. One day, it will use them as a breakthrough point to descend again and destroy the world. Therefore, all demi-humans must be completely eliminated in order to completely eliminate the tide of nothingness."

"That's why he doesn't even spare those few dozen demi-human bloodlines, because those few dozen demi-human bloodlines can also become a breakthrough point for the Void Tide," Detective Richie said with a complicated expression.

Like his mentor, Inspector Red, he disliked demi-humans, but wasn't that extreme. Seeing someone suggest completely wiping them out made him somewhat uncomfortable, feeling it was a bit too much of an exaggeration.

Langdon's words seem reasonable at first glance, but where is the evidence?

If it's just about conjuring up a self-consistent theory, it's not that difficult. Those who create conspiracy theories can come up with a dozen such worldviews a day, and they can even find evidence to prove them, and they all fit together perfectly.

Even if we take a step back and assume that his theory is correct, wouldn't the Void Tide be released prematurely during the process of eliminating the demi-humans?

What if the Void Tide was originally sealed perfectly within the bloodline of the demi-humans, and the goddesses designed the demi-humans to be the Demon-Sealing Tower, as they have for thousands of years? If you suddenly change the code and wipe out the demi-humans, wouldn't you be dismantling the Demon-Sealing Tower left behind by the goddesses?

What if the system crashes and the end of the world comes early?

"Before that cult leader turned into mincemeat, I heard some of her last words. Their goal seems to be more than just eliminating the demi-humans," Dorian said. "After that, they want to rule the world, to govern everything. Eliminating the demi-humans is probably just the first step—"

Hearing this, Richie slammed his fist on the table in anger, his voice filled with disbelief and shock: "We all know! What about the government? What about Parliament? Are they all blind? Don't they know anything? They're all so indifferent, and yet this has caused such a commotion, and in Londinion no less!"

They've probably already been possessed by the cult, or infiltrated to the point of being riddled with holes.

Putting aside everything else, at least during Samuel's trial that day, the judge's demeanor clearly showed that he had been bribed by the cult. Who knows how many people in the government are already their people?

"They're all busy with those long debates in parliament, debating that environmental bill, just to keep postponing the demi-human liberation bill." Lily sneered, breaking the silence with a sarcastic tone.

"This might also be at the behest of the cult, with the aim of stalling for time." Inspector Richie naturally thought of this as well.

He also realized that the government and parliament had probably been completely infiltrated, and his teacher being suspended from his job was one such indication.

"That's right, they might really be stalling for time. When that cult leader was trying to persuade me to join that day, she said that although it was a bit late now, there were still places in the New World, and that Judgment Day was coming soon." Dorian recalled some of the things that the female cult leader had said.

"I've also found out. The so-called final judgment day is supposedly at the end of this month." Detective Richie also looked worried.

A deathly silence fell over the conference room, and a sense of impending doom hung over everyone.

Meanwhile, in the interrogation room outside, the guests of the literary salon finished giving their statements, and the police officers dismissed them.

Before leaving, he explicitly instructed: "Don't say a word about the 'earthquake' that night."

Everyone nodded, promising not to speak carelessly about the strange earthquake that night.

However, it shouldn't be a problem to casually mention what happened at the literary salon that night, right?

A literary storm is brewing that will sweep across the entire city of Lentinion.