The detective is dead, I did it.

Chapter 123: No Choice

Adler looked at the sudden freeze on the young man's face and sighed softly in his heart.

She knew this would be the reaction before she said those words; no one could remain calm upon hearing that a family member had been imprisoned.

"I know this news is hard for you to accept," she said softly. "You've just come out of a game where life and death were uncertain, and you should be resting, but instead you have to face this. As the president, I am deeply sorry for this."

"I think it would be difficult for any normal person to remain calm at this moment."

Li Ang spoke slowly, took a deep breath, tensed his shoulders slightly, raised his chin, and looked directly at Adler in front of him.

Adler did not avoid his gaze.

She had seen too many people lose control, break down, and become hysterical in similar situations, but Li Ang's reaction was much better than she had expected.

"I know my sister very well. Even if she were a witch, she would never do anything to hurt others," Li Ang continued.

"If your sister Ktura is just an ordinary witch, like Helena, with a low sequence, no special bloodline, and no record of posing a substantial threat to the surrounding environment, I can pretend I know nothing."

"Give her the status of an ordinary citizen, place her under Miss Holmes' supervision, and as long as she doesn't break the law, the association won't put her in jail."

"This is within my authority as president, and it is a concession I am willing to make for a meritorious contributor."

She paused for a moment, as if considering her words, and kept her hands folded on her knees in that position.

"But Ktura's identity—is too special. Do you know what it means to be the offspring of an evil god?" Adler countered.

Li Ang remained silent.

"For some reason, evil gods cannot descend into this world. They can only choose a proxy, send down a portion of their power, and let the proxy bear their offspring."

"In the history of the Association, there have been two offspring of evil gods, both of whom were extremely powerful beings. The Association paid a heavy price to barely defeat them. During this time, several cities were reduced to ashes because of them."

"The aura of evil god emanating from her is too strong. Especially after her awakening, if Lina's report to me is accurate, her power has grown to a point that we have to take seriously."

"The kind of facing things squarely that I'm talking about isn't the kind that requires closer observation, but rather—"

She raised her eyes and looked directly at Li Ang.

"A walking natural disaster."

"This is her current situation."

"Her power continues to grow, and she herself cannot fully control it. If it gets out of control, the consequences will not be casualties on one street or in one district, but a disaster that could affect the whole of London."

"For the safety of hundreds of thousands of ordinary people in the city, taking her into the association's prison for strict supervision is the only option."

After she finished speaking, she seemed to have unloaded some kind of burden, her shoulders relaxing slightly. But her gaze never left Li Ang's face, as if she were observing his reaction.

Li Ang pursed his lips.

He remembered Ketura's bright eyes and the days when the two of them depended on each other for survival.

He simply couldn't connect his obedient and clingy younger sister with the words "walking natural disaster."

"So you locked her up to protect ordinary people." His voice became somewhat hoarse.

"That's only one reason," Adler didn't shy away from the question. "Secondly, it's also to protect herself."

Li Ang looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"I haven't made this public. Only a few vice presidents and core members within the association know about it."

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"But you must understand, witches and cultists are everywhere. The aura emanating from your sister is practically nothing to them."

It was some kind of fatal temptation.

"If she were exposed to the outside world, how many people and forces do you think would be willing to go to any lengths to seize ownership of her?"

She didn't wait for Li Ang's answer, because the answer was self-evident.

"Even within the association, there is great controversy over how to deal with her." Adler looked away and gazed out the window. "Besides Lina, the other two vice presidents insist that no one or anything associated with the evil god should remain in this world."

She stopped, but Li Ang instantly understood the unspoken part of that sentence.

"You mean, they suggested—"

"They suggested executing Ktura directly," Adler said bluntly.

"Their reasoning is simple," Adler continued, "The very existence of the offspring of an evil god is a threat. To keep her alive is to plant a bomb in London that could explode at any moment."

"Instead of waiting for a disaster to happen and then regretting it, it's better to eliminate potential hazards completely while everything is still under control. This isn't a matter of personal preference; from their perspective, it's about fulfilling their duties as the vice president of the association."

"But someone stopped them."

"Yes. It was Lina who stopped them."

Adler lowered his head slightly, his tone becoming more earnest.

"You may not know Lina's personality. She's not the type to confront her colleagues head-on. But this time, she acted almost without hesitation. So the fact that your sister is still in prison is, in a way, a result of multiple forces being restrained."

Li Ang remained silent. He lowered his eyes, staring at the tightly clenched hands on his knees, lost in thought.

He could vaguely sense that the chairman was just as uneasy as he was when he said those words.

"I understand." After what seemed like an eternity, he finally spoke again, "Thank you for telling me all this, Chairman Adler."

Adler looked at him, feeling a mix of emotions he couldn't quite describe.

The young man was remarkably calm; aside from his initial shock, he maintained a composed demeanor throughout.

This reaction itself made her feel an unspeakable sense of apology, not only to the young man, but also to herself for saying those things.

Adler was also conflicted.

If this were any ordinary detective, it would be much simpler to handle.

But Li Ang is different.

He was someone strongly supported and recommended by old Jack, an assistant to the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, and the first armed detective to awaken his powers later in life. This background alone was enough to make the entire association more cautious in dealing with him.

And now, he has single-handedly saved more than a dozen detectives in a witch's game.

Those detectives are all core members carefully cultivated by the association, and each one is an irreplaceable future.

Emotionally, the association owes him an immense debt of gratitude. Logically, the association should treat him with the highest level of courtesy.

But now? After his great achievement, he was greeted not with applause and rewards, but with the news that his only relative was imprisoned in the association's prison.

Adler himself felt that this was a bit too much.

But she had no choice. Just as she chose to sit in this position, there was never a second option.