Cthulhu Panel: One organ mutates every day

Are you willing to listen to me?

This is a good opportunity to ease the tension.

Wayne nodded, pondered for a moment, and organized his thoughts:

"Mr. Joseph, your insights are very unique. Although I have not personally met the indigenous people affected by the newly built high-rise buildings, I have indeed seen the city devour the suburbs like a beast, eating up the land and excreting high-rise buildings."

Joseph listened to Wayne's words, closed his eyes, and said with a look of enjoyment, "I like the word 'excretion.' Finally, someone understands me. Everyone around me is chasing fame, power, influence, and money, but this friend..."

Wayne's gaze was sincere: "It's mainly because Mr. Joseph spoke so well."

Joseph opened his eyes and glanced at Wayne's appearance. He was dressed formally, with smooth skin and no calluses on his hands, looking every bit the wealthy young master who had never experienced hardship.

"I never expected someone raised in a wealthy family to have such insight, and even come to the Special Affairs Bureau to risk their life. I respect you as a true man. May I ask your name?"

"Wayne Webber." Wayne felt that in this standoff, it was best not to communicate with the other party as a member of the Special Affairs Bureau, but rather as a close friend.

"That guy from the Weber family, he's quite interesting." Joseph laughed heartily, finding it very enjoyable to chat with the young man before him. "You're very frank and knowledgeable; I admire you."

Ethan hesitantly holstered his submachine gun, glanced at Wayne, and said with a strange look, "This kid seems a bit different. Has his demeanor changed?"

Phew, thank goodness.

One of the men knew he was surrounded and couldn't leave, so he decided to stay in the tavern and give a speech and protest. The other, slightly provoked by the other's show of force, became annoyed and wanted to start a fight.

They almost got into a real fight.

Seeing that the atmosphere had eased, Wei En breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mr. Joseph, the reason I'm here is actually because of a murder case. A worker committed suicide by shooting himself in his home, and we found cult rituals and pamphlets about your lectures at the scene. That's why I'm here to investigate. I wonder if Bob's death is related to you?"

Joseph spread his hands, looking helpless:

"I know, but Bob's death has nothing to do with me. I asked my men, and Bob just came to the tavern to drink regularly for a while. Besides, there are no heretics in my tavern, and I have no plans related to heresy."

Wayne glanced at the watch on his wrist again: Reality deviation 0%.

"Yes, I believe you, but..."

"It's alright, I understand. We're just following the procedure. I can go with you for your sake. Of course, I really couldn't leave today anyway. I haven't done anything wrong, so I'm sure you can't do anything to me." Joseph smiled at Wayne, finding the young man in front of him quite interesting. He decided to make a friend and then gave Ethan a deep look.

Wei En cursed:

"Well, of course you can't leave. No matter how much you struggle with Ethan, you can't escape. There's heavy firepower outside. Ethan used a lot of authority to get two departments to fully assist him in getting rid of you."

Ethan stood up, a cold smile still playing on his lips. "In that case, we don't need to ask you to leave anymore, do we?"

The crowd in the tavern stirred when they saw that Joseph was about to be arrested.

"Wait a moment," Joseph said to Wayne, paying little attention to Ethan. He then turned to the people in the tavern and instructed them, "If any other officers arrive later, do not resist. Cooperate fully with the investigation. If you are upright, you have nothing to fear. I am only here to cooperate with the investigation. Just continue with your activities as normal."

"Alright, let's go," Joseph said.

"Hmm." Wayne glanced back at the people in the tavern. They all looked like gangsters, with rolled-up sleeves revealing dark blue tattoos on their arms and thick red ropes around their waists—a style of dress typical of southern Federation.

Although their appearances were all unfamiliar, there was a strange feeling that they all seemed vaguely familiar.

For a moment, I couldn't recall where these people had appeared before, or what distinctive features they possessed.

[Perception Lv.1 - Observation of the Microscopic] Progress 23.0%

Afterwards, Wayne and Ethan packed their belongings and followed Joseph on either side of him as the three of them left the Hofhouse tavern.

At noon, under the hazy sunlight.

Wayne and Ethan led Joseph toward the logistics department's encirclement, where colleagues from the intelligence department were waiting to take him away.

On the way, Wayne asked Joseph, "Mr. Joseph, where do all those people in the tavern come from?"

Joseph casually replied, "I have all kinds of gangs here: the Blood Gang, the Bandit Gang, the Crime Gang. Look at those guys dressed in the South, they're all from the Blood Gang."

"Understood." Wayne nodded without saying anything more.

Ethan also looked thoughtful.

Upon reaching the area surrounded by the logistics department's firepower, Ethan led Joseph forward and handed over the follow-up matters to the head of the intelligence department present, including basic information that needed attention, transcripts, interrogation, key questions, and so on.

After the logistics and intelligence departments completed their confirmation, they prepared to evacuate.

Joseph was first taken away by several colleagues from the intelligence department.

Wayne and Ethan stayed behind.

[Charm Lv.1 - Affinity] Progress: 33.4%

Looking at the twisted silk threads in front of him, Wayne understood the mechanism that increased the [Charm] progress.

Promotion and achievements in interpersonal relationships will enhance your [charm].

The interaction with Joseph just now had a good positive effect, increasing the [Charm] progress.

In the future, during daily interactions within the Special Affairs Bureau, you can focus on increasing your [Charm] progress.

"You've got some skills, kid. I never knew you were so eloquent." Ethan looked at Wayne, feeling that Wayne had changed in some way, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

Wayne felt the fine, soft down beneath his skin, and with a slight exertion of his skin muscles, he consciously made the down shrink a little:

"It was just luck. You could have taken him down even without me, Phoenix?"

"Ha, that's all in the past. It's a bit awkward to talk about my reputation from when I was young. I was quite high-profile back then," Ethan said with a self-deprecating laugh, seemingly unwilling to dwell on the past.

Uh, when I first joined the bureau, you told me that without connections, it would be hard to get by. Now it seems that was all just old fox talk. I almost fell for your lies.

Wayne tactfully changed the subject: "Aren't we going back to the station?"

Ethan's thoughts were pulled back, and his brow relaxed:

"This isn't over yet. Our forced arrest of Joseph for questioning will offend a big shot in Michigan. We need to meet with him and explain the situation, otherwise, there will be a lot of trouble later."

"What kind of person is this? Even our Special Affairs Bureau can't handle him?" Wayne asked.

Ethan turned to look at Wayne, a mysterious smile on his face: "It'll scare you if I tell you."

"Scared me? How could that be? With the Phoenix by my side, who could scare me?" Wayne said nonchalantly, casually lifting Ethan's hand.

"You're right, no one can scare us." Ethan raised an eyebrow and turned to walk towards the tram.

Wayne followed up: "So who exactly is this important person?"

Ethan's tone was flat:

"The underground emperor of Michigan, the link between the underworld and the legitimate world for communication and mutual benefit, is a low-key person, but his power is immense. Or, you can call him... the underground mayor, as people in the industry call him."