Old days, dice and investigator's manual

After a few seconds of silence, Li Jiehao raised his hand: "Is it like that kind of thing, where someone secretly puts an image of an evil god in a temple of a righteous god, and then unsuspecting people go to worship, and gradually the worship diverts the incense offerings from the righteous god?"

"Pretty much. But right now, no version of Morzul can be considered a true god. Whether Morzul itself split apart or there are two different individuals, it's all a battle between evil gods."

Isaac asked, "The Golden Bough Church should be able to handle this, right? After all, if it really escalates to the level of the divine, it's beyond the scope of the FBI."

"In principle, of course we should intervene. Vista is, after all, the headquarters of the Golden Bough Church, and Lake Perth is just outside the city. The Church can't pretend not to see it." Carlo paused. "But how exactly to intervene depends on the Church's own decision."

"The relevant report has been submitted by the FBI. It remains to be seen whether the church will immediately seal off the lake area and send a golden tree there to calm the nerves, or choose to sit and wait and see. It is more likely to be the latter."

Li Jiehao was puzzled: "With an evil god causing trouble in their own backyard, how can the Church of the Righteous God just sit idly by?"

Carlo took a sip of tea: "There are reasons why she can sit still. First, it's due to her strength. No matter what, Vicania is indeed the big sister in the Western Region. She can hold her own against anyone in a head-on confrontation, so she has the confidence."

"Secondly, let's see what big moves they're up to that will draw out more parties involved."

Again, they were observing and waiting to draw out more parties involved, just like Verca's attitude in the previous "Shepherd" Mary incident... Isaac pondered, "It seems the Golden Bough Church is leaning towards..."

"Live a low life?" Li Jiehao replied.

"If the Golden Bough Church, the champion of the Western Region of the War of Religions, can only be described as 'playing it safe,' then the other contestants in the region are probably just waiting to be put in their coffins," Carlo said. "However, the Golden Bough Church has indeed chosen to observe rather than suppress things directly with swift and decisive measures. Since you've said that, I'm sure the clever Asa has figured something out."

Isaac voiced his thoughts: "I'm wondering if the side with the greatest strength is always observing, could it be that they are also preparing some big move, and therefore do not intend to take the initiative to attack and reveal their trump card?"

Li Jiehao thought about it for a moment and it seemed to make sense. Just like when you discard a winning hand in mahjong, you're definitely trying to get a bigger hand.

Carlo nodded: "That's a good guess. If the Golden Bough Church is really preparing for something big, then their attitude towards many things will be more inclined to observe rather than directly intervene."

Isaac saw that Carlo said it was good, but his expression remained completely calm: "This was within your expectations, boss, wasn't it?"

"Of course, I know a little bit of the inside story."

Li Jiehao protested: "Boss, why aren't you sharing your news with everyone? What if we miss some crucial information and we get caught?"

Carlo glanced at him: "Knowing some information beforehand makes it easier to pinpoint the problem."

"Yes, so—"

"Some information, once known, will be treated as a problem by others."

"Oh, this..."

"Just because they can't deal with me doesn't mean they can't deal with you. If they really could, all I'd do is protest and demand compensation." Carlo shrugged. "So it's better that you don't know."

Li Jiehao shrank back. Carlo put down his teacup, took out the ring, and tossed it to Isaac: "Find some time to go undercover. Let me know before you go."

Isaac reached out and caught it: "That's too casual."

"This is called trusting the initiative of subordinates."

"...Then I should thank you for your trust."

"Hehe, you're welcome."

Isaac had no choice but to turn to a more concrete plan: "Go find their time..."

"Shouldn't we postpone the date for a few days?" Li Jiehao suggested. "If we rush to hand over the ring, wouldn't it make her feel like we're being too cooperative? There should be some hesitation involved, right?"

"Good idea, but being too straightforward would seem fake." Carlo nodded. "But there's a problem."

"Uh-huh?"

"If this drags on for too long, the FBI won't keep the ring waiting for someone to decide to steal it. There are procedures for managing evidence. Although I've kept the ring, according to standard procedures, such strange objects that are suspected to be directly related to the divine will be transferred to a higher-level storage facility. By then, it won't be so easy for an ordinary agent to steal it back."

"Besides, dragging it out for too long is also troublesome." Carlo shifted his posture and said to Isaac, "So a more suitable scenario would be this: you receive a threat and invitation from the Order, hesitate for a long time, unsure whether to accept. Then, you hear that the evidence is about to be handed over, and you'll probably never have access to the ring again."

Isaac continued along this line of thought: "This news was the last straw that broke the camel's back. I had to make a decision immediately: either give up and continue being an agent obediently, or take the risk, steal the ring, and exchange it for the cult's protection."

“That’s right. A person who is forced to make a choice is more likely to be trusted than someone who actively chooses when to pledge allegiance,” Carlo said. “So I will have the ring go through the normal process of being transferred to the evidence vault and sealed, leaving a trace for easy verification.”

Isaac put the ring in his pocket and continued to simulate the mindset of a "traitor": "After stealing the ring, I would go straight to Deer Lane. The theft of evidence would be discovered sooner or later, and I didn't know when it would be traced back to me, so I would be in a hurry to find someone from the cult to exchange for protection... That's roughly it."

Li Jiehao raised his hand: "Um, even if we put on this whole process convincingly, will the other side really believe it? What if they still think it's all a setup by the FBI?"

Isaac also felt this was a problem. A FBI agent who was questioning them one day and then going to meet them the next day with a ring in his hand, they couldn't help but have suspicions.

The other side isn't stupid either. If they adopt the attitude of "better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free," then no matter how realistic their act is, it won't work.

"It's certainly not easy to get the other side to genuinely believe you." Carlo took out two dark gold dice and flipped them between his fingers. "But I have a cheat code."

"Using a test to dispel the other party's suspicions?" Isaac realized that this process was not to gain the other party's trust, but to "reasonably" reduce the difficulty of the test to make the other party believe him.

If you simply hand over the ring without doing anything, it might be difficult to convince the other person immediately. However, if you lay the groundwork and have a complete betrayal process, the difficulty of the test will likely be much lower.

Once the verification is passed, the other party will have no choice but to believe it, whether they want to or not.