Old days, dice and investigator's manual

religious disputes

Night falls in the apartment building.

With Glenn and the others leaving, the building was now deserted, and any movement in the empty corridors was particularly noticeable.

Moonlight streamed in through the window at the corner of the staircase. Isaac climbed to the third floor and stood in the corridor.

He waited a moment, and then, ahead of him, Halprin's figure appeared, solidifying into a gaunt humanoid figure wearing a cloak.

Helpulin didn't approach immediately, but scanned the empty space beside Isaac to confirm if the demon was nearby.

"No need to look anymore, I left it somewhere else," Isaac said. "I'm here now. What deal do you want to discuss?"

Helpulin took two steps forward, his hoarse voice ringing out: "As you can see, before today, I was under house arrest, and the Order's power in Vista had actually fractured."

"I would like to hear the details."

"Since you come from the FBI, you should know the actual situation of the Order," Halprin said. "Our Order is not a tightly knit organization; it consists of many factions that pursue immortality, each with its own ideologies and methods."

"But in each city, a representative will be appointed as the leader of the cult in that area, coordinating relations between different factions and making decisions on behalf of the cult when necessary."

"I was the head of the Vesta Order—once."

"A year ago, Annabelle—she was the leader of a faction and wanted to be in charge, but she knew she couldn't beat me in a head-on fight, so she chose another way."

"She stole my life box, tampered with it, and ruined it. My body deteriorated overnight to the point where I couldn't even speak and could only be manipulated by others."

"Betraying is ultimately dishonorable and easily provokes hostility from other regional cults, so they put me under house arrest. Annabelle controls the cult in my name, and they—including Glenn, whom you met—are responsible for guarding me."

Isaac nodded: "Then why does Glenn want to kill you? Now that you're under control, wouldn't it be safer to keep you alive?"

"Because I know too many people's secrets," Halprin said. "Many people in the Order have things they don't want others to know, and I know those things. As long as I'm alive, I'm a threat to those people. They don't want Annabelle to know those secrets; they want me to disappear completely."

"In other words, killing you was not Annabelle's intention."

"That's right, Annabelle wants to keep me because she thinks I'm still useful."

Isaac understood that Glenn's roundabout way of killing Halprin was more about fearing Annabelle's retribution than the cult's overt rule of "not killing one's own people."

However, since they wanted to kill Halprin, they probably thought that Halprin's life box was destroyed, and once he was dead, he was truly dead and could not be resurrected.

But Halprin survived, which means he had a lot of backup plans. He was clearly someone who had laid out a long enough escape route. Although he was ambushed by Annabelle for a time, he might be able to turn the tables once he seized the opportunity to break free.

"I'm telling you all this to illustrate one point," Halprin continued. "Annabelle and her gang betrayed me, and my current strength is insufficient to wage direct war against them. I need a powerful enough partner to help me reclaim my position of leadership."

What kind of collaboration do you want?

"Join forces with the FBI to eliminate these traitors."

Isaac was somewhat surprised. He thought Halprin would ask him to do something shady or continue to infiltrate the cult as an inside man. He didn't expect Halprin to target the FBI.

"I have betrayed the FBI, you should know that."

"Stop pretending. You still have a die in your pocket. You're one of Schuster's men. Others might not know, but I know exactly who Schuster is. So your so-called betrayal is nothing but a disguise."

Since the other party had brought up Carlo's point, Isaac simply stopped pretending: "Even if I'm with the FBI, why would the FBI cooperate with you? Even if you're the leader of the Ghoul Order who was usurped, the FBI and the Order don't have a friendly relationship."

"Because I can provide them with what they want, what Annabelle is doing is far more dangerous than you can imagine. They are not just pursuing immortality; they are trying to awaken an ancient being."

"Morzur?"

Helpulin was not surprised that Isaac knew this; instead, he gave a mocking sneer: "You really think that's the Morzur you know? Ha—"

"You mean 'the tree in the lake'?"

Helpulin: "————?"

Isaac noticed Helpulin's expression stiffen slightly: "If you're trying to say that the Morzul they're targeting isn't the 'God of Decay' known to later generations, but rather the more ancient 'Tree of the Lake,' then I'm sorry, we already know that."

Halprin narrowed his eyes slightly, reassessing the amount of information the young man in front of him possessed.

He thought that "the tree in the lake" was one of the few bargaining chips he could still use to negotiate, but he didn't expect that the other party already knew about it.

"Since you know about the Tree in the Lake," then you should also know that what Annabelle and her group are really looking for isn't the blessing of some "God of Decay." They're trying to find the source of the Tree in the Lake. They believe that as long as they can reach that source, they can obtain true immortality. That source—"

"Lake Porte?"

Helprien paused: "—You even know that?"

"Uh, if you know about 'The Tree in the Lake,' isn't it normal that you know about Lake Perth?"

"—Normal?" A look of confusion crossed Helpulin's face.

Looking at Halprin's reaction, Isaac suddenly realized that this guy probably had even less information than he did.

Because Carlo had traced the origins and development of the Morzur faith, the mention of "trees in the lake" naturally led him to think of Lake Petr.

However, for those who only know the name "The Tree in the Lake," it is difficult to directly associate this "lake" with Lake Perth. They might immediately think of it as some kind of mystical "Lake of the Underworld," skipping the search for its real-world origin.

"So what else do you have to offer the FBI in exchange for?" Isaac asked. "We already know what you're saying. If this is all the information you have, then the value you can offer is probably not as much as you think."

Helpulin remained silent for a long time: "If I can regain control of the cult, I can restore it to a state of 'harmlessness'."

"harmless?"

"As far as I know, Annabelle's recent actions have killed quite a few people. But I can assure you that the cult under my command will only steal the bodies they need, and will not harm the living."

Isaac: "————"

Well, from a comparative perspective, it is much less harmful.