This time, I won't be the devil.

After worrying for a while, he realized a fundamental problem.

So what if the cultists really launched the ritual?

Even if the residents were spiritually polluted, or even if the Wall of the Wind God was destroyed, or the city was hit by a typhoon, it would not cause any direct losses to itself.

The talent [Devoted to Oneself] can make one immune to enchantment, and he also has a bottle of [Saint's Blessing] as a backup.

His goal is to find out the details of this group of cultists, eliminate potential risks in the future, and complete the task of investigating the case.

Now that Stella has been found and the cultists' location has been determined, it can be said that his mission has been almost completed.

As for Midori who was kidnapped by the cultists and the city of Bondolim itself, they were both optional for him to save. Helping them could indeed bring certain benefits, but this was only an option, not a must.

Once you let go of the desire to help others, things become much simpler.

What we need to do next is to ensure the complete annihilation of the cultists and extract as much useful information as possible from them to maximize our benefits.

After making up their minds, Frey and Didoris left the West District and returned to the Sound Dream Hotel in the Central District.

Sherlock was staying in the room at this time. According to the original agreement, his every move would be monitored by the police officers of the investigation team.

The most critical thing is to ensure that it cannot communicate with the outside world.

"Are you sure he didn't contact anyone during these two days?" Frey asked the police officer in charge.

"As you requested, we confiscated his communicator and even followed him to the bathroom. We also checked all mail entering and leaving the hotel."

After looking at the report handed over by the police officer and confirming that there was nothing unusual, Frey and Didoris opened Sherlock's door.

The other person was sitting leisurely on the sofa reading a book, playing with a gold coin in his hand.

Seeing Didoris enter the room, he said with a hint of complaint:

"Your Highness, although I did not handle the matter of Petrarch's inheritance in a proper manner, you cannot resort to personal vengeance. The level of surveillance is almost as strict as that of a death row inmate. Thanks to you, I have lost countless business deals in the past two days."

But Didoris didn't waste time talking to him and directly took out the gang's list of goods.

After seeing the manifest, Sherlock immediately understood the situation.

"Who discovered this?"

"I found the clue while investigating the red-light district," said Didoris.

"You are indeed a famous detective. I can't hide anything from you." Sherlock praised Tidoris, but his eyes were looking in the direction of Frey.

"I did purchase a batch of food from the gang privately."

Seeing the other party admit it so readily, Tidoris was a little confused for a moment, and Sherlock immediately added:

"Since you all know, I won't hide it. My goal is to help those who are starving in the city."

"There will be a new mayoral election next year, and I'm doing this charity event to improve the image of the candidate supported by the foundation among the poor."

"On the day I landed on the island on the 15th, I found a group of scavengers on the island and asked them to go to the garbage dump in the red-light district tonight to get some food. If you don't believe me, you can go and ask them."

It seems that Sherlock had already prepared an excuse to distance himself from the cultists.

"If that's the case, then why did you go out of your way to hide your identity and go find the gang? And the food you mentioned is now gone."

Facing Didorice's question, Sherlock replied calmly:

"Let me be honest, our campaign strategy this time is to provide assistance to the homeless and win their favor."

"The reason for doing this in secret is to conceal the intention of canvassing for votes. After all, if it is exposed too early, it will be discovered by competitors."

"As for why this batch of supplies disappeared, perhaps some hungry people discovered it in advance and picked it up."

"After all, I just bought some food from the gang. It should be my freedom to decide what to do with it."

Didoris wanted to ask more questions, but Frey stopped her with his eyes.

As Sherlock said, the contents of the manifest were indeed just some food, and there were no other suspicious items. This transaction itself could not be direct evidence of his collusion with the cultists.

Although Sherlock's series of excuses just now were far-fetched, they did not have any fatal flaws. Moreover, since he said it, he must have made corresponding preparations. Continuing to pursue it would only be a waste of time.

Besides, it would not be good for him to fall out with the consortium.

At this moment, Sherlock looked at Frey with his purple pupils, and deliberately emphasized his tone, as if hinting:

"By the way, everything I just said was true."

"My goal is just votes, so I absolutely do not want a tragedy that would cause mass deaths among the people of the city. Please rest assured about this." His eyes were like a gambler who had found new chips.

In Frey's opinion, what Sherlock meant was that although he provided help to the cultists, his goals were not completely consistent with those of the cultists.

He had asked monitors that morning how much damage would be caused if the typhoon actually hit Bondolim.

The answer was that since the buildings in Bondolimu were constructed with little consideration for windproof design, if a level 15 typhoon directly hit the city, the strong wind and the subsequent tsunami would destroy at least 70% of the buildings.

However, if the typhoon's trajectory can be observed in advance and evacuation work can be organized, such as having all citizens hide underground, then the typhoon itself will not cause many casualties.

However, after all the ground buildings are destroyed, most of the islanders will lose their fortunes and livelihoods. The subsequent supply of materials in the city will become a big problem, and the cost of reconstruction will be astronomical.

By then, the real casualties will not be the typhoon, but the poverty and chaos that follow the natural disaster.

Considering this perspective, the Hayek Foundation is likely trying to use the chaos created by the cultists to reduce people's support for the current city government, and use the abundant supplies at hand to win over the people and win next year's election.

If this is true, then this group of cultists are being exploited by both the masked clown who craves chaos and the profit-seeking Hayek consortium.

Now that the external destabilizing factors have been eliminated, in order to prevent any further complications, Frey decided to set the time of action for tomorrow, late at night on the 18th.

After dealing with the gangs in the West District and Sherlock in the hotel in the Central District, Frey came to [STARRY] in the East District.

He told Stella most of the information he knew so far, including his own principles of behavior.

"My goal is to thoroughly investigate the information about this group of cultists. As for Midori, I will rescue her if conditions permit, but there are no guarantees."

Frey handed Stella a magic intercom.

"After I'm done dealing with the cultists in the sewers, I'll send you a signal. Then all you have to do is pretend that I rescued you."

Frey made the most reliable proposal, but after hesitating for a moment, Stella put her left hand on her chest and said resolutely:

"I don't want to be just a spectator. I want to fight with you. I've already reached level 21, and I won't hold you back."

"It's too dangerous. Didn't I tell you that the cultists might launch psychic attacks through rituals?"

"Aren't you afraid of danger?"

"I have a backup plan."

"I have it too."

To prove her worth, Stella shows Frey her true abilities.

"Ms. Stella, who exactly are you?" Frey asked after seeing her abilities.

"Just a passing idol." Stella showed a somewhat naughty smile.

"Let me make it clear first, I can't guarantee your safety."

"It doesn't matter. If it gets in your way, it doesn't matter if you treat me like a pawn."

Since Stella has said this, even if Frey refuses, she may still act on her own. Instead of that, it is better to let her play her best role.

"If you really want to participate in this operation, I have another task for you."

"No problem, no matter what the task is, I'm happy to serve!"

"You said that yourself."

After that, Frey took out small props such as hemp rope, eye mask, tape and arcane magic blade for photography from his luggage bag.

"What...what are these things used for?"

"From now on, I will kidnap you..."

The biggest difficulty in this operation is preventing the cultists from escaping.

There are thousands of manhole covers throughout Bondolim, scattered throughout the city.

Frey currently has only 200 city police officers at his disposal, which is insufficient to guard all the sewer exits at the same time.

Although it is possible to trap the cultists on the island by taking measures such as blocking the port and requesting federal support, if the cultists fall into the hands of these people, they will be out of Frey's control.

In order to avoid unnecessary risks, Frey planned to eliminate all the cultists in the sewers.

To do this, he needs to mobilize the masses.

At 6 o'clock in the evening, Frey walked into Stella's fan club with some information related to the case.

Although the disappearance has not been made public at this time, Stella's fans have already learned that the performer may be replaced.

As the saying goes, the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment. This group of people are all die-hard fans of Stella. Some of them even traveled thousands of miles to Bondolim just to catch a glimpse of their idol. It is said that one of them even broke up with his girlfriend because of this.

After realizing that their idols could not perform, thousands of little stars in the club were in great distress.

Most of them sat there dazed, and in the middle of the crowd, a few people who had spent all their savings and even taken out loans just to buy a ticket to the Fengling Festival were wailing in despair:

"Stella, you've ruined my life!"

"Today my hands are shaking... Today my heart aches... Why did things turn out like this?"

"Are you doing us justice? RnM, give us back our money!"

Next to them, a few relatively rational people were speculating about the truth of the matter.

"The agency announced that Ai-chan was ill, but is that really the case?"

"The mayor originally organized this event to win votes. God knows what he's planning."

"Did Ai-chan have an accident?"

Just as the little stars continued to discuss, Frey's appearance attracted everyone's attention.

"You...you are the guy who got Ai-chan's autograph." Someone soon recognized him.

"I'm really sorry for not being able to catch up with Ai-chan with everyone the day before yesterday. I brought you some important information today."

Frey listed some information related to the case in front of the little stars. When they saw the information, they immediately panicked.

"What, Ai-chan was kidnapped?"

"This... How is this possible? Stella-chan was kidnapped by bad guys..."

"Where did you get the information? Is it reliable?"

In response to the doubts raised by the little stars, Frey said: