A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 777 - Chapter 777 Chapter 553 Cornwall_1

Chapter 777: Chapter 553 Cornwall_1 Chapter 777: Chapter 553 Cornwall_1 After dealing with Glaki, Duanmu Huai set off once again for his journey to Cornwall.

As for the completion of this commission, he had left it to the Foundation to handle. To put it simply, two twisted murderers were operating a guesthouse here, ruthlessly killing their guests. Unfortunately, Mr. James became one of their victims. Upon the arrival of investigators like Duanmu Huai, they became nervous and attacked them in an attempt to destroy evidence, but ended up being killed instead.

The wounds found on the bodies could be attributed to the grotesque torture inflicted by the two murderers.

Well, that’s the public narrative – fit for the newspapers.

It was a typical story, much better than saying “two cultists worshipping ancient entities from outer space turned vacationers into zombies here.”

By the way, the Foundation did have some complaints about Duanmu Huai. He burnt all alien bodies, including Glaki’s. The Foundation managed to recover only the alien city. They actually hoped to capture these creatures alive for research. But for Duanmu Huai… this was, of course, impossible.

The reason he chose to hand over the surviving Migo to the Foundation was that the Migo were a species. Duanmu Huai, without a fleet in this world, wasn’t capable of wiping them out. Plus, there were countless Migos; losing one or two didn’t matter.

However, Glaki was a rare creature. Indeed, from the Tribunal’s perspective, the best way to handle such a rare creature was total extermination.

After all, as long as it was extinct, it would pose no danger to humans.

Whether or not it was too valuable to lose was of no concern to the Tribunal.

The Foundation was dissatisfied with this, but Duanmu Huai, as a Judge, never intended to budge on this issue. After all, he was only cooperating with the Foundation. If they were unhappy, they could risk their own lives, it had nothing to do with him.

“Hmm………”

Sitting in the carriage, Mary was somewhat contemplative. Subconsciously, she reached out to rub her stomach, her mind in turmoil.

What was that mark?

Mary didn’t remember when she’d gotten this mark. She remembered not having it before and didn’t know when it appeared.

It was… a tattoo, wasn’t it?

As a young lady from a decent family, Mary had always shunned such things. She never thought she’d have a tattoo one day. She could imagine Shirley and Asherica fainting upon seeing it. Then again… the one who truly wanted to faint should be her.

Could it be that everyone in the Tribunal got a tattoo like this?

Mary had secretly asked Lorena about it. However, Lorena seemed puzzled by her question.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. Neither Miss Kaname, Miss Leia nor anybody else seems to have such a mark.”

Even though she didn’t recognize the names, the question was – what exactly was this?

Recognizing that the skull and war hammer were symbols of the Tribunal from the “Tribunal Corporate Culture Introduction”, Mary was certain that this had something to do with the Tribunal. However, she was somewhat hesitant to discuss it with Duanmu Huai. After all, as a young girl, discussing her abdominal tattoo with another man was a tad embarrassing.

“What’s wrong?”

Feeling Mary’s gaze, Duanmu Huai looked at her. Mary paused before shaking her head.

“No, it’s, it’s nothing……”

As she spoke, she lowered her eyes but quickly remembered something and turned to Duanmu Huai.

“Ah, right, Mr. Duanmu, there is something I wanted to discuss with you.”

“What is it?”

“I was thinking of writing about this journey as a novel……”

What Mary told Duanmu Huai was an idea she had had before: to become the Watson to his Sherlock Holmes, documenting cases and turning them into novels. But it was the first time she had voiced this to him, and surprisingly, Duanmu Huai showed a shocked expression.

“You plan to turn these investigations into novels?”

“Yes… can I?”

“I have no objection, but there are a few words of advice.”

“Advice?”

“Yes, first off, all characters in your books, aside from you and me, should have made-up names.”

“I understand that.”

Personal privacy and individual information needed to be protected after all, not to mention that the cases handled by Duanmu Huai and Mary were unlike the ordinary criminal cases taken on by Sherlock Holmes.

“Also, the real names of the monsters must not be mentioned.”

“Huh? I can’t write them?”

“Right, creatures like the Outer Gods are very sensitive in this regard. If you write their names and readers lay their eyes upon them, they might turn into targets for these evil gods and monsters. Hence, even in your records, you must not write their real names.”

“It sounds like some kind of curse.”

“It’s pretty much like that, in fact. Your current idea is essentially rewriting a Book of the Dead.”

“Book of the Dead? What’s that? It sounds like a magic book. I just simply want to write a story book……”

“That’s fine, as long as you write as I tell you, there won’t be any problem… What’s your plan for getting published? If you need, I can assist.”

“While I appreciate that, I would like to try my hand at submitting it for publication myself.”

“That will be up to your abilities.”

Upon hearing this, the excited Miss Lorena joined in the conversation.

“Miss Mary, are you planning to become a writer?”

“I just enjoy writing stories.”

Mary wasn’t lying. She had always enjoyed writing stories since childhood, with Shirley being her first reader. In fact, part of her future career plan was to get her own novels published and become an author – although, as it now seemed, she was likely to become a horror writer.

“Can I also appear in it?”

“Of course, as long as Miss Lorena allows me to use your name.”

“No problem! It would be really interesting to see my name in a novel for the first time. Keep it up, Miss Mary!”

After bringing up this topic, the two girls excitedly continued their conversation. Apparently, Lorena quite enjoyed reading books as well. That came as no surprise, given that it would be unlikely for someone who detests books to carry one around all day and often wave it in people’s faces.

…Should I consider that a liking?

The rest of the journey went smoothly. Amidst the lively conversation between Lorena and Mary, the group finally arrived in Cornwall and met their client – Mr. Best Hank.

Earl Best was a spry old man in his seventies. The reason he sought help from Duanmu Huai was straightforward – the Hank family was considered a respected household in this generation. Although they didn’t have jurisdiction over this area at the governmental level, they wielded quite some influence locally, much like rich gentry in ancient China who had control over the surrounding ten or so villages and industries.

Because of this, after vampire incidents occurred in Cornwall and the police investigation proved fruitless, the indignant old man decided to conduct his own investigation. He learned about Duanmu Huai from the experiences of a Baroness who had gone through similar events and decided to ask him for help.

“I have some influence here. If you encounter any trouble, feel free to mention my name. If they don’t want to help, you can directly contact me.”

Despite his age, Earl Best still projected authority and appeared decisively stout-hearted.

“That’s not really an issue, but Mr. Best, what’s your take on this?”

“What are you referring to?”

“The vampire situation, to be honest, do you believe in it?”

“Frankly speaking? I hardly believe it.”

Earl Best gave his answer without any hesitation.

“And besides, if vampires did exist, wouldn’t it be quite foolish?”

“Oh?”

“Look, vampires are known in the legends as cunning and evil monsters, right? If they really wanted to control this region, they could come and make me their servant, then convert the city government officials, giving them free rein over this area. But the victims have only been workers. Doesn’t that seem rather foolish?”

As Earl Best had pointed out, if vampires indeed had such abilities as described in the legends, the first ones they should control are local stakeholders. Unlike medieval times when nobles and officials were surrounded by a full armed retinue, even mayors nowadays don’t necessarily have bodyguards when they step out. People like Earl Best who would be followed by a large entourage in the middle ages, may not necessarily have so many guards in the present time.

This means that it would now be much easier than before for vampires to attack the real power holders.

“What’s your view on this?”

“To speak frankly? I’m not sure. If I were decades younger, I might believe this could simply be some gang rivalry. But I’m older now and have seen more. I also understand that there are existences in the world that we cannot comprehend. The Baroness Baskerville made a strong recommendation for you, so I believe you must not be someone who deceives or fakes things. Besides, I’m old and no longer wish to probe into these secrets. What I hope for now is for peace to return to this land…”

At this point, Earl Best sighed deeply.

“You may not be aware of this, but this city wasn’t like this before. Even at night, people would go out, drink at the bar, watch football, or date at coffee shops. But now, once night falls, everyone stays indoors. Even the shops are closed. From here, it’s all pitch black below. You would think the whole city had been obliterated if you didn’t know what was happening.”

As he spoke, Earl Best gazed out of the window, his snow-white eyebrows furrowed.

“To be honest, I don’t know what creature is causing this, or if it’s gang violence, or something else entirely. All I want is an end to all of this, and that’s why I invited you here. All you need to do is help me solve this problem. That’s my only request.”

“Thank you for your understanding. We’ll try our best to resolve this issue.”

Perhaps it was due to his age, but after a brief conversation with Duanmu Huai and others, Earl Best retired to rest, while Duanmu shrugged and sipped his tea.

“I must say, dealing with such an intelligent person makes things much easier. He is truly the ideal client.”

“Ideal client?”

Upon hearing this, Mary, who was taking notes, tilted her head in curiosity and looked at Duanmu Huai.

“Yes, investigators often encounter various types of clients, but many are fools who refuse to face reality. For instance, they might insist that we report a situation in a certain way regardless of the actual circumstances. Simply put, it’s like demanding a doctor diagnose any illness as a common cold, or else they fly into a rage… of course, I would have promptly kicked out such clients.”

After all, Duanmu Huai didn’t allow himself to be pushed around.

“Alright.”

After finishing his tea, Duanmu Huai rose.

“Now, let’s begin our investigation.”

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.