"You don't look well, Mr. Francis."
Looking at Francis in front of him, Fangzheng sighed. Following that, he made a gesture and Cang Liang Zi quickly walked over to serve him a cup of coffee. In fact, just as Fangzheng had mentioned, Francis was in a sorry state. His face was pale, his forehead was drenched in sweat, and his clothes were disheveled. He looked like a lover who jumped out of the window to escape after being caught cheating.
"Have some coffee first. Perhaps it will make you feel better."
"T-Thank you …"
Francis took a deep breath and sipped a few mouthfuls of the coffee. He finally relaxed and gazed at Nimf and Ryoko Asakura anxiously.
"Erm, I have some personal matters to attend to …"
"It's alright, Mr. Francis. They are my assistants and they are very knowledgeable about this."
"I-Is that so …"
Upon hearing Fangzheng's answer, Francis nodded. He put down the box in his hand, took out a document, and handed it to Fangzheng. At the same time, Francis told Fangzheng about his experiences in the past few days.
After experiencing the nightmare in Innsmouth, Francis was greatly affected. In order to divert his attention, he gave up on his upcoming trip and immediately began his journey to find his roots. He found his family in Arkham and started to trace back to his ancestors. Then he came across a piece of information that shocked him greatly.
His mother's family — His ancestor had married a woman with the surname Marsh in Arkham. The surname Marsh was the surname of the ruling family in Innsmouth that Francis heard from the drunken old man in Innsmouth. Not only that, but the old man also told Francis that the patriarch of the Marsh Family had married one of the terrifying monsters that crawled out from the bottom of the sea and gave birth to three children. Two of them were left in this world because they maintained their monster forms. As for the last daughter, she was sent to Europe to study because she was still in her human form. Then, the patriarch played some tricks and made a man in Arkham marry her.
Hearing this, Francis felt his hair stand on end. He couldn't help but recall some unbearable memories. Although they were just some vague memories, he didn't know why, but at this moment, Francis was very afraid.
Among the monsters, there was a woman who looked like a human who married a man in Arkham. In his family, his mother's ancestor — who was also his great-grandmother's generation — did marry a woman with the surname Marsh.
However, at the time, Francis thought he was just being overly anxious. The memory of Innsmouth was too strong for him to think in that direction.
But after that, when he saw his uncle showing him the jewels that had belonged to his great-grandmother, Francis nearly broke down.
That strange style made one unable to look at it directly. Although it was incomparably exquisite, it was also incomparably terrifying … It was the same jewelry that he saw in the small town and in Innsmouth! Rumor had it that these exquisite creations came from the depths of the sea and were a gift from the great God. But at this moment, in Francis's eyes, they were simply the messengers of the devil.
"I, I don't even know what to do … I fainted at the time, and when I woke up, I, I didn't know who to look for, so … Mr. Van Helsing, please help me. There should be a way, right? Will, will I end up like those people in Innsmouth … No, I don't know, but I won't …"
"Alright, calm down first, Mr. Francis."
Fangzheng reached out and patted his hand gently.
"You're worried that you'll become a Deep One … Alright, I can't give you a definite answer, but think about it carefully. Since your great-grandmother, no one in your family has become like that. Do you know your great-grandmother?"
"No, I don't … I heard that she passed away a long time ago."
"Then, let's not talk about her for now. How about your mother? What about your grandparents? "
"My mother …"
At this point, Francis gradually calmed down.
"My mother is also very normal. Ah, by the way, my mother never brings us back to my maternal grandparents' house. But when my maternal grandfather comes, she always warmly entertains him. My maternal grandfather is also very good to me … maternal grandmother … I haven't seen her before …"
"So, you don't have to be so worried. Do you still have the brooch I gave you?"
"Of course, sir."
As he spoke, Francis took out the brooch.
"This seems to be something very valuable …"
"That's right, it's for you."
"Huh?"
"It has the power to expel evil. You'll feel more assured if you keep it with you, right?"
"I-I'm really sorry about this …"
Although Francis said that he was embarrassed, he still put the brooch back into his pocket. His expression seemed to have relaxed a lot.
"But, sir, I still want to continue the investigation. That … what are those monsters? I'm scared. I feel that if I don't do anything, something worse will happen … "
"It's okay, leave it to me. I'll find someone to investigate."
"Eh? Mr. Van Helsing, you're not going to investigate it yourself? "
"I'm not good at investigating this mess."
Fangzheng spread out his hands and shrugged his shoulders. He had never been interested in Conan.
"I'll entrust a professional to take care of it. Don't worry, I'll inform you if there are any results."
"That's good … That, this is my phone number. Please, if you find anything, please contact me."
"No problem."
"As for the cost …"
"We'll talk about it when the time comes. We're familiar with each other, so I won't cheat you."
You don't have much money, so you might as well cheat the Federal Reserve.
After entrusting the matter to Fangzheng, Francis seemed to relax a lot. He quickly bade farewell and left. As for the box he brought, it contained his great-grandmother's jewelry. As he found it too disgusting, he didn't want to keep it by his side. Therefore, he decided to leave it with Fangzheng for safekeeping before leaving.
"This is interesting."
After Francis left, Fangzheng opened the box and took out the items inside. He studied them carefully. There were four pieces of jewelry in the small box. They were a bracelet, an earring, a brooch, and a ring. Just as Francis had said, each of them was an exquisitely carved work of art. And just as Francis had said, each of them was filled with twisted malice.
The twisted ring looked like the tentacles of an octopus entangled together, and the gem looked like a living eye … Yes, this thing will definitely give people nightmares.
"How do you feel?"
Out of curiosity, Fangzheng asked Nimf and Asakura Ryoko, but …
"It's a very strange jewelry."
"It looks beautiful."
Both of them scrutinized the hand gestures before them, but didn't give a particularly bad evaluation.
"Don't you feel that something is wrong or disgusting?"
"…"
Both of them exchanged looks and shook their heads.
"I'm sorry, but it seems like ordinary jewelry to me, Master."
"The information entanglement is very stable. I don't feel anything strange, Master."
Both of them gave their responses in different ways.
Hmm … Could it be related to their race?
After all, no matter if it was the Angel or the humanoid interface, they were ultimately a type of machine … To them, this might be the same as a computer receiving image information through a camera.
"So then, Master, how should we investigate next?"
"I don't intend for you to investigate."
However, Fangzheng waved his hand.
"Huh?"
"There's no internet in this world, so Nimf, it's hard for you to gather information."
"I-I can use the phone line …"
Nimf lowered her head helplessly. Indeed, in this relatively backward world where there weren't even any satellites … How was she going to gather information?!
"Leave it to me then."
"No, I have a professional candidate in mind. You stay behind and take care of Nimf."
Fangzheng rejected Ryoko Asakura's request. Who knew what her so-called 'investigation' would turn out to be.
"I'll be heading out now. Please prepare dinner."
"No problem, Master. What would you like to eat?"
"Anything. Do as you see fit."
Ryoko Asakura's culinary skills were great. There weren't many people around Fangzheng who could cook well and there were less than five of them including Ryoko Asakura. Besides, apart from Xia Shi, no one else could cook for him three meals a day for 365 days.
In fact, Sakamoto Leiko's culinary skills weren't bad either. But … Yes, that was all.
"Got it. Let's have hot pot then. I'll prepare fresh ingredients."
Facing Ryoko Asakura's report, Fangzheng waved his hand, picked up the jewelry box, and headed out of the room.
Arkham City wasn't considered big or small. However, Fangzheng had been wandering around for the past few days, so he was rather familiar with the situation in this city. And now, the reason why he was heading out was because, as previously mentioned, Fangzheng planned on leaving this matter to the professionals.
What was a professional?
Of course, it was a detective!
Unlike Mori Kogoro's fake detective agency, the detective agency in front of him was the kind that was often seen in old-fashioned movies. The old-style folding curtains covered the glass, and he could see the light in the room. On the table, a man in a western suit was sitting there and taking a nap.
Hmm … It doesn't feel the same as Sherlock Holmes, but forget it.
With this in mind, Fangzheng reached out and knocked on the door. Following that, he saw the snoozing detective jolt in shock. He hurriedly woke up and slapped his face before looking at the door.
"Come in."
"Sorry to disturb you."
Fangzheng pushed open the door and entered the room.
"Excuse me, is this Valentine's Detective Agency?"
"That's right, I'm Nick Valentine."
The man chuckled, stood up, and gestured to Fangzheng.
"Please have a seat. Do you want a glass of whiskey?"
"No, I don't drink."
"Oh, you're a Puritan?"
"No, I'm not religious. I just feel that drinking is bad for the body."
"That's a pity. Drinking is one of life's greatest pleasures."
Detective Valentine picked up the bottle, poured a glass of whiskey, and downed it in one gulp.
"So then, Mister, what's the matter?"
"Yes, I have a request."
Fangzheng extended his hand, took out a piece of jewelry, and placed it before Valentine. Seeing this jewelry, Valentine narrowed his eyes.
"This is …?"
"Interesting stuff, isn't it?"
"It is indeed interesting, and … I'm sorry, but I think this thing is a little too interesting."
Valentine narrowed his eyes and stared at the brooch. Unlike the ring, the brooch was engraved with a strange-looking monster with an octopus head. It seemed to be sitting on the toilet with its knees bent and exquisite patterns engraved in its eye sockets. But for some unknown reason, Detective Valentine felt disgusted and even a little nauseous at the sight of this thing.
"Yes, that's what I thought too."
Fangzheng picked up a handkerchief and covered the brooch. After not seeing the brooch, Detective Valentine heaved a sigh of relief. Then, he picked up the glass and took another sip of whiskey, finally dispelling the anxiety that came out of nowhere.
"So, Mister? Do you want me to … "
"Actually, this jewelry was given to me by my client. He asked me to help him with some matters."
"Your client? Are you a detective too? "
"No, I'm a mercenary."
"Mercenary …"
Facing this unexpected answer, Valentine was a little surprised.
"To put it simply, fighting is my job, but investigating isn't. That's why I'm looking for you, Mr. Nick Valentine."
"So, what do you want me to investigate?"
"About the pattern on the brooch. I can tell you that the pattern on the brooch is from an evil cult. My client and I are tracking down this cult. But as I said before, I'm a mercenary, not a detective. Fighting head-on is my job, but in contrast, it's a little troublesome for me to investigate. "
Fangzheng spread his hands helplessly. The information deviation in this world gave Fangzheng a headache. The results given in the notice were all garbled and useless. Prophecy spells couldn't be used at all, so Fangzheng had no choice but to use this method.
"So, I hope you can search for clues about this cult and their location. But I have to remind you in advance that this is a very dangerous job."
Fangzheng said as he reached into his pocket and took out a stack of Franklins.
"I can pay you enough money, but you don't need to take risks. You just need to gather enough information and hand it to me."
"That sounds very easy."
"It is, if you're not afraid of death."
"…"
After hearing Fangzheng's answer, Valentine pondered for a moment. Then, he stood up and extended his hand to Fangzheng.
"Alright then, I'll accept this commission."
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