Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

”You seem quite pale, Mr. Francis.”

Looking at Francis before him, Fang Zheng remarked, then gestured briefly, and soon Ryoko Asakura came to serve him a cup of coffee. In fact, as Fang Zheng mentioned, Francis now looked very disheveled, pale-faced, sweating profusely, and even somewhat untidy, as if he were a lover caught and fleeing from an illicit affair.

”Have some coffee, perhaps it will make you feel better.”

”Thank, thank you...”

Francis took a deep breath, then picked up the coffee and took a few sips, finally relaxing a bit. He glanced uneasily at Nymph and Ryoko Asakura beside Fang Zheng.

”Um, I have some personal matters...”

”No worries, Mr. Francis, they are my assistants and are well aware of these things.”

”I see, that’s good...”

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s answer, Francis nodded and then put down the box he was holding, pulled a document from his pocket, and handed it to Fang Zheng. Meanwhile, Francis began telling Fang Zheng about his experiences over the past few days.

After the nightmare in Innsmouth, Francis was greatly disturbed. To divert his attention, he gave up his subsequent travels and immediately embarked on a journey to trace his roots. He found his relatives in Arkham and began tracing his ancestry, and Francis discovered an astonishing piece of information.

His mother’s family—his ancestors had once married a woman from Arkham whose last name was Marsh. The name Marsh was precisely the name mentioned by the drunken old man in Innsmouth as the name of the true ruling family of Innsmouth. Not only that, the old man had also told Francis earlier that the clan leader of the Marsh family had once married one of those terrible creatures that crawled up from the sea, and then bore three children, two of whom retained the monstrous form and stayed here. The last daughter remained human in form and was sent to study in Europe, then the clan leader pulled some tricks to have a man from Arkham marry her.

Upon hearing this, Francis felt a chill run down his spine, recalling some haunting past events. Although those were just vague memories, for some reason, Francis felt extremely terrified.

One of the creatures resembling a human woman married a man living in Arkham. And in his own family, his mother’s ancestry—his great-grandmother’s generation, indeed married a woman with the surname Marsh.

But at that time, Francis just thought he was overly anxious, that the memories from Innsmouth were too deep, leading him to think this way.

However, after seeing the jewelry that his uncle showed him, belonging to his great-grandmother, Francis was nearly overwhelmed.

The eerie style, the horror and distortion almost impossible to gaze upon directly, though exquisitely beautiful, was also terrifying to behold... It was the same kind of jewelry he saw in the small town and in Innsmouth! Rumor has it these exquisite creations came from the depths of the sea, bestowed by great deities, but at that moment, Francis regarded them as offerings from demons.

”I-I don’t even know what to do... I fainted then, and when I woke up, I didn’t know whom to approach, so... Mr. Van Helsing, please help me, there must be a way, right? Will I become like those people in Innsmouth? No, I don’t know, but I won’t...”

”Alright, calm down first, Mr. Francis.”

Fang Zheng reached out and gently patted his hand.

”You’re worried you might become a Deep Diver... Well, I can’t give you a definite answer, but think carefully, from your great-grandmother to now, no one in your family has turned into that, right? Do you know that great-grandmother?”

”No, I don’t know her... I heard she died early.”

”Then, let’s put her aside, what about your mother? Your grandparents?”

”My mother...”

Speaking of this, Francis began to calm down.

”My mother is also very normal, oh yes, my mother never took us to my grandparents’ home, but when grandpa came over, she always warmly entertained him, and grandpa was very nice to me... Grandma... I never met her...”

”So you don’t have to worry so much. You still have the brooch I gave you, right?”

”Certainly, sir.”

As he spoke, Francis took out the brooch.

”It seems to be a very valuable item...”

”Indeed, it’s yours.”

”Eh?”

”It possesses the power to banish evil, keeping it around might bring you some peace of mind.”

”This is really embarrassing...”

Though he said he felt embarrassed, Francis nonetheless tucked the brooch back into his pocket, and his expression visibly relaxed.

”But sir, I still wish to continue investigating, um... What exactly are those creatures? I’m scared, I feel like if I let them go like this, more terrifying things might happen...”

”It’s not a problem, leave it to me, I’ll find someone to investigate.”

”Eh? Mr. Van Helsing, aren’t you going to investigate yourself?”

”I’m not good at investigating such messy stuff.”

Fang Zheng opened his hands and shrugged, he had always had no interest in being Conan.

”I will commission it to professionals, don’t worry, if there’s any result, I’ll inform you.”

”That’s great... Here’s my phone number, please, if there’s any discovery, do contact me.”

”No problem.”

”Regarding the cost...”

”We’ll talk about it then, we’re acquaintances, I won’t cheat you.”

Besides, you don’t have much money, might as well try to cheat the Federal Reserve instead.

After entrusting the matter to Fang Zheng, Francis seemed much more relaxed and soon took his leave. As for the box he brought, containing his great-grandmother’s jewelry, since he found it too disgusting, he didn’t want to keep it around, so he handed it over to Fang Zheng for safekeeping, then left.

”This is truly interesting.”

After Francis left, Fang Zheng opened the box and examined the contents carefully. Inside the small box were four pieces of jewelry: a bracelet, earrings, a brooch, and a ring. As Francis mentioned, each was an exquisitely carved artwork, and as Francis had said, each was filled with a certain twisted malevolence.

The twisted ring looked like octopus tentacles entwined with one another, and the gemstone appeared like a lifelike eye... Mmm, this thing truly would cause nightmares.

”What do you feel?”

Out of curiosity, Fang Zheng inquired of Nymph and Ryoko Asakura, however...

”Very unique jewelry.”

”Looks beautiful.”

The two stared at the jewelry closely but did not give a particularly low evaluation.

”Don’t you feel anything wrong or repulsive?”

”...”

The two exchanged a look, then shook their heads.

”Sorry, but to me, it’s just ordinary jewelry, master.”

”The information entanglement is very stable, I don’t feel anything abnormal, master.”

Both responded in their own way.

Hmm... Could it be related to their species?

After all, whether it’s an Omnipotent Angel or humanoid interface, at their core they’re a type of machine... For them, perhaps it’s like a computer acquiring image information through a camera, inherently not resulting in any particular feeling.

”So Master, what should we investigate next?”

”I don’t plan on letting you investigate.”

However, Fang Zheng just waved his hand.

”Huh?”

”This world doesn’t have the internet, Nymph, it would be difficult for you to gather information, right?”

”I-I can do it through telephone lines...”

Saying this, Nymph lowered her head helplessly. Indeed, in this relatively backward world, there aren’t even satellites yet... how can she gather information!

”Then leave it to me.”

”No, I have a professional in mind, you should stay behind to take care of Nymph.”

Fang Zheng refused Ryoko Asakura’s request; who knows what her so-called ”investigation” would turn into.

”I’m going out for a while now, please prepare dinner.”

”No problem, Master, what would you like to eat?”

”Anything, you decide.”

Ryoko Asakura’s cooking skills are quite good, there aren’t many around Fang Zheng who can cook delicious food, even with Ryoko Asakura, it’s not enough to make five people. And aside from Natsuse, no one else could cook for him three meals a day, 365 days a year.

Actually, Saten Reiko’s cooking isn’t bad either, but... well, it’s just not bad.

”Understood, let’s have hotpot then, I’ll prepare fresh ingredients.”

Upon hearing Ryoko Asakura’s suggestion, Fang Zheng waved his hand, then picked up the jewelry box and walked out the door.

Arkham City isn’t too big or too small, but Fang Zheng had nothing to do these days and wandered around. He became familiar with the city’s situation. And now, the reason he’s leaving, as he said earlier, is that this matter is to be handled by professionals.

What is a professional?

Of course, it’s a detective!

Unlike that knock-off agency like Kogoro Mouri’s, the detective agency before him looks just like those often seen in old movies, with vintage folding curtains covering the glass; beams of light could be seen inside the room, and on the table, a man in a Western-style suit was dozing off.

Hmm... it doesn’t quite have the feel of Sherlock Holmes, but it’ll do.

With this thought, Fang Zheng reached out, knocked on the door with a bang, and saw the detective inside startle awake, hurriedly slap his face sober, and then look toward the door.

”Come in.”

”Sorry to disturb.”

Fang Zheng pushed the door open and entered the room.

”Is this the Valentine Detective Agency?”

”Yes, I’m Nick Valentine.”

The man before him chuckled, stood up, and gestured to Fang Zheng.

”Have a seat, would you like a glass of whiskey?”

”No, I don’t drink.”

”Oh, are you a Puritan?”

”No, I don’t follow any faith, I just think that drinking isn’t good for your health.”

”That’s a shame, drinking is one of life’s great pleasures.”

Valentine picked up a bottle, poured himself a glass, and downed it in one gulp.

”So, mister, what brings you here?”

”Hmm, I have a commission.”

Fang Zheng reached out, pulled a piece of jewelry from his chest and placed it in front of Valentine. Seeing the piece of jewelry, Valentine squinted his eyes.

”This is...?”

”Quite intriguing, isn’t it?”

”Indeed, very intriguing, but... sorry, I think it’s a bit too intriguing.”

Valentine squinted his eyes, staring at the brooch — unlike a ring, the brooch depicted a bizarre creature with an octopus head; it seemed to be sitting like it was on a toilet, knees curling up, eye sockets engraved with exquisite patterns. Yet, for some reason, seeing it made Valentine feel queasy, even a bit nauseated.

”Hmm, I thought so too.”

Fang Zheng picked up a handkerchief and covered the brooch; only after not seeing it did Valentine finally breathe a sigh of relief, took up his glass, and drank again, dispelling the inexplicable agitation that washed over him.

”So, sir, you want me to...?”

”In fact, these pieces of jewelry were given to me by my client, asking me to handle some matters.”

”Your client? Are you a detective too?”

”No, I’m a mercenary.”

”A mercenary...?”

Surprised by this unexpected answer, Valentine looked a bit taken aback.

”Simply put, combat is my field, but not investigation, so I came to you, Mr. Nick Valentine.”

”So, what would you like me to investigate?”

”Regarding the pattern on that brooch, I can tell you that it comes from an evil cult, and my client and I are tracking this cult. But as I previously mentioned, I’m a mercenary, not a detective. Combat is my job, but compared to that, investigation is somewhat troublesome.”

Fang Zheng spread his hands helplessly; the information deviation of this world gave him quite a headache, the results from Ratziel were all garbled nonsense, completely useless. Even Prophecy System spells were unusable, forcing Fang Zheng to use this approach.

”So, I hope you could find clues about this cult and their location, but I must warn you in advance, it’s a dangerous job.”

As he spoke, Fang Zheng reached into his chest and pulled out a wad of Franklins.

”I can pay you a substantial sum, but you don’t need to take risks, just gather enough information and hand it over to me.”

”That sounds quite easy.”

”Indeed, if you’re not afraid of dying.”

”.......”

Hearing Fang Zheng’s reply, Valentine remained silent for a moment, then stood up and extended his hand to Fang Zheng.

”Alright, I’ll take this commission.”