After hearing the full story, Rod realized that the one referred to as a "cancer" by the others was none other than that Iron Mask, Manolo Bana.
From the very beginning, this individual had been looking for trouble with Rod. Initially, Rod thought it was because he had offended his son, Habulin, but later he found that the higher-ups obviously had more important things to worry about.
Manolo Bana’s extre efforts to label himself a Doomsday believer were an attempt to strike at Guardian Qingyu who protected him.
He was heavily suspected at the ti; the Redstone Village case had made a significant impact and Qingyu had used her Guardian privileges and reputation to vouch for him.
If Manolo Bana managed to tarnish her na, then naturally Guardian Qingyu’s reputation would be damaged.
The most critical issue was that, as a King Candidate, the elders of the Royal City Council would consider her naivety and shallowness and might find her unsuitable to be the next monarch. This would decrease the likelihood of them considering her during the transfer of power.
These convoluted matters were only recently figured out by Rod.
No wonder he, as a major suspect, could still enter the academy without hindrance and faced little trouble, except the Iron Mask who was fanatically finding fault with him.
However, if he continued to think about it, he would find many oddities.
The only reason for the Iron Mask to do this was that he wanted to secretly support another candidate, but wasn’t his thod too ostentatious? Not only was he personally pressing down on others, but he also ca forward to persuade defections. Wasn’t he afraid of being reported?
And, doesn’t Trolian’s system for selecting a king avoid such issues? Don’t they have asures in place to prevent unfair competition?
This isn’t about nurturing Poison Insects. If they engage in such unrestrained infighting, humanity might destroy itself before any external enemies could.
Clearly, this would not be allowed.
To be fair, in Rod’s view, the actions of the Iron Mask were just basic tactics. The fact that he hadn’t been killed with eight bullets or ambushed by a horde of Doomsday believers shouting "dad" suggested their actions were still at a primitive stage.
The outrage of Reslin and others confird that such incidents were not the norm within the Royal City, and people had not yet accustod themselves to it.
The Iron Mask’s actions would not only likely fail to help his supporter but might even drag them both down.
If Rod were in that person’s place, he would definitely kick away that pig-headed teammate.
The "big event" as ntioned by Reslin and the others was to directly report Manolo Bana to the Royal City Governance Hall for violating the Royal City’s decrees, and they were willing to confront Manolo Bana in the Judgent Court.
To this, Rod naturally had no objections.
If he could bring down the Iron Mask, there would be no more obstacles in the investigation of the case, which would allow for the truth to be uncovered sooner. He could find the culprit and free himself from this vortex.
Thus, Rod imdiately took out the Spirit Crow ssenger and penned down the entire matter in the letter, which he sent to Lauren.
With the assistance of an official from the Internal Affairs Court, the likelihood of success would greatly increase.
Hearing that Rod could contact officials within the Judgent Court, Reslin and his companions were delighted.
Throughout these days, Manolo Bana’s words, toxic like venom, had corroded them, causing them great disgust and a sense of crisis for their faith in the fire and their mission to defend the Royal City.
Just consider—if the people they were protecting were such, then why should they fight at all? If the Royal City was filled with such people, what would the sacrifice of warriors from past generations have ant? Who wouldn’t want to live properly—if they could, why shouldn’t they hide within high walls and indulge in pleasure?
Only by toppling him could they rid themselves of this heartache.
While waiting for Lauren’s reply, Rod briefly told them about recent events: he received the first-class Goldenworth Star dal, obtained the Hunter’s License, participated in hunting the Plague Demon, joined the Ash Diggers School’s archaeological expedition, and cleared the Iron Cross District sewer.
Reslin and the others were astounded.
After a long pause, Egger finally let out a sigh, "No wonder he’s a special student; we’re really not the sa species."
Karamon was envious beyond words, "Why can’t I have such good luck? If I could have such a spotlight, I could definitely find a new girlfriend!"
Reslin knocked on his head.
"Still thinking about that Doomsday believer? I think you should just forget about your other half completely."
Karamon imdiately flushed red, "I wasn’t thinking about her at all; it’s just that the residual effects of the ritual haven’t been cleared completely."
Rod chuckled, "Actually, you can think of it this way: She is a Doomsday believer, so she’s not the sa species as us either; she’s probably a rat from the sewer turned human. That rat’s skin is ulcerated, oozing with yellow pus that flows through rotten flesh, mushroom-like flesh balls covered in mold blood like cauliflower, half of her head missing, with gray brain matter trembling inside the cracked skull..."
"Ugh!"
Karamon turned green.
Obviously, he didn’t quite get over her as he claid, and certainly still held so other illusions.
Rod patted his shoulder sympathetically, "It seems you’re still in need of healing."
"No, he needs a new girlfriend,"
All three laughed, and at that mont, a crow emanating Spiritual Light flew in through the window and landed on Rod’s hand.
Rod took the reply from its back.
The Spirit Crow cawed once, bowed its head, the Spiritual Light faded, and it curled up in his hand, becoming an object.
Rod unfolded the letter, which read:
Rod,
I am delighted that your mory has recovered. Please wait for at Youse dical; I will arrive soon.
Regarding the matter of your friends, I am well aware. Manolo Bana’s behavior is naturally intolerable, and he will be investigated and settled. Please have them write an official whistle-blowing letter, and I will sign my na to it to formally submit it to the Royal City Governance Hall.
Lauren
——
After reading the letter, the three were very excited. They repeatedly muttered every sentence they planned to write down, striving to restore the detestable image of Iron Mask.
Rod was also a bit nervous; he kept considering the angle from which he provided his information, to avoid any irreconcilable discrepancies.
It wasn’t long before Lauren arrived, followed by six people wearing gray coats.
Lauren briefly introduced them; they were all investigators of the Redstone Village case, which had troubled them for nearly a month, and they were eager to find new leads.
And this was exactly what Rod wanted.
Ever since deducing that he could not possibly be the murderer, he only hoped the case could be solved faster.
After pondering for a mont, Rod, using the excuse that he had only regained part of his mory, provided several key clues:
Beck Street, the na "Alex," the sinister ritual perford by Doomsday believers at the cri scene, and the thod the murderer used to kill the entire migration team by crushing black skulls.
He also told them without reservation about the Lightning Symbol pattern at the center of the ritual.
After listening, one of them slapped their hand and said, "I know now!"
"This is a variant of the Spirit Realm ceremony. The original Spirit Realm ceremony is used to summon an Evil God or an unknown powerful Spirit Realm existence connected with the symbols of the ritual to descend. After modification, it is used to search for substances hidden in the seams between the Spirit Realm and the present world."
"We have seen remnants of this ceremony in many places, but without the middle symbolic symbols, we cannot unravel the purpose of the ritual."
Lauren praised, "Your information is extrely important, our investigation can take a big step forward now."
"Exactly!"
A man in gray said:
"The Polluter Sect must be looking for so kind of Fragnt related to the Book of Destiny Death that they obtained in the ruins. Once they gather the Fragnts, they might obtain a powerful force that could destroy the Royal City."
"The sacrifice ceremony requires the soul of the newly dead, the blood of the newly dead, and a Gathering Spirit object. The broader and more targets they search for, the more sacrifices are needed. This explains precisely why the size of the ceremonies varies everywhere; the one in Redstone Village must have involved a very large Fragnt, hence the need to kill so many people."
"We need to focus on searching for Gathering Spirit objects. The Redstone Village ceremony used Red Stone directly, which is unusual, as Red Stone is the worst among spiritually-material substances. The spiritually-material they transported must have been hijacked."
"Find Black Priest Samuel! She is the key figure!"
"13 Beck Street, Alex, we need to investigate imdiately."
In just a few words, they cleared the mist and identified a new target.
Lauren nodded, "Rod, you have made another ritorious deed."
Rod smiled and said, "If the case is solved, can you reward with a house in the Upper City?"
Lauren chuckled and replied, "We’ll see. If you personally capture the top three leaders of the Polluter Sect, I could even give you the old Royal Palace."
After discussing the case, Lauren t with Reslin and the other two, listened carefully to their full account, read the whistle-blowing letter they had written, made several revisions, and then signed his na.
Rod also signed his na.
Lauren took the letter.
"If there is any new information, I will notify you."
He turned and walked out of Youse dical with the six people, and shadows gradually engulfed their receding figures.
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