Chapter 79: Detective Owen Little's Self-Analysis (11/26)

[Detective (Hattori?), Character Card, Professional Level, Combat Power 266/366, Skills: Observation, Detailed Analysis, Information Exchange, and Pharmacological Analysis (memory modified; see detailed notes for changes).]

“As expected.” Ou Xiaolu looked at the recovered card, noticing that much of the information had indeed been altered, and a detailed note had been added.

He leafed through the explanatory section on the back of the character card, which recorded in detail what happened to the detective after uncovering certain information.

That saying was true: “Divine power cannot surpass fate, and intelligence is no match for magic.” While the detective’s abilities were impressive, his memory was nothing in the face of those who wielded magic.

A few magicians had scrutinized all the detective’s memories. Fortunately, the fact that he was a projection was protected by the system, so it remained undiscovered.

Rather than waste such a useful ‘card’, these magicians implanted false memories in the detective and left behind fabricated information, all in order to send Ou Xiaolu against the building’s rival faction, hoping they would clash first.

If Ou Xiaolu couldn’t discern truth from falsehood in this information, he’d have easily been deceived.

But for Ou Xiaolu, the detective was one of his projections. The fact that the detective didn’t even recognize him was a red flag, and besides, Ou Xiaolu had never given the detective a Japanese name. Who knew what those magicians in Xinxiang were thinking, calling the detective “Hattori.”

So Ou Xiaolu simply chose not to comment on their plans, took the information, and left. Once he was far enough away, he retrieved the [Role: Detective] card.

With the magicians’ scheme exposed and the data in hand, Ou Xiaolu now had a rough grasp of the current situation in Xinxiang’s hidden world.

At present, Xinxiang was dominated by the so-called Magic Council, headquartered in the towering building. The council had a mortal enemy—the Anti-Magic Council—but that organization was now so feeble as to be almost invisible, absent even from the dossier.

Xinxiang also boasted a local magnate, the richest man in the city, who controlled all the newspapers and radio stations. He was the most outspoken opponent of magic, constantly declaring in the press that magic simply did not exist.

Apart from these two mundane powers, there were three magical families in Xinxiang. One was a local family—their estate encompassed Central Park. They were the most powerful nature-based lineage, with all manner of magical beasts as companions, including some of considerable strength.

The second family hailed from Europe, a pureblood line that considered the Magic Council too weak to bother with (in truth, they had tried and failed to take over the council, and were subsequently ostracized).

The third family was a small one, with only two members. Though they’d been in Xinxiang for a long time, their obscurity was due to their tiny numbers.

The dossier noted that this family had their eyes on one of the Red or White Queens, intending to forge a marriage alliance. Should they succeed, their power would increase dramatically, making them a formidable enemy of the Magic Council.

As he pieced together the information, Ou Xiaolu activated the detective’s “possession” effect, using the detective’s analytical prowess to decide his next move.

Donning the detective’s card, he felt his mind clear, ideas bubbling up naturally, and newfound doubts emerging from the reports he’d just reviewed.

Most strikingly, much of this information was clearly beyond what a detective of this level could obtain. It was all spelled out plainly—take, for example, the tiny family, the Tillichifa, with all their members and abilities listed in detail.

The Tillichifa family’s greatest skill was the creation of entities known as “corpse shades”—they were necromancers among magicians. Residing near a prison off Xinxiang’s coast, they used the corpses of executed prisoners, which were conveniently dumped into the sea, as raw material for their dark craft.

But this presented a glaring contradiction. Families like these typically kept to their own territory, wishing neither to be disturbed nor to interfere with others.

So why did the dossier make it sound as if they were desperate to seize control of the Magic Council?

Even if they succeeded, what then? There were only two of them! Would they govern through an army of corpse shades?

Most absurd of all, they’d allegedly set their sights on the Red and White Queens—and had even been discovered by the detective. Shouldn’t such family secrets be known only to its two members? The detective wasn’t a ninja; how could he possibly eavesdrop on them?

Ou Xiaolu suspected that if he asked the Red or White Queen, their answer would be that the Tillichifa family had contacted them for unknown purposes.

If one approached the situation with preconceived notions, it would be all too easy to believe the family really sought a marriage alliance with the Queens.

That would heighten the likelihood of conflict—so who stood to benefit most from such strife?

A list flashed through Ou Xiaolu’s mind, and finally, the world consciousness—the entity that wished to seize Xiaoyou’s body and become human—surfaced in his thoughts.

Unlike the detective, Ou Xiaolu was not just a projection. As a player of “Cross-Worlds Game,” he was immune to the world consciousness’ self-concealment, and wouldn’t subconsciously overlook it as a threat.

Thus, he immediately focused on the world consciousness, considering what it would do if it missed the best chance to possess Xiaoyou’s body and let the protagonist escape.

“Gather stronger power, devour the weak, and find a reliable way to reincarnate as a human.”

Ou Xiaolu slapped his thigh emphatically. “If it were me, that’s exactly what I’d do. The two mundane powers would be obstacles to its plans; the three magical families are likely sacrifices—carefully chosen ones, since there must be more than just these three in Xinxiang…”

Xiaoyou looked blankly at Ou Xiaolu, not understanding a word, only sensing that the big brother who had rescued her seemed to have become mysteriously different.

But Ou Xiaolu paid no mind to her confusion. Having thought everything through, he turned decisively and declared, “We’re going to see the Queens. This time, we won’t dance to their tune. If there’s to be a fight, it’ll be on our terms, at a time of our choosing.”