[Settle [Mission Points]?]
[Settle!]
Back in his quarters, Duanmu Huai wasted no time opening the mission settlement screen. Before long, a series of lines appeared before him.
[Settling missions...…Settlement complete]
[Haunted Manor — Rating: A]
[The Shadow over Innsmouth — Rating: A]
[Deadly Exhibition — Rating: C]
[Source of Fear — Rating: A]
[Death Train — Rating: B]
[Airship Murder — Rating: A]
[City of Darkness — Rating: S]
[The Hound of the Baskervilles — Rating: A]
[Lake of Lost Souls — Rating: B]
[The Lost Temple — Rating: B]
[Total [Soul Points] obtained: 320]
[Every 50 points spent opens a [Soul Chest]]
[Open chests?]
The City of Darkness had the highest rating because he had gone all the way to Antarctica — no surprise there. As for the other missions having lower ratings, there was nothing to be done about it. Just as Mary had said, Duanmu Huai simply wasn't the type of investigator who excelled at strategy and wit. He preferred solving problems with his fists. Of course, beyond that, there was another important factor — whenever Duanmu Huai received intelligence on a case, he almost always deduced the monster's true identity using knowledge he had read on the player forums, which was also a serious detriment to his ratings.
After all, investigators were generally expected to search for clues within the case itself, then determine the monster's type through diaries or records in certain occult books — that was part of the investigation process. But Duanmu Huai found that too much trouble, so he simply skipped that step entirely. Once he had guessed what the monster was, he went straight in swinging.
That was another reason why none of the missions outside the City of Darkness had achieved an S rating.
Mm, 320 points — meaning he could only open six chests?
Well, six was a fine number. Six six, as smooth as they come.
Alright, next step: wash hands, wash head, bathe, burn incense, pray.
Time to open the boxes!
First pull—————!
Click.
The chest slowly opened — golden light!
Something good!
"Clunk."
A black iron bar with a red-painted tip dropped onto the floor.
"...…"
What was this?
Duanmu Huai silently picked up the crowbar.
What was he supposed to do with this thing?
Well, at least it was a melee weapon. Since his cane was long gone, it could serve as a backup.
Second pull————!
...…Cigarettes? What use was that? Was it telling him to smoke one and calm down? Or was he supposed to offer one to someone else so they could calm down?
Third pull———!
A lighter. So he was supposed to use it together with the cigarettes? How thoughtful.
Fourth pull——!
A fruit knife...…for peeling apples?
Fifth pull—!
A blank diary. He was not keeping a diary — he wasn't that foolish.
Last pull! All the accumulated luck from the previous pulls — this was the one that mattered!
An ivory die.
Oh for the love of...
Looking at the pile of junk before him, Duanmu Huai couldn't hold back any longer.
What the hell was all of this! Couldn't it give him one decent thing?!
The Golden Eye looked hopeless now too. Haah...…this run was a complete loss.
He should have saved up for a ten-pull. At least there'd be a pity guarantee...…
Muttering that internally, Duanmu Huai reached out to close the system screen — but just at that moment, he noticed a new notification had popped up.
[Player has killed a Great Old One — Serpent God Yig detected]
[[Godslayer] special effect activated]
[... Player has obtained special title — [Old God]]
[Player has obtained [Old God Traits]]
[[Old God Trait (Sanity Loss)]: Your enemies cannot easily perceive your true form. When they become aware of your existence or look directly at you, they will lose 1D10/1D100 Sanity and enter a state of (temporary/permanent) madness]
[[Old God Trait (Vision of the Past)]: When you touch an object, you can obtain all information about its past. The river of history flows ever forward, but the past holds no secrets before your eyes]
"...…"
Oh for—
Looking at this, Duanmu Huai's only impulse was to raise a middle finger. Wonderful — this was even more absurd than the Fear Halo. At least with the Fear Halo, even if the check was passed, you only trembled for a round and then recovered. But now, apparently, just becoming aware of his existence could potentially drive someone permanently insane?
Was the system trying to kill him? One glance and you go mad — what did he even look like at this point?
He still thought of himself as looking reasonably human!
But just look at these abilities.
Either trembling for a round, or going insane with fear.
Either Fear Halo, or Sanity Loss.
Could they not give him something that boosted his charisma? Being a pretty boy would be better than this.
Fortunately these effects only worked on enemies — otherwise Duanmu Huai figured he'd have to start wearing a ski mask everywhere he went.
The kind people wore in heist movies — black, with holes for the eyes and mouth only. Though somehow he felt like that would make him more likely to get arrested, not less.
The [Vision of the Past], on the other hand, was actually somewhat useful. It reminded Duanmu Huai of the God of Trickery — he recalled that deity could see the past and present simultaneously, though not the future. Well, now he had the same power himself, which meant he and the God of Trickery were effectively fifty-fifty on that front.
Come to think of it, he had actually used the [Vision of the Past] ability a few times in that previous instance — only he hadn't been able to activate it at will back then. Now it seemed he could use it freely whenever he liked.
Hmm...…
If he went into the bathroom and used [Vision of the Past], he'd be able to see girls who had bathed in there in the past...…that was how it worked, right?
Well, this ability did have its charm.
Duanmu Huai silently gave it a thumbs-up.
While Duanmu Huai was appreciating his new abilities, the Systems Alliance had already begun moving swiftly.
Due to Duanmu Huai's earlier warnings, the Systems Alliance had restrained its expansionist impulses and only opened colonies in a handful of star systems near their own. Of course, there were always some idiots who ignored the Alliance's restrictions and went to stake out other star systems anyway — well, as they say, the consequences of their own choices were on their own heads. When the Reapers came, they'd better not come crying.
Li Longcheng also notified the Citadel through the human representative.
When word reached them that the Reaper fleet would arrive in three months, the Citadel Council's representatives were equally stunned and disbelieving.
"Are you serious about this, Representative Hackett?"
"Yes. I have already delivered the detailed materials to the Citadel Council — you should all have had the opportunity to review them."
"But even so, all that can be confirmed is that an unidentified fleet is approaching. That doesn't prove it's the Reapers."
Faced with the frowning Citadel representative staring at him with displeasure, Envoy Hackett shrugged.
"The Systems Alliance has no obligation to prove to you that this is a Reaper fleet. In any case, we have issued the warning. Whether you choose to heed it is your own business. From this point forward, the Systems Alliance will be withdrawing completely from the Citadel. We will seal our borders entirely and prepare for combat with the Reapers — oh, and by the way, to prevent the Reaper fleet from advancing unimpeded through our territory, we will be destroying all Mass Relays connected to our space. We ask for your understanding on this point."
"What?!"
Hearing this, the other three Council representatives were stunned.
Up until a moment ago, they had all been thinking this might be some kind of political maneuver by the Systems Alliance. But destroying the Mass Relays was another matter entirely. That was equivalent to completely sealing themselves off from all other races — a total self-imposed isolation. Without Mass Relays, traveling between star systems was far from simple.
The Systems Alliance was clearly choosing to shut its doors and hold its ground. Did that mean the Reapers were truly coming?
At that, the representatives of the other three races began exchanging uncertain, uneasy glances.
But Envoy Hackett clearly had no intention of lingering. As a military man, he had never been fond of these political assignments. Fortunately, Li Longcheng had already ordered him to return to the fleet — after all, with the Reapers on the verge of arrival, there was no meaningful reason to leave Systems Alliance personnel on the Citadel. It would simply be sending them to their deaths.
"Wait, Envoy Hackett."
Just as Hackett was turning to leave, another Citadel Councillor called out to him, fixing him with a look and asking in puzzlement.
"If what your government says is true, shouldn't we be joining forces now and facing this enemy together?"
"You make a fair point, but...…"
At that, Envoy Hackett gave a wry smile.
"I don't believe it would accomplish anything."
"...…?"
"Our Commander Shepard previously reported to this Council on multiple occasions regarding the imminent arrival of the Reapers, and in fact the Citadel itself came under a Reaper attack at that very time, did it not? And yet you insisted on attributing it to a geth conspiracy. And in the time since, the Citadel Council has taken no action whatsoever."
"Well...…"
Hearing Envoy Hackett's words, the expressions of the other three Council representatives stiffened visibly.
"As you yourselves have acknowledged, the Reapers' arrival represents the gravest crisis we have ever faced. So from the moment we received credible intelligence, the Systems Alliance has been preparing without pause. Even so, our time has been insufficient...…frankly speaking, the Systems Alliance is currently struggling just to defend itself. I'm afraid we will be unable to provide any assistance to your governments."
This was the reason Li Longcheng had given Envoy Hackett to convey. The real reason was known only to Li Longcheng himself — Duanmu Huai had spoken to him plainly. Truthfully, Li Longcheng had once considered whether to take a different approach. But the Shepard siblings had produced one piece of evidence after another, and had raised the alarm before the Citadel Council again and again, only to be completely ignored each time.
In that case, Li Longcheng was out of options.
As the saying went — good words cannot save a man determined to die, and mercy cannot redeem one who rejects it. If the Citadel Council was stupid enough to court its own destruction, humanity had absolutely no reason to throw away its own lives for their foolishness and arrogance.
Not to mention the Systems Alliance had only recently been in a conflict with the Turians. It wasn't as though the two sides had a great relationship to begin with.
And he had no fondness for the other two races who had taken sides against humanity either.
Li Longcheng was well aware that the Systems Alliance's voice on the Citadel Council was not the result of genuine goodwill between humanity and these three species. It was because the Inquisition's fleet was powerful enough that they didn't dare not listen.
Might made right — and events had proven that trying to reason with these people was useless. The Systems Alliance had informed the Citadel Council long in advance about the Reapers' coming, and had been actively preparing throughout, manufacturing warships and expanding their military at a massive scale. And what had the Citadel Council's response been? To suspect the Systems Alliance of using some fictitious "Reapers" as a pretext to justify building up its own military power.
Of course, under ordinary circumstances that was a reasonable suspicion — but the Citadel had been attacked by the Reapers in their own home. And it had been their Commander Shepard who had repelled the attack.
Even after all of that, playing blind was just too much.
Li Longcheng had also contacted the Asari leadership and attempted to persuade them, only to be met with a response of "we Asari are the oldest and greatest civilization that first ventured into space in this galaxy — we've seen everything, don't come here causing trouble, child." That left Li Longcheng completely speechless.
In that case, there was nothing left to do but follow Duanmu Huai's instructions and send them off to their deaths.
Well, the Inquisition's view really had been correct all along. Those who are not of your kind will always be of a different heart.
Three months until the Reapers arrived.
For Li Longcheng, right now, there was only the Inquisition to rely on.
(End of Chapter)