"Father—I have received the news."
Della Neigen endured his inner anxiety all the way, forcing himself to finish the Charity Gala that had become meaningless to him, and then hurried to the Negan Family main residence.
Here, he met his father, the current Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Alghernon Neigen.
The father before him seemed to have aged several years in just a few hours. His originally straight back now appeared somewhat hunched, and his body was even unsteady, requiring him to lean on the edge of the fireplace with his hand.
"Uncle… has he…?"
Della mustered his courage and asked in a trembling voice.
"No." Alghernon Neigen slowly shook his head. "The people from the Church saved him in time—"
"But—even in the best-case scenario, I'm afraid he won't be able to get out of bed for the rest of his life—"
Alghernon let out a heavy sigh. This terrible news had come too suddenly. As one of the core leaders of the Conservative Party, Duke Negan's fall meant that the entire Conservative Party's power would be significantly weakened.
Doesn't that mean—he's effectively become a cripple?
Hearing this, a trace of undisguised sadness flashed in Della Neigen's eyes. But soon, he realized a more realistic problem.
"Father, in Uncle's current state, he certainly cannot continue to lead the family. Do you think—is it possible for you to—" He clenched his palms, his eyes revealing a trace of undisguised eagerness.
Duke Negan's children, whether in terms of seniority or prestige, were quite ordinary. In maintaining the entire alliance of conservative nobles, they were not necessarily a match for his father.
"This is not something you should be thinking about right now!" Alghernon turned around abruptly and reprimanded him sternly, the veins on his forehead throbbing. But after the reprimand, he did not continue to scold him; instead, he slowly turned his face away and looked back at the deep night outside the window, making it impossible to see the expression on his face.
"I heard from the bodyguards that the one who saved Uncle this time was that 'hero of the east district,' James Scott?" After nearly a minute of silence, Della Neigen asked again.
"Yes."
"I was complaining about his lack of punctuality at the banquet earlier. I didn't expect it to be like this."
"If I hadn't invited him back then, perhaps Uncle would have—"
"Father, what should we do next?" Della Neigen looked at his father.
"Gratitude and rewards are certainly necessary. And they must be generous, public, and seen by everyone."
"Such incidents occurring repeatedly show that our Negan Family, and even the entire Conservative Party, have been targeted by someone. Therefore, we must now send a clear signal to the outside world: helping the Negan Family will result in huge, unimaginable returns. This is both an act of gratitude and—something to show other potential allies and enemies."
"Being able to drive away a Sequence 5 'Demon' all by himself, that James Scott's strength is definitely extraordinary. I'm afraid it's not as simple as the 'bravery' touted in the newspapers. From this point alone, he is worth us befriending."
"Besides material rewards, I intend to—make an investment in him." Alghernon was silent for a moment, then added, "The kind under a private name."
"An investment?" Della was somewhat surprised.
"After this incident, I did a simple investigation into James Scott. I found that he has several factories related to arms under his control. Although the scale is not large, it can barely be considered as having a certain industrial foundation."
"I know about these; I have chatted with him before." Della Neigen nodded.
"But as a factory owner, he should naturally lean towards the New Party. Even if it's to repay his life-saving grace, if we invest in him now, wouldn't it be—"
"Della," Alghernon looked at his son, his eyes deep. "The times are changing, you and I both know this. Although we still have a profound foundation, the waning power of the conservative nobles is also an indisputable fact—"
"A series of reforms have taken place in the Kingdom recently. But what comes after the reforms?"
"Friction between the major powers is intensifying day by day. Feysac, Intis, they are all eyeing the Kingdom covetously—"
"We already have considerable influence within the military."
"Investing in the arms market at this time is a very cost-effective deal."
"As for the other conservative nobles, as long as they know that the Duke is still alive and the Negan Family hasn't fallen, they won't be able to turn the sky upside down. Investing in arms has the perfect excuse of 'rewarding a hero' on the surface, so it won't lead to a falling out."
"I understand—" Della Neigen nodded solemnly.
"Then how should the news of Uncle's assassination attempt be handled? Do we need to block the news immediately?"
"No." Alghernon shook his head. "Relevant news has already begun to spread in a small circle. Forcibly blocking it now would only make it look like we are trying to cover something up—"
"We only need to let everyone know that the Duke is still alive and not in life-threatening condition; that is enough. As for other details, they cannot be disclosed to the outside world for the time being—"
"By the way, you should also pay attention to your safety recently."
"I will personally go to talk to Earl Hall tomorrow."
"Most of my luck has been exhausted—"
Loen sat in his office, carefully feeling his current state.
This direct confrontation with the 'Apostle of Desire' had consumed a large amount of his 'luck.' Most of the good luck he had accumulated since advancing to Sequence 5 had almost all been spent here.
This made his sense of security drop significantly—
"The news hasn't fully spread yet; there's no telling how much trouble there will be later—"
"Fortunately, Sharron helped me record her abilities again—"
"Mr. Scott, someone is here to see you."
Old Kohler's voice came from outside the door.
"Someone? Has the news spread so quickly?" Loen was a bit surprised.
"Who is looking for me?"
"It's that Detective Sherlock Moriarty who came before. And an unknown gentleman, said to be his superior."
"Superior?" Loen frowned slightly.
After a brief meeting with Sherlock, Loen quickly learned the purpose of the visitor. It turned out that it was his superior, who wanted to talk to him about an investment.
Why didn't he come before, but chose to come at this critical juncture? Although Loen had some doubts in his heart, he still agreed to the meeting.
It's him!
Upon seeing Charles for the first time, Loen's pupils constricted sharply!
This figure—it was the mysterious person who took down the 'Demon'—there's no mistake!
He quickly composed the expression on his face, while his brain was also rapidly thinking of countermeasures.
So that's it! No wonder I felt that person's figure looked familiar; it turns out I had already seen him once at the Charity Gala—
He had also performed divination on the mysterious person he saw afterwards. But it seemed that because the other party had corresponding abilities or Mystical Items, the divination was not successful.
In fact, back when the 'Demon' had just died, he had already performed a simple divination. The conclusion was that pretending not to have seen the mysterious person would be more beneficial to him. Therefore, during the subsequent questioning by the 'Mandated Punishers,' he had concealed this matter.
However, he never expected that before he could go looking for him, the person himself would actually show up at his door.
Silence him? Test him? Or—is there another motive?
"I am Charles Horn, very pleased to meet you, Mr. Scott."
Charles bowed very politely, then took the initiative to extend his hand.
"Very pleased to meet you too, Mr. Horn." Loen also extended his hand and shook the other's hand lightly.
"Sherlock—"
Charles turned his head and glanced at Klein beside him. The latter immediately understood and found an excuse to leave the office temporarily.
The subsequent conversation proceeded smoothly and was no different from an ordinary business meeting. Charles chatted very professionally about topics related to investment funds.
However, just when the atmosphere in the office was at its most harmonious, Charles suddenly changed the subject—
"Speaking of which, Mr. Scott, I feel like you are going to have some good things happen recently."
"Oh?" Loen raised an eyebrow, leaning back slightly, adopting a relaxed but inquisitive posture. "What do you mean by that?"
"Of course, it's the reward from the Negan Family."
Charles did not waste any more words and went straight to the point: "Mr. Scott, you must have seen it all that day."