[Inspection Bureau Recruitment]

Black Cat: [This is why I don’t think Ranen is the Gatekeeper. If the Shepherd God and the Gatekeeper were one and the same, given the authority he’s shown so far, he should be able to freely move between reality and the Dream Rift. The Dream Rift wouldn’t mean much to him. Plus, since the church is called the Secret Church—a name players had never even heard of before—it suggests they’re extremely reclusive, which fits the name perfectly. There’s no reason for him to be so openly recruiting followers at this point.

Of course, there could be some other motive I’m not seeing. I don’t know—there’s just too little info on the Gatekeeper to analyze anything concrete. The Shepherd God, though? Whether it’s from lore or Ranen’s in-game behavior, there’s plenty to go on. That’s why I think they’re not the same deity.]

Ranen: … (old man, subway, phone.jpg ^[1]The phrase “老人、地铁、手机.jpg” is a popular internet meme in China, often used to describe a situation where someone is confused, shocked, or speechless, typically in response … Continue reading )

‘How should I put this? Black Cat’s reasoning did follow my expectations by separating my identity from the Gatekeeper, sticking solely to the Shepherd God part. But then he took off sprinting in a completely wild direction.’

It’s hard to explain. Ranen really wanted to say the Secret Church name was just something he threw out there casually. The whole “recruiting followers” thing? Purely to keep players from wandering into other factions’ gardens.

As for setting up these faction quests, it was honestly because there wasn’t much else for daily tasks at the time. Arkham wasn’t exactly in ruins, but it had definitely taken a hit. The players were just sitting around anyway—might as well have them lend a hand.

Beyond that, Ranen had a little ulterior motive: getting players to blend into this world, maybe even foster some goodwill toward the NPCs. Teaching them respect beats letting them run wild, right?

Heaven and earth can bear witness—Ranen’s intentions were that simple. He never imagined players would spin such elaborate theories out of these faction quests!

53rd Commenter: [So, you’re saying that as long as more and more followers join, there’s still a possibility for Ranen to return to reality, right? qwq]

54th Commenter: [Got it. No wonder Ranen’s faction quests are all rescue-related. In this post-disaster chaos, people’s hearts are shaken—it’s the perfect time to reel in followers.]

55th Commenter: [I totally get it.jpg]

56th Commenter: [Me too! As long as the Secret Church keeps recruiting, Ranen will descend back into reality, and we can keep simping (√)]

57th Commenter: [Exactly! Right now, you only get to see Ranen if you join the church for the first time qwq. It’s too hard, sob sob. If only Ranen could come back.]

58th Commenter: [Off to grind faction dailies and spread the word hhhh]

59th Commenter: [+1]

The follow-up posts were a flood of players chiming in with “+1.” Ranen’s mood was… complicated.

‘How do I put this? It feels like… maybe… I’ve dug myself another hole?’

Since Black Cat put it that way, to keep players from conflating the Shepherd God and the Gatekeeper identities, it seemed Ranen had no choice but to roll with it?

Ranen exited the forum page and stared at the task release interface, thinking to himself: ‘This task-posting function shouldn’t be in my hands.’

‘It should go to these players who automatically brainstorm follow-up quests!’

#What is called excellent player self-management ability#

—-

Meanwhile, as Ranen sparred wits with the players, on the other side—

The Starwatch Squad sat in silence, eyeing the forum posts.

Fatty’s faint voice broke the quiet: “Joining gives you an enchanted weapon, and the faction store has A-grade potions, A-grade enchanted weapons, old seals, crowbars, faction dailies…”

“Ahem.” Destiny is in My Hands coughed. “Maybe every faction has this stuff. The devs wouldn’t create unbalanced factions. Think about it—with official backing, their faction store won’t be shabby. More importantly, the Investigation Bureau’s got task channels. As an official investigator group, they won’t be short on missions. Don’t forget—that’s the key to pioneering this game.”

Exactly. Beyond faction stores, the real resource in this game was a steady stream of tasks. Guildmates who’d dissected the closed beta’s first version concluded that the biggest gap between player levels boiled down to the tasks they took. Higher-tier, more frequent, and more critical tasks meant bigger rewards.

That’s why they’d bet on the Investigation Bureau first.

The female teammate also said quietly and melancholically: “I feel like the Secret Church’s tasks aren’t exactly scarce either. Captain, didn’t you say you wanted to trade the ‘Ranen is the Gatekeeper’ intel for faction points? But now it’s up in the air whether he even is the Gatekeeper.”

She had a point. So far, every major task in the game had triggered around Ranen.

“At least Ranen’s definitely a god, right? I think the Investigation Bureau would still be interested in that intel,” Destiny is in My Hands said, coughing again. “We’re almost at the Bureau. Let’s move—worst case, we try.”

—-

The Investigation Bureau had officially moved out of the police station. Their new digs were a rented small apartment building, hastily converted into meeting rooms, training areas, and an archive.

Today, the blond guy—Job—tracked down Edmund again to discuss their next steps.

“Recruiting temp investigators?” Edmund blinked, caught off guard by Job’s proposal.

Since waking up from that incident, Edmund had spent the day fielding questions from this elite squad and drafting the event report—no personal time whatsoever.

“Yeah, it’s an investigation, but we’re short-staffed. Splitting up to chase leads would be way too slow,” Job explained.

“Why not just hire local detectives then?” Edmund asked.

The twitchy guy at the computer—Edie—snorted. “Heh, those amateur sleuths are useless. Plus, if we can hire them with cash, someone else can buy intel off them the same way.”

Job nodded. “And this investigation’s timeline is unpredictable. We might be stuck in Arkham for a while. After some thought, recruiting temp investigators makes more sense—easier to train them too. I bet other factions poking around Arkham are thinking the same.”

Edmund frowned. “What if other factions sneak in?”

Job struck a confident pose, hands on hips. “No worries—we’ve got a pro coming to help us vet them. He should be here soon.”

Right then, the sound of a car pulling up echoed from the entrance. Job glanced toward the apartment door, and Edmund followed his gaze. A taxi rolled to a stop outside. Out stepped a doctor in a white coat, face icy cold, heading straight for the apartment.

This guy is…

Edmund froze for a second. “Dr. Archie?”

Isn’t this the police station consultant who’d done his psych evaluation?

Archie Hayes stepped into the apartment, scanning the group working in the lobby. His cold gaze flicked over Edmund briefly before moving on. Job strode over with enthusiasm, extending a hand. “Hey, Dr. Archie! I’ve heard so much about you.”

“I should be saying that—heard plenty about the Investigation Bureau,” Archie replied. His eyes lingered on Job’s dazzling blond hair for a moment before shifting away discreetly. He shook Job’s hand.

Edmund offered a greeting too. They’d crossed paths at the station before—staying silent now would feel awkward. “Dr. Archie, what brings you here?”

“Haha, Dr. Archie’s the help we called in!” Job beamed, all charm. “His talent in psychology has stunned tons of doctors at HQ. They’ve offered him big paychecks multiple times, but he never bit. Didn’t think we’d get the honor of working with you, Dr. Archie.”

Archie adjusted his glasses. “I prefer a freer lifestyle. They’re just exaggerating my skills.”

“Well, we’re counting on you to lend a hand with this recruitment, Dr. Archie.”

“Let me clarify upfront: psychologists don’t read minds or detect lies.”

“Haha, Dr. Archie, you’ve got a great sense of humor! We know that, of course,” Job said with a laugh. The bespectacled woman behind him didn’t hesitate to throw him under the bus. “Oh, really? Who was it that got bamboozled so bad when he first joined the Bureau that he nearly spilled how old he was when he stopped wetting his pants?”

Job’s face fell. “Dana, come on, that was ages ago! Don’t bring it up—I got tricked, okay? My mentor scared me, saying HQ’s psych screenings were brutal, that I had to spill everything or they’d lock me up as a cult spy.”

The others burst into unreserved laughter. Edmund managed a few dry chuckles, subtly glancing at Archie.

Archie caught Edmund’s look but didn’t acknowledge it. “Where’s my workspace?”

“I’ll take you to have a look. There’s a lie detector available there,” Job said as he guided Archie, leading the group to an empty room. Sure enough, it had been converted into a makeshift office. The original bed and cabinets had been removed, leaving only a desk, a coat rack, a water dispenser, and a particularly conspicuous machine.

Chris Chapman, whom Edmund had met before, was standing next to the machine, adjusting it. Seeing the group enter, he plugged it into the power source.

Job: “Chapman, is the machine ready?”

Chris Chapman didn’t even lift his eyelids: “It’s ready. It can be used anytime.”

“That’s great.”

Job quickly walked over to the machine and casually put on the wristband connected to it. “This is the latest version of the lie detector from the Headquarters. Once you wear it, it can analyze whether someone is lying based on their pulse and heartbeat. It’s highly precise—even professionals trained to beat lie detectors would be caught. Certain intelligence agencies have already tested this.”

“For example, if I say now, ‘I’m actually an undercover agent sent by an evil cult,’” Job said playfully.

Archie: …

Edmund: …

The lie detector immediately flashed a red light. Job glanced at the data: “See, since I’m testing it for you guys, I don’t feel much psychological pressure lying about this, but the machine can still detect it. I believe with Dr. Archie’s expertise, he could create an even more tense atmosphere during recruitment interviews.”

“I’ll try,” Archie nodded coolly.

The blond man: “So, Dr. Archie, would you like to try the machine yourself?”

Edmund’s pupils slightly constricted, though he remained outwardly calm.

He recalled how, under Lord Ranen’s instructions, he had once intimidated this Dr. Archie. Afterward, he quietly asked Lord Ranen if they needed to “deal with” the psychologist, but Ranen said Archie was already one of them.

In other words, two of the people present were undercover agents.

Archie glanced at Job, stepped forward, and took the wristband from him without hesitation, putting it on his own wrist.

The blond man checked that the wristband was securely fastened and asked, “Dr. Archie, do you have any beliefs?”

“No,” Archie said coldly. “Devoting yourself to some unknown, intangible entity, naively believing that prayer can bring salvation—there’s nothing more foolish than that.”

The lie detector showed no reaction.

The blond man: “Have you ever joined a mysterious sect or organization?”

“No,” Archie replied without hesitation.

The lie detector remained silent.

Job was about to ask more, but Archie had already removed the wristband, a trace of impatience crossing his face. “I thought I was here to help. Can we stop wasting each other’s time?”

“I’m not an employee of your Inspection Bureau, nor do I have any obligation to undergo this kind of questioning. In fact, the police station is quite busy too. If you don’t trust me, I’ll just leave.”

Job hurriedly said, “Sorry, sorry, we were just testing the equipment. We didn’t mean anything by it.”

Edmund was inwardly surprised. Though he had expected Dr. Archie to pass this test, he hadn’t thought it would be so effortless.

Is this machine just all talk and no substance?

However, what he didn’t know was that after passing the test, Archie’s palms were also drenched in cold sweat.

Clearly, deceiving a professional lie detector like this wasn’t easy for Archie either. Fortunately, he had previously passed the second level of the Dream Rift, which gave him finer control over his body. Otherwise, even with his extensive knowledge of hypnosis, it would have been hard to suppress his instinctive reactions.

Chris, standing at the back, looked at the machine’s data and narrowed his eyes.

Although it hadn’t reached the level to trigger an alarm, at one point Archie’s pulse data had spiked close to the critical threshold before stabilizing again.

At this moment, a nervous-looking man who had been working outside suddenly knocked on the door: “Boss, someone’s here.”

“Hm? What for?”

“You might not believe this,” Edie said with an odd expression, “but they’re here asking how to join the Inspection Bureau.”

Job was stunned: “You’ve already released the recruitment notice?”

“That’s the thing—I only just sent it out.”

The blond man frowned and turned to Archie: “Sorry, Dr. Archie, looks like we’ll need to trouble you to start working right after arriving.”

“I came here to work anyway,” Archie replied.

Job and Edmund stepped out of the office room and into the hall, which had been temporarily converted into a reception area. Sure enough, there were already a few strangers there, their vibrant clothing making Edmund’s heart skip a beat.

At the same time, the players were also staring at Edmund in surprise.

Starwatch Internal Channel:

Fatty: [Holy crap, isn’t that one of Ranen’s followers? What is he doing here??]

Gomoku: [Didn’t you read the guild’s compiled data? During the main storyline of the 1.0 beta, some players spotted Edmund in the city. He’s part of the Inspection Bureau.]

Fatty: [Oh, I remember now! But isn’t this messed up?! Them being here means the evil cult’s forces have infiltrated the Inspection Bureau, right? Are we really joining a sinking ship like this?]

Destiny is in My Hands: [Shut up, Fatty. Don’t give us away. Pretend you don’t know them.]

Fortunately, the players were still standing near the entrance, and Fatty’s figure was blocked by Destiny is in My Hands, so the blond man didn’t notice their reactions.

“Hello, I’m Job Gage,” the blond man said with a smile. “May I ask how you found out we were recruiting?”

Destiny is in My Hands noticed there were no other players around and immediately realized they must be the first ones here. Suppressing his excitement, he smiled: “Well, we found some information about the Inspection Bureau online. Then, while in the city, we heard people saying the police were investigating strange incidents. We learned from the police station’s guard that you’d moved out, and after asking around, we tracked down this address.”

His words were half-true, half-fabricated. Destiny is in My Hands and the Starwatch guild were professional players who had already gathered intel from forums before entering the game. They knew the inspectors had recently been active at the police station. One of their team members, skilled in socializing, had chatted up some people, learned they’d relocated, and followed the trail to this place.

Destiny is in My Hands also thought they were pretty clever. Clearly, no other players had discovered this place yet. If they could successfully join, they’d undoubtedly have the upper hand.

The glasses-wearing woman raised an eyebrow, adjusting her glasses as she glanced at the blond man.

“I see. Well, come on in then,” Job said, still wearing his cheerful demeanor. Behind the scenes, he made a subtle gesture to the other team members before turning to Destiny is in My Hands and the others. “You’ll come in one by one for a simple interview process.”

“No problem!”

Under the glasses woman’s direction, the players lined up outside the office.

Destiny is in My Hands was first in line. When the door opened, they saw Archie sitting at the interviewer’s desk and their jaw dropped.

Archie adjusted his glasses. “What are you standing there for? Hurry up and come in.”

Starwatch Internal Channel:

Gomoku: [Wait, isn’t that Archie Hayes?]

Destiny is in My Hands: …

Rachel: [Captain! Snap out of it! The Inspection Bureau is beyond saving! Even the interviewer for the Inspection Bureau is one of the evil god’s people! Shouldn’t this organization just rename itself the Secret Church at this point? It’s been infiltrated into a sieve! Do we really need to join this group!?]

Destiny is in My Hands: […Don’t say anything.]

Truth be told, Destiny is in My Hands also wanted to rant about what was wrong with this Inspection Bureau. It’s been so thoroughly infiltrated by evil god followers—why don’t they just shut it down already?

But a path chosen is a path to follow, even if it means crawling.

Destiny is in My Hands took a deep breath, keeping his expression neutral as he walked in, closed the door, and approached Archie alone. “Hello.”

Job opened the door and stepped in too, pulling up a chair to sit beside Archie. He gave Destiny is in My Hands a friendly smile. “No need to be nervous. We’ll just ask some basic questions. It’s only for a temporary investigator role—nothing too tough.”

“O-Okay,” Destiny is in My Hands replied, thinking to himself, ‘Nervous about the interview? I’m nervous because there’s an evil god follower right in front of me!’

“Alright then, why do you want to join the Inspection Bureau?” Job asked. “Please put on the lie detector and answer carefully.”

Destiny is in My Hands: “Of course, because I’m driven by justice!”

*Beep beep beep beep beep—*

The lie detector blared urgently. Destiny is in My Hands and the two evaluators stared at each other awkwardly until Destiny is in My Hands finally said, “I was just testing the lie detector’s sensitivity. Do you believe me?”

Job let out a dry laugh. “Alright, please answer seriously from now on.”

After that, the player clearly got more serious, but Archie’s sharp questions still pushed him back step by step.

Archie: “Do you have any ulterior motives for joining the Inspection Bureau?”

Destiny is in My Hands: “No, absolutely not! I’m here with a pure heart!”

*Beep beep beep—*

Destiny is in My Hands: …

Archie: “Do you know what the inspectors do?”

Destiny is in My Hands answered shakily, “Yes, they investigate weird incidents, risking their lives every day. They’re the unsung heroes in the shadows.”

Archie: “Good. So how did you learn about the Inspection Bureau?”

Archie’s questions were sharp and thorough, delivered at a rapid pace that left little room for thought. It was only now that Destiny is in My Hands realized they’d been too careless. But it was too late to backtrack—caught off guard, he went from answering stiffly to gradually letting loose.

‘Sigh, if this doesn’t work out, I’ll just roll a new character card and start over.’

With this laid-back, “whatever happens, happens” attitude, Destiny is in My Hands’s answers grew increasingly unrestrained, making it hard for Job, sitting nearby, to maintain his smile.

“That’s right, I’m not here for justice. I’m here for my own benefit—to gain enough advantages here for a promotion and a raise!” ‘A promotion and raise in real life, that is.’

Job instinctively glanced at the lie detector, but then something absurd happened: it didn’t go off.

Job: …?

‘What kind of weirdo comes to the Inspection Bureau for a promotion and raise? Wouldn’t a corporate job outside be better? In the Inspection Bureau, promotions and raises come at the cost of your life!’

“Danger? Never thought about it. Just do it and get it over with!”

“Parents? I have no father or mother—I’m an orphan.” The character card’s backstory was an orphan.

“No one instigated me to come here, and I’m not following anyone’s orders to infiltrate! I came here of my own free will!”

Faced with this wild yet oddly familiar and infuriatingly smug worldview, Archie felt a strong sense of déjà vu. Still, under Job’s watchful eye, Archie didn’t do anything unnecessary—just continued “normally” questioning the player.

Under Archie’s razor-sharp questioning, the player’s every detail was nearly stripped bare. Fortunately, keywords like “other world,” “player,” or “fourth calamity” were automatically filtered out, otherwise Destiny is in My Hands would’ve been forced to spill everything.

In the end, Destiny is in My Hands stumbled out of the office in a daze. The next player in line took a deep breath and walked in with the demeanor of someone heading to the gallows.

Thankfully, for those who followed, Archie’s questions were more or less the same: Why do you want to join the Inspection Bureau? Where did you hear about it? Have you ever had any beliefs? Have you joined any organizations? Where did you work before?

Of course, all these questions were asked while wearing the lie detector wristband.

Job sat to the side taking notes, occasionally tossing in a couple of sharper questions, which the players answered one by one.

Compared to average players or the outright unhinged ones, Destiny is in My Hands’s group—having gathered intel beforehand—knew how intelligent the NPCs in this game were. With Destiny is in My Hands’s experience as a cautionary tale, none of the others tried to play tricks. They all answered honestly and obediently.

Starwatch Internal Channel:

Destiny is in My Hands: [These NPCs ask so many questions.]

Fatty: [Yeah, they might as well start with my eighteenth generation of ancestors. How am I supposed to remember all that?]

Gomoku: [(Sobs) I’m the type whose heart races when I can’t answer something. I almost forgot half my backstory.]

Destiny is in My Hands: [It’s fine, as long as you don’t lie, it should be okay. Just hang in there, everyone.]

When the last interview concluded, Job hadn’t heard the lie detector go off even once. He turned to Archie, who subtly shook his head, indicating he hadn’t detected any signs of deception either. The group’s mental states seemed normal too. So, Job politely escorted them out, explaining that the interview results would be announced later, then returned to the room, rubbing his forehead.

“So, they came all this way just to join the Inspection Bureau, and they’re willing to risk their lives for money?”

“Humans are a vast and diverse group. I’ve long grown used to their variety,” Archie said expressionlessly, calmly organizing the interview notes and handing them to Job. “Are you going to reject them?”

“No,” Job said, lowering his hand. “I’ll let them join as temporary investigators for the Inspection Bureau.”

Archie raised an eyebrow. “Is the Inspection Bureau that short-staffed?”

The behavior of the group that had just been interviewed reminded Archie a lot of Ranen’s followers he’d encountered before—neurotic yet psychologically stable, with a warped but consistent worldview. However, since there’d been no signal from Ranen’s side, Archie couldn’t figure out what was going on with them and simply treated it as part of the job.

That’s why, with the report he handed over, Archie didn’t believe Job could miss the oddities about these players.

“Phew, I’ll explain that part to everyone later.”

…

A system notification sounded:

[You have joined the faction: Inspection Bureau. Current faction reputation: 0 (Neutral)]

Destiny is in My Hands and the others let out a collective sigh of relief, exchanging glances with excitement sparkling in their eyes.

They’d done it! They were likely the first players to join an official faction.

From here, as long as they climbed the ranks in the Inspection Bureau quickly, the rewards for being pioneers would surely roll in.

At this moment, Job and Archie stepped out of the office.

Destiny is in My Hands eagerly asked, “So, Mr. Job, what’s next? Any training or missions for us?”

Job replied calmly, “Training? No, we don’t have any missions for you right now either. We’ll notify you when something comes up.”

“Then what about rewards or an internal shop or something?” Fatty asked impatiently.

“Sorry, our budget’s tight, so I’m afraid…” Job put on a practiced look of difficulty. “The internal shop is only available to official investigators.”

In other words, the Starwatch team were just temps—nowhere near qualified to access internal resources.

Fatty was on the verge of breaking down. “Well, there’s got to be some labor compensation, right!?”

“Uh, well, about that…”

Job continued dodging the question with vague responses. Fatty was about to press further, but Destiny is in My Hands quickly covered his mouth and said calmly, “I understand. If there’s a mission, please contact us anytime.”

“Sure, no problem,” Job said with a smile.

The Starwatch team left the apartment. As soon as they were outside, Fatty furiously typed in the team channel.

Fatty: [What the hell? Not even labor fees? Nothing at all? What did we join this faction for??]

The others didn’t say anything, but their expressions clearly echoed the same sentiment.

At this point, even Destiny is in My Hands was starting to waver. Still, years of gaming intuition told him there had to be some benefits to reap from the Inspection Bureau. Giving up now felt like too big a loss.

“Let’s give it another shot,” Destiny is in My Hands said finally. “The game devs wouldn’t really do that—it’d make the game way too unbalanced. How would anyone play? Besides, even if we switched to Ranen’s church now, do you think we’d have an edge over those veteran players?”

At that, the rest of the team fell silent, mulling it over.

“Even if we joined the Secret Church now, we’d definitely be behind the players from the 1.0 beta. In that case, joining early or late doesn’t make much difference. But the Inspection Bureau is different—aside from us, no other players have joined yet. It’s still an untapped blue ocean waiting to be explored,” Destiny is in My Hands paused.

“On top of that, this game, following the guild’s initial evaluation, has the potential to be big. If it does take off, our accounts will definitely have monetization potential. The guild higher-ups want us to focus on exploration and pioneering—they’re willing to sign us to a higher-profit pioneering contract. But if we go with the Secret Church, we might not negotiate a great cut since the first batch of players who joined them already have more valuable accounts.”

After Destiny is in My Hands and the Starwatch team laid out the pros and cons, the previously restless members calmed down.

“I didn’t mention this earlier because I thought we were already on the same page. After all, this is how we’ve always done pioneering in games. Of course, if any of you have objections, you’re free to back out.”

The other team members hesitated, but in the end, no one left.

—-

On the other side, as the glasses-wearing woman watched Destiny is in My Hands’s team leave, she adjusted her frames and turned to Job. “Normally, don’t temporary investigators need some training before they can start working?”

“Yeah, that’s the usual case,” Job replied, sharing the interview details with the group along with his suspicion that something was off about these people.

“Their behavior was just too weird. Honestly, it was full of red flags. They all said they joined the Inspection Bureau for promotions and raises, but when I said there’s no labor fee, only one of them protested—everyone else just accepted it? So what are they here for? Are they running on love and passion?”

“Nice one, Captain,” Dana quipped.

Job: “Honestly, that device isn’t as useful as we thought.”

Chris, who had just walked in, overheard this and rolled his eyes. “That’s on you guys. The machine doesn’t make mistakes. This is my latest research—it can detect deception even if someone’s using abilities or artifacts. It’s foolproof unless they’ve mastered some psychological trick to completely deceive themselves.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Archie, who returned the look with an expressionless stare.

Job rubbed his temples, ignoring Chris’s protests. “I don’t know what tricks that group used, but if we reject them, they probably won’t give up. They might even scheme in the shadows. It’s better to keep them in plain sight and observe them—figure out who’s really behind them.”

The others didn’t voice any clear objections. Deputy Captain Dana adjusted her glasses. “Got it. So, are we still recruiting more temporary investigators?”

Job thought for a few seconds before shaking his head. “Honestly, I didn’t expect our whereabouts to be completely exposed right after arriving in Arkham. This means the forces lurking in the dark are bolder and stronger than we thought. Continuing to recruit temporary investigators would take too much effort to figure out if they’re spies. We’re short-staffed as it is—we can’t afford to waste energy on that.”

“Edie, Eunice, I’ll need you two to dig up clues online and in the real world, respectively.”

“No problem.”

“Got it~ Eunice is the best at getting info out of people. I’ll have intel in minutes!” the youngest member of the team cheered.

“Thanks for the hard work. Edmund will assist you. And… Edie.”

“I know. While you were interviewing, I was already looking into them. Here’s what I found.”

Edie turned his laptop screen toward the others.

“Just like you suspected, Boss, they’re shady as hell. All of them are unregistered—two thugs, one homeless guy, and one listed as ‘temporarily unemployed.’ Their reason for coming to Arkham seems to be job hunting, but isn’t it absurd to come here for work at a time like this? Plus, from what I dug up, they didn’t know each other before—or at least, they haven’t known each other long.”

“Also, on the surface, there’s no record of them joining any suspicious factions or religious groups.” At this, Edie, who prided himself on his tech skills, gritted his teeth. “But it could be forged data. If it is, I’d say the organization behind them is no small fry.”

Showing up out of nowhere at such a sensitive time, claiming they want to join?

Their suspiciousness was off the charts.

Job nodded. “Got it. I’ll report this to headquarters and have them check other regional databases.”

“That’s all for now. It’s about lunchtime anyway—go grab something to eat. Oh, Edie, stay back.”

The others dispersed to their tasks or went out for food. Edie followed Job upstairs, while Archie turned to leave the apartment. Edmund hesitated for a moment before following him.

“Captain, what’s up?” Edie asked, puzzled, as he followed Job into a room. He watched Job deliberately lock the door. “Captain, can’t you just text me whatever it is?”

“This is too important. I can’t send it through any electronic device. And after I tell you, Edie, you can’t upload it anywhere either.”

Edie frowned. “Alright, what is it?”

Job: “I need you to monitor Dr. Archie’s communication devices—his phone, computer, anything he could use to contact others.”

Edie: “…Huh? You suspect him? If that’s the case, why let him join our operations?”

“How do I explain this… Fine, you deserve to know. This is a covert mission.” Job rubbed his forehead, his expression grave. “The truth is, we’re not handling one mission this time—we’ve got two. And both are classified as ‘unknown’ level.”

Edie’s jaw dropped, his lollipop falling to the floor. “Two ‘unknowns’? How’s that possible?”

“I know. I questioned it too at first, but the higher-ups said this mission came straight from ‘that person’. We couldn’t refuse.”

“Is the mission tied to Dr. Archie?”

Job nodded. “The rest of the team doesn’t know yet—I’m worried it’ll cause panic. I’ll reveal it to them gradually. This mission’s a special case. We need to find and kill someone.”

Edie muttered, “Kill someone? Captain, I didn’t mishear, right? Since when does the Inspection Bureau do dirty work?”

Job sighed helplessly. “When I first heard about this mission, I reacted the same way you did. But you heard right—that’s our task.”

“Who is it?”

“A traitor to the Inspection Bureau—Archie’s childhood friend, Albert Aiken.”