15.investigation situation

"Yes, yes... what's the matter? Aren't you going to catch him?" The drunkard looked at Arthur, who had a sinister and terrifying expression.

"What did you curse him with?" Arthur glanced at Lynn through the window.

Lynn was really patient, he didn't react at all to the rants of this drunken loser.

This was good, it gave him a chance to show off and earn Lynn's gratitude.

"Cursed him as a crippled deadbeat, a waste of space, and so on..."The drunkard realized that things were not as simple as he had thought.

"You're asking for trouble," Arthur said as he easily grabbed the drunkard's neck like a chicken and dragged him aside.

At that moment, the drunkard sobered up completely.

He realized that he had overlooked something.

Lynn was a cripple who never went out, so it was impossible for him to offend anyone.

Therefore, this seemingly formidable man was not here to cause trouble for Lynn.

"No, no, I didn't mean it, I didn't-""I didn't mean to insult Lynn," the drunkard stammered while struggling.

Unfortunately, Arthur's grip was like steel, clamping down on him relentlessly.

Before he could utter another plea or apology, Arthur slammed his head against the wall with a forceful blow.

"Bang!"

"Ah!!"

The drunkard's head was instantly split open, and he let out a series of agonizing screams.

Just as Arthur was about to strike again, Lynn pushed open the door, struggling to support himself against the doorframe."Don't be so rough," Lynn said, standing upright with difficulty, holding onto the doorframe.

"Ah," Arthur turned his head and released the drunkard.

"What I meant was, teach him a lesson without killing him," Lynn had to clarify his intention again, seeing that Arthur was about to let the drunkard off.

"I see," Arthur grinned, picked up a cigarette, and stepped on the drunkard who was trying to get up. "How could you let him get the upper hand?"

"Look at me, do you think I can handle this myself?" Lynn replied.

"You could have called your brother. Dealing with trash like him shouldn't be too difficult for him,"Arthur kicked the drunkard violently, making him curl up into a ball and spit out a mouthful of blood.

Lynn couldn't help but marvel at Arthur's strength as he watched the scene unfold. During the case investigation last night, Arthur hadn't shown any advantage in terms of strength or combat skills, but seeing him now, Lynn had to change his perception of him.

Perhaps Arthur was indeed a pretty decent ally.

"I... I'm sorry, cough, cough, please forgive me, let me go..." The drunkard desperately clung to Arthur's leg and begged for mercy.

"Go beg Lynn," Arthur disgustedly shook off the drunkard and waited for Lynn's response.

"Lynn... Lynn... ugh..." The drunkard, who had been beaten to the point of being unable to stand by Arthur, could only crawl towards Lynn. "I... I'm sorry, please forgive me, I won't cause trouble again... I'm sorry..."

Bullying the weak and fearing the strong, daring to challenge Lynn but acting like a dog in front of Arthur.

Lynn didn't want to waste any more time on him: "Get out of here."

"Thank you... thank you..." The drunkard, feeling like he had been granted a reprieve, crawled towards his home."Come in," Lynn invited Arthur into the house.

"Mind if I smoke?" Arthur stood at the doorway, holding up his cigarette.

"It's fine, take a seat," Lynn said as he sat down in his wheelchair, making room for Arthur on the lower bunk.

"How do you end up living in a place like this?" Arthur closed the door behind him and made his way around Lynn to sit on the bed.

Lynn massaged his aching legs: "Surprised?"

"I just think you're not an ordinary person. Even if your life isn't the best, I wouldn't have expected...""So strained," Arthur commented.

"That's why I'm trying to write novels to make money," Lynn replied, handing Arthur the polished first story from his "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes."

Arthur wasn't much of a reader and had little interest in novels, so he flipped through it briefly before returning it to Lynn. "Looks good. I'll see if I can find someone to submit it to the biggest newspaper."

"Thanks."

"Now, what's your plan next?" Arthur got straight to the point.

"You mean the clean-up mission?" Lynn asked."Keep the manuscript safe."

"Of course."

"We still know very little, and we're generally on the defensive. There's nothing we can do besides wait," Lynn had pondered this at night.

"I was thinking, we could stick together until the next clean-up mission starts. That way, we should be able to receive the same task again," Arthur was determined to stick with Lynn.

Lynn had some concerns: "If there are more people, the difficulty of the task will likely increase as well.""The difficulty increases, so does the reward in points. For example, your first mission was worth 100 points, and the second was 200. Naturally, this is related to the laws, but it should also be connected to the number of participants."

"An increase in difficulty means more points, which isn't necessarily a good or a bad thing," Arthur said optimistically.

"There is some truth to that," Lynn nodded slightly.

"Should we try to find other Awakened ones? It's always better to stick together for mutual support than to fight alone," Arthur felt that just Lynn alone was not enough to give him the utmost sense of security."After so many days, we're the only Awakened ones we've encountered, indicating that the number of Awakened is quite scarce. They're not just casually walking around on the street." This wasn't difficult for Lynn, who had the ability to see through everyone's background, but it wasn't the time to reveal his trump card to Arthur.

"I've been thinking about that too. And Awakened individuals wouldn't openly admit their identities, so searching for them blindly would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack," Arthur sighed, feeling a bit troubled. "But we might as well do something productive while we're idle."

Lynn had an idea, "If...""If you're not busy, could you do me another favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Could you secretly check up on my brother? I remember Matt's corruption value has been increasing every day, and it's unlikely he'll reveal the reason on his own." Lynn couldn't stand idly by as his brother continued to deteriorate, knowing that Matt was the most trustworthy person he had in this world.

"What's wrong with him?" Arthur asked.

"He must be facing some troubles outside, but he hasn't confided in me. I

"You don't need to solve his problems, just find out what he's actually facing and tell me honestly. Now that I've decided to continue working with you, I won't be hesitant about asking for your help, Arthur."

Arthur mentally weighed the request. Investigating something wasn't too difficult, so he readily agreed. "Alright, I'll take care of this for you too."

"He's working as a chimney sweep in the wealthy district..." Lynn informed Arthur about Matt's situation.

Arthur nodded, stood up, and threw his cigarette butt outside. "I'll get started on it right away."Lynn put the manuscript for the first story from "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" into a file folder. "I was originally planning to finish the second story as well and have you bring them both to the newspaper office, but it looks like I'll need another day or two to complete the second one."

"Take your time, it's not easy to get in touch with people at a major newspaper anyway. By the time you finish the second story, the timing should be just right," Arthur said. "I'll focus on investigating your brother's situation first. If the problem is within my capability, I'll help him resolve it. If not, it'll be up to you."

"Thanks," Lynn said, calculating in her mind.

"Arthur has helped out in several ways in a short time, and I need to make some gestures as well," Lynn said. "I hope we can achieve a win-win situation in our future tasks. As for finding other awakened ones, I'll try to come up with something."

"Your mind is sharp, so I'll leave the mental work to you," Arthur complimented Lynn. "That's all for now, I'm off to the city to find your brother."

He was quite efficient in handling things.

The corruption value of [100] seemed to be less of an issue now.

"You should also be careful, the rich district should be quite complicated. My information on the area is limited, but if you encounter anything unusual, don't hesitate to reach out to me.""My leg was crushed by a few rich kids driving a car," Lynn reminded Arthur symbolically before he left.

Arthur showed his sheriff's badge: "I'm a sheriff now, and even though I'm not taken seriously by those elites, no one will actively seek trouble with me."

"That's good to hear."

"I'll talk to you later after I finish my investigation," Arthur said as he opened the door, noticing a detail. "Your brother isn't around during the day, right? We'll have to keep this investigation from him?"