Chapter 251: How Heinous

Prima was at a loss.

Dead… Jerome, the man behind the disappearance of Prima’s sister Margaret and the one who had sent the dark elf stalker after her, was dead just like that?

For a moment, everything felt surreal to her, but she felt even more bewildered by the ‘lofty ambition’ she felt which hadn’t yet dissipated.

Wanting to protect the sincere Boss Lin and that gentle smile of his… To make the world a kinder place?

And amid Boss Lin’s gentle smile, Jerome had died a silent and tragic death in his own office, hollowed out until only a bag of skin remained.

Judging from the trembling in Andrew’s voice, the scene of Jerome’s death was so gruesome that even the Vice-Chairman of the Truth Union was shaken to his core.

Dead men, of course, couldn’t confess.

From a certain point of view, there really wasn’t any error in what Lin Jie had said.

Others might not know who was responsible for this “Truth Union Secret Room Murder Case,” but the two people, who recently witnessed Boss Lin’s anger toward Jerome for destroying his bookstore’s door, were clear about the truth.

Prima felt that the idea she had earlier on was really foolish and naive.

Really foolish, really…

She knew that Boss Lin’s smile was so gentle, yet she had forgotten that he had that same gentle smile when he had pointed to the patched-up hole on the door, asking Andrew to bring Jerome over to discuss compensation.

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And now, it was difficult to tell… Was the world crueler, or was Boss Lin the one who was crueler…

For a moment, Prima felt conflicted.

The young maiden’s heart of hers that had the desire to protect something felt vaguely disillusioned.

It was just like the princess saving the prince only to find out that the one she saved was actually a hypocritical, villainous dragon.

Still, the thought of Boss Lin coming down so harshly on Jerome because of harm to her and Margaret — although that door was probably the main reason — suddenly didn’t seem that unacceptable after all.

Also… It made her feel really happy.

E-Even if he’s the villain, he’s an extremely kind one! Mm, that’s right!

Prima thought it through, and her gaze became even more determined.

Lady Walpurgis, who controlled the night, couldn’t have been wrong. And Boss Lin, the bearer of the Contractual Ring, had already responded to her prayers by slaying Jerome.

Now, it was her time to return the favor.

Boss Lin must have wanted to train her when he gave her the Primordial Tome of Potions — she was too weak as of now, incapable of even defeating a Pandemonium-rank stalker. It was simply impossible for her to repay an entity of Boss Lin’s caliber.

She needed to properly absorb the medicinal knowledge from the book as soon as possible so that she could be of use to Boss Lin and repay him this way.

The young girl standing stiffly in place regained her composure as her line of thought changed slightly once more.

Probably… pledging her allegiance to the evil dragon?

The voice over the communications device continued, “Jerome is dead… But Margaret’s whereabouts are still unknown, and we are still in the process of identifying the spell traces. However, there aren't any results yet and the killer… uhm, has unimaginable power, ruling out the possibility of suicide.

"It's most likely done by a Supreme-ranked being."

Andrew had slightly hesitated when he said the word 'killer,' and Prima took the hint.

Evidently, he already had a guess in mind that was probably true and thus didn't know how to phrase it.

Andrew went on, "Those hidden elixirs belonging to Jerome have been found, and there was a high-level mind-influencing drug indeed with a dispersal trajectory covering nearly the entire Truth Union."

He then lowered his voice. "It's truly frightening now that I think about it… Without as much as a squeak, he almost took control of the entirety of the Truth Union, and everyone was none the wiser carrying out tasks for some unknown person.

"I really cannot imagine what would have become of the Truth Union if it wasn't for you."

Andrew then paused before going on, “Besides that, some unauthorized transcendental items from the Ash Chamber of Commerce were recovered, which according to previous intelligence reports were probably obtained from the Path of the Flaming Sword member, Congreve of the Chapman family, who was killed by Wilde some time back.

“In short… The mole has been identified.

“My popularity, my approval rating has seen an upturn. Various authorial suspensions have been lifted, and my prestige will probably have completely surpassed Diamante's by the time the next meeting is held..."

Andrew then lowered his voice further, and a tiny hint of elation could be heard within. “The Truth Union will only be the true Truth Union under your will and leadership."

At this point, Prima couldn’t help but lift her head up and look at Lin Jie who noticed her gaze.

Lin Jie found that the meaning of that gaze was somewhat strange. It was as if this young lady was trying to find out some deep meaning from looking at his face. Thus, he raised an eyebrow and asked skeptically, "What's wrong? Is it bad?"

With a frown, he uttered with some worry, “As a Vice-Chairman, Andrew alone should be able to deal with this Deputy Head..."

Here we go again…

Prima couldn't help pouting. Mr. Lin always had this innocent look, giving others the impression that he really didn't know anything.

How heinous!

Although Prima wasn't exactly clear what had happened previously, Vice-Chairman Andrew had apparently been instructed by Boss Lin to carry out his will and brand the Truth Union under the bookstore.

This behemoth of an organization that administered the movement of nearly all transcendent beings in Norzin now appeared on the verge of falling into Boss Lin's control.

Jerome couldn't be any more dead, and the one who had been responsible was over here pretending to be worried whether Andrew could deal with a corpse...

Who would believe that?

Prima, who had been 'deceived' earlier on, grimaced slightly and concluded that she would never believe Mr. Lin’s 'kind and gentleness' ever again.

That said, it seems that Boss Lin had long planned to make use of this incident to not only kill Jerome but also get Vice President Andrew to seize the opportunity to break out from his predicament…

Prima shook her head, sorted out her state of mind, and summarized, "Everything is fine. Things are going really well. Vice-Chairman Andrew said that Jerome is dead, and it turned out that he was the mole from the Path of the Flaming Sword. He is grateful that you helped him turn the tide.

"Also, there was a… uhm… A philosopher's stone was left at the scene. He will bring it to you later on."

Philosopher's stone?

Lin Jie frowned, realizing that this matter was more complicated than he imagined.