Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 258: The Takagi Brothers

"Could it be that King Tindalos didn't kill Mikageichi but allowed him to live freely until now, and Mikageichi even helped his father, Miyake Ten, transform the Shadow Clan into a Secret Cult?" Liu Xing pondered.

After all, it had been less than a month since the Dark Life module had ended, and the Shadow Clan had suddenly transformed from an ordinary gang into a powerful rising Secret Cult. Liu Xing couldn't help but connect this with Mikageichi.

However, Liu Xing thought that according to the setting of Yis People in the Cthulhu RPG Game, they shouldn't need followers to worship them. After all, Yis People were ultimately a technological race and didn't require belief support. Moreover, in the world of Cthulhu RPG Game, faith had almost no effect, and more followers for the Eldritch Gods simply meant more food.

So, Liu Xing believed that the Shadow Clan might not be worshipping Yis People, i.e., King Tindalos, but someone else, someone who had rescued Mikageichi from King Tindalos.

But who could this "someone" be?

Liu Xing's first thought was naturally Nyarlathotep, the scapegoat king. After all, Nyarlathotep's original plan in the Dark Life module had been to kill Taketori, who was supposed to become a god, and turn him into a new Eldritch God. Then, one of Nyarlathotep's incarnations, Swollen Woman, had continued causing trouble...

In the Dark Life module, Liu Xing could also see that Swollen Woman had a great interest in Mikageichi. Of course, it was possible that Swollen Woman saw Mikageichi as an entertaining "toy" and had granted him powers far beyond those of ordinary people. Now that Mikageichi had been tricked by King Tindalos, Swollen Woman would likely want him back.

So, was the Shadow Clan now worshipping Swollen Woman?

Liu Xing furrowed his brows. This Island Nation was truly full of surprises. With so many Secret Cults lurking in the shadows, Liu Xing believed that he would likely have to deal with each of them in his upcoming world missions. Fortunately, he had switched to a different character card. If he had still been using the "Liu Xing" character card for his world missions, he would probably have been in a hostile relationship with the Shadow Clan by now.

However, Liu Xing suddenly remembered that Alice had mentioned that the Shadow Clan had sent someone to Kyoto. Maybe he could use this to his advantage.

As the saying goes, "In every trade, one hopes for the death of competitors." After all, the size of the cake in each industry was limited, and the more competitors who fell, the larger your slice of the cake.

And those in the cult business were surely eager for the demise of their competitors, especially when it came to matters of faith. Every cult hoped to be the only one, so while cults might appear friendly on the surface, as soon as one saw an opportunity, they would go all out to eliminate their rivals.

So, despite the apparent peace among the Secret Cults in the Kyoto area, there was a hidden undercurrent. As Alice had said, the other Secret Cults in the Kyoto area were all watching the Deep Sea Gospel Society's every move, hoping to get a share of the pie. And now that the Shadow Clan had arrived in force, it would surely affect the interests of the other Secret Cults in the Kyoto area. Liu Xing believed he had an opportunity to guide the Shadow Clan into taking action against the Deep Sea Gospel Society. It would be a case of using one group to eliminate another, a beautiful strategy.

Thinking about this, Liu Xing couldn't help but ask KP Fangs, "KP, is it possible for my Watanabe Ryusei character card to know about Mikageichi's situation? Assuming that in the previous module, my Liu Xing character card mentioned something about it or if I found related information online?"

Liu Xing thought that in order to establish contact with the Shadow Clan, they would need a common topic of conversation, and Mikageichi would be the perfect subject, especially since, if he guessed correctly, Mikageichi should still be alive.

"Well, your request is a bit tricky," KP Fangs replied with a hint of hesitation. "Let me think... how about this, Liu Xing, you can attempt a difficult library utilization check. If you pass, your character card will gain knowledge about Mikageichi."

Liu Xing nodded. Fortunately, his character card had a high library utilization skill value, so even a difficult check was worth a try.

Liu Xing: 23/30. Success.

Liu Xing breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, you've obtained information about Mikageichi," KP Fangs said.

As soon as KP Fangs spoke, Liu Xing lost control of his body, and it "voluntarily" opened the computer, browsing through 2ce to find information about the Shadow Clan and the Dark Willow Gang.

In the discussion thread, there was information about the relationship between the Shadow Clan and the Dark Willow Gang, as well as the news of the fall of the Dark Willow Gang in Ziwu City, Mikageichi and Hisanobu Ito's escape, and, of course, any mention of mythical creatures had been censored.

In addition, Liu Xing also saw a message that Tennoji Sohide had resigned due to his involvement with the Dark Willow Gang, and now the mayor of Ziwu City was the former Police Chief, Ryochuan Taro.

Liu Xing stroked his chin. Ryochuan Taro didn't seem like a good person. Liu Xing estimated that it wouldn't be long before Ryochuan Taro would step down as well.

"Oh, by the way, KP, can I now attempt an inspiration or intelligence check to connect Mikageichi's disappearance with the sudden transformation of the Shadow Clan into Secret Cult? It seems suspicious that as soon as Mikageichi disappeared, the Shadow Clan underwent such a drastic change," Liu Xing continued.

KP Fangs thought for a moment and said, "Sure, Liu Xing, you can attempt an inspiration check. After all, your character card's profession is a Cult Leader, so you should have some insights in this area."

Liu Xing: 29/70. Success.

After successfully passing the inspiration check, Liu Xing sighed in relief. Now all he needed to do was find the advance team sent by the Shadow Clan to Kyoto and have a good conversation with them about how to deal with the Deep Sea Gospel Society.

At this point, Liu Xing regained control of his body.

Since library utilization took some time, searching for information had taken over an hour. It was now well past midnight.

So, Liu Xing closed the computer, lay down, and went to sleep.

The next morning, Liu Xing was awakened by Minamoto Shizuka.

"Master, Vice-Master said that Miguel has new information and wants you to go see him right away," Minamoto Shizuka said.

Liu Xing nodded, asking Minamoto Shizuka to wait in the living room, quickly dressed, and went to the living room.

Living room, everyone was waiting for Liu Xing, making him feel a bit embarrassed.

When Ming Hanxing saw Liu Xing coming out, he took out his phone and said, "Master, Miguel just sent a message. He said that after monitoring Alice yesterday, he went to Fujiwara Shrine at night and found that there was no one inside!"

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, this news was unexpected. Wasn't it agreed that Daikubo Sosuke and the "crow" were staying at the Fujiwara Shrine? How could there be no one there?

"Teacher Ming, is Miguel absolutely certain? Could he have missed a private room or something?" Liu Xing asked, looking puzzled.

Ming Hanxing shook his head and said seriously, "No, Miguel practically turned Fujiwara Shrine upside down and found no private room, nor did he find Daikubo Sosuke and the crow. In addition, there were no signs of life inside Fujiwara Shrine. In simple terms, it doesn't look like anyone has been living there."

Liu Xing furrowed his brow, surprised that Daikubo Sosuke and the "crow" were not staying at Fujiwara Shrine.

He sighed and said, "So, it seems that Daikubo Sosuke and the 'crow' are not staying at Fujiwara Shrine. Where could they be then? By the way, Teacher Ming and Suneo, did you see the Takagi brothers leave your surveillance yesterday?"

Honekawa Suneo raised an eyebrow and shook his head, saying, "No, because we thought that compared to the Takagi brothers, Principal Fujiwara was more important. So Teacher Ming and I were tracking Principal Fujiwara. When we started tracking, the Takagi brothers had not left Fujiwara Shrine yet. So, Master, are you saying that the Takagi brothers are Daikubo Sosuke and the 'crow'?"

Liu Xing nodded and said seriously, "That's right, now I'm pretty sure that Daikubo Sosuke and the 'crow' are indeed the Takagi brothers. The evidence we have so far supports this conclusion. Besides, you should have heard that, in theory, the Takagi brothers are not eligible to attend the meeting."

"Master, you're right. I remember that it was only after Daikubo Sosuke announced his retirement that the Takagi brothers entered Morimoto Academy. And that Takagi Ryo is usually very quiet, rarely speaking, so if everything goes as expected, Takagi Ryo is the 'crow,' and Takagi Ling is Daikubo Sosuke," Nobi Nobita added.

Liu Xing nodded and said to Nobita, "Nobita, go investigate the Takagi brothers' address. Suneo, see if you have any suitable private detective candidates on your end and have them monitor the Takagi brothers. I'll leave this matter to you two to handle, discuss the details among yourselves."

Nobi Nobita and Honekawa Suneo nodded and went to the side to discuss their action plan.

However, Ming Hanxing was curious and asked, "Master, should we arrange for Miguel to monitor the Takagi brothers directly? After all, Alice's side shouldn't be as important as the Takagi brothers."

Liu Xing shook his head and smiled, saying, "No, no, Alice's side is more important, and she's valuable as an asset. Last night, I received a recording from Miguel, and you can listen to it now. After listening, you'll understand."

As Liu Xing spoke, he took out his phone and played the recording from the previous night.

After the recording finished, Ming Hanxing furrowed his brow and said, "Master, are you saying that Alice didn't genuinely join the Deep Sea Gospel Society?"

Liu Xing nodded and said, "Exactly, from what Alice said in the recording, it's clear that she didn't truly want to join the Deep Sea Gospel Society. To her, the Deep Sea Gospel Society is like a company to work for. So, I think we have a chance to persuade Alice to our side, or at least cooperate with her. But right now, we're missing leverage to get Alice to sit down and talk with us. So, for now, we can only let Miguel monitor her."

Ming Hanxing thought for a moment and said somewhat dejectedly, "On the other hand, from this recording, we can also deduce that Alice doesn't know anything about Ling Ishikawa."

Liu Xing nodded, acknowledging that Ming Hanxing was correct. If Alice knew about Ling Ishikawa, she would have guessed that their group might be related to him since they arrived right after his incident.

So, this indirectly confirmed that Honda Tetsuya had no connection to Alice or the Deep Sea Gospel Society.

"Then, Master, do we still go and monitor Honda Tetsuya now, while continuing to investigate Ling Ishikawa's whereabouts?" Ming Hanxing asked seriously.

Liu Xing shook his head and sighed, "Forget it, let's put those two matters aside for now. We don't have enough manpower to monitor Honda Tetsuya, and if Ling Ishikawa has truly been transported to an alternate dimension, we won't be able to find him. Let's just chat for now; it seems I don't have much to do today."

After breakfast, Nobi Nobita looked somewhat troubled as he said, "Master, the situation is a bit tricky. I asked many people, but none of them know the Takagi brothers' home address, including several first and second-year teachers. The Takagi brothers have never disclosed their home address, and they usually leave the school very late."

Liu Xing furrowed his brow, saying, "I see. It seems that the Takagi brothers might actually be staying at the school!"

Nobi Nobita's eyes lit up, and he slapped his thigh, saying, "Exactly! The Takagi brothers might be staying at the school. I remember on the top floor of the New Teaching Building, aside from the principal's office, there are several unmarked rooms that have always been locked. Based on the location and number of windows in those rooms, they should each have an area of over a hundred square meters, which is more than enough for someone to live in."

Honekawa Suneo, who was standing nearby, looked somewhat frustrated and said, "This could be a problem. It's nearly impossible to monitor those rooms."

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