Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 558 - 558 Seventy-seven

558: Seventy-seven.

His Philosophy 558: Seventy-seven.

His Philosophy Richard was never a good man, there was no question about it.

He was like the antithesis of Lu Li—the more rational Lu Li was, the more insane he became.

Calmness was Lu Li’s weapon, madness was Richard’s weapon.

So when the test turned to redemption, how should a proud madman respond?

Richard, in front of him, opened the fourth door, and the maxims on the wall glaringly appeared before his eyes.

“At the Abyssal Depths, your destiny quietly awaits.”

Richard, for once, didn’t curse under his breath; he sat down in the wooden chair in silence.

The fourth believer, Jonah Peters.

He claimed that his brother, Ole Peters, was the cruel Gut Cutter who had murdered many people.

He loved his brother and didn’t know whether to bravely step forward to stop him.

What the truth was, Lu Li standing beside Richard knew very well.

Richard, trapped on the chessboard, wrote down “Go to the Police Station and report your brother,” just like Lu Li had once done, but the paper wasn’t handed over, it just slowly crumpled in his hand.

The first three failures made Richard realize that it couldn’t be that simple beyond the fourth door.

The very least, the answer wouldn’t be on the surface.

There was something off about Jonah Peters outside the Confessional.

By chance or something else, Richard truly glimpsed a shred of the truth—

Normally people would not overly complicate matters; there is always a trail to follow in the development of events, this is logical thinking.

But Richard was not like most people.

Describing Richard as mad and paranoid would be an understatement; he possessed the same kind of wild and paranoid divergent thinking.

“Do not deceive a Divinity, They know all things.”

Jonah Peters outside the Confessional grabbed the paper, the hollow wooden wall hindering the view from peering out and peering in.

“I don’t know who you are, some charlatan or fraudster,” Jonah Peters whispered after a long silence, leaving his seat.

“But you shouldn’t toy with my emotions.

My brother Ole and I are…”

“Blood brothers!”

Jonah Peters yanked open the wooden door of the Confessional from the side and was stunned by everything in front of him.

The Confessional was empty.

“How is this possible…”

Jonah Peters, his expression dark, scrutinized the narrow space that was clearly too small to hide a person.

Returning to the front, he saw a piece of paper falling through the wide gap and caught it.

“Now do you believe?”

Jonah Peters sat down silently: “What do you want to do?”

An ordinary person without faith might still be skeptical, but Jonah Peters on the other side was a believer, and also a madman.

“Your purpose.”

“Don’t you know everything?”

“Your sincerity towards the Divinity affects how you are treated by Them.”

After a moment, Jonah Peters told Richard the truth.

Jonah Peters had by chance become acquainted with the daughter of Viscount Rivis.

As a child, her face was licked by a bear, leaving her without facial skin, an eye, and both legs.

Despite this, Jonah Peters, who had the ability to see through people’s hearts since childhood, fell in love with her beautiful soul and felt she didn’t deserve this appearance—he wanted to be like the Dark Knight by Princess Salina’s side in “Evil Dragon Princess,” bearing her pain and sin.

So Jonah Peters, by sacrificing to the Evil God, foolishly tried to restore the girl’s appearance and limbs.

And the sacrifice was none other than murder.

Lu Li had a sideways understanding of these matters, but the narration from the person involved filled in some gaps.

“I don’t know if you are the god I understand, but now, I’ve told you everything, what do you want to do?” Jonah Peters said, his tone making it hard to discern his emotions.

[Is guarding just one person enough to satisfy you?

And can this truly be called protection?]

Richard wrote with a hint of sarcasm.

“Why do you say that?”

[The girl has recovered her body, but she is still a common person; any crisis might take her life.

Is your so-called protection merely reviving an injured girl time after time?

No, true protection is having such powerful strength in oneself that any existence that could harm the person you protect would be instantly eradicated.]

Jonah Peters, standing outside the confessional, was stunned; this was a path he had never considered before.

Lu Li was also pondering.

When Richard wrote these words, he was agitated, the tip of his quill nearly being forced through the paper with his exertion—if not for the durability of the quill, he would have nothing left to write with.

This indicated that the content on the paper also reflected Richard’s emotional state.

He thought so.

Richard pursued the body of the Ancient God for mighty power; if for protection…

whom did Richard want to protect?

A found family member?

A beloved lover?

There was a long silence outside the confessional, followed by a raspy voice: “…Will you make me strong?”

[I cannot share with you my methods; no one can accomplish it except for me…

However, I believe that you, with the ability to heal others’ wounds, also possess the power to become stronger.]

Richard wrote the first half of the sentence with confidence.

Jonah Peters certainly had the power; he simply refrained from delving too deeply, but he had received instruction—in the words of a “god”…

“Why are you telling me all this?” Jonah Peters asked, the “divinity” before him nothing like the god he envisioned, who would speak only wisdom from on high.

[Just someone who, like you, wants to protect some things.]

The quill hovered in midair, the word shifting from man back to god, and then the quill was moved away without writing the noun that would refer to oneself.

“You also wish to protect someone?”

[Everyone.]

As he wrote this, Lu Li saw Richard cross his legs tightly, trembling with excitement.

This was the demeanor of someone who had suppressed their emotions for too long and was now venting them.

This statement hit Lu Li deep within, and the full purpose behind Richard’s actions became clear.

He wanted to inhabit the body of the Ancient God to protect humanity!

This sounded unbelievable, but there was no doubt it was Richard’s intention, only executed in a radical, bloody, and ruthless manner.

Their conversation continued, fully confirming Lu Li’s suspicion—Richard wanted to become a savior, a new divinity.

He sought to shelter the human race that was barely surviving after calamity struck.

Coming from the streets and becoming a thug, offending the wrong people and being beaten into madness, confined to the asylum, stumbling upon the body of the Ancient God, entering the first trial.

Richard’s tumultuous past made it difficult to associate him with the lofty ideal of ‘protecting humanity’, yet at the same time, it felt as if the deranged and paranoid Richard indeed could harbor such thoughts and act on them.

A madman would commit acts that are irrational, laughable, and incomprehensible to the average person.

Afterwards, the content of the trials had lost their significance to Lu Li.

They were merely Richard proving his ideology through his actions.

The answer Lu Li submitted was about perseverance and redemption.

Richard submitted his beliefs.

The illusion vanished, and darkness returned around them.

Lu Li quietly awaited the true nature of the third trial to emerge.