Especially Veronica, she shouldn’t have come. Austin would be furious to know that the ’white cabbage’ crossed the sea to chase after the pretty boy, who knows how many cement barrels he might buy in a fit of anger.
The slightly shorter person in black, who was Vili, lowered her voice to produce a creepy laugh and strode towards Wayne.
Wearing leather gloves and covered up from head to toe, she sprinted towards Wayne when she was three meters away and threw a punch.
Alright, alright, you kind of play, huh!
Wayne raised an eyebrow. The punch was weak and harmless, purely a prank. In that case, he had no choice but to be ready for her.
Wayne stepped aside to dodge, and as they crossed paths, he suddenly stretched out both hands and used a pushing technique on Vili’s chest.
She staggered a few steps and clearly faltered, but made no sound, and with her voice still lowered, she let out an ambiguous provocation, swung her fists, and struck again.
Wayne continued to dodge and conveniently gave her buttocks a push.
Vili still wanted to continue, but Veronica really couldn’t stand to watch anymore.
"Idiot, who fights like that!"
She sprinted towards the two tussling figures and delivered a kick in the air to Vili’s back, sending her two meters away, her face sliding across the sand, losing all dignity.
Vili lay face down in the sand, bottom up, grunting and not getting up.
"Eh, that voice... Veronica, what a surprise, it’s actually you!"
Wayne, delighted, opened his arms to give her a bear hug.
"Pervert, keep away from me!"
Veronica put up her fists, warning Wayne not to ask for trouble.
Wayne, disappointed, walked briskly over to Vili, helped the girl up, and dusted the sand from her head, regretting, "Vili, why didn’t you say something sooner? Had I known it was you, I definitely wouldn’t have fought back."
"Wayne, it hurts so much!" Vili pouted and spat out the sand, her eyes brimming with tears.
Wayne couldn’t bear to see this and hurriedly consoled her, "Don’t be afraid, where does it hurt? I’ll rub it for you."
"It hurts everywhere, but my butt hurts especially."
"A little rub, a little blow, and the pain will be gone."
Veronica’s flying kick sent two people sliding across the sand.
As the scene changed, Wayne brushed the sand off his face, his thick skin leaving him unharmed. He curiously looked at Veronica, "How come you two showed up, playing secretly? Were you preparing to surprise me? Honestly, I didn’t recognize you at first, it was quite a shock."
"Stop playing dumb, you clearly recognized us."
Veronica, disdainful, told the lecher not to flatter himself, "It was Vili who invited me. She was really bored and wanted to come to the beach to see the sea."
"That’s right, I even brought a swimsuit." Vili raised her hand.
"What kind of style is it? Show me."
Wayne, curious, was instantly disappointed when he saw the swimsuit in Vili’s suitcase.
The style was very old-fashioned and extremely conservative, completely different from the swimsuits he had imagined.
But soon, Wayne had an entrepreneurial idea. If he remembered correctly, bikinis hadn’t been invented at that time, and swimsuits had yet to see a revolutionary change.
"Veronica, where’s your swimsuit?"
"I didn’t bring one."
At Crescent Bay Restaurant, Wayne invited the two to join him for afternoon tea.
Veronica was still upset about Wayne taking advantage of Vili, convinced that the lech did it on purpose, pretending not to recognize them.
"Don’t talk nonsense without evidence, this is a legally organized society, be careful or I’ll sue you for defamation!"
Wayne wore a wronged look, encountering two beautiful girls who were fully covered, greeted him with a cold laugh, and came at him with clumsy punches; how could he have guessed it was a friend’s prank? It was an overestimation of his intelligence.
Vili agreed that Wayne hadn’t done it on purpose.
Veronica angrily downed two glasses of juice, full of resentment, and asked, "How’s the case you’re working on? When are you returning to Lundan?"
"That question is a bit complicated..."
Wayne recounted the investigation process and finally lowered his voice, "You’ve come just in time. There’s not a single good person in the Bart family from top to bottom. Even the detective who came with me is a deeply cunning scoundrel. It’s very difficult for me alone to get the Dragon’s Secret Treasure."
At the trigger keyword, Veronica’s eyes lit up, and she pressed him on what exactly the Giant Dragon’s leftover treasure was.
"Not sure, still investigating."
Seizing the opportunity, Wayne asked, "Speaking of the Dragon’s Secret Treasure, I want to ask you, are there really no Giant Dragons on the God-chosen Continent?"
Veronica nodded with certainty, facing Wayne’s doubts without hiding anything, and sold out her own mother: "Dragon Blood comes from the gift of the Nature Goddess, it’s a legacy ritual, related to my mother’s teacher."
There may be no Giant Dragons on the God-chosen Continent, but powerful mages, especially those from The Church with a wealth of resources, have ways to evolve the physique of their disciples.
Wayne got important intelligence; The Church is full of tricks, and each one is a dragon in hiding.
"By the way, do you know about the Sea God Society?"
Veronica and the other woman both shook their heads, with the latter saying, "Wayne, there’s a Moonlight Church base in Crescent Bay. We’re both part of the Life Alliance; we can go there for help."
Crescent Bay, Moonlight Church, turns out this name wasn’t a coincidence.
Half an hour later, the three arrived at the Moonlight Church base.
The followers of the Moonlight Goddess were hidden within the opera house, and after confirming their identities, an elderly female elder met the three.
She calmly explained the Sea God Society’s beliefs. The Sea God does not exist; the islanders feared the fickle sea, yet longed for the ocean’s wealth, and over time, the belief in the Sea God formed.
A belief that arose spontaneously, aspiring to goodness and very pure, the members of the Sea God Society were all ordinary people, with no mages among them.
Wayne did not mention the Dragon’s Secret Treasure and asked about the origins of Dragonheart Island.
"Legend has it that Dragonheart Island is the heart of a Giant Dragon, fallen from the sky like a meteor, but this is a story, not to be taken as truth," the elder woman produced a geographic magazine: "This legend is related to the island’s winter storms; people say that’s the Giant Dragon roaring. Combined with the shape of the island, that’s how Dragonheart Island got its name."
Wayne flipped through the geographic magazine, surveying the map of Dragonheart Island, locked onto the location of Bart Manor, and wanted to ask more, but the elder woman had already left.
Veronica and the other woman prepared to stay at the base, and Wayne, not joining in the hubbub, took the magazine and returned to Bart Manor.
Soon after, Kell came looking for him.
"There’s a problem with the Bart family’s company’s choice of location. I investigated today; the new company was built two years ago, which coincides precisely with Mr. Bart’s improved health..."
Kell’s eyes glinted, "He is very likely hiding in the company, and Heidi must know this, she can’t possibly be unaware."
Wayne did not speak; the maid possessed by a ghost had said last night that Mr. Bart had always been in the manor house, and this clue clearly contradicted the new information.
"Mr. Bart is hiding in the company, Heidi is not a mage, she cannot open a magic mechanism, pretending to know nothing and letting us take risks."
Kell said seriously, "What do you think, should we continue to wait or take the initiative to strike?"
"I’m inclined to continue waiting."
Wayne offered his response, guessing Kell thought the same; otherwise, Kell would have gone himself and wouldn’t have come back to share intelligence so kindly.
After all, Kell was also looking for a scapegoat for himself.
Kell nodded; coincidentally, he also felt it wise to wait a bit longer.
The Giant Dragon’s treasure was certainly tempting, but one only has one life; there was no reason to rush heedlessly into danger.
"Regarding the Bart family’s beliefs, I’ve heard a bit about the Blood Faith. A few councilors in Lundan went mad a while back, have you heard about it?"
"I’ve heard some, but don’t know much."
Curiously, Wayne asked, "What’s that, I always suspected that incident was not simple; is there any secret news?"
"I know a few devout nuns in the Heavenly Father’s Court; followers of the Hell Evil God have been very active in recent years, the Court is understaffed, and plans to seek help from other churches." Kell muttered quietly, implying the information was confidential and warned Wayne not to spread it around.
Wayne solemnly promised to keep his face serious; he absolutely wouldn’t speak of it.
"Believing in an Evil God never ends well, especially for those who betray the Evil God. The Bart family carries a curse; surely Heidi is more anxious than us..."
Kell speculated, "I bet in a few days, she will ’accidentally’ discover Mr. Bart’s hiding place and invite us to join her."
Wayne nodded, holding an Ancient Silver Coin, pleased with the growth of his fellow villagers and planning to fully light up the Hexagram in the next few days.
The Giant Dragon’s grand treasure, he hoped it wouldn’t disappoint him.
The Bart family, Kell, Blood Evil God...
The Evil God couldn’t come; it could be disregarded.
Wayne calculated in his mind; he still had two hidden aces, and this dark horse race had good odds.
Sorry folks, but that’s the rule; the winner takes all!