Legend Management Bureau Chapter 124

[ … words ]

Dong Qianqiu hurriedly picked up her phone to search the internet. Although she felt that foreign legends were of little consequence, she was still somewhat curious—

“Did Sherlock Holmes actually die?”

Sure enough, Dong Qianqiu found an interesting piece of information:

Arthur Conan Doyle once wrote in a letter to his mother: “I am considering killing off Holmes, doing away with him once and for all. He takes up far too much of my time.”

In December of that same year, in “The Final Problem,” Doyle had Sherlock Holmes and his archenemy, Professor Moriarty, plunge to their deaths together at the Reichenbach Falls. This ending left readers shocked; no one was willing to believe that such an incredible detective had simply died just like that.

According to reports, many people in London wore black armbands that year to mourn the detective’s passing, and some women even publicly cursed Conan Doyle, calling him a brute.

The readers’ deep love and obsession for the fictional character of Holmes eventually forced Doyle to resurrect him. In 1903, Doyle published “The Adventure of the Empty House,” and Holmes returned, having narrowly escaped death.

“That is enough…” Dong Qianqiu said to Du Yu. “Let us leave it at that. Although you changed some history, it can be considered giving the world another fascinating topic to talk about. It seems this Mr. Arthur Conan Doyle is easily swayed by what others say.”

“Is that okay? That is all it takes?”

“Senior Du Yu, did we cause trouble?” Shiranui Asuka asked timidly.

“No, the Dispatcher already checked. Although we changed some of the ‘process,’ we didn’t change the ‘result.'” Du Yu breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed he really needed to be more careful with his words and actions in the future.

“Eh? Asuka, my sense of direction is terrible. Which way are we supposed to go again?” Du Yu suddenly felt lost looking at the tangled, messy streets.

“Follow me, Senior.” Asuka stepped forward to lead the way. She pondered for a moment before speaking up. “Senior, I have been meaning to say this… You keep calling me ‘Asuka,’ and that is inappropriate.”

“Inappropriate?” Du Yu did not understand. “What, is your name not Asuka? Is Asuka your stage name?”

“What are you talking about?” Shiranui Asuka frowned and gave Du Yu a look. “I mean that in my country, only people who are close can address each other by their given names directly. Logically, you should call me ‘Shiranui,’ or ‘Miss Shiranui,’ because I do not recall being that close with you, Senior.”

“Is that so?” Du Yu said dismissively. “Whenever you mention ‘Shiranui,’ all I can think of is a female ninja holding a fan. That does not match you at all, Xiang.”

“You! Do not call me Xiang! That is even more rude!” Shiranui Asuka naturally knew exactly which female ninja Du Yu was talking about, and she grew slightly angry. “If you refuse to use my surname, then please call me by my full name, Shiranui Asuka!”

“No, let’s be honest, Xiang, your full name is just too long.” Du Yu shook his head and said, “It is six characters long, practically rivaling the divine title of ‘Erlang Xiansheng Zhenjun.’ It is way too much of a hassle to say.”

Shiranui Asuka felt like she could never reason with the man in front of her, so she could only shake her head helplessly. “Anyway, I have made myself clear to you, Senior. I just hope you will not be so impolite anymore.”

Under Shiranui Asuka’s lead, the two walked all the way back to the inn. The front desk clerk had already fallen asleep leaning on the counter. Du Yu did not bother him and simply headed upstairs.

Upon reaching the door to their room, Asuka knocked softly. It was Ramla who opened the door.

“May Zeus bless you, you are safe and sound.” Ramla smiled faintly and nodded in greeting to the two of them.

“What could possibly happen to us?” Du Yu retorted. “We were just buying an envelope. Is it really possible that we’d ‘accidentally wipe out an important British historical figure’? What a joke…”

Shiranui Asuka shot Du Yu a glance and said, “Senior… She did not even say anything, yet you are already on the verge of confessing.”

“That is not important, Xiang.” Du Yu shook his head. Just as he was about to say something else, he caught a strange, savory aroma drifting out from the room. “Huh? What are you guys doing?”

The two entered the room, only to find that Chada had somehow acquired an old frying pan. She had placed it on the stove and was currently pan-frying something in butter.

A bizarre, tantalizing scent wafted up from the pan.

Du Yu peered into the skillet and noticed there was only a tiny bit of meat sizzling away, likely only enough for one person. It seemed Chada had no intention of sharing with the rest of them.

A few moments later, Chada plated the meat, brought it to the table, and poured herself a glass of red wine.

Du Yu and the other two could only stare blankly at Chada. She seemed entirely indifferent to their gazes as she tucked a napkin into her collar, swirled the red wine in her glass, and then picked up her knife and fork to cut a small piece of meat, eating it calmly.

Du Yu could not help but swallow hard. Even though he was currently a dead man and could not feel hunger, watching someone else eat delicious food still made his mouth water.

Seeing Du Yu staring fixedly at her, Chada spoke up. “Sir, in my country, it is a bit rude to stare at someone while they are eating.”

“Is that so?” Du Yu withdrew his gaze and replied, “In my country, hogging all the food for oneself is also a bit rude.”

“Oh? Would you like some as well, sir?” Chada placed her knife and fork on the plate and pushed it forward, saying, “I assumed you would not like it.”

Du Yu looked at the plate Chada pushed over. Inside were two pieces of something vague and shapeless. An ominous feeling swelled in his heart as he asked, “What kind of meat is this?”

“One piece is flesh from Annie Chapman’s abdomen, and the other is her reproductive organ,” Chada stated expressionlessly.

“What the hell?” Du Yu’s eyes widened to the extreme. “And here I was trying to understand you, thinking you had it rough, but it turns out you are just a total psycho!”

Du Yu knew that if this were a legend from his own country, he would have flipped the table and walked out right then and there. But with so many foreign envoys around and a crowd of immortals watching the live broadcast, he could only sit there indignantly, sulking in his seat.

“Do you… think I cut off her flesh because I wanted to eat it?” Chada asked.

“What other reason could there be?!” Du Yu pointed at Chada. “If you purely wanted to make this case seem ‘brutal’ and absolutely had to carve out her flesh, you could have just tossed it aside! Why did you have to eat it?!”

“Because there are no secrets in this world.” Chada smiled and said, “In 2014, someone even claimed to have extracted a trace of DNA from a shawl Jack the Ripper left at a crime scene. Although investigative techniques are primitive in this era, it does not mean they will be primitive forever. If I did not find a way to completely erase these two pieces of flesh from this world, they would eventually be discovered one day.”

“Then…” Du Yu thought for a moment and said, “Then you could have just fed it to the stray dogs or stray cats!”

Right after speaking, Du Yu startled himself. When had his own thoughts become so twisted? Suggesting that Chada cut flesh and organs from a corpse and feed them to stray cats and dogs—was that really the thought process of a normal person? Yet he had blurted it out without hesitation. He shook his head helplessly; it seemed this Chada was driving him insane.

“Sir, how can you be sure that stray cats and dogs would be willing to eat this meat?” Chada asked. “Rather than harming animals that already struggle just to survive, it is better that I eat it myself.”

“But…” Du Yu wanted to say more, but he knew that unless he placed himself in the mindset of a ‘psycho,’ it would be very difficult to fathom Chada’s reasoning.

Seeing that Du Yu was speechless, Chada pulled the plate back from in front of him. She raised her knife and fork once more, slicing the meat into tiny pieces. Du Yu glanced at Chada inadvertently and noticed that she seemed to have tears in her eyes, yet she still swallowed the meat without any hesitation.

“Chada.”

Du Yu hadn’t wanted to say anything else, but seeing that glimmer of tears, he felt a twinge of sympathy. He resolved to have a proper chat with her.

“I am listening, sir,” Chada said slowly while eating the meat.

“Why do you need money so badly?”

“Because I need to hire other ‘Controllers,’ and that requires a vast sum of money,” Chada replied expressionlessly.

“I don’t quite understand. Aren’t you a Controller yourself? Why do you need to hire others?”

“Because I want to bring my daughter back to life.” Chada looked at Du Yu coldly. “Sir, you are also a Controller. You should know that we are forbidden from encountering ‘ourselves’ within a legend, otherwise, it will cause severe disruptions in the space-time continuum.”

Du Yu pondered this for a moment. Dong Qianqiu did seem to have said something along the lines of ‘you must not meet yourself within a legend.’

“You want to bring your daughter back to life?” Du Yu suddenly grasped the main point. “Is that the reason you have been forcing yourself to do all these things?”

“I do not feel forced.” Chada quickly finished the meat on the table and wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Everything I do is entirely voluntary.”

Shiranui Asuka’s opinion of Chada suddenly improved a little as well. She also wanted to say something, but feeling a bit clumsy with her words, she stayed quiet for fear of saying the wrong thing.

“It’s just a pity that the ‘Operators’ in our country can only travel back into ‘legends.'” Du Yu’s tone softened a bit as he added, “If I could freely travel through time, I would want to help you so you wouldn’t have to suffer like this.”

Chada froze for a moment, looking at Du Yu.

“Sir… you are willing to help me? I could open a portal and send you back to the past.” Chada asked with a hint of excitement. “But I don’t quite understand. Why do you think I would agree? Is your asking price much lower than the others?”

“You really don’t understand, do you?” Du Yu sighed softly. “Usually, when people from my country say ‘I want to help you,’ they aren’t asking for money.”

“No compensation?” Hearing this, Chada, who had just lowered her guard, suddenly became wary again. “You and I have only known each other for a few short days, yet you would help me without any reward? I know very well that there is no such thing as a free lunch. If you want something other than monetary payment, I will give you nothing. I know you are considered a god in your country, while I am just an ordinary person who knows a bit of magic. We are fundamentally different, and I cannot give you what you want.”

“What’s wrong with being an ordinary person who knows magic? Did you think I… Sigh, I really can’t get through to you foreigners.” Du Yu shook his head helplessly and said, “Normally, when people from my country say something like this, they just want to make a friend.”