Lord of Mysteries: Return of the Stars!

Seeing the gray-clothed man incapacitated, Hastur calmly shifted his gaze to Andrew, who now had nowhere to run.

He spoke in a calm tone, "I think we can have a good talk now."

--------------------------------

Andrew shrank back, leaning against the corner of the wall, not daring to raise his head.

This made Hastur slightly puzzled. He remembered that when they first met, Andrew's behavior wasn't this pathetic. Had he experienced some trauma recently?

"It seems you prefer violence over conversation."

As Hastur spoke, he lifted the square wooden table in the room with one hand, raising it above his shoulder, making it clear that if Andrew didn't start talking, the table would come crashing down on him.

Andrew shivered and hurriedly begged for mercy: "I really don't know anything. I just wanted to take the opportunity to extort some money. Everything else has nothing to do with me!"

"Who sent you to extort me?"

"…"

Andrew's face turned pale. He moved his lips but dared not say anything more.

At this moment, a commotion came from outside. Some dockworkers happened to be passing by and discovered a man in gray lying on the ground, bleeding from his waist.

Andrew's eyes lit up, and he shouted: "Gentlemen! Someone is robbing me here! Help! Save me!"

Bang!

Hastur slammed the wooden table down directly, making Andrew see stars, blood spurting from his mouth and nose, and he passed out instantly.

After thinking for a moment, Hastur tidied up his slightly messy clothes, walked to the door to block the view inside the room, and shouted to the three dockworkers rushing over:

"Gentlemen, the thug just escaped through the back door. He's carrying a knife and is very dangerous. You'd better call the police quickly and catch him!"

The three dockworkers saw Hastur's youthful, innocent face and clothes that were clearly not from an ordinary family and quickly believed him. One went to call the police, while the other two bravely gave chase.

After they left, Hastur returned to the room, grabbed Andrew by the collar with one hand, and carried him to another place while no one was around.

As he passed by, he kicked the gray-clad man who had been stabbed in the waist with a broken wooden stick.

…

At the sewage outlet of a paper mill, where pipes discharged untreated industrial wastewater directly into the sea, the area reeked with a nauseating stench.

Not far from the outlet, Hastur held Andrew's legs and lowered his head close to the dark, foul-smelling water.

Before his head even touched the sewage, Andrew's body reacted, vomiting up a large mouthful of filth and instantly waking from unconsciousness.

He stared blankly for a moment before realizing his situation.

"No! I'll tell you everything!"

Facing the sewage only an inch away from his lips, Andrew finally pleaded for mercy.

But it was useless. He still watched helplessly as the foul sewage soaked his lips and surged into his nostrils.

The choking, nauseating feeling instantly spread through his body, but he didn't dare beg again, otherwise, he would be swallowing another mouthful of chemical "drink."

After three or four seconds, Hastur pulled him out and gave him a shake before tossing him on the shore.

"Ugh!"

Andrew vomited violently again until his face turned pale and his body went limp, looking at Hastur with terror.

His lips trembled: "You really are a devil!"

He couldn't imagine how such an elegant nobleman could do something so cruel.

This was worse and more terrifying than the punishments they used on disobedient people!

Even now, his tongue still felt numb, bitter, astringent, and strangely a bit sweet.

"Ptooey!"

Andrew quickly spat several times, trying to get rid of the awful taste.

"Devils like to hear the truth. I hope you won't try to hide anything again. If another corpse shows up here, it might not be discovered for a month."

"Even if they find it, they'll probably pretend nothing happened."

"After all, the body would stink so much no one would want to fish it out."

Hastur's calm tone made Andrew pale even more; he was truly terrified now.

"I said, someone asked me to extort money from you."

"You're lying. Looks like you'd rather stay here and drink some more."

Hastur narrowed his eyes, as if seeing through all of Andrew's thoughts.

"I'm not lying! What they actually wanted was an item. I was the one who suggested using extortion as an excuse, it seemed less suspicious that way!"

Andrew shook his head desperately, nearly crying.

"What item?"

"They said it was a palm-sized golden box. I don't know what it's called exactly."

Fearing Hastur wouldn't believe him, Andrew even gestured the size of the box.

"And who are they?"

"I don't know, but there are Beyonders among them, those with supernatural powers. They promised that if I got them that golden box, they would help me become a Sequence 9 Criminal."

"Why didn't they get it themselves? Why ask you to do it?"

"I'm not sure, but I once overheard them say: 'Things of destiny can only be obtained by those related to destiny.'"

"What's special about you?"

"I really did play cards with your father, Voltaire, at the gambling table, and I even won a lot of money from him."

Hastur stopped questioning and began thinking through everything.

Andrew hadn't lied about the last few questions, this was indeed all he knew.

The key points: a golden box, fate-related, Voltaire Campbell.

Hastur had no memory of a golden box. It might be something Voltaire had kept hidden, probably somewhere on the third floor.

The "fate-related" part was easier to understand, it had to be an Beyonder from the Fate pathway.

They followed destiny's guidance, dealing with many things through superstition and mysticism.

As for Voltaire, he might indeed have been cursed back then, which explained his string of bad luck and eventual accidental drowning.

But that didn't change the fact that he was a gambling addict.

"I told you everything. Can I go now?" Andrew asked timidly after Hastur remained silent for a long time.

"Are you in a hurry to go to prison?"

"?!"

Andrew's face turned pale, trembling: "You're not planning to let me go?"

"Defrauding a nobleman and involving a large sum of money, don't you think you belong in prison?"

"I…"

"Didn't you want to become a Sequence 9 Criminal? This is a great opportunity."

"…"

Andrew curled up on the ground and stayed silent.

Hastur wasn't about to let him off easily. He started counting on his fingers: "Because of you, I broke two stained glass windows and have been on edge this whole time. You should compensate a nobleman for both material and emotional damage to earn the fair chance of being sentenced properly."

Andrew understood the hidden meaning, if he didn't pay, he'd be dumped into that industrial sewage.

"H-how much do you want?"

"Oh? How much property do you have?"

Hastur's eyes lit up slightly. People who didn't have much money usually didn't ask how much was needed, they directly said how little they had left.

Andrew shivered and stammered: "All my property combined isn't even worth 20 gold pounds."

"Andrew, why are you lying again? That kind of thing angers devils."

For the sake of gold pounds, Hastur gave him one more chance to tell the truth.

"Just under 100 pounds! I really only have that much! No more!"

"Sigh, still dishonest."

Hastur stepped forward, and Andrew, terrified, watched as Hastur grabbed his legs and moved his head close to the dark water again.

"I'll talk! I'll talk! I still have over 200 pounds in cash! And I own a small house on 33rd Street in the Cherwood District!"

"That's really all?"

"Really!"

Andrew cried. If he were truly wealthy, he wouldn't have tried extorting a noble in the first place!

The 200+ pounds in cash were his life savings from years of frugality.

"Honest people deserve salvation, but you still have to pay for lying just now."

Hastur sank his hands, dunking Andrew's mouth and nose into the sewage again.

After three seconds, he pulled him out and tossed him on the shore.

"Ugh!"

Andrew supported himself with one hand, retching violently, nearly puking up bile.

When his stomach finally calmed down, Hastur discussed compensation with him.

In the end, after a friendly and cordial negotiation, Mr. Andrew agreed to hand over all his cash to compensate Baron Hastur Campbell for his emotional damage during this period.

As for the cost of the two stained glass windows, Baron Hastur Campbell graciously waived the considerable expense, demonstrating proper noble generosity.

"Congratulations, you now have the opportunity to stand trial and go to prison."

"…"

Andrew curled up, back facing Hastur, wiping tears silently.

"Answer a few more questions, and our feud will be settled."

Hastur asked about Voltaire's gambling habits and some of his ridiculous behavior.

Having learned his lesson twice, Andrew behaved well and willingly cooperated.

When the police finally arrived, they found Andrew hanging upside down by a rope, head just an inch from the dark water.

The fraudster Andrew had passed out from the stench but was otherwise unharmed, although after waking, he kept vomiting non-stop.

Meanwhile, Hastur had already collected 225 pounds and 6 soli 3 pence of "emotional damage compensation" from Andrew's hiding place.

It was a considerable income.

Hastur walked with a lighter step, sniffing his clothes as he passed a clothing store and noticing a foul smell.

He must have absorbed the stench while staying near the sewage outlet too long.

Without hesitation, Hastur entered the store to buy a new outfit.

But as soon as he walked in, he froze, staring at a figure choosing clothes inside.

Miss Sharon!