Chapter 363: Earl Goff's Tentacles

Under the vast night sky, the snow reflected the sparse moonlight in the sky, and the mountains and hills were covered with silver light. Two figures quietly appeared at the foot of the Snow Mountain Castle, staring at a deep pool in front of them. The pool was close to the cliff, and above it was a roaring waterfall.

The waterfall in Snowberg Castle in Switzerland is not like the Reichenbach Falls in the original novel. It flows almost straight up and down, with no stepped cliffs in the middle to divide the water flow.

The huge drop will kill any adventurer who attempts extreme diving on it, but in theory it also leaves a slight chance of survival; the premise is that the diver can withstand the gravitational acceleration of falling from a high altitude and the huge pressure when falling into the water.

Anyone with a normal mind and who has systematically studied high school physics would not make such an attempt. Of course, there are always exceptions; in front of the two night walkers, someone jumped from the Snow Mountain Castle and fell straight into the deep pool.

They should be thankful that because of the water flow, the pool of water directly below the waterfall did not freeze, and it happened to be the deepest part of the entire pool.

"The water temperature is very low now. They only have three minutes, five at most." One of the two night walkers said, "If it takes longer, their bodies will lose consciousness due to the cold and sink to the bottom of the water like an ice cube. Of course, first of all, we have to pray that they don't faint when they fall into the water, otherwise they won't even have that three minutes to save themselves... Oh, and we have to make sure they don't hit any rocks or get swept away by the undercurrent."

"You've said enough, Your Excellency." Another voice interrupted the first person anxiously. It was a woman's voice. "Why do you do this? You obviously have such magical power and have already mastered the situation. Why don't you just finish the job? And what did you mean by the last sentence you shouted?"

"This is difficult to explain; oh, look, Mr. Holmes climbed out of the water, but Moriarty didn't. It seems that the detective won this round." The person who can appear here and be called "Your Excellency the Earl" is naturally Earl Goff.

The identity of another person is also about to be revealed, the most special "woman" in the Sherlock Holmes story.

Holmes climbed out of the pool trembling, not noticing the two people hidden by the Disillusionment Charm; he stared at the pool nervously, calculating the possibility of his deadly enemy's survival, while hurriedly taking off his clothes - this was the right choice.

The cold snow water on the clothes was wrung out, and then they were put back on one by one. During this process, someone whistled in the dark and asked Irene Adler maliciously: "Have you seen this scene? I mean Mr. Holmes, naked."

"What... Of course not!" The woman explained angrily. Although she was a legendary thief who was not afraid of small matters, she still felt ashamed when facing a stranger, especially a boy who was young enough to be her son.

"Really? I heard that Mr. Holmes was once caught naked in a hotel by the London police, and you were the one who originally checked into that hotel room, Ms. Irene?" Lin You has always been rude.

"You are better informed than Moriarty, Your Excellency. I didn't expect the Forrester family to have such a great influence." The female thief avoided the question bluntly.

"No way." Earl Goff did not tell the truth. He saw with his own eyes on the movie screen how the hotel waitress was scared away by the eye-catching scene.

As the two men talked in the dark, Holmes' eyes were always fixed on the dark pool of water. No matter whether it was ice spikes or snow balls hitting the water surface, or fish swimming under the water floating up to breathe, any movement would attract the detective's attention.

After a full ten minutes, which was twice the maximum escape time Lin You mentioned, Holmes finally confirmed the demise of his mortal enemy. Only then did he feel the coldness in his body. He curled himself up into a ball, hurriedly and stealthily ran through the woods, and ran to the nearby road.

Snowberg Castle is a tourist attraction in Switzerland. The Six-Nation Peace Summit was being held at that time, and the nearby towns and villages were crowded with tourists of all kinds. Although it was night, carriages passed by from time to time on the road; with Holmes' intelligence and skills, it would not be difficult for him to hitchhike.

Lin You watched the detective leave, and said to the woman beside him: "Well, Mr. Holmes is out of danger; what I said has come true, and now it's your turn to fulfill your promise, Ms. Irene."

"Don't worry, I will keep my promise. No one would be stupid enough to fight against a mysterious force that can stop the flow of time and fly from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the mountain in one second. You are much more terrible than Moriarty."

"In order to prevent you from misjudging my background and abilities, I need to explain something," Lin You said calmly, "I did not prohibit the flow of time. On the contrary, the scene that just happened on the top of the mountain actually accelerated the flow of time."

"I don't understand. Is this some theoretical subject in the occult, like those physics theories I didn't understand in college?"

Lin You shook his head helplessly: "Well, I forgot that the 'Theory of Relativity' had not been published in this era. To put it simply, I have accelerated the thinking speed of the four people, including you and me, by tens of millions of times. Relatively speaking, other people and things have slowed down."

The legendary female thief was bewildered. She was proficient in psychology, sociology, and a certain aspect of chemistry. In physics, she specialized in application and execution - such as the lever principle and spring characteristics used in locks, etc., but she was a complete scumbag in theory.

"Forget it, let me talk about another question I have." Irene waved her hand and gave up the struggle on the IQ level. "No matter how you did it, there is no doubt that you have a powerful mysterious power."

"Of course, and then what?"

"In that case, why did you look for me? Can't you do what I can do with just a wave of your hand? Just like just now, why did you insist on letting Holmes deal with Moriarty? Obviously, you can easily kill anyone present, even if he is Moriarty."

"You have a deep misunderstanding of me, ma'am." Lin You said with a smile, "Magic - that is, the mysterious power you mentioned - is indeed powerful, but it is not omnipotent. It cannot help you gather capable and loyal subordinates, nor can it establish an efficient and well-organized intelligence agency. For some things, I must seek help from professionals.

As for why Moriarty was not killed directly, it is actually the same as what I asked you for help. The power of magic is not suitable for excessive exposure, let alone intervening in the politics of major European powers. "

Irene was skeptical: "If it's not for intervening in politics, what's the purpose of setting up an intelligence agency?"

"Of course, it is to deal with some more serious issues than international politics. I hope that this organization can be spread across Europe as soon as possible, and in the future it will also extend to America and the Far East."

When it came to specific work arrangements, Lin You chose to be open and honest and disclosed most of the information to Irene Adler.

Intelligence work is most afraid of lax confidentiality, but an organization is also afraid of poor information communication. Fortunately, Earl Goff is not a layman in intelligence work. Instead, he has many years of experience in commanding intelligence agencies; he knows how to strike a balance between confidentiality and efficiency.

In the snowy forest under the night sky, Irene Adler learned many hidden secrets of this world; in comparison, she felt that her resurrection from the near-death state within a second was not a strange thing.

"According to what you said, the opponents that this intelligence agency will face are just like you, coming from the extraordinary world outside the secular world, and even possessing more powerful power than you. So can we rely on a group of mortals to deal with them, even if we have established a strict organization to rely on?"

Lin You didn't seem to care about Ms. Irene's concerns.

"First of all, you don't need to confront the supernatural power head-on. That's the job of me and others. What you really have to face is the hand that reaches out from the supernatural world to the secular mortal society. For the same reasons of confidentiality as mine, they are often hidden and scattered; like the tentacles of an octopus, they look scary but are actually weak.

Away from the sea and fighting alone, a cook can chop it up on the chopping board. You don't even need to wield a knife like a chef, all you have to do is investigate and monitor. Strict organization plus careful planning can effectively weaken the advantage of the mysterious power. "

Irene was quick-witted. She reacted quickly and guessed many unspoken truths from Lin You's words. "You have a force under your command that can deal with the extraordinary world? Is it also an intelligence agency like you asked me to do?"

"Maybe." Lin You's answer was ambiguous.

"I guess it has something to do with the huge political influence of the Forrest Family? Perhaps that is the basis for your position in the upper echelons of British politics?" Irene speculated further.

"Ha, you have a sharp mind, Ms. Irene; now I am more and more convinced that it is the right choice to hand the task over to you." Lin You nodded approvingly and did not deny the other party's guess.

With Lin You's identity, it was not difficult to mobilize the official and unofficial power of the Forrest Family; it was nothing more than proving his family lineage and coming up with a reasonable excuse.

Like "dark wizards use time converters to commit crimes" and "long-span time travel to stop crimes". Although the excuses were a bit hasty, the "ancestors" who "wrote" them with quill pens couldn't help but believe them.

If that doesn't work, how about the "Confusion Curse" and "Immortal Curse" at the true god level?
"Although you believe in my abilities, I may not have that confidence myself." Irene was not carried away by the praise; although it might seem impressive to be in charge of establishing and commanding an intelligence agency, the risks involved were not small.

At least, as a mortal, she did not have the confidence to fight against extraordinary powers; just as she did not dare to truly disobey the young man in front of her who possessed extraordinary powers.

"You can think positively about it, Ms. Irene." Lin You comforted her, "Think about it, when you have control over an intelligence network that covers Europe and even the whole world, you are the 'omniscient god' of the underground world; as long as you can complete my mission, I don't mind you using this power to benefit yourself, or use it to help some people you care about."

This is naked inducement.

Whether it is Irene as a criminal or Sherlock Holmes as a detective, the power of a powerful intelligence agency is an irresistible temptation.

Even a genius like Holmes often needed official help from his brother McCaugh. To put it another way, if there had been a powerful intelligence agency to help and protect him earlier, Holmes would not have had to take risks several times to protect the Watsons.

It is estimated that Moriarty was killed as soon as he showed up.

"I have to say, this is a very grand and beautiful vision." Irene was indeed tempted. "But there is one question that I have to consider... How much funding can you provide for this organization? Can the income from Earl Goff's fiefdom and your family treasury support the expenses of a huge intelligence agency?"

Lin You shook his head and answered in front of Irene's surprised eyes: "No, I don't plan to use the Forester family's funds. I will pay for it myself - do you understand what I mean?"

"Are you trying to say that this intelligence agency is only responsible to you and does not need to pay attention to any requests or instructions from the Forrest Family?" Irene smiled slyly.

"Very clever, a correct answer."

Many thoughts flashed through the female thief's mind in an instant, such as "internal family disputes", "inheritance disputes", "power division" and so on; but she soon found that she was wasting her efforts, because no matter what happened, the Forrest family was not an object she could covet.

"In that case, how should we deal with the funding issue? How much money can you give me?" This is the question that Irene should be concerned about.

"A lot. First of all, all the properties left by Moriarty after his death will fall into my hands." Lin You counted them one by one on his fingers. "Of course, the liquid funds and securities will be donated. Those things are too conspicuous. I guess Mr. Holmes and his brother will keep an eye on them. But the real estate, including various factories, mines, houses, and properties will be taken by me.

Although the Forester family doesn’t contribute money, they can still help in this regard. As for the funds for purchasing the industry and the working capital for subsequent operations, there is no need to worry…”

As Lin You spoke, he raised his hand and drew a half circle in front of him; in the blink of an eye, the forest and snowy plains in front of him disappeared, and only a vast expanse of nothingness remained around him.

While Ms. Irene noticed the changes in her surroundings, she was also dazzled by the golden light in front of her eyes; for the first time in her life, she had an intuitive understanding of the "treasure" in fairy tales and treasure hunting adventure novels.

"During the days when Mr. Holmes and Professor Moriarty were battling wits and courage, I took some time to go... overseas. Fortunately, some of the treasures I knew about before were still there. Even more fortunately, after hundreds of years of sedimentation, the value of these treasures is no longer limited to the gold and silver themselves, but also has more historical bonuses. Many times, antiques are more valuable than gold and silver - you must know this better than me."

There are countless treasure hunting stories that the writers have integrated into the big world. Many treasures are nowhere to be found by others, but for Lin You, it is just a matter of revisiting the old place and running a few errands.

Just the treasures piled up together with the cursed Aztec gold coins in the story of "Pirates of the Caribbean" would not be an exaggeration to say that they were "priceless" hundreds of years later at the end of the 19th century.

You ask about the curse...are you trying to play a joke on a true God?
"Your preparations are really... I can't ask for more." The glittering treasure has the same attraction to dragons and women. Irene finally woke up from her trance, still muttering to herself excitedly.

"Then I look forward to the results of your work." Lin You nodded with satisfaction. "I will be going to America soon. I hope to hear good news from you when I come back, ma'am."

"Oh, there is a question I must ask clearly. Since it is not convenient for you to be exposed to the world, will your appearance in Snow Mountain Castle and meeting with Holmes have any bad influence?" Irene asked cautiously.

Lin You knew that the woman was not worried about herself being affected, but about Holmes.

People in the underworld know too well what the consequences will be if they know too many secrets that they shouldn't know.

"Don't worry, Mr. Holmes will not remember meeting us. From the moment we showed up until we left, all memories of the period have been erased by me. Didn't you ask me what my last words before I left meant? That's what erasing memory means."

"What?" Irene screamed. This was the first time she lost her composure that night, which surprised Lin You. "He forgot everything about our meeting just now, including what I said to him?"

The female thief's heart was in turmoil, and an inexplicable anger broke through her awe of Lin You and was about to explode at any time.

After she came back to life, she finally learned to let go of her reservations and open her heart to that man. It was also the first time she heard the words she wanted to hear the most from that arrogant man's mouth, but the result was...

All those words I said were in vain?!
(End of this chapter)