Black Sail
Chapter 177: CLXXVII. Winter is Coming

Chapter 177: CLXXVII. Winter is Coming

Two days later, at night.

On the edge of Aran Imperial City, at the departure station of a passenger train, platform.

The waiting area’s architecture was suffused with rich religious elements. Layered, wave-like stone columns were engraved with the insignias of the Eternal and Time Dragon, circular bases, and intricate dragon-shaped lines, identical to those on the Aran Golden Dragon.

The colorful stained glass let in moonlight filtered through a layer of deep mystery, while giant red vertical banners hung on the walls, declaring grandeur.

Crossing the tracks, rib-like arches were constructed with ornate curves, sheltering the tracks like ribs, serving a decorative role, solemn and majestic.

As with all buildings related to the Eternal Sect, they seemed like massive containers, subjecting Seekers to a controlled atmosphere, as if they were invoking whispers from gods from a distant beyond.

Mu Ran, Mo Yutong, and others supervised the work at the platform; tomorrow would be the first departure, and the passengers were all illustrious royal relatives—no room for error.

Needless to say about the technical aspects, the experience process and security forces were also taken into consideration.

Both sides of the tracks were filled with sand and stones, with the tracks laid atop wooden bases; carriages stood quietly parked, their door edges snug against the slightly protruding pier of the platform.

The carriages were entirely black; their shells had some curved structures at the edges, appearing from the outside no different from a 19th-century steam train, but the interior was another world altogether.

Despite using cheap materials like coal as the primary power source, Mu Ran had not stopped progressing over the many years in the Western Continent and had also learned about the Magic Energy Industry.

Coupled with the power of Demon Crystals, the train could maintain a speed of around eighty miles with twenty carriages attached, even with the possibility of adding a few more.

"Eternal Sect... Is there some problem?"

Mo Yutong’s slender fingers rested against his chin. Those Holy Professors liked to nitpick daily; both inside and outside the carriages, the style and decorations had to incorporate religious elements, which was quite troublesome; however, there had been no such issues recently.

Only some lower-ranked Holy Professors were in charge of the necessary rituals at the station, ignoring other issues.

"Who knows, you could ask Sharon through William."

A fair-skinned man teased, hugging his girlfriend, mocking William, who really was useless—last time he went to meet Sharon and was snubbed, he even had to pay the church a compensation for the conflict, no small amount for ordinary people, quite astronomical.

William, embarrassed by the jokes, didn’t know where to put his hands.

"Enough." Mu Ran told him to stop teasing William. It was a good thing these people weren’t meddling, "You should be more ruthless; Sharon is a ticking time bomb. She just hasn’t shown her hand yet. If she gains significant favor from the Church’s leadership, the consequences are unimaginable. You should find an opportunity to kill her directly, even using poison. The reason we can have our esteemed status and power today is because of our irreplaceability. If another person enters the Aran Court and stands against us, our good days will be over."

Among the five present, although they were all accomplices in killing a former classmate, being cold-hearted was difficult, and they usually left it to the executioners to handle casually.

Only Mu Ran had personally made a kill, deeply committed to his acquired ventures to a terrifying extent.

All five were dressed impeccably; the men wore tailcoats with chain pocket watches and silver-plated canes, the fair-skinned man’s girlfriend wore a dress, and Mo Yutong’s outfit was more androgynous.

"Professor, all equipment has been checked and is functioning normally."

A mechanic reported to Mu Ran; every technical staff was handpicked by Mu Ran, who made profound contributions, his presence weighty in their hearts as a scholarly person of extensive knowledge.

Although William appeared to have the highest official status, the most influential among the five was actually this black-haired, black-eyed individual.

Mu Ran was also a Court Mage, but his more famous role was as a visiting professor at the Aran Imperial College of Technology.

Here, technology referred to the Magic Energy Industry.

Mu Ran nodded.

He checked the security measures again, especially in the last and second carriages; inside were Magic Energy Dolls adjusted by Mu Ran himself, with terrifying lethality.

Including security guards drawn from the military department.

But all these were minor issues. Other nations may encounter robberies, but such lawless villains did not exist within Aran.

"The most crucial aspect is the passengers’ experience; we must all be present for the trial run and must use this opportunity to expand our influence to the maximum, understand?"

Mu Ran repeatedly instructed, considering deeply; the Emperor’s favorite, the one-eyed general, held him in high esteem. If he performed well this time, even becoming a favored figure beside the Emperor wouldn’t be too much.

His apprehensions were profound; the Magician afforded him a great deal of freedom, not fearing his forming private alliances, relying on unimaginable support.

He must escape his control as soon as possible.

At that moment,

in the basement of a small farmhouse in Yunxi City.

It used to be a wine cellar, but it had long been abandoned. The air was stagnant, filled with the smell of decay, and spider webs covered the corners of the wine racks and the dark crevices of the room.

Rein was known for his compassion towards women, so he had refrained from severe torture, considering that General Fen needed this person to act as a medium. Still, some degree of voluntary cooperation was necessary.

The Dancing Lady Izumi hadn’t closed her eyes for two days and a night. Each time she was about to fall asleep, a wooden pick was driven under her fingernails.

Because this woman had a high tolerance for pain, Rein would insert the picks quietly into her nail beds.

This made Rein think of himself as a gentleman.

Izumi could withstand physical pain, but not the torment of prolonged sleep deprivation. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she felt extremely fatigued, dizzy, and saw stars, feeling close to death.

At this rate, even the Demon Spider inside her couldn’t endure.

She spilled everything she knew without holding back.

Seeing that Izumi had spoken, Rein quickly went upstairs to call for General Fen.

The key to solving problems was to identify the crux of the issue.

Fen was processing intelligence, aiming for the third steam train. The Aran Court still had many important people; two shifts should be enough to handle these nobles and attack the second wave.

He had already preliminarily listed which nobles might be on the third train, what bodyguards they would have, what business they were involved in, what their financial background was like, and whether to consider kidnapping them.

Hearing that Izumi had started talking, Fen set aside his work and came down to the basement.

Izumi was semi-conscious, hanging on by a thread, her fingernails marked with lines of blood.

"Weren’t you told not to torture her?"

Fen sounded somewhat helpless.

"You don’t understand. This woman is a madman; she’s terrifying. You wouldn’t believe it, but if you were to stab her with a knife, she wouldn’t even scream," Rein explained. Without measures, this woman would simply fall asleep. To her, pain was merely a premonitory signal that she could ignore unless it was extremely intense.

Fen didn’t say much and began to ask the basic questions: name, age, origins.

Izumi.

Twenty years old.

A brief history came out.

She and Archer were from the same village, born in Gion Kingdom, and raised in an orphanage. The Holy Spirit Church in Gion Kingdom was terrifying, dedicated to training Demon Hunters.

At twelve, she escaped, only to be captured by the Miracle of Suffering. Because of certain physical advantages and some inexplicable mystic reasons, she was chosen by the high ranks of that cult as the "vessel" for the highest will to descend.

Izumi cried as she spoke about her own life. Her story was filled with hardship, watching her friends slowly brainwashed, having no relatives to rely on, and then being captured and tortured by the cult when she escaped.

Claude was moved and wanted to untie her, feeling pity for the girl who had suffered so much.

"Are you kidding? She’s really crafty, probably half truth, half lies, playing games," Rein stopped Claude. This woman was really good at making stories sound dramatic, like some light, moral-driven tales.

"You stole from the art exhibition; those items were expensive. What did you use the money for?" Fen asked, addressing the most crucial question. She should have escaped from the cult a long time ago and was also managing her own affairs outside. Just dancing at Water Pavilion Autumn Moon earned her quite a lot of money; there was no need for her to do something so dangerous.

"I was planning to find another vessel who escaped from the Miracle of Suffering. I needed a lot of money to buy an identity; she works as a professor at the Aran Imperial College of Technology."

"What’s her name?"

"Mo Yutong, it sounds like that."

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