Enforcer Manual
Chapter 572: The Famous Detective Once Said_1

Chapter 572: Chapter 572: The Famous Detective Once Said_1

In fact, Song Lan didn’t care about the outcome of the war, or the fate of the United Government.

If it weren’t for his encounter with Lu Xiang in Zone Seventeen, he might well have left for another city to start a new life on the eve of the war’s outbreak.

In this regard, Lu Xiang’s impression of him wasn’t mistaken.

Even when the war spread within the territory of the United Government, it had no effect on him whatsoever.

This was the biggest difference between him and Lu Xiang.

Although Lu Xiang had also witnessed the dark side of the United Government, the endless internal strife that inevitably began a decline after a period of extreme prosperity, not unlike any civilization in history, her experiences at the Morning Star Academy always led her to unconsciously consider issues from the standpoint of the United Government.

For this "Empire," she, like the members of the Expeditionary Army setting off on their campaigns, had many daily complaints, yet still retained a profound sense of belonging.

But Song Lan was different.

He could find a comfortable bed and a place to settle in anywhere in the world.

He originally thought this lack of belonging was a side-effect of "crossing" into this unfamiliar world, but after so many experiences, he had changed his opinion.

If the reverberating memories brought on by "crossing" were a side-effect of changes in the timeline, and if the theory of "Ascension" proposed by the principal of Purple Wisteria Academy were real... then in what ways would the "upper life forms" she described observe this world?

It seemed he had found an answer to this question from the Bug Swarm.

For this new tribe that he had "raised," his heart was filled more with curiosity.

It was like a gardener admiring a tender shoot breaking through the soil, curious to see what it would grow into within this complex and turbulent world.

But now, Song Lan truly appreciated the benefits the Bug Swarm brought.

The reason he had time to let his mind wander was that they were currently riding on the back of a "transport squad," a type of transport unit bred by the Devourers for long-distance carriage, and during the evolution and mutation of the Bug Swarm, Song Lan couldn’t help but admire Ge Fu’s meticulous care.

This seemingly crazed mad scientist always managed to focus on the finest details, such as user experience.

The back of the "transport squad" grew soft "cushions," providing passengers with a comfortable experience during long journeys.

However, in reality, the "transport squad" was a ferocious and violent gigantic creature.

Its body stretched over ten meters in length, covered with a hard biological shell everywhere except its back. According to the data provided by Medea, an individual from the "transport squad" could use its tusks, comparable to those of mammoths from the ice fields, to flip over mechanical forces such as tanks and battle mechs.

In front of this colossal beast, wild mutants attacking them had only one fate: to be crushed.

Yeying, also riding aboard the "transport squad," remained silent.

After a night’s rest, her understanding of Lu Xiang and the Bug Swarm she led had been completely overturned, and it was this disruptive realization that plunged her into a conflict of emotions.

The instinct ingrained in her genetic sequence made her acknowledge the extreme danger of this tribe and drove her to want to expel the entire Bug Swarm from the territory of the Neutral Country.

The mission of the "Angel of Death" of the Church was to resolutely carry out the mission assigned to them by the Archbishop, and her task on this journey was to bring the participants of the Ceremony of Ending to the site of the ceremony; however, until the night before, she had never doubted that the Archbishop would emerge victorious in this ceremony.

Yet after witnessing how effortlessly the Bug Swarm obliterated the city’s mutants, Yeying’s firm belief began to waver.

What they had summoned might be an unprecedented foe.

The three of them rode along, virtually without conversation.

In the long silence, the outline of a city called Antigon emerged at the end of the road, the capital of the Neutral Country and a military bastion established after the Lunar Eclipse Sect’s "mine" lost control.

The Lunar Eclipse Sect had been fighting the continuously emerging mutants from the "mine" for a long time. To avoid being mistaken for wild mutants and attacked upon approach to the city, Song Lan disbanded the "transport squad" before they got too close. These colossal creatures bowed down, placing the three on the ground. Song Lan gently patted the head of one of these giants, and it happily burrowed underground, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The Church’s war was equally brutal.

The closer they got to Antigon, the thicker the smell of blood lingered in the air.

Both sides of the road were littered with the mangled corpses left behind by retreating Believers. Those who were not completely devoured by Mutants had become one of them, aimlessly wandering outside the city walls like the walking dead.

The trio arrived at Antigon in the afternoon, and the sunset’s afterglow illuminated the city. Stationed on the defense structures were a group of Believers wearing gray robes, their heads concealed within their cloaks, making Song Lan feel as though he had suddenly stepped back into the Middle Ages, a stark contrast to the exoskeletal armor, genetically modified warriors, and war machines he was accustomed to.

The Believers’ method of combat was intriguing. They were equipped with weapons resembling firearms, but what shot out of the barrels were not bullets, but beams similar to materialized Spiritual Energy.

These beams were particularly effective against the Mutants, far more so than the electromagnetic rifles the United Government supplied to the Expeditionary Army.

Beneath the defense structures, the bodies of Mutants piled up like mountains, and yet each day, a relentless stream of new Mutants pressed towards the city.

The deployed troops recognized Yeying, and after coordinating with them to eliminate the last batch of Mutants, they opened a secret passage leading into the inner part of Antigon, urging the three to hurry inside.

Song Lan had thought the Archbishop Helifis would personally receive them, but since entering the city, they were instead arranged to stay at a hotel.

The current state of the war was increasingly unfavorable for the Lunar Eclipse Sect. What was worse, the disaster at the "mine pit" had caused the first major internal division within the Lunar Eclipse Sect, with the Archbishop preoccupied with handling the Church’s internal affairs and having no intention of meeting these outsiders.

On the other hand, Helifis had not, because of this cruel "battle royale game", dispatched an elite assassination squad to eliminate their competitors in the ritual the moment they stepped into Antigon.

"No matter where you go, you can see infighting," he mused.

Entering the room arranged for them by the Church, Song Lan comfortably leaned back on the sofa.

Why must people hurt each other?

It seemed an eternal enigma.

"They’re discussing who should be held accountable for the ’mine pit’ disaster," Yeying said, looking troubled and dispirited.

While fighting off the Mutants emerging from the "mine pit", the Believers desperately needed to see the instigators of this catastrophe brought to justice.

Seeing the young girl’s distress, Song Lan began to share his experiences with Yeying.

After all, he could be considered someone who had played the detective.

"In these kinds of situations, we can use the process of elimination to solve the problem," he suggested.

"Process of elimination?" Yeying’s eyes regained a glimmer of life.

Having spent the past few days together, she realised Song Lan was not only a superb cook but also possessed a wealth of knowledge.

No wonder he was the one Lu Xiang valued most among the Bug Swarm.

"The great detective Holmes once said that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

"But... how exactly do we do that?"

Yeying tilted her head, not knowing who Holmes was, and had no concept of the process of elimination Song Lan mentioned.

"First, we can eliminate two wrong answers for you," Song Lan said with folded arms and a confident tone. "It couldn’t have been me or Lu Xiang involved in this affair. At the time of the ’mine pit’ disaster, we were both in District Seventeen, with solid alibis."