Enforcer Manual
Chapter 774 - 772: Living Mechanisms_1

Chapter 774: Chapter 772: Living Mechanisms_1

Another Believer had displeased the King and was sent to the guillotine.

People gathered in the square to witness a Tidal Sect Believer, bound tightly, being led to the execution platform. His mouth was gagged, and he couldn’t utter a complete sentence. In truth, no one knew what crime the Believer had committed, but everyone was aware that the King had been in a terrible mood lately. The number of people sent to the guillotine was increasing, and even ministers from the royal palace were not exempt.

Perhaps this had something to do with the frequent "mechanical rains" that had been occurring lately.

That was the name they had given to this strange natural phenomenon. Beginning a few days ago, the sky would occasionally rain down a massive amount of metal fragments, injuring many people.

The kingdom’s army had no choice but to allocate a special unit to deal with parts scattered from the sky; all the metal parts were sent to a temporary storage area outside the Capital City. It was said that the collected parts stacked as high as a mountain!

However, what people didn’t know was that the army took pleasure in this work.

Here, chips and mechanical parts were rare commodities; before the "mechanical rain," they could only rely on returning Believers from the offshore port cities to bring some back.

While the citizens of the Capital City watched the execution in the square, Public Safety Officer Makov eagerly sought out an expert from the Tidal Church, who was said to have worked as a Mechanic before, and who formed a plan to get rich the first day he saw these parts.

"Take a look, can you refit these into electronic devices?"

These people living under the sea year-round had no understanding of advanced electronic devices, and new gadgets brought from the land could often be sold at high prices.

Makov believed that if he could turn the parts from the storage area into electronic products for sale, he might become the wealthiest man in the country!

"This..."

After carefully examining the metal materials, the Tidal Sect Believer hesitated to speak.

"What’s the matter?"

"These parts are strange; I’ve never seen this type of metal before."

Before coming to the Misty Archipelago, he was just a common electrician in the port city, which couldn’t be considered any remarkable job at all.

But it was precisely because of the low wages and the lack of excitement in daily life that he had worshipped the Lord of the Tides and followed the ships here, little did he expect that the technological level of this kingdom would be so backward, that a common electrician like him could become an expert in the eyes of the Believers.

"What do you mean, it won’t work?"

Upon hearing this, Makov immediately became impatient, "Look again; I’m counting on these. Once this is done, I’ll give you 40 percent."

"Don’t trust him; he’s deceiving you."

The Believer hadn’t yet spoken, when suddenly, a mechanical synthesized voice emerged in his mind, startling him so much he almost sprang from his seat.

Makov, as if he heard nothing out of the ordinary, bizarrely asked, "What’s wrong with you?"

"He’s a liar. Once this is done, he’ll kill you and pin the theft of the parts on you. You should be aware that the King won’t let those who exploit their power for personal gain off the hook."

...

"I’m talking to you!"

Makov raised his voice, clearly displeased.

"Ah, I was just thinking about the origin of these parts. I believe that perhaps only the United Government could have manufactured these types of chips."

"The United Government? What the hell is that?"

"The United Government is the most powerful state on land right now; they control over half of the world’s resources."

"I’m not interested in the United Government. All you need to tell me now is whether you can make them into electronic products or not? Alarm clocks, watches, televisions, anything that can fetch a price, anything at all!"

"...I’m afraid it’s not possible."

"Fine, I understand."

Makov was greatly disappointed. He waved the Tidal Sect Believer away, "You can go now, remember, you were never here today."

"Lies."

The Believer’s heart leapt to his throat. He had never encountered such a bizarre event and couldn’t figure out why these electronic parts could speak. Could they have once been disassembled from an artificial intelligence?

He did not wish to be involved in such oddity, and of course, he had no intention of reporting Public Safety Officer Makov. All he wanted now was to go home.

"You can’t go back anymore."

The voice was still babbling nonstop in his mind, but as he turned around, he heard a faint metallic clinking sound.

Strapped to Makov’s waist was a Longsword, the weapon of the kingdom’s Public Safety Officers. It now seemed to be partially drawn from its scabbard.

"You know what to do; don’t hesitate, or it’ll be too late."

The sound behind him was getting closer and closer.

Urged by the voice, the Believer followed his instincts; he suddenly bent down, grabbed a metal rod, and swung it fiercely behind. He didn’t know where he got the strength, or perhaps the metal rod cooperated with his actions. When he came to his senses, he discovered Public Safety Officer Makov, eyes wide open, lying dead on the ground.

Blood and whitish matter flowed from his shattered head.

The Tidal Sect Believer cried out, collapsing to the ground in terror.

Immediately following, he found that the voice hadn’t lied to him, Markov had drawn his sword, and his intentions couldn’t be more obvious.

But...

No one would believe that what he did was in self-defense.

Moreover, Markov’s men were right outside, and if they discovered what had happened here, he’d be as good as dead.

Despair enveloped the Believer, who sat in the corner of the warehouse, clutching the weapon as time ticked mercilessly by, always feeling the next moment would bring Markov’s men storming in to angrily slash off his head.

However, it was eerily quiet outside.

So quiet that not even a footstep could be heard.

He remembered Markov’s men as a raucous bunch, whose chatting and boasting could be clearly heard from afar.

Then, something even more bizarre unfolded before his eyes.

Unbeknownst to him, Markov’s blood seemed to have stopped flowing, a large amount of an unknown silvery-gray liquid filled the gaps in his battered skull and stitched up the wounds and fissures in less than ten seconds, and then Markov gasped for air and struggled to rise from the ground.

"Hold on, no, this is a... misunderstanding..."

The Believer’s voice grew fainter, unsure how to explain his actions to Markov, his hands still grasping the metal rod smeared with Markov’s blood and brains, which was beyond any misunderstanding.

"You’ve done well."

Markov suddenly spoke, his voice emanating a cold, mechanical timbre from his throat as his lifeless eyes regained their glow—a pale blue light.

"I can testify that you acted in self-defense."

"What... what are you?"

The Believer tried to back away, only to find his back against a pile of metal parts that, rather than jabbing into him, actively avoided his body, holding him up in a comparatively gentle fashion to prevent him from falling in his panic.

"I trust in your capabilities."

Markov bent down and extended his right hand to the Believer, pulling him up from the ground, "Making electronic devices is not a challenge for you, and you can find everything you need here. Of course, we will also offer you help... In return, I hope you can help us promote these high-quality products, especially into the royal palace."

At that moment, the Believer’s wavering gaze passed through the window and observed the soldiers stationed in the storage area.

Their appearance was no different from usual, except for the strange blue glow flickering in their eyes.

...

"Buddy, I didn’t see that wrong, did I?"

The Paladin, hiding in the shadows, rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Although he knew they should keep a low profile in this parts processing factory, what had just unfolded before them left him unable to stay silent any longer.

He added, "Did that Public Safety Officer just have his head blown off and then he came back to life?"

"He wasn’t resurrected, the machines have taken control of his body."

The Emperor explained.

A few hours before, they had arrived on the surface along with the "mechanical rain" aboard a submersible device. He had activated an invisibility field before Public Safety Officer Markov and his men could detect them, and then was brought all the way here.

It wasn’t just the Paladin— even after having witnessed what happened, the Emperor too felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

The "life force" of these mechanical creations was much more tenacious than he had imagined; all these parts filling the warehouse were still alive and had already planned to infiltrate the royal palace disguised as electronic products.

This made him think of the United Government’s ubiquitous electronic devices. Could the electronics that United Government citizens used every day also be disguises for these living machines?

Also engulfed in suspicion was Song Lan, who had witnessed the murder scene through Diago’s eyes.

He had to hastily get up from bed where he was vigilant in checking all the electronic devices in Lu Xiang’s apartment, eventually fixing his gaze on the alarm clock on the bedside table.

Without a doubt, this alarm clock that disrupted his morning sleep was the most suspicious item.

He and the alarm clock stared each other down for nearly a minute, until the alarm clock could no longer withstand the interrogation of Song Lan’s gaze and emitted a mechanical synthesized sound, "Teacher, please be assured, those mechanical beings have not infiltrated your home."

"It’s clear that you already have."

Song Lan’s gaze was full of doubt, but considering that this voice should be the "King," he refrained from smashing the alarm clock.

He had wanted to smash it for quite some time.

The only thing stopping him was that this alarm clock was a gift from Lu Xiang.

"You have a point, I almost overlooked this issue."

The King considered for a moment before correcting himself, "Teacher, please be assured, only I have infiltrated your home."

"Why are you hiding in an alarm clock, and what are your intentions? Please limit your answer to 20 words or less."

"To learn."

However, the King gave a much shorter reply than what Song Lan had requested.