Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 159: One hundred and twenty-one: Pre-war preparations (I)

Chapter 159: One hundred and twenty-one: Pre-war preparations (I)

"Pamir City, still the same old self," Colin jumped down from the carriage, shaking his head as he glanced at the city gate and the City Guards who gawked at his convoy, "Too much peace makes one forget what danger looks like."

Unlike Pamir City, Carterburg faced the ocean, where Ocean Spirits would occasionally surge ashore. Humans and Ocean Spirits became hunters and prey for each other, enacting daily dramas of man versus nature. As a frontier area of the Western world, Carterburg’s vicinity was anything but peaceful, teeming with all sorts of Mountain Spirits and creatures.

So, the people of the frontier considered the gentry of the central region too feeble, while the central gentry thought of the frontier folk as uncivilized.

"Colin, pride is not always a good thing, and arrogance is never a good thing," Old Hoffman got down from the carriage, beginning to move about as the weather warmed.

This time, the Goddess of Harvest Church’s mobile forces in the Western provinces were mobilized in response to a notice sent by Sydney’s National Security Operations Department, which hoped the Church would assist them in eradicating a Chaos Cult.

The Archbishop of the Goddess of Harvest Church gladly agreed and then notified Old Hoffman, instructing the most senior Bishop of the region to lead a team to Pamir City.

"Yes, Teacher," Colin merely grumbled a bit; he didn’t even dare to bring Margaret, as the upcoming battle was too dangerous.

"By the way, Malin should be there too. Take him along this time and let him see some blood," Old Hoffman looked at Colin, "Your junior, it’s your responsibility to lead him."

"Yes, Mentor," Colin nodded. As Old Hoffman led the way toward the city gate, Colin followed his mentor closely.

......

When Malin saw Colin, he felt a surge of calm within—under such circumstances, as long as the local Church had any sense, they would certainly summon reinforcements from nearby cities.

However, Malin hadn’t expected it to be from so far away.

It wasn’t until Colin explained the situation that Malin understood the mobile forces of the Goddess of Harvest Church in Carterburg had been called upon by the Sydney National Security Operations Department to target a potential summoning of Chaos.

This was a major concern, as it was unclear which Evil God Cult was causing trouble, nor who they intended to summon.

Because all this was classified, the details of the mission would only be disclosed before the operation commenced; until then, there was a day’s wait for those madmen to activate the Array—otherwise it would be impossible for anyone to locate the Array in the vast underground network.

Malin sensed danger, but it was said that intelligence couldn’t confirm the exact location of the Array—the people gathering materials on the surface and those constructing the Array underground were two separate groups with almost no interaction.

This truly made things difficult.

......

"What on earth is going on!" Lady Manli stormed into the conference room, having received intelligence from Sydney’s Union military headquarters two hours earlier: the Chief of Pamir City, Old Andy, was dead.

This was a legendary secret agent who had been in life-and-death situations for Sydney’s Union for fifty years. Three years ago, he left the military’s central counter-intelligence headquarters and arrived in Pamir City. He claimed to be waiting for a deep-cover agent who had been planted within an Evil God Cult over a decade ago.

The news made Lady Manli’s scalp tingle—she too had worked at the Union’s military intelligence headquarters in her younger years and knew full well the difficulty of the work there. The agency’s agents were mostly deep-cover operatives within various sects, and every year people died in the line of duty. Any agent who managed to maintain their cover for ten years and retain their loyalty was a national treasure.

And yet, Old Andy, who had once been undercover for twenty-seven...he had died on the streets.

"Madam, according to the scene, after Old Andy fell from the building, someone fought fiercely with two men who came out of a teahouse," the local director of the Sydney Union military intelligence in Pamir City explained to Lady Manli, "He killed the two men, then fled the scene with the help of a Gnome. Later, we found the Gnome’s corpse in an alley, presumably shot by police during the escape."

"Can we confirm the identity of that person?"

"There are few witnesses; the teahouse owner is dead, and his family died on the second floor. Judging from the weapons used to kill them, it was likely one of the two men who was killed first who took out the shop owner and his family," said the director, pulling out a report, "Madam, we’ve collected testimony from around thirty witnesses, one of whom said he saw that man kill one of the two with a Revolver, then with Old Andy’s assistance, took down the other."

"Old Andy wasn’t dead when he fell?" Lady Manli paused.

"Yes, a post-mortem examination of the wound on his neck shows that he likely pulled out the weapon himself and tried his best to hand it to the man," the director continued, "Madam, we have checked that witness and confirmed that his memory hasn’t been manipulated. Therefore, I suspect that he is the deep-cover agent Old Andy mentioned."

"Alright, that man must be pursued relentlessly, no matter what, don’t relax—if he’s one of our people, he must be retrieved." Lady Manli set the tone for the matter, then glanced at the head of the National Security Operations Department, who stood there in silence, "You have something to say."

"Agent Zero of the National Security Operations Department, Miss Linz Mowish, has returned. She brought news that the Master of Wisdom is preparing to hold a summoning ritual for Chaos in Pamir City," the half-human head of the department spoke softly.

Lady Manli felt as if the sky was falling: "When did this happen?"

"Three hours ago, Miss Linz had already disengaged. Agents Eleven, Seventeen, and Fifteen of the National Security Operations Department are currently controlling an entrance. According to intelligence, the summoning array will begin activation in one day’s time." The half-human handed the report to Lady Manli, "We had reached a conscription agreement with the Church of the Harvest Goddess a week ago. The Church has sent the Carterburg Rapid Assault Team in accordance with the emergency conscription regulations for significant events."

"Very well, but now I have a question. How did you confirm that the summoning ritual will not take place until a day later?"

"The mages indicated that such a significant summoning ritual would definitely result in an overflow of spiritual energy. Only by this sign can we most swiftly confirm the ritual site in the underground passages."

"In the sewers... then you must keep a watchful eye on this matter. I will hand over my city guard to you; by any means necessary, you must halt their actions," Lady Manli concluded with a sigh, "I will await your news here. If this city is doomed to a Chaos invasion, then I shall share its fate."

......

When the girls went to dine with Malin, they also felt the heavy atmosphere in the Church. About this, Malin chose to tell Faye and the others some more pleasant-sounding content, implying that some lunatic had gone mad and wanted to invite a horde of Chaos into the city for a party. Fortunately, it was our good luck to know something about how and where he plans to hold it, and how big it is. So, as soon as this Chaos Cult makes its move, the people of the Harvest Goddess Church will be able to turn their world upside down and teach these bastards the importance of family solidarity.

"Mr. Malin, are you going too? It might be too dangerous," Lillim asked with a worried look on her face.

Malin nodded, then patted the little lamb’s head, "Don’t worry, I’m small, so I have a smaller target area."

Lillim, torn between anger and anxiety, gave Malin a nudge, which made Malin miss his breastplate armor—those little lamb’s horns were both beautiful and deadly. Without his breastplate, he felt like she nearly jabbed his lungs out.

Miriam, meanwhile, reached out a hand, "Malin, let me join you."

Then, her request was naturally stopped by Faye, "You don’t need to add to Malin’s troubles. Sisters, let’s wait for Malin to return to the Church."

The wolf girl whimpered slightly and reluctantly nodded her head, "Malin, I’ll take good care of everyone."

"We’ll take care of ourselves, dear..." Turning to face Malin, Faye kissed him on the cheek, "Don’t go getting yourself killed out of stupidity."

"Am I that stupid?" retorted Malin, then chose to forget the matter under the relentless feeding of the girls.

Being considered stupid is just fine, he thought. After all, how many people are fortunate enough to be hand-fed by girls who adore them?

After eating, the girls continued to help Miriam concoct magic potions. Logan also wanted to follow Malin and witness the big event, but was kicked aside by Colin—lacking even a tenth of Malin’s ability, the assault team was short-handed, but not so desperate that they’d need a walking target like him.

Logan left disheartened, while Malin began preparing his gear.

First came the grenades—two sets of four each, flashbangs and fragmentation grenades silvered against supernatural threats, packed into two carrying bags. Malin would be taking these into the underground.

As for firearms, Malin naturally chose the shotgun—within the narrow confines of the underground tunnels, the larger the caliber, the more evident the justice, the more pellets, the closer to Truth. To sustain combat, Malin carried 40 shotgun shells on his back and stuffed 20 shells in his belt, plus another 20 in his pouch.

Besides the shotgun, there was the revolver. Malin swapped for a short-barreled revolver, which was only for emergencies, and he prepared just six spare rounds. If all were spent, Malin could then consider finding a way to survive using small branches and various spells until dawn.

With weapon preparation complete, Malin also selected an enhanced breastplate for himself, with protective spells reinforced on the armor, and lined with Earth Dragon hide, which could effectively defend against small-caliber bullets and various stray projectiles—with the kind of close-quarters combat in those damn tunnels, twenty meters could classify as mid-range, and limb protection was far less critical than protecting vital torso areas.

The headgear, too, was a helmet-style protective piece lined with Earth Dragon hide. Malin modified the helmet to accommodate an ultraviolet flashlight on the left and a high-powered flashlight on the right.

If anyone believed that a dim night vision spell would give them an edge, the high-powered flashlight would provide an unpleasant education about malice from another world.

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