Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 331: Section 228: Trading Is Always Pleasant (Part 2)

Chapter 331: Section 228: Trading Is Always Pleasant (Part 2)

Zem Mayer, Regensburg, The Capital, after nightfall.

Glancing at the pocket watch in his hand, the young Investigator scowled towards the distant Dwarf Commerce Chamber.

Ordinarily, at this time, he would have been dining in a restaurant with his girlfriend, but a cursed urgent notice had ruined everything. He had to rush here, leaving his girlfriend at the restaurant. He knew all too well how unpalatable a detective’s meal could be, just as Mr. Holmes had said.

It was far more bitter than milk laced with sugar.

That very afternoon, an agent responsible for surveilling the Dwarf Commerce Chamber had sent a message, reporting that someone had shipped two boxes of explosives—new style—from there. By the looks of it, there was enough to reduce the three-story building that housed the old bureau to its component parts.

This was extremely dangerous, as this place was no rural backwater. If someone were to get blown up, the entire Investigative Department would be in serious trouble.

That was precisely why he had come.

If he hadn’t, his superior would have been restless with worry.

Jiaxi Sheringham emerged from a nearby shop at this moment and approached his superior. "The agent from the shop said it was Roben’s kid who bought the two boxes of explosives and transported them away with his own family’s carriage. It’s very clear he understands the safety of these new-style explosives. If it had been the old kind, he’d practically be sitting on a volcano."

Indeed, if it had been the old kind, the slightest bump from a pebble in the road might have been the last sensation he’d ever experience.

After that, he, his carriage, and the people around his carriage would have been blown sky-high.

Death had never been quite so beautifully brutal... These fools had ruined everything.

"Why would Roben’s young master want to buy this stuff? Does he not know you can’t eat it?"

"Hey, I see Malin."

As Zem pondered the connection among all these matters, Jiaxi’s prompt drew his attention to Malin, who was approaching from over the bridge.

"Hold on, what’s he doing here?"

"You must not have heard, this guy had lunch today at the Wuyou Palace."

Wuyou Palace referred to the palace in the Central District where His Majesty and his family would stay if they were in The Capital.

The Investigator and his assistant expressed their amazement in unison, then moved simultaneously away from the street, casting a spell to enhance their eavesdropping.

Afterward, they overheard the conversation between Malin and the president of the Dwarf Commerce Chamber.

Once Malin left, the two exchanged glances.

"Mr. Malin doesn’t seem surprised at all," said Jiaxi.

"That damn dwarf said he can’t have a proper conversation with humans. Why didn’t Malin punch him..." Zem pondered a moment, then slapped his forehead. "This kid’s a half-blood of giants and little folk, he’s not even human."

"Says the one who’s also apparently human, Mr. Half-blood," Jiaxi retorted, rolling his eyes at the half-blood elf.

"How can you stand up for him?" Zem looked aggrieved.

"Oh, I’d much rather stand up for you, for fifteen different kind heads," Jiaxi answered earnestly.

After their practiced banter routine, the Investigator and his assistant emerged from the alley.

The action unit confirmed that Ingmar Roben’s carriage had been parked near the Underground City, and the two boxes in the back had vanished without a trace.

"Are they planning on bombing mudfish?" Zem grunted—mudfish were a type of land fish, belonging to the Spirits, naturally armed with the ability to tunnel through the ground just like giant rats. Aside from posing absolutely no threat at all, it was a species that people would seldom eat unless there was truly nothing else to eat.

"Maybe they’ve discovered some ultimate secret of the Underground City and are planning to blow open a stuck secret door?"

"Jiaxi, you’re wasting your talent not writing novels," Zem said.

The Investigator and his assistant were speaking when they suddenly noticed that Malin seemed to have returned.

So, the two repeated the same action, slipping into the alley. They watched as Malin took some tools from the Dwarves and left, without either party saying anything else. This confused both Zem and Jiaxi, who couldn’t understand what Malin was preparing to do.

"I remember the Dwarves saying that Malin is an engineering genius," Jiaxi remarked.

"Of course, did you see those motorcycles, the ones with four wheels?" Zem thought back to the vehicle he had seen, which appeared to be driven by an instructor from the Goddess of Harvest Church, a perfect combination of super cool and super expensive.

"Super luxurious, I want one too, but the price tag scared me away. Whoever set those prices is really inhuman." Jiaxi said, pulling at his collar to emphasize all his human traits.

"Alright, alright, you’re human," Zem rolled his eyes, then noticed a subordinate approaching. He raised his hand to greet him, "Tim, any new developments?"

The Half-human walked up to Zem, "Regens’ Engma and his four friends have come up. The action team has confirmed their identities and taken photographs for the record." He finished, producing a crystal and a report, "Just delivered; I think you should take a look."

Thus, the trio returned inside the shop, with Jiaxi infusing Spiritual Energy into the crystal to activate the recording Demon Crystal, while Zem opened the report.

"With Engma Regens, there’s Cohen from the Vanter family, Liujin from the Milani family, Konghe from the Zhao family, and Cassie Marim?" After reading the report again, Zem turned to his assistant, "Jiaxi, let me ask you something, what do you think will happen with these five guys together?"

"They’ll kill each other until only one lucky survivor remains, who will then try to propose to our princess, only to be beaten to death alive by Mr. Malin," Jiaxi said while activating the Demon Crystal, then gasped, "They can still laugh and talk?"

"I think that’s exactly the problem. Hmm... Tim, go ask the Church if any of those kids are on a promotion quest," Zem turned to the Half-human.

The latter nodded and then left the shop.

Meanwhile, Jiaxi turned to Zem, "Your thoughts are quite dangerous, why are you so sure that’s what they’re preparing to do?"

"It should be their thoughts that are very dangerous. Think about it, what could bring together five families that are sworn enemies? If they really intend to kill Malin, what better way is there to assassinate a person and pin the blame on a collapsing Underground City than setting up an explosive trap?" Zem looked at his assistant, "The problem now is that we don’t have the exact location where they’ve set the trap. If we ask them directly, they’ll certainly not confess easily and it might tip them off... What do you think we can do about all this?"

"Tell Malin... no, I think Mr. Malin is already aware of all this. Did you notice his conversation regarding the final payment?" Jiaxi looked at his superior, "It seems both parties already consider each other prey. Do you think we really need to intervene?"

Zem was silent for a moment, "We should at least inform Lady Anna, after all, she is Princess Faye’s mother."

"Alright then, I’ll contact her through the investigation department’s official line. Zem, what are you going to do?" Jiaxi asked his boss.

"Get ready and go to bed early. Follow them into the Underground City tomorrow and see if I can do something," Zem replied somewhat reflexively.

Then he noticed his assistant’s face twist, and he asked with a tone of regret and confusion, "What about your girlfriend?"

Zem’s head fell on the counter.

He had forgotten about his girlfriend!

"I always thought ’death by stupidity’ was an adjective, thank you for letting me see its verbal expression today," Jiaxi patted his boss on the shoulder, "I’ll leave you to it, better think about how to explain forgetting today’s date."

..........

Watching Jiaxi from the Sheringham family leave the shop, Malin, standing in the shadows, furrowed his brow—he had felt a surge in Spell Formation when he left, and had come back to take a look, just in time to glimpse the Detective and assistant duo. Out of curiosity, Malin decided to have Milani go and gather some information—at least to understand why they were there.

As Milani returned with the recording Demon Crystal to Malin’s hands and he watched the exchange that had taken place inside the shop, Malin’s brow furrowed deeper.

What on earth were these five fools up to? Their conspiracy seemed to be sliding into a well-known abyss.

But, reverting to the matter at hand, despite Jiaxi suspecting that he knew, Malin had no evidence at this point. To summon the God of Justice for lie detection would almost inevitably lead to a fight to the death. Malin did not believe they would resort to such measures purely based on suspicion, hence it was improbable they would confront Malin over this matter.

Nevertheless, you can’t hide fire with paper. Once inside the Underground City, Malin couldn’t ensure the drama would unfold exactly as he envisioned, and should the curtain fail to close perfectly, a host of troubles would ensue.

This made Malin even more angry—what were these five idiots thinking, their scheming was about to become common knowledge. Next time, instead of discussing how to kill a person, they might as well discuss how to kill a chicken with one cleave.

While thinking this, Malin handed an Acorn to Milani, tossing it into his hood.

What a hassle. He hoped these two wouldn’t rush to catch those five fools; after all, he was still waiting for a chance to incinerate them on the spot.

With that thought, Malin turned and left.

Even though things were getting more complicated, Malin agreed with Zem; he also needed to rest early, recharge his energy, and await tomorrow’s performance to officially begin.

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