Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 347: Section 236: Everyone is a bridge to happiness for each other (5)

Chapter 347: Section 236: Everyone is a bridge to happiness for each other (5)

Unable to contain his eagerness, he leapt down from the carriage. His Majesty, the King of the Sydney Union, hummed the most popular tune of the moment and entered his palace with a dance in his step.

The old butler, who had opened the door for him, nodded with a smile, "Your Majesty, you seem to be in high spirits today."

"Of course, old Jim, there’s nothing better than hearing good news after an all-night meeting." Shaking hands with the old man as he used to do when he was a child, the King had returned to his own home. He quickly performed a ballet pirouette on tiptoe and then spread his hands wide, "Jacob."

A half-human poked his head out of the corner fish tank, which was in his sovereign’s blind spot, and on his head was still a struggling fish, "Your Majesty, could you pick a better blind spot next time?"

"Oh, sorry, Jacob. Today is the final day Cohen from the Vanster family mentioned to you, right? Come on, tell me what’s happening. I’m really eager to see that boy’s disbelieving expression," the King asked excitedly.

"Not at all, Your Majesty. I was just outside the Underground City, watching from the treetops when your call dragged me into the fish tank. If there’s a next time, I’ll file a complaint with the Royal Intelligence Division about your recklessness." The half-human said, taking a deep breath and preparing to dive again when they both felt the ground tremble.

The tremor was quick to arrive and depart, but Goethe frowned, "Something’s happened at the Underground City. Did you let the Dwarfs sell the real thing?"

"Impossible, I thought you had the Dwarfs sell it!"

The half-human and his supervisor stared at each other with bewilderment until Lady Manli peeked her head out from the second-floor staircase, "I gave the order. That day Linz came to me with this issue, said her subordinate needed explosives but lacked the authorization, so I granted it to her. Was there just an explosion?"

Before the half-human could respond, he saw Lena coming out from the first-floor corridor with a feather duster in hand. Without another word, he plunged into the water, only to realize his Transcendent abilities couldn’t whisk him away from the dangerous palace. He held his breath underwater until Lena came up to the fish tank and bent over, the huntress smiling as she tapped on the glass wall.

Resigned, the half-human surfaced, spitting out a small fish and looking at the grinning Head Maid who resembled an Insectoid, "Miss Lena, what can I do for you?"

"Is Cohen Vanster one of your Royal Intelligence agents?" The lady asked with a smile crinkling her eyes.

"Yes, madam, that’s correct, madam. We recruited him two years ago, and this time he was acting under His Majesty’s orders to draw out potential enemies for Prince Faye and Lord Malin." At this point, the half-human looked towards his King, "Your Majesty, would you care to add anything?"

"Ah, yes, that’s right, Lena. Please, stay calm." Considering the half-human’s usefulness, Goethe felt compelled to give him a hand, otherwise, Lena might just kill him in the next second, and Goethe wouldn’t be surprised.

"Ah, my King, I am calm, for I now know that Engma Roben is a member of the national security action unit, Cohen Vanster is an agent of the Royal Intelligence Unit, and just an hour ago, I learned from Lady Anna and Mr. Jiaxi that Milani Ryu-Milani is an undercover operative from the Capital Security Bureau under the Investigation Division. He hoped Lady Anna would ensure his safety." She said all this in one breath and shook her head, "My question now is, are the other two human or ghost?"

.........

The four of them, still recovering from the shock, watched as Malin rose from below, moving together as a group—they couldn’t hear the conversation below, but they could see Malin seemed to have interacted with someone outside the door.

They didn’t know what they talked about, so everyone’s expression when looking at Malin was complex.

Malin dropped the skull of the unfortunate Lich at Cohen’s feet, "This Lich was likely a fugitive lurking on the fifth level. It had lived there for some years, but this time, its luck ran out. It was found by another Lich, and as it fled up to the fourth level, it stepped on the trap you set."

As Malin said this, he spread his small hands, and Lorrin and Fio pointed four firearms at these four lads—good thing they brought enough.

"I knew your secrets right from the start. I wanted to see how much courage you would muster in trying to kill me..." Malin stated, pointing at the youths, "I am gratified by the performance and friendship you have shown toward each other, and in the end, I rescued you from below. However, that’s not a reason for you to be spared from death."

"I’m not one of them!" Engma Roben was the first to speak out. He pulled out an identification and a declaration, Bippo operated a small Earth Elemental to take them, then brought them before Malin.

Malin read through them and discovered this guy was actually a member of the Sidney national security action unit, and the declaration was from the director of the action unit, certifying the bearer’s identity to any who viewed the document.

"Before the trap, I was wondering when to speak up to remind you, but I didn’t anticipate that the developments would exceed our expectations so vastly—it’s truly incomprehensible." Engma expressed, then sat down with a thud, "But I won’t leave them anyway, in the end, I’m complicit with them. If you’re going to kill them, you might as well kill me too, you can pretend you didn’t see any of this."

Malin threw the ID and declaration back at him, then turned to the other three, "Do you have anything to say?"

"I have... I am Liu Jin · Milani, an undercover agent for the Capital Security Bureau under the Investigation Headquarters, having joined at the age of thirteen. I’m usually responsible for infiltrating groups of people my age who indulge in eating, drinking, and merrymaking to confirm whether they’re involved with Chaos and the Cultists. Two years ago, it was I who personally killed my cousin who believed in Sinspawn," Liu Jin said, looking at Malin, "I’m undercover, and I shouldn’t reveal my identity. But when you saved the four of us, I felt... at least, I shouldn’t let you die. My superior didn’t tell me I was responsible for your safety, but I thought I should at least be responsible for my conscience. When I decided I couldn’t watch you die, the Undead appeared."

Malin nodded, gesturing towards Engma, "I understand, I believe you. You can sit down too."

"Eh, why do you believe him, huh?" Engma pointed at Liu Jin, who had sat down beside him, and asked Malin.

"I just activated Detect Lies," Malin said with a smile, shaking his head, "Alright, Liu Jin and Engma have both proven their backgrounds. What about you guys?"

"Um... I..." Cassie was still brewing her words when Cohen raised his hand first, "Since you’ve activated Detect Lies, there’s no need for me to prove myself with anything. I’m a Delta Level Four field operative from the Royal Intelligence Office. I gathered everyone here because our King directly ordered me to draw out the person who bears a grudge against you."

Having said that, Cohen sat down with a thud: "I get it now, damn it, you’ve all been playing me."

The little rascals all laughed, and at that moment, Cassie also sat down, "I am a member of Lady Anna’s Long Ears Information Sharing Office. When Cohen called the meeting, our office had already detected his movements. For safety reasons, Lady Anna had me come in to take a look, Mr. Malin, you are truly a favorite."

"Is that so," Malin commented, as Milani popped out of Malin’s hat pocket. Liu Jin recognized it instantly, "I’ve seen this squirrel! It was outside when we were plotting in the store that day!"

"Yes, it recorded all the speeches. I thought you were all together, so today I came prepared for your demise, based on your characteristics," Malin explained as he took the cigarette Liu Jin tossed to him, "I used to think there should be a mole among you because given our King’s grip on The Capital, your childish games should have caused quite a stir."

"Indeed, Lady Anna hid the intelligence. Otherwise, the early warning intelligence should have been on the King’s desk two days ago when Engma was buying explosives," Cassie said. "Jason, the butler, is my mentor. I handed the intelligence to him, but it wasn’t revealed until today. That’s when I thought of this." As he spoke, he took a water bottle from his waist and drank a few gulps.

"I warned my superior, but he indicated I shouldn’t blow my cover." Liu Jin lit a cigarette for himself, "I felt he was problematic, but I didn’t know where the problem was. From what happened, it seems no one wanted you dead."

Malin nodded, then looked to the remaining two, hoping they would say something.

"Same for me. The night I got the bomb, I bypassed the head of our Security Operations Department and sent out a warning directly to Lady Manli and Lady Linz, but they both stopped the warning from being published," Engma’s words made Malin startle—Lady Manli, Lady Linz, what exactly are you two thinking?

As Malin pondered, he heard Cohen speaking, "I told King Goethe, and he said to make the play real, to damage the trigger mechanism of the trap whilst setting it up."

His words drew everyone’s attention in the room.

"You damaged it? How did it explode so loudly then!" Liu Jin looked at Cohen.

"I don’t know," Cohen said, despair written on his face, "I definitely spoiled the central axle! The trap should have jammed halfway."

"Zhao Konghe didn’t come," Cassie observed the others, her expression distant, "I almost thought all five of us were the moles."

"He’s really?" Cohen looked to Malin, then glanced at his companions, "Didn’t you say his father was killed? Did he... did he do it?"

While Malin was puzzled by this, he heard footsteps from behind and noticed the nervous demeanor of the four lads.

He turned around, Malin faced the young man who had transformed somewhat grotesquely.

"You’re late, Konghe," Malin extended his hand, and the World Tree Sapling dropped the Firearm, assembling into a sheathed longsword.

"Yeah, I am late, but just in time, not too late," he laughed, his deformed, swollen flesh distorting his face as he bent down to firmly grasp the longsword at his waist, "Look, I’m not..." late, right?

His final words turned into a soul’s whisper. From the slits in his swollen head, lifeless eyes began to burn, eventually turning into Soul Fire blazing like a star.

"No, you’re not late," Malin also crouched down, "Welcome back to the team, Konghe."

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