Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 485 - 325: Reunion (Part 1)

Chapter 485: Chapter 325: Reunion (Part 1)

Jason arrived at the scene at noon the next day, just as the weather cleared, and the Hibernian mansion in front of him had already been destroyed in a great fire.

"You’re here," said the chief of police, nodding at Jason—this young man’s family had recently suffered an incident, and he understood, so even though Jason was late, he wasn’t going to say anything.

If he had scolded him at this time, the Honor Department (which managed retired soldiers) would probably have come to invite him for tea.

"Yes, Chief, it looks like it has been completely burned down, was it a fire?"

"The bodies wouldn’t agree with that. Come, Jason," the Chief said, moving toward the building that was now unrecognizable from the fire.

They stopped at the position outside the main gate, where the hired laborers were clearing the rubble and carrying out bodies.

Jason, following behind the Chief, frowned when he saw the bodies: "Bodies of fear-faeries?"

"Yes, more than one." The Chief showed Jason a row of fear-faeries’ bodies that had been burned.

"The bodies are well-preserved. The Hibernian mansion has three floors; it’s a large mansion, which suggests that these Chaos creatures should have been on the top floor, possibly even on the rooftop." At this point, Jason shook his head, looking at his Chief: "Chief, I think the rooftop is unlikely. In the past few days, our hired Druids confirmed the workers’ queues in the sky; the fear-faeries couldn’t have been on the rooftop, so they must have been on the third floor."

"Yes, your analysis is correct. You truly are a high-achiever," the Chief acknowledged, impressed by the young man—he was a Knight-class Transcendent before he joined the army and, after returning, had completed the Church’s advanced mathematics and the Church of the War God’s intelligence analysis courses.

At that moment, a human body was carried out, and although it was charred, the blade wound on its head was still visibly clear, with an unmistakable distortion that was non-human.

"Chaos, someone entered the Hibernian mansion last night and annihilated the Chaos within... That’s the only deduction I can make from the current situation," Jason said, frowning: "Mr. Guda Hibernian played a neutral role in the recent incident against Mr. Malin at the merchant’s guild. I can’t figure out why this would happen."

"Who knows, let’s just leave this problem to the Church," the Chief said as laborers digging out the basement brought out two more bodies.

"It’s the lady and the child," Jason guessed their identities from the size of the bags: "Has Mr. Hibernian been found?"

"No."

"It’s possible that Chaos kidnapped Mr. Hibernian, but I heard that Mr. Hibernian attended the guild’s banquet last night. Considering this, I suspect he was replaced before the banquet at the latest. The Infiltrators of Chaos are a very effective method," Jason suggested, glancing at the opened body bags: "The lady’s body has an obvious non-human appearance, this is not something that happens overnight; at least a week before Mr. Hibernian was replaced. We can give up any hope of finding Mr. Hibernian."

Jason felt that no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t find someone who no longer existed in this world.

Yes, someone who no longer existed in this world.

Perhaps they might become non-human, but as for being human... Mr. Hibernian was certainly no longer that.

"Is this what the Church of the War God’s intelligence analysis lessons taught you?"

"Yes, Mr. Chief."

As more and more bodies were discovered, when laborers pulled out bodies with obvious gunshot wounds from the rubble, Jason crouched down and dug out huge bullets from these carbonized corpses. This time Jason didn’t need to make the latest judgment; his Chief had already recognized these bullets: "10 millimeters, only Mr. Malin would use this type of ammunition."

"Maybe someone else did, Sir."

"No, I saw them at the workshop; the Dwarves said they were not for sale... Jason, let’s go see Mr. Malin, shall we?"

"Why, going to see Mr. Malin now isn’t a good idea. No matter what, we shouldn’t appear before Mr. Malin at this time. The workers might let others go, but they definitely won’t spare anyone who threatens Mr. Malin."

"Perhaps this is why everyone in a self-governed street in the North City District has disappeared..." the chief paused, "This is really deadly. Yet, I still need to meet with Mr. Malin. I cannot let this continue any longer, and I will inform the Merchants’ Guild about what they have provoked."

"Can I not follow you?" Jason had no interest in courting death.

"Please, Jason, help me out. Even if Mr. Malin kills me, he might spare me from being thrown into the sea to feed the fish, for your sake," the chief pleaded with eyes full of begging.

"I am very reassured that you have such self-awareness," Jason said bluntly.

Although Jason did not want to follow this foolish middle-aged man to meet Malin, he still went along.

Because Malin was likely at the Church of the Goddess of Harvest during the day, and normally Jason had no way to go there—since he was not a believer.

But going today with the chief might allow him to see his child.

So, Jason ended up accompanying the chief off the carriage, walked into the Church, stated their purpose, and one of the Proxies in the Church suggested that Mr. Malin was currently in the underground area and he could help the police chief to find Mr. Malin.

Now Jason was almost certain that the missing Mr. Hibian must be in the underground area—the underground of the Church was basically synonymous with private prisons.

Hence the chief and Jason could only sit on the small round stools in front of the counter, where an Apprentice brought them coffee. The chief said thank you, and Jason nodded his head.

After a while, Malin appeared at the entrance of the inner area of the hall. He wore an apron and looked like a man who had just come out of the kitchen, but Jason knew that in the world of torture, this was standard attire.

And indeed, Mr. Malin’s apron was covered in bloodstains, and even his face bore a trace of blood.

"Good afternoon, Chief Jonathan, Captain Jason, I hear you were looking for me."

Malin did not reach out his hand. Even though he had gloves on, since he did not extend his hand, Jason did not want to either, only the chief, the fool, reached out his hand.

In the end, Malin removed his right glove and shook hands with the chief.

This filled Jason with despair, as he could not understand how such a man could survive to become the chief.

"Malin, about Mr. Hibian, was he captured by you?" What Jason understood even less was his own chief’s ignorant and fearless behavior; he simply blurted it out so directly.

Mr. Malin fell silent for a moment, then smiled and shook his head, "Chief Jonathan, I understand your feelings. The Merchants’ Guild has given you many benefits. You have made a fortune in your position as chief of Carterburg, your wife’s cake shop in the North City District also does very well, the Nobles like you, Merchants choose you, and the law protects you... so you think you don’t need a friend like me who seems very redundant."

The chief wanted to say something but was silenced by Malin’s raised hand, while Jason listened to Mr. Malin continue, "We had no grievances before, and your circle would never intersect with mine, but today you come to me saying, ’Malin, about Mr. Hibian, did you kidnap him?’"

At this point, Mr. Malin shook his head, turned to glance at the guards of the Church, who immediately surrounded them in a half-circle, "Chief Jonathan, I am very curious whether it was the fools in the Merchants’ Guild who taught you, or if I have done something wrong to make you disrespect me so much."

"Malin! I am speaking to you as the chief of Carterburg police!" Jonathan raised his voice.

"Yes, are you satisfied with that answer?" finished Mr. Malin, standing up, "Well then, I invite you to meet Mr. Hibian. Experience it up close."

Jonathan, the chief, wanted to struggle, but soon enough, he was dragged along by the guards following Malin.

Jason obediently followed behind them.

No need to struggle anymore.