Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 522 - 354: Confirmation (Part 2)

Chapter 522: Chapter 354: Confirmation (Part 2)

Malin returned later than planned and had to make do with breakfast alongside Matilda.

However, when Matilda and Faye started talking about zombies, Malin still played the role of a listener.

Firstly, there’s the classification of the Dark Zone. This region, known as the Death Zone to the north of the Eastern Kingdom, is basically unfit for human habitation.

The Dark Zone denotes areas about which humans know little, and these areas are the most popular, yet most dangerous, among Tech Hunters. After all, no one knows exactly what’s in there, and if the threat level were equivalent to that of the Red or Purple Zones, any moment of carelessness could lead to the annihilation of oneself and one’s team.

The Red Zone signifies extreme danger. The most perilous inhabitants of this area are clearly the out-of-control mechanical beings, like the one Malin had hammered down last time. These mechanical beings eliminate all enemies, whether Tech Hunters or agents of Chaos, all are upon their list of prey.

The Purple Zone, as the name suggests, represents the areas under the control of Chaos. It consists of two main subcategories: the Native Chaos being mutants like zombies, and the Merchant Chaos is related to the Evil God; however, for some unknown reason, even the minions of the Evil God corrupt upon entering the Death Zone.

So in Malin’s view, aside from the nuclear cleansing of yesteryear, there must be something else affecting the area, although he’s not sure what it is.

Anyway, given the current situation, it seems best to leave the mountains to the Mage Tower and the Druids and ask if they could organize a reconnaissance mission. It’s said that the skies above the Dark Zone are mostly safe, so if they could fly higher and record the terrain with a Demon Crystal, it would be greatly beneficial for ground reconnaissance.

Of course, this wasn’t Malin’s responsibility; it was just a topic of conversation to pass the time with the girls.

.........

The train was scheduled to stop in Bologna for three days for loading and unloading goods and attaching two additional carriages, as the local Merchant’s Guild had goods to transport to the capital.

The Church of Justice had also sent word that the Farol Principality diocese placed great importance on the analysis and the young creatures submitted by Malin’s group, with a dedicated team arriving the next day to confirm the findings. Additionally, they had contacted a group of Druids to command the War Eagles for an early scouting mission to ensure the skies were safe.

After all, a Mage is too precious to be used carelessly.

David Julius also paid a visit, informing Malin that the zombies from the south had indeed devoured the dead infants. He also brought with him two zombie corpses — one of the giant mutant kinds from the north, and one of the humanoid kind they had encountered the previous day.

Out of curiosity, Malin donned a protective suit, joining David and the Church of Justice’s Paladins for a comparative autopsy.

The Paladin was in charge of filming, while David took notes.

Malin was responsible for slicing through the tough outer skin and inner membrane of the zombies.

The first focus was the brain. The brain of a northern zombie was smaller than that of its southern counterpart, which might explain why they completely animalized, while the southerners could still use basic tools.

"The brain is indeed the central control tool of a being. I’ve read about it in books from the old era that said human souls couldn’t manifest then... Lord Malin, what do you think about the soul?"

David’s question caught Malin off guard for a moment, then he smiled. "I believe that when a person dies, it’s like a lamp going out, and their life ends there. So, death is just death, bringing nothing more than grief to the loved ones and joy to the enemies."

After a moment of thought, David Julius smiled wistfully and nodded. "That’s right, my lord. You are not wrong."

The next dissection was the chest. A northern zombie’s four-lobed lungs and three hearts made Malin sigh - one couldn’t compare it to a southern zombie.

"Is this a mutant creation? No wonder they can chase the train for so long. Tell me, Lord Malin, how did you deal with them?"

"Fireballs, lightning; there’s always one that suits them," Malin said with a smile, pulling the blade further down. "Speaking of which, this autopsy is the most comfortable one I’ve done. Everyone performed very well, with no one vomiting or fainting."

"Oh, Lord Malin, who exactly are you referring to from the Church?" David asked curiously.

"The Benevolent Church, yeah. Last year, I taught an autopsy class for the Apprentices at the Goddess of Benevolent’s Church. The body was from a green-skinned monster. When I cut open the lower area, half of the Apprentices nearly passed out. I don’t know why; maybe it’s because the thing was too big." Malin continued his work, pulling the organs out from the pelvic cavity. "It’s a big one, definitely not human from its appearance. I’m really curious if creatures like these really share ancestors with us?"

"Who knows." David lifted the organ. "Goodness, it’s as long as my forearm."

"The front end is pointed; it really doesn’t seem human, nor does the pelvis; it looks problematic, not like a human’s." Malin had by this time split the entire front of the pelvis. "You see, the muscle placement is all different; humans aren’t like this."

"Do you mean, this creature might not be human at all?" A Paladin asked.

"Yes, because from what we see now, I don’t believe this thing is human. The fact is, apart from its lower body, there’s something off about its chest cavity too; the shoulders aren’t like a human’s either." Malin pointed to the shoulders of the two bodies and then to the Paladin: "You can make the comparison yourselves."

"What kind of creatures do you think they are?" the Paladin captain didn’t object but instead asked eagerly with a thirst for knowledge.

Malin switched to a new knife and scraped the faces of the two heads clean. "Judging by their mouths, they have protruding jaws with fine teeth. I think, they resemble the marine mammals from the old era." Considering that everyone here might have never seen dolphins, Malin didn’t specify the exact name.

"Marine mammals? That breathe with lungs?" David pondered for a long time before shaking his head in confusion, "Mr. Malin, I think... we know too little about the ocean. There are oceanic civilizations there, and we rarely understand them, let alone the creatures from the sea you mentioned coming ashore, and from the old era at that. Is it possible?"

"It’s possible. These creatures could have been created as genetically enhanced soldiers before the Great Destruction of the old era. I suspect the Dark Zone to the north holds the secret of how they were made, but right now, I’m just speculating. The details still need facts and evidence to support my claims." As he spoke, Malin began dissecting the legs, and this time, the Paladins also noticed something— the muscles in the legs were completely different from those of humans.

"But speaking of which, why do you know so much about leg muscles?" Malin asked curiously.

"Because we’re best at dealing with leg injuries," said the Paladin.

Malin was full of question marks.

Then it suddenly hit him—damn, being good at treating leg injuries means you can move faster and therefore have a better chance of survival.

"I understand," Malin nodded vigorously, then stripped all the flesh from the legs of the two zombies.

Looking at the bare leg bones, Malin tossed aside his scalpel—if these could still be considered human, then Malin really would have to accept it.

But no matter, here was different from Earth. On Earth, Malin couldn’t do anything about those who spouted nonsense with their eyes wide open, but here, Malin had a thousand ways to make such academic pariahs unable to get away with it.

.........

Malin’s dissection was highly praised. The Sage Consortium expressed their gratitude to Malin for his thorough dissection of the zombies, which allowed many for the first time to have a direct understanding of the structure of the zombies.

Moreover, some even approached Malin to buy the thing. When Malin heard the news, his first thought was to inform the Church of Justice that someone wanted to use the terrifying stuff for a sacrifice.

But then he saw it was a Thanan, who expressed a desire to use it to brew liquor.

After much thought, Malin decided not to take money for it.

The reason was simple, because Malin couldn’t very well note on Sydney’s personal tax return under reasons ’Today I sold an arm-long organ for 3200 Mowish, as declared for taxation.’

I, as the mighty Prince and behind-the-scenes leader of the Consortium, would not be collecting these paltry 3200, would I?

It would be too embarrassing.

The thankful individual didn’t take this for granted and gave Malin a gift in return—a timepiece from the old era that he claimed to have brought back from a deep dive during the old era. Malin glanced at it and found it similar to the one he received last time.

So, quite quickly, Bippo’s long ears each sported such a timepiece.

It has to be said, it looked rather cute.

"Bip—" Bippo shook its head, then Faye picked it up—after all, it was a little cutie, and alive at that.

"By the way, I heard you caught a live zombie cub?" Clovis asked Malin after returning from the Mage Tower.

Malin nodded.

"Some say you are too soft-hearted." After saying this, Clovis sighed, "I know, it’s because of your oath, isn’t it?"

"That’s right," Malin nodded. "But I’m not soft-hearted, otherwise I wouldn’t have handed over the cub and the report to the Church of Justice. Since you got the news from the Mage Tower, the cub should probably be turned over to the Mage Tower now, right?"

"Yes, now they are discussing whether to raise it or enter it into the research center right away." As she spoke, Clovis sat beside Malin and took a leopard cub into her arms, "It’s really troublesome. I don’t want to go to the Mage Tower tomorrow to listen to their quarreling."

"Then don’t go. I’ll cook something delicious for you all at noon tomorrow." Malin spoke while petting the cat.

What to make would depend on what I could hunt outside the city tomorrow morning.