Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 717 - 496: Elegy of the bygone days (4)_2

Chapter 717: 496: Elegy of the bygone days (4)_2

Although Malin wasn’t sure if the half-humans would abandon them, he at least couldn’t let them be trapped in a deadly situation without a means of escape.

Then, leading the way with the Punishers of the Church of Justice, two half-humans covered Lulu—the Night Watcher girl whom Malin most wanted to send away. But to his surprise, she firmly refused to leave, claiming that even in the face of death, a Night Watcher must witness the end of the person they followed.

If there was a road to heaven you wouldn’t take, Malin could only lead the girl to a hell with no doors to enter.

The bones in the corridor were checked and found to be very fresh victims, probably adventurers who entered the ruins in the same batch as Jon, unfortunate enough to stumble into a nest of zombies and ultimately becoming an extra meal.

"It looks like those protective mechanisms are done for," Jason observed, noticing a pile of mechanical debris in the corner. His comment made Malin hand over the ID he had collected to the Punisher of the Lord of Justice and then he approached the pile of debris: "Did the zombies break them?"

"Not exactly, these are traces of burns caused by laser weapons. Look, here and there, there are holes that have melted, and here, after destroying its shell, the laser weapon burnt out its central transmission system in the spine. It might be survivors from the second or third era. They’ve been here, and our friend who left the can of sardines must be from the last period of the third era... After his death, the zombies gradually took over this place."

"Laser weapons, I truly wish we could get our hands on one." Honestly, Malin had never seen such a thing before, and witnessing it would be quite an eye-opener.

"As long as you can take over a few key factories, we can mass-produce laser weapons," Jason said.

"Let me guess, are they in Moscow?" When factories were mentioned, Malin thought of the drones and satellite factories in Moscow.

"Not quite, they’re in the Hangzhou Bay Area," Jason said with a tone full of mirth.

"Ignore what I said," Malin rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall, raising his gun towards the partially open door. The leader of the Church of Justice stood beside him, also raising his gun, while the half-human opened the door for them.

After Malin confirmed with hand signals that there was nothing in the door directly ahead, the half-human on the other side peeked halfway through, checked the situation on the side of their door-pushing companion, then glanced at the ceiling and walked into the room. The door-pushing half-human entered, took a look behind the door: "It’s safe."

"Security room." Jason followed Malin into the room, looking at the pried-open cabinets: "Normally, there should be laser guns in these cabinets, but it seems we’ve been beaten by someone quicker."

"This quick one is quite old," Malin said with a smile, looking at the monitors on the wall: "By the way, I am curious, why would a supermarket security need to be equipped with laser weapons?"

In Malin’s view, a supermarket security would be adequately served with batons, truncheons, and pepper spray.

"You see, this is the entrenched thinking of East Asians. In your area, indeed, there’s no need for laser guns, but where you are now is the former land of France," Jason said with dramatic flair.

"I know, France is a mess," Malin remarked.

"You see, this is the inherent prejudice of people from other countries towards the French at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. Did you know, when this supermarket opened, it was during the surge of the French zero-cost trend," Jason continued, proudly adding, "I have specifically supplemented my knowledge of your era."

"Even the zero-cost wave has come, you’re unbelievable," Malin rolled his eyes and meanwhile, spotted a card on the table: "Is this a security card?"

"Indeed, but I am not sure if this thing is still of any use."

"Let’s keep it. According to probability theory, there must be somewhere in this world where a card reader is just waiting for this card," Malin pocketed the card and stepped out of the security room.

The Punishers of the Church of Justice were already standing in front of a fire door that had failed, with many shelves and boxes blocking it. This barricade-looking response, whose origins were unclear.

As usual, Malin controlled the area with a Silent Barrier while the Punishers cleared a pathway.

Malin was the first to pass through, hugging the wall and pointing his gun barrel into the dark hall that was presumably the daily necessities area. The following Punishers advanced, turning on the ultraviolet flashlights attached below their guns, illuminating the hall and also the densely packed zombies.

It was like a can of sardines... No, it would be better described as something that could give claustrophobics PTSD if they looked up at a star-filled sky.

If they hadn’t taken a trace-concealing potion before the operation, the zombies would have already smelled them.

Now, separated by a metal fence, Malin led the team in silence through the priority passage and into the circular corridor that surrounded the shopping area.

·I thought we were done for.

Lulu’s Psychic Whisper echoed in Malin’s mind.

·Yes, if you had screamed at that time, we would have truly been done for.

As Malin spoke, he approached a zombie from behind, stabbing it with a dagger at the base of its skull where the spine meets, and then laid the creature to rest on the ground.

·I’m not an idiot.

The girl behind him said while patting Malin on the shoulder.

·Over there.

Malin turned around, and under her guidance, he spotted a small wraith.

It was a... Wandering Spirit.

The Punishers also saw the child.

In Malin’s eyes, the small wraith was sitting with its legs hugged, next to its skeletal remains. Shreds of clothes were still on the bones, and a small tablet lay beside them.

Malin stopped Lulu from following him and approached the wraith. When it lifted its head, Malin nodded at those pitch-black eye sockets.

·Hello there, child, are you lost?

Speaking to the wraith in the Whisper of the Soul proved effective; it did not scream but nodded like a person would.

·Mister, is it safe outside now?

Is it safe outside now?

It seemed... to be a victim of the Great Destruction Era.

Has humanity been able to condense their souls since then due to their proximity to the Subspace?

With such doubts in mind, Malin extended his hand.

·Yes, it’s safe. I’ll take you out to find your mom and dad.

·Thank you, mister.

The wraith also reached out its hand, and at the moment it grasped hands with Malin, the wraith, tears of blood streaming from its eye sockets, twisted violently as it opened its mouth attempting to cackle and mock the stupidity of its prey—until it realized it was burning.

The roles of hunter and prey had completed multiple reversals, and the vindictive ghost, now the prey, ignited by divine energy, ended up turning to ashes in Malin’s hands. Due to a Purification that was too thorough, not even a small trophy remained.

Malin shook the ash from his hands, then picked up the small tablet and put it into his pocket before turning back to the Punishers.

·Let’s go, everyone, we still have work to do.

·How did you know there was something wrong with that child?

Lulu caught up from behind and asked, her tone full of curiosity, as she walked alongside Malin.

·It was intuition.

Malin responded as such, while not planning to disclose his talent—through his eyes, that seemingly pitiable child was darkly purple.

·You gave me the same answer last time.

Lulu frowned, quite obviously not fooled by Malin’s deception, but it seemed she had her own realizations and in the end, did not press further.

Luckily she didn’t ask further, otherwise Malin really wouldn’t know how to persuade her.

Should he tell this girl that he could clearly see the sins a soul carried?

How could he explain that.