Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 756: Section 517: The Shape of Voice (Part 2)

Chapter 756: Section 517: The Shape of Voice (Part 2)

Almost two hours past the anticipated time, Malin finally arrived at the edge of the town, where the emergency team had already taken position. Malin made introductions with the person in charge of the emergency team. They had conducted an investigation on the fog but were completely unable to comprehend how the fog came into existence. They had also tried using Spell Formation to disperse the fog, to no effect at all.

The only good news was that the fog seemed to be non-toxic. They had lowered small animals into the fog with ropes. Spell Formation could confirm their position, and they seemed capable of moving within the fog, without being controlled or encountering other problems.

Hence, before Malin’s arrival, the captain of the team had entered the fog with a rope. Except for seeing nothing, he found nothing else, and due to the rope being too short, he had to return the same way he came.

At Malin’s behest, Eleven entered the fog, as Malin began to prepare—bullets, potions, and a protective suit specially made for Bippo.

"Your Excellency, you arrived a bit late," the captain said.

"The wooden bridge collapsed on the way here, and we had a hard time finding a new path," Malin said somewhat awkwardly—if not for Salis, whether Malin and Eleven could have arrived today at all was questionable.

"The bridge collapsed? My gosh, it’s remarkable that an out-of-towner like you could still find this place. We’re truly sorry, Your Excellency, for misunderstanding you," the captain said with a hint of embarrassment, bowing his head in apology.

"How do you plan to get back?" Malin asked, looking at them.

"If the bridge is down, we will have to take a long detour on foot; if we walk, we might get back to Copenhagen before dawn breaks tomorrow," the captain said with a sigh of resignation, "We’ll freeze to death out in the wild."

Malin shook his head and opened up the back half of his motorcycle: "I have tents and food for overnight on my bike, plus some alcohol. You can set up the tents first, and if all goes well, the issue should be resolved before sunset today. Then we can hunker down in the tents for the night, and first thing tomorrow morning we’ll head back ... besides, if the fog incident is handled, we might be able to use the teleportation passage to return directly."

"Thank you so much," the captain said. He and his three teammates, whose faces were chapped red from the cold, began to set up the tents. Malin watched to make sure they didn’t start to strip their clothes off due to the work, and only then did he relax—in such cold weather, if they began removing their clothes, it would mean that they were entering the countdown of their lives. A dangerously low body temperature causes the body to release a significant amount of heat, which makes one feel overheated and leads to undressing. All this signifies a loss of awareness of the outside world, creating a vicious cycle that results in death from hypothermia.

Once the tents were set, the four-member emergency team started a bonfire and placed the grill on it. Two teenagers, having tethered their goat at the side, slaughtered it and prepared for a delightful roasted goat feast.

"Where did this goat come from?" Malin asked, curious.

"Before the fog spread over, we found it in a pen ahead of here. Its owners are nowhere to be seen—possibly they were in the town at that time," the captain answered: "We used it for experiments, confirmed the fog was non-toxic, and now we’re borrowing its meat for our meal."

"You didn’t say so earlier," Malin remarked, turning to glance behind him. Fio and Lorrin were dragging a deer over the mound behind them.

"Wow, fantastic! Deer too!" The two youngsters took the deer and began butchering it, each handling one side.

Meanwhile, the captain happily poured wine for Malin and also picked out a leg of lamb for him, while Malin offered them a can of spices. It is well known that goats from the North have a robust taste, needing spices to mask it.

With the spices, the members of the emergency team became even more cheerful. Malin learned from the captain that emergency teams generally handle marginal tasks, jobs that are moderately dangerous and troublesome. Sometimes, arriving teams bring them something to eat; other times, they get nothing and must make do with black bread. Northmen know all too well that black bread brought into the wild can be as hard as stone, capable of cracking one’s head open.

So the supplies Malin brought offered the emergency team a luxury similar to that of nobles.

Malin felt the young men had had a rough time and thus let them enjoy themselves with a smile.

When the meat was ready, Malin ate a few pieces, then he noticed Eleven emerging from the fog.

"I took a round through the town, saw nothing, all humans have vanished. I found some food in their houses, some pots still had soup in them, indicating that the fog indeed appeared during breakfast time," Eleven delivered the bad news.

After considering for a moment, Malin mused, "The food still being there does indeed prove the fog appeared during breakfast, but where did the people go?"

"I looked, but it’s already noon, and the snow on the ground is somewhat deep. These few hours are enough to cover any footprints with fresh snow. I haven’t found anything, but the animals are still around," Eleven replied, causing Malin to frown. He turned to the captain, who was munching on a deer leg, "Captain, you said you entered the fog. Did you feel anything unusual?"