Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 884: Section 582: Old Harlos (Part 3)

Chapter 884: Section 582: Old Harlos (Part 3)

The forensic report stated that the victims were pierced to death from behind with a sharp instrument; the poor innocents probably never got a chance to see the face of the murderer until their dying breath.

"Is there only this method? Among the Evil Gods that appeared in the Dark Era, was there one known for assassinating clergymen?" Malin looked up at Lulu, who in this area, was the true master, a walking encyclopedia.

Lulu nodded, then shook her head.

"What’s the matter?" Malin asked curiously.

"During the Dark Era, there were Evil Gods who assassinated clergymen, at least seventeen of them. Thirteen were hunted by the Lord of Justice, and there are four left. Judging by the method of sacrifice, any of these four Evil Gods could be possible. The rise of the Spiritual Energy tide indeed makes it plausible for followers to try and awaken one of these Evil Gods in this way," Lulu explained.

"So you’re saying that our enemy might very well be an Evil God," Malin said with a sigh. "What a hassle. By the way, Lulu, who do you think it might be?"

However, Lulu had her own opinion: "Perhaps I can differentiate based on the style of the ceremonial dagger. Is the dagger double-edged on both sides?"

"Yes, the report states that. Come to think of it, does that make a difference?" Malin asked with a hint of curiosity.

"Yes, of the four Evil Gods, two require their followers to use double-edged daggers compulsorily, and one requires the use of a triangular-blade dagger, which clearly isn’t our suspect this time," Lulu said while petting the Snow Leopard, and looked at Malin.

"You’ve piqued my curiosity. What about the other one?" Malin’s thirst for knowledge and gossip spurred him to ask.

"Single-edged dagger with a spine, nearly as long as a short sword," Lulu replied concisely and assertively.

"These four are so strict with their followers. Come to think of it, I have never heard of their identities before. What’s going on with them?" Malin continued his eager line of questioning, which was soon to be answered.

"The differences in daggers and incantations ensure the offerings reach them more safely. As for why they disappeared, that goes back to the last Tide of the Dead." Through Lulu’s explanation, these four Evil Gods nearly became the guides for the quartet of suppliers for Chaos. Simply put, these native Evil Gods once held considerable influence, but since the advent of the Lord of Justice, they’ve had a tough time. They struggled but the Lord of Justice was too powerful. In that era, thirteen of this Evil God faction were slain, and the remaining four decided to act as guides, to summon whoever they could.

Then the Lord of Justice found them, gave them a thorough beating, and threw them backward into Subspace, shattering the Teleportation Array with a hammer blow.

Of course, although these four Evil Gods were kicked out of this world, whenever the Tide of the Dead arose, some descendants of their followers would suddenly awaken, and then in a possessed state, carry out sacrifice and summoning rituals.

"These guys, even combined, were beaten into a pulp by the Lord of Justice. They’re not very strong but sure have big tempers," Zem laughed from the kitchen.

Malin couldn’t find it in himself to laugh.

It reminded him of the sacrifice incidents that took place in Carterburg years ago. Some of these incidents were the handiwork of Chaotic Believers.

Others were never connected to the main case, ending up in a separate file labeled as mysterious perpetrators, related to the cause of Sara and her companions’ deaths.

Malin was always searching for the murderer, but he had never thought to look into the tools the murderer used. Now that it came up... it was indeed very strange why there were no such reports from Carterburg.

Did they not see them? Or was nothing ever written?

Malin made a mental note of this quietly, and at the same time, he turned to Lulu, who was playing with Spotty: "Who do you think it could be?"

"The report mentions, was the blood collected for the sacrifice in a round-mouthed cup, or a narrow-necked bottle?" Lulu asked without turning around.

Malin wiped his forehead: "Is that a requirement too?"

"Yes, if it’s a round-mouthed cup, it’s Engma·Winst, a former Rightful God of the Engma Empire, who became twisted into an Evil God after the empire was corrupted by Chaos. And if it’s a narrow-necked bottle, it’s an assassin from the Eastern Kingdom, who hails from a much older era, roughly the early period of the Dark Era. He became an Evil God directly upon his ascension," Lulu explained.

"A round-mouthed cup," Malin glanced at the report: "At all five scenes, only round-mouthed cups were found, and not a single narrow-necked bottle."

"Then it’s Engma·Winst. Personally, I would suggest giving this creature a nickname, just in case it really breaks free from Subspace. That would be troublesome. It’s considered a native deity, and in this world, if you mention its name, it can directly come after you," Lulu said, after which Malin thought for a moment: "Let’s call it ’Lucky’ then."

"Lai Fu? Thainanese? What does that mean?" Jiaxi from Thainan peeked her head out from the kitchen.

"In Thainanese, it’s usually a dog’s name; I think it suits him well," Malin said.

Then he received enthusiastic agreement—everyone felt that the Evil God could not have known that a name used for a canine creature in Thainan could represent him.

"So now the problem arises, Mr. Lai Fu’s former followers left no records, and a dagger is a simple weapon that is easy to understand. Almost anyone can use it without worrying about cutting their own hands. To find the murderer from the weapon alone is as difficult as reaching the heavens. However, under normal circumstances, the ritual bloodletting knife would have a very strong blood reaction, so we can thoroughly inspect the kitchens and workplaces of all individuals by family unit. If we can find the knife, then perform a blood reaction analysis, we should be able to identify the target," Lulu explained in one breath, then looked toward Malin: "How’s my analysis?"

"Perfect. The problem now is that we need to find enough people to test every single dagger in the hands of everyone in this city," Malin did not think it was a good idea. Daggers, being such simple weapons, were too numerous, and many Northerners even use them to cut meat. It would be an astronomical figure if every one had to be tested.

"I think we’d better start with the most suspicious group of people. The local officers would have more to say on this point," Zem’s suggestion aligned perfectly with Malin’s thoughts. Indeed, screening the most necessary people for testing was far quicker and simpler than testing everyone.

Malin agreed to this approach. After reviewing the autopsy report, he could confirm that the wounds on the victims were generally about 5 centimeters long, regardless of age or gender, so the blade of the dagger would be about the same width—5 centimeters. As for the depth of the wounds, they were generally around 15 centimeters, with the widest part of the wound on the outside having an opening of about 1 centimeter.

After mentioning the details from the report, Jiaxi, who had once again peeked her head out from the kitchen, said, "Why do I feel like this dagger sounds a lot like the combat knives produced by your workshop? I have one, and it’s really handy."

"Don’t just ’feel’ it, it is indeed the combat knife from my workshop," Malin said, shaking his head. These combat knives were highly praised by the military; their carburized steel material coupled with the ability to be coated with Holy Oil made them very effective against Chaotic soldiers.

And for humans, these were godly weapons. The key point being that they were mass-produced and it was impossible to trace who purchased them by production batches.

Not to mention, a lot got lost on the battlefield.

"But the only benefit is that we can confirm the shape of the murder weapon, which provides great guidance for our next actions," Zem saw this as a very important discovery.

"Someone’s knocking at the door," Lulu spoke up.

So Malin asked Fio to go open the door, while he walked over to Lulu’s side.

The ones at the door were not monsters or demons, but several Dwarves with big beards, and the leader, along with more than a dozen followers, wielded various tools, marching right in as soon as the door opened.

Then they stared at Malin and Lulu, dumbfounded.

After a while, one of the Dwarves who recognized Malin greeted him with a ’Good afternoon, sir.’ Consequently, these hot-blooded fellows chose to put away their tools, and the leading one introduced himself with some embarrassment: "I’m Xingyan’s boyfriend; I just heard that Xingyan was seen walking with a tall guy."

"This is why you barged into my house with tools, you idiot." Xingyan, who had been smiling by the kitchen door, walked over to her fellow Dwarf’s side. She turned her head towards Malin, "My boyfriend, Steelbreak."

Malin smiled and extended his hand to shake hands with these flabbergasted Dwarves one by one. When he finally shook hands with Steelbreak, driven by a mischievous idea, Malin’s smile faded: "Hello, Steelbreak, I am Malin. You must know me."

"Yes, yes, sir," Malin’s stature exerted a certain pressure on the young Dwarf, so the young man nodded.

"When I was very young, your girlfriend Xingyan was, like me, an Apprentice of the Goddess of Harvest Church. I, Faye, Maya, and Xingyan, we all studied in the same class, so I treat Xingyan like a little sister of mine." As he spoke, Malin reached out and ruffled Xingyan’s hair. The young lady smiled sheepishly and then affectionately hugged her boyfriend’s arm.

"Yes, sir, I love Xingyan deeply," the young Dwarf nodded vigorously.

"I know. So, what I want to tell you is, as I grew older, I learned some rather unique skills which are usually the nightmare of my enemies. So you better not think about bullying Xingyan or hurting this sister of mine because if you do, no matter where in the world you flee, I will find you. Then I will use every skill I’ve learned from Chaos itself to ’enhance’ your final moments. Do you understand?"

"I understand!!" Young Mr. Steelbreak screamed, nodding desperately.

"Good, now, young Dwarves, we have a roast for today, sit down and join us."

Malin said, patting Steelbreak’s shoulder.

Remember, what Mr. Malin says, he does.