Chapter 128: Industrial Zone

Both sides chatted for a while longer, and once they were basically familiar with each other, everyone began to discuss serious matters.

"Let's share some intelligence first," Edward suggested.

He looked at Leinuode and said, "My intelligence basically comes from Miss Yun, so there's nothing much to say. Let's have this Transcendental captain from the Guard Hall explain his investigation results instead."

"Ahem." Seeing everyone's gaze turn toward him, Leinuode hurriedly coughed lightly and said, "Actually, the Guard Hall hasn't grasped many clues either."

"That Scarlet Messenger has a deity behind her helping her erase her tracks; even if we launch a large-scale search, it's very difficult to obtain useful information."

"However," his tone paused slightly, and he said, "I haven't been slacking off while staying with the Church's Transcendental these past few days."

"In fact, I have long suspected that there is something wrong with them."

Leinuode gave a light huff and said, "It is true that those guys want to find the Scarlet Messenger, but they are clearly avoiding me on purpose."

"According to my speculation, their goal is nothing more than to capture that Scarlet Messenger alive while avoiding me."

"And we in the Guard Hall actually don't care whether the criminal lives or dies; we just want to end this damn case as soon as possible."

"Therefore, at a critical moment, I would rather kill the criminal than let them get away."

"It is precisely because of this difference that I felt those guys were acting strange."

"Speaking of which, isn't that Father Yehua in your hands?" At this point, Leinuode turned his gaze toward Yun Mu.

"Why not interrogate that priest?" he said.

"Hiss... it seems, there was such a thing, wasn't there?"

Hearing Leinuode's words, Yun Mu immediately recalled the poor priest locked in the Painted World.

Father Yehua, who had been punched in the chest by the Scarlet Knight and had several ribs broken, had been locked alone in the captain's cabin of the Cold Crow for such a long time without a drop of water... He wouldn't starve to death, would he! Yun Mu was startled in her heart and hurriedly said, "That Father Yehua is locked in the Painted World by me; I can let him out right now."

"Let him out. With so many of us here, are we afraid he'll run away?" Edward suggested.

"Of course, we also have things to ask him," Brenna said, waving her right hand.

"Then let's let him out."

Yun Mu nodded. With a thought, the painting 【Cold Crow】 transformed from its Ether Body state into a physical object, floating behind her.

"Good taste," Edward couldn't help but praise when he saw the appearance of the Cold Crow.

"What is the name of this ship?" he then followed up and asked.

Edward asked what the name of the Cold Crow was... Haha, although it's not the same Edward, this feeling is quite interesting.

Thinking this, Yun Mu chuckled and said, "The name of this ship is the Cold Crow, and a cold crow is..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Leinuode at the side spoke up first: "A type of small, agile bird with little strength and jet-black feathers."

"Is this a Pirate ship?" he asked.

"This is just a painting, Captain," Lita reminded Leinuode at the right moment.

She meant that this was just a painting, so how could Yun Mu have thought of so many settings.

However... "That's right, she is a Pirate ship." After Lita finished speaking, Yun Mu added, "This ship was originally named the Golden City, and she was originally part of the Spanish Treasure Fleet."

"Later, she was seized by a man named Edward Kenway and named after a type of agile bird from his hometown in Wales."

"And the man lying on the edge of the ship in the picture is Edward Kenway."

"Wow," Edward raised his eyebrows upon hearing his own name and said, "Are you planning to produce a Comic, or perhaps a novel?"

"Both are possible," Yun Mu answered ambiguously.

She was serious about this; it was one of the things she had thought about doing a long time ago.

It wasn't for money or anything like that, but rather she wanted to use it to showcase the culture and Civilization of another world, namely Earth.

She wanted to see if this could attract the attention of the God of Civilization and History, Heral, and if it could increase attributes like Civilization points.

Besides that, she also wanted to see if she could open up a Path similar to a novel or a Comic.

To be even bolder, could she imprint the concept of Earth into the Ether? And could she use this concept, or something else, to find a way back to Earth? Of course, this was just her thought and speculation; what the reality was would have to wait until after she did it to know.

Unfortunately, she was currently a wanted person.

Even if she wanted to publish a book, she couldn't.

"I am going to let Father Yehua out, please everyone step back a little," Yun Mu said, looking around at the people in the room.

After everyone had stepped back a certain distance, she immersed her consciousness into the captain's cabin of the Cold Crow.

She saw, beside the giant Steam Mecha, a middle-aged man lying there with a haggard face, cracked lips, and breathing more out than in.

"... Has this guy become this weak?" Looking at Father Yehua's miserable state, Yun Mu couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth.

That shouldn't be; the other party was a Second-tier Transcendent, so even if he didn't eat or drink for a period of time, he shouldn't be like this.

Was it because he was injured by the Scarlet Knight, or was it that this guy had done something she didn't know about in the Painted World?

If he had tried to escape in the Painted World and ended up consuming a lot of physical strength, that was possible... Thinking about it, Yun Mu reached her hand into the Painted World and then grabbed Father Yehua by the back of his collar.

"Hmm!?"

The other party immediately opened his eyes wide, but before he could react.

Yun Mu's arm exerted force instantly, dragging him directly out of the Painted World! "Bang!"

Father Yehua fell onto the floor on his backside.

"Damned villains, kill me or carve me up as you please, I will not betray the great Lady of the Dark Night!" As soon as he came out of the Painted World, Father Yehua said immediately.

"Pfft."

Edward chuckled disdainfully and said, "Open your eyes wide and look carefully at exactly which great existence is standing in front of you."

"Hmph, what great existence, just a bunch of ignorant fools who believe in an Evil God..." Before he could finish his sentence, he saw Brenna with her long silver-white hair flowing behind her head, and the words he originally wanted to say instantly got stuck.

"Pr, Princess?"

"You, you, why are you here?"

As Father Yehua spoke, he began to observe his surroundings unconsciously.

"Captain Leinuode is here too?"

"Could it be that I've been saved?"

"Sigh, this idiot." Leinuode rubbed his forehead, looked at Brenna, and said, "Princess, let me explain the situation to this priest."

"Although I can't say it was very pleasant, I did work with him for a period of time, so I will find a way to persuade him."

"Mm, then I'll leave it to you." Upon hearing his words, Brenna nodded in agreement.

"There is a sealed room down below; I can have my guard take you there. In the meantime..." Brenna paused, looked at Yun Mu and Edward, and said:

"Miss Yun and I intend to go investigate the matter of the blood-red mist permeating the streets of the East District of Frostfall City tonight. May I invite you to accompany us, Mr. Edward?"

"Of course, I wouldn't dream of refusing an invitation from two beautiful ladies," Edward readily agreed.

"Then let's set off now," Brenna proposed.

"Ai Yi!" "I am here."

A Young Girl whose face was obscured by a pitch-black scarf, dressed in a set of light, agile gear, appeared from the shadows immediately after Brenna called.

"Could I trouble you to take these two gentlemen to the basement?" Brenna looked at the Young Girl and ordered in a Soft tone.

"Understood." Ai Yi nodded, then stood up, looked at Leinuode and Father Yehua, and said, "Please follow me, gentlemen."

After a pause, Ai Yi let her gaze linger on Father Yehua and added:

"Please do not attempt to escape, otherwise I will be very troubled."

"..." Father Yehua did not speak, only silently nodded.

So this is the legendary Shadow Guard? To be able to guard by the Princess's side, she must be at least a Third-tier Expert.

Father Yehua thought, feeling immense pressure, and the intention to escape he had held in his heart instantly vanished completely.

He followed behind Ai Yi and Leinuode, walking into the room behind the main hall of Frost Bank.

I suppose that must be the entrance to the so-called basement. Perhaps the room where Brenna usually researches her Bionic Doll is there?

Yun Mu thought to herself as she watched the three of them disappear behind the room's Gate.

"Let's go." Brenna took the lead and walked toward the outside of Frost Bank.

"Oh, right." As she passed by Yun Mu, she took a pitch-black mask from her bosom and handed it to her, saying, "This is for you."

"Uh..."

"Applying makeup takes too long, so just make do with this for now." Seeing Yun Mu's expression, Brenna urged.

"Alright." Hearing Brenna's words, Yun Mu could only agree.

Actually, she didn't have much resistance to wearing a mask, but how should she put it—the moment she watched Brenna pull out the mask, she realized the fact that she was now a wanted criminal.

It just felt quite strange.

"Is this okay?" She put the mask on her face, covering her mouth and nose.

"It looks quite good, doesn't it? It suits you well," Brenna evaluated.

"Just like the protagonist in a play!" Lita said very excitedly.

"I don't want to be the protagonist..." Yun Mu thought in her heart as she listened to Lita.

The three of them, along with Edward, left Frost Bank and headed toward the East District of Frostfall City.

"Speaking of which, is that area in the East District filled with factories?" Yun Mu suddenly remembered something and asked.

She still remembered the matter regarding the workers' strike in the East District that was recorded in the newspaper she had read earlier.

"Yes, the industrial area of Frostfall City is basically concentrated in the east." Hearing her words, Lita immediately explained, "When I was still a regular Guard, I patrolled over there."

"The environment is truly not very friendly."

"At this hour in the industrial area, the workers there probably haven't finished their shifts yet," Edward said as if he had thought of something.

Today is Tuesday, not the weekend stipulated by the Church, so the factory workers have to work fourteen hours.

They won't be able to finish work and go home until eight o'clock in the evening.

Yet even so, their wages are not as high as any white-collar worker on Liuli Street.

The working environment is even more Heavy.

The space is enclosed, dust fills the air, and safety measures are low; almost every once in a while, news appears about workers being injured by machinery.

Even if they are always careful when operating the machinery, after three to five years of work, they will develop various ailments such as asthma, deafness, and eye diseases due to environmental noise, dust, and dim lighting.

Besides that, there are chemical plants where workers lose their lives due to reasons like accidentally inhaling toxic gas.

This place is simply another hell.

And the workers are the people forced to head toward hell.

A look of guilt appeared on Brenna's face, yet as a loser who voluntarily withdrew from the struggle for the throne, she could not manage the affairs here.

"... Is this the industrial area?"

As soon as they stepped into the industrial area, a smell like rubber being scorched drilled into their nasal cavities.

Even Yun Mu, who was already accustomed to the stench of the sewers, could not help but lightly knit her brows after smelling this odor.

The ears were filled with the roaring sound of factory machinery, and the sky was shrouded in gray-black smoke and dust, which made one feel depressed just looking at it.

This was Yun Mu's first time coming here, including her predecessor.

After all, the workers who worked in the factories were all poor wretches; there was really nothing worth stealing here.

As for the big bosses of those factories?

Ha, those 'big shots' would not personally come to such a place to inspect.

"Princess, where are we going?" The group pushed forward against the noise and the foul odor, and Lita asked Brenna.

"To find the witness who saw the mist!"

Because the surrounding noise was too piercing, Brenna had to raise her volume to say it.

"We need to know exactly where they saw the blood-red mist!" she added as an explanation.

"Of course, do not lower your guard!"

"That guy hasn't had an accident after seeing the blood-red mist; either he's lucky, or there's something wrong with him."

"When the time comes, it will depend on Miss Yun."

"Leave it to me!" Hearing Brenna's words, Yun Mu nodded and said.

If that guy had a problem, she would most likely be able to sense it from his blood.

And there was no need to get close; she could do it from a very long distance—hm? "There are Transcendental," Yun Mu said, suddenly stopping in her tracks.

She sensed it; within the range of her blood Perception, there were several people whose blood was clearly much stronger than that of ordinary people moving about.

Having been a Bloodline for so many days, through the flow rate of blood and the power contained within the blood.

She was already able to roughly distinguish the differences between different people.

For example, right now.

"There are two Second-tier Elite and four First-tier Apprentice, to our front left, at a position of about two hundred meters," Yun Mu said, focusing her attention as she sensed the flow of those Transcendental's blood to analyze.

"Are they Bloodline?" Brenna immediately lowered her voice to ask her.

"They are not," Yun Mu shook her head and analyzed: "They are likely people from the Church, I guess."

The incident with the blood-red mist was registered in the newspapers, and it wasn't as if only they could see it.

It was within reason for the Church to send people.

PS: Hehehe, Miss Yun wearing a mask is so cool just thinking about it!

So cool! (End of chapter)