Chapter 358: Steam Council

Brian, who had been acting as a secret policeman, died in an alleyway where no one noticed; it was not the climax of a foggy night, but merely an insignificant prelude.

Today marks the end of the second day since the players entered the Steam Phantom plane.

There is a common piece of knowledge in the Abyss Game: the first day of entering a dungeon is usually the most dangerous time.

Nearly half of the players who die in a dungeon die on the first day.

To avoid a "first-encounter kill," the vast majority of players are very restrained on the first day of a dungeon, trying their best not to do anything that might lead to danger.

For example, the players who snatched the invitations would immediately choose to abandon the fight even if they saw secret policemen—whose numbers were far fewer than theirs—approaching.

At the end of the second day of dungeon time, the players have basically understood the situation of the plane they are in and realized their own circumstances after a day and a half.

Players with faster progress have even tested the tolerance level of the Grimland authorities.

This means everyone can stop pretending and, to a certain extent, let loose.

Regarding the scramble for invitations, while things were still kept within limits on the first day, today they have already fought with genuine fire.

Grimland Bridge consists mainly of two stone-spired towers, with a hydraulically operated drawbridge in the middle.

The bridge spans the entire Hills River and is an iconic structure of Grimland, and even Stilane.

At this moment, a chaotic battle is unfolding on the bridge, with over fifteen players participating, at least six of whom could rank in the top fifty of the combat power list.

One of the sides in the battle is the group of five who successfully snatched an invitation last night.

They do not belong to the four major organizations but are an alliance of two first-rate factions; relying on their quick assembly and lack of mutual suspicion, they succeeded frequently yesterday.

Between last night and today, they have snatched at least three invitations.

However, there are still two days left until the start of the Transcendent Gathering.

It is like sitting at a gambling table: what is won first is just paper; how much you win at the start of the game is not important, but how much money you can take away when the game ends is what counts as skill.

Among the onlookers who watched the group of five snatching invitations last night, a portion have today turned into one of the sides fighting on the bridge.

The battle has been going on for fifteen minutes, and during the fight, at least three players have been seriously injured and forced to use items to leave the dungeon early.

The players' battle is drawing the attention of countless eyes behind the fog.

Some of these eyes belong to other players, while others belong to the dungeon's natives.

On the bridge tower on the north side of Grimland Bridge, Jianxing and Leng Shan stand at the top, looking down at the battle below.

They did not come to compete for invitations; not only are they not competing, but in order to attract enough heavyweight players, Leng Shan even took out an invitation given to him by Wu Chang as bait, leading the battlefield to Grimland Bridge.

The venue here is open, and it is difficult for the secret police to intervene, allowing the players to perform as they please.

As long as they perform enough and expose more information, more intelligence can be collected.

In the Abyss Game, it is not just intelligence related to the main dungeon plot that is intelligence; who the participating players are, what their strength is, and what their abilities are, are all precious intelligence.

Clearing the dungeon is only a part of it; if one only has eyes for the dungeon and cannot see the other players lurking behind, one will not go far in the Abyss.

Leng Shan looks at the fog in the sky and sighs:

"An S-rank dungeon on the verge of losing control is indeed different from the S-rank dungeons I have entered before; under the influence of the Abyss erosion, huge changes are happening here at every moment."

"Two or three hours ago, the plane was still very stable, and in the blink of an eye, the Power of Origin began to erode the plane."

"Under the influence of the Power of Origin, all abilities not native to this plane will be suppressed."

Jianxing asks in confusion: "My abilities differ greatly from the system here; why do I not feel suppressed?"

Leng Shan exhales, freezing the fog near him into ice crystals, and then says:

"Because the influence of the Power of Origin on the plane's rules is not yet great enough; your Sword Cultivator job change is a job change at the level of the Principle Realm, leading directly to the rules, which is itself a manifestation of the Power of Origin."

"The current level of influence is still very limited for you and me."

"When the Power of Origin of the Son of the Plane grows further and can completely overshadow you and me, even we will be affected."

Just as Jianxing is about to respond, he suddenly notices something, and his eyes narrow.

On the other side of the bridge tower where they are, someone has come up.

The figure of the other party is shrouded in a wide black robe, making it impossible to distinguish gender or build; just by standing there, he radiates a dangerous and gloomy atmosphere.

Judging from the other party's temperament and attire, he is not a player, but a dungeon native.

At the same time Jianxing discovers the newcomer, Leng Shan also notices the appearance of the new spectator.

The factions holding the Transcendent Gathering are all factions that Grimland has placed in the open; they are not the entirety of the dungeon's factions.

Some factions hidden in the shadows, which cannot see the light, also want to take this opportunity to recruit talent.

They cannot be as composed as the gathering organizers and can only arrive in person to confirm the targets they want to recruit.

The new spectator not far from them is most likely one of those guys who cannot see the light.

Jianxing asks in a low voice: "Should we make contact with him?"

Leng Shan thinks for a moment and says: "Caution is paramount; try to see if you can probe for the other party's intelligence."

After a simple discussion, the members of the Management Bureau who entered the Steam Phantom have decided to join the Secret Knight Order where Heping is.

Although they have not yet found out the background of the Secret Knight Order, they trust Heping's judgment.

Even if this organization is not top-tier, with Heping's addition, it will become top-tier.

If you want to achieve results in a multiplayer team competition game, learning to group up is the simplest and most efficient method.

Listening to what Heping meant earlier, the duty of the Secret Knight Order is to guard the order of the Grimland transcendent world; those guys who cannot see the light are clearly their enemies.

If they could extract some intelligence, wouldn't they have their "calling card" for joining?

Jianxing first radiates energy to attract the black-robed person's attention, then spreads his hands to show he has no malice, and slowly approaches the other party.

It can be seen that the black-robed person thinks highly of Jianxing and Leng Shan; he takes the initiative to reveal his figure, also having the intention of approaching the two.

He does not stop Jianxing's approach, but instead, after Jianxing gets close, he exchanges a few brief words with him.

After finishing speaking with Jianxing, the black-robed person leaves the top of the bridge tower without lingering.

"What did you just say?" Leng Shan asks.

Jianxing says: "He said he knows we are not Stilane people and are outsiders who arrived with a special purpose."

"He gave me a task, saying that as long as we can complete the task, we can join the organization he belongs to and welcome the future together."

"He also said that their organization is called the Steam Council."

While the battle on Grimland Bridge is intense, the fire burning in the Philip Villa is initially extinguished under the efforts of the firefighters.

Ignoring the warnings that there is a possibility of reignition, Wu Chang and Lei Wendun push past the firefighters and enter the Philip Villa directly.

The fire has just been extinguished, and the temperature inside the room is like an oven; Wu Chang and Lei Wendun need to wrap their bodies with transcendent power so as not to be scorched by the residual heat waves.

They walk in from the villa's main entrance and head all the way to the hall.

This fire burned very thoroughly; everything in the room that could be burned has now turned into charcoal.

Wu Chang finds Baron Philip's family in the dining room; judging from the scene, they should have been holding a birthday party.

Baron Philip, the Baroness, and their four children are all present, with the youngest child likely in the middle of making a wish.

The servants and the butler in the Baron's house are serving dishes, looking very busy.

Why can he see so much?

Because the entire Philip family is frozen at the moment the child made the wish; if it weren't for their bodies being charred so severely, one could even comment that they were "lifelike."

And the servants hired by Baron Philip, regardless of whether they should have been present at this occasion, are standing in the dining room at this moment, maintaining the state of celebration.

They did not struggle, did not run away, and were swallowed by the flames while maintaining their state at that time.

This eerie carbonized family portrait scares the firefighters who rushed into the house behind the two, causing them to sit on the ground, saying with a trembling voice:

"A demon, this must be the work of a demon!"

"There is no demon." Wu Chang interrupts the firefighter's shouting and says:

"This is a meticulously arranged murder case; get out immediately, seal the scene, and then go call the secret police."

The firefighter does not know how to call the secret police either, but he does not want to stay here for a moment longer; he crawls up from the ground and rushes out of the house as if fleeing.

After driving away the firefighters, Wu Chang and Lei Wendun search the villa.

The bad news is that the house was burned very cleanly; even Baron Philip's safe was deformed by the flames.

Prying open the safe, all the documents inside, including paper money, were carbonized under the high temperature, leaving not a single clue.

The good news is that the arsonist was too thorough, causing Baron Philip to leave behind a trace of resentment.

In the resentment burning like flames, Wu Chang's vision blurs, and he returns to before the fire occurred.

His consciousness is attached to Baron Philip, his gaze looking at his youngest son with doting affection.

Today is his youngest son's fifth birthday; to celebrate this day, he had customized today's birthday cake at the most high-end cake shop in Grimland a month in advance.

As the cake is pushed up by the servants, the whole family is immersed in the atmosphere of celebration.

He stands up to offer blessings to his youngest son, and then the youngest son clenches his fists and begins to make a wish.

Just at this moment, he discovers that his body cannot move; he uses all his strength to barely be able to lift his head.

He sees a black-robed person walking into the dining room from outside; the other servants in his house, not only do not stop him, but instead, as if they had lost their souls, follow behind the black-robed person and walk in together.

The black-robed person's attire is similar to what Wu Chang saw in the resentment of the mine thieves before; the only difference is that the black-robed person in front of him is holding a cane in his hand.

On the handle of the cane, a special mark is imprinted; the mark looks like five steam pipes extending from a continent, and the outline of the continent is the same as the shape of Stilane on the map.

The moment he sees the black-robed person, Baron Philip's heart sinks, and a strong sense of foreboding emerges in his mind.

He bites the bullet and says: "Xavier, today is my son's birthday; let's talk about whatever it is tomorrow."

The black-robed person called Xavier sits on the far side of the long dining table, directly opposite Baron Philip, and says unhurriedly:

"I am very sorry, but neither you nor your family has a tomorrow."

Baron Philip becomes flustered, and he says: "What do you mean?"

Xavier says: "You should have already guessed it; the matter of the Pine Coal Mine has been exposed, and we cannot keep you."

Baron Philip is silent for a moment; he lets out a long sigh and says: "I can die, but don't forget that when I joined, you promised me that you would take good care of my family."

Xavier says with some distress:

"Under normal procedures, it should be like this, but the other party's movements were too fast, giving us no time to react, and as soon as they made a discovery, they released a message-sending spell."

"I didn't have time to prepare and could only come to the door directly. Your family members had already seen me, and to avoid being targeted by some hound, they had to die."

Baron Philip widened his eyes and shouted: "Xavier, you..."

Before Baron Philip could finish, Xavier tapped his cane, depriving Baron Philip of the ability to speak.

He stood up, walked behind Philip's youngest son, and said:

"What a cute child, just turned five and already possesses amazing mathematical talent. If not for today's events, you would surely have become one of us in the future."

"What a pity, Uncle didn't bring any birthday present, so I can only give you a birthday candlelight."

Xavier raised his cane and wrote occult runes in the air with it; the runes landed on the cake and instantly turned into brilliant candlelight.

It was just that this candlelight was too vigorous, shooting straight to the ceiling, and in the blink of an eye, it ignited the entire dining room.

Xavier returned to the opposite side of Baron Philip, performed a hat-tipping salute, and said:

"Sir Philip, the Steam Council thanks you for the contributions you once made."

The occult flames engulfed the dining room, and Wu Chang's consciousness also detached from the lingering resentment.

His gaze moved away from Baron Philip's corpse, meeting the gaze of Lei Wendun, who was observing him from the side.

Lei Wendun asked curiously:

"How is it? Did the Inspiration-type detective find anything?"

Wu Chang glanced at Lei Wendun and said: "I saw a mark on Baron Philip's corpse."

Lei Wendun was stunned after hearing this; he hadn't expected Wu Chang to actually see something. He took out a magnifying glass, circled around Baron Philip to look, and only after confirming he couldn't see anything did he return to Wu Chang's side and ask:

"What did you see?"

Wu Chang briefly drew the mark from Xavier's cane and asked: "Do you know what this is?"

"The Steam Council, damn it, I should have guessed; it's not that easy for this bunch of lunatics to be wiped out." Lei Wendun whispered subconsciously.

Wu Chang asked: "What is the Steam Council?"

Lei Wendun said urgently: "This is not the place to talk. Let's go back to my place and talk."

No evidence was left at the scene, and Wu Chang had already seen the lingering resentment, so there was no point in staying.

Lei Wendun pulled Wu Chang away from the Philip villa, loaded him and Ailin into the car, and drove all the way back to 41 Sal Street.

Back at the detective agency, after activating the protective occult ritual, Lei Wendun finally relaxed a bit and brought Wu Chang to the third floor of the detective agency.

After complex decryption, he opened a storage room and moved out the camouflaged items, revealing an evidence web more complex than the one for the Prime Minister's assassination case on the second floor.

The pattern located in the center of the evidence web was precisely the mark Wu Chang had seen on Xavier's cane.

Wu Chang looked at the dense array of cases on the wall and asked: "You've investigated them before?"

Lei Wendun picked up a wine bottle, poured himself a glass, took a sip, and smiled bitterly:

"More than just investigated; I once personally sent them to hell."

"The Steam Council is a group of complete lunatics. They are clearly just ordinary people, yet they are unwilling to accept the status quo and want to forcibly master extraordinary power."

Lei Wendun looked at the past investigation records on the wall, recalling information about the Steam Council.

The Steam Council was initially a hobbyist club composed of mathematicians, physicists, and new nobles.

At that time, extraordinary power still belonged to the occult; neither the Alchemy Association nor the Clock Tower Magic Association had been formed. They found descriptions of extraordinary power in some book from somewhere and began to crazily pursue this power.

The guys in the hobbyist club had knowledge, financial resources, and extremely strong initiative. In order to obtain extraordinary power, they did not hesitate to join various organizations, including the Church of Tranquility, to learn extraordinary knowledge.

Through their efforts, they actually found books on occultism and alchemy.

A group of people studied incessantly and really learned occult rituals, allowing them to use occult rituals to stimulate the extraordinary power inherent in occult items for their own use.

After that, they became unstoppable, further studying occultism while using alchemy to modify themselves, attempting to become true extraordinary beings through external energy sources.

It was just that at the time, they only acted on themselves, and since occult items were relatively rare, they didn't cause much of a stir.

It wasn't until five years ago that Her Majesty Olivia found the former library of the Arcane Knights, which contained a large number of records of extraordinary power. She gathered the top scholars in all of Stilan to study how to integrate the extraordinary with machinery.

It was precisely because of this move that Stilan's industry advanced by leaps and bounds in a short period, and Her Majesty Olivia also used this to regain part of her power.

But among the scholars who participated in the research at that time, besides ordinary scholars, there were also members of the extraordinary hobbyist club.

They saw the future prospects from the planning of extraordinary industry and formally established the Steam Council.

At this point, Lei Wendun pointed to a clipping about a major fire at the Grimland University library.

"They engineered a fire and stole all the books recording extraordinary power."

Immediately after, he pointed to several reports of workers dying from poisoning due to poor working conditions in factories.

"One of the benefits brought by extraordinary industrialization is that it no longer relies on rare extraordinary items, which led them to start using human bodies for experiments, attempting to treat humans as machines and also carry out extraordinary industrial transformation."

"They did it very covertly, but I smelled the abnormality in it. About three and a half years ago, I solved a big case and happened to be free, so I investigated these industrial poisoning cases."

"After my investigation, the causes of death for those workers were abnormal; they didn't just die from simple poisoning."

"Who knew that by following the trail, I would uncover this bunch of lunatics."

Lei Wendun pointed to several photos, where one could see that some of the people had parts of their bodies replaced with strange steel prosthetics.

"Some of them had already started modifying their own bodies, but the modifications were very crude, far inferior to true extraordinary beings."

"So I used Zhu Li's power to catch them all in one net when they were having their routine gathering."

"I personally dealt with every single one of them, ensuring that all these people were sent to hell."

"In the years since, I have kept up my investigation into them to ensure there were no remnants surviving. During this time, they indeed disappeared and never appeared again, so I thought they had completely vanished."

"I didn't expect that this bunch of lunatics not only still existed but were doing things even more excessive than back then."

(End of chapter)