Chapter 359: The Charter Movement and the Agreement

Wu Chang scanned the dense wall of evidence; from the records alone, one could see how much effort Lei Wendun had put into investigating the Steam Council back then.

Even the initial investigation records were extremely detailed, certainly not something done casually in his spare time.

A detective is not a policeman; a detective is only responsible for solving cases, not for handling the social impact that follows.

A murder case involving hundreds of deaths sounds horrifying, but for a detective, especially an extraordinary detective like Lei Wendun, the impact is not that great.

Before Wu Chang saw the resentment of Baron Philip, Lei Wendun had at most made a few sarcastic remarks about the case at Pine Tree Coal Mine, treating it as a minor interlude in his investigation of the Prime Minister's assassination, without much reaction.

However, when the Steam Council was mentioned, he stated that he had done the deed himself, ensuring every member of the Steam Council went to hell.

I fear that even Zhu Li, who was acting with him at the time, would not have gone to such lengths.

Wu Chang turned his body to look at Lei Wendun and said, "You seem to be particularly wary of them."

Lei Wendun understood what Wu Chang meant; he sighed and said:

"I focus on details when investigating cases, and all my deductions are based on details and evidence, but sometimes, my intuition also sounds an alarm."

"As the investigation into the case progressed, the more I discovered the purpose of this group, the more I feared it."

Wu Chang became interested, poured himself a glass of wine, and asked:

"What is their purpose? It couldn't be creating a god, could it?"

Lei Wendun said solemnly: "You would absolutely never guess, they... uh, what did you just say?"

Wu Chang guessed: "I said, they wouldn't want to rely on extraordinary industrialization to manufacture a god, would they?"

Lei Wendun shook his head, "It's not quite that far; I think your thinking is a bit too bold."

Wu Chang curled his lip, feeling a bit disdainful in his heart.

It seems that it's not the case that the higher the level of the instance, the greater the boss's ambition; they don't even dare to think about manufacturing a god. No wonder this plane hasn't even seen divinity appear.

Lei Wendun saw Wu Chang's disdain and was momentarily left speechless.

Is Stilan too conservative, or is the outside world too crazy? Looking at Wu Chang's reaction, it seems that manufacturing a god has already become the baseline for villainous organizations.

Could it be that the guys he met in the New World all play for such high stakes?

Originally, Lei Wendun had wanted to wait for this incident to settle down and take a trip to the New World to see if he could learn spatial magic, but now he suddenly didn't want to.

He put down his wine glass somewhat awkwardly and said:

"Although the Steam Council's goal is not to manufacture a god, it is still extremely crazy."

"They spare no cost in the pursuit of extraordinary power; many have gone bankrupt for it, and even half of their members have lost their lives because of it. Yet, the power gained through such hardship is far inferior to us natural extraordinary beings."

"This makes them extremely jealous and hateful toward extraordinary beings. They are determined to create extraordinary technology that everyone can master, using extraordinary industrialization to replace all extraordinary beings and make extraordinary abilities available to ordinary people."

Wu Chang revealed a half-smile and said:

"A very interesting goal, worthy of encouragement."

He suddenly understood the arrogance of the Great Mother from before; many natives of the Wilderness Realm indeed have too narrow a perspective.

So-called extraordinary beings are merely controllers of extraordinary power; if everyone can use extraordinary power, then everyone is an extraordinary being.

In the Reason Realm above the Wilderness Realm, or even the higher third layer of the Abyss, enabling ordinary people to master extraordinary abilities is simply the most common thing.

Even looking further up, aren't Abyss game players like Wu Chang using special methods to allow originally ordinary people to master extraordinary abilities?

Wanting to replace extraordinary beings by mastering extraordinary abilities—isn't that just 'I killed myself'?

However, according to Lei Wendun's account, the Steam Council started by studying alchemy and mysticism, so everything makes sense.

No wonder that at Pine Tree Coal Mine, that group of black-robed figures had such high attainments in mysticism; the arrangements they made were difficult for even a powerful extraordinary being like Lei Wendun to discern.

Lei Wendun shook his head and continued:

"Their problem is not just their hatred of extraordinary beings. The members of the Steam Council are all new aristocrats, university professors, and scholars. They possess knowledge and resources that ordinary people cannot grasp, and they instinctively look down on those inferior to themselves."

"They want ordinary people to be able to master extraordinary power, but the 'ordinary people' here are limited to themselves."

"Toward the true ordinary masses, they instead carry a creator-like arrogance; in order to further research their theories, they can easily kill tens of thousands of people."

"My intuition tells me that if we let this group of lunatics run wild, Stilan and even the whole world will become a mess."

Lei Wendun's eyes flickered, as if recalling some unpleasant memories.

"Zhu Li believed they still had value and should be brought back to interrogate them for their research, but I insisted on eliminating this group of lunatics, believing that even if they left behind a single spark, it could burn everything down."

"We even had quite a dispute over this."

Wu Chang put down his wine glass, feeling somewhat disappointed. If the goal of eliminating natural extraordinary beings is just to monopolize extraordinary power, then isn't the Steam Council just like any ordinary small-fry villain?

Aside from being more paranoid and having more initiative, among villains, they would at most sit at the same table as the followers of the Tranquility Sect.

Unlike Wu Chang, Lei Wendun does not have such high requirements for villains.

In his view, the Steam Council are already formidable antisocial elements; to deal with this group of lunatics, one must strike with a heavy hand.

Simple hanging or burning at the stake is no longer enough; one must use a pistol to shatter their skulls to be completely at ease.

"Three and a half years ago, their actions were far from reaching the level seen at Pine Tree Coal Mine."

"At that time, they were still in the early stages of extraordinary industrialization, and the extraordinary items they produced were still primarily based on mysticism; they could neither reach true 'extraordinary' status nor be easily industrialized."

"After three and a half years of dormancy, the level they have reached now is not inferior to Stilan's official extraordinary steam engines. Whether it is the coal essence they refined or the core of that machine, it is difficult to see traces of mysticism; there is only pure machinery."

Lei Wendun was silent for a moment, then said gravely:

"I even feel that the extraordinary steam engine they produced is more advanced than the official one in Stilan."

Wu Chang shrugged; once he discovered that the Steam Council's level was nothing more than this, his focus was no longer on them.

Lei Wendun's attention was entirely drawn by the Steam Council, but he still remembered the initial reason they were investigating Pine Tree Coal Mine.

"So, based on the existing clues, do you think Prime Minister Luo En's death could be related to the Steam Council?"

Wu Chang could discover the secrets of Pine Tree Coal Mine and the Steam Council's involvement through resentment, but he could not be sure who the murderer of the Prime Minister was and still needed to ask for Lei Wendun's opinion.

Lei Wendun shook his head and said:

"I would very much like to say that the Prime Minister's assassination was done by the Steam Council, but there is one thing that is hard to explain."

"The death of Baron Philip's family was because we discovered the coal essence refiner deep in the Pine Tree Coal Mine, which means that before that, the secret of the Pine Tree Coal Mine had not been discovered by anyone."

"Assuming the Prime Minister was indeed killed by the Steam Council for investigating the Pine Tree Coal Mine, and the secret of the Pine Tree Coal Mine had not been exposed, then what was the reason for risking his elimination?"

Wu Chang frowned slightly and said: "In other words, the Prime Minister's death can basically be ruled out as having anything to do with the Pine Tree Coal Mine."

Lei Wendun said: "Perhaps not a direct relationship."

Wu Chang pressed: "What do you mean?"

Lei Wendun took out a photo of the Prime Minister's desk and pointed to the report on the labor movement on it, saying:

"The cause of this labor movement was the Pine Tree Coal Mine explosion, and the Prime Minister's death is also highly likely related to it, but the source of the danger may not just be the Pine Tree Coal Mine explosion, but the labor movement itself."

"Do you remember what Thomas once said?"

Wu Chang pondered the topic of the labor movement from when he was with Thomas.

"He said that the workers from Pine Tree Coal Mine who went to participate in the parade had large-scale violent conflicts in the city; many people were locked up, and the remaining workers mixed in with the workers of the Charter Movement."

Lei Wendun said: "The real reason for the Prime Minister's assassination may lie in the Charter Movement. To investigate the Prime Minister's assassination, we can start with the Charter Movement next."

Wu Chang followed Lei Wendun's line of thought, and after a moment, he asked in confusion:

"Is there really such a big conflict between the workers and the Prime Minister that it would lead to assassinating the Prime Minister?"

"I remember you said that Prime Minister Luo En once pushed for the 'Factory Act,' limiting the working hours of child laborers and other actions to fight for the rights of workers, which led to him being hostile toward the industrial aristocrats."

"I've heard a saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Whether looking at Prime Minister Luo En's enactment of the 'Factory Act' or from the perspective of the enemy of my enemy, the conflict between the workers and the Prime Minister shouldn't be that deep."

Lei Wendun shrugged and said: "I also said that our Prime Minister is not well-liked."

"I don't know in what context you said that 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend,' but sometimes, the enemy of my enemy is also an enemy. And the reason for the hostility between the workers and the Prime Minister is precisely because of the Charter Movement."

Seeing Wu Chang's confusion, Lei Wendun explained to him what the Charter Movement was.

The so-called Charter Movement is that workers are dissatisfied with their current lives and long to gain greater power in politics.

That is, all adult men should gain universal suffrage, including the right to stand for election and the right to vote.

In the current Stilan, the right to vote is a privilege belonging to landowners and the middle class and above; only those with an annual income of over ten gold pounds and who have paid the corresponding taxes have the right to vote.

If one wants to run for parliament, one must prove that they possess property worth over three hundred gold pounds.

Both of these indicators exclude the vast majority of workers from politics.

Even in Grimland, families formed purely by workers can only live in worker districts with extremely poor environments.

If one is as unfortunate as Thomas's family, where parents pass away before their children reach adulthood, they will face moving from the worker district to the slums.

In this state, there are neither parliamentarians to fight for the workers' interests nor the qualifications to vote.

Only by changing these two points can the living conditions of workers be fundamentally improved.

Speaking of this, Lei Wendun took a sip of wine to moisten his throat and said somewhat helplessly:

"The problem is that although our Prime Minister Luo En fought for the workers' interests, he is a pure elitist who believes that workers have not received the necessary education and do not possess basic political judgment, so he firmly opposes their demands."

"Not only that, the Prime Minister also follows the principle that order is above all else, believing that the labor movement seriously threatens social stability, and often adopts violent suppression, leading to the deaths of a large number of workers."

"Therefore, from the workers' perspective, Prime Minister Luo En is the real enemy. Many people hold the attitude that if they get rid of Prime Minister Luo En, the Charter Movement will be able to proceed without obstruction."

After hearing this, Wu Chang didn't know what to say for a moment; he could only click his tongue and say:

"Looking at it this way, our Prime Minister Luo En is really unpopular."

No wonder Lei Wendun said before that the assassination of the Prime Minister was completed with the tacit approval of many parties.

What they need to investigate is not who had the motive to assassinate the Prime Minister, but who couldn't help but make the first move.

"If the next step in investigating the Prime Minister Luo En assassination case is to investigate labor activities, then the investigation into the Steam Council might be able to proceed simultaneously."

This time it was Lei Wendun's turn to be confused; he asked: "How to proceed simultaneously?"

Wu Chang said: "I didn't have time to tell you before, but when I entered the area where coal essence was refined, my intuition told me that the cause of the Pine Tree Coal Mine explosion was that an uninvited guest had broken into the area."

"That uninvited guest was a mine thief named Mick who could use message-sending magic."

Lei Wendun's mouth twitched slightly, his eyebrows twisted together, and he looked at Wu Chang with a strange expression.

"Are you sure this is what your intuition told you, and not the result of you grabbing a member of the Steam Council and torturing them while I wasn't paying attention?"

What a joke; inspiration is called inspiration precisely because it is merely a vague and indistinct feeling.

Whose inspiration could be specific enough to include a person's identity, name, or even the type of magic they use?

Wu Chang shook his head slightly, putting on an attitude of "My inspiration is just like this; if you can't do it, that's your problem."

"Once your mysticism reaches my level, you will know whether inspiration can achieve that. Before then, I cannot explain too much to a mysticism user of your caliber."

Lei Wendun pursed his lips tightly, forcing a smile onto his face, "Fine, you win."

Before meeting Wu Chang, he was a person of status and reputation in the extraordinary circles of Sitilan, even if not the absolute top.

Since meeting Wu Chang, he had been mocked to his face for his poor mysticism more than once.

So angry, and what made him even angrier was that he couldn't even refute it.

Seeing that Lei Wendun stopped speaking, Wu Chang continued:

"Before the mine thief died, he used communication magic to contact his accomplice. His accomplice is likely a mine thief as well, and very possibly has infiltrated the Charter Movement or is a member of the Charter Movement themselves."

"Those guys from the Steam Council probably don't think I've already sensed their existence through inspiration; they must believe they have temporarily cut off all leads."

"In order to delay being discovered by you, they will likely track down the mine thief's accomplice as soon as possible. If nothing goes wrong, their target will also be the Charter Movement."

"Perhaps we and the people from the Steam Council will run into each other soon."

Meanwhile, in the underground space of St. George's Cathedral, Olivia was listening to Zhu Li report the truth about the Pine Coal Mine explosion.

After hearing Zhu Li's description and personally confirming the photos of the interior and exterior of the extraordinary refiner and its special feed inlet, Olivia lowered her head slightly, lost in thought.

"I never expected that someone could develop an extraordinary steam engine to this extent, using flesh and blood to increase the output of an extraordinary steam engine."

"No wonder I heard from the Trade Committee that for over a year, a large amount of coal essence of unknown origin has suddenly appeared in Sitilan and the international market. So the source was the Pine Coal Mine."

Olivia raised her head, looked at Zhu Li excitedly, and said:

"You just said that the extraordinary steam engine was still running not long ago, which means its missing core is very likely in the hands of my Secret Magic Knight Order commander, right?"

Olivia had been in high spirits, but as she looked up, she found that Zhu Li's gaze toward her was very complicated.

The excitement on her face faded, and she said helplessly:

"If you have anything you want to ask, just ask."

Since Olivia said so, Zhu Li took the opportunity to ask:

"Your Majesty the Queen, the fact that extraordinary steam engines can increase operating efficiency by absorbing flesh and blood is not a coincidence, is it?"

Olivia acted as if a secret had been discovered, and said with some guilt: "There is no one else here now, you should still call me Olivia."

Zhu Li did not speak, just watched Olivia quietly.

Olivia put on an innocent expression and said:

"Fine, I admit it. In the process of researching extraordinary steam engines, we did indeed discover this path."

"After all, much of the knowledge involved in extraordinary steam engines is the 'God-Given Wisdom' taken from the God-Given Library when the Secret Magic Knight Order breached the headquarters of the Church of Tranquility back then."

"Knowledge from an evil god is naturally related to sacrifice, but that path was too difficult to walk and would displease the Lord, so we did not continue."

Hearing Olivia's explanation, Zhu Li's expression improved slightly, but the worry in her eyes did not dissipate.

She asked softly:

"If all development is built upon flesh and blood, Olivia, can what we are doing really change the world and make everything better?"

Olivia grabbed Zhu Li's hand and said without hesitation:

"Of course! I have never doubted our choices."

"The same thing, when held in different hands, will produce different effects. Just like gunpowder; it can be used for war to harvest lives, or it can be used as a tool for mining to develop industry."

"In the hands of those low-class fellows, the extraordinary steam engine can only satisfy their private desires, but it will not be so in our hands."

Olivia came to Zhu Li's side and said softly:

"I still remember our agreement at the time: you help me gain freedom, and I will help you create a world where everyone can live in peace."

"Sitilan, which stands at the pinnacle of the world today, was built by our own hands, and I will definitely uphold my promise. Everything we are experiencing now is just the darkness before the dawn."

Zhu Li leaned against Olivia, recalling the scene she saw during the day when Ailin was saving people in the slums, and said:

"I just feel that perhaps it doesn't have to be that perfect."

Olivia said: "You don't need to worry, everything will get better."

To keep Zhu Li from being confused, Olivia said:

"That Commander Xiao En is more outstanding than I thought; he has not failed your expectations of him."

"He did very well in this investigation of the Pine Coal Mine explosion. Tell him that if nothing goes wrong, tomorrow night, at the interim Prime Minister's inauguration banquet, I will announce the reconstruction of the Secret Magic Knight Order and his position."

"The Prime Minister was just assassinated, so it is not suitable for consecutive banquets, and his actions were too fast, so it can only be a bit rushed. I hope he won't mind sharing this important moment with others."

(End of chapter)