Chapter 2014

The smell during the examination of the stomach contents made both Xia De and Mr. Bernhard feel very uncomfortable. Fortunately, Mr. Albert quickly finished this process, then reopened the wound on the abdomen to show the two the traces of that thing that had once existed in the abdominal cavity with the internal organs under the skin and flesh tissue.

The traces were not obvious and had to be pointed out by the professional coroner for Xia De and Mr. Bernhard to discover.

"The shape of the thing that sucked away her blood is uncertain, but it should be about two-thirds the size of my fist. Armand, look carefully with blood vision; distinguish the subtle blood distribution traces, and you will also find that all the blood in her body flowed here in a short period of time."

So Mr. Bernhard blinked, and Xia De also activated 【Blood Echo】. Squinting his eyes to focus his spirit, those bright red traces that had blended together gradually revealed "echoes" left at different points in time according to their depth:

"The blood seems to be surrounding an egg-shaped object."

He said softly.

"Oh? Mr. Watson, you can see it too?"

The coroner was a bit surprised, and Mr. Bernhard, who was still observing carefully, spoke for Xia De:

"I said it before, Mr. Watson is quite capable. Yes, I saw it too; there was an egg in her abdomen? This is much bigger than a chicken egg."

"It cannot be proven whether it was an egg or something of a similar shape."

The coroner continued to explain to the two, using tweezers to move the internal organs of the corpse for further analysis and explanation.

Xia De frowned slightly:

"Edwards' Eye."

The sorcery learned on Green Island, used to distinguish whether one has undergone human modification, made the red vision of "Blood Echo" even more strange. Observing carefully, it was probably because the egg-shaped object in the abdomen had already disappeared, so there was no abnormality in the corpse's abdomen. But observing other parts of the corpse, one could find abnormal radiance attached to her bones:

"Her bones seem to be a bit wrong."

After subsequent testing, the hardness of the corpse's bones was significantly higher than that of a normal person. Xia De confirmed that this was not an innate talent but formed later, but such an autopsy could not clarify the reason for the bone abnormality, and he could only guess that it was also related to that egg-shaped object.

Xia De and Mr. Bernhard stayed in the autopsy room until three o'clock that afternoon. After obtaining information that was even perhaps too sufficient, and asking about the location where the corpse was found, the two then bid farewell to Mr. Albert, who still had other work to do.

"I already regret participating in the autopsy... Let's go have a drink first."

Leaving the corridor behind the fence gate, at Mr. Bernhard's suggestion, they returned to the Spider Tavern. The tavern in the Lower City seemed to always have sparse guests. Under the dim yellow oil lamp light, Xia De believed that his complexion at this moment was about the same as Mr. Bernhard's:

"I probably overestimated my adaptability too. The visual impact is not much; I saw even more terrifying scenes this morning, it's mainly that smell..."

Mr. Bernhard hurriedly shook his head to stop his description:

"Please don't say any more, I don't want to recall it. My sense of smell is equally developed... Next time if there is such a thing again, I must first get a charm that makes my own sense of smell temporarily fail."

The taste of the inferior ale dispelled the stench of corpses and preservatives from the autopsy room. Both of them wanted to sit down and rest for a while, so they didn't leave immediately.

"Speaking of which, how did you get to know this Mr. Ptolemy Albert?"

Xia De started a new topic, and Mr. Bernhard didn't mind revealing some privacy:

"I met him when I was still studying in Wilndale. He was a student at the Wilndale St. York Medical Academy, and I was studying literature and political economy at the Royal Academy of Arts. Once, when the academy organized an outing, I met this clansman. Don't look at him as if he is down and out now; he was quite famous when he was in school. His grades go without saying, and the projects he participated in and his research results were also published in papers."

"Did he come to Moon Gangwan directly after graduation?"

"No, no, he went to the New Continent. Ptolemy was determined to become a doctor, and he liked all kinds of herbs and plants, so he joined the Karsinrik New Continent Exploration Corps to become a military doctor. After he went to the New Continent, because correspondence was inconvenient, our contact became much less. About eight years ago, I received his letter again; he had already settled in Moon Gangwan by then.

After he returned from the New Continent, he joined a small clinic to work as a doctor, and also had friends introduce him to work as a tutor for nobles, and even briefly worked as a lecturer at a local school. He told me that if I came here, I could sit with him like in our student days and have a drink."

Recalling the past, Mr. Bernhard also felt a bit emotional:

"I also don't know why he finally chose this kind of work; it's not to say that being a coroner is bad, it's just... well, this job is indeed not very good. He said he likes this kind of life, but in my opinion, his academic level is very high; even if he didn't stay in the academy, opening a clinic himself would be better than now."

Xia De raised an eyebrow:

"Is it... I'm not doubting your friend, is it..."

Mr. Bernhard nodded to show he understood:

"I know what you mean, I have also read the 'Hamilton Detective Story Collection'; the story in the third issue of the Month of Wind tells of an event where the coroner himself was the murderer. But Ptolemy is a righteous person; he has been like this since he was young—enthusiastic, friendly to others, and likes to fight against injustice. Although this caused him some trouble, no one would doubt that he is a truly good person."

"Righteous... I understand."

Xia De nodded slowly, choosing to trust his friend:

"I have some other things to do this afternoon, but I will also help investigate this matter later. I didn't expect that just after arriving in the Moon Gangwan area, I would hear of such a thing. I think my adventure in the Moon Gangwan area will be very interesting."

"I actually hope you can encounter fewer such interesting things."

Mr. Bernhard said helplessly, raising his glass to clink with Xia De:

"Then let's celebrate our reunion in a foreign land, and also thank you for being willing to help assist in the investigation."

"It's nothing. Oh, speaking of which, I don't have a fixed address in the Moon Gangwan area for the time being. If there is anything to find me, you can come here."

Xia De took a sip of ale, then took out a notebook and wrote down the address by hand, and Mr. Bernhard also told Xia De his temporary residence.

And seeing the address on the torn-off notebook, the middle-aged vampire was quite surprised:

"Princess Trade Partners? Is this a trading company in the dock area? Is this your own business?"

Xia De shook his head:

"No, no, I have a friendship with their boss... a very good friendship. You know, I usually walk around, so putting the communication address there is also convenient for receiving and sending letters."

Mr. Bernhard nodded knowingly, but did not know that "Princess Trade Partners" was actually the local personnel of that Northern Princess. After all, this is the Karsinrik United Kingdom, so in order to facilitate the actions of her own people, establishing a legal company is of course a very necessary behavior.

"Princess Trade Partners" is nominally an enterprise jointly operated by a group of business partners, and its main business scope includes the import and export of raw materials, industrial products, agricultural products, etc. Such small import and export trading companies are countless in the Moon Gangwan area, so it looks quite inconspicuous. And the company's base is on Golden Gangwan Street in the dock area, a street name that implies wealth and prosperous commerce.

The company owns an independent three-story building. On one side of the building is a small shipyard. From the entrance of the shipyard, there is a slope leading directly to the sea surface in front, which has dense docks and piers. On the other side of the building is the company's warehouse, so from the scale, one can see that this trading company is pitifully small.

After bidding farewell to Mr. Bernhard, who was busy going to investigate, Xia De set off for there. It's just that after he got off the carriage, he didn't visit immediately, but stood at the end of the dock pier, with his back to the cargo boxes piled up on the pier and the busy dock workers, taking a deep breath facing the sea, hoping to dilute the strange smell on his body with the breath of the sea.

The busyness of the Moon Gangwan dock area is no less than that of Coldwater Port. Ships of all sizes docked beside the pier are rushing to unload cargo, and there are countless ships waiting to dock on the dim sea surface. The Moon Gangwan dock area generally presents an "L" shape with an angle greater than 90 degrees, which is also related to the crescent-shaped coastline of "Moon Gangwan." If the weather wasn't bad, the scenery here would definitely be good. But sacrificing the scenery in exchange for trade, probably only a small number of people in this era would oppose it.

Walking down the pier, he arrived at No. 45 Golden Gangwan Street. The door of the three-story building was tightly closed. After Xia De knocked on the door, he only turned the handle to enter after hearing a sound.

Although it was a company established just to disguise smuggling, the interior decoration of "Princess Trade Partners" was not bad at all. There were not many people on the first floor. There was no counter here; the sofa set was the place to receive guests. On the wall hung a map of Moon Gangwan and a map of the West Coast coastline. On the cabinet in the corner, there were also bathtubs and shell specimens on display.

On the wall beside the door were various registration certificates of the company, and receiving Xia De was a lady who was blind in one eye and even taller than Xia De.

Her black hair was braided into small pigtails, her skin was rough, and her eyes were large; this is the typical appearance of a tribesman from the central desert region of Karsinrik. The woman, who looked very fierce, spoke very politely. After both sides sat down on the sofa, Xia De explained his purpose:

"It was that lady who asked me to come; she is very dissatisfied that the batch of goods has been unable to leave the port for so long."

"That lady is..."

The one-eyed woman asked curiously, and Xia De reached into his pocket:

"Ms. Anne Bonny, I don't think we need to test each other. We cannot easily mention that lady's name. This is a letter she wrote to you, and also the contact mark she gave me."

He handed the letter and a silver-plated chess piece representing a "Knight" to the other party. The latter opened the letter, read it carefully, and then looked up and said to Xia De:

"According to the rules, we still need to verify the password. Ahem—how is the situation at home?"

"The wheat harvest is poor, but the apples in the orchard have a good harvest."

"Is it red apples, green apples, or blue apples?"

"None of them; they are rotten apples. But that lady believes that even if they are rotten apples, you can still ship them out."

The one-eyed Ms. Anne Bonny stood up immediately:

"Please allow me to express my apologies to Her Highness; that batch of goods will leave the port as soon as possible."