NOVPUBChapter 157: Chapter 156 The Puzzle of Truth
Chapter 157 -156 The Puzzle of Truth
“What kind of seed?” Shandela pressed.
“I… I don’t know,” Mashif shivered, “Every once in a while, a group of people is brought into the prison, half of them are sold to doctors, and the other half are the seeds… which are what you’ve seen, those whose brains have been removed. During this time, we’re not allowed to enter the dungeon, so I really don’t know much about the details! But…”
“But what?”
“But these people become quite easy to control, just like machines. The boss often uses them as tools, for instance, training them to drive carriages to hit set targets, and he says that once the technology is mature, these seeds will be of great use…”
A thought suddenly flashed through Shandela’s mind.
In the ongoing investigation of the Fenggu Street explosion, one report mentioned traces of carriage wheels crushing the gravel road, and that street, being a side street with a very narrow road, is seldom chosen by cargo carriages to pass through.
She also considered one possibility: if the carriage was carrying enough explosives, it could indeed create an effect like a pharmacy blowing itself up.
The question was, if there was a violent explosion, the coachman would certainly not survive. Even the four major companies wouldn’t waste a dead soldier in such a place.
With no further evidence discovered, she could only temporarily set aside this hypothesis.
But now, combining the two, the whole thing started to make sense!
—What if the assailants were using seeds? 𝚗𝚘v𝚙𝚞b.𝚌𝚘m
Following this conclusion, Shandela suddenly realized, if the company that acted against the Gate of Destiny was Heigang Security, then who was acting against Heigang Security?
Could it be that Mr. Zhao immediately refused her suggestion because he already knew they were fully capable of solving the problem by themselves?
Shandela felt her throat go dry.
She glanced at Shidong, then at Woody… Some details she had overlooked in the past were now piecing together at this moment.
Bodies and remnants!
She clearly remembered that Shidong had killed several pirates in South Bank Village, yet the pirates’ heads, weapons, and boats ultimately vanished without a trace. The attack on Wangshui Manor was the same… The police chief’s bodyguards had a fierce shootout with the attackers, but the city guards only found bodies from the police side, not even a spent cartridge from the opposition.
However, the situation later changed.
When the GaoTian train was hijacked, the mining company’s security fought a messy battle with the enemy, who fought to the death until they were surrounded and annihilated by reinforcements. As she came to know, the people from GaoTian Company still didn’t find any weapons or ammunition, but they did confirm the enemy’s bodies.
Then there was this morning’s camp siege, where the attackers also left no firearms behind, but the city guards discovered the body of a woman around the ambush pit.
She had been cut into several pieces by a monster, but the location was over a hundred meters away from the main gate, she was only in her undergarments, and no other mercenary bodies were found around her, so her subordinates tentatively identified her as one of the attackers.
Why are they no longer making bodies and weapons disappear together?
Probably because the bodies are real and can’t be erased together.
And to acquire bodies without raising suspicions, Yeni Temple is undoubtedly a good place—no matter how many die there, the outside world would only see it as expected!
The train that GaoTian Mining had robbed was not short of anything else but a batch of payroll funds about to be sent out; afterwards, the temple received full funding and broke off contracts with the four major companies!
The more Shandela thought about it, the more she felt a chill creep over her.
Damn it, why didn’t she connect these things before!?
“Woody!” she suddenly exclaimed.
“I am here,” the adjutant was startled, responding subconsciously.
“Convey my command, notify all the city guard teams to proceed to Fafu Street…” She raised her hand halfway, then suddenly stopped.
“Milady?”
At that moment, Shandela’s ears echoed with Ge Wei’s words.
「You are lucky not to have truly made an enemy of the other party. I suggest you change your direction of investigation towards the Heretical Cult, such as Heigang Company.」
Now she knew who this “other party” was.
Even though these people possessed such incredible power and openly defied the laws of Magnificent Castle, did the Mechanical Sect Priest still not approve of taking forceful measures against them? If she believed Ge Wei’s words, it would mean that the city guard’s previous direction in the arrest was a complete mistake!
But if they let them run amok just because they had eradicated an evil being, then where was the authority of the lord? Where was the duty of the city guard?
Shandela fell silent for a moment then lowered her hand, “First, seal off this place. Before I return, do not let any journalists near.”
“Where are you going?” Woody couldn’t help asking.
“You will naturally know when I come back.”
Before making a decision, she wanted to see Mr. Zhao from the Paradise Foundation again.
…
Chaoyang had already returned to the secret base of Yeni Temple; after confirming that all players were offline, he used the sensing ability of the wishing power filaments to summon Judy and Dane underground.
He might not fully understand the value of the letter copied from the Heigang Building, but he believed that journalists definitely had the capability to discern the information within.
The reality was just as Chaoyang had thought.
The two who started to examine the letters soon showed shocked expressions, their eyes widening more than a brass bell.
“If this news gets out, it will definitely cause an earthquake in the circle of journalists!” Judy couldn’t help but mutter, “Like this letter… is actually an invitation from the Old Continent nobility enlisting Heigang to deal with a love rival. Aibuvich is even keeping this.”
“For Heigang, it’s also a kind of bargaining chip, I suppose,” Chaoyang said, leisurely drinking his tea, “Dare the newspapers publish these letters?”
After thinking for a while, Dane replied, “If Aibuvich hasn’t fallen, they wouldn’t dare, even if the boss of Heigang is about to fall, the destructive power he can unleash at death’s door is not something the newspapers could handle. But with Aibuvich gone, each of these letters could sell for an extremely high price.”
Which means, even if you get hold of the evidence in advance, you couldn’t rely on public opinion to topple Aibuvich.
Indeed, the criticism of weapons is more straightforward.
Chaoyang then asked, “Did you find anything related to the Heretical Cult?”
“Not yet,” Dane shook his head, “What you mentioned about the brain and rose altar, I can’t recall any sect that corresponds to it. Of course, I’m not contradicting your view. Heretical Cult followers are diverse and even a madman occasionally claims to be a messenger of the Evil God, so it’s hard to make out the difference if you’re not a professional. In fact, not only Heretical Cults but even the proper divinities on the Old and New Continents have changed quite a bit. If it weren’t for the records of the Panlogical Machine, surely many names of divinities would also have been lost.”
Chaoyang nodded thoughtfully.
He had not previously taken the matter of the Heretical Cult to heart, given that even in the city guard’s eyes, he himself was a member of a cult. This demonstrates that even official personnel, who often use civilian rumors as a guide, do not have a systematic understanding of cults. It wasn’t until he encountered a truly bizarre and inexplicable situation in the Heigang Building that he gained a new understanding of the term “Heretical Cult”.
Having safely returned to the base, Chaoyang also had an extensive conversation with Dane about the topic of cults and found that both the Old and New Continents follow a general principle to distinguish between proper religions and Heretical Cults. This principle was named “the doctrine of precedence”.
