Don’t raise unruly people in extreme cold weather

Chapter 846

Perfect stood quietly in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the top-floor suite of the Marcel Hotel, his cold fingertips lightly resting on the carved window frame.

The city was shrouded in smoke at dusk. The tall steel bodies of the Steam Knights stood like sculptures at every street corner. The steam cores on their bodies slowly turned, spewing out wisps of white mist, but they always remained silent and never really launched any suppression action.

The actual task of suppression was carried out by the local imperial garrison.

The faces of these soldiers were filled with suppressed anger - the assassination of the Imperial Regent and the riots in the mining area had already stretched their nerves to the limit.

Now, facing the resistance of the French, this pent-up anger has finally found an outlet.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, Perfect had a panoramic view of the chaos in the entire city: on the streets in the distance, soldiers violently kicked open the doors of houses; in the center of the nearby square, several ragged civilians were pressed on the cobblestone ground and whipped; on the skyline farther away, several wisps of black smoke were rising from buildings in different directions.

Even through the thick glass windows, the heart-wrenching cries and pleas for mercy were still clearly audible.

The Countess's mouth was set in a cold, hard line.

She was not heartless - those who were wailing in the streets were real people after all.

But at this moment, she had to bury this instinctive compassion deep in the darkest corner of her heart.

This is not only a necessary response to the assassination, but also a practical consideration: she needs this city and the entire France region to completely surrender in order to obtain sufficient resources and absolutely obedient labor for the floating city project.

"This is a necessary sacrifice..." Perfect murmured softly, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the cold window glass.

Just as she was lost in thought, an exceptionally sharp scream suddenly erupted outside the window.

A group of soldiers were dragging a young man towards the center of the square. The man's legs left two shocking bloody marks on the rough cobblestone ground.

Perfect closed his eyes subconsciously, and his long eyelashes cast shadows on his pale cheeks.

"Sir, do you want to close the blinds?" the servant behind him asked cautiously.

Perfect shook his head slowly, and reopened his eyes that were as calm as an ice lake in the polar regions. “No need! As rulers, we must face the price of our choices.”

Her voice was soft, but it carried an unquestionable determination.

Just then, a burst of hurried footsteps broke the silence in the room.

The adjutant of the local garrison commander came quickly to Perfecto, stood at attention and saluted, and reported in a slightly tense voice: "Regent, the riot in the mining area has been quelled. The garrison executed the twelve miners who led the riot, and the rest were escorted back to the mine under armed escort."

Perfect turned around, the candlelight dancing in her heterochromatic eyes, reflecting a cold light: "Have you found out the origin of that servant?"

"It has been confirmed that he is indeed a native of Marcel." The adjutant handed over a parchment document respectfully, "but our investigation found that there are many suspicious points in his recent whereabouts."

Perfect took the document and gently stroked the ink on the paper with her slender fingers. Her eyes suddenly stopped at the record from three days ago - a tavern called "Rusty Nail" in the south of the city, where the servant stayed for an unusually long four hours.

The margins of the pages also noted the tavern owner's secret connections with several members of the French resistance.
-
Deep in the dark and damp mine, Jiang Boer curled up in a narrow tunnel with his back pressed against the cold rock wall.

The faint light of the kerosene lamp flickered in the humid air, illuminating his paper-pale face and bloodshot eyes.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of coal ash and a faint scent of blood. In the distance, the unique sound of metal friction and the hissing of air pressure release when steam machinery was in operation could be faintly heard.

The old miner next to him had a hunched back and his wrinkled face was covered in coal dust.

He whispered hoarsely: "Renault was captured by them and may be dead now."

He choked up in the middle of his words, his calloused hands trembled unconsciously, and coal dust fell from the ends of his gray hair.

Jiang Bo'er didn't answer, but just clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms, but he didn't feel any pain at all.

"Can that secret passage still be used?" Jiang Bo'er asked in a low voice after a long time, his eyes fixed on the faint fire at the end of the tunnel.

The old miner shook his head, coal dust falling with his movements: "It's barely possible, but it's too dangerous! The Victorians have strengthened patrols at all exits, and two fully armed soldiers are standing at the entrance of each passage." He licked his cracked lips and lowered his voice. "They also brought those damn hounds. Those beasts can't even escape the smell of a mouse."

A trace of determination flashed across Jiang Bo'er's eyes. He carefully took out a crumpled piece of paper from his arms. On it were several winding routes scribbled with charcoal, and the time for the guards to change shifts was marked at several key locations.

"We have to get this to the Rusty Nail Tavern," he gritted his teeth, his voice filled with a desperate determination, "This is the last chance. It must be delivered to Old Charlie before noon tomorrow."

Just as Jiang Bo'er ventured through the intricate underground passages, the "Rusty Nail" tavern in the south of the city welcomed uninvited guests.

The tavern was closed at the time and the door was locked, but the agent who came with the garrison kicked the door open.

The pub, which had not yet opened, was silent. The morning light shone through the stained glass windows, casting mottled shadows on the floor.

The agent's sharp eyes swept across the spotlessly clean bar, where the neatly arranged wine bottles on the wine racks reflected the faint light.

He suddenly reached out and pulled out a bottle with the label "Highland Whisky". On the oak wall behind the bottle, a crow pattern deliberately scratched with fingernails was faintly visible in the dim light.

"Search!" he ordered briefly, his voice as cold as ice.

The garrison soldiers who followed immediately took action, their heavy boots making dull sounds on the wooden floor.

Soon, someone discovered something unusual in the wine cellar - behind a loose brick wall, there was a clever secret door hidden.

After pushing open the door, a small secret room of less than five square meters appeared before everyone.

The scene inside the secret room was in stark contrast to the neat and tidy tavern outside: several hand-drawn scrawls were nailed to the wall, with several key locations in the city of Marcel marked in red pen; several pages of notes were scattered on a simple wooden table, and on the top paper was written "Marcel Hotel-Kitchen", with the handwriting hasty but clear.

"Sure enough, there is an insider." The agent sneered, with a dangerous arc at the corner of his mouth. He handed the note to the leading officer and lowered his voice: "Check these places immediately, especially the tavern owner's."

His voice stopped abruptly, and his hawk-like eyes were fixed on the floor in the corner of the secret room - there was a small, almost imperceptible pinch of lavender powder.

The agent squatted down, lightly touched the powder with the fingertips of his black leather gloves, and sniffed it.

His eyes suddenly turned cold, like a poisoned knife: "Purple thistle pollen."

"After being specially formulated and mixed with beef bone broth, it will become highly toxic." He slowly stood up and looked around the secret room, with a dangerous tone in his voice: "This is not a formula that ordinary resistance members can master."

When this information was presented to Perfectot, she was sitting at her desk reviewing documents.

Hearing footsteps, she slowly raised her sharp eyes, took the report with her slender fingers, and began to tap the notes on the table rhythmically. The details of the poison formula recorded on the parchment glowed in the candlelight.

"This kind of poison requires professional knowledge of pharmacy." She said thoughtfully, her fingertips running over the rare herbs marked on the recipe: "Check all the pharmacists in the city of Marcel, especially..."

Before he finished speaking, the entire hotel suddenly shook violently, and the crystal chandelier made a sharp collision sound.

A series of deafening explosions were heard in the distance. The red flames illuminated half of the night sky and made the window glass red.

The quill in Perfecto's hand broke with a sound, and ink splashed on his snow-white cuffs.

"Report! The garrison arsenal in the east of the city was blown up!" A servant rushed in and shouted in a panic, his uniform covered with dust. "The warehouse is completely destroyed, and the garrison is organizing a firefighting!"

Perfect walked quickly to the French window, the hem of her silk skirt sliding silently across the carpet.

She looked at the thick smoke rising in the distance, and a cold smile appeared on the corner of her mouth: "Finally, I can't hold it back anymore"

The window glass reflected the cold light in her eyes.

She turned and gave orders to her adjutant, her voice calm and resolute, every word as if quenched by ice: "Immediately strengthen the city's alert, impose a curfew at all city gates, and focus on protecting the area around the city's energy tower.

Also, prepare a fake itinerary and say that I will personally inspect the operation of the energy tower in the city tomorrow. "

Just as the adjutant was about to leave, Perfect added, "Wait, detain and interrogate all the guards who participated in the patrol of the armory today. An explosion of this scale cannot be carried out without an insider."

Her eyes turned toward the north of the city, where the Rust and Rose Hotel was located.
-
In the dead of night, in the basement of a shabby hotel called "Rust and Rose" in the north of the city, the dim candlelight cast swaying shadows on the damp walls.

Jiang Boer looked around cautiously, and after making sure it was safe, he took out an oil-paper package from his arms and handed it to the hunched old man in front of him.

"This is the last batch," he said hoarsely, blood seeping from his cracked lips, "Is it enough?"

The old man took the package with trembling hands and carefully examined the purple powder inside in the candlelight. The powder glowed strangely under the light.

"Enough to paralyze the energy tower of the entire city for three days." His hoarse voice was filled with excitement that was difficult to conceal, and he poured the powder into a rusty copper distiller.

The still hummed softly, and the intricate gears inside began to turn.

"Wait until tomorrow." A sinister smile appeared on the old man's wrinkled face, and his cloudy eyes flashed with madness under the candlelight.

At this moment, there was a sudden sound of heavy footsteps from upstairs, mixed with the crisp sound of metal armor colliding.

Jiang Bo'er's face suddenly changed, and his right hand unconsciously reached for the dagger at his waist: "They found this place!"

The old man moved with an agility that was beyond expectations for someone of his age, and quickly hid the distiller in a secret compartment on the wall.

He grabbed Jiang Bo'er's arm with amazing force: "Remember, tomorrow at noon, when the bell tower strikes twelve times..."

As he spoke, he pushed Jiang Bo'er towards the back door.

However, as soon as the back door was pushed open, a team of fully armed steam knights were ready for battle.

Their heavy steam-powered armor glowed coldly in the dim corridor. The leading knight raised the chainsaw sword in his hand, and the teeth began to rotate at high speed, making a harsh buzzing sound: "By order of the Regent"

At the critical moment, the old man suddenly took out an exquisite glass bottle from his worn cuffs and threw it hard on the ground.

The moment the glass shattered, thick purple smoke gushed out like a tide, instantly filling the entire basement.

From the smoke came the angry roars of the Steam Knights and the sound of chainswords hacking at the walls.

When the smoke finally cleared, the basement was empty, with only a hidden secret door on the back wall still shaking slightly, as if mocking the incompetence of its pursuers.

Not long after, in the administrative hall in the center of Marcel City, Perfect was sitting at the Governor's desk, listening to the latest reports from his subordinates.

Her slender fingers tapped rhythmically on the mahogany tabletop, and the sound of her nails hitting the wood made a crisp sound.

"So they plan to take action tomorrow at noon." She looked out the window at the gradually whitening eastern sky. The dim light before dawn outlined the huge silhouette of the city's energy tower.

A hint of coldness flashed in her eyes, and the corners of her mouth rose slightly: "That's right, we will wait in the engine room for them to fall into the trap."

When she turned around and gave the final order to the adjutant behind her, her voice was terribly calm, without a trace of emotion: "Secretly dispatch two teams of steam knights to ambush around the energy tower, and arrange another team to disguise as maintenance workers."

She paused, her eyes becoming sharper. “Remember, we must capture the mastermind alive. Especially the old man. I will interrogate him personally.”

After the adjutant saluted and left, Perfecto stood alone at the window, watching the dawn gradually brightening in the sky. This carefully arranged chess game had finally come to the time to close.

(End of this chapter)