The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 366 Charter Movement and Covenant

Wu Chang browsed through the dense evidence on the wall. Just from the records above, one could see how much effort Raventon had put into investigating the Steam Parliament.

Even the initial investigation records were very detailed and were not done casually.

Detectives are not police officers. They are only responsible for solving cases and are not responsible for dealing with the social impact following the cases.

A murder case involving hundreds of deaths sounds horrifying, but it does not have much impact on detectives, especially extraordinary detectives like Ravington.

Before Wu Chang saw Baron Philip's resentment, Ravington had at most made a few sarcastic remarks about the case at Pine Tree Coal Mine, treating the incident as a minor episode in the investigation of the assassination of the Prime Minister and had not reacted much.

However, when talking about the Steam Council, he mentioned that he personally took action to ensure that every member of the Steam Council went to hell.

I'm afraid that even Julie, who was acting with him at the time, would not do this.

Wu Chang turned his body to look at Raventon and said, "You seem to be particularly afraid of them."

Raventon understood what Wu Chang meant. He sighed and said:

"I pay attention to details when I investigate cases. All my inferences are based on details and evidence, but sometimes my inspiration will also give me warnings."

"As I investigated the case further, the more I discovered about the purpose of this group of people, the more terrified I became."

Wu Chang became interested, poured himself a glass of wine, and asked:
"What is their purpose? They can't be man-made gods."

Ravington said solemnly: "You will never guess that they... um, what did you say just now?"

Wu Chang guessed, "I think they wouldn't want to create a god by relying on extraordinary industrialization."

Ravington shook his head. "Not really. I think your thinking is a little too bold."

Wu Chang curled his lips, feeling a little disdainful.

It seems that the higher the level of the dungeon, the more ambitious the BOSS becomes, not even daring to think about creating artificial gods. No wonder no divinity has appeared in this plane.

Raventon saw Wu Chang's disgust and was at a loss whether to laugh or cry for a moment.

Is it that Stian is too conservative, or is the outside world too crazy? Judging from Wu Chang's performance, things like artificial gods have become the baseline for villain organizations.

Are all the guys he met in the new world playing so big?

Originally, Raventon wanted to wait until the incident was over and then go to the new world to see if he could learn space magic, but now he suddenly didn't want to do that anymore.

He put down his glass somewhat awkwardly and said:
"Although the purpose of the Steam Council is not to create gods, it is also very crazy."

"They are willing to pay any price to pursue extraordinary powers. Many people have lost their fortunes, and even half of the members have lost their lives. However, the power they have worked so hard to obtain is far inferior to that of people like us who are born extraordinary."

"This makes them extremely jealous of the extraordinary people. They are determined to create extraordinary technology that everyone can master, use extraordinary industrialization to replace all extraordinary people, and make extraordinary abilities belong to ordinary people."

Wu Chang showed a half-smile and said:
“It’s an interesting goal and worth encouraging.”

He suddenly understood the arrogance of the Holy Mother. The vision of many indigenous people in the wilderness was indeed too narrow.

The so-called extraordinary people are nothing more than the controllers of extraordinary powers. If everyone can use extraordinary powers, then everyone is an extraordinary person.

In the rational world above the desolate world, or even the third layer of the abyss, it is perfectly common for ordinary people to master extraordinary abilities.

Even looking further up, don’t Abyss Game players like Wu Chang also use special methods to enable ordinary people to master extraordinary abilities?

If you want to replace the extraordinary person by mastering extraordinary abilities, wouldn’t that be like killing myself?

But according to Raventon, the Steam Council got its start by studying alchemy and mysticism, so it all makes sense.

No wonder that group of black-robed men at the Pine Tree Coal Mine had extremely high attainments in mysticism, and the arrangements they made were difficult even for a powerful transcendent like Raventon to see.

Ravington shook his head and continued:

"Their problem is not just their hatred for the extraordinary people. The members of the Steam Council are all new nobles, university professors, and scholars. They have knowledge and resources that ordinary people cannot master, and they instinctively look down on people who are not as good as themselves."

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

"Towards the real common people, they have a kind of creator-like arrogance, and can easily kill tens of millions of people in order to further their theories."

"My inspiration tells me that if we let these lunatics do whatever they want, Stylan and even the whole world will be in chaos."

Raventon's eyes were a little evasive, as if he was recalling some bad memories.

"Julie thought they still had value and should be taken back to interrogate their research, but I was determined to get rid of these lunatics. I thought if they left even a little spark, it could burn everything down."

“We had quite a dispute over this.”

Wu Chang put down his wine glass in disappointment. If the natural extraordinary people were to be eliminated just to monopolize the extraordinary abilities, then wouldn't the Steam Council be the same as ordinary small-time villains?

Apart from being more paranoid and more proactive, among the villains, he can at most sit at the same table with the believers of the Tranquility Sect.

Unlike Wu Chang, Raventon doesn't have such high requirements for villains.

In his opinion, the Steam Parliament is already a serious group of antisocial elements, and it is necessary to strike hard to deal with this group of lunatics.

Simply hanging or burning at the stake was no longer enough; their heads had to be smashed with a pistol to put them at ease.

"Three and a half years ago, what they did was nowhere near the level they did in the Pine Tree Mine."

"At that time, they were still in the early stages of supernatural industrialization, and the supernatural items they made were still mainly based on mysticism. In other words, they could not achieve true supernaturalness, and it was difficult to industrialize them."

"After three and a half years of dormancy, the level they have reached is no less than that of the extraordinary steam engine of the official Stilan. Whether it is the coal essence they have refined or the core of the machine, it is difficult to see any traces of mysticism. It is only pure machinery."

Raventon was silent for a moment, then said solemnly:
"I even feel that the extraordinary steam engine they produced is more advanced than the official one of Stilan."

Wu Chang shrugged his shoulders. When he found out that the level of the Steam Parliament was just so-so, he no longer focused on them.

Raverton's attention was drawn to the Steam Council, but he still remembered why they were investigating the Pine Tree Mine in the first place.

"So based on the existing clues, do you think Prime Minister Ron's death is related to the Steam Parliament?"

Wu Chang can discover the secret of Pine Coal Mine and the involvement of the Steam Parliament through resentment, but he is not sure who the murderer of the Prime Minister is and needs to ask Revington for his opinion.

Ravington shook his head and said:

"I'd like to say that the Prime Minister's assassination was done by the Steam Council, but there's something that's hard to explain."

"The death of Baron Philip and his family was caused by our discovery of the coal ore refining machine deep inside the Pine Tree Coal Mine. This means that the secret of the Pine Tree Coal Mine had not been discovered before."

"Assuming that the Prime Minister was really killed by the Steam Council because of his investigation into the Pine Tree Coal Mine, and the secret of the Pine Tree Coal Mine has not been exposed, then why must we take the risk to get rid of him?"

Wu Chang frowned and said, "In other words, the Prime Minister's death can basically be ruled out as being related to the Songshu Coal Mine."

“Maybe not a direct relationship,” said Reventon.

Wu Chang asked, "What do you mean?"

Ravington took out a photo of the Prime Minister's desk, pointed to the report on the workers' movement and said:
"The cause of this labor movement was the Songshu coal mine explosion. The death of the prime minister is also likely related to it. However, the source of danger may not only be the Songshu coal mine explosion, but the labor movement itself."

"Remember what Thomas said?"

Wu often thought about the topic of the workers' movement when he was with Thomas.

"He said that workers from the Pine Tree Mine who went to join the march had a widespread violent clash in the city, many were locked up, and the remaining workers mixed with the Chartist workers."

Ravington said: "The real reason for the assassination of the Prime Minister may be the Charter Movement. If we want to investigate the assassination of the Prime Minister, we can start with the Charter Movement."

Wu Chang followed Raventon's thoughts and wondered after a moment:
“Is the conflict between the workers and the prime minister really that big that it would lead to the assassination of the prime minister?”

"I remember you said that Prime Minister Ron once promoted the Factory Act, which restricted the working hours of child laborers and other actions to fight for workers' rights, which led to hostility from the industrial aristocracy."

"I've heard a saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Whether we look at it from the perspective of Prime Minister Ron enacting the Factory Act or from the perspective of the enemy of my enemy, the conflict between the workers and the Prime Minister should not be deep."

Ravington shrugged and said, "I also said that our Prime Minister is not popular." "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. The reason why the workers are hostile to the Prime Minister is precisely because of the Charter Movement."

Seeing Wu Chang's puzzled look, Ravington explained to Wu Chang what the Charter Movement was.

The so-called Charter Movement was a movement in which workers were dissatisfied with their current lives and desired greater political power.

That is, all adult men should be granted universal suffrage, which includes the right to elect and vote.

In the current Stellan, the right to vote is a privilege of the landlords and the middle class and above. Only those with an annual income of more than ten gold pounds and who have paid the corresponding taxes have the right to vote.

If you want to run for parliament, you must prove that you own property worth more than three hundred pounds.

Both indicators exclude the vast majority of workers from politics.

Even in Grimland, families formed purely between workers could only live in the workers' areas with extremely poor conditions.

If, like Thomas's family, parents die before their children reach adulthood, they will face moving from the working-class area to the slums.

Under this situation, there are neither MPs who fight for the interests of the workers nor are they eligible to vote.

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

Having said that, Raventon took a sip of wine, moistened his throat, and said helplessly:

"The problem is that although our Prime Minister Ron fights for the interests of the workers, he is a pure elitist. He believes that the workers have not received the necessary education and lack basic political judgment, so he firmly opposes their demands."

"Not only that, the prime minister also followed the principle of order above all else, believing that the workers' movement seriously threatened social stability and often resorted to violent suppression, resulting in the deaths of a large number of workers."

"So from the workers' perspective, Prime Minister Ron is the real enemy. Many people hold the attitude that if Prime Minister Ron is killed, the Charter Movement will be unimpeded."

Wu Chang didn't know what to say for a moment after hearing this. He could only sigh and say:

"It seems that our Prime Minister Ron is really unpopular."

No wonder Ravington said before that the assassination of the Prime Minister was carried out with the tacit consent of many parties.

What they want to investigate is not who has the motive to assassinate the prime minister, but who couldn't help but take action first.

"If the next step in the investigation into Prime Minister Ron's assassination is to investigate the workers' activities, then perhaps the investigation into the Steam Council can be carried out simultaneously."

This time it was Raventon's turn to be puzzled. He asked, "How can we do it synchronously?"

Wu Chang said: "I didn't have time to tell you before, but when I entered the area where coal ore was refined, my inspiration told me that the cause of the Songshu Coal Mine explosion was that an uninvited guest broke into the area."

"That uninvited guest is a mine thief named Mick who can use magic to transmit messages."

The corners of Raventon's mouth twitched slightly, his eyebrows twisted together, and he looked at Wu Chang with a weird look.

"Are you sure that this is what inspiration told you, and not the result of you capturing a member of the Steam Council and torturing him when I wasn't paying attention?"

What a joke, the reason inspiration is called inspiration is because it is just a vague feeling.

Whose inspiration can be as specific as the character's identity, name, and even the type of magic used.

Wu Chang shook his head slightly, with an attitude of "This is my inspiration, if you can't do it, it's your problem."

"When your occult knowledge reaches my level, you will know whether inspiration can do it. Before that, I can't explain too much to an occult user of your level."

Ravington pursed his lips and forced a smile on his face, "Okay, you win."

Before he met Wu Chang, he was not the top one in the extraordinary circle of Stilan, but he was also a well-known figure.

Since he met Wu Chang, he has been mocked more than once for being bad at mysticism.

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

Wu Chang saw that Raventon stopped talking, so he continued:
"Before he died, the mine thief used a magic message to his companions. His companions were probably also mine thieves. They may have infiltrated the Charter Movement, or were members of the Charter Movement themselves."

"The guys from the Steam Council probably didn't expect that I had already sensed their presence through inspiration. They must have thought that they had temporarily cut off all clues."

"In order to delay your discovery, they should track down the miners' companions as soon as possible. If nothing unexpected happens, their target will also be the Charter Movement."

"Maybe we'll run into people from the Steam Council soon."

At the same time, in the basement of St. George's Cathedral, Olivia was listening to Julie reporting the truth about the Pine Tree Coal Mine explosion.

After listening to Julie's description and personally confirming the photos of the interior and exterior of the extraordinary refining machine and the special feed inlet, Olivia lowered her head slightly and fell into deep thought.

“I never thought that someone could develop the extraordinary steam engine to this extent and use flesh and blood to increase the output of the extraordinary steam engine.”

"No wonder I heard from the Trade Commission that in the past year or so, a large amount of coal ore of unknown origin suddenly appeared in the Stylan and international markets. It turned out that the source was the Pine Tree Coal Mine."

Olivia raised her head, looked at Julie excitedly, and said:

"You just said that the extraordinary steam engine was still running not long ago, which means that its missing core is likely in the hands of the leader of my Arcane Knights, right?"

Olivia was in high spirits, but when she looked up, she found that Julie was looking at her with a complicated look.

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

"If you have any questions, just ask."

Since Olivia said so, Julie asked:
"Your Majesty, it's no coincidence that the extraordinary steam engine can increase its operating efficiency by absorbing flesh and blood, right?"

Olivia seemed to have discovered some secret, and said with a guilty conscience: "There's no one else here now, so you should just call me Olivia."

Julie didn’t say anything, just looked at Olivia quietly.

Olivia showed an innocent expression and said:

"Okay, I admit that I did discover this route during my research on the extraordinary steam engine."

"After all, much of the knowledge involved in the extraordinary steam engine is the 'divine wisdom' that the Mystic Knights took away from the God-given Library when they broke into the headquarters of the Tranquility Church."

"The knowledge from the evil god is related to sacrifice and makes sense, but that route is too difficult and will displease the Lord, so we didn't continue."

After hearing Olivia's explanation, Julie's face looked better, but the worry in her eyes did not disappear.

She asked softly:
"If all development is based on flesh and blood, Olivia, can what we are doing really change the world and make everything better?"

Olivia grabbed Julie's hand and said without hesitation:
"Of course! I never doubted our choice."

"The same thing, in the hands of different people, will produce different effects. Just like gunpowder, it can be used in wars and harvest lives, or as a tool for mining and developing industry."

"In the hands of those inferior guys, the extraordinary steam engine can only satisfy their selfish desires, but it will not be the case in our hands."

Olivia came to Julie and said softly:
"I still remember the agreement we made. You helped me gain freedom, and I helped you create a world where everyone can live in peace."

"We created Stian, who is at the top of the world today. I will definitely keep my promise. Everything we are going through now is just the darkness before dawn."

Julie leaned against Olivia, recalling the scene she saw during the day when Irene rescued someone in the slums, and said:
“I just think maybe it doesn’t have to be that perfect.”

Olivia said, "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

To ease Julie's confusion, Olivia said:

"Captain Sean is even better than I thought. He has lived up to your expectations of him."

"He did a great job investigating the Pine Tree Coal Mine explosion this time. Tell him that, if nothing unexpected happens, I will announce the reconstruction of the Mystic Knights and his position at the inauguration dinner of the interim prime minister tomorrow night."

"The Prime Minister has just been assassinated, so it is not suitable for him to attend consecutive banquets. He is moving too fast, so we can only rush it. I hope he will not mind sharing this important moment with others."

(End of this chapter)