Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 35: Dragon Bar
In the police carriage heading to the docks, Claire and Old Neil sat opposite each other.

Old Neil, dressed in a classic black robe and holding a felt hat in his hands, complained to Claire, "I've been through so much trouble!"

"I just gave Klein a divination lecture, and before I could even rest, Dunn pulled me over to show you around. I'm a retired soldier."

Old Neil, who kept chattering along the way, didn't actually look impatient at all, but was more of a chatterbox.

Claire tactfully praised Old Neil and said, "Mr. Neil, Dunn specifically asked me to invite you. You also told me about the Dragon Tavern before. Are you familiar with this place?"

Speaking of this, Old Neil has no complaints.

"Of course." Old Neil nodded proudly. "I'm a retired Nighthawk. I'm very familiar with places like Tingen that involve extraordinary things."

"I heard that Dragon Bar is the former captain of the Mandated Punisher." Claire inquired.

"As for Swain, I know him very well. He's an old fellow a bit older than me, a heavy drinker. He can collect one twentieth of the underground black market profits just by lying down. That's fine...but the most infuriating thing is that the interest rate for borrowing money from him is too high!"

As he spoke, Old Neil began to grit his teeth.

It seems that Old Neil borrowed money from Swain?
The goddess' followers went to borrow money from the Storm Lord's followers at high interest rates...

Claire wisely didn't pursue the topic any further.

Claire whispered again, "Does the church allow the existence of the underground black market?"

Old Neil chuckled and said, "It's better to open it up than to block it. Besides, even officials like us need these places, don't we?"

Thinking about the huge amount of materials consumed, Claire nodded in agreement.

At this time, the carriage gradually stopped. Following Old Neil's gaze, Claire could see a bar in the distance across the street.

But things over there were not peaceful at this moment.

An old man in an old naval officer's uniform was holding a metal wine jug, his back straight and as strong as a demon.

In front of him stood a small group of men in uniform, armed with thick rifles.

Those complex and long rifles, connected by pipes to the huge gray-white mechanical box on the back, give off a very oppressive feeling.

High-pressure steam rifles!? These are the members of the Mechanical Heart?

Old Neil confirmed Claire's guess: "The old man in the navy uniform is Swain, and those people across from him are all Mechanical Hearts."

Just like the Nighthawks members mainly use the "Sleepless" route.

The members of the Mechanical Heart are mainly based on the "universalist" path.

When the generalists are at a low sequence, they do not have effective mysterious side-killing methods, but these guys who are proficient in mechanics are extremely good at firearms.

Especially high-powered firearms!

Like these high-pressure steam rifles.

Claire had seen records in the archive that when clearing dangerous ruins, the Mechanical Heart was accustomed to using artillery fire to raze the dangerous area to the ground.

Old Neil chuckled. "Our two neighbors, one has a bad temper, the other has bad methods. Let's go and see what's going on."

The violent means refer to the Heart of a Machine.

Those with bad tempers refer to the Punishers, because when these storm brothers are angry, their strength and speed will be extremely increased, and they often cannot control or do not control their emotions.

Claire followed Old Neil out of the carriage and joined the group.

Swain glanced over and said with a smile, "Hey, Old Neil, are you short of money again?" Old Neil cursed, "Get lost! I brought some people here to investigate something. But why are you guys so messed up?"

"Mr. Neil." The leader of the Mechanical Heart also greeted old Neil politely.

It can be seen that Old Neil is really popular.

"Someone died in the Mechanical Heart area. They said they had set up a stall here. Let's investigate. But how can I let them in when they're so heavily armed?"

The leader of the Mechanical Heart explained, "This is a necessary measure to deal with the danger."

Old Neil spoke up to smooth things over: "Ebanks, why don't you have your team members guard the door and we'll go in with you."

Ebanks followed Old Neil's advice and not only asked the others to wait outside, but also disassembled the guns and put them in a metal box.

This is actually a modified high-pressure steam rifle.

Claire was quite envious of the semi-automatic gun disassembly action.

Seeing the Mechanical Heart give in, Swain snorted, turned around and led them in personally.

Swain took the lead and pushed open the door of the bar, and the strong smell of alcohol hit him in the face.

There was a boxing ring in the middle of the bar, surrounded by an agitated crowd.

Swain led them around the boxing ring and continued walking inside, into a billiard room at the back. The two people playing billiard inside saw Swain and quietly made way.

There is a secret door hidden in that location.

Swain pushed the door open and walked in, followed by Claire and the other two.

After following behind and walking through several rooms, Claire's eyes suddenly opened up. In front of her was a place the size of a lecture hall.

There were some stalls scattered inside, and at the back, there were two small dark rooms.

Swain stopped and asked Old Neil, "From what you said just now, you Nighthawks are here to investigate as well?"

Old Neil pointed at Claire with his thumb and said proudly, "Our new team member, Claire Meazza, single-handedly captured a 'assassin' from the Gnostic Society. He told me to buy an excessive amount of the 'Instigator' formula from you."

Swain glanced at Claire and interrupted gruffly:
"I know about that. Xijia from your team investigated. The seller used a fake identity when he came to me, and I have no leads here! I'm also looking for that bastard! He actually deceived me about the goods. How will I ever do business again if this gets out?"

The Church of the Storm advocates that women stay at home to take care of their husbands and children. Claire, who has read their teachings, is not surprised by Swain's attitude.

After Swain finished complaining, Ebanks politely interrupted, "From what I've heard from you all, I think we're all investigating the same person."

Ebanks shared his intelligence: "Jesse Moody, an 'apprentice' thief, died in our area. The initial conclusion is that he died from an overdose of hallucinogenic drugs. But we always felt something was wrong. After investigation, we found that Jess had sold stolen goods to you."

"The reason we mobilized so many forces is that during our investigation, we discovered that the list of stolen goods he sold actually included a recipe for the 'Instigator' potion!"

Swain said, "The Gnosis hasn't done a good job keeping the formulas for the 'Assassin' and 'Instigator' potions secret. While they haven't been intentionally disseminated, it wouldn't be surprising if they got the formulas into the hands of those scoundrels."

Ebanks retorted, "But the formula in Jesse's hands must have a source. We have to find 'it'. What if that source is the 'instigator' who is preparing to cause a major incident in Tingen? Those madmen always cause vicious incidents that affect many ordinary people."

Swain frowned and closed his mouth.

Old Neil also revealed the intelligence from the Nighthawks. Under the consensus that attacking the Gnosis would protect Tingen, the Nighthawks, the Mandated Punishers, and the Machine Heart were no different.

"The 'assassin' we caught bought the 'Instigator' potion formula here."

(End of this chapter)