Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 82: The First Time "Listening"

Filled with disgust for Ms. M, Lu Ze left home, intending to take a public carriage to Blackthorn Security on Zotland Street. As soon as he stepped out of the house, he frowned, his face clearly showing discomfort, and he covered his ears with his hands.

Because countless complex sounds were flooding into his ears.

The sounds of people talking, carriages rolling over the road, things colliding, and eerie whispers lurking in dark corners.
After drinking the "Listener" potion, Luze's hearing became much stronger. If he actively used the "Listen" ability, he could not only hear more clearly, but also hear sounds that ordinary people could not hear. However, he did not dare to try this ability for the time being, because he always felt that it would be too dangerous.

Having overly acute senses can be a problem.

He thought to himself, "Relax, stand by the street and meditate for a moment, focusing my attention on my surroundings." After adjusting himself for about ten seconds, his ears were much clearer, but he could still listen at any time, hearing sounds within a range of about ten meters around him.

After adjusting his hearing, Luzer boarded a public carriage and disembarked on Zotland Street, walking into the company building. In the lobby, Leonard and Frye were sitting on a sofa, examining a large pile of death reports.

"Several new deaths have occurred. The captain wants you to come with us to the scene and see if you can spot anything from the fresh bodies."

Leonard spoke to Luzer, his right hand in his pocket, his posture relaxed.

"understood."

Lu Zedao.

He recalled what Ms. M had said last night. From her words, it was clear that someone was indeed pulling the strings behind these numerous deaths that appeared to be natural.

If you can't find any clues for a long time, try probing her.

Lu Ze thought to himself.

Before setting off, he changed into the uniform of a trainee inspector, just like Frye, while Leonard, who was one rank above them, wore the uniform of an inspector with three stars on his epaulets.

In fact, Lu Ze is also a Sequence 8 Extraordinary. Theoretically, he should not only get a raise but also a promotion. However, it's best not to tell the captain about the promotion, otherwise he might not get a better salary but an arrest warrant from the Holy Tribunal.

Unfortunately, I can't brag about my promotion to them.

As Lu Ze thought regretfully, he boarded the company carriage and headed to the scene of the incident, the Tinggen Industrial Zone.

"I found something strange in some of the incidents."

Inside the moving carriage, Leonard took out some documents.

"What's weird?"

Lu Ze glanced at him.

"I can't explain it clearly in just a few words. I'll explain it after we see the scene. You'll understand then."

Leonard said.

The carriage traveled along the Hoy River, approaching the industrial area downstream. The view outside the window changed from bustling streets to vast factory buildings, with towering chimneys, dark and imposing. The air gradually became pungent, and the Hoy River appeared murky and black.

Lu Ze rubbed his ears. The roar of countless machine tools came from afar. He tried his best to suppress his hearing so as not to damage his eardrums from the noise of the machines.

Finally, the carriage stopped in front of a cotton mill.

At the factory gate, a police chief in charge of local security and a foreman from the factory were already waiting there.

"Sir, please come in."

When the sheriff saw that the three men were all of higher rank than him, his tone involuntarily became more respectful.

When he turned to look at the foreman, his attitude became much worse: "Lead us to see the body."

"Damn it, what's so interesting about a dead person?"

The foreman grinned, revealing a mouthful of rotten, yellowed teeth stained by cigarette smoke, and cursed in a thick country accent, "You worthless slut, I've already paid them back to their family, and they still dare to call the police on me!" "Stop talking nonsense!"

The sheriff glared at him, "If you keep nagging, I'll send you to the police station!"

The foreman reluctantly moved and walked into the factory.

The roar of the machine tools disturbed Lu Ze's ears, but he still managed to glean some information from their conversation. Apparently, a worker had died in an accident at the factory, and the foreman had already paid compensation and didn't want the matter to escalate.

The three entered a factory building covering several hundred square meters, where rows of looms running non-stop came into view.

Deep inside the factory, a massive steam engine whirred, transmitting its power to a shaft suspended in mid-air. The rotating shaft then drove belts wound around it, ultimately supplying power to each loom. The looms moved back and forth, drawing out cotton yarn and weaving it into cotton cloth.

Small figures moved back and forth between the looms, replenishing cotton yarn and repairing the stopped machines from time to time.

Lu Ze paused.

Short bodies, thin limbs, dirty faces, and numb eyes that have lost their childlike innocence—these workers were actually seven or eight-year-old children.

"This is our largest factory here, producing an average of 10 bolts of cotton cloth a day," the foreman said proudly. "If it weren't for that unlucky brat dying and causing the production line to stop for a while, we could have challenged ourselves to produce 12 bolts today."

Luzer stared silently at the scene before him, somewhat shocked. Beside him, Leonard and Frye's breathing also became heavy.

"Let's look at the body."

Leonard tried to look away and said to the foreman.

So they went into a room on the side of the factory and saw a small body wrapped in rags.

"That little bastard fell asleep and headfirst into the machine, got strangled to death," the foreman said casually. "Damn it, he dirtied the whole cotton cloth, and now the machine has to be cleaned. What bad luck."

Fry gave the foreman a cold look, walked over, and lifted the rag. He examined it for a moment, then looked up and said, "Judging from the wound, it's definitely from being caught in a machine."

Where are his family members?

Lu Ze asked.

"I've already told them that his parents both have work to do, and they'll come over after they finish their work."

"My own child is dead, why should I still work?!"

Leonard roared.

“If they don’t work for a day, they might starve to death. Anyway, the children are all dead, so there’s no point in coming here,” Lu Ze said calmly, based on his previous memories. “The poor don’t even have the right to stop working and feel grief.”

Leonard was speechless.

Lu Ze walked over, his eyes scanning the corpse. Just like before, he didn't find anything unusual.

Logically speaking, now that I've been promoted, things should be different.

How about trying out your newfound ability, "listening"?
He thought for a moment, then squatted down in front of the corpse, pretending to examine it carefully, but actually tilting his ear slightly to activate his listening ability.

The factory's various noises assaulted the ears, but beneath them lay the groans of countless people, numb and pained. They were hungry, desperate, hateful, and hostile, spreading all their extreme emotions wantonly.

How pathetic.
Despite the pain, Lu Ze focused his attention on the child.

".Thank you, sister."

Finally, he heard a tender and joyful voice coming from the corpse's small chest cavity.

(End of this chapter)