Becoming a god by raising witches

The receptionist retrieved the certificates from the counter and showed them to Hannah and Locke one by one.

"Thank you."

Hannah looked at the certificate carefully; if she had a camera, she would have even wanted to take a picture.

"Could you provide me with a glass of water? I'd like to try it."

Hannah said.

The receptionist smiled and nodded, pouring Hannah a glass of water in a disposable paper cup.

Hannah didn't drink it. Instead, she held the cup and pretended to chat with Locke. The two walked out of the Compass Water Company, laughing and talking.

The receptionist frowned slightly, suspecting that the two people had come specifically to freeload water.

"What bad luck."

He cursed under his breath, picked up the latest edition of The Sun, and saw the news about the cats committing suicide at the dock.

Hannah walked 200 meters away from the Compass Water Company and handed the water cup to Locke.

Locke poured the water from the glass into a small glass bottle, plugged it with a wooden stopper, and put it in his coat pocket.

He already had two bottles of water in his pocket.

The first bottle was water from the common bathroom in Old Tom's apartment building, the second bottle was water provided by the receptionist at Compass Water Company, and there was an empty bottle left, which they planned to fill with water from the Ceci River.

Once you have these samples, you can send them to the nearest hospital for testing.

Although the medical conditions in this society are very poor, alchemy is exceptionally advanced. The hospital has many advanced alchemical devices that can detect and test many substances, and the testing time does not even take an hour, although the cost is relatively high.

One test requires approximately 100 micrograms.

Normal people would never be willing to spend that much money.

However, Locke had already found a way to save money.

If you happen to know the inspector and his preferences, all you need is a pack of 5 Micks of Yorkshire cigarettes and a 10 Micks tip to get him to do a free test and provide a detailed report.

Hannah and Locke arrived at the Cési River, but the water was not clear and tasted only slightly better than Old Jor's apartment.

Don't linger here too long.

Eileen reminded her.

Locke wholeheartedly agreed, feeling a chilly atmosphere about the place, wondering if it was because homeless people had been dumped there for a long time.

He filled a bottle with water and left with Hannah along the river, seeing the Kossork prison and the László alchemy plant along the way.

"When was a new alchemy plant built here?"

Hannah asked, puzzled.

"About two months ago, The Sun published their job postings for workers."

Locke replied.

Immediately, the two of them thought of the same thing.

Could the water pollution issue be related to this Las Vegas gold refinery?

However, it cannot be completely confirmed at this time that the water source has been contaminated; we must wait for the test results.

Furthermore, the gates of the Laszlo Alchemy Factory are tightly closed and not open to the public. High barbed wire fences isolate the factory from the surrounding area. To investigate the factory, one must enter and find their wastewater treatment facilities and drainage outlets.

"Let's get out of here first."

Locke reminded Hannah, who nodded, her gaze lingering on the Lasslo Alchemy Factory for a few seconds, as if trying to make a deeper impression.

The two people and the cat arrived at Pete Hospital, went straight upstairs to the laboratory, and found the familiar lab technician Enzo.

Enzo is from Yorkshire. He used to be addicted to gambling and had accumulated a lot of debt, so he fled to the royal capital, Kosork. He has now quit gambling, but he occasionally goes to taverns. He met Miss Jenny, the "witch of lust" that Locke had once been looking for, and the two became friends.

"Enzo, good afternoon."

Locke took a pack of York cigarettes from his coat and stuffed it into Enzo's pocket.

"Locke, you're lucky. I'm the only one on duty today. Come in and have a look at my studio. Oh, and there's the beautiful Miss Hannah and the lovely black cat. Come on, come in and have a look."

Enzo beckoned to the two men and led them to the laboratory. After looking around to make sure no one was watching, he closed the door.

Locke handed three glass bottles to Enzo, who used test tubes to take 10ml of each for testing.

Locke looked curiously at the various devices in the laboratory, and one of them, a huge machine with a round, wide belly that resembled half of a robot's upper body, caught his attention.

Three red lights flashed on this metallic lump, which was full of cyberpunk and mechanical aesthetics, and a row of reagent card slots popped out from its abdomen.

Enzo placed the test tube into the slot and then pushed the slot into the abdomen of the machine.

Hannah asked in surprise,

"Is this the latest alchemical testing equipment?"

Chapter 20, Not even children are spared

“Yes, Miss Hannah, this thing has saved us a lot of trouble. To be honest, I’m already a follower of the great god of alchemy.”

Enzo raised an eyebrow at Hannah, smiled, and continued,

"You can get the results in just 20 minutes."

Locke took 10 mcg from his pocket and handed it to Enzo.

"Buying you a drink."

Enzo did not refuse and stuffed the 10 Micks into his pocket. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Enzo immediately signaled Locke and Hannah to hide.

He walked to the door, opened it a crack, reached out, took the reagents his colleague handed him for testing, and said coldly,

Come pick it up at 2 PM.

Then, he quickly closed the door.

The medicine was placed on the table, labeled with a number, and lined up with other medicines.

Hannah watched him work and secretly gave Locke a thumbs up. If Locke hadn't been Enzo's friend, not only would he not have been able to get tested at such a low price, but he would have also had to wait in a long line, and the earliest he could get the results would probably be tomorrow afternoon.

Locke nodded slightly to Hannah, indicating that it was nothing.

Having many friends, whether good or bad, can sometimes be beneficial.

Locke is a good friend-maker, but recently he was harmed because of his reputation for "not even sparing children," so everyone subconsciously stays away from him.

Twenty minutes later, Locke and Hannah received their test results.

The first bottle of water taken from the public restroom of Old Tom's apartment building tested positive for severely excessive levels of mercury.

The second bottle of water provided by the Compass Water Company receptionist was clear and normal, and contained no mercury.

The third bottle of water from the Cécile River tested positive for the same amount of mercury as the first bottle.

In other words, Compass Water Company itself doesn't drink water from the Ceci River, yet it supplies wastewater from the Ceci River to residents of the West End.

Locke remembered a disease from his previous life called Minamata disease, which was caused by mercury poisoning.

The symptoms in the limbs include sensory disturbances, pain, numbness, weakness, difficulty walking, ataxia, hemiplegia, and tremors.

It can also cause mental dullness, grand mal seizures, laughter, confusion, and convulsions.

The behavior of the people in Old Jol's apartment building is very similar to this situation.

Locke had a bold conjecture: in order to seize the market and reduce costs, the Compass Water Company did not thoroughly purify the water. It is very likely that they only did simple filtration and dust removal before introducing the water to the market. The company's employees must have known about this, so they would not drink the water from the Ceci River.

The Cési River was polluted because of a nearby gold refinery. Only gold refineries release large amounts of toxic substances, including mercury.

Hannah's guess was consistent with Locke's after receiving the test results. To verify this, she needed to go to the Lasslo Alchemy Factory.

Once the sewage outlet of the Laszlo gold refinery is located and evidence is obtained, it can be proven that they polluted the water source.

Of course, Compass Water Company cannot be overlooked either, as their failure to properly purify the water led to these sources of water entering homes in the West End.

Hannah trembled with rage, her eyes burning with fury that startled Enzo, the inspector.

Enzo hid behind Locke and asked cautiously,

What happened to your sister?

"She was angry."

Did I offend her?

"No, it was the water company and the gold refinery that offended her."

Locke explained.

He knew Hannah, a female journalist who hated evil and whose heart for justice had never cooled despite being unemployed.

She was filled with indignation at witnessing these acts of disregarding life for money and profit.

Hannah would relentlessly condemn their actions with her pen, but only if she found complete evidence; she would not overlook any detail.

Enzo patted Locke on the shoulder.

"Get the results and leave quickly, I have a lot to do today."