Wizard: Surviving in the Steam Age with Points for Demon Hunter

Chapter 77 As Expected, Something Unexpected Happened

As we walked up the long staircase to the main building entrance, we saw maids on either side dressed in slightly loose black servant uniforms. They bowed respectfully as the group approached.

Collins walked forward without a smile and gestured for the guard to open the gold-trimmed door. "Distinguished guests, please come in."

Lacey swaggered through the gate, while Marco's gaze lingered on the maids before he followed her in.

[You are targeted by Modeste Benavides. Assessment: If he dares to show his face, don't hesitate, shoot him dead. Reward: Survival Points +1.]

Ok?

As soon as Wei En stepped through the gate, he noticed the sign, paused for a moment, and then walked forward with a natural expression.

Those who could be shot dead by him wouldn't even get close to him; Lacey could crush them with a single finger.

He didn't panic at all.

"A one-horned scorpion?"

As soon as he stepped through the porch, Marco's gaze was drawn to the skull hanging on the living room wall.

"Investigator Marco has a good eye for quality. That is indeed the skull of the infamous One-Horned Scorpion from the Cordo Sea, one of Young Master Ramiro's spoils of war."

Collins' eyes narrowed as he smiled, as if he himself had hunted down the unicorn scorpion.

Marco curled his lip. "He's only twenty years old."

"Uh," Collins pursed his lips, wanting to explain something, but ultimately didn't say anything.

"Please follow me. The guardian statue is located near Mr. Sayyam's residence behind the side hall."

Wei En glanced at the head of the giant unicorn scorpion a few more times.

Indeed, as its name suggests,

The unicorn scorpion had a single, sharp horn as tall as a person pointing directly at them, and its mouth was full of sharp fangs, suggesting that its bite force must be incredibly powerful.

It seems that young master Ramiro's strength is unexpectedly formidable.

Then Wayne looked around at the room's layout.

Upon entering the gate, he noticed that the interior decoration style was both rough and luxurious, with the skeletons of marine life and deep-sea corals and pearls visible everywhere.

A huge nautical chart was printed on the ceiling above, roughly outlining the boundary between the continent and the sea.

He even found markings of the Sea of ​​Cordoba and the city-state of Castel on it.

The surrounding walls are covered with paintings of various marine creatures, including huge, ferocious octopuses, terrifying sea snakes, and all kinds of sailboats...

As they went deeper, they found more and more skeletons of various fish and sea monsters, which were hung on the walls on both sides as candle holders.

"It's clear that you really enjoy the adventures at sea."

Lacey glanced at them and asked casually, "Did Ramiro bring these back as well?"

"Most of them are, and a small portion is from Mr. Sayyam's collection."

Then the group lost interest in talking and followed Collins toward the back area.

Collins carried a lantern, its dim light gradually lengthening their shadows. Clearly, a house that was too big wasn't necessarily a good thing; not all rooms faced the sun.

[You have entered an unknown place where faith is gathered. Because your spiritual level is greater than 30, you have successfully resisted the erosion of the storm's faith power. Evaluation: A raging storm, a turbulent sea, roughly like that. Special Reward: Survival Points +3, Spiritual Level +1.]

The power of faith in the storm...

Wei En glanced at it but didn't pay it any mind.

That's right, the fact that the Ceres family are devout followers of the Church of Storms has been strongly confirmed.

[You have entered the place where the faith of Orpheus, the Lord of Dawn, is accepted. Because your Spirit level is greater than 40, you have successfully resisted the erosion of the power of the Dawn's faith. Evaluation: Where there is light, there is dawn, and vice versa. Special Reward: Survival Points +5, Spirit Level +1.]

A repository for the Dawn Faith?

Wayne looked around. Could it be that the Dawn Lord's faith storage totem was still stored here?

Before he could make any discovery, another message appeared on the dashboard.

[You have once again come into contact with the power of the Dawn Faith. Orpheus's attention towards you has increased by 1, and your current ranking is 9889. Evaluation: Lord of Dawn, you are truly a diligent little bee. Special Reward: Origin +1.]

Come again—

Wei En couldn't help but grin. "So, contacting the power of the Dawn Faith increases that person's attention, huh?"

Are you just bored?

Furthermore, if he remembers correctly, his ranking has also dropped.

I remember his last ranking was 9789.

The diligent little bee... does the panel mean that the Lord of Dawn is constantly spreading the faith of Dawn and then paying attention to others?

If that's the case, then they are indeed quite diligent.

However, this is actually a good thing; it's clear that the higher the ranking, the less beneficial it is.

Not long after, Collins stopped in front of a wooden door. "This is it. This is where the guardian statue of the great Ceres family is kept."

Lacey looked around. "Aren't there any guards here?"

"No, this is Mr. Sayyam's residential area. Apart from family members, no one else is allowed to enter here without special permission."

Wayne asked, "So, here, the only passage is the one we came through?"

"Yes, Investigator Wayne."

Collins pointed to the corridor next to him and said, "This way, there's a basement, but there's no exit to the outside."

As he spoke, he took out his key, opened the door, and said, "Please come in."

The four filed in and looked around the small room.

The room was simply furnished, with only a table with white candles and a high platform that was clearly an altar.

The walls around the room were covered with portraits of people, all of whom had very obvious Alders ethnic characteristics.

"Captain Lacey, please begin. There are less than three hours left until the Red Moon rises," Collins said respectfully from the doorway, without following him inside.

"Um."

Lacey looked around before turning to Wayne and saying, "The work of the investigation department is actually quite simple: find clues, use those clues to point to the perpetrator, and eventually arrest him."

Wayne pretended to be a student listening attentively to the lecture, but in reality, he wasn't very interested in it.

Compared to these routine investigation procedures, he was more concerned with how to deal with the mutants, how to eliminate the vengeful spirits, and how to kill all potential threats...

"In most cases, we can easily complete the mission with the help of the equipment provided by the Secret Investigation Division... like this."

As she spoke, Lacey took out a small bottle of potion and threw it on the ground. "A revealing potion. Its effect is to allow you to see the shadows of people who appear in this room within a certain period of time."

Then a wisp of gray smoke rose from the potion and gradually spread throughout the room.

"All of them?" Wayne asked, staring intently at the potion residue on the ground.

"Of course not, except for those extraordinary individuals who are skilled at manipulating shadows."

shadow?

It seems that the creation of this developing agent involves shadow-related abilities.

However, judging from the name alone, Wayne thought it was a potion that could reveal footprints or bloodstains in the room.

If he had known such a potion existed, he wouldn't have asked why there wasn't only one entrance and exit...

Embarrassed.

Seeing this, Collins at the door couldn't help but exclaim, "Mr. Sayyam made the right decision; professional matters should be handled by professionals..."

Before he could finish speaking, the smoke began to rewind like a movie.

An old man dressed in a black noble robe walked in with a sorrowful expression, knelt down beside the altar, and whispered something...

This must be Mr. Sayyam?

Then several people dressed in black armor burst in, and the leader got into an argument with the old man...

Next was a dignified lady, well, she was a bit older...

Next, the scene should be after the statue is discovered to be missing. The old man roars angrily at the people around him, and judging from his constantly opening mouth, he must have used up a lot of saliva...

The shadow of a guardian deity appeared faintly on the altar, looking very much like an octopus commonly found in the deep sea.

But what would an octopus do with a pair of wings?

Could it possibly fly out of the deep sea?

Immediately afterwards, Wayne saw a young man in the scene, wearing a silver-white silk robe, with long, gray-brown curly hair and a slightly sinister look in his eyes, carry away the statue...

Upon seeing this, Collins couldn't help but exclaim, "It's him?!"

Marco sized up the young man and casually asked, "Butler Collins, do you know who he is?"

"He, he... he is Master Rutger..." Collins stammered, "But how could that be? Why..."

"It seems we've found our target."

Lacey seemed to have expected this outcome, but she showed no interest in catching a thief.

"The commission only asked us to find the statue, not to investigate the cause. Now that the person has been found, I believe your Ceres family wouldn't want us to get involved, right?"

Collins bowed and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Captain Lacey, I... I was a bit rude. As you said, that's enough. Please leave the follow-up investigation to us."

"At the same time, I will explain the situation here to Mr. Sayam, and the promised payment will be sent to the Secret Investigation Department later."

Lacey nodded and said, "That's for the best."

"plz follow me."

Butler Collins' expression returned to normal, and he respectfully led the group outside.

Wayne, pulling the bouncy Tina along, muttered, "Is that all?"

He secretly grumbled to himself, feeling that the investigation was rather hasty...

If this thing existed in their past lives, then the uncles' jobs would have been much easier.

Why bother with surveillance? Just throw a bottle of developing agent at the scene, and the suspect will be immediately identified.

Marco, who was closest to him, chuckled upon hearing his words. "As long as it wasn't done by a superhuman, cases committed by ordinary people are that simple."

"The Secret Investigation Bureau has been established for three hundred years. During this time, in order to deal with all kinds of cases, it has invented many gadgets to facilitate investigations."

"The equipment here in Charlotten is nothing compared to what I've heard. I've heard that in the Secret Investigation Division of the Dos Empire in the center of the Eastern Continent, every investigator is equipped with a two-wheeled mechanical vehicle. That's really impressive."

A two-wheeled mechanical vehicle, isn't that just a mechanical version of a motorcycle?

It is indeed much faster than them walking on two legs.

Wayne shrugged. "I just didn't expect it to be this simple."

He thought it would involve the conflict between the Church of Dawn and the Church of Storms, the revenge of the Barbas people, the struggle for family succession, and so on...

Is that all?

As expected, reality is not a stage play, and not so many unexpected things happen.

"It is indeed a bit too simple," Lacey said without turning her head. "After the celebration is over tomorrow, I will take you to see other places."

Wei En hummed in agreement and asked, "Was that developing solution also provided by the property management department?"

"Of course, but it's not a standard package; you have to buy it yourself. It's not expensive; it only costs 5 gold pounds."

"5 gold pounds? That's so expensive??"

Wayne's eyes widened. Was this a robbery?

Marco patted him on the shoulder. "That's the truth. This potion formula was researched by the Property Management Department and is exclusively owned by the Secret Investigation Division of the City of Caster."

"I heard Somley say last time that this was a discount for domestic use; other regions couldn't buy a bottle of developing agents for less than 10 gold pounds."

10 gold pounds?

Wayne's eyes lit up; this was exactly the kind of profit he envisioned from selling potions.

Compared to the fact that he only earns 3 gold pounds for making a perfect potion, the developing potion is like a treasure trove.

"They're pretty good."

"To some extent, Somley and his men are indeed quite capable, but their personalities are too awful. They're like misers all day long, only able to take in but never able to give out."

The group chatted as they walked out of the main building.

"Captain Lacey, thank you so much for your help. Otherwise, we wouldn't know what we would be looking for..."

"Don't forget to send the payment to the Secret Investigation Department," Lacey interrupted, not wanting to say more. "According to the commission agreement, there will be an extra charge for that potion."

Collins said respectfully, "Don't worry, I'll send it over after I've finished processing it."

That would be best.

After saying that, Lacey led the three of them outside.

"Wein, simple cases like this are extremely rare. In most cases, we are dealing with all sorts of distorted and corrupted mutants."

"I know."

Marco, standing nearby, chuckled, "Don't be so serious, Commander Lacey. Although this task is simple, the reward is quite generous, isn't it?"

"How many?" Wayne asked, intrigued.

"50 gold pounds, plus the cost of developing agents, totaling 55 gold pounds."

55 gold pounds?

Wayne counted on his fingers and realized that even at a 5% rate, he would still have more than 2 gold pounds...

It's definitely much more worthwhile than fighting to the death.

But the captain seemed to have some reservations about accepting this commission before. Was it because of the Ceres family?

"etc,"

At this moment, Lacey stopped and frowned slightly. "It seems that this case is not simple."

Marco seemed to notice as well, and beckoned to him.

A small tornado slowly formed as he listened intently. "Something's definitely happened. There's a smell of blood over there, and some sounds of fighting..."

The smell of blood, the sounds of fighting?

Wayne: "..."

Unsurprisingly, an unexpected incident did occur.

PS: This is a combined chapter; there will only be one chapter today.

(End of this chapter)