The fairy maid cheers for her deceased master today.

Due to the discovery of anomalies in the pipes, Ax decided to stay a little longer and continue to study them.

This was an incredibly wise decision.

This decision soon led Axe to discover new clues.

Not long after, the sound of horses' hooves came from not far away. This was followed by the neighing of horses and shouts of cursing.

"Here we go again!" the plumber exclaimed in frustration. "This is the third horse to get spooked today!"

Ex immediately looked toward the source of the sound. At the pipeline maintenance site, a horse was struggling frantically, its driver gripping the reins tightly, sweating profusely.

Elena was faster, leaping in two steps to land in front of the horse, where two vines instantly brought it under control.

"What happened?" Elena finally asked.

The groom, panting heavily, said, "I don't know! The horse suddenly went mad, as if it had seen something terrifying!"

go Ape?

Ax immediately thought of the horses' sudden madness in the theft case.

But to say what I saw... that's impossible.

X had just observed this area. He didn't believe that someone with his gamer's observational skills wouldn't have missed anything unusual. After all, he wasn't a StarCraft player.

Not seeing... but hearing? Or smelling?

Ex immediately tried sniffing it with his nose.

Never mind, dead people don't have a good sense of smell.

"Angel, can you smell something?"

Angel obediently closed her eyes, sniffing left and right, like a puppy.

"Good dog!" Ex exclaimed instinctively.

Then he saw Angel staring at him angrily.

"Master! I am a fairy!"

"That...is a beautiful fairy?"

"That's more like it."

I think Angel's intelligence stat is definitely displayed incorrectly.

Irene also tried smelling it, but to no avail.

However, unlike Elena who couldn't smell anything, Angel did make some discoveries.

It seems that the difference between fairies is even greater than the difference between a fairy and a dog.

According to Angel, there was indeed a faint, almost imperceptible odor in the air. It was like... the smell of wild animals, but with a pungent, artificial scent.

"A beast scent agent." Ex realized. "Someone has scattered this stuff here."

"A beast scent agent?" Elena asked, puzzled.

"Something hunters often use in the wild. It reminds animals of their predators, making them safe for the night. But if you use too much..." Ex looked at the still struggling horse, "it will turn into this."

"You mean the horses lost control because of this smell?"

Although it made sense, Elena couldn't help but remind her again.

"But Sir, that happened two months ago."

If there really was an odorant, it would have completely dissipated by now.

X agreed: "That's true. But... what if they happen to be released again?"

"What do you mean?"

Ex did not answer. His gaze was already fixed on the pipeline maintenance point.

Then, amidst the puzzled looks of the other workers, he approached the inspection point and quickly discovered the problem.

There was an old pipe that was accidentally smashed by a worker, creating a new crack.

Great, everything fits together now.

He then dismissed the worker who had led the way. Once he was away from the others, Ex revealed his thoughts to the other fairies.

"I think I understand," he said slowly. "The dense fog wasn't formed naturally. Someone created it with magic."

In this world, magic is still the simplest way to create large amounts of fog.

"Magic?" Angel's eyes widened. "Really? But Sister Elena said there were no traces of magic..."

"I haven't finished yet. It's magically created, but not here. Then the mist is transported to this neighborhood through these old pipes."

With magic, one can easily create an extremely large quantity of fog. And by transmitting the fog over long distances, one can avoid leaving any trace of magic at the scene.

Similarly, predator odorants can be added to pipes and released along the pipes into the neighborhood.

Thus, when the carriage entered the fog, it smelled the terrible odor and instinctively began to flee for its life, which led it to fall into the water in its panic.

"But the workers said the old pipes were blocked by Portland cement."

"Yes, if that really is an old pipe." Ex smiled slightly.

Elena blinked.

As a fake detective, she immediately followed the train of thought: "The intelligence is fake! These aren't the old pipes!?"

"It wasn't an old pipe. But the workers might not have known. I suspect someone impersonated a plumber and replaced the pipe in the middle of the night..."

Anyway, most of the pipes in this area are open-air, so the replacement can be done quickly.

Moreover, since the replacement pipes were old, unused, and sealed ones, even the steam supply company wouldn't easily detect the anomaly.

"Then..." Elena continued, "they used magic to create a thick fog, added a beast scent agent, and piped it to a designated location to create chaos and steal the silverware."

“That’s right,” Ex nodded, “but there’s still one problem. How was the silverware stolen? The box was locked, and there were no signs of damage…”

This remains a mystery.

But now, X has caught them red-handed.

"We don't need to consider their methods for now. Because after they changed the pipes... they've left new clues."

Axe's gaze fell once again on the pipes that stretched into the depths of the fog.

"We have to follow these old pipes," Axe finally said. "They'll lead us to the answers."

Upon finding the workers again, Ax quickly obtained the information.

"The end of the abandoned pipes? That area is dangerous."

The kind-hearted worker tried to stop him, but Ax had already slipped him another silver coin.

The worker could only shake his head helplessly: "Be careful, that area is dangerous. There are many abandoned warehouses there, and I heard they've been taken over by homeless people and gangs."

"If you persist... keep going straight along the pipe, even when you can't see it anymore, and you'll find it."

■

The three of them walked along the pipe for a very, very long time.

Finally, a slippery stone path appeared under my feet, surrounded by the outlines of abandoned buildings.

Most of the buildings were made of red brick, with broken windows and walls covered in vines. This pleased Elena. She still loved vines.

"Look there," Elena suddenly pointed ahead.

Through the light mist, a huge warehouse could be vaguely seen. Its walls were dark gray, and the roof had partially collapsed, revealing rusty iron frames. Several thick steam pipes extended from the side of the warehouse, stretching into the distance.

"This is it," X said. "The end of the pipeline."

There may not have been any obvious traces left at the crime scene.

However, there should still be some traces left at the site where the fog was created.

Let's check the situation first. If we can't find any clues, we'll start investigating the source of the pipeline...

As Ex pondered, Angel suddenly grabbed his sleeve, her blue eyes filled with fear: "Master... I, I sense something very bad."

Irene looked somewhat puzzled.

Then X gently took Angel's hand: "Don't be afraid, we're here."

The warehouse door was ajar, with a rusty padlock hanging on it. But Ax noticed fresh scratches in the keyhole, as if it had been recently pried open.

"So someone really came here," he said softly.

Irene crouched down, running her fingers over the footprints on the ground: "Lots of footprints. At least three or four people. And... they're still very fresh."

"Is there any movement inside?" Ex used Angel as a radar.

"No!"

So X took out his revolver and knocked off the padlock.

He then pushed open the door.

The warehouse interior appeared even more dilapidated than the exterior. Sunlight streamed through the broken roof, illuminating the mountains of clutter. The air was thick with dust and the smell of mildew.

"Look over there, what's that?" Angel suddenly pointed to the corner of the warehouse.

There seemed to be a huge, strange crater. Scattered around the edge of the crater were some strange devices, like a mixture of metal and glass.

Ex led the fairy over.

But they hadn't taken more than a few steps.

bang.

Ax felt a chill run down his spine. It seemed this body was indeed becoming more and more vibrant.

The reason for scalp tingling is quite simple.

X turned around and saw that the warehouse door had been completely sealed again.