Fantasy Writers 1860

Chapter 93 Above and Underground

"Yes, I was probably the last person he saw before he disappeared."

Of course, Inspector Raeder wasn't just lying there comfortably sunbathing all the time.

"Because of work, I also know him. So after this incident, I visited him." Inspector Reid said solemnly, "I am also a conservative on the issue of demi-humans. Perhaps it was because of this that he allowed me to visit his laboratory, showed me his new bloodline screening method, and even let me take some photos with a phonograph."

After saying that, Reid walked to the cabinet next to him, opened the drawer, and took out a stack of developed photos.

Dorian took some photos and started looking at them.

This looks like a very normal laboratory: a large experimental table, a cluttered desktop full of papers and parts, and the floor and various cabinets of different sizes are filled with axles, cables, coils, gears and strange machines whose purpose is not clear.

Coil?

Dorian suddenly felt that something was wrong.

In his mind, weren't coils usually something that appeared in electromagnetism?

The magical technology of this world is still in the steam age; it's normal for things like gears, bearings, boilers, and complex machinery to exist, but this coil—

He wondered if he was seeing things, and examined the strange device that resembled a coil even more closely.

The more I look at it, the more it resembles a brass coil.

"What is this thing for?" Dorian asked, pointing to the device in the photo that looked like a coil.

"I don't know. The lab was a mess, and I didn't ask about everything. It mainly showed me the bloodline screening device." Inspector Reid shook his head, indicating that he had no comment.

Since that's the case, Dorian didn't press the matter further. Perhaps it was some kind of special magical machine that he hadn't seen before because he was unfamiliar with it?

"Landon told me himself," Reid said in a low voice, "that he owed much of his ability to develop this new bloodline screening method and create such a simple and portable device to an ancient magic book."

Ancient magic book?

Could this be—

"The illusory book the Order gave him," Reid said in a deep voice. "But when I asked him if he knew where the Order got the book from, he said he didn't know either."

Clearly, Langdon was unaware of the existence of the Phantom Book, regarding it only as a gift contained within an ancient magic book.

This, however, confirms Lily's guess.

It was indeed the power of the Illusionary Book.

Otherwise, how could someone who studies magic technology suddenly become proficient in biology?

"So it seems that the previous book smuggling case was also closely related to the Order—wait, wasn't the Blue Blood Gang the prime suspect in the beginning?" Dorian suddenly remembered this. "Doesn't that mean the Blue Blood Gang and the Order are also closely related? Or maybe they're even two sides of the same coin?"

Oh no, we've gone all the way down this road and stepped right into the Londinion underworld.

"I have even worse news." Inspector Reid pulled a matchbox from his pocket, intending to light a cigarette as usual, but quickly put it back. "That day in court, I was supposed to submit new evidence, but I was kicked out. Do you want to know what evidence I was going to submit?"

Dorian and Lily both nodded.

Reid took some more documents from the drawer and handed them to Lily. "The Mayfair theater bombing case is now closed as an accident, so neither side is offended. But the truth is clearly not an accident."

Dorian moved closer to Lily, intending to take a look at what it was, while Lily subconsciously shifted her position to the right, creating distance between herself and Dorian.

It was only then that Dorian realized that the other person was actually a woman.

Because she always wore men's formal attire, had a rather handsome face, and a decisive and efficient style, Dorian subconsciously began to treat her like one of the guys.

Now it suddenly dawned on me that he wasn't my buddy.

He watched as Lily carefully read the stack of documents in her hands, and at the same time, he caught a whiff of her delicate fragrance.

Lily read very quickly, and soon finished reading the few pages in her hand, her brows furrowing slightly.

"The cult hired him to brush a corrosive liquid onto a fixed location in the magic crystal pipes while he patrolled the theater's underground area. He only needed to brush it once a day," Lily whispered, summarizing the information on the paper.

"So those relatively neat square breaks in the remaining pipes at the scene were man-made. The boiler operator brushed corrosive liquid on the same spot every day. Over time, the pipe wall thinned until one day it could no longer withstand the high pressure of the steam inside and exploded," Inspector Reid explained.

When Dorian saw the document, he discovered that it was the confession of Miles Vaughn, the boiler worker at the Mayfair Theatre. The main information in the confession was, as Lily had just said, that he admitted to being commissioned by the Order of the Immaculate Dawn and to maintaining frequent contact with the Order.

Inspector Lesder pointed to the last line of the record, "There's another detail, which Dorian should know. The records between the cult and that boiler worker used a special ink."

At this point, Dorian naturally recalled the clue he had given him earlier: that the boiler worker could afford ink made from expensive colonial special materials to write to him.

"According to my investigation, that ink is called Blue Gold Ink. The raw materials come from overseas colonies and are extremely difficult to extract. There is only one place in the entire Londinion that sells it, a small shop called Steam Echo —"

So, is that the only store that sells this kind of ink?

"The import permit for this ink has always been controlled by one department, and the small shop called Steam Echo is actually supported by this department."

"Department of Colonial and Overseas Territories Affairs," Lily continued coldly.

The Order, Langdon, the Blue Bloods, the Department of Colonial and Overseas Territories Affairs, and the Department of Justice —

During the trial that day, the judge became furious when Inspector Raed was about to present new evidence, looking as if he was about to be exposed.

Now it seems hard not to suspect that the judge also had ties to the religious order.

If this is indeed the case, it means that the power of the cult has already infiltrated the empire's judicial system.

Thinking of this, Dorian couldn't help but gasp.

The above-ground and underground worlds of Lentinion are actually connected.

Within this vast, invisible network, where exactly does the Order of the Immaculate Dawn occupy? Is it the center of everything? Or merely a hidden hand of the Imperial government?

What exactly do these people want to do?

"At the end of that day, as I was about to say goodbye to Langdon, he eagerly asked me if I wanted to attend a unique demi-human auction," Inspector Reid said with a wry smile.

An auction?

Upon hearing this word, Lily's top hat seemed to sway slightly.

Although Britannia has not yet abolished subhuman slavery, the ongoing subhuman liberation movements over the years have made slavery much more humane than it was in earlier years.

For example, it is no longer permitted to publicly auction off demi-human slaves; they can only be purchased from a limited number of slave markets.

While the colonies were relatively lax in their management of this matter, it was strictly enforced in the homeland.

Auctioning off demi-humans is a completely illegal activity.

"He asked me, as an academician and professor, could he really be led to extreme thoughts by simple emotions?" Inspector Reid repeated Langdon's words with a somber tone, "Have you ever considered why the Orthodox scriptures are so vague about demi-humans? What kind of beings are they, really?"

"If you want to know the truth about the Immaculate Dawn Order and this world, come with me."

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