Star Forge Titan

"That explains it. The letter was indeed just an introduction. There wouldn't even be any trace of magic on it. Unfortunately, we can't see the letter now, so we can't confirm where you are." There was a hint of urgency in Ivan's tone, as well as implicit anger.

He hated these despicable people who took advantage of others behind the scenes even more than he hated those cruel villains.

"It doesn't matter. There's no need to read the letter. The key is the person who continues to increase the pressure on the person who conducts the ceremony. He is far more likely to be the mastermind than anyone else." Ka Yang also came to his senses and gradually began to draw a complete conclusion.

"In addition, the person who is good at hallucinations is also related to Miss Meny and our classmate Mr. Rimor Maupassant." Ivan narrowed his eyes and felt that the fog shrouding the mastermind behind the scenes was dissipating bit by bit.

"Anyone who is closely connected to these three people could be the mastermind behind this." Ka Yang immediately added:

"I think you might be thinking of the same person as me." Alvin nodded with a cold smile.

"We can't completely rule out the possibility that someone else framed him. After all, there must be other people who frequently come into contact with the victim, Mr. Cohen, the noble boy in our class, and Miss Menie... right?" Ka Yang had an undisguised sneer on his face.

In fact, although there are more people who can meet the above conditions than the one they thought of, the number will not exceed three fingers.

Moreover, compared to the other suspects, the only one who had the opportunity and conditions to cast hallucinogenic spells on three people at the same time was that person, even though he didn't appear to be able to cast hallucinogenic spells.

"No, it's impossible. Mr. Joseph would never do such a thing. He is a gentle man and would never do such a thing! He has no motive for doing such a thing! He is also a friend of Mr. Cohen and often praises the delicious tea that Mr. Cohen brews... No way!"

Meni, who had woken up at some point, denied it repeatedly, but contrary to her words, her face was covered with traces of tears that were difficult to hide.

In fact, Ivan and Kayon had noticed that she was pretending to be unconscious, but they all knew that the easiest person to deceive is oneself, but also the hardest person to deceive is oneself.

After describing the entire process of reasoning and argument, facing the reality that was as cold and heavy as iron, it was difficult for Meny to continue deceiving himself as before.

"No..." Tears as big as beans kept falling on Meni's face.

"To be honest, I don't quite believe it. After all, my first impression of him was pretty good. No matter how you look at him, he's definitely a good guy who cares about others, and on the surface he doesn't seem to have any motive to do so." Alvin sighed and handed over his handkerchief.

"So, are you willing to come with us to verify this?"

"..." Meni was silent for a long time. Instead of taking Ivan's closing order, he slowly put his hand into his pocket.

Seeing this, Khayon immediately took out a duel wand from his sleeve and held it tightly in his hand. The magic power in his body began to flow rapidly, but Ivan raised his hand to signal him not to be impulsive.

Then, they saw Meni take out a wrinkled letter with obvious signs of damage from his pocket.

"This is the letter I gave to Mr. Cohen. He was so excited after reading it that he didn't even notice the letter was torn. Then he immediately dropped the letter and ran to ask for leave." Menie said intermittently.

"I was planning to find time to return this to Mr. Cohen, but he's become increasingly withdrawn and irritable. Although he looks the same when around others, he becomes a completely different person when he's alone. So... I haven't found the right opportunity... so..."

As he spoke, Meni handed the letter in his hand to Ivan.

Through the bluish, cool light of the opened magic lantern, several people saw clearly the letter that might be the fuse of the vicious incident.

The above content is consistent with what Meni said before, and there is no trace of magic in the entire letter.

But unlike the other two, Alvin noticed a very insignificant detail in the letter.

In the center of the letter paper is naturally the text about the content of the letter, but around this slightly yellowed letter paper, there is a circle of peculiarly shaped light blue decorative patterns.

The pattern was obviously not composed of any text that Alvin knew, and at first glance it looked like a very ordinary decorative pattern around the edge of a piece of letter paper.

But he felt a vague sense of disharmony, and the blue lines looked unstable and did not match the serious content of the letter.

After careful investigation through his keen perception, Alvin was somewhat surprised to find that when he concentrated his attention on these lines, he felt as if someone was whispering in his ear, but he could not hear the specific content at all. It was like an illusion.

Could it be that……

Chapter 59: Return to the Fantasy Land

Sri Lanka, a beautiful region with grasslands, forests and beaches.

It is hard to imagine that so many beautiful scenes are concentrated in the same area. It is as if when God created the world, he set aside an hour to carefully decorate this place.

The many beaches close to the endless vast sea alone display a variety of breathtaking natural beauties.

There are long and narrow golden beaches, pure white beaches covered with soft white sand like a piece of white cloth scattered on the ground, and rugged rocky beaches eroded into strange shapes by sea breeze, heavy rain and waves. They stretch for miles and each has its own scenery.

The grasslands filled with herds of buffaloes, wild deer and even the Dewar rhinoceros will make people feel like they are in the wilderness, allowing them to fully experience the wild atmosphere that fills the entire world.

There is also an ancient relic stretching over three square kilometers, with various traces of cultural and religious relics, strange-looking statues and damaged cities, covered by half-human-high weeds and trees growing tenaciously in the cracks of the rocks, revealing the marks left by time.

People respectfully call it 'Ladprao', which means an ancient and sacred city.

In the millennium since the beginning of the new calendar, the Sri Lankan province has developed a new industry in tea cultivation because it is adjacent to the United Emirates of the Wilderness, a multi-ethnic forest country commonly known as the "Great Wilderness".

Initially, many goods from the Great Wilderness Forest would be transferred here first, and then enter the various provinces of the empire along different roads, and be consumed and purchased by wealthy people and the middle class with decent financial conditions.

Gradually, Sri Lanka also began to try to grow tea. Although it was not as good as the high-quality products directly from the Great Wilderness Forest, the price advantage brought by not having to pay additional tariffs allowed black tea produced in Sri Lanka to spread among the middle and lower classes of the empire.

Today, tourists arriving in Sri Lanka by train can see tea plantations undulating across the mountains like an emerald green carpet. Tea farmers and tea pickers in traditional costumes are like pieces of embroidery of different colors on the carpet, dotted across this ocean of green.

Whenever he thinks of the scenery he saw through the car window when he was away studying, Gaina Cohen misses his distant hometown and his wife and children in Sri Lanka.

His eldest son is just five years old this year, at the age of being lively and active. In the local dialect, he is even bolder and braver than a beagle that has just learned to run.

Of course, for adults, this kind of bravery can be a bit of a headache. After all, a child who loves to challenge new things but doesn't understand their own limits is like a young Dival rhinoceros running around blindfolded, full of unexpected situations.

Therefore, Genna Cohen always felt extremely sorry for having to leave his family to work in the distant steel city of Vulcan. Fortunately, his wife was a kind and gentle woman who always understood and supported him, and she never complained about having to take care of the children alone.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this that he was able to become the best in his field and was recruited by the New Era Research Institute, a national scientific research institution that symbolizes the pinnacle of magical engineering technology, to become a formal researcher who can enter the underground headquarters of Truth Rock.

In contrast to the hard and confidential work, the institute's salary conditions are very good, so good that people feel they have to do more work, otherwise they will not be worthy of the high salary.

But even such a good salary cannot offset the longing for loved ones.

At least that's what Gena Cohen thought.

The hard work at work is nothing to him, and he has a very harmonious relationship with his colleagues. Relying on the tea-making skills he learned since childhood in Sri Lanka, everyone likes the fragrant black tea he brews in a slow and orderly manner.

However, whenever he had free time at work, Gena Cohen couldn't help but miss his family far away in his hometown.

Fortunately, he still had a friend, Joseph Kerr, a full-time researcher in the image processing department next door, who was willing to listen to him complain about family matters in between cups of tea.

Speaking of which, the young man whose every move was full of gentlemanly demeanor would occasionally use the shape of the remaining tea leaves in the cup after drinking the tea to tell fortunes for himself. Although this thing doesn't sound very reliable, it is still quite fun as a pastime at a tea party.

Tea parties are really something to look forward to. At least at that time I can always feel a little bit of peace.

As he recalled the scene of drinking tea with his friends, Gena Cohen heard a very young female voice.

Returning to reality, he noticed his friend Joseph's assistant, Miss Menie Kaye, trotting towards him, holding a letter. Though young, she possessed remarkable talent for scientific research, sometimes putting even seniors like him to shame.

In addition, this lady would occasionally participate in tea parties with her friends, but her thoughts were too obvious, and her attention was completely focused on her friend who was witty and gentle.

Ha, as expected of a man known as the most standard Linde gentleman, he always inadvertently incurs "debts" in this regard.

Married man Gena Cohen thought so.

"Mr. Cohen, I just saw your letter at the post office in the letter processing department of our headquarters, so I picked it up on the way." Menie took a breath for a moment, and then handed the letter in her hand along with the scientific research materials that Joseph asked her to pass on to the other party.

"Oh, let me see." Gena Cohen, who suddenly thought it might be a letter from home, quickly took it.

Then, his expression turned extremely bad the moment he saw the contents of the letter.

Pain, sorrow and self-condemnation surged into his heart at the same time. The letter paper in front of him seemed to be spinning. The light blue patterns kept twisting in his mind. The memory pictures in his mind automatically came to his mind. The tea divination scenes he had seen in countless tea parties emerged one after another, connected by the blue lines and pieced together.

Finally, a huge oil painting emerged in Gena Cohen's mind. It was a horrific scene like purgatory. The world shrouded in the blood-red setting sun was filled with wild beasts biting each other and demons holding sharp blades. They were fighting an eternal bloody battle that seemed to have no end. Even the sky was dyed with a terrible color.

However, in this bright red country there is a pale path that stands out.

Like a white mark accidentally left on the canvas by the painter, this pale path that is out of tune with the surrounding scenery runs through the entire painting and extends to an extremely distant place.

For some reason, an idea suddenly emerged in Gena Cohen's mind. He wanted to take this path, and as long as he followed this pale road through the entire hell, he would be able to return to his home immediately.

Go through hell and go home, I want to go home!

All his thoughts were sucked into the vortex created by this idea, and a terrifying and morbid expression appeared on the face of Gena Cohen who was standing there.

Yes, he can go home.

Chapter 60: Broken Clues

"Ivan..."

"Hey, Alvin!"

The voice in his ear suddenly woke the black-haired boy up, and then he saw Khayang looking at him with a serious expression.

"What happened? You just stared at the letter for a long time without moving." The necromancer asked in a low voice:

"There's something wrong with this letter." Alvin panted and raised his finger to point at the lines on the edge of the letter.

"Hmm?" Khayon narrowed his eyes.

"If I'm not mistaken, there doesn't seem to be any trace of magic on it."

"Yes, the pattern itself is not a magical array pattern or ancient text. But what if it is a key? A key used to unlock the hallucinogenic spell implanted in the other person's brain earlier." Alvin slowly said the shocking words.

"After all, vision is the sense through which humans absorb the most information on a daily basis. I wouldn't be surprised if someone invented a spell that could disrupt the brain through vision in the form of images."

His words made Khayon freeze in his tracks.

This seems to make sense, but then...

A brand new hallucinogenic spell? A complicated expression appeared on the Necromancer's face.

"The person who did this is truly an incredible genius."

"A pattern that causes hallucinations, I seem to..." Menie Kaye, who heard the same words nearby, couldn't help biting his lip.

After struggling for a while, she suddenly let out a long breath and said slowly in a tearful tone:

"Mr. Joseph seems to have studied similar topics. I've seen related papers in his laboratory."

"In this way, the clues are connected." Ka Yang couldn't help but sigh:

"Yes, the clues are connected." Ivan's eyes suddenly became sharp.

Right now, all the clues seem to point to the same person, but he still feels something is wrong.

"Then let's go meet that genius." Ka Yang stood up and said:

"Well, this is indeed the most direct way." Alvin nodded, and then added in an extremely steady tone.

"But I have to inform Catherine and the others first. I don't want to get into a conflict with someone whose exact strength I don't know when I can't even exert 1000% of my strength right now."

"That makes sense. It really sounds like something someone who was lying in the healing house half a month ago would say." Feeling the overly depressing atmosphere, Ka Yang couldn't help but want to say something to liven it up.

However, he was stunned as soon as he finished saying the above words.

"Wait a minute, I think I heard something wrong. Is it 1000% instead of 100%?"

"Yes." Ivan looked at Khayon with a puzzled expression.

"I meant 1000%."

"..."

"Pah!" Ka Yang slapped his forehead, which had undergone some subtle changes in hairline since he began studying magical engineering, making a particularly crisp sound.

When Meni heard the conversation between the two, she felt a little better. She had almost collapsed because the object of her admiration had an unexpected evil side.

Soon, after the collected clues and the witnesses obtained by chance were handed over to the blonde-haired Duchess Catherine, things immediately developed to the point where a whole team of fully armed soldiers rushed to the ward where Joseph was.

The latter has not yet fully recovered from the injuries caused by the stampede, so he still needs to continue hospitalization treatment in the recovery center.

"Ah, is this the power of authority?" Looking at the heavily armored soldiers marching in neat steps across the corridor, Khayang couldn't help but sigh.

Every soldier in the entire team is a low-level extraordinary person, and the heavy armor they wear is also the latest achievement of magical engineering.

This somewhat strange-looking, super-heavy armor, with its exceptionally wide spherical shoulder armor and 30mm thickest breastplate, should be heavy enough to make even a first-level transcendent feel difficulty in movement. However, in reality, it does not affect the warriors' tactical movements at all.

The full name of the armor is 'Test No. 34 Magic Steam Driven Power Amplification Armor', abbreviated as 'Special 34 Power Armor', and it is the first batch of power armor put into mass production by the New Era Research Institute.

Unlike the larger-than-life magical mechas, this personal armor, known as "Power Armor," was powered by high-pressure steam and artificial magic crystals, similar in function to the power armor Ivan had experienced during military training in college in his previous life. Relying on a built-in frame and power unit, this magical armor provided the wearer with additional strength, offsetting the inherent burden of the super-heavy armor.

"By the way, can't you make this thing look more serious?" Ivan's helpless voice came from the cat head communication device.

At this moment, the black-haired boy was following the fully armed soldiers at a distance, with a small, inconspicuous-looking hand axe on his back.

"That's not a difficult thing, but don't you think this kind of appearance is less likely to be exposed? Carrying plush toys with you will at most make you look like a weirdo, but carrying a magical device of unknown shape will make you look very suspicious." Khayang said with a strange laugh:

Alvin looked at the rabbit-head shaped plush doll in his hand with a complicated expression.

"...Why do I feel like this is only part of the reason? Is this really not just your personal bad taste?"

"That's obviously your illusion."

"Alright, enough nonsense. They're about to break down the door. I'll go over and take a look. You should also open your soul vision to make sure they don't use any special methods to escape."

Seeing that the soldiers had already picked up the sledgehammers, Alvin stopped joking and seriously grasped the hand axe on his waist.

Even if this soul-forged weapon cannot be fully unleashed in front of everyone, the Axe of Annihilation - Nerukigate is still a high-level magical equipment with the characteristics of a legendary weapon.