Star Forge Titan

Chapter 130 The Eve of the Military Parade (Part 2)

The sun gradually sets, and the gas lamps on the street light up one by one as the lamplighters pass by.

The long metal rod sent the flame into the lamp, igniting the combustible gas that gushed out after the valve was opened. The slightly darkened glass lamp then lit up with an orange-yellow light.

Inside the orphanage, the children were already seated at the dining table. Diana, who had specifically requested permission from Director Christina to visit her family before leaving, was surrounded by her brothers and sisters.

After the usual prayers, it is time for a happy meal.

However, what was a little strange was that Sister Teresa seemed unusually silent today. Although she seemed very happy about Diana's arrival, the old lady was obviously quieter than usual, so much so that Diana and Ivan could tell that she had something on her mind.

After dinner, a guy who went out to gather information had not returned yet, which made Alvin a little worried.

However, when he thought about the fact that a certain necromancer was more sensitive to various dangers than the longest-lived rat in the wizard tower, he seemed less worried.

Taking out a small silver crown, Alvin asked an older child in the orphanage who was good at making a living on the streets to run and inform "Tang" who was in charge of the downtown area before it got completely dark that he might go back to visit him in the near future.

He had some information that needed the help of those energetic bad boys under Tang.

Although everything seems to be calm at the moment, Ivan has not forgotten the abnormal events before, and it is for this reason that Kayang took the initiative to contact the Genoa intelligence agency.

On the other hand, although he had not had much communication with 'Tang', the man who had gained control of the downtown gang, since the Magic Car Tournament, he was a cunning and wise man and would surely not refuse his request just because of their 'estrangement'.

However, he then saw Mother Teresa picking up a kerosene lamp and seemed to be going out.

"Mammy, it's so late, where are you going? It's not safe at night, do you want me to go with you?" Diana, who was also puzzled, couldn't help but ask:

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm just meeting some old friends. It's not far away, just at the cafe on the corner." Theresa looked at the girl she had raised with a loving smile. She didn't want to involve her before figuring out the details of the matter.

Diana thought about it and realized that this block in the downtown area was relatively safe. If it was just a street corner, it wouldn't be a problem. So she told the nanny:

"Then please be careful on the road."

"Haha, now it's little Diana's turn to say this to Nanny." Theresa nodded with a smile, and her words made Diana smile.

Then, Theresa seemed to remember something, but she hesitated and finally did not tell the girl about the visitor who looked somewhat similar to Diana.

The girl is living a good life now, so she shouldn't be reminded of the sad past of being abandoned as a child. After all, for most orphans, that past is like a wound that can never heal, a painful one.

After Mammy left, Diana was pestered by her younger brothers and sisters to read the newly bought picture book, which was a gift they brought to the children in the orphanage.

Finding nothing else to do, Ivan picked up his hand-axe-shaped Nergigante and went to the backyard to chop firewood. Although winter was still some time away, living in the downtown area where gas lines hadn't yet been laid, firewood was a common item in daily life.

However, Calbant, who resides in the Axe of Annihilation, seems to have some opinions about this.

As Alvin raised the axe, he heard anxious shouts mixed with bleating from inside.

"Wait, wait! You're going to use me to chop wood?!? I'm a soul-forged weapon! One that's on par with legendary magical equipment!"

The lamb-shaped Karbant jumped out of the axe, hugged the handle of the axe tightly like a koala, and shouted loudly.

"What else?" Alvin swung the axe without changing his expression.

The wood snapped and split into two pieces, and Calbant, who was holding the handle, fell to the ground with a "thump" as if petrified, posing as if he was in an orz position.

"Shame! I, I, was treated like a rotten axe to chop wood. I should have been slicing through flesh, bones, and dripping blood! Woohoo! I am no longer worthy of following the cold-blooded and tyrannical Blood God!"

"..." Ivan 'coldly' ignored Karlbant's wailing and chopped firewood by himself.

Until there was a knock on the small door in the backyard.

When he opened the door, the person who came in was Ka Yang who had left during the day.

The Necromancer looked exhausted at the moment, as if he had just been boxing for three hours.

"Uh, what happened?" Looking at the other party's miserable face, Ivan asked:

"Don't mention it. Is there anything to eat? I'm starving." Ka Yang grabbed Ivan's shoulders and asked with a pale face:

Five minutes later, at the dining table, while munching on a cheap but filling baked potato, Khayon complained to Ivan:

"That cunning half-eared girl, talking to her is like a boxing match. She's constantly trying to get information and lie, and nine out of ten of her sentences are half true and half false."

"So, how did your 'boxing match' turn out?" Ivan asked as he used maintenance tools to maintain his axe.

At this moment, Karlbant stopped howling and shivered all over, looking extremely happy.

"It's a fair split. I revealed some half-true, half-false intelligence, and in return I got some half-true, half-false, potentially useful information from that bitch."

Khayon swallowed a large piece of potato, then picked up the oak cup that was half filled with ale and took a big gulp. It was obvious that the real situation was not as simple as he said.

"For example," Ivan asked.

"Have you heard of the Paladins of the Temple of Knowledge?" Khayon rolled his eyes, put down his glass and said:

"Those white-haired, red-eyed demon experts?" Alvin raised his eyebrows and immediately realized who he was talking about.

"Yes, that's them. There's at least one order of paladins operating in Linde right now. Since you know what they're experts in, I guess you need to know what this news means. Do I need to explain it further?"

"Is there any demonic activity in Linde..." Alvin touched his chin and gradually came to his senses.

Although they had encountered the demon Nurulus earlier in the Magic Tournament, they originally thought that the conspiracy planned by the other party had been destroyed when the main messenger was eliminated, and at least similar incidents would not happen in the short term.

But that doesn't seem to be the case now.

"Apart from that, the most valuable news is probably that a strange organization has been active in the downtown area recently." As he said this, Ka Yang wiped the soup off the plate with the remaining small piece of bread, and then swallowed it in one gulp.

Although the news was not good, his mental state was obviously good enough and he was not affected at all.

"The rest of the information is just misleading, though not necessarily false. But the Genoa Chamber of Commerce encountering a formidable competitor, and the possibility that the other party is backed by the great Linde nobles, isn't completely worthless, but it's completely irrelevant to what we want to know, right?"

The Necromancer shrugged and said finally:

"Considering the existence of the extraterritorial evil gods, the so-called strange organizations are likely not good things. Considering the future plans, I think it would be best to investigate before the parade."

Alvin understood what Khayon meant. Although this cunning necromancer was not a messenger of justice, he did not want to see the Central Empire of Linde fall into chaos before his own goal was achieved.

This sounds very realistic, at least that's what Khayon Paulus, the necromancer from Elrond, said on the surface.

"Investigating what?" Diana asked as she walked into the restaurant.

At this time, most of the children have been coaxed to bed, so she has time to come here and talk about business.

"Oh, it seems that an unknown organization has been active in the downtown area recently. Considering the Fallen who appeared before, we think it is necessary to pay attention to it." Alvin said with a frown. He still felt that something was wrong.

Things are not as they were before, it's just that some corrupt elements or demons are doing things in secret.

There seemed to be some connection behind these sporadic demonic incidents, but the information he had was too little to find the hidden connection.

"What?" Diana seemed surprised. She then thought of the nanny who had just left, and couldn't help showing a worried expression.

At this moment, someone knocked on the orphanage's door from outside.

Alvin walked over and opened the door. The light reflected from the gas street lamp outside the house allowed him to recognize the person immediately.

"Katherine, why are you here so late?"

The blonde with twintails jumped, but Katherine didn't mind being called by her first name.

As a fellow student of the first class of the Magician Program, her recent interactions with him had made her realize very clearly that although this guy looked as handsome as a god, he was actually a natural guy who basically didn't care about aristocratic etiquette.

"Of course, it's because I have something very important to discuss with you."

The Duchess didn't say a word and immediately took out the notebook that Conrad had compiled.

After the introduction, the expressions on their faces became more serious.

"Even the intelligence department can't be trusted? Things are getting very tricky." Ivan frowned and said:

"Yes, yes." Ka Yang agreed, and in his heart he had already begun to consider whether it was feasible to run away now.

Although he also signed the contract, this guy's soul power was awakened in advance before he was promoted to the third level. His ability is very suitable for being a traitor, especially the kind of super traitor who hides himself very deeply and even deliberately signs the contract to make the other party feel at ease.

However, some guys would definitely not just run away like that. After all, that guy's nosy side had been fully demonstrated in Elrond.

Turning his head to look at Ivan who was thinking seriously, Ka Yang couldn't help but feel a pang of pain in his teeth. If this guy didn't run away, it would probably cause more trouble later.

Just as the necromancer was convincing himself with such a flimsy reason, Alvin suddenly clapped his hands.

"I generally understand."

What do you understand? Why don't we understand?

The three of them showed similar confused expressions almost at the same time.

Without paying attention to other people's reactions, Ivan pointed at the events recorded in his notebook and said slowly:

"Including these things, plus the few things we discovered." The black-haired boy looked at Khayon and Diana. They should understand what he was talking about.

The Hell Factory owner who spreads strange toxins, the Narconian demon who sneaks into the Temple of Light, and the unusual murders that occur in the underground headquarters of the Rock of Truth.

“We can summarize several key points.”

Referring to the relevant information in his memory, Alvin slightly used the power of [Reshaping the World].

A dark golden magical light flashed, and a simple map of Lutetia and the lower city outside the city wall immediately appeared on the surface of the restaurant's simple yet durable large dining table.

This immediately made the Duchess's expression become subtle. After all, in this era of limited knowledge, ordinary people would not know about maps...

Ignoring Catherine's subtle expression, Ivan raised his hand and pointed at several locations marked outside the Gate of Heaven and said slowly:

"Downtown."

Then, his finger moved toward one of the points.

"factory."

After knocking on the area, Alvin continued to point out the third keyword.

"people."

Finally, the black-haired boy uttered the most crucial and disturbing word.

"demon."

"To be honest, I still don't quite understand." The Duchess spoke first:

"Well, is this too general?" Alvin seemed a little surprised, but he was used to it. After all, he often encountered similar situations when helping others solve problems in his previous life.

So, he looked like Khayon.

"Is what you just said about 'the Genoa Chamber of Commerce encountering a formidable rival, possibly backed by the great Linde nobles' credible?"

"It's basically credible. There's no need for that guy to lie about something like this." Considering that Catherine was present, Ka Yang's words were relatively vague, but the meaning he wanted to express was clear.

"Well, there are many factories in the downtown area, and the main purpose of these factories is mostly related to business. If we combine this piece of news with the previous one, can we infer relevant information?"

"You mean, the competitor that Genoa suddenly encountered might be the noble Linde who secretly controls the factory area?" Catherine was the first to react. After all, she was the person who knew the most information here.

"Well, the factory area has a very dense population. If that noble is secretly connected with the Fallen, this may explain many things." Alvin made a surprising inference.

Yes, this way many doubts can be answered.

Why was the Nurul demon able to sneak into the Temple of Light? Even with special magical equipment, it was obviously not an easy task.

Why was Conrad's whereabouts exposed? The person who knew about his fake identity, which was used to sneak out to play, was obviously not an ordinary person.

Why would a train from the capital Lutetia to the steel capital Vulcan be robbed? The rare materials being secretly transported on it are information only known to a few people.

Why would a special kind of corrupted individual like the Demon Factory Owner, capable of fusion forging, appear in the Lower City? Being able to manipulate factories to produce machinery, something considered a high-end commodity in this era, meant the person behind it must possess considerable power and influence.

"Plus the recent emergence of unknown organizations." Ivan's tone was more serious than ever.

He had already sensed the breath of a storm, which was likely to be a strong hurricane that could affect the entire Central Empire and even the world of Palladia.

"You mean, someone in high authority is secretly influencing a large number of ordinary workers with the help of the factory area?" Catherine's expression also became horrified, but she did not panic immediately. Instead, she continued to calmly analyze the relevant issues.

"But, even so, when ordinary people are bewitched and become corrupted, their destructive power is often very limited. What can those people do alone?"

"Don't underestimate ordinary people. Even if their individual strength is limited, as long as you provide them with enough weapons, they will be in great shape." Ka Yang suddenly said in a low voice.

As a necromancer, he is very experienced in cannon fodder tactics. Of course, if he were to use them, it would probably not be ordinary cannon fodder tactics, but something more professionally characteristic - the sea of ​​skeletons.

In addition, weapons made with magical engineering have the characteristic of low threshold for use.

This is a very suitable feature for ordinary people.

"But there aren't a lot of unused weapons stored near Lutetia. How could they easily find equipment capable of arming a large number of Fallen?"

"Military parade..." Diana, who had been silent all this time, suddenly pointed out the blind spot that the Duchess had overlooked.

Catherine's eyes widened immediately.

Yes, aren’t the various weapons that need to be displayed in the military parade just a large number of idle weapons that are temporarily unused?

Although the relevant security measures are very strict, it is possible that a noble of that level who can provide protection for a large number of fallen people would tamper with these weapons.