Star Forge Titan

Although it is a stupid statement, it is also the most intuitive expression of people's friendship.

Moreover, while saying stupid things, Alvin's expression was extremely serious.

When dealing with a bad person who likes to be mean, it is meaningless to reason with him, and getting angry with him is a huge loss.

Come on, clench your fist, aim, and break his nose with one punch! Then kick his front teeth out! Then, it's time to consider how to deal with it.

Although it was not stated explicitly, Heidi could sense the undisguised meaning in the other person's words.

"He is indeed just a little boy who has not grown up." The female mage muttered, turning her face to the side to hide her current expression.

It sounded like she was laughing.

It wasn't the fake, disguised smile from before.

It was a truly hearty laugh that came from the bottom of my heart.

Chapter 90 Hearing about the Murder Case

When Alvin said that, he didn't really think much about it. At least 90% of the reason was that he was simply acting according to his personality.

This casual yet matter-of-fact way of speaking seemed more sincere to Heidi, and made her sigh in her heart that the other person was indeed a northerner.

In fact, Alvin himself had originally planned to go to the City of a Thousand Towers later. According to his memory of the plot development, he speculated that the City of a Thousand Towers at this time was still in the last short period of calm before the storm.

If things in the Silent Desert could be resolved as soon as possible, perhaps he would have a chance to avoid another major chaos.

Of course, considering the current situation of the two major powers, Lind and Elrond, on one hand, Elrond was not seriously affected by the coup and even received a wave of reinforcement; on the other hand, Lind was not affected by the undead frenzy and demon invasion, and its magic technology developed smoothly.

From this perspective, perhaps the major events that are about to happen after the City of a Thousand Towers will most likely only become regional events limited to the Free City in this world line that has been changed by Alvin.

After all, these two world powers, currently ranked among the strongest in terms of comprehensive strength, would certainly be able to completely suppress the chaos within the Thousand Towers City if they had the strength to spare, or at least curb it in its early stages.

However, by then, the City of a Thousand Towers might lose its unique international status of permanent neutrality and become a purely regional educational institution.

Thinking about it this way, it doesn't seem so bad. Except when they need funding, most of the time, scholars who truly engage in research are pure, even naive.

By the way, because of some experiences before crossing over, Alvin really hates those academic tycoons who rely on connections and background rather than real abilities to gain fame and fortune.

Because of this, while he was still playing games in isolation, he even found time to browse through legal programs and the Internet, reading reports on many vicious cases and the specific implementation process. He also made full use of his best skills and learned a lot...

I'm getting off topic. In short, although Alvin doesn't mind being a firefighter, he won't be so arrogant as to think that the world can't function without him.

However, in such a big city-state, some of the people there were only people he knew in the virtual world of Palladia. Now, Ivan, who did not know them, did not want to see them affected by the unrest.

Among them are lovable good people and annoying villains. But if, due to some prejudice, we sit back and watch the good and the bad suffer together, then Ivan would rather choose to rescue everyone first, and then stuff the despicable villains into the trash can with his own hands.

So, when he heard about Heidi's past, he expressed his willingness to help without hesitation.

Hum, isn’t the trash can on the sidewalk still empty?!

After exchanging information with Heidi, Ivan chose to say goodbye and leave. However, when he left, he saw Gripi again.

This young dwarf Bloodsworn Avenger now looked quite disheveled. Although the stains on his clothes caused by drunkenness had been washed, the wet and dirty clothes made him look even more like a miserable drowned dog.

His normally prominent, gradient green mohawk had completely fallen down, looking like a tangle of weeds, making it almost impossible to discern Grippy's features. Only his bloodshot eyes stood out, making Grippy look ten years older and ten times more decrepit.

"What happened?" At least they were acquaintances, and they had fought side by side before, so Alvin asked.

"It has nothing to do with you." Gripi said this in a very tough and cold tone.

Hearing this, Alvin raised his brows.

So he slowly raised his hands, and the distance between his palms gradually widened, like a longbow that was slowly drawn.

Seeing this movement, Gripi froze. Damn it, even though there was no clear memory of it, his body was honestly sending a strong warning to his brain.

Don’t! Don’t let him clap his hands! Don’t let him clap his hands!!!

"Well, I just, I just heard something." After the dwarf subconsciously danced around in a chaotic manner, he suddenly sighed deeply and said such a nonsensical sentence.

"No matter what you've heard, it shouldn't be an excuse to torture yourself." Ivan bent down and patted Greeppi's shoulder.

“…” Gripi stood there in silence.

"If, if you have done nothing wrong and an innocent person is implicated, what will you do?"

"What to do? Stand up and take responsibility for everything? That does look very upright and heroic." Looking down at the dwarf's bloodshot eyes, Ivan said this.

But when the other party raised his head and seemed to want to make a decision, he suddenly changed the subject.

"But if you really didn't make any mistakes, then the one who implicated innocent people should be the one who truly bears the blame, right?"

The black-haired boy's calm tone revealed a matter-of-factness, which made the dwarf, who wanted to say that his words were too idealistic and that reality was not so reasonable, speechless for a moment.

Grippy stood there with his eyes wide open, his chest heaving rapidly. The traditional values ​​of dwarven society clashed with the new perspectives he had heard. In the end, it seemed that the young people's ability to accept new things slightly outweighed the influence of traditional education.

"Thank you, I understand." Gripi let out a sigh and finally relaxed.

The overly tense nerves made this short and stocky dwarf inevitably shake his body. It looked like a large bucket of purified water on the ground that shook by itself and almost fell over. It was very eye-catching and very rare.

"But, but..." Gripi seemed to want to say something. His body as hard as stone slowly hunched over, and his bloodshot eyes finally closed tightly.

"But I still feel like I can't just sit back and do nothing."

"Then let's take action." Alvin clapped his hands, and an invisible force pulled up the listless dwarf, making him stand upright as usual.

"If you don't like something, you have to intervene. Otherwise, why do you have the ability to think, why do you have this muscle, why do you live?"

The black-haired boy, who spoke like a nosy hero Chanem or a toilet-unclogging general, ignored the darkness outside and dragged Greeppi towards the outskirts of the Chamber of Commerce. He looked as relaxed as if he was picking up a small bag of potatoes.

"Oh wait, I can walk by myself. You're just like dragging a sack of potatoes. Damn it, I'm a dwarf, not a potato sack with legs!" Grippy's complaining voice was heard far away, and Heidi, who was seeing this scene from behind the window, couldn't help but laugh.

"The little boy who hasn't grown up really dares to think and do."

Then, her eyes turned sharp as she looked at the dwarf's back.

As a businessman, Heidi's sensitivity to intelligence has long made her suspicious of Gripi's identity.

Combined with the several inexplicable murders that occurred in the city in the past two days and the unusual reaction of the Dwarf Avengers after hearing the relevant news, the female mage came to a conclusion that surprised her.

The dwarven Bloodsworn Avenger known as Grippy Parrit, Angry Pyrite, has a very surprising true identity.

At the same time, this made Heidi even more impressed by Ivan's luck. A casually hired fighter picked up from the street was actually involved in the core goal of the plan.

If the investigation had not revealed that the two of them had really come together by chance because of a conspiracy by the First Witch King's subordinates to instigate chaos, she would even have suspected whether her fellow northerner with the same black hair as herself had learned divination techniques from the tribal shaman before.

After all, considering the 'excellent' selection mechanism caused by the harsh environment and the long history of the tribes still surviving in the North, those Northland witch doctors who look more like charlatans than true spellcasters have a wide variety of abilities.

Some of the spells or prescriptions would amaze even true great wizards or alchemy masters.

Heidi felt that she would not be surprised at all if a tribe quietly mastered the ability of divination like a prophet.

After all, the ancestor worshipped by the people of the North is the legendary last queen of the Northern Giant Kingdom - Ishtarli. In mythology, she is a powerful prophet who can use her eyes to penetrate the long river of time.

So, this is the North!!!

Meanwhile, Alvin and Gripi left the Chamber of Commerce and quickly headed towards Ismailia City's commercial street. Even at night, it was still brightly lit, making it the busiest place in the entire commercial city.

On the way, Gripi slowly told some of the recent events.

"Are you saying that someone is targeting dwarves and indiscriminately attacking all dwarven gathering places in the city?"

"Yes, the day before yesterday there were two weapon shops, and yesterday there was a goldsmith shop that made custom gold and silver jewelry. Their owners are all dwarves, and their subordinates are also mainly dwarves." Gripi gritted his teeth and recalled the rumors he heard from the tavern.

"If it was just an ordinary robbery or burglary, there would be no need to kill everyone, especially using such extremely cruel methods."

Thinking back to those innocent compatriots who were just doing legitimate business but ended up being killed without a complete body, Gripi could not help but clench his fists tightly, his nails even digging into the flesh of his palms, leaving several deep arc-shaped blood marks.

“…” Alvin tilted his head to look at his companion who was hiding his true identity.

He is not a fool, but since the other party has not admitted it yet, there is no need for him to expose it now.

Since you have decided to help, don't say this or that or complain about the trouble throughout the process. This is what you should do if you really want to make friends.

But for something like investigating a case, wouldn't it be best to find a short halfling detective to help? He wasn't particularly good at deduction, and back in Virtual Paladia, he'd relied on his guildmates, who were skilled in fact-finding and plot-setting, to figure out the plot related to the missions.

Unfortunately, due to the barrier of the dimensional wall, there is no way to pull people over now.

With a silent sigh, Alvin thought back to the good dog he had raised in Linde. If Little Q were here, he could just turn on his sniffing module and sniff around, and maybe he could find the murderer right away.

Forget it, anyway, let’s go to the crime scene and take a look first.

After discussing with Greeppi, the two of them first went to the store where the keystroke occurred most recently.

There was nothing unusual outside the store, only one window was broken, and a strong smell of blood could be smelled from it.

Not far away, several people dressed as Ismailia City Guards were chatting at the back door of a shop near the alley. They were members of the City Guard. In addition to guarding the gate and patrolling, they were also responsible for handling common crimes in the city such as theft and robbery.

Of course, these people are not police comrades who are dedicated to serving the people. In most cases, they just do a casual job when investigating cases, unless it involves nobles or big businessmen.

Although this goldsmith shop also served nobles and wealthy merchants, ordinary people couldn't afford gold and silver jewelry. But the people were already dead, right? If they were dead, it didn't matter.

To the nobles and merchants, dead craftsmen were nothing but meaningless trash.

They only wanted to recover the gold and silver stolen from the shop, which had been paid in advance by the people who had ordered the jewelry. The identity of the murderer and why he had killed the goldsmith's entire family were secondary concerns.

"It's not easy to get in under these circumstances." Gripi frowned, looking at the city guards who were chatting but completely blocking the entrance.

"Well, I have an idea." Looking at the three guards at the back door, an idea emerged in Alvin's mind.

Before, he had guessed that the secret of force string control might be able to continuously output power, so he planned to give it a try this time.

"You take care of the closest one, and I'll handle the remaining two."

"Okay." Grippy nodded, then pretended to be a drunkard. With his current appearance, he didn't need to disguise himself at all, and staggered over.

"Where did this drunkard come from? Didn't you see someone just died here!?!" A city guard pulled out a short wooden stick from his waist and walked forward cursing, trying to drive Gripi away and vent his frustration from being on duty all night.

But when he got closer, he saw that the dwarf's eyes were exceptionally clear, and he didn't look like a drunkard at all.

Before the city guards could react, Grippy raised his head and headbutted the nearest guard, knocking him unconscious instantly. Two other guards nearby saw this and were about to shout a warning when Ivan raised his hand and clenched it.

A light flashed in the black-haired boy's eyes, and the secret of the Storm Fighting Holy Fist was activated silently. The two panicked guards only felt their necks tighten, and some invisible force had already tightly gripped their throats, making the two guys speechless and feeling a strong sense of suffocation.

The prolonged inability to breathe and the lack of blood flow to the brain caused them to quickly pass out. However, Ivan's continued grip kept them aloft, preventing them from collapsing immediately.

The black-haired boy, whose experiment was successful, smiled slightly, then he seemed to realize something and couldn't help muttering something.

"We're worlds apart. The most powerful legal department on Earth won't send police, right? Besides, this is just cosplay..."

Meanwhile, Gripi was quick to react. Although he didn't understand how his companion had managed such a thing, he quickly helped the unconscious guard up, propped up a short wooden stick under the unconscious man's clothes, and made him squat against the wall, pretending to rest.

At the same time, Alvin silently activated his innate power to reshape the world, controlling the mud under the feet of the two city guards to pour into their trouser legs, and then letting the mud harden to fix their bodies in a standing position.

So, from a distance, it looked like three city guards, one squatting against the wall, and two standing, chatting idly.

"When did you learn this?" Gripi asked in surprise.

"Just in these two days." Alvin shrugged and gave the answer.

Hearing this, the dwarf couldn't help but roll his eyes.

This skill, which is obviously not easy to acquire, is impossible to be learned in such a short period of time.

But there are more important things to do now, so Gripi didn't bother to investigate further. He took the lead and stepped into the crime scene.

Behind him, Alvin recalled the feeling just now, and after confirming that he remembered it, he followed in.

The scene that appeared in front of them in the house immediately plunged them into oppressive silence.

Chapter 91: Waiting for the Rabbit

The scene inside the house was extremely tragic. Several young humans and dwarves dressed as apprentices fell to the ground with their backs to the door. Most of their bodies were mutilated, and their injuries were concentrated on their backs.

Then, Alvin noticed that only one of the goldsmith apprentices fell facing the gate.

He was a very young human apprentice, estimated to be no more than fifteen years old. He was thin and small and looked inconspicuous.

Even at the moment of his death, his face still held a look of astonishment, his thin body split in two by a massive wound that began on the left side of his neck and continued straight down. The wound, torn along the way, was a bloody mess, with faint traces of broken bone visible.

Seeing such a wound, Ivan's mind gradually emerged with the scene of what might have happened at that time.

In the goldsmith shop that has closed for the night, several apprentices are cleaning with brooms and other tools. Next, they have to prepare for tomorrow's work.

Suddenly, there was a hurried knock on the door.

Under normal circumstances, no customers would come to order gold and silver jewelry at this time.

Confused, a human apprentice opened the back door of the shop, where the knocking sound just now came from.

But before he could see the visitor's appearance clearly, the murderer with no evil intentions swung an extremely heavy long-handled weapon and effortlessly split the apprentice who opened the door for him into two uneven pieces.

Looking at the marks on the door frame that were forcibly torn, Alvin clearly judged the sizes of all his opponent's weapons. This was the experience of a warrior.