Chapter 5 The Greedy Pythius <TOC> Chapter 7 Corpse Stitcher
Translator: SumTLMan
Handing over the treasure?
Naturally, it was impossible.
If he did, there was a 99% chance that he’d be instantly killed, there was no doubt about that.
After a bit of good acting, Rayne and the old man negotiated and agreed on the terms of the reprieve, and then he began telling the story he had prepared beforehand: “Mr Pythius, I was in the sewers at that time…”
But when he had only just begun his story, there was a knock on the iron door outside the medical room.
…….
Knock! Knock! Knock!
There was a muffled bang on the iron door, and someone began shouting from outside: “Mr Pythius, Boss Quinn requests your immediate presence for an important meeting…”
Pythius listened with a frown and replied: “Understood.”
Now that there was an outsider, it was a little inappropriate to talk about this big secret.
Anyway, the terms had been discussed and agreed upon, sooner or later Baron Maureen’s secret would be his, so there was no hurry.
He glanced at Rayne and said: “The toxins in your body haven’t been completely eliminated and you may still be in danger. Have a good rest in the medical room until I return…”
You think the toxins are still in my system?
I don’t believe you.
Rayne spat in his mind, but outwardly said: “Yes, Mr Pythius.”
With that response, the old man turned and walked out the door.
The iron door to the medical room locked from the outside with a “clang”.
Rayne looked at the sealed medical room door with the excitement on his face slowly cooling down as he muttered in his mind: “The old man is afraid that I’ll run away…”
This was a medical room that only the top brass of the base could enjoy, and the steel plates around it could withstand artillery bombardment, so it was impossible for an ordinary person who hadn’t even awakened to transcendence to contemplate escape.
Now, it seemed no different from a prison cell.
Still, it made sense, and Rayne deflated his shoulder with a shrug.
With nothing else to do, he began to take stock of the loot in his folded space.
When he did, he was overjoyed at the sight of the treasures.
He finally understood why the top brass of the “Demon Weasel Bandits” had taken such a significant risk by forcing their way into the city to kill off Baron Maureen.
It turned out that… It was because Baron Maureen was hiding such a shocking secret!
……
It turns out that Baron Maureen’s real name is Sherwood Andre.
He was once a wilderness hunter belonging to the enemy, The “Sidhe Empire”.
Rayne finds a diary among his belongings and immediately understands the circumstances leading up to the assassination.
The cause of the matter all started six years ago when Baron Maureen got his hands on a “Great Secret” during a wilderness hunting mission.
The Warhammer Hunter Regiment’s log reads as follows:
“September 10th, 1123 Steam Calendar. The leader of the regiment took up a very lucrative mission with the Wilderness Hunters’ Union, and we were supposed to explore a canyon near the ‘Dark Forest’, where we heard that traces of ancient ruins had been found…”
“On the 14th, we encountered a mysterious fog and lost our way. The gas masks had lost their function, and the members of the regiment found they were being poisoned one after another, putting everyone on edge…”
“On the 15th, we didn’t know where we’d gone, there was fog everywhere. One by one, members of the regiment collapsed and died due to poisoning. My analysis of the blood samples from the deceased revealed that there was more than one highly lethal unknown toxin contained in this thick fog…”
“On the 20th, 90% of the regiment had died due to poisoning, and if we can no longer find our way out of this fog, I fear we will all perish here…”
“On the 26th, the advanced antidote potions we brought along have been consumed, and the only two members left in the regiment are the leader and me…”
“…”
The first half of the diary was utterly ordinary.
It was about a team of wilderness hunters who explored an uncharted land and then lost their way in the fog.
This fog world was inherently full of innumerable dangers, magical beasts, wilderness giants, poisonous fog, scavengers… All of which bring about deadly crises.
Every day, countless hunter groups are destroyed in the wilderness.
It’s only natural that a group called the Warhammer Hunters would suffer such a tragic fate in the wilderness.
With Maureen not dead, it was clear that he had survived for some reason.
When Rayne read the rest of the diary, it was as if he had discovered a new world, and the more he read, the more amazed he became.
“On the 27th… Before the deaths, we found the wreckage of an Extraordinary Mechanical City made of steel in the valley… It had no tracks or wheels, and the equipment was at the cutting edge beyond our knowledge. Also, it looked as if it had fallen from the sky and smashed a huge crater in the ground! My God, is there a steam-powered flying mechanical city in this world?! Unfortunately, the regimental commander couldn’t hold out any longer…”
“And my consciousness also began to blur… I felt as if I had picked up what looked like an antidote to the poison in the wreckage, and instinctively, I injected the potion into my body. Presumably, I was going to die…”
This world had no concept of flying machines at all, but Rayne knew from what he was reading that they had come across something like a “steam-powered airship”.
But he was also surprised.
He had transmigrated to this new world for a year but still held onto a lot of information from his previous world.
Although the technological tree in this world had been crooked, this miraculous steam-powered steel city had emerged.
However, neither of the two great human empires in this fog world, the “Sidhe Empire” and the “Omagh Empire”, had any flying technology.
Could it be… That somewhere else in the fog there are unknown human lands with more advanced civilisations?
Apparently, the wreckage of the “steam-powered airship” in the diary confirms this.
There is more to this world than meets the eye.
……
At this point in the diary, the handwriting has become very messy.
As if the writer has gradually lost consciousness, the handwriting is messy and crooked, and the last few strokes had even become wholly unrecognisable.
If there was no other writing, this would probably be the end of it.
And then, on the next page, the handwriting suddenly becomes healthy and vigorous again!
“I woke up, I am still alive… Oh my God, blessed be the great ‘Lord of the Grey Fog’, I’ve actually broken through to the second genetic lock! Oh, this feeling is so amazing that potion was actually an advanced genetic magic potion!”
“I felt an unprecedentedly powerful force, I’ve never heard of such an exaggerated gain from a magic potion to the point of breaking through to the second-order genetic lock… The potion effects are still building up, and I feel an alarming increase in my attributes. God, what grade of magic genetic potion did I drink?”
“Although I’ve never seen a gold grade genetic magic potion, I’m certain that the unknown potion I took has a potency that far exceeds that of a gold grade potion! Could it be that this is the fabled ‘Legendary Grade Potion’?”
“I heard a terrifying movement in the wreckage that seemed to be hiding some sort of monster, and I didn’t dare to explore the depths any further. The poisonous fog around me has also suddenly become very thick, fearing that there might be a ‘fog tide’. I didn’t dare to stay any longer, I found some treasures and left immediately…”
This was the end of the adventure diary.
After reading this, Rayne’s gaze also became burning.
He suddenly feared that there was some very extraordinary treasure among the loot in his folded space!
……
As for the assassination… That’s the second half of the story.
This Baron Maureen had a habit of keeping a diary.
After looking through a few more diary entries, Rayne quickly learned how things would later turn out.
Later on, this man named Andre had escaped the fog alive and then returned to his hometown with some treasure from a high-tech civilisational among the airship wreckage.
“Sam used to be my best friend…”
The moment he read this passage; Rayne knew some kind of dogged love drama sequel would follow.
It turns out that this Andre went into the wilderness to be a hunter, being away from home all the time, and leaving his beautiful wife at home to hook up with his best friend.
Then he returns and shares his secret with his wife, only to be betrayed by both his best friend and wife, who planned to conspire against him and murder him.
Fortunately, he escapes.
Then, a disheartened Andre came to the Omagh Empire and changed his name to Maureen.
He donated a gold grade genetic magic potion formula from the airship in exchange for a baron’s title.
“If you’ve seen my diary, it means that I am deceased. The only people who know about my secrets are Sam and that bitch, and they must’ve been the ones who got me in the end… If you can, I would like you to help me kill off that pair of mongrels. For the sake, of course, of the fact that I’ve left you with these treasures that would make the two largest empires break their heads and fight wars for…”
The diary went silent after.
Rayne closed the diary, his expression becoming slightly odd.
The assassination had been sudden, and there was no record of it in the diary. Yet Baron Maureen had predicted that the only possibility of his exposure was that pair of mongrels.
……
“That Sam guy probably tracked down Andre’s new identity and commissioned the ‘Demon Weasel Bandits’ to kill and seize his treasure?”
Rayne thought of this and shook his head again.
Judging from the contents he had read in the diary; the mongrel pair certainly didn’t have the power or resources necessary to search for someone in another country or pay that kind of commission for bandits to infiltrate “Blazing Steel Fortress” and assassinate someone.
The most likely scenario is that the pair of mongrels sold the secret to someone in power (or negotiated a partnership).
Then, did the big shot become the mastermind behind the assassination mission?!
……
After reading the diary, the whole story behind the assassination suddenly became clear.
“These treasures, they’re a bit hot. That person behind the curtain who brought about the assassination, I’m afraid they won’t give up so easily…”
Rayne looked at the treasures in his folded space and suddenly felt that things were beyond his expectations.
A single inconspicuous genetic formula inside had been exchanged for a noble title, so one can imagine how incredible the treasure’s value held in Maureen’s hands was.
Moreover, there weren’t only the treasures that Baron Maureen had brought out, but also the map to the airship wreckage!
According to the diary, the airship wreckage still held a large number of undiscovered secrets…
The airship wreckage was beyond the “Mechanic’s Guild’s” current cutting edge steam technology, there was also the advanced transcendental knowledge, and martial arts techniques…
And if the diary is true, it was a treasure that would make the eyes of two great empires go wild!
After carefully taking inventory of the labels and treasures, Rayne had a good idea of what the bottles and jars in Maureen’s belongings were.
Of course, what he was most concerned about was the loot that would immediately boost his combat power!
For example, a genetic magic potion!
Only by breaking the first genetic lock and advancing to transcendence would he have a greater chance of surviving in this cruel world.
Rayne immediately found what he was looking for.
A genetic potion to advance to “Awakened”.
One that he had never even heard of, not to mention seen… An exceptional gold grade potion!
“With these treasures… I’m rich!”
Rayne’s eyes trembled as he looked at Maureen’s description of the potion’s effects as if he was holding a lottery ticket that had won the jackpot.
Chapter 5 The Greedy Pythius <TOC> Chapter 7 Corpse Stitcher
Thanks for the chapter!