OBS Chapter 3996 Joint Investigation
Chapter 3996 Joint Investigation
Chapter 3996 Joint Investigation
"I feel the most important thing to consider right now is whether this is another trap. To suddenly encounter a clue on the way home—isn't that a bit too much of a coincidence?"
After Mr. Bernhardt finished recounting his experiences, Shad asked if the Vampire Seed Lord also had this idea:
"That's why I didn't investigate myself, but came here to find Mr. Finch. Mr. Finch is a local, and he learned through his own channels that the 'disappearance of refugees' is not fabricated. Since the outbreak of the war, there have indeed been many cases of foreign refugees disappearing without a trace."
Even before the fighting began at the end of last month, there had already been cases of homeless people and drunkards going missing in the outer suburbs. However, before the local police could uncover the truth, the major battle erupted.
Xia De nodded knowingly:
"So, at least the disappearance case wasn't fabricated? Then there is indeed a need to investigate this matter."
Afterwards, Shad exchanged information about the Fire Seed and the Church with Mr. Bernhardt. Armand Bernhardt was not really interested in listening, because he believed that it was irrelevant to what he wanted to investigate. The Church of Creation itself had problems, and this was not something he should be involved in.
But he also knew that he would be active in this city for some time, and he would eventually hear about this big news, so he listened with concern and finally came to a conclusion:
"It's going to be very lively at the Vatican today. It seems we need to be more cautious in our actions these next few days."
As Shad and Mr. Bernhardt were talking, the factory owner, Mr. Finch, finally arrived. He hadn't expected that Shad and the high-ranking vampire nobles of Velendale would know each other, but since they were friends, it was naturally a good thing.
Mr. Finch was still thinking of telling Shad the details of what he had learned from visiting his friend at church yesterday, but Shad already had more information than Mr. Finch.
The two exchanged information briefly, and when they heard that the three major academies and the Four Gods Church would be joining forces to go to the Holy See of the [Church of Creation] today, the old man asked with doubt:
"So fast? Who leaked the matter of the [Church of Creation] so directly? Otherwise, even if the academy and the church suspected the situation in Arcadia yesterday, they shouldn't have sent people to visit directly, but rather sent a letter to inquire first, right?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Xia De, clearly suspecting that this resourceful young man was the one who leaked the information.
When Mr. Bernhardt came to him for help yesterday, he explained what happened on Friday. Yesterday, Mr. Finch didn't know that Shad was a friend of the vampires, but now that he does, he's even more suspicious that Shad was one of the people fighting on the lake in the Upper City Park on Friday night.
However, Shad pretended not to see Mr. Finch's look, and the old man did not point it out.
Shad changed the subject:
"The group involved in the disappearance of the vampires is most likely the Blood Spirit School. I also have a grudge against them, so please let me help with this matter."
"Of course, that's no problem. In fact, we were planning to explore the outer city's sewers this morning anyway."
Mr. Finch stated that he confirmed yesterday through local connections that missing persons cases had been occurring in the outer suburbs since the end of last year, although the frequency was not high at that time. The frequency of missing persons only increased after the refugee crisis caused by the war between the North and South. Considering that some refugees are simply ignored even when they go missing, the number of missing persons in the past month is likely higher than expected.
Of the three districts in Arcadia, although the Outer District has a shorter history than the Upper and Lower Districts, its underground sewer system has a very long history.
This stems from two reasons. Firstly, cities built on the side of mountains need effective drainage systems to prevent excessive soil erosion in order to prevent landslides. Therefore, during the Kingdom of Delinor, a sewer system was already in place, dug from the mountain to the Thernnir River. This sewer system passed through the underground of the outer city.
On the other hand, in the final stages of the Carsonrick-Drinor War, the United Kingdom army, at a significant disadvantage due to its superior position ("lower ground against higher ground"), besieged the capital of the old kingdom. The United Kingdom army, having exhausted all other options, naturally considered the traditional method of digging tunnels.
The Siege of Arcadia lasted for a full eighteen months, and no one knows exactly how many tunnels the United Kingdom dug during that time.
These two factors, coupled with the fact that Arcadia has expanded in recent years by building a modern drainage system in the outer city using existing ancient sewers and tunnels, have resulted in the outer city's sewer system being completely unmapped. Moreover, every year there are several cases of curious young people going to explore the sewers in search of the "Lost Delin'or Treasure" only to get lost.
Mr. Bernhardt made the right choice not to rashly follow his opponent into the sewers on Sunday. However, he remembered the smell of the opponent's filthy flesh during the fight, which gave him the potential to track him down.
Mr. Finch investigated overnight yesterday, and this morning he obtained the initial design blueprints for the outer city's sewer system from an old friend at the city hall. If Shad hadn't shown up, they planned to enter the sewers together to track the enemy.
“Mr. Watson, the smell of the sewers in the outer city is not something that ordinary people can tolerate.”
When Shad offered to go with them, Mr. Finch reminded him, to which Shad shook his head:
"It's okay, I just hope we can find each other smoothly."
Shad actually has fairly extensive experience in exploring the sewers. In Moon Bay, he and Mr. Bernhardt went deep into the sewers to investigate the "vampire monster," and there he met a little black cat that left a deep impression on him to this day.
Mr. Bernhardt clearly remembered what happened last year, and was therefore pleased that Shad was willing to come along.
So the three of them briefly discussed their plan of action and set off together. After leaving the Gear Workshop, the three of them first went to the place where Mr. Bernhardt had encountered the family of three who were scavenging garbage on Sunday and were attacked.
That was a one-way alley between two buildings in the southern part of the outer city. It was originally used to temporarily park horse-drawn carriages, but due to the garbage dumping by nearby residents, it has now become a garbage alley in the true sense.
The garbage scattered everywhere emitted a foul stench in the springtime. The alley was flanked by the offices of the Candleburg Daily and a warehouse. The tall buildings, as long as the side windows were not opened, could block the smell.
Mr. Bernhardt, in the alley, pointed out the exact location to Mr. Shad and Mr. Finch, explaining what had happened that night. While Shad was searching for the location of the sewer entrance, which was covered by garbage, Lord Vampire sniffed around.
In such a stinky place, this action required a lot of courage and boldness.
"This tastes..."
He stepped through the litter and walked a few steps into the garbage alley, kicking the trash aside with his boots. Then, a pale, frozen face appeared in the pile of garbage.
It was a male corpse, emaciated, likely due to long-term malnutrition. Shad and Mr. Finch then dug it out of the garbage and determined that the cause of death was a stab wound to the abdomen, leading to internal bleeding.
Mr. Bernhardt said nothing, put a hair from the deceased into his mouth, closed his eyes for a moment, and then said:
"He was also a refugee who fled from the front lines to this area. He was killed three alleys away from here and robbed of his last savings. The killer was a fellow villager of the deceased, and the two had met last week. The time of death was last night, and it should be a premeditated murder for the purpose of robbery, which is unrelated to what we are investigating."
"This body is lying here, but it hasn't been dragged away by the 'sewer killer' who used to frequent this area. Doesn't that mean they weren't interested in the body?"
Mr. Finch asked, looking with pity at the poor man who had died in a foreign land:
“Let’s continue the investigation. I’ll contact someone to remove the body later. The city hall has accepted the donation and is willing to bury the refugees locally.”
They temporarily protected the body to prevent stray cats and dogs from coming to forage for food. Then, following his memory from that night, Mr. Bernhardt found the sewer entrance under the garbage. After opening it, all three of them took a step back simultaneously because of the stench.
"I'm so old, and I still have to suffer like this."
"Mr. Finch said quietly, but he still climbed down the rusty iron ladder along the side of the sewer first. Mr. Shad and Mr. Bernhardt both had their own purposes for getting involved. The old man originally only needed to provide information to the vampires, but he took the initiative to get involved in order to prevent more refugees from being killed."
Mr. Bernhardt went down second, and Shad went last. Although he sealed his mouth and nose to prevent air exchange with the outside world, he still felt the stench corroding his skin as he descended.
Soon, the three of them officially entered the sewer. Shad felt his boots stepping on a sticky substance. But he was actually lucky; at least he didn't have to breathe. However, Mr. Bernhardt had to continue to distinguish the smells under these conditions, and Shad felt that Mr. Bernhardt's face was turning green.
"This way."
He didn't exchange many words with his two companions, pointed in a direction and quickly led the way, while Mr. Finch followed, clicking the knob to light the small kerosene lamp hanging at his waist.
This was no ordinary item. Shad sensed the effect of dispelling illusions and exorcising evil from the light, and the coverage area of this light was significantly larger than that of normal light.