Chapter Sixty-Four

Connie flicked the ash off his cigar and looked at the newspaper in his hand. The shadow of his baseball cap covered half of his face. He sat in an inconspicuous corner of the pub, listening to other people's conversations.

This is where workers gather after get off work, and you can basically find out anything from here.

So he really enjoys being in places like this; for someone in his line of work, it's like a treasure trove in the deep sea.

Today was another uneventful day. He had been in the city of Nadera for almost two years, and he had had enough of days like this.

Perhaps there's nothing else to care about except for one thing.

Those are monsters living in forbidden zones, conservatively estimated to be at the level of a calamity. They appeared two years ago, and the problem remains unsolved.

Fortunately, its limited intelligence prevented it from attacking the city; instead, it wandered around the forbidden zone.

Connie got up to leave; he'd enjoyed his afternoon and needed to get down to business. A respected profession in this city: mechanic. Although only an apprentice, he was already capable of handling many challenging tasks and had a good reputation in the area.

But don't be surprised, he's a clergyman. He just hasn't become a saint yet; he's still just a missionary.

Fortunately, he was able to use a small amount of holy magic to accomplish some things, including healing. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been able to reach the city alive. As a unique city not entirely controlled by the Church, Nidra was not intended to be completely freed by them. Therefore, the Church sent Connie and other clergy to infiltrate the city.

When Connie arrived here, he was amazed by the sights, and to this day, he is still astonished every time he walks down the street.

This is a city of metal, with massive, smoking buildings as far as the eye can see. These things are built high on the flat ground, and the density of people there simply shocked Connie when he first arrived.

Then it understood the reason: the city had been completely separated from the world, not spatially, but at the level of elements. There were no chaotic elements within it, but rather it was controlled by a more ordered element.

Therefore, people inside this barrier don't need to worry about corruption even if they get injured; otherwise, the city would never have been able to develop.

Connie walked down the street, turning left and right until he found the shop where he worked. The shop manager was a man more than ten years older than him, and he was currently doing something by the stove.

This is its teacher, from whom it received its task for the day. A hotel called West Corner has a leaky steam pipe, and another hotel has a malfunctioning pressure cylinder. So, it shouldered its belongings and prepared to head to the hotel.

Where were we? Oh, we were talking about corruption.

Let's continue introducing this strange and unique city.

This city is divided into zones, similar to other cities, built around safe zones. Therefore, the core area remains the region suitable for agriculture. Other cities are divided into detailed zones such as industrial areas, residential areas, and civilian areas. This city can also be considered a country, a single city-state. Therefore, it has a king, and the royal palace is located not far from the city center, though it is not large.

Connie paused suddenly, looking behind the wall.

It could sense that someone was watching it from nearby after just standing there for a short while.

Because it's a research area where ordinary people are strictly prohibited from entering; it's where scientists and their equipment reside. New research findings are produced there every year.

It hopes to work inside, which would greatly help its mission of gathering intelligence.

However, it doesn't have many good opportunities to get in, since it's not even a mechanic yet, just an apprentice, and its usual work is just repairing cylinders.

However, it seems that even if you become a mechanic, you have to be a local resident to work there.

There's always a way, so he decided to learn as much as possible before considering how to get a job. After all, even if he went in as a mechanic, he'd only be in the manufacturing process, and if he didn't get to access core secrets, they probably wouldn't be too strict with their checks.

Connie frowned and looked around. For some reason, he had a feeling that someone was watching him from some dark corner. He didn't know who it was. He tried to move forward in the alley, but still couldn't find anyone who might be following him.

It couldn't be a rat, he thought, looking around. Another one scurried past not far away. The rat population in this city was staggering; even though the locals caught them and ate them regularly, the numbers hadn't decreased. Those little creatures could still be found everywhere.

Connie stopped again, this time not out of curiosity, but because there was a traffic jam ahead.

This unusual situation surprised it a bit; although it was a market, the congestion was just too outrageous.

Fortunately, I walked today. My motorcycle broke down a couple of days ago due to reckless driving and it's still not fixed.

Something must have happened earlier; that's how these people are—they get excited over the smallest, most mundane things. Connie wasn't interested, so he tried to find a way to get through quickly, but it was proving difficult, and it took him a long time to reach the inn.

This hotel is the best in the area, boasting a great location, nicely decorated rooms, and individual heating—though it's not warm at all; in fact, it's quite cold. The air temperature hovers between below zero and a few degrees above zero year-round. However, instead of fireplaces, they use steam pipes to warm the rooms.

Today he's repairing one of these steam pipes. It's best to have someone specialize in repairing anything related to pipes and cylinders; these things aren't safe. A novice using them carelessly could easily lose an arm.

After all, even direct contact with high-temperature steam is dangerous, as its temperature can easily cause large-scale burns.

For this reason, Connie has a scar on his head; the wound left by the high-pressure steam cannot be completely erased even with his own holy magic.

Upon arrival, he didn't engage in much conversation; he simply showed his work ID, and someone led him to the damaged cylinder. Connie was a man of few words, to the point that for a long time, people thought he was mute and couldn't speak.

Of course, such rumors will soon be proven false.

"It's probably here." An elderly man tapped the huge metal container in front of him with a wrench: "The insulation layer is no longer working. It's probably that the inner tank has a hole, and water has seeped into the interlayer."

“But if that’s the case, you shouldn’t have asked me to fix it. This cylinder will probably have to go back to the factory.” Connie frowned; this was the last thing he wanted to see.

He said that the insulation layer allows the water inside to reach the point of generating steam more quickly, and that repairing damage to the inner cylinder is a very difficult task.

“The new one has already been bought, and this old relic has been around for quite some time.” The old man looked at Connie and said, “Try to fix it and let it last a few more days. The new one won’t be ready for use for a while, and we’ll have to trouble it to work overtime until then.”

“I’ll go in and take a look,” Connie said, shrugging. “I’ll do my best.”

This thing was separated from the pipe, and after the water inside was drained, Connie went in through the ladder.

If it's just temporary use, welding on a steel plate should solve the problem. Connie came up with a simple solution, the fastest, easiest, and most satisfactory idea he could think of.

The only problem is that the cylinder is quite old and has a very thick layer of scale. Plus, it's a semi-enclosed space, making it very difficult to use the welding torch inside.

In conclusion, this is a very troublesome task. He has done similar tasks many times before, so he is quite adept at handling this kind of stomach-ache-inducing work.

"Old man! Help me move the ladder!" Connie shouted outside, wiping the sweat from his brow. Although it was difficult, he managed to complete the task successfully.

But no one answered him.

Connie frowned. This shouldn't be happening. If nothing unexpected had happened, that guy should have been standing outside.

However, he could get out without a ladder; it's just that it might be a little hard to explain if others saw him easily jump down from a height of three meters.

He soon discovered the reason: it had suddenly become noisy outside, and he didn't know when it started.

He pulled back the curtain and saw the man lying on the table. There were also people surrounding him; they were the source of the noise.

Connie looked at the man and frowned.

Extensive burns; the upper body clothing had been removed. A hole pierced through the chest, and the area near the hole was nearly cooked through, emitting a burnt smell.

He should have died from those injuries long ago, but he seems to still be breathing. While he lay there unconscious, some people were clamoring to book rooms on the next floor. This floor only had four rooms, and considering it wasn't a cheap hotel, these guys were actually choosing to stay here.

But Connie's attention was drawn to the girl sitting at the table, because of her flawless face. Her perfect appearance sent a chill down his spine.

Logically speaking, he shouldn't be attracted to a pretty girl. Connie pondered why he did this; perhaps he just felt that the face looked somewhat familiar.

Where have I seen him before? Connie rubbed his chin, trying to remember, but he couldn't quite place it. He just felt like he'd seen him somewhere before.

The feeling was a bit unpleasant, so he looked away and didn't continue watching. Otherwise, he didn't want to be seen as harassing.

The guy lying on the table suddenly sat up, startling everyone around him, including Connie.

Everyone initially thought this guy was dead, but his wounds looked fake, as if he couldn't feel any pain at all.

He yawned, turned to look at Connie, who looked surprised, stuck out his tongue and made a face at him, then jumped off the table.

The people surrounding him were so frightened that they ran away, after all, in their eyes, he was a resurrected zombie.

"Lady, don't cry, you won't be pretty if you cry." He sighed, "At least we're still okay."

Such comfort is weak and ineffective; in fact, it offers no real comfort at all. If one doesn't cry when a friend dies, then that friend's death was truly tragic, with no one even coming to mourn.

This is Ghost Duke. It was hit by a small pebble in the Forbidden Zone, and its entire chest cavity was charred. Only with Karl's help could the surface be barely repaired. The inside is still severely damaged.

However, judging from Ark's expression, the losses were considerable. He looked extremely unwell and was now helping the others pack his room, without even bothering to comfort Lady, who was sitting there crying.

Two carriages were abandoned in total, one of which contained a coffin.

The coffin where Lady lay was the most valuable item Ark possessed, its value attested to the cruelty of its creation. It was made using witchcraft and alchemy, seven infants were soaked in its blood to kill them, and their souls were imprisoned within to suppress corruption.

This thing is equivalent to seven lives. How much are seven lives worth? It's incalculable. Anyway, Ark spent a lot of his savings to get it.

Losing just one of these things was enough to make his already unpleasant expression even more gloomy.

Lady cried because one of the carriages contained abandoned creatures. Because it had entered a dormant state and all its parts had been disassembled, it couldn't be moved. Hit directly by the fireball, Lady watched as its kind was instantly destroyed. The metal was melted into liquid by the high temperature, then instantly solidified by the low temperature. This resulted in it turning to dust within minutes.

The others weren't in good shape either. Denos and Deedri were completely exhausted and had to be carried off the plane when they returned. Karl didn't say anything, but he could tell that they had suffered considerable damage.

The little spider was also injured; its self-healing ability wasn't particularly strong. It was still healing inside the bamboo cage, as a large amount of fire element had flooded its wounds, and even it needed time to recover.

The two cats' original forms were now revealed; they watched as the two creatures transformed into a hideous demon and a frail girl, respectively. Explanations would have to wait until later; no one had the energy to listen now.

Everything was terrible. Aside from the fact that it was a total annihilation as expected, there was absolutely no reason to console themselves. They had lost so much, yet all they got was to end up here like a pack of dogs.