Chapter 207: Chapter 207: There’s a Problem with This Bishop (Seeking Full Subscription)
Luo Sen had also figured it out at this point and followed up, saying, "Since it’s someone from the Church, then the energy of the corpse transporters must be Holy Radiance! But the problem is, none of us possess the power of Holy Light, right? Not to mention us; it seems like everyone with Holy Radiance in the entire Hunter System has been taken away by the Church, haven’t they?"
After saying this, Luo Sen felt that he had also taken part in analyzing the case. Well, we three are really impressive!
Considering the requirement for Holy Radiance, Yang Liya also frowned slightly. If they needed to ask someone from the Church for help, it would inevitably alarm the enemy, which was not in line with their operational objectives.
"Captain Luo Sen, can you stop blocking me? I know you’re tall!"
"What are you going to do? Shouldn’t we be looking for someone with Holy Radiance now?"
"You don’t have Holy Radiance, but I do! I’m not a Hunter."
Lu Luo pushed Luo Sen aside and squatted down beside a female corpse again.
Hearing Lu Luo’s words, Yang Liya’s eyebrows did not relax but rather furrowed even more deeply. Because since yesterday, the Lu Luo in front of her had shown her too many astonishing traits. Such a guy...
"Since you have Holy Radiance, then give it a try."
Lu Luo nodded slightly; he had very little Holy Radiance, probably just enough to cast a Holy Light illumination spell. Fortunately, the task of activating Netherflame did not require much energy; it was sufficient.
Holy Radiance gathered at the tips of Lu Luo’s fingers. His technique for manipulating the power of Holy Light was very crude, but these female corpses seemed naturally unresistant to the power of Holy Radiance.
Lu Luo’s fingers were now touching the hair of the female corpse, and spontaneous combustion still had not occurred.
"Good, next step is the extraction of Netherflame."
Holy Radiance enveloped Lu Luo’s Netherflame, which reappeared in his hand. After Lu Luo’s Netherflame appeared, the Netherflame in the female corpse’s body became restless, but once again, there was no spontaneous combustion.
They behaved like some kind of burning liquid, gradually peeling away from the female corpse’s body and then slowly converging upon Lu Luo’s hand.
[The Devourer is filtering the Netherflame, but these flames are already multiple extensions of the original; the effect is there, but it’s minuscule.]
Lu Luo had not considered the idea of enhancing his own Netherflame by devouring these. The true source of the Netherflame is still with the Nightmare Demon!
The purple hue faded from the female corpse, and Lu Luo finally obtained a body that could be investigated in detail; it had not been easy. Although he lacked experience in autopsy, he could rely on the knowledge obtained through the Observer in the library to perform first aid and brainstorming. It’s enough to handle the current situation.
"Activate overclock mode."
[Overclock mode activated.]
Lu Luo put away his energy and directly undid the female corpse’s clothes, first checking for livor mortis, bloating, and the mouth and nose.
Don’t get any strange ideas, because right now, the body would only make one feel nauseated.
"The mouth and nasal cavities are filled with copious frothy blood-tinged mucus, the skin’s blood vessels have constricted, the body has turned pale, and the livor mortis is light red."
After a simple check, Lu Luo directly used a "hand blade" to cut open the female corpse’s chest.
"Pulmonary edema, emphysema, with a large amount of effusion present. Blood changes in both sides of the heart; the inner lining of the aorta is stained red. There are no Dark Energy components in the edematous effusion, no anomalies to highlight, and no signs of any viral diseases. That’s about it!"
"Explain more clearly. I generally understand that these girls drowned, but I can’t figure out the rest. I suspect neither of those two understood you either, so please explain it clearly," Yang Liya said bluntly.
Lu Luo nodded as well; now was not the time to withhold information.
"These people indeed drowned. Their bodies were swollen, showing pale red livor mortis. It basically explains the process of drowning; it wasn’t as simple as pushing their heads into the water, but rather a state where their whole bodies were submerged. Of course, if a bathtub was used, it could probably produce the same effect. However, the likelihood of killing fourteen people in a bathtub is very small, and the motive is illogical. Besides, there were no traces of Dark Energy in these girls’ bodies, no viruses, and no abnormal protrusions. This means they were very clean."
Having heard this, Ludie and Yang Liya had already exchanged glances, each seeing the shock in the other’s eyes.
Luo Sen, seeing that everyone else seemed to understand while he remained clueless, became somewhat impatient. "Can’t you make it clearer? Do I have to admit that I don’t understand for you to explain? Isn’t that a bit much?"
[He’s getting anxious, he’s really getting anxious!]
"Drowning them would require a lot of water, and unexpectedly, there has been no rain inside the walls for over ten days. So, there’s no such place with large amounts of standing water; the only place with a lot of accumulated water is the water plant’s reservoir. But if they drowned in the reservoir, their bodies would definitely be tainted by Dark Energy. So, they didn’t drown in the reservoir, but the place where they drowned surely had a lot of water."
[Compared to food, using water to create polluters is indeed much easier.]
Yang Liya’s pupils shrank slightly.
"Water is polluted much more quickly than food. People can go for a long time without eating, but cannot go long without drinking water. They were drowned, but not tarnished by Dark Energy; the situation is now quite clear. The place the girls were drowned should be the water plant’s purification pool, and the culprit’s purpose was most likely to pollute the water source."
Luo Sen looked at Lu Luo with some amazement. He could deduce even this? He really is something!
"Let’s go to the water plant."
With that, Yang Liya was ready to take action, but she stopped, puzzled, when she saw Lu Luo didn’t move. "Lu Luo, why aren’t you leaving?"
"I’m thinking about a problem. Water is indeed one of the best sources of pollution, but there are places that can produce water other than the water plant. A companion of mine once told me about the Wasteland Alliance’s water purification issues. She said the Alliance purifies water mainly in two ways; most of the purified water is produced by the Alliance’s water plants. But there’s also some water that is purified directly by Church members using Holy Radiance. The places that have clean water pools, other than the East Ring purification plant, should also include the East Ring church district! Given that this incident has a lot to do with a certain member of the Church, I believe if we visit the East Ring Church’s water reservoir now, we might uncover additional findings."
"So what you’re saying is, we’re splitting up."
Yang Liya glanced at Lu Luo, then hesitantly at Ludie. To ensure absolute combat power, it would be best if the two Sixth Tiers operated separately. But if Ludie and Lu Luo acted together, I wouldn’t be at ease. Therefore, I can only take Lu Luo with me and leave Ludie in Luo Sen’s care.
"Luo Sen and Ludie, you two go to the water plant. Luo Sen, keep an eye on him. Lu Luo and I will go to the Church’s water reservoir. Also, notify all Hunters and guards that the water produced since yesterday is prohibited from being sold and consumed."
"But, Captain Yang, that’s going to be difficult! After all, drinking water is a very basic need."
Yang Liya shook her head. "Tell them the specific dangers. Those who want to die can go ahead and drink."
"Yes!"
The speeding car raced past the buildings of the East Ring; some places even had pleasant scenery, but at this moment, Lu Luo had absolutely no interest in them. As their destination was very clear, Yang Liya, who was beside him, also noticed that Lu Luo was in a bad mood and therefore did not disturb him at this time.
Lu Luo rubbed his fingers while considering the worst-case scenario. "If Lu Yu has become an Exotic Species, is there any way the Summoner Sequence can save her?"
[Theoretically, it is possible, but the actual situation is that they are controlled by Netherflame, not a natural mutation. So, even if she really has become an Exotic Species, we still need to find a way to rid her of the Netherflame’s control.]
"Understood."
The car started to race towards the church district. It wasn’t just Team 2; a large number of other Hunter teams had been forcefully conscripted by Yang Liya. The convoy was formidable, with sirens mingling with the sound of horns, drawing sidelong glances from those around.
They charged straight into the church district, and their headlong rush had already caught the attention of some of the Church’s guards. Some Priests stood at the gate of the church district fence, intending to block and question these Hunters.
"Without the command of Archbishop Qiao Xing of the East Ring or documents from the other two Bishops, even Hunters cannot barge in!"
But the warning had no effect, and they soon realized something was amiss.
"Wait, at this speed, do these Hunters not intend to stop? Hey, Hunters? Stop! This is the East Ring church district, the Dawn Church’s forbidden ground."
BOOM!
Yang Liya directly barged through the checkpoint, an action that was on the level of a complete falling out between the Hunters and the Church. Seeing Yang Liya charge through the checkpoint with no hesitation, knocking aside two Church guards, the other Hunter team members following her also did not hold back, closely following behind Yang Liya and directly heading towards the East Ring church district.
AH!~
Because the East Ring uprising had just occurred a day ago, there were many ordinary human Believers praying here at the church district. When the Hunter cars crashed through, they could only scream and scatter in every direction.
Yang Liya then slammed on the brakes and made a tailspin, stopping the car in the square of the East Ring church district.
"Get out of the car, follow me!"
"Okay."
Lu Luo followed, but as they got out of the car, he felt as if he had seen someone who needed his attention. However, when he turned his head back to look, he found that there was no one there.
"Observer, have you noticed anything special? Like any suspicious characters? I mean, aside from the Church Priests and such."
[There is no specific intelligence you’re looking for, but there is a possibility that the other party has very advanced information shielding techniques.]
Lu Luo nodded slightly. Perhaps there indeed had been someone, but now I can’t afford to be distracted chasing them. I have to suppress my doubts and follow behind Yang Liya. The priority is to trace the source of the Netherflame.
Church knights and Priests had completely surrounded the Hunter’s team. The Four Knights Corps and the Believers of Light were all in the Inner Ring, so the strength of the Church members here wasn’t very formidable. Although their power was somewhat inferior compared to these elite Hunters, in terms of numbers, the Church members definitely outnumbered the Hunters.
A Fourth Tier Priest from the East Ring blocked Yang Liya’s way. "Captain Yang Liya, even though you have some reputation in the East Ring, you must also understand who the linchpin of the entire Alliance is. If it weren’t for the existence of the Church, the Alliance would have perished long ago."
However, Yang Liya didn’t stop at all and pushed the Priest aside, heading straight towards the hall of the East Ring church district. She had a search warrant in her hand, which had appeared there at some unknown point, and it was one with the seal of the Security Bureau.
"Everyone look, this is the search order from the highest Alliance Parliament stationed in the Fourth Ring Security Bureau, and it bears the parliamentary seal.
"Following the East Ring riot on November 6th, after numerous investigations by the Hunters, it has been discovered that the source of the incident is an Eighth Order Nightmare Demon.
"Based on informer reports, the East Ring Church has been deeply colluding with the Nightmare Demon. They have been polluting the water source, creating polluters, and destabilizing the order in the East Ring, attempting to subvert its entire human world.
"The East Ring Hunters have now formally issued an official investigation order to the East Ring church district.
"As Believers, you may resist, but if you have even a shred of conscience as a native of the East Ring, I hope you will cooperate with the investigation.
"I am Yang Liya, captain of Hunter Team 2. Everything I say and do today will be backed by the East Ring Hunters and the Wasteland Security Bureau.
"So, I ask the public not to panic; we are here to solve problems, not to create them."
Yang Liya’s words were sensational! Although many people here were Believers, they were also natives of the Fourth Ring. The riots triggered by the East Ring uprising had indeed caused significant turmoil, and it was precisely because of the riots that an exceptionally large number of Believers had come to pray today. But now Yang Liya held the investigation order in her hand, an official document in black and white with an official seal. She openly stated that there was an unclear and unspoken relationship between the East Ring uprising and the Church, which immediately caused the common Believers to begin to waver. While they believed in the Holy Light, they desired a peaceful and stable life even more.
One Believer had already put down his weapon, asking with uncertainty, "Is this investigation order real or fake?"
Yang Liya directly showed the investigation order to this person. "Genuine as they come."
The person reached out to take it, but Yang Liya quickly withdrew her hand and emphasized, "There are three copies of the investigation order in total. One is in my hands, one will be given to you, and the last will remain on file with the Security Bureau. However, such an important item should be handled by your leader, right? Where is Qiao Xing?"
Upon hearing this, You Jian’an, a Fifth Tier Bishop, walked slowly over to Yang Liya with the aid of a cane. The elderly Bishop appeared quite advanced in age, and his frail appearance constantly made one worry he might collapse at any moment.
"Archbishop Qiao Xing has left due to urgent matters. Currently, I am fully responsible for the issues concerning the East Ring church district. However, let me make it clear beforehand: even though you have the investigation order, if the final results of the investigation don’t turn out as you’ve suggested, the Dawn Church will certainly settle the score with the East Ring Hunters!"
You Jian’an looked Yang Liya squarely in the eye; despite being vastly outpowered, he showed no sign of backing down.
But Yang Liya was not someone to be taken lightly either. She squinted her phoenix eyes slightly, lifting her head a bit. "Bishop You Jian’an, do you really think I would give you that chance?"
Yang Liya’s attitude seemed somewhat arrogant, causing the atmosphere between the Church and the Hunters to become tense once again.
You Jian’an looked around at the Believers and the public, ultimately choosing to back down. "Let them in, but they must be accompanied during the investigation. If they damage anything, they will have to compensate. The church district has many antiques; if something really does get damaged, I hope the Hunter’s budget can cover the cost."
Yang Liya whispered into You Jian’an’s ear, "Heh, if something really gets broken, I’ll just declare it as criminal evidence and take it away. Having an investigation order means I can do as I please. If that bothers you, feel free to come to the East Ring Security Bureau and ask for me."
You Jian’an did not expect Yang Liya to be so blatantly shameless. "You..."
"Lu Luo, what are you looking at? Let’s go; we have real work to do. The people of the entire East Ring are waiting for our message."
Lu Luo wasn’t looking at anyone else; it was the elderly Bishop You Jian’an right in front of him, because his demeanor didn’t quite match the information provided by the Observer.
[You Jian’an, a Fifth Tier Transcendent, emanates a very strong Holy Radiance and is in good condition.
Attributes: Strength 12, Agility 5, Constitution 10.
Although his physical condition doesn’t compare with powerful strength-type Transcendents or those of the Four Knights Corps, You Jian’an’s state of health is still exceptionally robust.]