I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 396 - 396 395. Youre not going to be silenced too are you_1

Chapter 396: 395. You’re not going to be silenced too, are you?_1 Chapter 396: 395. You’re not going to be silenced too, are you?_1 The clinic on the ground floor had huge floor-to-ceiling windows, and it was hard to imagine the courage it took to adopt such decor in Grey Alley, where both law and the underworld intersected and public order was a mess.

Contrary to what one might expect in such chaos, the clinic was clean and tidy, except for the hospital bed, as if its owners continued their work as usual.

Even the hospital bed bore no signs of blood or filth but was covered with many creases.

“Have the bed sheets been changed?”

Upon seeing this, Shia couldn’t help but ask.

“No, it was just like this when the scene was found. The newsboy who delivers papers passed by here in the morning, saw Doctor Howes lying here through the floor-to-ceiling window, called out twice with no response, and came closer to discover something was wrong, quickly found a police officer, and after breaking in, Doctor Howes was already like this,”

Cui Siter explained.

“This definitely wasn’t done by a human.”

Shia concluded.

“The attacker must have killed Doctor Howes with a sneak attack in an instant. The Glass Flower is not the result but the means, the murderer killed by turning the victim’s internal organs into that form.”

“Or there’s another theory, which is that Doctor Howes wasn’t killed here.”

Cui Siter exhaled a cloud of grey-white smoke.

“Perhaps, besides those two patients, he had also received or visited other patients, then was killed, and returned here under cover of night, which would also explain why the scene looks like this.”

Since there were only the three of them present, Cui Siter spoke frankly and pointed to the wooden cabinet filled with patient records and files…

“I need to examine his file cabinet.”

“Oh.”

Lu Ban recalled what Cui Siter had mentioned earlier.

Apart from police assistance, he was also commissioned by Lady Martina of the Catania Family. The evidence of the gangster family lady’s affair with her lover was also in the clinic, so there might be another angle to the case.

That is, Doctor Howes could have been killed by the gang because of this evidence, but Lady Martina wasn’t able to get the evidence from Doctor Howes’ hands, so she hired the detective Cui Siter to find it.

“Old Cui, you’re not going to be silenced too, are you?”

Lu Ban suddenly said.

“…You think I came here without any preparation?”

Cui Siter, who was rummaging through files, gave Lu Ban a look.

“Firstly, Lady Martina didn’t tell me about the affair with her lover. All this is my speculation. As long as I don’t act like I know too much, she won’t do anything to me.”

“Besides, Lady Martina is the third lady of the Catania Family, and her husband is an actor. According to the gang’s rules of conduct, even if her husband knows he’s been cuckolded, he can’t say anything about it. Lady Martina is more likely seeking to destroy this data because of internal family strife.”

“Lastly, I know more than one person from the Catania Family. Do you understand what I mean?”

“I don’t get it.”

Shia said bluntly.

For a mage from Night Country, the intricacies of city gangs were far too complex.

“…The Catania Family has risen in recent years, quickly taking control of many trading routes to and from Abandoned Capital, smuggling, drug trafficking, intimidation and threats, even keeping call girls—basically, they’re involved in everything. It’s said they’ve had a rather capable adviser these past two years. Anyway, the order of Black Street is being disrupted.”

Cui Siter paused, perhaps finding the description of “order in Black Street” a bit ridiculous.

“Black Street originally had many small forces, small-time gangs that often fought each other, causing casualties, but because they were not large, they maintained a delicate balance with each other. The upper class couldn’t be bothered to clean up the mess, but the Catania Family is different. They want to unify Black Street, even the slums of the entire Abandoned Capital, to become the shadow ruler of the city.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

Shia asked, failing to understand.

“It’s problematic. Although the Catania Family could lower the violence in the slums with their heavy-handed rule, such governance could attract the attention of the upscale people of Abandoned Capital. They might even decide to sweep the slums clean. You know, if there’s just a bit of dust somewhere, you might not notice, but if there’s a pile of dust, you might pick up a broom to clean it up.”

Just then, Cui Siter’s hands suddenly stopped.

He had come upon a file.

The name of the patient on the file was Matilda—another way to write Martina.

He flipped through the archives and took a glance.

“…quite a gamble,”

Cui Siter couldn’t help but comment.

“No wonder Lady Martina wants these medical records, what she and her lover were engaged in wasn’t a common relationship, but rather…”

Just as he was about to say something, he noticed Shia’s curious big eyes.

“Ahem, anyway, it was something harmful to the body. It seems she already had such desires, but her status prevented her from expressing them… No, wait.”

Cui Siter browsed through the records, pausing in thought.

“The timing here doesn’t match. I remember Lady Martina should have been attending a charity gala at this moment, I was there, there’s no reason she wouldn’t be unless…”

He seemed to realize why Lady Martina had entrusted him with this matter.

Cui Siter, following a special sequence in the records, searched for other archives; this particular archive was just a directory—the real records were filed in the order of the secret code listed on it.

“What’s the matter?”

Shia moved closer, seeing the words translated from the language of Silent Lands on it.

“Three are already dead?”

The mage girl saw in the archives that among the unfortunate ones who had been pleasing these noblewomen by certain special means, three had already lost their lives.

And it seemed there was more than one participant.

“It looks like Lady Martina was just part of this… What about the others?”

Cui Siter suddenly realized that Lu Ban was gone.

“I’m here,”

Lu Ban’s voice came from the entrance to the basement.

Cui Siter put away the medical records and, together with Shia, headed to the basement.

This was a storage area, housing various drugs and equipment. The police must have searched it already, there was nothing special.

Yet, Lu Ban stopped in front of a cabinet.

“Do you smell something?”

He asked.

“What smell?”

Cui Siter sniffed, detecting only the pungent scent of disinfectant.

“A smell similar to the morgue, the scent of perfume,”

Lu Ban said and opened the cabinet.

The cabinet was filled with various bottles and jars, nothing remarkable.

But Lu Ban crawled into the cabinet, his face against its surface, listening intently.

“Here, it seems empty,”

He said, quickly coming out and, together with Cui Siter, moved the heavy cabinet aside.

Behind the cabinet, there was a trapdoor.

Opening the trapdoor, Lu Ban discovered a secluded small room.

Inside the room, on the cold hospital bed, lay a woman.

On the woman’s body, Glass Flowers were in bloom.

*

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