Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 686 - 475: The Root of Disaster (Part 1)

Chapter 686: Chapter 475: The Root of Disaster (Part 1)

The gunshots rang out almost simultaneously, the old lady pulled the trigger, pumped the action, and the shotgun shell was ejected from the chamber. As it still danced in the air, its companion joined in, and the dense volley of shots burrowed into the ranks of the Chaotic Believers.

She noticed the man in the blue uniform, and she noticed that he had shot his teammate. She noticed even more the youth that was hit, the poor boy who hadn’t managed to pull the trigger before collapsing from the Chaotic Believers’ gunfire, falling to the ground alongside the girl he had been shielding, both brought down by the bullets.

Those pitiable children who hadn’t been trained, who couldn’t even fire a gun, could not even protect themselves.

But the man in the trench coat drew his Revolver, aimed at the man in the blue uniform, and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the uniformed man’s chest, bringing him to the ground.

Wasn’t he with Chaos?

The old lady, who had almost pointed her gun at this man, furrowed her brow.

The mechanical motions of firing had reached the fifth round, and the Chaotic Believers, their flesh torn open, could no longer stand; they fell to the floor one by one.

Her husband put down the Firearm, "It’s over."

He walked towards those Chaotic Believers, while the old lady approached the middle-aged man in the blue uniform. He had been shot in the spine; he was struggling, but his Revolver had fallen far away. With a flick of her Shotgun, the old lady snapped out the folded Bayonette below.

"No! Don’t!" the middle-aged man screamed.

Seeing the purple aura around him, the old lady thrust the Bayonette into the gap between his skull and cervical spine, twisted it forcefully, and then withdrew it.

"My Lord will judge your sins, and I... am responsible for sending you to Him."

After speaking, the old lady glanced at her husband to find him drawing his Revolver and delivering coup de grâce shots to the Chaotic Believers.

She looked again at the man, who was attempting to retrieve a cigarette, but alas, his trembling hands couldn’t even extract one from the box.

So, the old lady walked over to the side of the young man in the blue uniform. There was a bullet hole on the left side of his head, his lifeless eyes staring until the old lady knelt down and closed them for him... Blue uniform, a member of the Farole Public Security Bureau, this young man had not failed his duty.

May the Lord have mercy.

The old lady stood up and walked over to the two youths lying in a pool of blood.

There were bullet holes in the girl’s chest and abdomen, and what saddened the old lady was that until the very end, she seemed to want to protect her belly, but ultimately, she could only lie in silence in the pool of blood.

It was then that the boy’s moans drew her attention to him; she checked the bullet holes in his body and found he had been hit by more bullets than the girl.

But somehow, he wasn’t dead. Instead, he was struggling to turn his body, as if trying to ascertain the girl’s safety.

Tears spilled from the old lady’s eyes. It was as if she were seeing her own child, in his dying moments, still desperate to know the fate of his friend.

She reached out, took the girl’s hand from her belly, and gently placed it in the searching hand of the boy.

In that moment, the boy smiled, "Four-leaf..." He seemed to call out the girl’s name, his breath growing rapid, until with his last breath, he clung tightly to the girl’s hand.

The old lady kneeled down, closing the boy’s eyes.

Then she got up because she saw her husband dragging a woman by the hair.

"She’s still not dead?" she asked in anger.

"Yeah, she’s surprisingly still alive." He replied with a smile to his wife’s query.

And then he threw the witch onto the floor.

"This Chaos spawn! How many people has she harmed! How dare she still have the face to cling to life in this world!" The old lady strode towards the witch, the divine glow shining on her bayonet.

"Don’t just stab her and be done with it; that’s too easy for the likes of her." Her husband said, gesturing, "I brought oil, my dear, old rules apply. Burn her to death, just like her friends. Every single one of the Chaos, they will all face this end."

The elderly lady halted her steps, fell silent for a brief moment, and ultimately nodded, "Right, the old rules, I’ll go get the oil." Having said that, she spat on the witch lying on the ground.

"I’m afraid you won’t be able to burn her to death," came a voice from the gate, causing the old man to immediately raise his firearm, while his wife laid eyes on the young girl standing in the doorway.

"I am the head of the Tactical Operations Division at the Sydney Public Safety Bureau, Linz Mowish." The approaching girl glanced around, "Speaking of which, retired members of the Church of Justice, you have disrupted my plan."

"Followers of the Master of Wisdom?" The old man scrutinized the blue-uniformed individuals pointing guns at him, "Speaking of which, can Sydney Public Safety Bureau really manage comrades from Farole?" He shook his head, "Mr. Malin wouldn’t be pleased with your overreaching, Lena, go, fetch the oil."

The elderly lady nodded, turned around, and delivered a blow with the butt of her gun to the face of the witch who was laughing, crushing his nose into a bloody mass before moving towards the girl.

"Elderly lady, don’t force my hand," the girl warned as the old woman approached her, prompting her to shake her head.

"Back when we were carrying out the work of the Church of Justice as clerics, you, child of the Mowish family, were still in your mother’s womb," the elderly lady walked past her, then frowned at the encircling blue uniforms, glancing at them, "Who exactly is your master? Is it her, or is it your Queen Nova and Prince Malin?"

"I told you, the Sect Hierarch of the Chaos Cult was always under our surveillance, and we were planning to let them escape, but you disrupted our plan," the girl claiming to be Linz Mowish said, turning to look at the man, "Casaman, what went wrong?"

So the elderly lady turned to look at the man who, tremblingly, lit a cigarette for himself, then looked at the girl, "Patrolling made them vigilant; Mr. Malin instructed the young man to come for the patrol with instructions to check the entire block, so why did he leave after just one street? I have enough reason to suspect that the orders were altered."

"That’s merely suspicion. The issue now is that your superior has been captured, hundreds of civilians have witnessed everything; you have lost your deep-cover status." Linz of the Mowish family shook his head, "It’s all over now, we should have let him go and then tracked him to get the bigger fish. Now? It’s all over."

Saying this, Linz looked at the elderly lady with a resigned gaze filled with disappointment, "And it’s all because of you lot."

"Young girl, if you think the hunts of the Church of Justice are wrong, then perhaps the Mowish family needs an all-out purge," the elder’s voice turned mechanical and merciless.

"This is why I hate the followers of the Lord of Justice, rigid fellows," a hint of a smile appeared on Linz Mowish’s face, "Now you have two choices, one is you leave and hand over the Chaotic Believer to us, the second is you are arrested, and I will turn you over to the Church of Justice, and you will be expelled."

"Even in death, I would not let go of the chance to judge him," the elder said, releasing the safety of his firearm, "Now you have two choices, either step aside and watch us burn this Chaotic Believer with the methods of the Church of Justice or shoot, and then the Church of Justice will judge the entire Mowish family."

"I choose the second option," Linz said, and as she drew her revolver, she pointed it at the elderly woman and pulled the trigger.

In that moment, time seemed to slow to a crawl, the elderly lady watched the bullet travel from the barrel, watched as it spiraled toward her, the elderly lady straining to widen her eyes.

She wanted to witness how the bullet would take her life.

But soon after, she was disappointed, because a hand caught the bullet between its index finger and thumb.

Then Linz Mowish was catapulted out like a cannonball, crashing through the wall of the waiting hall and disappearing into the shop across the street.

The owner of the hand flicked the bullet, then tossed it at his feet, and extended a hand, "Madam, I heard you were going to fetch some oil. Your legs don’t seem too agile, let me go instead."

The elderly lady smiled and pulled out the keys to her motorcycle, "In the trunk behind, with the red rimmed box, just outside the door, that armored bike."

"No problem," said the gentleman who went by the title Mr. Malin Gaiate, as he tossed the keys to the World Tree Sapling, who quickly ran out of the hall.

Then, he watched as he walked towards the young man and woman.

Out of pity for the two children, she felt she should add, "I placed the girl’s hand in his palm, letting him believe he had protected his loved one."

Upon hearing these words, Mr. Malin stopped in his tracks, turned around, and nodded at the elderly lady, "Thank you, madam, for giving that poor child a final consolation."

"No, sir, I was merely trying to comfort myself. My own child... died this way too, with his friends, and I couldn’t even help my child take that step," the elderly lady’s face was clouded with sorrow, "You knew them, didn’t you?"

"Yes, they were, you could say, my friends. I had intended for them to leave tomorrow, but I did not stand my ground... If I hadn’t let them go, they wouldn’t have died," said Mr. Malin, turning to look at the breach, "I will discuss Linz’s situation with the Mowish family. If she and her brother cannot give me a reasonable explanation, then the entire Mowish family will be implicated for her attempted assassination of a retired member of the Church of Justice."

"You have no right to judge me!" The girl stood outside the breach.

"No, I do," said Mr. Malin, gazing at her.

As if truth itself was watching.