Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1677 - 1676: Three Cryptic Texts

Capítulo 1677: Chapter 1676: Three Cryptic Texts

Shard did not respond to this and instead asked about the matters coming up:

“What’s the situation now? Have the Mirror Association people gone to investigate those three places we haven’t gone to yet?”

“The two places in the city and by the lake haven’t been visited yet, and the intelligence from the City of Glass hasn’t come back. But since it’s getting late, we won’t go to Rot-Eye Bally’s black market shop in the City of Glass.

Although the Mirror Association hasn’t acted, people have already started to seize Rot-Eye Bally’s other territories. It’s now three minutes past three, and after you finish lunch, we’ll set out. We’ll first head to the secret private villa of Rot-Eye Bally in the city, and then see if we need to go to Green Lake for Bally’s own yacht. That’s the place he goes to only when meeting important people.”

“No need for lunch, I’m in great shape right now.”

Shard shook his head, prompting the witch to gather some courage and ask:

“If we’re skipping lunch, how about having dinner with me after today’s operation? If you want to take care of your cat, you can bring it along, but I suppose it isn’t at the Green Lake Hotel.”

Shard smiled:

“If everything goes smoothly, of course. Let’s set off now, hoping the rain doesn’t delay us.”

As a famous local gang leader, Circle Sorcerer Rot-Eye Bally had multiple residences in the city, all very discreetly located. The one identified by Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals was deemed by Audrey and Megan as the most critical residence. When Shard inquired about their reasoning, Audrey, who led the body, provided an unexpected answer:

“Of course, it’s divination.”

“Divination? You know how to divine?”

“Of course, I’m a contemporary female sorcerer of wisdom and knowledge… Knowing a bit of everything is quite normal, isn’t it?”

Calling it a villa, when the carriage stopped, Shard first saw a tall white wall. Due to the rain, the wall appeared slightly yellowed, and it was very quiet inside.

“It’s here, let’s start the investigation promptly. If we encounter anything strange, let’s handle it as we did in the morning.”

said the witch, who did not set up a barrier this time but left the carriage with Shard, each holding an umbrella.

After Shard disembarked, he noticed that there were already two carriages waiting for them.

The witch waved to those two carriages, and then seven or eight young women in maid skirts stepped out.

With the sound of whooshing, the black umbrellas in each of their hands opened as they ducked through the carriage doors—all of them were Inner Ring.

One has to admit, the sight of young women dressed in black and white maid skirts, white socks, and low-heeled black leather shoes appearing with umbrellas was indeed quite pleasing.

“These are my most loyal servants. Among my followers, they are the ones I trust the most.”

explained the witch, nodding at the leading lady dressed as the Head Maid.

“Yes, ma’am.”

The latter replied in very standard Delarion, then took the lead to the closed metal sliding door. All the maids pushed forward, and under the spellcasting of nearly ten Inner Ring Sorcerers, the door blasted open inward like a cannonball.

Shard heard the barking of dogs and the panicked voices of men. As the maids entered, shielding with an umbrella in one hand and casting spells with the other, Megan signaled to Shard to go in with her.

“I’ve got a question.”

Shard walked alongside the witch:

“Don’t you think that in rainy weather, such attire might get easily soiled? It’s not just the intricate skirt, the real issue is their shoes and those white…”

Realizing his observations might have been too detailed, he heard a gentle laugh in his ear, as Audrey also chuckled and asked:

“You’re observing my maids very closely? Mr. Watson, you probably haven’t interacted with professional maids. They have undergone professional training and are not ordinary people; they maintain composure and grace in any scenario.”

Shard had encountered professional maids before, recalling how Tifa retained beauty, elegance, and allure towards Shard in every situation.

[Now let’s focus on serious matters.]

“Her” voice softly echoed amidst the rain, seemingly capable of banishing the cold. Shard immediately pushed aside distractions. As he and Megan entered the courtyard, they saw over a dozen armed men and two black guard dogs lying there, each with blood seeping out from beneath them, merging with the rainwater on the ground.

While the Miss Maids continued investigating other parts of the courtyard, the rest had already stormed into the four-story villa.

“This doesn’t seem like a battle of Circle Sorcerers, rather like the scene of a gang feud.”

said Shard, umbrella in hand, to the lady beside him, who also concurred:

“These age-old cities left behind by time perhaps are seen fittingly through such scenes, also reflecting their ambiance.”

With Miss Maid leading the way, Shard and Megan only needed to laugh and follow behind. Rot-Eye Barry wasn’t here today, but the guards were certainly plenty, proving the secret villa was indeed worth exploring. Besides the guards, Miss Maid also found others in the house.

Shard was quite surprised when he heard the news:

“Four women in the bedroom on the fourth floor?”

The maid did not answer Shard’s question. Megan nodded, and the stern-faced Miss Maid said:

“They are Rot-Eye Barry’s mistresses. According to them, Barry is scheduled to stay here tonight. When we went upstairs, they were putting on makeup and getting dressed.”

“A pretty big appetite.”

Megan said, glancing at Shard, then instructed her maid:

“I won’t go to see those women. You take some people and interrogate them. Since they are mistresses, they must know Barry’s private affairs.”

“Yes, Miss.”

The maid left, and Shard and Megan waited a moment on the third floor, confirming all enemies on the fourth floor were cleared, then proceeded to the most important private study room on the fourth floor.

The lock on Barry’s study was quite special, not a normal spring lock, but a mechanical lock powered by a steam engine. This lock itself took up the volume of at least two adults in the room, but the perk was if someone entered the wrong code, the falling metal plate could protect the room like a bank vault.

But this was useless for Shard, who had mastered the “Key of the Door”.

The study was very spacious, seemingly modified after knocking through three rooms on the fourth floor. The interior decoration was luxurious as well, with display shelves filled with various goldware, and the crystal chandelier overhead looked like it was custom-made by craftsmen from Tobesk. Even the red wool carpet on the wooden floor, according to Megan’s estimation, cost more than five hundred pounds per piece. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The imposing solid wood desk had a fountain pen holder and several books, the pens were all gold-plated, and the books didn’t really match the identity of the gang leader:

“‘Success: An Essential Guide for the Leader’, ‘How to Cook a Fish’, ‘Green Lake Region Travel Guide’? What’s all this? Are these books really what a gang leader would read?”

The Witch flipped through the books while Shard adeptly began unlocking all the drawer locks. He opened the top drawer and found a stack of blank letter paper. But they were definitely used before, as there were creases on them.

“Miss Apothecary, do you have any Reveal Potion?”

Shard asked, and the Witch nodded, handing the potion to Shard. After Shard applied the potion, he was surprised to see the paper reveal countless numbers. The numbers grouped in eights, and the last digit of each group was one of “1”, “2”, or “3”.

“Is it a code? Appears to need a codebook for decryption, and possibly encrypted.”

Audrey leaned over for a look, only to see Shard’s face revealing a smile of discovery:

“Appearing at an inappropriate time, the content of these books doesn’t match the identity. I miss it, you see, isn’t the codebook right here?”

He pointed to the three books on the desk:

“As for the decoding method… it’s a Carsonrick Special Operations Department Grey Glove code. Although different from what I know, cracking it should not be a big issue… Why are you looking at me like that? I have a side job with Grey Glove, earning some pocket money to supplement my family’s cat food.”

Shard explained this, then took the letters and codebooks away, planning to give them to Miss Galina afterward. He wasn’t here for the espionage secrets between countries, wasting time decoding here was truly foolish.

“I remember asking if you were very short on money?”

The lady with brown shoulder-length hair asked curiously, Shard shook his head:

“Just finding something to do for myself, expanding social relations… don’t talk about these anymore, actually, even novelists could imagine that border city gang leaders might sell national secrets and play both ends, I’m not surprised to find those coded letters.”

Speaking, he pulled open the second drawer from the top on the left side and again found blank letters inside kraft paper bags. After cracking with Reveal Potion, this time meaningless letter combinations emerged.

“Oh, this is the… MI6 code.”

Although Shard had been in single-line contact with Director Anlos, he knew what his department’s code looked like.

“You also have a sideline job with MI6?”

The Witch asked surprisedly, Shard nodded naturally:

“Earning some cat food money, then expanding social relations… Rot-Eye Barry really wants to eat at both ends.”

“I can hardly imagine how big your cat must be, needing you to work so hard for money.”

Listening to Audrey’s teasing, Shard put away the letters found a second time, then continued pulling drawers, again finding some blank letters in kraft paper bags.

Now, the smile on Audrey’s face grew more pronounced:

“So, you wouldn’t have a third identity, right? This time, what faction does the code belong to?”