Who hid My Corpse!-Chapter 126: Twenty-six my fingers saw them (3K)

"Kude, I need an explanation."

As soon as he entered the office, Kude felt a piercing gaze upon him, accompanied by a deep male voice.

Kude turned his head and looked at the middle-aged man sitting in the high-backed chair gazing at him. His name was Fenli, the highest leader of the Skeleton Corps.

"Minister," Kude gave a standard knightly bow, "Sorry, I am late."

"You should apologize, but not for that." Fenli's face was grim, "Do you still remember the task I assigned to you a year ago?"

Kude nodded slightly: "I remember, Sir. You asked me to eliminate the rebel Gerard within the stipulated range."

"It's rare that you remember." There was a hint of sarcasm in Fenli's words, "Do you think you have succeeded?"

Kude was silent for a moment before he shook his head: "No, Minister."

"Yes, Kude, you did not succeed," Fenli pointed at Kude, "Kude, you are my most trusted subordinate, and that's why I entrusted this task to you, but not only have you repeatedly failed to complete it, you have also allowed him to cause even greater trouble. In the two days since his return, two innocent lives have been lost. If our men hadn't arrived quickly enough today, there would have been a third victim—your comrade-in-arms. If such a thing had happened, wouldn't you feel guilty?"

At this, Kude raised his head and looked at the still furious Fenli, and gently said, "Minister, I heard that the knight in question had an unauthorized cyborg arm installed... Is that true?"

Hearing this, Fenli's face darkened even more.

"Captain Kude." His face was darker, but his tone was calm, "What are you implying? Because that knight did something irregular, does that mean he deserved to be killed arbitrarily?"

"I have never said that, Minister," Kude, seemingly anticipating Fenli's reaction, spoke softly, "I was just thinking about last night."

"Last night?" Fenli asked, "What about last night?"

"Last night, Gerard killed a clerk named Ocot. According to him, the clerk had undergone unauthorized modifications, equipping himself with eight mechanical arms and using a Polluted source to control these arms," Kude stated. "At that time, we all thought he was babbling, because no body was found and there was no evidence. He could make up anything... is that right?"

Fenli did not directly answer Kude but gazed at him: "What are you trying to say?"

"What I am trying to say is that what we thought was mere babbling last night, has been proven true today," Kude said. "Although that knight did not go as far as to have eight mechanical arms, and no pollutant was detected on him, are the extra two arms not a problem? And unlike clerks, all modifications on us Bone Knights must go through approval and annual inspection, so how did this Bone Knight pass the inspection? Gerard also mentioned an organization called 'New Chaser Association.' Does this organization really exist?"

Kude voiced all his doubts in one breath.

Fenli, after listening, didn't immediately respond, but simply leaned back in his chair, gazing solemnly at Kude. After a long while, he spoke faintly, "I understand what you mean, Captain Kude. You are saying this because I blame you for incompetence, so you are bringing up others' failures to shut me up, am I right?"

"No, Minister." Kude was quite surprised, "I did not mean that at all."

"Then what do you mean?" Fenli stared at Kude, "What do you think we are discussing? A man who betrayed Lyra, resulting in the entire Night Star Team being sacrificed, and due to lack of clear evidence, continues to live by a fluke. What kind of person is that? Captain Kude, you should be very clear, already countless lives have been lost because of him, in the past, now, and more will in the future... Yet as a knight of the Skeleton Corps, as my most trusted team captain, you turn a blind eye to all this, and even discuss these irrelevant things with me!"

Fenli's voice grew louder and louder, and by the end, he was absolutely furious. He grabbed a model of the Sky Tower from the table and violently smashed it on Kude's head.

For a Bone Knight like Kude, such a model naturally could not hurt him; he just blankly watched the miniature Sky Tower crash to the floor and shatter, recalling the moment years ago when Fenli had received that model with utmost fondness... It was supposed to be the Minister's favorite item.

"I am very disappointed in you, Kude," Fenli said coldly, "What you just said has made me start to doubt whether you still qualify to be the team captain. You better think carefully about what you are going to say next, understand?"

Kude looked at the Sky Tower shattered on the floor and after a long silence, he gently said.

"As you wish, Minister."

...

"I say your daily routine is pretty fixed." Bai Wei spoke lazily, "Eating, sleeping, killing, and sitting in prison, a smooth procedure... You really don't seem like a good person."

At that moment, Gerard was sitting in a cell with iron bars, his hands and feet shackled, fitting Bai Wei's teasing quite well.

To such teasing, Gerard replied seriously, "It's not every day, just yesterday and today, and the routines were different. The person yesterday was killed by me, but I didn't end up in jail. Today, I am in jail, but I didn't kill the person... you did."

"So you mean you are sitting in jail for me?" Bai Wei said, "That's quite embarrassing. Why don't you go outside and say something, maybe have them dig out my eyeballs, then I'll stay here and you can take a break outside?"

Such pure banter originally didn't necessitate a response, but since the transaction was at stake, Gerard had to seriously consider any question posed by Bai Wei and then provide an answer.

"I think it's not possible."

Bai Wei smiled, then asked him, "What do you think about what that guy earlier mentioned, the 'New Chaser Association'?"

Seeing Bai Wei finally raising a normal question, Gerard was able to respond properly, "I have never heard of such an organization. From the Knight's description, the organization helped him with the transformation and even helped him evade the annual physical examination by the Skeleton Corps. Such an existence..."

Gerard paused, then gently said,

"It's truly terrifying."

It was rare for Bai Wei to hear the word terrifying from Gerard's mouth, knowing that this guy had dared to confront him head-on when they first met.

So, Bai Wei, quite curious, asked, "Is it because you think this organization has deeply infiltrated the Skeleton Corps, and that the affected people are far more numerous than you imagined?"

"...It's not just that," Gerard said softly, "I don't know how much you know about the city of Lyra, but let me clarify one thing—in Lyra, there are no 'extra' organizations."

"Oh?" Bai Wei raised Gerard's eyebrows, getting more skillful with this gesture, "Is it because of the 'Rule'?"

"Yes," Gerard nodded and said, "The whole Lyra is like a machine in operation, its various formal organizations, like the Pioneer Force, Guardian Force, were all established from the start to work for the machine to function normally. For the machine, there is only talk of old parts being replaced with new ones, but not of new parts appearing out of nowhere, because there is no room for them."

"So, this 'New Chaser Association' is like a brand new part, is that what you mean?"

"Yes, this is what makes me uneasy," Gerard said softly, "Of course, the guy yesterday named Ocot had already made me realize the existence of such a new thing, so I am not particularly surprised. But I don't know what this 'New Chaser Association' really wants to do."

This was the point Gerard could not figure out.

He now had a premonition that his mission ten years ago might very well have been meddled with by these people.

But what for?

Lyra is a very pure city, where everything revolves around the Rule, so for thousands of years, even with the worst Polluted Land at its back, Lyra has never experienced civil strife.

Its special system also prevented it from harboring various scandals like other churches do, nor would it engage in various schemes and intrigues over so-called power.

The tales of bloody battles fought over money and wealth seemed as unlikely as fairy tales to the people of Lyra.

Everyone is a "component" of Lyra, all working orderly for the entity known as the city, in reality, a machine.

So, when exactly did the change occur?

Was the Night Star incident ten years ago the beginning, or was it the result?

This was the greatest mystery currently troubling Gerard.

Bai Wei was about to say something more to Gerard, but at that moment, he suddenly felt something and slightly squinted Gerard's eyes.

"I suggest you leave here as soon as you can."

Gerard was slightly startled: "What happened?"

"Someone is approaching your room."

"Approaching my room?" Gerard felt even more surprised, "How do you know?"

"You left my finger there."

Bai Wei said, chuckling.

This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.

"My finger saw them."