Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 428 The Pizza Murder Case

Imperial prison.

It's been a long time since this place has been this lively.

The Imperial Guards and Imperial Army were all gathered here, and the atmosphere was so oppressive that even the jailers, who were used to shouting and yelling, didn't dare to breathe loudly.

Because several very important figures came to the prison today.

Solan, the hero.

Then there was the Imperial Chancellor, Balmont-Margaret. When the Chancellor was brought in, he was in extremely poor condition. He had lost an arm, and blood loss had left him pale and on the verge of falling into a coma. The moment he was taken to the prison, the Crown Prince's retinue summoned the prison's medical staff to the interrogation room.

This is their specialty. In this prison where torturing prisoners is a source of amusement, medical staff face many unbelievable wounds every day. A broken arm is hardly considered a serious injury here.

Balmont's condition quickly stabilized, but the jailers thought it might be easier for him to faint.

Because the Crown Prince's entourage also invited people from the Inquisition, people who were proficient in all kinds of interrogation techniques. Their daily work was to research torture. Almost all the horrific tortures in the Silver Empire were created by this group of people. The jailers were very familiar with these devils in human skin.

Even the most resolute person, once in the hands of these people, will soon reveal everything they know.

"How composed you are, Your Excellency."

Surrounded by his retinue, the Crown Prince strode into the interrogation room. He glanced contemptuously at Balmont's hastily bandaged arm. "Do you really think you can let the Violet Commune stage another one right under the noses of the royal family?"

The eldest prince disliked Balmont's current gaze.

Whether facing his father, the royal guards, or the court, this man never uttered a single word.

He could already foresee his fate, yet his eyes held only composure.

"Do you believe those remnants will break into the prison to rescue you?"

The eldest prince scoffed, "Ethan, the Winter Witch, the Red-Haired Lady, or perhaps those rebels from the gutter?"

He hadn't slept a wink all night, but all the hard work was worth it. Now was the time for him to reap his spoils. "It won't be long before they're all sent here, and I'll save you for last so you can witness their execution... just like when they executed your father."

The night was still long, and they had plenty of time. Before the interrogation began, he could leisurely tell Balmont some things about his father.

"Oh, right, your father was also sent here. He spent about a month here. During his imprisonment, many remnants of the Violet Commune tried to rescue your father by breaking him out of prison."

At this point, the eldest prince deliberately paused for a moment and said, "After watching those rescuers being tortured to death right before their eyes, people like your father also suffered a mental breakdown."

The eldest prince spoke slowly, hoping to discern some change in Balmont's expression.

He hoped to see Balmont cry out and beg for mercy like the prisoners locked in jail, but Balmont's expression remained unchanged throughout.

"It's alright, Balmont, they'll let you speak."

The Crown Prince's face darkened. He gave a signal to the people outside the door, who were wearing white cloaks and whose faces were hidden under their hoods. The ghostly figures silently entered the interrogation room. Without any words or actions, they worked together to set up the room, placing one strange torture instrument after another on the table in neat rows.

Notorious members of the trial court.

The white cloaks bear the hammer emblem, symbolizing the Silver Empire's power of judgment. In name, this is one of the Empire's most respectable jobs, but the members of the Inquisition are accustomed to concealing their faces with hoods.

They don't want others to see what they look like.

Even among the nobility, the cruel tortures they created were despised by many; only the most wicked could conceive of such torturous methods.

Once their appearance is revealed, they will be looked at with strange eyes wherever they go.

"Let's see how long you can keep up your tough act."

........................

Meanwhile, in another cell.

"Oh no, it's flared up at this time!"

"Quickly find a way to stop the monitor! If we offend His Highness the Prince, we'll all be doomed!"

"There's no time! Quickly bring the food over!"

This commotion occurred a quarter of an hour after Solan brought it. The panicked cries of the jailers made him grit his teeth and push himself up to go to his cell. He saw the jailers running around the prison like headless flies, and the "food" they mentioned.

The jailers opened several of the cells and dragged the screaming prisoners out.

The prisoners seemed to understand their impending fate, desperately clinging to the iron bars of their cells until the guards beat their hands with sticks, crushing their bones and rendering them powerless. They were then led away by the guards amidst their cries and pleas for mercy.

As some of the prison guards passed by the cells, their gazes suddenly lingered on Qina, who had been imprisoned with them.

"Look, there's a woman with fair and delicate skin here."

"Drag her out; her flesh will surely satisfy the Watcher!"

"But... she was brought by His Highness the Prince."

"Fool! His Highness only wants to capture the hero; this woman is completely irrelevant!"

As the approaching jailers drew near, the hero immediately stepped in front of Qina.

The laceration in his shoulder still caused him excruciating pain; for him, this was an unprecedented defeat.

The commander of the Imperial Army, Cedric Thorne... even the Demon King had never made him feel so oppressed. He lost his fighting ability with just one move. And from beginning to end, Cedric never even looked at him properly. Even when the Imperial Army took him and China away, the red-haired man was gazing into the depths of the manor.

That night, Solan truly witnessed the world beyond the "game".

The titles of "the world's strongest man" and "savior" are nothing more than entertainment for nobles.

Unbeknownst to him, there were many others like Cedric Thorne, who possessed power surpassing all others, yet willingly served the Empire.

"stop--!"

"Stop talking!"

The irritable jailer slammed the iron bar in his hand heavily into Solan's abdomen. However, the seemingly ordinary attack hit Solan's lower abdomen precisely, and the excruciating pain caused Solan's body to curl up like a shrimp.

The moment he tried to gather his battle aura, the handcuffs and shackles released a powerful electric current, instantly stripping him of his mobility, and all his battle aura dissipated under the impact of the current.

"Don't think you can still be a hero here!"

Solan lay prostrate on the ground, enduring blow after blow to his back. "No matter who you were before you came in, once you're here, you're nothing but a pig waiting to be slaughtered!"

"Stop fighting, I'll go with you!"

In a daze, Solan heard China's voice.

The electric shocks and the beatings from the guards caused a brief period of blankness in his mind. When he regained his senses, he found that the prison door had been locked again, and two guards were holding down Qina's shoulders, escorting her into the darkness further away.

Solan's eyes were bloodshot, and he clenched his fists.

He had never craved power as much as he did today, nor had he ever hated the empire as much as he did today.

"That little girl is beyond saving."

A woman's voice came from the cell next door. Solan turned his head with difficulty and saw a girl dressed in a maid's outfit. She looked to be only a teenager with flaxen hair and brown eyes. Her face seemed vaguely familiar to him.

Solan quickly remembered that he had seen the little girl in Riverside Town not long ago; she was the innkeeper's daughter.

"Lassie...?"

He felt he must be hallucinating.

"Take another look?"

Lacey's expression was completely unfamiliar to Solan; she was looking down at him with pity in her eyes. He then noticed the black figure emerging from behind Lacey, and his pupils contracted.

"Demon King!"

He will never forget what the other person looks like.

"Let me tell you a secret. Those nobles put some failed experimental subjects in the prison, and that fat guy who suddenly went berserk was one of them."

"Did you do this?"

Solan asked angrily.

"Bullshit!" Since they were destined to meet again, Melia wasn't about to let Solan get away with it. "I already told you it's the product of a failed 'Fire Seed' fusion. That fat guy has pica and goes on erratic rampages; only eating people can bring him back to normal." "...'Fire Seed'?"

Recently, Solan has heard this unfamiliar term more than once.

"This is the secret to the royal family's powerful supporters. That little girl is called Qina? She'll be swallowed up like food by that fat guy. But instead of worrying about her, you should think more about your own situation."

Melia clicked her tongue and said sarcastically, "Look at you now, have you seen how vast this world is?"

She witnessed Solan being beaten to the ground by the jailers, and felt a strange sense of joy.

She didn't know what Solan was thinking, but she witnessed it firsthand.

Her recent time with the other side allowed her to witness the empire's hidden secrets, and...

She is nothing.

Those failed fusions, known as "Watchers," are far more formidable enemies than the Hero Squad, not to mention the Warden and even the Imperial Army Commander-in-Chief Cedric Thorne.

And now, two people who are nobody have reunited in this delicate situation.

"Brave."

"Ok?"

"Let's cooperate."

..............................

Meanwhile, deep within the prison area.

Compared to the prison area, the structure here is more like a circular arena.

An atmosphere of despair spread rapidly among the prisoners, but no matter how much they struggled and begged for mercy, the guards showed no mercy in pushing them off the stands and slamming them heavily into the circular arena.

Not far from them was a monster over five meters tall, bare-chested, wearing a butcher's apron.

The monster's eyes were bloodshot, and its roar echoed throughout the arena.

"Meat! I want to eat meat!"

Clearly, the monster had reached the brink of rampage. He ripped off his apron, revealing a terrifying structure beneath—a gigantic maw on his obese abdomen, its opening and closing revealing sharp fangs, from which all the roars emanated.

The high, circular wall blocked their retreat, leaving them helpless as the crazed monster closed in step by step.

Previously, prisoners were also sent here as food, and they ended up leaving not even a trace of bones.

"Meat! There's meat!"

A foul stench emanating from the enormous maw of the abdomen swept in.

The prison guards, having prepared the food, breathed a sigh of relief. Now it was time to watch their watcher eat.

They stood around the edge, listening to the familiar cries and the unfamiliar sound of motorcycle engines.

Huh?
motorcycle?
engine?

In the depths of darkness, a figure on a motorcycle crashed through the wall, its blue contrail leaving a beautiful trail in the circular arena, blocking the path between the watchers and the prisoners.

"Phew, I finally made it!"

Seeing this, the young man on the motorcycle finally breathed a sigh of relief. He raised his hands, holding two pizzas, and said to the old woman on the back seat, "See? What did I tell you? This is the tragedy caused by working overtime at night but not being able to get a late-night snack."

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

The old woman exclaimed, "This is clearly not caused by being forced to work overtime!"

"Mr. Ethan?"

Upon seeing the young man, Qina's empty pupils regained their luster.

Once again, the young man gave her a reassuring look.

He flipped off the motorcycle, threw two pizza boxes at the monster not far away, and shouted, "But don't worry, your double Margherita pizza is here!"

The enormous maw opened wide and swallowed both pizzas in an instant.

"There is an intruder!"

"What are you panicking for? This is fresh food delivered right to our doorstep!"

Instead of being afraid, the jailers became excited. They hadn't expected to witness a duel today. Most of them had never seen the monitors fight, because the "ingredients" they were given were almost all swallowed without any ability to resist.

They had only heard about how terrible the watcher was from some of the older prison guards.

Gluttony King.

Rather than calling it a human, perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it a "disaster"! Originally given the gift of "fire", it completely lost control when it crossed the critical point - its insatiable appetite brought unparalleled strength and physical power, and even the most solid prison was as fragile as paper in front of it.

They had witnessed Gluttony crushing blocks of iron with his bare hands.

And all the watchers are monsters that absolutely cannot be placed on the ground.

"Moriko, what do you plan to do?"

The old woman stared intently at the enormous creature in the distance and whispered, "This thing looks tough to deal with."

“I prepared the perfect meal for him.”

"What are you all standing there for, Lord Monitor!"

The shouts and yells coming from above quickly drowned out their conversation: "Quickly eat these intruders who have come to our doorstep!"

They thought Ethan was undoubtedly unlucky to have caught the Watcher in his starving frenzy.

They are ready to enjoy this feast.

However, as time went by, the guards on the second floor finally realized that something was wrong.

The Gluttony King has stopped eating for a long time.

In the past, when he went berserk, no one could stop him from eating. But ever since he swallowed those two boxes of pizza, the Gluttony King has been frozen in place.

"Hey, what exactly did you do?"

"You poisoned the pizza?"

The jailers demanded an explanation.

But... this shouldn't be happening!

The Gluttony King's body had already mutated, so the toxins shouldn't have any effect on him!

"Don't make baseless accusations; you're questioning the food safety of our restaurant!"

Ethan raised his voice.

It's important to understand that food safety is of paramount importance for any restaurant.

"Our restaurant has prepared special set meals for these big eaters."

Before he could finish speaking, the Gluttonous King's enormous maw suddenly emitted a groan of extreme pain.

Something is growing out of it at a visible rate.

This is a bizarre sight that no one has ever seen before.

The golden-brown crust, covered with a secret tomato sauce, looks like a delicious pizza, yet it's multiplying at an alarming rate.

It burst the Gluttony King's belly, and then continued to expand without any reduction in its momentum, until it submerged the huge body in the flatbread and covered half of the circular arena.

"Unlimited Growth Pizza"

Ethan coldly answered the guards' questions, "It's tailor-made for gluttons."

(End of this chapter)