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Chapter 197 The Resurrected 'Ink Painting'

[The Steam City, the Twelve Brass Councils]

[The third day after Vivian's trial ended]

Inside the brass-cast hall, the councilor's fingertips lightly tapped the table, his steady voice echoing in the spacious hall.

"Gentlemen, I have gathered you here today mainly to discuss three matters."

"First, the final ruling concerning Vivian, the former Silver Knight of the Gear Church."

"Second, how to deal with the riots and rebellions in the lower city."

"And the final investigation into the cause of death of Mizuki, the former captain of the 5th Division of the Steam Branch."

The councilor looked around at the other brass nobles and calmly explained the reason for summoning them.

Unlike three days ago when everyone was present, the Twelve Brass Council is now missing five members.

Saint Euphemia and Golden Knight Fisher have been confirmed dead.

Bishop Clementi is embroiled in an investigation and has not appeared in public for several days.

The remaining two were representatives of the Steam Branch.

After all, for those Star Envoys, the fact that the branch captain was killed in an almost provocative manner within the organization was a blatant declaration to everyone that he didn't take the Steam Branch, or even the entire Star Envoy Association, seriously at all.

Therefore, the Steam Branch was already furious and was using all its resources to track down the murderer, so it had no time to care about anything else.

However, even without these five people, the Bronze Council can still proceed as usual.

According to the rules of the Brass Council, a bill can be passed smoothly as long as more than half of the Brass nobles agree.

"Gentlemen, let's first discuss the crimes of former Silver Knight Vivian. My personal suggestion is to uphold the original sentence. What do you think?"

Even though Liam, the president of the Steam Division, had presented him with the evidence left behind by Euphemia yesterday, his tone remained unwavering.

Between the majesty of the brass aristocracy and the so-called 'justice', he chose the former without hesitation.

After all, the verdict was read aloud in front of the entire city. Admitting a mistake? That would be tantamount to trampling the face of the Twelve Bronze Council underfoot.

The other brass nobles shared the same idea.

They are the beneficiaries of the steam city, and the authority of the council is the cornerstone of their power.

Rather than pursuing some vague notion of justice, they prefer to firmly grasp the power in their hands.

"Agree."

"Agree."

With the unanimous vote in favor, the councilor nodded: "Alright, that concludes this agenda item. Let's move on to the next one: the handling of the rioters in the downtown area. Does anyone have anything to say about this?"

Compared to the tacit understanding on the previous topic, this question immediately ignited the enthusiasm of the brass nobles.

"Mobilize the entire steam police force in the upper district and arrest all those involved!"

A red-faced brassman slammed his hand on the table.

"You're too radical."

Another brass nobleman wearing a monocle pushed up his lens and said slowly, "I think we should be more conservative."

"Oh? How exactly do you mean by 'conservative'?"

"Situations like this, once they happen once, will happen again."

A ruthless glint flashed in the eyes of the monocle-wearing brass nobleman: "If we can't be a little more conservative and make sure that these trash from the lower city understand the price of provoking the upper city, then similar situations will definitely happen again."

"Therefore, I personally feel that it is not enough to just arrest the main participants. We should expand the scope of the arrests and arrest every single person in the Xiacheng District who was directly or indirectly involved in this matter, as a warning to others."

Upon hearing this, the council chamber fell silent instantly, and even the council chairman couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

I thought he was a moderate conservative, but I didn't expect him to be a hardliner who is even more extreme than the radicals.

It should be noted that nearly one-third of the residents of the Lower City district were directly or indirectly involved in the riots.

If all of them were arrested, the scope and impact would be far beyond what ordinary people can imagine.

While everyone was debating, the Speaker of the Council made the final decision.

"Okay, silence."

After the situation was brought under control, the Speaker of the Council said, "I propose that we follow what I said at the beginning: only arrest the ringleaders, and punish the others as a warning."

After a brief silence, the nobles nodded in agreement.

After all, this plan maintained the dignity of the Upper City without causing greater unrest, making it a relatively good solution. Two of the three issues were resolved, but the remaining final issue did not allow the Bronze Nobles to discuss it for long.

Because this last issue involves the internal affairs of the Star Envoy Association, these bronze nobles can only cooperate and have no right to investigate.

After some discussion, the bronze nobles present unanimously agreed that they should first deal with Vivian and the mob in the lower city, and then cooperate with the association to investigate the murderer who killed Shuimo.

After all, the former is related to whether they can have an additional powerful 'Gear Guardian'.

The latter determines whether they can consolidate their power.

As for the ink painting issue, it's the Steam Branch that's losing face, not the Bronze Aristocracy, so there's no need to take it too seriously.

"So."

The councilor stood up, and the family crest on his chest suddenly gleamed with a brass-colored light.

"Let us embark on the brass path to the steam furnace, upload Vivian's information to the gear hub, and initiate the forging ceremony."

As he finished speaking, the family crest on the councilor's chest lit up.

At the same time, the coats of arms on the chests of other brass nobles also began to move.

Soon, twelve streams of light converged from the seven occupied brass seats and the five unoccupied brass seats in the center of the council hall, condensing into a huge and illusory furnace projection.

The steam furnace has been activated.

[Of the 12 authorized users detected, 6 have already been authorized. The gear forging process is now open. Please enter the information for the user being forged.]

As the councilor was transmitting Vivian's information into the gear center, his movements suddenly paused slightly.

There were clearly seven bronze nobles present, so why is it that only six authorized?

Has someone turned against us?
But now that the ceremony has begun, they have no right to stop it.

After all, each start-up of a steam furnace requires a lot of resources; it's not something they can just turn on or off as they please.

After the councilor finished inputting Vivian's information, the cold voice of the gear center sounded again.

[Identity information entered.]

Name: Vivian Howard

[Identity: Silver Knight of the Former Gear Church]

[Rank: Level 1 Star Envoy]

[Star Source: Black Iron Clock]

Information completeness: 90%

[The forging conditions for the 'gear' have been met. The steam furnace is starting up, and the Gear Castle information assimilation has been activated. Please send personnel to the steam furnace in three days to complete the final casting ceremony for the brass gear.]

The illusory projection of the furnace gradually faded, and the meeting of the Brass Council came to an end.

Just when everyone thought the council meeting was over, 'Brass Noble Layton' sat in the corner.

Or rather, the Hidden Star Society's Scorpio Layton suddenly spoke up.

"After waiting for so long, this day has finally come."

The nobles turned to look in Layton's direction, somewhat puzzled as to why he had suddenly said that.

Sensing something was amiss, the councilor frowned and said, "Leighton, you..."

Before the Speaker could finish speaking, the heavy brass doors of the council chamber creaked open slowly.

Before long, a figure that left everyone in disbelief appeared in the center of the meeting.

He wore the signature Steamfighting Club captain's robe, simple black-rimmed glasses, and a gentle smile, making him seem completely harmless and unassuming.

This person should absolutely not be here!

Because he was the former captain of the Fifth Division—Suimo.

A 'dead person' who died a few days ago.

Ignoring the shocked gazes of the crowd, Tiandao slowly floated into the air, looking down at everyone below, including the council chairman.

"Everyone."

His tone was relaxed, yet carried an undeniable firmness.

"I think it's time for this steam city to undergo a complete transformation. What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)