Mr. Rat of the Steam World

Chapter 79 Imperial Methods
At the end of Copper Wire Street.

Fully armed soldiers, their helmets pulled low, their expressionless Imperial-style dark blue uniforms conveying no emotion, advanced in dense formations along every alleyway leading to the workers' quarters and every main road.

They weren't carrying police-issue short-barreled revolvers, but standard-issue rifles, with bayonets gleaming coldly and already sheathed.

Even more chilling were the armored steam platforms advancing in the convoy, covered with crude steel plates, with thick black muzzles of rotating hand-cranked machine guns mounted on top, and multiple rows of gun barrels extending from both sides of the vehicle.

"Clear the streets! Everyone return to their residences immediately! Any resistance will be met with death!"

The emotionless, synthesized sound waves emitted by the mechanized loudspeakers brutally swept across the entire Copper Wire Street.

Tread-tap-

Everyone stared blankly at the army that was slowly but rapidly advancing.

suddenly!

“Get out of here!”

An angry young worker, perhaps recalling the exhilaration of that night in Manchester, suddenly picked up a piece of gravel and hurled it at the soldiers in the front row!

"boom!"

Without the slightest hesitation, his response was not a warning shot fired into the air, but a muffled, decisive gunshot.

The young worker's body flushed crimson, and he collapsed to the ground.

The next moment, the scene instantly changed from shock to chaotic fleeing.

The crowd screamed and jostled each other to get back behind the fragile wooden door.

Behind Lu Ran were the Jacob brothers, whose faces were also pale. He felt his mental energy being depleted and gave them one last reminder.

"You only have two choices now. One is to go back and cry and hug your father without doing anything. The other is to honestly tell me everything. If I find the mastermind, I might be able to help."

"I've got it. Black Gold Transportation Equipment Machinery Manufacturing Plant, Sherlock..."

Jacob instinctively gripped his brother's hand. Hearing that calm voice, he was about to turn around when he realized he couldn't find the detective anywhere.

“The army…” Garcia’s voice trembled, and his small body instinctively tried to shrink back.

"Hurry!" Jacob didn't have time to think about when the detective had left. He reacted quickly, grabbed his terrified brother, and practically dragged him through the narrow alleyway as they ran towards home.

"Dad, hurry..."

……

The military crackdown was not actually carried out with machine guns, but rather involved the targeted arrest of unemployed, idle workers in the vicinity who were expressing hate speech.

Ordinary citizens engaged in other jobs are not included in this scope.

Even so, it was already dawn.

The number of workers arrested still reached over a thousand, with dozens killed or injured.

Strangely, this time there was no sign of Manchester's recovery ability from that night, as if it was all a hallucination of the police that night.

……

Inside the medical ward of the Black Gold Factory, in this makeshift laboratory, the overhead incandescent light illuminated a large, carefully placed silver scale on the workbench. Its edges were covered in dark red bloodstains that seemed firmly adhered to the hard surface.

One of the mice, whose fur was somewhat bald, was carefully moving a makeshift stand made of wire. Several other gray mice around the table were nervously discussing something.

"This smells so fierce, squeak squeak."

"Squeak... The lord said this is a very important thing... and needs to be studied."

“There aren’t many scabs, squeak... Since we’re going to remove them, we can’t use brute force to scrape them off, and claws won’t work either, they’re too rough.”

The study mouse's gaze swept over a pile of odds and ends on the table, then carefully picked up the blade and, using the thinnest and finest edge of the blade, pushed it forward with extreme slowness and gentleness at an almost touching angle to the surface of the scales.

The dried blood remaining in the dents of the scales was shaved out little by little.

Lu Ran stood at a distance, watching curiously, though he had no idea what was going on inside. He'd just finished his work on Copper Wire Street yesterday, taken a nap, and casually checked the system to see that the progress was already 20% complete, so he wanted to check on the status.

"Money-grubber, have you been able to identify what kind of creature this scale belongs to?"

"Uh..." The money-grubber paused, taken aback. "No."

"What are you going to do with the blood from the edges of the scales? It looks like it's been dead for a while. Is the blood still alive?"

The money-grubber oversees all affairs in its territory, inquiring about every single matter before reporting back to Lu Ran. So even if Lu Ran asks about laboratory-related matters on short notice, it can provide some answers.

"Yes, the research rat told me that the death time of this scale may be measured in years, and it is not clear how long exactly. However, because its original vitality is too strong, there is still a tiny bit of life force remaining in its blood. This part is what I observed using my knowledge of magic."

Furthermore, Dane's experimental records also mentioned this substance; he seemed to have originally intended to use it to extract substances for body modification, but he was hesitant to use other substances first, so he tested it on first.

Lu Ran seemed thoughtful, but still reminded him, "Be careful and don't stray from your original goal. Focus on increasing your lifespan first, and you can take care of everything else later."

The money-grubber helplessly shrugged.

"That depends on them. I can't say for sure in this regard. Didn't you teach us, boss, that management shouldn't give orders blindly and should leave it to the professional rats?"

These are currently the most professional rats in the territory, especially the research rat with slightly bald fur. It used to stay near some human research institutes, and it seems it was exposed to some chemicals that caused it to become like this.

Lu Ran choked for a moment, but immediately turned his gaze to the bald rat inside, looking surprised.

"They actually managed to find such a top student in the rat world."

It seems that the Black Gold Factory should be able to reopen in May. However, if those two brothers really run into trouble, I'll probably have to find other suitable replacements. I can't let it affect the salon gathering in mid-May.

Just then, the sentry rat outside squeaked twice and rushed in to report: "Reporting, Lord! There are two human boys at the door calling for Mr. Sherlock! They seem very anxious, squeak!"

Lu Ran snapped out of his thoughts, took a deep breath, and wasn't too surprised. He pushed off with his hind legs and followed.

"It's good that you're here."

……

Meanwhile, outside the factory's rusty iron gate, Jacob and Garcia were anxiously pounding on it: "Mr. Sherlock! Mr. Sherlock, are you there? We have an important lead!"

"Why isn't there a single guard at the gate? How long are we going to have to shout like this?" Garcia said impatiently. "Should we climb over the wall? How can the detective hear us shouting from here?"

“Climbing over there? That won’t do,” Jacob quickly refused. “Even if we’re waiting here for the detective to get off work and go home, we can’t just barge in. We’re asking for a favor.”

"Well said."

Sherlock suddenly stepped out of the shadows and stopped a few meters from the door. His deep, clear voice pierced through the iron gate and reached the brothers' ears clearly:

"So if you have any important clues, don't waste time with sentimental explanations or other nonsense. Just tell me the key information directly."

When Jacob saw that familiar figure appear, he grasped at a straw. After listening to Lu Ran's words, he decisively said through the iron gate, "The furniture store owner on Copper Wire Street, Norton Furniture, is a friend my father knew a long time ago. It's him, only he could be!"

Garcia, standing next to him, nodded vigorously and added anxiously, "Dad started acting strangely after drinking with him a few times. Besides, this time they only arrested ordinary workers; he's a furniture store owner, so he's fine this time."

"Okay, wait for my news."

Lu Ran paused, then reminded him.

"Now you can go back and get some rest. My factory will reopen in May, so remember to come over then."

"I understand, I understand!" Jacob wiped away his tears. "Whether you can help, Detective or not, I promised I would come, and I don't care about the pay."

Lu Ran clicked his tongue and said lightly, "It's not that bad."

Without asking any further questions or letting the two boys in, he quickly ran outside with the only clue he had.

To say that these actions were solely for the purpose of getting the two brothers to work wouldn't be an exaggeration, nor would it be entirely out of pity for the workers. Perhaps there was also a sense of disgust towards those behind the scenes, or perhaps a genuine desire to bring about some change in the world...

can not say it clearly.

Anyway, it was all within my capabilities, so I did it without hesitation. After all, if I could find out who was behind it, I could make money more steadily when I opened my business in May.

(End of this chapter)