Mr. Death in the Steam World

"His name is Bowen Flynn," the old man said.

"He went down into the mine at seventeen. That year, I was also a foreman in the mine, and I personally led him down the mine."

He said, "Dad, you don't need to take care of me. If the people at the mine knew I depended on you, they would look down on me."

"That lamp... I gave it to him."

He buried his face in his hands, his shoulders twitching, but he made no sound.

Arthur lowered his head slightly, silently made the sign of the cross on his chest with his right hand, and then took out a neatly folded parchment document from his pocket and handed it to the old man.

"Mr. Flynn," he said softly.

"This is a list of miners who died in the line of duty that the mine has reported to the Chamber of Commerce in recent years. Your son's name should be on it as well."

"I am a priest of the Holy Church, and I have the power to do so, if you are willing to help us, Mr. Flynn."

Although it may sound like coercion, Arthur doesn't shy away from it; he's not a foolish believer.

In his view, it would be foolish to abandon a win-win solution for some inexplicable rules and regulations.

The old man took the list, his eyes looking somewhat lost.

Moen knelt down in front of him.

"Mr. Flynn, we need your help."

The old man raised his head, and the guarded look in his cloudy eyes was gone.

"You are...you guys, from Chasidwin's group, right?"

"right."

The old man remained silent for a while, wiped his face, bent down and pulled out a crumpled piece of brown paper from the corner of the shack.

"This is the No. 3 main shaft of the No. 3 mining area. If you walk about two hundred steps east-northeast from here, there is an abandoned ventilation shaft covered with wooden planks, so most people can't see it."

"This tunnel was the closest to the mine before the collapse, but it was later ordered to be sealed off."

He paused, then continued:

"Those guys in Sidwin blocked a lot of entrances, but they only blocked the roads they knew."

"This tunnel wasn't even marked on the mine's blueprints, so they can't seal it off."

Arthur took out the map provided by the small mine owner from his pocket and laid it next to the parchment the old man had drawn.

The two drawings were superimposed, and various lines extended and spread out like blood vessels.

Several previously blurry areas on the map became complete after the old man painstakingly filled them in stroke by stroke.

"Look here," Moen pointed to an area circled in red ink on the map.

"This is the suspected activity area marked in the small mine owner's intelligence report."

"And here," Arthur's finger landed on the drainage tunnel the old miner had just drawn,

"It conveniently bypasses all the outer and middle layers of defense, leading directly underground to the edge of their operational area."

The two looked up at the same time and exchanged a glance. A rare, confident smile appeared on Arthur's lips.

"We have obtained the complete internal structure of the mine."

......

Meanwhile, deep within the mine.

In a natural cave at the very end of the old mine tunnel, a crystal about half a person's height was broken into three pieces, with the cracks gleaming like magma.

On the ground surrounding the crystal, twelve concentric rings were interlocked, each ring containing symbols filled with obsidian powder, emitting a muffled hum in the darkness.

This is the altar.

Sidwin Ashton stood in front of the crystal, his hands behind his back, looking up at the three shattered pieces of the crystal.

He wasn't wearing his fancy tuxedo from the club today; instead, he was wearing a robe.

The firelight reflected on his face, revealing the growing fervor in his eyes.

Footsteps came from the entrance of the cave.

"We've been looking for the altar for you for a year now."

The bespectacled man pushed up his glasses, his tone indifferent.

"From the discovery of the first rune fragment to the identification of this cavern, the Truth Society has deployed far more manpower in Ironcrown City than you can imagine."

Sidwin turned around, his usual arrogant smile on his face.

"A year? I thought your Truth Society would be more efficient. But—"

He raised his hand, palm up, and a ball of flame suddenly burst forth from his palm, illuminating the entire cavern with flickering light.

"You've come at the perfect time; I can't wait."

"You have to wait, whether you can't wait or not." The black-robed woman's voice came from under the hood. "We've also identified a second candidate for you. It's that girl from the shantytown. She's currently locked up in the stone building."

She paused, and a dark green light appeared at her fingertips.

"She won't, and doesn't dare to, run away a third time."

Sidwin raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his smile.

"That little mouse can really run fast, twice already. Are the mercenaries in the mining area just sitting around doing nothing?"

"Those miners were too soft-hearted. They couldn't bring themselves to hurt a twelve-year-old girl after she cried a few times."

"But it's okay, I've already corrected their mistake—those miners won't make the same mistake again."

No one asked where the miners went; for magicians, some questions don't need answers.

The bespectacled man suddenly turned his head, his gaze passing through the entrance of the cave and into the darkness deep within the mine tunnel.

Beneath the skin in the center of the forehead, something was wriggling, trying to break through the skin.

"There are magical fluctuations from the Holy Church." His voice deepened. "Although the level isn't high, it's definitely true. We need to act quickly."

"It wouldn't be a good thing if we alerted those old men."

Sidwin's expression changed slightly.

"Seal off the entrance, and I'll send three more teams to guard the mine tunnels—"

"Don't move." The bespectacled man raised a hand, stopping him from saying anything more.

"If the target is you, moving your forces now will only reveal the exact location of the altar."

"But if the other side is just testing the waters, then your troop deployment is tantamount to admitting defeat without being asked."

"The Holy Church wouldn't send people to Ironcrown City without a reason. In recent weeks, the magical fluctuations around Ironcrown City have exceeded the normal threshold, and the Church's detection network couldn't have been unaware of it."

Sidwin: "They probably received some kind of warning and sent people over for a routine patrol."

"Then let them continue their patrols," the bespectacled man said with a slight smile. "Ironcrown City is so big, with so many mines, they'll have plenty of time to search."

Sidwin was clearly not satisfied with the answer and snorted.

The bespectacled man didn't care. To be honest, if Sidwin hadn't been one of the candidates, he would probably have died eight hundred times over with that attitude.

"The key now is the third candidate." He pushed up his glasses. "Judging from Crystal's reaction these past few days, she should be not far from here, or even in Ironcrown City."

Sidwin's lips twitched.

"That woman," he spat out through gritted teeth, "dared to call me an ordinary man. She's short-sighted and utterly worthless. How could Vulcan have chosen someone like that?"