Steam Old Days: The Extraordinary Begins with a Corpse Collector

Uncle Moses's home is located on the eastern edge of the Pennine Mountains.

The terrain there was flat, with only one two-story stone house.

The gray stone walls were filled with mud and hay.

At the doorway, a robust woman sat on a stool, washing coarse cloth clothes in an iron basin with her hands.

Beside the woman, a four-year-old girl sat on a low wooden chair with wheels, her body wrapped in thin strips of cloth to prevent her from moving around.

On the steps of the cottage, a boy rested his chin on his hand and stared at the little girl.

The little girl held a lamb bone in her hand, and every time she was about to put it in her mouth, the boy would shout, "Hey! Helen! Don't put that lamb bone in your mouth, it's filthy, you'll get worms!"

The boy only dared to touch the girl's small hand; if he dared to touch the sheep bone, the girl would burst into tears for no reason.

Lyndon and Cecilia arrived at the cabin.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Martha. Is Uncle Moses home?"

Cecilia opened her arms and walked towards the woman washing clothes by the door with a smile.

When Mrs. Martha saw Cecilia arrive, she stood up excitedly.

She dried her wet hands on the apron in front of her chest, then returned a big hug to Cecilia.

"Oh! Miss Cecilia, we've been waiting for you! Waiting for you to help us get away from that terrible monster."

Mrs. Martha released her grip, looking at Cecilia with the same gaze she would give her own sister.

"We're here to deal with that alien species," Cecilia said.

Suddenly, Uncle Moses's gruff voice came from the second floor of the cabin.

"Miss Cecilia! Here I am!" Uncle Moses leaned out of the window, waving his hand. "Please come in, Miss Cecilia!"

Cecilia looked up at the second floor, then greeted the two children at the door and went inside.

It was only then that Mrs. Martha noticed Lyndon.

She looked Lyndon up and down, then asked curiously, "I've never seen you before?"

Upon hearing this, Lyndon smiled and introduced himself to Mrs. Martha: "Philip Scott, I'm new here, learning from Cecilia."

Mrs. Martha immediately showed a knowing expression.

She started telling Lyndon how wonderful Cecilia was, as if Cecilia wasn't human, but a fairy from heaven.

"Really, if Cecilia were my sister, I would definitely introduce her to a good family. A girl like her deserves to marry into a good family."

Mrs. Martha kept talking, regardless of whether Lyndon was listening or not.

Just then, the boy who had been watching the little girl came over. He stood there, looked up at Lyndon, and asked, "Are you called Philip?"

"Yes, child, what's your name?" Lyndon asked, bending down.

Miles.

"Miles, how old are you this year?"

"Twelve years old."

"Have you been to school?"

"Of course, I went to school for two years, and I can write. At school, my teachers always praised my handwriting! I love writing!" Miles said, a proud look on his face.

"Great job! You seem to be quite the intellectual!" Lyndon chuckled, ruffling Miles's cheek. "Your handwriting is so beautiful, do you want to be a writer someday?"

"What do writers do?" Miles asked.

"Well... a writer is someone who writes a lot of beautiful words," Lyndon explained.

But Miles shook his head when he heard this.

"What? Don't you like writing?"

"Yes, I like writing, but I like exploring even more. I often play adventure games with my brother. When I grow up, I want to be an explorer and discover lots of strange things, just like in the stories."

Upon hearing Miles's strange dream, Lyndon couldn't help but laugh and ask, "Won't you be afraid of encountering monsters when you go on adventures?"

As he spoke, Lyndon made a face at Miles.

Miles covered his mouth and laughed, saying, "Don't be afraid!"

"real?"

"Really! I even dared to peek at the monster!" Miles said proudly.

"You also saw a monster?"

"Yes!" Miles nodded. "Not just the monster, but also its master! Just like in the stories!"

Lyndon was somewhat taken aback to hear this news from a twelve-year-old boy.

He glanced back at Mrs. Martha, who was still talking to herself.

She was completely unaware of Lyndon and Miles' conversation.

Seeing this, Lyndon pulled Miles a few steps toward an open space nearby, then whispered, "You're not just bragging about the monster's master, are you?"

"I wasn't bragging!" Miles said, getting a little anxious.

Children have the strongest competitive spirit, and they dislike it most when others call what they say "bragging."

"I saw it with my own eyes. While my dad was fighting the monster downstairs, I was sleeping downstairs. I was at the window and saw a dark figure standing not far away! The monster went to the dark figure first and then left."

Lyndon's heart skipped a beat.

Miles' clear eyes made Lyndon unable to believe that he was lying.

Then, Miles led Lyndon to a window and pointed to a small mound in the distance.

"That's where I saw the monster and its master."

Lyndon held Miles's hand and gazed at the earthen mound in the distance.

The "monster master" that Miles mentioned was like a stone thrown into his memory, and instantly, the scene at the steam pump station reappeared in Lyndon's mind.

He had previously killed a lizard-like alien.

But the key point is that the definition given by the Book of Fate is that it is a man-made alien species.

At the time, Lyndon was only focused on his own experience and the foreign organ in the bottle, and he didn't notice the warning in his mind.

Thinking back on it now, Lyndon suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

Xenomorphs have always only been born naturally, so how could there be so-called artificial xenomorphs?

Two completely different things, hundreds of miles apart, now share a terrifying similarity.

In the past, people's use of different species was limited to organ transplantation. Even so, most of the knowledge of the alchemical school is still considered taboo.

But now, if Miles is telling the truth, Lyndon seems to have to admit one thing: someone has begun to create and enslave aliens for their own use.

This terrifying conjecture made Lyndon gasp.

Suddenly, Cecilia's shouts came from upstairs.

"Philip! Come on up here!"

Lyndon, snapping out of his daze, quickly responded.

Then he turned to Miles, knelt down, put his hand on the boy's shoulder, and said solemnly, "Miles, do you want to be a man?"

"Why?" Miles didn't understand Lyndon's meaning.

"A real man means someone like your father—brave, hardworking, and strong!" Lyndon thought for a moment and added, "These are essential qualities for becoming an explorer!"

Upon hearing about his father and the explorer, Miles nodded excitedly and said, "That's great! I want to be a man!"

"Okay!" Lyndon instructed, "As a man, and a future little explorer, you must not tell anyone what you told me today."

"Not even Mom and Dad?"

"No, that won't work either. Little explorer, can you do it?"

Miles tilted his head and thought for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

"able!"

Having gained Miles's approval, Lyndon stood up and led him back to the front of the cabin.

Lyndon patted Miles on the shoulder and then went into the house.

He went up the stairs to the second floor.

In a room, Lyndon saw Cecilia and Uncle Moore.

The two were looking out at a broken window.

Cecilia saw Lyndon arrive and stepped aside, saying, "Philip, look."

Lyndon then noticed a series of menacing claw marks on the wall next to the window.