Catastrophe Card King

Chapter 719: 235 Chapter: Time Drift Bottle

PS. As the title suggests, the text is a bit of a card-battle genre, so apologies to everyone—it’s not that I can’t write it, I just want to make this segment more exciting.

In Machinery City, the Rose Chamber of Commerce does not have private cells, and having captured a few live perpetrators of an assassination, they could only detain them in the cellar for interrogation.

Now that the assassin had escaped, Chairman Vera Williams led a group to the scene at the first opportunity.

In the dimly lit room, there were some bloodstains on the ground, and the broken Magic-suppressing shackles were still left at the scene.

Aside from the corpses of several bandits, at the doorway, there were also two Commerce Group Guard corpses in pools of blood.

The blood was warm, emitting white vapors, indicating they had not been dead for long.

The Magic-suppressing shackles could not have been broken by themselves; there must have been a jailbreak.

Vera Williams’s face was so gloomy it seemed as if water could drip from it as she asked, “What exactly happened?”

These were loyal guards of the Song Family, and yet, two more had been killed.

The guards dared not look her in the eye, and the leader replied, “Miss, we… we don’t know. There was no sound inside just now, and when we came in, we found it like this.”

Vera Williams frowned and said, “So you’re saying that someone rescued these assassins and nobody noticed?”

The guilty-looking guard wanted to say something but ultimately did not offer an explanation: “This subordinate is incompetent.”

Looking at the bodies on the ground, everyone felt a chill around their necks.

An enemy that could silently infiltrate the Commerce Guild and kill had the capability to kill any of them.

It’s not the strength of the enemy that’s frightening, but the unknown origin of the threat.

This unknown is the true source of fear.

Vera Williams listened but did not speak further, nor did she seek to blame anyone.

Her gaze sharpening, she pondered for a moment before saying, “Increase security. Screen all suspicious persons. Unless necessary, no one should leave the Commerce Guild.”

All the Commerce Group Guards responded in unison: “Yes!”

…

At the back of the crowd, Leonard Churchill silently scrutinized the scene.

It wasn’t that the guards were incompetent.

Being able to kill two guards quietly suggested that the rescuer might have been a Second Tier card master.

It could also have been… an inside job.

Furthermore, the ability of the perpetrator to move in and out of the Commerce Guild apartments without being detected could mean more than just stealth—it was very likely that the person was already inside the apartments.

Leonard Churchill glanced at the wounds and immediately discerned from the cuts that the assassin was left-handed.

A classic assassin technique.

One of the bodies had been killed by a “Throat Wipe,” and another one had two wounds: a combination of “Back Stabbing” followed by an “Upward Puncture.”

Clean and efficient, almost instantaneous kills.

And not too many traces were left behind.

This level of professionalism didn’t suggest some untrained card master; for instance, the bandits from earlier did not have this skill level.

It pointed to a systematically trained professional assassin, like certain nobles’ private soldiers.

Leonard Churchill also took a sniff—there was a faint scent of blood in the air.

Others might not discern it, but a werewolf’s acute sense of smell could distinctly identify dozens of scents.

Because this place was a storage cellar, there were also strong food scents such as onions and smoked meat.

This meant that anyone who entered the cellar would inevitably carry a distinctive “signature scent.”

If the person was still in the apartments, finding them might not be difficult.

Even if they had used a Deodorizing Potion upon leaving, that complete absence of any scent was a giveaway.

Leonard Churchill, who had only recently crossed into this world, was discovered in precisely this way on his first train ride to Sinless City.

However, he didn’t have great interest in the assassin or feel particularly threatened.

As an “outsider,” it wasn’t his place to speak up inopportunely at such a critical moment.

With this in mind, Leonard turned his attention to the bandit corpses in the corner.

The stench emanating from these bodies was so overpowering to Leonard that it was more pungent than the onions.

He silently memorized this unique smell.

Vera Williams approached, wanting to examine the bodies.

That was when a man dressed as a doctor in glasses intervened, “Miss, please don’t get too close. Those bodies show severe signs of contamination. Having analyzed their blood, I suspect those bandits might be carriers of a contagious Blood Plague.”

Plague?

Leonard listened and pondered.

The Extraordinary Traits radiating from these corpses were indeed much more pronounced than normal bodies.

It seemed to be the reason why these people could undergo a Vampire Transformation.

But a mere glance from afar wasn’t thorough enough; if possible, he desired a closer look.

At that comment, Vera Williams stood still.

She wasn’t particularly adept at investigation and had not noticed anything unusual.

But just then, a thought flashed through her mind, and catching sight of Leonard Churchill in the corner observing the bodies, she realized: how could she forget that Mr. Sunny was a Scholar!

Leonard sensed her gaze and instinctively looked her way.

Their eyes met, and seeing the calmness in his, Vera Williams inexplicably felt a sense of comfort.

Among the recent string of unfortunate events, the best thing was meeting the mysterious pen pal she had long been anticipating.

Though she was yet to understand why he had appeared here.

As if understanding Leonard’s contemplative gaze, Vera Williams paused for a moment, then spoke to her guards, “You may stand guard outside.”

Hearing this, they unanimously replied: “Yes.”

And so, they stepped outside the door.

In the blink of an eye, only Leonard Churchill, Vera Williams, and Security Squad Leader Sam remained in the room.

…

Considering there were still several corpses in the room, the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.

Leonard Churchill did not wish to waste time beating around the bush, so he directly went to examine the bandit bodies.