Don’t raise unruly people in extreme cold weather

Chapter 446 Riot

Under the personal attention of the eldest princess herself, a thorough investigation of the imperial government soon began.

Led by the Military Intelligence Department and the Imperial Intelligence Department, a comprehensive and thorough investigation was conducted on all issues in the slums in the outer city.

Doing so does seem to be a bit of a high-profile move, but it is also part of the strategy of alerting the enemy.

While Perfect has already commissioned the Brotherhood and the Church to secretly investigate the slums, the government's high-profile investigation into street lights and other issues can obviously greatly distract the attention of those interested, causing them to ignore the real focus and focus on the overt investigation.

Of course, Perfect still hoped to find out something. At least the fact that the street lights in the slums of the outer city had become alchemical creations that collected souls and resentment must be explained no matter what.

Langton is the capital of the empire, and this kind of thing was set up so openly. It would be a lie that no one would believe to say that there are no problems between the various government departments.

Therefore, all of a sudden, all the relevant departments in Langton City that might be involved launched very strict inspections to ensure that no suspicious person would be let go.

Whether it was the person in charge of approving the relevant projects, the officials who proposed the projects, or the staff involved in the projects, each of them was investigated by the intelligence department, and some persons with major suspicions were taken away for special questioning.

However, after an investigation, almost all evidence and clues showed that there was no problem in the government's process of approving this project.

"Is this the result of your week-long investigation?" Looking at the report submitted by the intelligence department, Perfect laughed out of anger: "You really don't think there is anything wrong with the report you submitted?"

It’s not that Perfect was deliberately finding fault or targeting them, but the report submitted was indeed outrageous.

At first glance, there is nothing wrong with the records and investigation reports submitted, and all the testimonies and records show that this was a normal municipal construction project.

But with just a quick check, you will find that all the submitted information is normal to an outrageous degree.

Normal application submission, normal approval process, normal fund allocation, normal procurement, normal construction, normal acceptance, normal post-maintenance...

At first glance, there seems to be nothing wrong, but this is precisely the biggest problem.

Can you believe that in an era when a feudal dynasty was transitioning to capitalism, there was no corruption or bribery in a municipal project, all processes were carried out according to normal procedures, no one took bribes, and no one profited from it?
When did the empire's bureaucrats and nobles become so honest and upright?

Regardless of whether others believe it or not, at least Perfect doesn't believe that there is no problem in any of the many links involved in this project.

This possibility is certainly not absent, but the chance of it happening is as close to impossible as sprinkling a handful of rice on a keyboard and then finding a pigeon to peck at it, and the pigeon typing out a novel.

Even if we take a step back and assume that there was no corruption among imperial officials in all aspects of this project, and that they did perform their duties conscientiously, there would still be various problems with the project itself.

For example, when submitting a report, the normal approval process will be delayed for a certain period of time.

Because approvals in this era are still based on paper documents, and all approval processes rely entirely on manual delivery, it is normal for the approval process to be delayed due to human factors.

Therefore, an approval process that can theoretically be completed in a week may often take a month or even longer.

Being able to complete all the processes in one month is even considered fast.

However, in the investigation report in front of Perfectcot, all approval processes were completed in the theoretical shortest time.

How could this not make Perfecto angry? It was simply an insult to her intelligence. Even with the crown on, she found it difficult to control her emotions.

This also undoubtedly shows that there are masterminds behind all this. They don't even bother to use relatively reasonable means to hide themselves, but instead use this way of insulting Perfect's IQ to tell her that they were the ones who did it.

How could this not make Perfect not angry?

But she finally controlled her emotions and didn't get angry. Instead, she threw the investigation report back and said, "I'll give you three more days. If you still hand in this kind of waste paper after three days, I'll make you eat it bite by bite!"

After saying that, Perfect didn't bother to care about the ugly expressions on the faces of the two intelligence department heads and their eagerness to say something. He waved his hand and told them to get out quickly.

After asking the two intelligence department directors to get out, Perfect looked toward the office window and said to the empty window sill, "Mr. Ezio, could you please walk through the door more normally next time?"

"There are too many guards coming in through the gate. I'm not used to it." Along with Ezio's voice, his figure also appeared beside the windowsill. It was obvious that the assassin mentor of the Brotherhood had just come in through the ventilation window next to him.

Perfect didn't think too deeply about it, she just didn't like people going directly through the window.

And more than how Ezio ended up in her office, Perfecto was more concerned with the investigation she had tasked the Brotherhood with.

"Any clues about what I asked you to investigate?" Perfect looked at Ezio expectantly. Based on her understanding of the Brotherhood and Ezio, he would not come to see her in person if there was no progress.

"I've gained some knowledge. Things are more difficult than I expected. If you hadn't helped me upgrade my hidden blade, I might not have been able to escape so easily." Ezio nodded and began to explain the situation to Perfect.

Through Ezio's introduction, Perfecto finally understood who were the people who had distributed food in the slums in the outer city.

The name of the other sect is very long and difficult to pronounce. It is a word from an ancient language that is on the verge of being lost in the Desert Kingdom. Translated, it means a death that specifically refers to a certain way of death.

The sect itself is one of the heresies recognized by the church, and it has a very long history, even dating back to the mythological era.

They even believed in the ancient god of death itself, and they were not willing to put a layer of church skin on their beliefs to cover up their true intentions and expand their propaganda. This also made this sect receive great attention from the church. More than a hundred years ago, this sect was besieged by the church inquisition, and the sect members suffered heavy casualties. It was only a hair's breadth away from completely crushing this long-standing sect.

However, because they believe in death, the sect's followers still have the opportunity to be resurrected even if they are killed.

This is also one of the main reasons why this sect has a long history, acts in a high-profile manner and can escape the church's pursuit. As long as a core member of the sect is not killed or is not killed thoroughly enough, they can revive.

However, in the past hundred years, this sect that worships death has been extremely low-key.

Perhaps this has a lot to do with their current leader. After all, he has died once and has a fear and reverence for death. It is understandable that he has become cautious instead of being as reckless as before.

As for the problems in the outer city of Longton, they were not limited to the slums, but had enveloped the entire outer city from the very beginning and even spread to the inner city.

"This sect has now taken control of the disposal of corpses in the lower and outer towns of Langton. Whenever someone dies and there is no one to collect the body, the corpse guild will take the body away in a carriage. Nominally, it is buried in a public cemetery, but in fact it is used by this sect." Ezio gave further explanation to Perfecto and explained to her what had happened to him.

When Perfectocte heard Ezio say that a heretical sect that worshipped death had taken control of the disposal of corpses in the lower and outer towns of Langdon, he felt like his head was about to explode.

What's the difference between this and throwing a rat into a rice jar? Is it a mass grave for the necromancer? Or is it the kind that refreshes a batch of fresh corpses every month?

If the mystery had not dissipated now, and if all the spells and mysterious effects had not been weakening, the entire Langton would probably have become a den of ghosts and be filled with zombies.

"You relied on your invisibility to penetrate the enemy's lair?" Perfect looked at Ezio. Although she used a questioning tone, she was very sure of the answer.

Ezio nodded affirmatively, and replied with some lingering fear: "Yes, I went deep into the corpse guild and found a huge altar in their basement. They are trying to summon terrible demons into this world by constantly sacrificing corpses, souls and grievances.

I tried to sabotage and stop them, but there were so many of them that it was difficult for me to accomplish the task alone."

After hearing Ezio's answer, Perfecto was only concerned with one thing: "How long will it take for them to summon you?"

"Based on the conversations I heard and the information I gathered, their sacrifice may need to continue for some time." Ezio estimated in his mind and told Perfecto a rough time.

Perfect felt the urgency of the situation, so he said to Ezio, "We don't have much time. I need you to continue monitoring the area and report any signs of trouble to me."

"I understand. I have sent assassins from the Brotherhood to monitor. How do you plan to deal with this heretical sect?" Ezio said that he had already taken measures to deal with it, but he was also concerned about how Perfect would solve the problem.

"It's a bit troublesome to solve. According to what you have discovered, the opponent is quite powerful. Unless I send out the army to clear them out, it will be difficult to effectively destroy their sacrifice, let alone wipe out the entire cult." Perfectot did find this problem difficult.

Of course she knew that sending out the Steam Knights and Guards to clean up was the simplest and most direct way, but doing so would make too much noise and could easily alert the enemy and scare them away.

Given the special nature of the Death Cult, if they cannot be eliminated all at once, there is a high possibility that they will revive again later, and there will be no end to it.

So instead of sending troops to attack now, it is better to wait for a while, until the other party's sacrifice is almost over and they are gathering their believers to open champagne and start the rebellion, and then wipe them out in one fell swoop, which is clean and efficient.

Ezio did not express any views or opinions on what measures Perfecto intended to take.

He simply warned Perfecto not to get out of hand and said that the Brotherhood's assassins would monitor the altar around the clock.

"I will handle the matters of the Corpse Guild and the Death Cult. Did you find any useful information about the person who distributed food in the slums that I asked you to investigate before?" Perfect looked at Ezio and asked about another matter she asked the Brotherhood to investigate.

When Ezio heard Perfecto asking about this, he couldn't help but shake his head and said, "The other party's origins are very mysterious. The Brotherhood spent a lot of effort but only found out that they had some connection with a noble named Madam Babaron."

"Who is this Lady Babaron?" Perfect asked curiously.

"You asked me. The Brotherhood is also curious about who she is, but we only found out about this one person. As for who she is, what her purpose is, and where she is, we have no idea." Ezio made a helpless gesture. Although he said it easily, both he and Perfecto knew that this was definitely not normal.

When investigating a so-called noble in the city of Langton, the Brotherhood searched for a long time but couldn't even find out who the other party was. They only knew a name and couldn't even find any other relevant information. This was undoubtedly a huge joke.

Only the joke itself is not this so-called nobility, but the Brotherhood.

Both Perfecto and Ezio knew clearly that unless this Madame Babaron was a fictitious character, it would be impossible for the Brotherhood to find no information at all.

But this character should be real, and both Perfecto and Ezio made the same judgment on this point.

The fact that nothing can be found only proves one thing, that is, the other party's power or ability to hide information is far beyond the Brotherhood's investigative level.

This is a bit scary. After all, the Brotherhood is still quite powerful in Langton. Even they can't find someone. This is bound to make people think deeply and be terrified.

But neither Perfecto nor Ezio could just turn a blind eye to this incident.

So after thinking for a few minutes, Perfect said, "Since we can't find the mastermind behind this, then we have to keep a close eye on these people on the surface. I don't believe they won't get in touch with the people behind this!

Wherever you go, you'll leave traces. I don't believe that we can't find any clues!"

(End of this chapter)