Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 396 Are human desires always expanding?
Although it had just suffered an attack, the interior of the Temple of Judgment was still in order. Members of the Balance of Order wearing inquisitor or arbitrator uniforms came in and out, handling post-war affairs in an orderly manner. It did not seem to have suffered any serious damage.

The sound of steam engines roaring could be heard from the pitch-black steel tower. The huge amount of energy released after the combustion was continuously injected into the "ether radiation field" at the highest point of the temple through pipes laid in the ground and walls, making it shine with dazzling brilliance all the time, illuminating every filthy corner of the world.

That's right, the "sun" that the people of the Rainy Harbor thought of was actually a magical device with special functions. In addition to the most basic steam kinetic energy, it was driven by a huge amount of magic power. The energy contained in this part of magic power was comparable to the energy consumed by the Earth Witch-Fei Yemente when firing the Judgment Cannon. When it exploded, it could raze the entire Rainy Harbor to the ground, including its enemies.

This is the final decisive battle weapon set up by the Inquisition at the headquarters, and it can only be activated when it is a critical moment. Just now, when the werewolves of Silver Moon attacked the city, the highest commander of the Church did not order the activation of this weapon, which means that he did not think that this attack would cause a devastating blow to the headquarters, even though the church was briefly swallowed by one of the two leaders of Silver Moon, "Gnawing Fierce Moon" Gundaruf, using the werewolf blood magic, and was cut off from the outside world.

It was all short-lived darkness, just like the dreary night before dawn, no matter how deep it was, it would eventually pass away with the awakening dream. When dawn came, the brilliant light would spread over this ancient peninsula, bringing eternal light to the people she nurtured; and the beautiful dreams of those evildoers hiding in the muddy swamp of desire would be shattered, ushering in the judgment of reality and reason.

Charles Dickens believed so.

From his office on the top floor of the Judgment Temple, he could overlook the entire Harbor of Desolate Rain, seeing the forests of tall steel towers, the elevators that kept rising and falling, the giant bridges that slowly folded up under control, and even the thick black smoke that was faintly spewing out of the steam factory in the distance... Together, they formed the original impression of this city. Some people came in, some came and left, but the only thing that remained unchanged was the factors of riot and anger flowing in its veins.

Based on his 26 years of experience in office in this city, Dickens concluded that if these factors were not removed, Port Harbor would never be liberated.

That's what he's doing and has decided to do at all costs.

There was a sudden knock on the office door, and someone walked in without saying hello, interrupting Christian's thoughts. He was not surprised at all, and turned around to see a young woman in her twenties, wearing the silver-white uniform of the Scales of Order, walking towards him, holding a pile of documents in her arms, with simple and steady steps. Her uniform was slightly different from that of the combatants, with more patterns and scales, as well as a dark blue cape that was not very helpful in combat, indicating that she was a civilian, and was called a clerk within the Scales of Order.

And he is the chief clerk.

Christian Huygens - this is her name, or rather, her code name of philosopher, which is somewhat similar to Dickens' code name. She is very young now, and she was even younger when she was given the code name of philosopher, and could even be called a girl, which surprised everyone. But no one would look down on this girl with short white bangs because of her age, because the only criterion for being awarded the title of philosopher within the society is ability, not other messy things.

Facts have proved that this is true. After becoming a philosopher, she first worked in the Construction Management Agency and was repeatedly praised by the philosopher Otto. As the general manager of the Construction Management Agency, the latter believed that limiting Christian to the logistics department was too restrictive for her ability, so he recommended her to His Majesty Fei Er. After His Majesty's proposal and the parliament's review, she was successfully transferred to the headquarters of the Inquisition, the Temple of Judgment, to serve as the chief clerk. Seven years have passed.

During these seven years, she and Dickens worked in perfect harmony to keep the Chapel of Judgment in good order. As the chief clerk, Christian was mainly responsible for various administrative affairs within the Scale of Order, such as personnel transfers, personnel assessments, and exchanges with governments of various countries regarding entry arrests and extraditions of criminals, all of which were within her authority.

Dickens was the chief administrative officer, responsible for handling all administrative affairs other than the Scales of Order, or secular affairs. The Inquisition was not established just to maintain the existence of the Scales of Order, a special armed force. Its fundamental purpose was to promote and maintain a special order. Therefore, the Vatican had a certain cooperative relationship with judicial organs, law enforcement agencies, and detention agencies in various countries, just as the night watchmen of the Night's Roost would cooperate with the police departments of various countries. Without the support of the secular world, the various activities of the Scales of Order would be like a tree without roots and would be difficult to sustain.

Dickens focused his main energy on this, and in recent years he has achieved remarkable results. The folk rumor that the arbitrators and judges of the Scales of Order have judicial and law enforcement powers tacitly approved by governments of various countries is not false, but is due to his efforts.

The two philosophers worked hard and cooperated fully in the rear to create an overall stable situation, which enabled His Majesty the Chief Judge Fei Er and His Excellency the Deputy Chief Judge Melquíades to drive the Fei Ye Men Te without any worries and travel around the world to judge powerful enemies. If the situation was more chaotic, at least one of the two would need to stay and take charge of the situation. "How is the situation, Your Excellency Christian?" Dickens asked.

"As expected."

Christian put the documents in his arms on the desk, picked up the top one and handed it to Dickens, saying in a concise and efficient tone: "The overall casualties are not large and are still within an acceptable range. The upper area has been completely under control to ensure that no traces will be leaked. The police force in the middle and lower areas are maintaining order in the Rainy Harbor, but don't have too high expectations on their abilities. In addition, the archives room was invaded, and the other files are intact, except for the file on the 'Tooth of Eternal Life'."

"The Teeth of Eternal Life." Dickens thought thoughtfully, "Have you found out who leaked the information?"

The archives of the Temple of Judgment contain a vast amount of documents, such as reports on every trial mission since the establishment of the Balance of Order, and the amount of content is comparable to that of the library of the University of Lunwitting. If no one leaked the information, how could the intruder locate the archives of "The Fang of Eternal Life" and steal it in just a few minutes?
"Yes." Christian nodded slightly, and then uttered a slightly unfamiliar name: "Reches Valentia, the clerical assistant of the archives. His surname Valentia undoubtedly comes from a branch of the Bloodfang Clan Valenhild. He can basically be considered a pawn planted by the Valenhild family. He played a due role in this incident, and then was abandoned. The Chief Inquisitor, His Excellency Andrew, is interrogating him."

The clerical assistant was a minor position, whose main duty was to provide guidance to those who wanted to enter the archives to search for information but didn't know where to start. They were not qualified to directly access confidential files, but because of their duties, they knew very well the area and even the specific location of each file. The Valenhild family had taken great pains to place someone in such an inconspicuous but critical position.

However, this cannot change the final outcome.

"I thought we had given the Valenhild family enough trust." Dickens laughed after hearing this. "But now it seems that what the leader said is indeed right. Human desires are always expanding endlessly, and it has obviously exceeded the limit they can bear."

If it weren't for the support of the Order, how could they escape from the endless cage, steal the surname that didn't belong to them, and even gain the glory they have today? They are just some humble slaves under the rule of the Bloodfang Clan, regarded as dogs, tools and even food by their masters, and their life and death are not controlled by themselves.

Now that they have gained the power to decide the life and death of others, they are using it in the wrong direction.

Christian was silent for a moment before he slowly replied, "But the leader also said that this is the reason why we are here."

The Order's Union is the sharpest holy sword in the world.

Swing to cut off all ugly greed, evil, distortion and hatred.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)