Free Web NovelChapter 832: Chapter 362: The Bloodstained Essence Melting Furnace_2
His movements were covert, yet the disparity in power was too great. The man in the black robe easily blocked the surprise attack and said in a contemplative tone:
"I thought you were just a bunch of ordinary petty thieves, but it turns out there’s a big fish among you."
"Mick, tell me, who are you working for?"
Mick felt as if his wrist was about to be crushed by the other, and as he inhaled sharply, he said:
"I don’t work for anyone. I only work for ourselves."
The man in the black robe let out a cold laugh and said:
"Communication Magic, a kind of Noble Magic, isn’t something an ordinary miner thief can master. If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine; I have plenty of time to make you talk eventually."
Mick glanced at the man in the black robe, showing a helpless expression on his face.
"Sorry, but I can’t waste time with you; someone is waiting for my message."
The man in the black robe had a thought and tried to knock Mick out, but he was a step too late.
Before he could make a move, Mick had already swallowed the blade hidden in his mouth, the energy from the blade tearing his throat from the inside out.
"Damn it!"
Amidst the curse of the man in the black robe, Mick’s resentment ended, and Wu Chang’s consciousness returned to reality.
He recalled the scene in Mick’s resentment. Mick’s death was perhaps the opportunity used by Pine Tree Coal Mine to disguise the big explosion that covered up the Extraordinary Purification Machine below the mine shaft.
Mick attempted to use Communication Magic, indicating that he must have had accomplices outside with whom he might have had some sort of agreement beforehand.
That last sentence, someone was waiting for his message, his death might have been a part of the message.
For instance, if he died in the deep mining area, it meant that indeed there was a hidden secret there.
The man in the black robe and the mine owner of Pine Tree Coal Mine orchestrated the explosion to cover all of this, pretending they had destroyed the evidence to lull Mick’s accomplices and seek another opportunity to move the Extraordinary Purification Machine later.
Wu Chang turned his gaze to other pale resentments. The owners of these resentments were mostly ordinary people with very little information contained within them.
The owners of these resentments were both men and women, old and young, some strong and fit, others weak and disabled.
The scenes recorded in their resentment mostly had only one scene.
That was four or five men in black robes encircling the Extraordinary Purification Machine, recording something with a pen, while they were bound in all limbs, being pushed toward the special feeding port in front of the machine.
Human lives were an important ingredient for purifying the coal mine into coal essence.
This was the reason why the Extraordinary Purification Machine could not be made public and one of the reasons the mine owner and the men in black robes hid it in the deep mining area.
The soul intensity of ordinary people is low, making the probability of generating resentment very low.
The thirty-plus resentments on the Extraordinary Purification Machine represent more than three hundred victims thrown in as raw materials.
If they didn’t hide the Extraordinary Purification Machine and used it openly, they would never be able to cover up using living people as production material.
The second reason was that the Extraordinary Purification Machine required coal miners.
The reason they selected so many victims across such a large span was to conduct an experiment.
To experiment on what kind of life could convert into coal essence more efficiently.
In one of the resentments, the owner of the resentment heard a man in black robe say before dying:
"The conversion efficiency of these ordinary people is too poor. To ensure the stable production of high-quality coal essence, indeed, coal miners’ blood and flesh are more suitable."
Although it sounds like a hellish joke, according to the men in black robes’ experiments, the blood, flesh, and souls of coal miners were more conducive to transforming coal mines into coal essence.
The Extraordinary Purification Machine needed to consume two coal miners each month to convert nearly four tons of coal essence.
Four tons of coal essence would be ten times the output a coal miner could produce in a lifetime in an ordinary mine.
According to them, they merely accelerated these coal miners’ lives with the Extraordinary Purification Machine, and it increased their worth tenfold.
Emerging from the numerous victims’ resentments, Wu Chang had only one thought: these experimenters were surprisingly good at math. If he had the chance, he would personally help these people calculate how much value their lives could convert to.
He came to Raventon’s side and asked:
"Detective, have you reached a conclusion from your research?"
With a shake of his head, Raventon said, "My work primarily focuses on urban areas, so I am not very knowledgeable about large machinery."
Wu Chang shrugged and said, "Knowledge is infinite; it’s impossible to learn it all through study alone. At times like this, Inspiration is more effective."
Saying that, he directly went to the front of the Extraordinary Purification Machine and opened the special feeding port.
As soon as the special feeding port was opened, a mist of blood gushed out. This mist was not resentment, but actual blood mist, with a stench so pungent it was suffocating.
Raventon’s face turned very unpleasant. He couldn’t even comment on Wu Chang’s omnipotent Inspiration and quickly went over to the special feeding port, speaking in a heavy tone:
"Those missing miners were all thrown in here?"
Wu Chang nodded.
Raventon opened his mouth, uncertain of what to say next, "They..."
Wu Chang pointed to the newly produced coal essence and said, "They should all be mixed in there."
Raventon’s breathing became somewhat rapid, and his fists clenched slightly.
"They’ve crossed the line."
Seeing Raventon’s agitation, Wu Chang comforted him:
"Look on the bright side. Take Thomas, for example, a miner who started working in the mine shaft from the age of five. By the time he reached his thirties or forties, he would die in a mining accident or succumb to occupational diseases after years of accumulating them. Even without this machine, they would spend their entire lives trapped in these dark mines."
