Westminster Bank

Chapter 180: Chapter 124: Black on Black

He didn’t stop until he had filled about three-quarters of the space in the Gentiana Pattern Ring, a ring only S Level personnel possessed.

An S Level Soluble Ring had a capacity of nearly 50,000 gallons, equivalent to a master bedroom with an attached bathroom. This just went to show how obscenely wealthy the Iron Thorn Gang was.

Baron even found a few unused ingots of Snow Pattern Steel inside, from which he inferred that Faraday must have gotten his from this very warehouse.

(1 imperial gallon equals 4.546 liters; 50,000 gallons is about 230 cubic meters.)

After he finished, Baron snuck out again. He circled the warehouse to confirm that Faraday hadn’t lied and had indeed planted the explosives. Then, he took out the Copper Bell used to contact him and rang it.

.........

Faraday was startled when he saw the Copper Bell vibrate.

It wasn’t the agreed-upon Foggy Day. ’What is that guy doing ringing the bell all of a sudden?’

Before he could think any further, he quickly changed into a Hunting Outfit. After a moment’s hesitation, he shouldered his Giant Axe, leaped onto the rooftops, and raced toward the sound of the Copper Bell.

On the way, Faraday grew faintly uneasy when he realized his destination seemed to be the warehouse. He reached back to touch the Giant Axe on his back, telling himself he was probably just overthinking it.

When he arrived at the rendezvous point, he froze.

The warehouse gate was wide open. Two guards were dozing against the wall by the entrance. He looked left and right but saw no sign of Baron.

He frowned instinctively and stepped forward to shake the guards awake. But the moment his hand touched a guard’s shoulder, both bodies slid down the wall, leaving two long streaks of blood in their wake. The moonlight made the stains look black.

Faraday’s pupils dilated. He immediately knew something was wrong. He entered the warehouse and saw that all the guards inside were lying on the ground.

He checked their breathing; they were all still alive. Looking at the mess of wine bottles scattered around, he figured they must have drunk themselves into a stupor.

He kicked them a few times, but not a single one woke up.

The Copper Bell in his pocket was still ringing.

It was coming from inside this warehouse.

But Faraday searched the entire area and saw neither Baron nor the Copper Bell.

’Could it be outside the warehouse?’

He left the warehouse and circled the perimeter.

He paused, then circled it again.

On his third lap, Faraday stopped and stroked his beard in thought.

’If I remember correctly, I didn’t plant this many explosives, did I?’

As he thought this, he began to follow the trail of explosives laid out around the warehouse. And then, Faraday’s worst fear came to pass.

The Copper Bell had appeared in the very last place he wanted to see it.

The Copper Bell he had given Baron was sitting right on the fuse of the explosives he had planted to deceive Baron and gain his trust.

The moment Faraday saw the Copper Bell, the hair on his body stood on end.

Almost instinctively, he stomped his foot and leaped back!

Without any warning, just as Faraday retreated, the fuse on the explosives spontaneously ignited.

BOOM!

A massive roar, like that of a bellowing ox, echoed from the West City District all the way to the Dongcheng District!

Flames erupted around the warehouse, blooming like a giant, burning red flower!

The light from the fire was brighter than the streetlamps and the moon, illuminating the surrounding neighborhood.

Lights flicked on along the streets. People opened their doors, rushed out with buckets full of water, and splashed them onto the burning warehouse.

But it was a futile effort. The horrifying sound of splintering wood and the struggling roars of men came from inside the warehouse.

The townspeople saw countless figures burning within the inferno, struggling and convulsing.

A flaming figure ran out of the warehouse, leaping and hopping like a monkey on fire.

When the townspeople threw water on him, it defied all logic and the flames erupted even more violently.

The "monkey" shrieked and ran off into the distance until he collapsed from exhaustion, consumed by the blaze.

One of the firefighting townspeople noticed what was wrong and said, trembling, "It’s beef tallow... Someone smeared him with beef tallow!"

Other figures tried to escape the inferno, but they couldn’t even take a single step before collapsing into the flames.

The scene struck terror into the hearts of all who witnessed it; they thought they were looking at a scene straight out of Hell.

Faraday was thrown by the explosion. He was severely injured and on the verge of passing out, but he managed to recover slightly thanks to the formidable constitution of a Bronze Demon Hunter.

He looked up at a rooftop in a certain direction. After the explosion, the person who had been hiding in the shadows no longer concealed their presence from him. frёeωebɳovel.com

There, a dark figure stood quietly. Even though he couldn’t make out the face, Faraday’s intuition told him the person’s name:

"L... Why..."

The fiery wind blew the person’s hair back from their forehead as sparks drifted past them.

Under Faraday’s gaze, Demon Hunter L raised a gun at him, but in the end, did not pull the trigger. Instead, he turned and vanished into the night, which was stained red by the firelight.

Faraday looked at the warehouse, clenched his fists, and finally succumbed to his rage and injuries, passing out.

When he woke up again, the fire at the warehouse had already been extinguished. Wizards had used their Magic Staffs to gather the city’s dark clouds and create a concentrated, localized downpour.

Guards from the Guard Post had bound him tightly with Forbidden Magic restraints. The deputy commander of the Guard Post looked down on him from horseback.

"Faraday, based on the accusations of those at the scene, we believe you are suspected of arson..."

Before he could finish, Faraday dropped to his knees with a THUD. "Commander, sir, I want to report that someone else is the arsonist!"

"Who!"

"L!"

......

After taking care of everything, Baron returned to the City Lord’s Mansion. The ball was still in full swing; only an hour had passed since he left.

He vaulted the wall back into the bedroom where he had been practicing dancing with Miss Triss. Miss Triss was still sound asleep.

Baron checked her breathing. It was steady; she wasn’t faking it.

He took off his black clothes, changed back into his formal wear, and to prevent anyone from noticing anything amiss, he downed several large gulps of wine to mask any potential scent of blood.

After timing it just right, he struck a toasting pose for Miss Triss. As she was groggily waking up, he clinked his glass against hers and continued their earlier conversation:

"The anecdote you shared about Lady Rose was quite interesting, Miss Triss. I never would have thought the legendary most beautiful woman on the Continent had such a past..."

Miss Triss groggily clinked glasses with Baron. Her head ached a little; she must have had too much to drink.

Still, she maintained the virtuous grace of a well-bred lady and smiled, saying:

"But only a beauty like her would catch the eye of the Knight King, who was even willing to go to war with the Far North Suluka for her sake."

’Even in an Otherworld, there’s no shortage of femme fatales,’ Baron thought.

He was about to say something to liven up the atmosphere when a knock came from the door. An Attendant’s voice followed:

"Mr. L, the Guard Commander is looking for you."

Baron raised an eyebrow. ’What’s coming has finally come,’ he thought. ’But it’s fine; I’ve already prepared for this. Next, even if the Iron Thorn Gang isn’t completely wiped out, they’ll be crippled.’

He sneered inwardly. ’Good thing I never trusted Faraday, not from the very beginning of our dealings.’

’After all, to assassinate Ferdinand, Faraday, as a trusted confidant, should have had countless better methods, like poisoning him. Why would he choose the riskiest option of cooperating with me?’

’Claiming it was to better assassinate Ferdinand was bullshit!’

’And all the tokens of allegiance Faraday sent later to secure our cooperation were, in my eyes, just traps set before springing his real plot.’

’And Tate that night was undeniable proof that my suspicions weren’t baseless.’

’Now was the perfect chance for me to turn the tables and use Faraday’s own plot against him.’

While Baron was mentally reviewing his plan for any flaws, Miss Triss was wondering why her father would suddenly summon Baron.

She glanced around and suddenly realized that, aside from the maid who had been standing in the corner the whole time, she and Baron were essentially a man and a woman alone in a room together.

A blush crept up her cheeks, and she looked at Baron shyly. "Perhaps my father misunderstood..."

Baron nodded. "The maid is watching. What is there to misunderstand..."

Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly stopped.

’Maid? What maid? Was there someone else in the room?’

His gaze shifted. Sure enough, in the corner stood a maid with a light veil over her face and hair like a black waterfall!

Their eyes met. The eyes above the veil were clear and bright.

The maid gave him a slight nod, then stepped forward and took hold of the doorknob.

Baron’s composure shattered.