Transcendent Dawn

Rand was shocked into silence, his face as pale as if it had been smeared with several layers of powder, his mind a tempest:

‘Has… Has the kingdom found out?’

‘Is he an Investigator?’

‘What… What should I do?’

Su Lu ignored him.

He was like a tiger, taking advantage of the Guyver’s magnification, and darting directly towards Claude.

At this moment, Claude’s face was filled with terror, his pupils dilated, and it seemed like cold sweat was about to break out from his forehead.

‘Hmm? It seems that what he is hiding is not as simple as smuggling?’

A flash appeared in Su Lu’s goggle-covered eyes. His speed remained unaltered as he maneuvered his way behind Claude, grabbed his head, and, with the help of his mechanical arm, gave it a swift turn.

Craaack!

The harsh sound of bones breaking echoed in the room. Claude’s head was turned 180 degrees, allowing him to see the wall and the painting behind him.

Even by this point, he didn’t have enough time to raise the strange firearm in his hand. It fell to the floor.

“This is…”

Su Lu picked up the hefty, black iron firearm, looked at the intricate magic markings on it and fell silent: “Kingdom-regulated military equipment – a Magic Tattoo Gun… And Armor-Piercing Bullets? One shot can blow a huge hole in steel…”

He was somewhat taken aback, never expecting that Claude, merely a businessman, would be in possession of such a formidable weapon.

If he hadn’t stormed in without a second thought and went straight for this middle-aged plump man, and if Claude hadn’t been so terrified by him that he was slow in reacting, he might have very well been able to pull out his gun and shoot.

If that were to happen, even with his Guyver suit on, Su Lu would be blown up with one shot, or at the very least, severely wounded.

“For a smuggler, isn’t this a bit too extravagant?”

This gun was worth nearly half of Claude’s fortune. It seemed unjustifiable.

With these thoughts in his mind, he picked up the gun, pointing it at Rand who was still in a daze.

Everything had happened within a few seconds. The young man had not yet had time to react.

“Young Master Rand… Do you have anything else you want to say?”

He spoke in a jeering tone.

“No… The treason… It has nothing to do with me…”

Rand hastily argued.

If it were Claude, he might have already noticed the ‘abnormality’ in Su Lu – the shabbiness of his Guyver suit was a clear indication that he wasn’t from the kingdom.

However, Rand was still a teenager and he was scared out of his wits.

‘Hmm? Looks like this could get interesting…’

‘A smuggler, huh? Traitor?’

Su Lu was reassured: he laughed lightly, “Heh heh… Your dear father is quite bold, not only smuggling, but also…”

“Those neuron parts and high-end data, that was not my doing…” Rand instinctively argued, before quickly covering his mouth.

“According to the kingdom’s laws, smuggling secret technology information is equivalent to treason. Once discovered, one is to be executed on the spot by steam-powered hammer…”

Su Lu finally understood – Claude was not just a smuggler. He was also a spy. No wonder he could possess such a high-tech weapon.

“You… You’re not an Investigator!”

Rand looked terrified.

“Who told you I was?” Su Lu had initially yelled “treason” just to scare his opponent. He hadn’t expected to hit the nail on the head.

He was now somewhat regretful, “What a pity… If I had known all this, I might’ve just reported you… But then again, without any evidence, that’s not really possible.”

He repeated his earlier thought: as a prominent merchant in Baixi District, Claude’s network of relationships was complex – there was surely some tie-in with the investigation department.

If Su Lu blindly reported him, Claude might have managed to rally his forces to suppress the investigation, and then exact a horrendous retaliation against him.

But if Claude was dead, all those connected with him would be in a frenzied rush to dissociate from him, wiping out his remaining power and destroying evidence.

“Your voice…”

Rand looked even more confused. Looking at Su Lu, he suddenly shrieked, “You… You’re…”

Bang!

The next moment, Su Lu pounced towards him, his right fist striking out, leaving a spectral trail in its wake. He hit the young man square in the throat.

The sound of bones breaking echoed in the room. Rand, clutching his throat, fell to the ground convulsing.

“Mor… Mor…”

He groaned low, but he could no longer pronounce the name. His vision dimmed and he plummeted into the darkness.

“Hmm, half of Morphy’s revenge has been accomplished…”

Su Lu brought over a few candles and started setting up a Ritual.

His goal was to communicate with the Spiritual Body to gain some secrets and destroy all traces of this mystical process.

Even though it seemed that people in this world were not skilled at dealing with spiritual bodies, it didn’t necessarily mean the kingdom’s Investigators were the same.

After everything was finished, he searched for spoils of war. Through the Ritual, he acquired the location and password of a safe, and unsurprisingly found stacks of Lire as well as a few very valuable high-end mechanical components inside.

“He deserved death as a traitor and spy!”

Satisfied with the loot, Su Lu scattered some documents from the safe around Claude and Rand. Using red paint, he left a message on the wall.

As for the signature, after some contemplation, he wrote ‘Justice Partner’.

He morphed everything into appearing as if some vigilante had chanced upon Claude’s secret and, in anger, killed him.

Immediately after, he broke a window, unfurled his wings, and flew away.

Only then did the commotion in the study draw attention from outside.

A maid, having knocked on the door for a considerable amount of time to no avail, opened the door and walked in. Upon seeing the corpses in the room, the shattered window, and the bloody message on the wall, she let out a shrill scream.