Chapter 878: Chapter 876: I Didn’t Hide Anything
In the spacious conference room, Cheka listened to Richard’s words and chuckled lightly.
“Wizard Richard, do you think I am targeting you?”
“No, no, no.” Cheka shook his head, giving a complete denial, “Wizard Richard, you’re overthinking it. I’m not targeting you, nor do I have any reason to. Everything I do is merely for the organization. Previously, I had no idea the real owner of the mine was you. My acts of sabotage and killing were simply to facilitate the investigation.
Honestly, if you genuinely have nothing to hide, you should openly stand up and tell everyone you’re the owner of the mine. That way, there wouldn’t be these twists and turns.”
Seeing Richard was about to speak again, Cheka interrupted, “Moreover, if it really is like you said, that you haven’t betrayed the organization, then perhaps you can explain some of the things you use in the mine. For example, the ‘Fire Bomb’ for breaking down rocks and the ‘Railway Mine Cart’ that’s under construction. These things have never appeared before; why did they suddenly show up in your mine? There has to be some reason, right?”
“Reason?” Richard heard the words and remained calm, “Respected Inspector, if you must have a reason, it’s very simple: it’s my brain.”
“Yes, brain.” Richard lightly tapped his forehead and said, “The ‘Fire Bomb’ and ‘Railway Mine Cart’ you mentioned in my mine were created based on my thoughts and orders. They indeed look surprising, but in reality, there’s no profound knowledge behind them.
For example, the ‘Fire Bomb’ is modeled after barrels of ignited black gunpowder. As far as I know, more pirate ships on the vast seas are abandoning boarding battles and opting for artillery battles to plunder merchant ships. They pour the black gunpowder into cannon molds made of fine iron, load solid lead bullets, ignite it, and fire the bullets to hit the merchant ship’s sides.
After several bombardments, the merchant ship’s hull suffers severe damage, slowing down at best, tipping over and taking on water at worst. Afterwards, the ship can only surrender to pirates, allowing them to pillage, otherwise, it would be sunk directly.
The fire powder used in ‘Fire Bomb’ is essentially no different from black gunpowder, except I adjusted some slight ratios of the components to enhance its power, making it better for breaking down mountains and mining stones. To ordinary people, it may seem mysterious, but to wizards like us, it’s truly nothing.
On the one hand, its production is cumbersome and costly, and on the other, its usage is significantly limited and overly bulky—entirely overshadowed by spells. I think there’s no need to make a fuss about it.
As for the ‘Railway Mine Cart’, it’s even less worth mentioning. It’s just turning a carriage that walks on roads into one that walks on specially made rails. I believe as long as someone isn’t foolish, after seeing it, they could easily gather a few craftsmen to replicate it. I even suspect that many places have similar ‘Railway Mine Carts’.
The reason this ‘Railway Mine Cart’ hasn’t gained popularity is simply because it’s cumbersome to produce and costly. The cost of manufacturing, laying, correcting, and maintaining the rails alone far exceeds the cost of a regular carriage. Honestly, unless the ‘Railway Mine Cart’ can use increased efficiency to bring sufficient profits, it’s a losing proposition. So, looking at it, there’s no need to take it seriously.”
“Is that so.” Cheka listened without changing his stance, “Wizard Richard, maybe these two things, as you said, don’t need a fuss, don’t need serious attention, but I still suspect your motive for hiding them from the organization.”
“I didn’t hide anything from the organization.” Richard said.
“Hmm?” Cheka frowned, seemingly having misheard.
“I didn’t hide anything from the organization.” Richard repeated, explaining aloud, “Indeed, I just said that neither ‘Fire Bomb’ nor ‘Railway Mine Cart’ are worth mentioning. But I also said previously that I’m willing to contribute to the organization, so I had already asked Wizard Bobbobovic to report the details of both things to the organization branch in a document.”
“Is what you said true?” Cheka’s eyes changed, his face turning half red and half white, looking somewhat unpleasant. The most update n0vels are published on N()velFire.net
“Of course it’s true.” Richard said frankly, “Actually, my contributions to the organization are not just these two things; there are more. Like suggested improvements to the communication method of the crystal ball.
According to my suggestion, the crystal ball could represent specific characters using specific blinking patterns, completely transmitting a certain length of text, allowing holders on both ends to communicate more efficiently and accurately.
This is far more important than any ‘Fire Bomb’ or ‘Railway Mine Cart’, enabling the organization to effectively reduce work errors and strengthen long-distance information exchange.
However, what disappointed me a little is that the organization’s response to this suggestion wasn’t very strong. Wizard Joseph just told me that it could take years to see results. So I think my ‘Fire Bomb’ and ‘Railway Mine Cart’ documents might be even less valued; they’re probably still at the bottom of the file box right now.”
Cheka fell silent, looking at Richard, his eyes filled with doubt and belief, turning towards Steward Canon after a while, seeking confirmation.
Canon didn’t hesitate, first calling Wizard Joseph from the observation stand to ask a few questions, then sending him to the data repository to retrieve the documents.
When the two documents were delivered, confirming that half a month ago, Wizard Bobbobovic had indeed submitted documents about the “Fire Bomb” and “Railway Mine Cart”, Cheka’s expression became quite astonishing.
At this moment, Supervisor Long Mei’er, who had been “resting with his eyes closed”, suddenly opened his eyes, glanced at the two documents first, then looked at Cheka. After that, saying nothing, he closed his eyes again, but the atmosphere in the conference room began to subtly change.
Cheka clenched his fist, veins protruding beneath his skin, staring at Richard as he took a deep breath, slowly calming down.
Speaking, Cheka said aloud, “Alright, Wizard Richard, maybe I misunderstood you. Regarding the ‘Fire Bomb’ and ‘Railway Mine Cart’, you indeed have no suspicion. Actually, what I truly want to pursue isn’t this, but the mineral powder in your factory’s secret warehouse.”
Saying this, Cheka bent down, exerted himself fiercely, lifting up a heavy lead box from his feet with a “bang”, heavily placing it on the circular table.
Even though the table’s quality was excellent, it couldn’t help but sway with a creak.
Cheka gasped a few times, with a snap opened the lead box, revealing the gray mineral powder inside, his eyes widening as he looked at Richard.
“Wizard Richard, I want to ask, what is inside here? Why do you tightly conceal this thing in your factory’s small warehouse, and send so many people to guard it?”