The Divine Armor of the Old Century（Book 1）

Chapter 91

"To be honest, Lloyd, in some ways, you are unexpectedly outstanding."

In the pitch-black corridor, Brolau mocked Lloyd. The great detective leisurely followed behind, pretending not to understand.

The farce concluded with Seleu left to clean up. Upon realizing Miss Stuart's identity, Brolau summoned guards to watch over her and show her around the exhibition, while he and Lloyd went to inspect the real exhibit.

"Is that thing contaminated?"

During the operation in Endtown, Lloyd had roughly understood the origin of the ancient god armor. Scholars from the Far East Nine Summers had crafted demons into god armor. From what he saw of Lancelot, who fought alongside him, with its eerie mobility and strength, this thing's corruption was no less severe than the secret blood.

"No."

"No? How is that possible?"

Lloyd was somewhat surprised, but Brolau continued forward, his tone indicating he wasn't lying.

"Yes, that's why this matter is being handled by the Fractured Dome. Our current task is to transport this thing to the Perpetual Pump in a few hours."

Brolau turned around, the candlelight on the wall faintly illuminating his face.

They had reached their destination. The door behind them slowly opened with a creaking sound of dust and metal, revealing a massive warehouse at the far end. Countless sealed crates lay in stillness, and fully armed guards stood watch. At the center was an isolation area where a bronze giant knelt on one knee.

"The monks didn't disclose the origin of this god armor. Perhaps they don't know either. From what we know of the Nine Summers, they are very strict with their god armor technology."

"A smuggled god armor?"

Lloyd walked forward slowly. The ancient god armor was covered in verdant moss, its metal surface oxidized. Most joints were rusted shut, and a massive wound marred its chest, the steel plating broken and caved inward as if something had pierced through it.

The decorative cloud patterns had lost their luster, now twisted like claw marks spreading over the dead body.

"It has no contamination."

Lloyd stopped for a long time before the dead god armor and spoke slowly. Hunters were always acutely sensitive to demons, but before this god armor, Lloyd felt nothing, just a monotonous void.

"No trace of steam technology, and the demon part seems long dead."

Lloyd circled the god armor, now finally taking on the demeanor of a detective, piecing together each clue to restore its original form.

"I think this must be a god armor abandoned on the battlefield. Only then could the monks get hold of it, just like your scavengers. The Nine Summers' logistics team didn't discover this wreck.

The demon part had long perished with that fatal blow to the chest, the metal parts decayed over time. With no steam technology traces, it can be deduced that it was manufactured before the Nine Summers' arrival... This god armor must be decades old."

Lloyd's gaze turned cold.

The interior of the god armor was a complex mechanical structure, but unlike steam technology, it operated in a manner Lloyd had never seen, requiring an energy source other than steam engines. Perhaps... it was what they called a mechanism.

"So, in your opinion, what use is this god armor? It's just scrap metal now."

Lloyd asked Brolau.

"That's a question for the madmen at the Perpetual Pump, but I know a bit."

Brolau seemed proud, relishing the rare chance to flaunt his knowledge before the detective.

"The Purification Mechanism has a set of formulas for demons. Unlike you hunters who rely on... intuition? We're different. Former Deputy Dean Geiger of the Mechanics Institute discovered the weak radiation from demons and created the Geiger counter, using it to deduce some formulas. For instance, estimating how long it would take for demon contamination to dissipate naturally based on radiation intensity."

This was progress in knowledge. Unlike the hunters' mystical faith in deities, the Purification Mechanism believed in science. They were firm materialists.

"We can check the radiation intensity to estimate when this god armor was scrapped, even deducing the level of the Nine Summers' god armor technology."

Brolau's voice grew reverent. To him, this was a routine technical reproduction, but saying it before Lloyd felt strange, like a devout believer meeting a skeptical scholar.

Lloyd remained silent, once again witnessing the Purification Mechanism's technical prowess. Indeed, this was the nation that developed the steam engine, where something new appeared every day.

He reached out to touch the back of the god armor, where the penetrating wound had burst through. The entire back had shattered, iron plates fragmented. He could imagine the scene back then, the knight inside the god armor reduced to a pulp within the iron shell.

Yet Lloyd felt something was amiss. Touching the wound, he sensed he had overlooked something.

"Hmm... Interested in letting me smoke?"

Lloyd took out a cigarette with windweed. Though he asked, he lit it immediately, closing his eyes before the god armor. The light gradually disappeared.

Windweed induced a strange spiritual vision, where many could see fragments of reality, a random memory, or a crucial clue.

However, the herb also deepened the connection to darkness. Lloyd had already fallen deep. Since that woman's sudden appearance in the church, Lloyd's depth in darkness meant he occasionally entered a spiritual vision without the herb.

Lloyd planned to quit smoking for a year, but it had only been a week. He knew this would worsen his condition, but he had a strange idea about the god armor he needed to verify.

Brolau's voice blurred. He knew what Lloyd was doing but couldn't stop it in time. Everything stretched under a bizarre force. After an endless night, light appeared. Lloyd saw a desolate world. He tried to move forward, but his body felt unprecedentedly heavy. Looking down, he saw the reflection of the heavy god armor in the clear water.

He had entered the god armor, standing on that ancient battlefield.