Predicament

Vrooom—

The engine roared through the streets.

A silver-gray automobile sped through the city streets of the Triumph District like a gust of wind, drawing the attention of pedestrians along the roadside.

The passersby cursed and looked up, only to see that the silver car bore an official license plate with a white background and black markings, its characters ending in the distinctive "cross" of Triumph Building.

The grumbling gradually died down, and some even stopped in their tracks to offer a cross salute from afar to the silver car as it streaked past.

Such a hurried official vehicle had to be rushing over some important matter...

Gilan drove with an expressionless face, both hands on the steering wheel and one foot pressed all the way down on the accelerator.

The few cars and horse-drawn carriages on the road were all deftly overtaken by him, prompting cries of alarm.

With his extraordinary reaction speed, Gilan was not worried about any accidents. If anything, he found the car too slow.

Earlier, at the apartment, he had received a call from the Mystery Investigation Committee. The staff member on the other end had sounded exceptionally urgent.

Fortunately, the caller spoke clearly and relayed Teacher Paracelsus's order without ambiguity: he was to head to Triumph Building at once and take charge of the situation.

The specifics could not be explained over the phone.

But Gilan had already learned roughly what had happened.

"Reinforcements from all the major official forces across the Empire have all been intercepted and slaughtered by some mysterious power..."

He narrowed his eyes, considering countermeasures.

"The Machinery Union, the Church of Redemption, the Chamber of Commerce, the Church of Our Lady... without exception, all suffered severe losses and are requesting aid from the Investigation Committee."

The reason these factions had