Munitions Empire

"Ha! You sure act fast." Tang Mo felt it was necessary to improve the intelligence system and the efficiency of the police force in this world.

Entrusting these matters to the military really was asking too much of them. These brave warriors might be adept at killing enemies on the battlefield, but dealing with these kinds of incidents was clearly outside their expertise.

He was almost amused by the sluggish reaction and extremely low efficiency of the Northern Ridge officers, not to mention their lackluster investigative and deductive skills.

"Let's go, take a look at the scene..." Tang Mo, his face grim, finally stood up and walked out of the room first: "Then... move that woman's body away... What's the use of leaving it here?"

In this era, forensic methods were very limited, and the crime scene had already been destroyed by the soldiers who had burst into the servants' resting room. They left a mess of footprints and had moved the dead maid onto a table.

Even the corner of the cupboard was kicked into pieces by a furious officer, with its contents scattered everywhere.

Apart from a woman's corpse, whose complexion had already turned ashen and black, her teapot - the one she used for poisoning - had been smashed to bits, and it was no longer possible to detect anything from it.

Days had passed since the woman's demise; if any clues pointing to the real culprit could be found on the body now, that would be truly astonishing.

If the other party went to such lengths, it was highly unlikely they would have left any useful clues behind, considering they are professionals at this sort of thing, far more meticulous than these Northern Ridge Legion soldiers.

Soon, Tang Mo led his team to the house of the maid, which was not far from the city hall. The place was guarded by sentries, and the items inside were better preserved than at the crime scene.

Tang Mo walked around the room, observing the disordered scene but did not find anything that could serve as evidence.

However, he quickly realized that something about the place felt off. He frowned and looked around again.

The wardrobe was opened, its contents scattered on the floor. A soldier standing next to Tang Mo described what they had first seen upon bursting into the room.

"Blood was everywhere, just as you see now. The floor was covered with bodies, the female master lay near the door, apparently killed by the person who opened it," the soldier said, pointing to the area near the door where Wes was standing, looking up at the ceiling.

Then the soldier continued, pointing at the living room, "After that, the attackers rushed into the room and slaughtered the man. The two children were in the next room. They had closed the door, but it was kicked open."

"The scene must have been chaotic… Did the neighbors see anything?" Tang Mo glanced at the somewhat damaged interior doors of the house and asked.

The soldier shook his head and answered Tang Mo's question: "We've investigated. The neighbors did indeed hear noises and even screams, but they didn't have the courage to come over and see what was happening."

There was nothing that could be done; these neighbors were timid civilians, and hoping they would come out to investigate might have been wishful thinking.

Most of them did not even have the courage to peek out the window, especially in these times. It wasn't only bandits and robbers to fear; even the nobility and soldiers could kill a commoner without it being considered unusual.

It seemed that not much could be derived from this area of questioning. Tang Mo walked to the window with a sigh and looked out at the street below.

The building itself was modest with only two floors, not a luxurious house. The outside corridor was connected to a circular staircase—previously, this building belonged to merchants.

When the Northern Ridge troops, or Tang Mo's troops, stormed Ice Crystal City, the merchants abandoned the place. The merchants from Suthers had fled the city with their families, and the Northern Ridge troops naturally took over.

After the conflict ended, some merchants boldly returned, only to find it occupied by the Northern Ridge Military. Most rooms were allocated to servants or physicians and other civilians who remained. Thus, the merchants did not dare claim their properties back.

Therefore, these residences became homes for the "middle class," who continued to live there, enjoying the benefits of assigned housing.

Tang Mo watched the street, which had become somewhat deserted after Lord Earl's incident, trying hard to recall what exactly had felt out of place in the room earlier.

Logically, if everything were normal, he wouldn't have easily felt that something was wrong.

So, he looked around the room again, pacing slowly, his footsteps creaking on the somewhat squeaky floorboards, circling the room step by step.

The tabletops and chairs still had dried bloodstains. It was clear the attacker had been ruthless, showing no mercy.

On the floor were some obscured blood drops, from which the rough outline of a shoe could be deduced. The perpetrator had large feet, and possibly a tall stature, but these clues were almost useless to Tang Mo.

Tall people were not common back then, but there were definitely more than a few. Looking for a culprit based on height was obviously fruitless.

Suddenly, Tang Mo noticed the clothes scattered on the floor, possibly due to a struggle. Frowning, he approached them.

The bloodstains here were more abundant, indicating that a body had once lain here. Tang Mo stared at the clothes, as if contemplating something.

"The master of the house collapsed here, probably hit the wardrobe as he went down, and he might've tried to hold himself up but ended up just pulling the doors open," explained the soldier who had seen the scene with his own eyes. "Clothes spilled out, some even covering his body."

"Hmm," Tang Mo stared at the clothes without shifting his gaze.

"What's the problem?" Wes leaned in close to Tang Mo and asked.

"What do you make of it?" Instead of answering, Tang Mo countered with a question to Wes.

"The attacker was tall and incredibly brutal with his strikes. He almost split the woman's throat with one blow; the blood even sprayed up on the ceiling."

"Anything else?" Tang Mo kept his eyes fixed on the scattered clothes as he continued to inquire.

"Well," Wes continued to answer his question, "the intruder had a wide stride... and he smashed open the doors inside, after killing the man... he killed two children. Didn't hesitate at all, given the amount of blood, it's clear he struck lethal blows."

"The clothes... the boy's clothes, they're all too new," Tang Mo pinched his chin, explaining to Wes.

Then he suddenly turned and ordered the soldier, "Bring the neighbors here! Call several more."

"Alright." The soldier immediately ran out of the room and quickly brought back a few neighbors. These neighbors had been restrained, always kept in their own rooms, and seemed somewhat unwilling to be brought out for questioning again.

"This is our last time asking you, after this, you will be free to go and leave this place at will," Tang Mo reassured everyone as he saw the neighbors.

Then, he walked up to an elderly man and smiled, "How long have you lived here, sir?"

"About three months now," the robust old man replied immediately.

"Are you familiar with this family?" Tang Mo pointed towards the room and continued to ask.

"They moved in almost the same time as I did. I'm a doctor, and their daughter, it seems, works at the town hall," the old man replied in great detail and quite naturally, "The man worked at the carriage shop, seemed to be in charge of repairing carriages."

As he spoke, he saw Tang Mo slip a Gold Coin into his chest pocket, swallowed hard, and then added, "Yes, that's right! His second daughter works at the flour mill..."

"What about the rest of you, anything else to add?" Tang Mo, twirling another Gold Coin in his hand, looked toward the old man's neighbors, their eyes gleaming.

"I know! I know! Antonio was once taken by traffickers! He was very young then, only found recently," a child suddenly called out loudly.

"Traffickers..." Tang Mo muttered the word while handing the Gold Coin to the child, his eyes catching the child's ecstatic expression as he continued to ask, "Anything else, feel free to share."

An old woman beside them immediately affirmed, "Now that he mentions it, I recall the lady of the house mentioning that their child was lost when very young and was only found recently."

"Recently?" Tang Mo raised an eyebrow, repeating the word.

"About a month ago, some kind-hearted person helped them find the child," the old woman promptly added.

Tang Mo didn't speak but drew another Gold Coin from his pocket and placed it in the old woman's palm: "How did they know the child was indeed theirs?"

"Just one look. The child looks just like his father," the neighbors chimed in, all talking to Tang Mo at once.

Nodding his head, Tang Mo looked towards Wes, "Doesn't it seem a bit too coincidental to you?"

"Indeed, the child's return is too eerie," Wes nodded, agreeing with Tang Mo: "Clearly, the enemy used that thing to bribe the maid."

"Trading her own life for her brother's, quite noble," Tang Mo scoffed coldly and waved his hand, signaling the soldiers that they could take the neighbors back.

"Psh... how much is her life worth? She exchanged the Earl's life for her brother's!" Wes smirked disdainfully.

"Traffickers... tall and sturdy, cold-hearted and ruthless... isn't it just short of leaving a name card for us?" Tang Mo's face was full of grimness.

"He still owes you an arm," Wes said coldly.

"No," Tang Mo headed for the door: "He owes me a life!"