Instigator and Protector of Violence

On the way to the North District, Ethan figured out one thing, which is why the Steel Brotherhood, after abandoning the land reclamation project, devoted all their manpower to the sewer system.

Because that was their true purpose.

From the beginning, Oswaldo, or rather Sandro's target was never the land reclamation project.

That was completely a decoy to mislead Ethan.

So Ethan wouldn't think there was anything wrong with the sewer system.

Indeed, it was Sandro's style, plotting from afar.

And Ethan knew because after rescuing a group of people, they gained a crucial piece of information.

Those monsters came from the sewers.

On the way, Ethan and the others rescued quite a few people.

But their manpower was limited, so they could only direct the survivors towards the Prohibition Bureau.

"It seems we have to go to the sewers later." Joseph said to Ethan.

Ethan nodded but was thinking about something else.

If this was a sacrificial ritual, then there was likely a sacrificial array hidden in the sewer.

And a sacrifice requires offerings; previously, Sandro had said that Heisenberg was an excellent offering.

But who is the best offering?

Ethan now realized it was himself.

Because if Oswaldo was Sandro, Sandro clearly knew he was the King of the Beihai.

That colored crown was on Ethan.

What's better than such an offering?

No wonder Sandro wanted to capture Ethan so badly.

The group quickly swept through the area.

Joseph's strength was absolutely sufficient; he had revealed that he was the fourth of the War God's True Name, the one who decapitates enemies, with astounding destructive power; indeed, he alone was more than enough to deal with these monsters.

Combined with Ethan and Anya's suppression, along with the fully armed members of the Kingdom Statistical Bureau, no monster could stop them.

Soon, they reached the vicinity of the North District.

Just then, an alchemy device Ethan was carrying finally responded, emitting a rustling noise.

It was the communication device similar to a walkie-talkie made by Huoyan, surprising that the telephone and telegraph signals in the city were already gone.

This thing could still operate.

"Hello, hello, Virel, Vincent, can you hear me?" Ethan shouted loudly to the other side.

After a while, Vincent's voice came from there: "Thank heavens, Ethan, you're alive, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, how are you guys?"

"Not good, we're almost out of support here."

"Hold on, we're on our way."

Through the communication device, Ethan and the others quickly locked onto Vincent's location and soon arrived at the café where they were holding out.

The battle was indeed fierce; except for Virel and Vincent, nearly all other family members perished.

Vincent and Virel were also injured; if Ethan hadn't arrived in time, they would soon be overwhelmed by the monsters.

But with Joseph's powerful onslaught, alone wielding two military blades, he had already slaughtered the monsters ragged.

"I used to dislike this guy, but now I like him," Virel coughed up blood and said.

"Then let your boss treat me better."

Joseph had returned by this time; he usually appeared noble and proud, but his fighting style was completely different.

It seemed he rose to fame in the military not solely because of his surname.

After rescuing Vincent and Virel, Ethan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But Joseph saw through Ethan's personal intent and said, "Now we should head back, right?"

Ethan shook his head, "No, there's one more."

Today, the core members of the Bolita Clan, Vincent and Virel, were responsible for clearing out Steel Brotherhood members; Ethan had rescued them, Palon and Eugene were stationed in the rear, and Wot was still at the distillery; Ethan had already tasked Ned and Marvin with rescuing them.

There's one more person left, Shadow, who accompanied Herlosh to explore Oswaldo's underground study today.

Since it's Oswaldo's lair, it's hard to say if there will be any crises.

And Oswaldo's mansion was also in the North District; Ethan decided to save them.

Primarily, Shadow.

"You take them back first; Anya and I will check it out." Ethan instructed Joseph to take Virel and the others back.

Joseph appeared a bit puzzled, "Is that last person also your family?"

Ethan shook his head, "You don't understand."

This made Virel and Vincent smile.

They moved their injured bodies, stood up, and said, "Ethan, we're fine, we'll go together."

Just as Ethan once went all out to chase Casar's ship to save Vincent.

Now, they were ready to rescue Shadow.

Because of the family creed.

Joseph vaguely felt something; he was someone with a faint sense of family lineage, but now he sensed something stronger coming from a group of people who weren't related by blood.

So he thought for a moment and said, "Time's early, let's go together."

This surprised Ethan.

But having Joseph certainly increased their safety.

The group set off again.

Before long, they arrived at Oswaldo's mansion.

For some reason, probably because it was Oswaldo's mansion, there were no traces of monster attacks.

They smoothly entered the house and soon found the study, where Shadow and the others hadn't even closed the secret door.

The entrance to the underground was open.

After calling down several times without response, Ethan decided to go down and check.

Joseph left a few people in the study and followed along.

The group walked through the muddy, foul-smelling passage for a long time and finally arrived at the sanctuary filled with oddly terrifying human skins.

No time for nausea or shock, Ethan saw Shadow and Herlosh.

Their situation was dire; they were all prostrate on the ground, kneeling before a statue deep inside, seemingly in a trance, continually chanting unintelligible words.

Ethan listened to a few pronunciations; he had learned some ancient language from Gustav recently and immediately recognized they were chanting in an ancient tongue.

Linking it to the sacrificial event, it might be some ritual chant, he immediately yelled at them, even using the power from the 'True God's Name'.

However, as he shouted, he saw the statue's face deep inside, which was in the likeness of Sandro.

Sandro seemed to be staring at him.

At the same time, even those hanging human skins seemed to look at him.

"Ethan, you've finally come."

He…was waiting for him?!