Steampunk Era: Mad Abield

Malin's suggestion was quickly implemented, and after Colin had confirmed the situation in the corridor and observed the second floor through the large hole, he had no other choice—he couldn't let the Church's Proxies and Punishers attack a Spider Mother's nest while wading through cobwebs. The loss of even a single person could not be compensated for by a nest of spiders.

The owner of this house also had no right to demand the Church to pay the price in human lives. First, he was not a follower of the Church; second, the scene was under the Church's jurisdiction, and it had the right to use any means to purify the place; third, the owner not only had to explain to the Guild why his house contained such a large nest of spiders but also had to explain to the Church why there were Ghouls on his first floor.

The presence of these creatures in the suburbs was fairly normal because no matter how tight a city's defenses were, they couldn't stop all kinds of Spirits, especially Ghouls that were insensitive to sewer environments. They would invade the city through sewers and coastlines, and for this area at the city's center, the chance of such monsters appearing was like winning the lottery issued by the Church of the Goddess of Fortune.

In Carterburg, there had been only one lucky soul in ten years who had won, and not long after his win, it came out that he had interfered with the lottery ceremony using a very powerful mystical relic. As a result, the "lucky" man had to flee far away, but his assets and real estate were not so lucky.

Returning to the matter at hand, Malin's method was not bad either. The Spider Mother's corpse held value; after its limbs were chopped off and dragged out of the house, and there were some materials on the Ghoul worth something as it was dragged out, the rest of the spiders didn't have much value.

So, flames engulfed the entire second floor, and some spiders and segmented creatures jumped out, but they didn't get far before they perished in the flames they carried with them—Old Bao used a flamethrower, a sticky incendiary substance that, when sprayed from alchemical tools, could stick to the target. Once contaminated with this substance, all that awaited the victims was death, or they could choose to amputate before the flames consumed them.

Unfortunately, the arthropod Spirits did not have enough brain capacity to understand the concept of sacrifice for gain.

Therefore, this was also why arthropod Spirits rarely became entities of terror—because they were too easy to target. You dig a trap without any disguise, and any animal Spirit would avoid the spikes and blades, but arthropod Spirits would charge headlong into the trap and become fragments.

Such is the sorrow of having no brains.

Watching the house succumb to flame and confirming no more Spirits jumped out, Colin declared the mission complete.

"The fight in the Western District has ended. High-order Demon Hunters dragged out four terrifying specimens of different kind, and one Demon Hunter was seriously injured."

The news from the Western District finally eased Malin's mind—the threat was indeed not to be taken lightly. If what Malin and his team had just purified was a minor annoyance, then the Western District was a significant threat, with each passing day likely to bring greater danger.

"What's the matter, feeling disheartened because you couldn't join a fight like that?" Colin noticed the unhappiness on Malin's face and asked with a smile.

Malin nodded, "I feel I am still too weak. I want to become stronger, to protect myself and others."

That had always been Malin's aspiration; he did not want tragedies to keep happening. He wanted to protect himself and also that rough-and-tumble Leopard Girl who always called him 'Brother Malin'.

"How old are you, anyway? Don't worry too much. You'll become stronger," Colin reassured him with a smile, patting Malin's head, then turned and walked towards the carriage, "Let's go back to the Church. And since we have two Spirit corpses today, your instructor and I will teach you how to dissect Spirits and obtain materials."

"Is it a new lesson?"

"Yes, a new lesson," Colin confirmed, "It teaches you how to make good money and is the foundation for becoming stronger. As for your thoughts, I will discuss them with your foster father, Gaiate, when he returns." After undoing the gun sling knot, he handed the Shotgun to the logistic personnel, stood by the carriage, and waited for Malin to hand over his weapon before lifting him onto the carriage when he approached.

......

As soon as he got off the carriage, Malin couldn't wait to witness the art of dissection in this world. However, the start was inauspicious as the Half-human instructor expressed dissatisfaction with Colin for taking his Apprentice into dangerous places. Therefore, Colin had to engage in a half-hour conversation with the petite lady, and only after assuring her repeatedly did he get past this hurdle.

The dissection class ended five minutes earlier than planned that morning.

This led Colin to arrange the afternoon's dissection class, while Malin sat in a chair waiting for the Church's Apprentice dining hall to open.

For Malin, eating was always a joyful event because each time he held his plate, he was ravenous. Every piece of bread, every pastry, every piece of roast meat, and sauce-covered pasta felt like a blessing to his stomach.

Since he had just returned from the outside, Malin naturally took the first place in line, and even without standing at the door, the older students who rushed in instinctively lined up behind him.

It wasn't a lack of courage; those who had courage had been cowed by past experiences.

The legend of the Invincible Unarmed, the number one in the Carterburg Church's Apprentice class, the Iron Fist with a cute baby face...Bah, scratch that last one. In any case, over the past six months or so, Malin had literally fought for his standing.