Chapter 825: Chapter 360: The Demon Beneath the Coal Mine
Another dazzling pearl on the Industrial Crown has emerged, once again confirming Wu Chang’s previous suspicion.
In the Steam Phantom Dungeon, the so-called pearl on the Industrial Crown refers to various Extraordinary Steam Engines.
Raventon looked at the coal essence in Wu Chang’s hand and asked Thomas:
"Our previous promise still stands, tell me whatever you know."
Thomas asked guiltily, "Sir, did you figure it out from the beginning?"
Raventon shrugged and said:
"In the detective business, intelligence and connections are crucial. Fortunately, my connections are decent."
"When I was learning detective skills, I got to know some theft gangs in Grimland City. Among them, there are a few young people with quite good skills who have also worked at the mine."
"I heard from them that some theft gangs disguise themselves as miners, enter precious metal mines, and steal raw stones to sell."
Raventon continued, looking at the increasingly uneasy Thomas:
"When you tried to take my wallet earlier, I already noticed that your skills are trained but surprisingly, you haven’t practiced much."
"If it were a city-based theft gang, their eye power would be strong enough to easily identify who not to mess with, and they’d never risk stealing my wallet."
"A thief with technique but lacking practice, and just happens to be a miner, it’s hard for me not to overthink."
After hearing this, all trace of luck disappeared from Thomas’s face, and he honestly said:
"Sir, you’re right. At Pine Tree Coal Mine, there indeed exists the theft gang you mentioned, and I’m one of them."
Raventon glanced at Wu Chang, somewhat proudly said:
"You see, just as I said, the truth lies within the details."
Wu Chang slightly shook his head and said:
"Everyone has different ways to solve cases. Take me, for example, I don’t need details."
Raventon curiously asked, "Then what do you rely on to find the truth?"
"Intuition, or rather inspiration," Wu Chang spread his hands and said.
Suddenly, something occurred to Raventon, and he became cautious: "You wouldn’t pray to the Eternal Pure Light and let God tell you the truth, would you? That’s cheating."
Wu Chang denied: "Of course not. Once your mysticism reaches my level, you’ll understand the importance of inspiration."
Raventon skeptically replied: "I hope one day I can witness your inspiration-based method of solving cases."
"Now, let’s hear what Thomas has to say."
With the biggest secret already revealed, Thomas no longer hid and shared what he knew about coal essence.
Initially, as he mentioned, due to his small physique, which was convenient for navigating the mine shafts, especially in the deep coal mine areas, he was chosen by the mine management to relay various orders.
About two years ago, a gang of mine thieves came to Pine Tree Coal Mine and took notice of him.
They found Thomas at night, asking him to scout the way while delivering orders for management, confirming the status of the mine shafts, and conveying messages within the gang.
As compensation, he could join the theft organization and learn theft skills.
Under the gang’s guidance, Thomas discovered that about every month, a special coal batch was produced from the deep coal mines.
This batch of coal would not leave the mine along with others; instead, it would be sorted by management and directly sent to the mine owner’s office.
What they needed was to seize the opportunity during the transport from the deep mines to the surface, to steal this special coal.
Which is, the coal essence.
Thomas’s part involved, firstly, determining the monthly special coal batch and roughly from which deep mines it was sent out through orders.
Secondly, identifying the escort personnel, finding those with weaker vigilance, and helping convey messages among the miner thieves, allowing them to make plans according to the route.
Most importantly, after the job was done, he had to monitor the movements of the mine owner and managers, to see if they noticed any loss of coal essence.
Initially, Thomas didn’t want to get involved, but he couldn’t resist the high compensation provided.
After each successful operation, the miner thieves gang would give him 20 shillings as a bonus.
Thomas was only twelve years old, working with the lowest child labor wages in the mine, six days a week, 14 hours a day, with a monthly salary of just 15 shillings.
Helping the miner thieves once a month would earn him double his salary, an irresistible temptation for Thomas who wished to move out of the slums with his sister.
Upon hearing Thomas’s account, Raventon asked:
"Once a month, approximately how much coal essence is produced each time?"
Thomas recalled, "About eight carloads."
"Eight carloads? Standard one-ton capacity mine car?" Raventon was startled by this number.
Thomas nodded and said, "Yes."
Raventon, appearing to seize a crucial issue, his voice became much more excited, he said:
"As far as I know, the total annual production of coal essence in all of Stilan doesn’t even reach eight carloads."
"The density of coal essence is less than half of coal, but eight carloads of coal essence still weigh almost four tons. The unit price of coal essence is slightly higher than that of silver, reaching 6 shillings per ounce, with the tonnage value exceeding ten thousand gold pounds."
"No wonder the deep layer of Pine Tree Coal Mine has a higher output value than the surface layer. It seems they not only didn’t exaggerate but even understated it."
Wu Chang, already knowing the issue from the King’s Badge information, promptly said:
"In other words, there is a special hidden secret in the deep layers of Pine Tree Coal Mine that causes the coal essence yield to be abnormally high."
