Chapter 390 (1): Sewer, Paper, Screw, Tinker
Looking at the red dot on the map, Wayne fell into deep thought.
Frankly speaking, he had considered killing the mustached leader before heading here. If the Chancellery of the New Reich was Prussia’s brain, Hidler would be the brain of the chancellery. His influence on the country was unmatched.
If Hidler said they were going east, the blitzing tanks wouldn’t go west. If Hidler said they were catching chickens, the SS wouldn’t go around capturing dogs.
His authority was frightening!
If Wayne just killed the mustached leader, the war... the war would continue.
It had started already, and things were going well for Prussia. Of course they wouldn’t stop. However, others wouldn’t be as good an orator as Hidler and wouldn’t be as influential. The successor wouldn’t have the right to call themselves the Führer after taking office. At best, they would be a chancellor.
The blitzkrieg would slow, and Prussia wouldn’t be able to achieve the glorious feat of sweeping the world. Then, the impregnable defense line would remain impregnable, and the Francan people no longer had to worry about Prussian insults.
In Wayne’s eyes, the mustached leader’s death wouldn’t change Prussia’s ultimate strategy, but without him, the blitzkrieg would run poorly or halt altogether like a tank with its left track stuck. For the peace of the world, the mustached man would need to meet an unfortunate, premature death before he could finish his business proposition.
Wayne narrowed his eyes, making up his mind.
“Boss, you’re not planning on doing that, are you?”
Regina popped her head out and saw the red dots on the map, among which was the chancellery. She immediately figured out Wayne’s plan.
“Could I not?”
“Why are you looking at me like that, Boss?” Regina pouted. “My loyalty to you is absolute.”
“Bah, you Prussian spy. I’ll execute you on behalf of the country and the Führer!” Wayne grabbed her head and ruffled her hair. Curious, he asked, “As far as I know, the mustached Führer has an insane support rate in Prussia. Why would you, a Prussian, not stop me?”
Regina sorted her hair primly. “He has a high support rate only because those who disobey him have all died.”
It was the Night of the Long Knives[1]. She had been a naive, ignorant girl who didn’t know what had happened. It wasn’t until her father talked about it that she understood what had taken place.
“Oh, you’ve got a father?”
“Not only a father, but also a mother and an older sister. Amazing, right?” Regina grumbled.
“That’s not what I mean. I just never heard you speak about them...”
“It’s only because you don’t care about your employee, Boss,” Regina retorted. “Compared to Ottilia, I might as well be invisible.”
“Shut it. I’m the only one who can interrupt people here.”
Wayne huffed. An employer only had to worry about whether their secretaries were pretty and good at their jobs. Only those who were bored out of their minds would be concerned with their secretaries’ family background. Regina had clearly grown a defiant bone. She needed a lesson.
He beckoned to Ottilia, spanking her twice after she came over. “Use the same power. Do this to Regina, but double it.”
Ottilia covered her chuckle. Under Regina’s vexed gaze, she spanked her five times.
“Ottilia, two being doubled is four. You spanked her five times.”
“I study history, not math. It makes sense that I’ve gotten it wrong.”
“It’s elementary math!”
“I’ve been terrible at math since I was little. That’s why I study history!”
Wayne found amusement in his secretaries’ daily banter. After five minutes, he cleared his throat and said, “Alright, alright. Stop arguing. I’ll give a fair judgment. Ottilia studies history, so it makes sense for her to be bad at math.”
I knew it!
Regina rolled her eyes. How could a mere secretary compete with a sex-payer? She shouldn’t expect her boss to treat them fairly.
“Regina, what does your father do? If my memory serves, you’re a noble lady, aren’t you?”
“A minor noble. Our family was once rich, but not now,” Regina said. “My father is the Church of Nature’s leading priest in the Prussian district. My mother’s family comes from business. You can say they band together for the betterment of their lives.”
“Interesting. I’ll visit your place for a meal someday.”
“Um...”
“What?” Wayne huffed. “Could I, an Oracle High Reverend, not eat at a priest’s home?”
“Boss, you may find this hard to believe. The last time I headed home and told them that I was going to Londan to work, my parents vehemently disagreed and insisted that I was deceived by a bad Londan man. I couldn’t tell the truth, so I agreed and left home with the excuse of pursuing love...” Regina grew quiet as she spoke.
What a good daughter you are!
Wayne nodded, patting her shoulder. “That’s even more interesting. I’m certainly having this meal with your parents. Don’t worry. Given our relationship, I’ll make sure to make your lie come true.”
Regina despaired. She didn’t have to think to know that when Wayne visited, chaos would ensue.
“Prussia is quite a problem. Your father is the district priest... Call him and tell him to lay low lately. Do not let others use him as a frontman.”
Wayne frowned. “No, don’t call him. Once I’m done with the mission, we’ll visit your home so that I can warn him in person.”
“Boss, Nilsson is the Pope’s secretary. We’ll be fine... right?”
“Of course. We’ll absolve your father even if he rebels for real. It’ll be a problem, however, if he fails to control himself. Among Prussia’s research are demon vessels. You’re a succubus. You should know what I’m talking about.”
Regina sucked in a breath. Her love for her father made her prone to anxiety, and she panicked.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine,” Wayne assured her. “Even if your father becomes enthralled or turns into a vessel, I’ll be able to turn him back with surgery.”
He added for good measure, “The kind I operate on the Princess, not Senna.”
“You’re the best, Boss.”
“Alright, enough. Ottilia is going to kill you.”
“Huh? I’m not. I didn’t.”
While his two secretaries entered a staring contest, Wayne continued to look at the map. Killing the mustached man was one of his goals, but it was a side quest. Since the side quest would have a broad effect, it could only be tackled after he completed the main mission: collecting nature’s gifts for him.
Prussian fringe technology was state-of-the-art, with the Department of Arcane Technology Development conducting several taboo studies and accumulating a great amount of research data. Wayne was determined to acquire the alchemy for integrating machines and living flesh, in particular.
How about the demon vessel and the Gate of Hell that the Church of Heavenly Father was so worried about? That was a side quest, too!
With two reincarnated angels in charge, it shouldn’t be a serious problem as long as no serious problems occurred. Wayne had tested Hestia’s power. He believed that she and Derrida would be able to complete the mission.
***
Night.
Underground bunker, restricted military grounds in the suburbs.
This was the logistic support department of the SS and the second research institute of the Department of Arcane Technology Development, stationed with an ad hoc research team. Since the research was so dangerous that a misstep could lead to a high death toll, the research institute was established far away from the city.
Wayne knew about this place because of August and Finn. They were military officials of the SS, in charge of the project of producing Astral soldiers. Before, they had had a close connection with Weaving, the Oracle High Reverend of the Church of Nature.
After turning them into his vassals, Wayne had extracted quite a lot of information from their heads, including the secret bases of the Department of Arcane Technology Development.
Prussia’s water ran deep. The two vassals had gone off the radar right after returning to Berlo. Wayne didn’t know what had happened, but considering the worst, he speculated that they might have been killed or captured after they were exposed as Astral beings.
He wasn’t going to seek revenge for two unimportant vassals. He planned to follow their memories to package and steal the Department of Arcane Technology Development's data. That would save him three to five years of meditation.
Most importantly, the research data on machine ascension could be applied to the Pale Knight. If the data were reliable, he would be able to enhance his form.
Two kilometers away from the second research institute, in the harsh cold wind, Wayne located the visible and secret checkpoints under his supervision, his eyes glinting. Closing his eyes, he pictured a 3D map, plotting an infiltration route according to the locations of the checkpoints and magical mechanisms.
Dressed in an SS uniform, Wayne adjusted his cap and took Shadow Cloak out of his personal storage. Behind him, his secretaries were wearing the same uniform with identical masks of pale vortexes to cover their faces and shield their thoughts from detection.
“Stay here. I’ll be right back.” Wayne put on the cloak, fading away. “If an intense fight breaks out, make a ruckus and run. Do not hesitate.”
He vanished.
Ottilia shuddered, whirling around but seeing nothing.
“What’s going on?” Regina asked.
“Nothing...”
“Tsk, did Boss grope your ass after going invisible?”
“How did you know?”
Of course I would know. I’ve been third-wheeling you every day. How could I not guess it?
Regina felt irritated by the targeted provocation to a single lady like her. It felt like the entire world was against her. She huffed, “Of course I’d know. He groped me, too.”
“Ha.”
“Jerk, couldn’t you buy it for a moment?”
***
Wearing the Shadow Cloak, Wayne easily entered the research institute. The bunker was well-connected, stationed by two Gold-ranked mages. The defense mechanism was far stricter than that of other similar research institutes in Ostarrichi.
The stricter the defense, the more important the research project, and the more precious the data. Wayne smothered a smile and looked around the office area, locating the safe in a storage and opening it with ease, copying all the information in his head.
The second research institute was in charge of the study of Astral soldiers, so there was nothing about the demonic vessels. After devouring everything, Wayne looked through the laboratory and the soldier factory, mapping out the entire layout. Only then did he leave.
After that, he visited the third and fourth research institutes.
There, he acquired data on magical flying machines, personal armory, and Hell alchemy, but nothing on Machine Ascension, which he was most interested in. He also didn’t find the research institute studying demon vessels.
“As expected of the methodical Prussian. Their projects are actually individual projects, and the resources are focused on specific items to avoid waste.” Wayne took his secretaries back to the downtown area.
Machine ascension and demon vessels would be highly confidential projects, so he wasn’t surprised that he didn’t find anything about them. Since he still had time, he would investigate the other marked locations on the map tomorrow night. As the platitude went: perseverance is victory. As long as he persevered, he would surely get the fruit of others’ labor.
Wayne, Ottilia, and Regina returned to the hotel. The day was about to break. Since none of them needed sleep, they became rejuvenated after sitting for a while.
“Boss, where do we go during the day?” Ottilia asked. “Do we contact Derrida and Hestia?”
“No, we wait for them to seek us out. If they don’t, we pretend we’re strangers.” Wayne shook his head. They were away from home and in hostile territory. It was best to keep a low profile before they figured out what was going on.
This monster was overpowered but overly cautious[2].
“I’m here to look for my family,” he said, standing by the window. “It doesn’t matter if I find my relatives, but I must stick to my playboy persona. Let’s go shopping today. I’ll buy more clothes for you.”
As soon as he said that, a few military cars drove over under the dim sky. They pulled over right outside the hotel.
1. In 1934, Hitler purged the opposition to consolidate his power. ☜
2. A reference to the Japanese novel/anime, The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious. ☜
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