Chapter 237: Investigating the Traitor

Chapter 237: Investigating the Traitor

When Lu Heng was in Blackstone City, he saw a person wearing a black cloak and hood speaking with the bloodline succubus, Sarain.

At first, he only heard their low-pitched conversation, which sounded similar to that of a Black Iron Dwarf.

Lu Heng initially suspected that there might be a traitor within the Black Iron Clan, but this theory was dismissed when he saw the cloaked figure emerge from the Blood Sacrifice Tower.

The cloaked figure was about the same height as a human, significantly taller than a Black Iron Dwarf.

This led Lu Heng to believe that the cloaked person could be a human metahuman, perhaps someone like the psychic, Xie Shi'en.

Indeed, Lu Heng had his suspicions about Xie Shi'en, the psychic he had encountered in Blackstone City.

The sudden appearance of this individual within the heavily guarded city was already cause for suspicion.

Lu Heng had only managed to infiltrate the city by using the Shape-Shifting Orb to disguise himself as a bloodline demon.

How had Xie Shi'en entered the city? Judging by their height, Xie Shi'en bore a striking resemblance to the cloaked figure who had emerged from the Blood Sacrifice Tower.

Anyone with an unknown identity warranted caution.

Therefore, Lu Heng kept a close eye on Xie Shi'en during their escape from the city.

However, even after escaping Blackstone City, Lu Heng did not detect anything suspicious about him.

In fact, when Lu Heng invited him to form an alliance and travel together, Xie Shi'en declined.

If he had agreed, Lu Heng would have become even more suspicious.

Lu Heng had previously pondered Xie Shi'en's motive for helping him escape from Blackstone City.

If Xie Shi'en was a traitor, there must have been a reason for him to lead Lu Heng out of the city.

For instance, forming an alliance would have been a plausible motive.

However, Xie Shi'en showed no intention of traveling together and parted ways after leaving the mine.

In other words, Xie Shi'en had gained no tangible benefits from helping Lu Heng escape the Magma Abyss.

Moreover, he had exposed himself in the process.

Given his ability to suddenly appear in Blackstone City, if he wasn't a traitor, it would mean he possessed the capability to enter and exit the city at will.

He could have easily hidden in the shadows and watched the events unfold without revealing himself.

Considering the entire situation, from Xie Shi'en's appearance to their joint escape from Blackstone City, he gained nothing and achieved no apparent goal.

Unless he was playing the long game, there was only one plausible explanation: he simply wanted to assist a fellow metahuman from his country.

This motive best aligned with Xie Shi'en's actions.

In fact, Lu Heng's defense of the seven Daxia metahumans against Charles Watertown's attack was also driven by a similar reason.

Because of this, Lu Heng had almost ruled out the possibility of Xie Shi'en being a traitor.

...

Currently, Dakville III discovered traces of dark sorcery in his father's ashes.

This brought up the matter of the traitor once again.

Dakville II had died from dark sorcery, and in this world, it was primarily the Black Iron Dwarves who practiced this art.

Therefore, it was almost certain that a traitor among the Black Iron Dwarves had killed Dakville II.

Combining this with the conversation overheard at the Blood Sacrifice Tower, even if the cloaked figure wasn't a Black Iron Dwarf, he must have obtained his information from a traitor within the Black Iron Clan.

The most pressing task now was to find this traitor.

After piecing together all the information, Lu Heng said, "Leader Dakville, I have a lead that can narrow down the investigation of the traitor."

Since Lu Heng had retrieved the previous leader's ashes, Dakville had placed his trust in him.

Dakville was eager to capture the traitor and immediately asked, "What lead? Tell me quickly."

Lu Heng paused to organize his thoughts before saying, "I can confirm one thing: the traitor within the clan had left the Forge Fortress before I met you, and went to deliver a message to the bloodline demons.

"He should still be there, or perhaps he has just returned.

"So, Leader, find the list of clan members who have left the Forge Fortress during this time, and the traitor will definitely be on that list."

This lead was obtained while eavesdropping on the conversation at the Blood Sacrifice Tower.

At the time, the cloaked figure and the bloodline succubus were discussing the Black Iron Dwarves' pursuit of humans.

This information was already outdated then.

Because after Lu Heng and Dakville III reached an agreement, the Black Iron Dwarves had halted their pursuit of humans.

This confirmed another piece of information: the cloaked figure wasn't a Summoned One.

If he were a Summoned One, he would have seen the change in the first main storyline quest and known that the Black Iron Dwarves had stopped hunting humans.

If he wasn't a Summoned One or a Black Iron Dwarf, then who could this cloaked figure be? Even if he wasn't a Black Iron Dwarf, there must be a traitor among the Black Iron Clan.

Dakville III, following Lu Heng's suggestion, summoned the guards and thoroughly investigated the list of clan members who had left the Forge Fortress in the past few days.

As the conflict between the Dakville Black Iron Clan and the bloodline demons had been ongoing, Black Iron Dwarves rarely left the fortress.

Whenever a Black Iron Dwarf left the Forge Fortress, they did so in full armor and under the leadership of a captain.

Thus, upon inquiry, the list was promptly provided.

Within three days, a total of 152 Black Iron Dwarves had left the Forge Fortress.

They were divided into ten teams, with two teams consisting of 16 members each and the rest having 15 members.

Lu Heng looked at the list and asked, "In these squads that went out, has anyone acted alone?"

Dakville called over the leaders of these ten teams and asked them one by one.

The leaders' responses were concise:

"Only the scouts have acted alone. Other warriors, even when going to relieve themselves, wouldn't be gone for long."

"Of course, scouts go out to reconnoiter. They can't stay with the team all the time."

Lu Heng thought for a moment and asked, "Among these scouts, is there anyone who has been gone for more than half a day and hasn't returned yet, or has just come back recently?"

Several leaders shook their heads, "That's impossible. Scouts acting alone wouldn't be gone for more than three hours before returning to report."

Three hours was enough time to deliver information, but it was impossible to make it to Blackstone City in that time.

If the traitor was among these scouts, the time clues couldn't pinpoint them.

Lu Heng continued, "Among these scouts, who possesses black sorcery?"

Since the previous generation's tribal leader died from black sorcery, the traitor must know black sorcery.

Dakville added, "It's high-level black sorcery."

The leaders shook their heads, "Low-level black sorcery might be within a scout's capabilities, but high-level black sorcery is impossible. Those who master high-level black sorcery are powerful sorcerers and wouldn't be assigned as scouts."

Indeed, within the Black Iron Clan, a Black Iron Dwarf who mastered high-level black sorcery would have a high status. Even if they were originally of low status, mastering high-level black sorcery would lead to an immediate promotion.

Scouts indeed wouldn't possess high-level black sorcery.

This led the investigation to a dead end.

Dakville pondered and said, "Perhaps the traitor has already left the clan."

This possibility was indeed high, after all, the fall of Blackstone City happened three years ago.

For the Black Iron Clan's traitor to have killed the previous generation's leader three years ago and still dare to stay in the clan was indeed chilling.

Lu Heng thought for a moment and asked, "Aside from these, has anyone else left Forge Fortress in the past few days?"

"No, we're all here. It's too dangerous outside, and only when we lead a mission do we leave the fortress," the leaders replied.

...

The investigation into the traitor hit a roadblock and couldn't continue.

Dakville was reluctant to let the clues end here, so after careful consideration, he sent for the clan's sorcery elder.

It didn't take long.

The leader's personal guard respectfully escorted a Black Iron Clan sorcery elder to Forge Fortress.

"Elder Guru, you're finally here," Leader Dakville personally greeted him and led him to the Ancestor Hall.

Elder Guru, with his imposing aura, was clearly of high status. He led a lava turtle, walking at a steady pace into the Ancestor Hall and leaving the turtle outside the hall's entrance.

These lava turtles were unique creatures from the Lava Plains, with dark shells resembling cooled lava, tinged with a hint of dark red.

After inviting Elder Guru into the Ancestor Hall, Dakville asked him to examine his father's ashes, "Elder, please take a look. My father died at the hands of black sorcery. There must be a traitor in our clan."

Elder Guru knelt on one knee before the ashes, paying his respects before examining them.

After his inspection, he nodded and said, "There are indeed traces of black sorcery."

Dakville, his emotions stirred, exclaimed, "Our clan has a traitor! My father was definitely killed by the traitor!"

Elder Guru considered for a moment and asked, "Who retrieved these ashes?"

"This human, Lu Heng," Dakville gestured towards Lu Heng at the entrance.

Lu Heng, who had been crouching at the entrance, teasing the lava turtle with his fingers, stood up and nodded slightly at Elder Guru, saying, "I brought them back."

Elder Guru asked, "When you brought back the ashes, did anyone else touch them?"

Lu Heng shook his head, "No, after getting the ashes, I returned immediately."

Elder Guru whispered to Dakville, "Leader, I understand your feelings, but there's something I must remind you of. The traces of black sorcery might have been added later.

"The one who brought back the ashes is an outsider. Are you sure you want to trust him?

"If this is the work of a bloodline demon, aiming to incite discord within our clan, your current emotional state might make you fall into their trap."

Dakville's expression froze for a moment as he considered Elder Guru's words.

Indeed, traces of black sorcery could be added later to the ashes.

This was easily achievable by casting a black sorcery spell on the ashes.

Therefore, after Elder Guru's words, Dakville realized he couldn't be entirely sure if his father died from black sorcery.

The trustworthiness of the human before him was also a serious question.

Dakville had trusted Lu Heng because he brought back his father's ashes.

However, if the ashes were tampered with, and the entire affair was a conspiracy to gain his trust, the process of retrieving the ashes needed re-examination.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end