Chapter 1281 – Corpse Theft
“What?” Everyone else looked towards the Mechanical Church. They were collecting the bodies of their own people, not allowing the soldiers collecting corpses to touch them, but Hannah looked displeased.
“We’ve lost one of our Guardian Army members, and his body has disappeared,” Hannah said unhappily. The Mechanical Church didn’t have many casualties, and she had only two or three bodies laid out in front of her.
The others exchanged glances. Who knew where their Guardian Army member had gone? The Baron said cautiously, “There are so many bodies here. Perhaps he’s hidden among them? Or maybe he was swallowed by the insectoids?”
“That’s impossible. We have God’s Blessing within us, and our compatriots nearby can sense each other. I personally saw that brother fall here just now, and now he’s gone. I can’t even sense him anymore!”
A warrior from the Mechanical Church shouted angrily. The inexplicable disappearance of a comrade’s body naturally made them furious.
I was also a bit startled. Their so-called sensing must be the mechanical structures within them carrying divine power, allowing them to perceive each other’s locations for rescue and cooperation.
The General must have known this, which is why he used an unknown method to hide the corpse. He said he would give it to me during the meeting; during this time, he should be able to find a way to remove the Machine God’s divine power and hand it over to me safely.
Fortunately, I asked the General to steal the corpse instead of doing it myself. Otherwise, they would have definitely been able to sense the corpse’s location with divine power, not only amounting to nothing but also potentially putting me in danger.
The nobles from the Iberian side also looked grave. A Guardian Army warrior who could be invited to the banquet alongside a Machine God priest was no minor figure, yet he mysteriously disappeared during their banquet.
The other side came from afar to offer support, only to have their comrade’s corpse stolen. If this wasn’t handled properly, it could turn into a diplomatic incident.
“Uh, could it be that the insectoids dissolved his body, which is why you can’t sense him?” the Baron guessed haphazardly. At any rate, he couldn’t let the Mechanical Church think this was their fault.
He wasn’t making it up randomly. The blood and secreted strong acids of these insectoids were highly corrosive. The courtyard after the battle was unrecognizable, with pits and holes everywhere on the ground and walls. The weapons used to slash insectoids earlier had rusted, even those not enchanted with magic.
“That’s impossible. Our machinery is protected by the Machine God. Even if the body is corrupted, the machinery will remain unaffected. His body was definitely stolen,” Hannah stated definitively.
She raised her scepter. It was with this scepter that she had battled the insectoids earlier, and it had even transformed into a violent weapon like a long-handled chainsaw.
But now there wasn’t a drop of blood on the scepter, nor any sign of rust. The exquisite gear mechanism on it was still operating – this was the power of the Machine God.
I guessed that the Machine God’s power at least had a function to protect blessed weapons from being easily damaged. Otherwise, chainsaws have very intricate structures, and even for logging, they could easily get stuck, let alone for cutting flesh and bone.
“But who specifically stole the corpse of your personnel? With so many bodies here, why specifically choose the corpse of the Mechanical Church?” Rodrigo interjected.
My heart tightened. His question, though seemingly reasonable, was actually fueling the fire. He had already guessed the reason, and indeed, everyone else lowered their heads, lost in thought.
Corpse theft is not uncommon. The most typical professions that require corpses are necromancers or gravediggers. The corpses of strong individuals can fetch a good price for them.
However, the physical strength of the Mechanical Church members isn’t very high. They gain their superhuman combat power through mechanical modifications. For necromancers who don’t understand engineering, this is useless, and they might as well steal insectoid corpses.
Why specifically steal the corpses of the Mechanical Church? The reason was almost self-evident. Hannah said coldly, “The culprit wants to steal our Mechanical Church’s body modification technology!”
This was a reasonable guess, but not just anyone could study the Mechanical Church’s technology. Many people couldn’t help but look at the Marquis and his entourage. Among them, the Iberian Empire’s officials were the most likely to have the capability to research the Mechanical Church’s technology.
“Absolutely not! We have no desire to meddle with the Mechanical Church’s technology, nor would we ever steal a guest’s corpse during a banquet we are hosting. Frankly, even the insectoid attack was an accident. How could we have planned to steal the corpse in advance?” the Marquis argued vehemently.
Everyone listened, and it seemed to make sense. To be attacked during their own banquet, not only did a distinguished guest unfortunately die, but their corpse was also lost. This was a matter that would tarnish a noble’s reputation, let alone engage in such a suspicious act of corpse theft that would point fingers at themselves.
To put it bluntly, even if they wanted to steal a corpse, they wouldn’t do it in their own home. They could assassinate or even capture someone outside, but there was no need to risk stealing a corpse during such an unexpected event. Getting caught red-handed would shatter the relationship between the two countries.
“Who knows? Perhaps you’re doing the opposite. Maybe the insectoid attack was staged, and the real purpose was to steal the corpse?” a voice said.
“Who’s talking nonsense?!” the Marquis roared. In his anger, his aura swept across the courtyard, making many guests tremble.
But no one admitted it. The guests looked at each other, but couldn’t find the person who had spoken earlier.
Clearly, someone was using a special magic to speak and instigate trouble. They weren’t speaking in person.
However, the listeners were attentive. With this suspicious, conspiracy-laden viewpoint thrown out, everyone began to wonder if the insectoid attack was also staged. By having the insectoids kill the Guardian Army members and then steal the corpse, the Lord of the City’s mansion would have suffered huge losses, and they could completely absolve themselves of suspicion.
“Ridiculous! How could we have planned it? The insectoid leader just made it very clear that their goal was to bring the Insect Race to this world. Why would we do something so suicidal?”
The Marquis’s thinking was calm, and he immediately denied it. If corpse theft was merely suspected, then orchestrating an insectoid attack would be a major event, one that would certainly be condemned by countless people.
“Ultimately, was that footage real? Could it have been filmed beforehand and only released now?” that voice rang out again.
The Marquis’s eyes suddenly blazed with intensity, like divine light piercing through them, trying to find the person instigating this. Several mages under his command, including Calond, were using divination spells, attempting to pinpoint this person.
But they found nothing. Clearly, the person instigating this was highly skilled, and they couldn’t find them at all.
Once the seed of doubt is sown, it takes root and sprouts in people’s hearts. Now, even the members of the Mechanical Church looked at the Marquis with ill intentions.
