Chapter 515: 168. Evidence of Innocence

“The Cat Society’s Alchemy Guard revealed that the last time they saw Hickman Arlington, he had entered the underground Layer 5 of Sector 7. This incident happened on the last Spray Powder Day. At the same time, you were employed by the Iron Thorn Shield and guarding the underground Layer 3 of Sector 7.”

Comini asked:

“Did you find Hickman Arlington, who had passed through the underground Layer 5?”

When facing the interrogation from the Enforcer, Noland Lee calmly took out an Alchemy Cleanser from his Blood Haven and removed the filth from his face. He also activated the Cleaning Array attached to his magic robe, removing the blood and stains from his body.

After taking care of himself, Noland Lee said calmly:

“I killed Hickman Arlington.”

Comini’s gaze turned sharp, and her eyes became intense:

“Why did you do that?”

Noland Lee handed over an Alchemy Contract Book from his Blood Haven and said:

“I was hired by the Iron Thorn Shield to guard the underground area of Sector 7 on their behalf. During the execution of the task, I have the right to kill any unauthorized personnel illegally entering the underground area of Sector 7. This contract is endorsed by the Golden Commerce Guild and complies with local law enforcement regulations in Union City. You must have only asked the Elemental Judgement and Cat Society people, right? You didn’t ask the Golden Commerce Guild or the Iron Thorn Shield about this. You can take this contract book to the Iron Thorn Shield or the Golden Commerce Guild for verification, and they will prove that every word I said is true and credible.”

First, Comini cast an invisible detection spell on the contract book before opening it with the [Mage’s Hand]. This checking procedure was indispensable, even for Noland Lee, who might join the ‘Silent Maiden’ in the future.

After seeing the Alchemy Mark and the content of the contract clearly, Comini raised her right hand, clenched her fist, and knocked on her chest with a standard Enforcer salute gesture:

“Thank you for your cooperation, I will verify it with the Golden Commerce Guild and Iron Thorn Shield. If your killing is legal, the case of Hickman Arlington’s accidental death will be closed.”

The trial was resolved due to the exculpatory evidence provided by Noland Lee.

About one and a half months ago, Noland Lee had prepared this contract book. With his relationship with the Golden Commerce Guild and the Iron Thorn Shield, it was extremely easy to obtain a contract like this. So, from beginning to end, he never took Hickman Arlington’s death seriously.

Comini put the contract book in a separate metal box and put it into her specialized magic pouch for evidence.

She asked again:

“Why didn’t you tell Mabel the truth about you legally killing Hickman Arlington? As a mentor of the local First Level Magic Research Institute, she has the right to know everything.”

Comini’s expression relaxed a lot when she asked, no longer looking as tense as when she first heard about Noland Lee’s killing of Hickman Arlington.

At the same time, her eyes showed obvious curiosity.

Clearly, Noland Lee’s irrational behavior caught her attention.

“It’s a long story, Comini. It involves various factors and factions.”

Noland Lee took out the Life Elixir and poured it into his mouth, replenishing the potion’s effect for rapid healing of his injuries.

After taking a few breaths and regaining some strength, he said in a deep voice:

“I suspect that some Lecturer Professors are secretly colluding with extraterrestrial space pollution that has appeared here in Union City.”

Comini’s magic metal armor trembled slightly:

“Are you suspecting the Lecturer Professor behind Mabel? What is your evidence? What does this have to do with Hickman Arlington’s death?”

Noland Lee waved his hand:

“It’s hard for me to explain the specific reasons, Comini. Most of it is my speculation and intuition. I can only say that before, I thought Elemental Judgement was involved with extraterrestrial space pollution, and because of that, I didn’t tell Mabel about my killing of Hickman Arlington. But now, I can be sure that Elemental Judgement is not among the wizard forces colluding with extraterrestrial space pollution.”

Noland Lee took out a bag of bone fragments from his Blood Haven.

He flicked his wrist, and the bone shards in the bag made a crisp sound.

“Let me start with the bones of Nikcat, and tell you the whole story. About half a month ago, I encountered Nikcat in the underground area of Sector 6…”

Noland Lee began with discovering the low-level Converter in Nikcat’s bones, and told the story backward, involving matters related to the Pollution Zone, Blood Sun Seal descendants, Soul-stealing wizards, Samuelson, and others.

The overall timeline of the incident was quite long, spanning about two months; the characters and forces involved were also very diverse, such as Hickman Arlington under the Soul Shaper, the Soul-stealing wizard of the dead Soul-stealing Overlord, the extraterrestrial space pollution Blood Sun Seal, the Golden Dynasty, and so on; the clues intertwined and spread out in a net-like pattern.

Without the help of Deconstruction to acquire vital information, Noland Lee would not have been able to understand the truth of the matter so deeply.

The first key point was the bones of Nikcat.

Noland Lee examined and deconstructed the bones several times, both inside and out, ensuring that the weak-level Blood Sun Converter had emerged from one of Nikcat’s rib bones.

Using the knowledge of bones recorded in “Bone Identification,” Noland Lee identified the age, quality, and symbolic significance of this rib bone within the “Tomb King” wizard force.

The rib bone was old and worn. In the “Tomb King,” older bones were more “valuable.” Typically, Nikcat would only use ancient bones to decorate his skeletal body when dealing with matters involving higher-ups.