The midday sun was shattered into fragments by the corrugated iron roof of the boiler room. Edrick's canvas shoes crunched over the scorching rivets, and the soles of his boots gave off a burnt smell.
A figure bent over the gears wiped blood from the wrench with the sleeve of his shirt. The coal dust on his overalls had hardened into crusts in the sweat stains.
The other man struck first—the rusty wrench sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, aiming for Edrick's temple. He could even see the coal dust embedded between the attacker's fingers.
As he rolled sideways, his shoulder blade collided with the scorching coal-carrying pipe, and the fabric sizzled, releasing a puff of white smoke.
Edrick rolled between two condensation towers, the damp smell of rust mingling with the scorching steam filling his nostrils. The other man's wrench struck the gears, sparks flying, revealing his weakness—he was right-handed.
Edrick felt the iron wire wrapped around his waist—torn off this morning during the steam boiler inspection—now digging into the calluses on his palm, causing a stinging pain.
As the wrench swung toward him again, he suddenly yanked the other end of the wire, sending the rusty hook plummeting from the tower top. The flying metal edges sliced across the attacker's cheek, sending drops of blood mixed with coal dust falling to the ground.
The attacker roared, drawing a shard of glass hidden in his belt. He was highly skilled, but Edrick had already noticed him. He ducked out of the way, but his knee collided with the scorching valve.
The pain was so intense that he almost fainted. If he were just a transmigrator, the unprecedented pain would have caused him to curl up in a ball, but he was also Edrick, the Ripper of Rust District!
Edrick endured the pain and felt for the loose firebricks at the base of the tower, then swung his hand back and struck his opponent's wrist, sending the broken glass clattering to the ground.
The two wrestled on the slippery grating, coal ash constantly falling into the boiler below. The attacker's knee pressed against his lower abdomen. Edrick used the force to lean back, his back colliding with the safety valve that was venting steam.
The searing pain from the steam on his shirt made Edrick's neck tense, and the skin felt like it was being pierced by needles. However, in the moment the attacker squinted, Edrick kicked him in the inner side of the knee. Many core members of Scamps were former chimney sweeps, and these chimney climbers, due to years of crouching, had weak joints on the inner sides of their knees.
Edrick ducked and slid forward, hooking the attacker's ankle and yanking it violently. The attacker stumbled forward, and Edrick seized the opportunity to twist the attacker's wrist, the cracking sound of the dislocated joint piercing the attacker's temple like a needle.
The cracking sound of the dislocated joint mingled with the hissing steam. The attacker's other hand reached for the iron nails in his boot,
but his neck was already being pressed against Edrick's knee, his entire body pinned against the still-warm boiler shell.
The soft clinking of fabric against metal was followed by a muffled groan, and the struggle grew weaker. Edrick reflexively pressed the attacker against the boiler.
The moment the fabric touched the metal, the smell of burnt flesh mixed with coal dust filled his nostrils—a scent he didn't remember, one belonging to a living person being roasted. The muffled groan was shorter than he remembered, with a breathy tail that made his stomach cramp.
The scorching metal shell left charred marks on the other's back, but the body suddenly convulsed violently, like a fish caught on a barbed hook.
The icy murder scene from his memory collided violently with the twisted form of the living man before him. His pupils contracted sharply as he watched the blood-stained nails of the other scrape across his Adam's apple.
Edrick's thumb unconsciously loosened its grip on the wire, and in that instant, the attacker took the opportunity to flip over and slam into the pipe bracket. Rusted rivets flew off, and sharp fragments scraped across Edrick's cheek, the pain jolting him awake.
The iron nail the other person had pulled from his boot was already pressed against Edrick's collarbone, and coal dust mixed with blood sprayed onto his face: "Bastard..."
The hoarse growl carried the putrid stench of burning flesh.
Edrick leaned back to avoid the nail, his skull slamming against the condenser tower. Amid the ringing in his ears, he used the attacker's downward force to wrap the wire around his neck once more.
The two rolled across the slippery grating, coal dust falling into the boiling boiler. The attacker's knee rammed into his abdomen, but Edrick clenched the wire tighter, watching the man's eyes bulge as his nails dug five bloody gashes into his wrist.
Steam erupted from a ruptured pipe, blanketing the area in white mist. Edrick felt the wire sink deeply into the calluses on his palms, warm blood seeping through his fingers and into the rust.
The killing techniques he had once mastered awoke instinctively. He arched his back, lifting the attacker off the ground, the wire cutting into his Adam's apple, leaving a terrifying indentation. When the last gasp faded into the steam, he realized he was biting into the attacker's shoulder, his teeth filled with the salty, metallic taste of flesh.
As the white mist dissipated, Edrick collapsed onto the ground, surrounded by coal dust. The body in his arms was still trembling slightly. He trembled as he loosened the barbed wire, staring into the empty eyes that reflected his own twisted face.
The foghorn from the distant dock pierced the hum of the boiler room, but he heard nothing. Only the marks left by the barbed wire on his palms reminded him that this time, he had truly dragged a living person from warmth into silence.
The foghorn from the distant dock sounded again, but Edrick felt as though the sound was coming from an extremely distant place.
He knelt down, his fingertips brushing against the coal-stained eyelashes of the body, his fingertips trembling slightly. The murder scenes in his memories had always been swift and decisive, without the dull pain surging in his chest or the lingering warmth of this corpse.
In the steam-filled haze, the figure bound to the pipe gradually blurred, like the countless lower-class people he had seen in the rust district—thugs, gangsters, laborers, prostitutes, men, women—all destined to be crushed by the roar of the boilers and the gears of time.
"You know, in our line of work, few of us ever get to witness a murder firsthand," a young voice rang out, causing Edrick's heart to nearly stop. He hadn't noticed there was anyone else at the scene.
When did he arrive? Who is he? Can I eliminate him?
Various thoughts flashed through Edrick's mind as he finally made out the figure standing at the door. He had rarely seen a woman so tall.
Her slender, 190cm frame was wrapped in wax-soaked hunting attire, forming a dark fortress. The dwarf steel armor on her shoulders reflected the midday sun, while the waist and abdomen formed sharp curves. The belts revealed half a blood-stained laurel lace trim, and twelve leather pouches inscribed with elven runes swayed gently with her breath.
The wax-coated hunting attire fluttered in the breeze, revealing the inner layer of elf-made silver chainmail. The mechanical nerve bundles intertwined between the armor plates emitted a faint clicking sound with each breath.
The silver-plated prosthetic eye in the left eye was fitted with an adjustable brass pupil, the edges of which trembled slightly with each swallow. The prismatic iris switched to anatomical mode, and the brass gears contracted into a precise hexagram array. The right eye was hidden behind round crystal glasses, the gray-blue pupil glowing with a faint blood-crystal light, and the retina was filled with the lingering images of sacred incantations.
Her right hand tightly gripped a dwarf-forged box, with the cold glow of a chainsaw gear peeking through the cracks in the lid, and the edges of the saw teeth coated with un dried black mist-like liquid; her left hand dragged a slender silver pipe, dragon's blood grass smoke drifting past her sharp ears, the slightly curved contours revealing the delicate arcs characteristic of the elf race in the smoke.
This was an elf, and her silver hair, shimmering with faint starlight like silk, indicated that she was a high elf of noble blood!
This was the most fantastical being Edrick had encountered since arriving in this world, but he did not feel joy—only fear.
Although the number of humans in Stellaxis now exceeded that of elves, this place was still an independent elven kingdom half a century ago, so it was not surprising to see a high elf. What really surprised Edrick was the identity of this high elf.
Though Edrick had never seen this person before, he recognized her identity from his memories—she was too famous. She was a hero affiliated with the Watchpost, "Twin-Eye Hex" Adrian Gray!
Heroes were a unique profession in this world, hired jointly by the Church and the Royal Family to handle special incidents beyond the capabilities of police and patrolers. Unlike those who did dirty work under the table, heroes were a legitimate profession, and to ordinary people, they were idol-like figures.
Heroes are ranked from Bronze to Platinum, with Bronze and Silver being more common and less well-known, while Gold-ranked heroes are extremely famous.
In simple terms, they are this world's Avengers, so even ordinary people like Edrick can see their faces and deeds in the newspapers.
Almost every child has once dreamed of becoming a hero.
Adrian Gray is a Gold-ranked hero! She is a battle sister from the Lumina Steel Vow Sisterhood!
Edrick couldn't even beat a patroler, let alone a hero. He was completely helpless in the face of her, and at that moment, his mind raced, but he couldn't muster the will to resist.
"Adrian Gray... Elf... Gold Hero..." Edrick quickly calmed himself down. Although the situation looked very unfavorable for him, it wasn't a big deal. Even if he was taken to court, he would be acting in self-defense.
After all, he was avenging his father; at worst, he'd serve a few years in prison.
"Oh, I'm very sorry for interrupting you," Adrian Gray bowed slightly in apology, "Please continue. I wasn't here to arrest you; I was just passing by... and happened to catch a good show."
Edrick didn't expect Adrian Gray to have no intention of interfering, but he quickly realized that heroes were not ordinary law enforcement agencies and had no interest in cases such as murder and gang fights.
In the vast city of Stellaxis, hundreds of people disappeared and died every day, and the police couldn't handle it all, let alone the even fewer heroes.
Adrian Gray was here to investigate a major case. She had actually seen Ederick's fight to the death, and she had even seen the entire process of Ederick's father being killed, but she had no intention of interfering. She just felt that Ederick had a rare kind of ferocity.
"I'm looking for the Ripper of Rust District." Adrian Gray's next sentence made Ederick's heart jump into his throat again.
Edrick knew that serial killers were heinous criminals, but this case wasn't serious enough to warrant the attention of a hero, was it!?
"This serial killer is serious enough to involve a hero!?" Edrick was genuinely surprised, as if he had seen on the news that Captain America had suddenly decided to investigate a serial murder case in Boston, a city where thousands of such cases occurred every year!
"Personally, I don't find ordinary murder cases particularly interesting, but lately he's been getting a bit too active..." Adrian Gray said, glancing at the two bodies on the ground.
"One is my father, and the other is Scamps' henchman." Edrick displayed appropriate sadness and hatred.
"I know, I saw everything." Adrian Gray nodded, his pale face showing no sign of regret. "I'm sorry for your loss. You must know the Ripper well, right?"
Edrick quickly reviewed what had happened a few minutes ago and was sure that he hadn't given anything away. His hesitation when he killed someone for the first time had almost cost him his life, but now it had cleared him of suspicion. If Edrick was really the Ripper, he would have been very decisive in the fight just now.
"I don't know him well, just... everyone in the Rust District liked him." Edrick spoke sincerely. The filthy Rust District hid too many thugs and criminals, and the Ripper was like an executioner without a trial.
"Then do you know that the Ripper recently killed Lord Steward?" Adrian Gray casually revealed the sensational news that even the newspapers didn't know yet.
A senior royal official was killed by the Ripper!